Leading Change as the New Norm – The Priority Leadership Attribute for 2015

Photo Credit: daDa © 2014

“Things that should happen don’t and things that don’t happen that should”.  Donald Winnicott talking about the early infant development that requires external environmental influences (support, collaboration, nurturing etc) to ‘adapt’ to their world in order to develop the skills for their future path most appropriately.

I can start this blog by listing out the reasons to explain both the need and urgency for business leaders and businesses to adapt to change and adopt the skills to manage change.

The rate of technology, Digital Disruption (I will leave the opinion of that phrase out of this blog!), changes in demographics, consumer demands changing….

That everything is changing is pretty much understood and agreed by most business leaders. What is not understood or outlined with enough clarity perhaps is that this change is both increasing in speed and in velocity – so the urgency is not about change management being a single project where you can procure the services of an expert individual or organisation to effect on your behalf – the urgency is that leading change as an attribute has become arguably one of the most important attributes a business leader should display – and equally change management as a capability and delivery skill at a management level is required to ensure that this change happens.

Leading change as the new norm is very different to leading change is the new norm.  Why?  Because it’s about consistency, repeatability and something that is a normal consideration within the daily life of a leader.  Not something we do in isolation, when all the forces are in place and the consensus is that a single, possible large investment project has been singled out by the business as a priority.

Leading change as the new norm is about understanding that those key forces that once did require single change projects to adapt to the corresponding shift as a result no longer work.  Take technology as an example, or a key customer behaviour change, or a significant change in demographic…we’ve had all of them before and economies and industries have adopted new ways of doing things to address them.  Today we have a different paradigm, we have change happening in each of these areas and more happening all the time, overlapping, influencing, disrupting.  As business leaders, managers and businesses generally, if we do not have the ability to see these changes, have the ability to assess these changes and subsequently act upon these changes as we see fit, then the Darwinism effect comes into play – those that survive will be those that adapt to their environments, those that don’t will perish.

Is it scaremongering to say Adapt or Die?  Is it spin-doctor narrative that talks about the need to be a Digital Leader?  I don’t think so.  So much so that in my previous blog I talk about leadership in a digital age rather than the rise of a digital leader per se.

This shouldn’t be new news to us – as far back as 2002 the following theoretical paper was published on Digital Leadership “LEADERSHIP IN THE DIGITAL AGE” Ernest J. Wilson III

Stating that as we move from an industrial age to a knowledge or networked/connected age Wilson states "Leadership in the Digital Age needs new attitudes, new skills, and new knowledge."

In many respects the honeymoon period is over.  The rise of the CDO and Digital Leader has a place in the business world to transition us from managing single shifts to managing multiple shifts as part of daily life, but the urgency is really to widen the net, to start to build and support these skills and capabilities required to see, assess, act and thrive with change, so that we become businesses that have many adaptive leaders, not just one.

2015 is going to be a big year.  Businesses that haven’t yet grasped the fundamentals of ‘digital business’ are already on the back foot.  The building blocks of a digital business are having the infrastructure and understanding of social engagement, the ability to access and assess data, a move to more agile technology infrastructures and cloud services and of course, an effective exploitation of the mobile opportunity.  Just to be aware of these is not enough anymore, these foundation blocks have to be in place to start to take advantage of the more subtle technologies available like gamification and augmented reality as well as the more disruptive and game changing technologies like Internet of Things, Wearables and Robotics.   Any business wanting to really take advantage of these maturing digital world elements have to have the foundation blocks in place to succeed.  Surely that’s a huge hint to anyone wanting to build a digital strategy.

What does leading change as the new norm really mean – aside from the obvious?  What skills, capabilities and attributes are required?

Put simply, leading change as the new norm requires the ability to vision and direct constant change and often effect multiple change at once.  Leading change requires the ability to address the human aspect as well as the business aspect.  It is no longer enough to lead or manage by monitoring hard numbers; leaders now need to understand the importance of the human aspect more than ever before.

The human aspect of digital business can be thought of in three ways:  Empowerment, Independence & Transparency

Empowerment – the ability to try and test new things, to make decisions based upon the access of data and the understanding of parameters, an understanding of change as an enabler not an inhibitor.

Independence – the ability to self learn, and to grow independently.

Transparency – ensuring that access to data and the communication of intent is a business priority rather than a secondary consideration – letting people know…letting people know becomes the primary consideration for a leader of change as the new norm; a leader in a digital world.

For too long now leaders and managers have built and managed businesses through spreadsheets and numbers.  Now businesses that succeed are being built and managed by a focus on engagement, loyalty and the presence of those leadership attributes described above.

To ensure businesses are able to thrive in a digital world a new breed of leadership is urgently needed.  This needs to happen in two ways, existing leaders must not fear, shy away or ignore the need to do things differently to succeed in different times.  New and upcoming leaders should embrace the generation they belong to and adopt those positive open, social and change blasting attributes in their leadership ethos.

If you are a business leader or aspire to become one in today’s digital world you must ensure that supporting and nurturing the ability to lead and manage change as the new norm becomes your number 1 priority for personal development and the development of those leaders and managers around you.  This coupled with the business basics mentioned earlier will equip any leader or leadership team with the key ingredients to thrive in this digital world.  These are the leaders and businesses that will succeed.  It really is time to adapt or die!

In my next post I will be talking about the maturity of Digital Transformation as it moves from the delivery of a single change project to a constant stream of transformations which we term; Adaptiveness.

Partners and Suppliers in a Digital Age - How Should You Manage Them?

It was really difficult to come up with a title for this post.  Mainly due to the fact that my message relates to any organisation or group outside your organisation that form part of the Customer Experience – so not just the traditional supply chain – but every single organisation that has some responsibility along your customer journey.

What am I talking about?  I’m talking about the importance of the supplier, partner or provider as a key audience within the customer journey cycle.

Often I am faced with a perception that becoming customer centric is all about understanding the customer in order to increase the value of their experience and your engagement with them.   Without question, this is a key part of becoming customer centric but understanding and collaborating with the supplier/partner ecosystem involved in creating the most relevant and meaningful customer experiences requires equal thought and attention.

The digital age has brought with it an unlimited supply of possibility in terms of technology; from apps, to open source through to predictive analytics and social business elements beyond just social media…and the list goes on and on…

As digital opportunities increase, the reliance on suppliers and partners to provide specialist tools and services also increases.  Many organisations even look towards outsourcing as many areas as possible as a strategic business objective.

All this against a backdrop of the Internet of Things only points to a move towards multiple and complex working relationships with people and organisations, which are outside the traditional four walls of business.

Yet, given all this, businesses often look to supplier and partner relationships in a traditional way that limits both the value and innovation which could be afforded with a more collaborative and integrated approach.

So how should you build valuable and effective relationships with service providers and partners outside the traditional controls of the internal business?

Mindset, Visibility, Adaptability and Resilience.  

It is most important that just as the people you work with within the business need to have a team fit and personality fit, so too should your partners and suppliers.  In an ever-complex world where the customer journey is a series of touchpoints that are controlled by different organisations, a mindset fit is vital.  Though the ultimate customer responsibility might fall to you, those suppliers and partners that deliver service, product and experience to your customers must be like-minded enough to support that seamless customer journey.  Furthermore, with the customer landscape becoming more fragmented the need to maintain visibility of all your customers across all touchpoints at all times becomes a science in itself.

The advance of data and analytics have possibly been one of the most important breakthroughs to enable a single customer view, the ability to analyse, engage, understand and better serve the customer throughout their journey from discovery through to loyalty and advocacy.  But when the customer travels through the different touchpoints that are owned, created or part responsibility of a third party, it’s vitally important you don’t lose full visibility of data – we have to find ways to ensure that no gaps exist across all those customer touchpoints. 

This is not always easy and should be something which forms part of the contractual negotiation right at the very start of the business relationship – and even cited within any contract agreements.  Data is the key to unlocking optimal value and insight in the search to create the best customer experiences and achieve business goals.  Don’t throw that vital element away just because of the lack of attention at the first hurdle.  Having full data visibility within the boundaries of compliance and security is a must with all partners and suppliers.

When you put mindset and visibility together you have the component parts for a solid collaborative working environment.  And as the concept of design and innovation becomes less about a siloed R&D department in the darker levels of a business and more about the open, integrated collaborative environment where suppliers and partners become an intrinsic part of product and service development – we need to ensure that we either choose or consciously build this environment with all our suppliers and partners.  To ensure both mindset and visibility are focus points for your supplier partner relationships is hugely important to deliver innovative and effective end to end customer experiences.

Adaptability.  Customer demands are in constant flux, a new app or social platform can take off in what feels like a matter of hours, in particular with the younger digital generations.  And as new features and functions are added to more established digital platforms and products, the consumption habits of the audience changes as a result.  What this means is that the whole supply chain needs to be able and willing to adapt to changes when relevant and meaningful to the customer experience.  Equally, your partners and suppliers should have a good enough focus on the advancement of technology within their specialist area to continually provide the most valuable contribution to the customer lifecycle.  Adaptability is going to be an increasingly important part of supplier partner relationships when it comes to the full customer lifecycle in a digital age.

Resilience – this word is often more likely to be used within the manufacturing context or the more traditional supply chain area of logistics etc.  However, in the digital age having a sense of resilience between all partners and suppliers is really important.  Why?  Well, the concept of test and learn, the idea of experimentation takes resilience to achieve.  There will be tension across the whole customer lifecycle when experimental and concept elements are put in play, but the reward is, as we are increasingly finding, far greater than the risk. 

With changing technologies, with increased connectedness, the increasing demands and expectations of customers all point towards a need to test and experiment more in the name of innovation and ultimate delivery of relevant and meaningful customer engagements and experiences. 

For some time now we have helped our clients understand that beyond the customer there is an audience landscape that requires focus in order to achieve real customer centricity and that’s what we all want right?  The employee, the supply chain and the stakeholder all should have a seat at the table.  So do start to think about your suppliers and partners with our four guiding elements to help you stay in control and better able to provide the best possible products and services to your customers in the most relevant, meaningful and timely way to achieve your business goals. 

But before I sign off, it would be remiss of me not to mention one other audience which is fast becoming a valuable strategic asset to many an organisation – that of the crowd.  Cost efficiencies, User Testing, Collaboration, Co-design, Build and development, even funding; just some of the areas where tapping into the crowd can massively help the business achieve their goals…but that’s a story for next time.

Collaboration & Integration: A Match Made in Heaven

Collaboration has become quite the buzzword within business recently as leaders start to realise one of the future success factors of surviving in the digital age is dependent on enabling a collaborative environment. And this is for many reasons, improvements in communication, an empowered workforce and importantly, the ability to continuously innovate at a time where innovation can mean the difference between business success and failure.

There are many examples of collaboration within business. Google for instance introduced the concept of Google Garage. A space where “Googlers can come together from across the company and learn, create, and make.” Apple has always been known as a collaborative company, as referenced in this interview with the late Steve Jobs where he talks about how the company is organised like a start-up. AMP Bank in Sydney spend time with their employees side-by-side to understand how they work and how new technologies and strategies can enhance their personal and professional lives. Cisco leverages a collaborative environment to crowd source issues and requests, enabling them to find the best and fastest solutions for improved customer experiences.

So we can all agree that collaboration is a necessity. As businesses move to become digital businesses, adapting internally so that functional areas do not operate in silo is a real imperative.

So where does integration come into it? There are many definitions of integration. Here we are referring to integration as systems, as technology that enables collaboration. Interestingly, there are very few examples of businesses that are successfully combining collaboration with integration, which is somewhat odd given the amount of tools and systems that are now available for businesses to utilise. There is very little point investing in a collaboration tool that is never used and in this day and age, there is very little point having a meeting to collaborate on something without the tools to enable further collaboration and effective progress. Time and time again, systems and tools are introduced into the organisation to promote and encourage collaboration yet they fall by the whey side because there isn’t an explanation of why it has been introduced, the reasons for using it and how to use it – therefore you end up with just another platform or tool that becomes a burden for the employee rather than an aid. 

Collaboration & Integration are key parts of a continuous journey, and also key elements of successful digital business. What they require however, is combined focus and a committed driving force to keep both moving forward to generate value for the customer. What is important is understanding the parameters of both as part of a wider digital business strategy, how far it should be pushed across audiences (and by audience, I mean not just employees but customers, supply chain/partners and wider stakeholders). In addition, they require ownership. Who owns collaboration and integration in the organisation? Motley Fool has a Chief Collaboration Officer (CCO) who is charged with making collaboration part of the daily doings of the company. Of course, this responsibility could also fall to another member of the C-suite. So who owns Integration? You could argue this is the future role of the CIO, who historically has been kept at arms length from the senior leadership team. This would make sense given the growing importance of the CIOs role and responsibility in driving the organisation from being a traditional business to a digital business and all that entails. And then of course there is the challenge of bringing these two roles together so that they are not working in isolation. Moving forward, both of these roles will be integral to building a digital culture internally across the wider workforce.

As our working environments change due to the combined forces of technology advancement and customer demand, the need for collaboration and integration to work together will be key. Workers will be spread across many time zones, employee demands will be greater, and technology will continue to advance. In the end, the future workplace will be a digital and analytical environment and businesses should be starting the journey now to put a workplace infrastructure in place that accommodates this – one that smartly enables innovation to increase competitiveness and the bottom line.