Category Archives: Change

You Must Be Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

GUEST POST from Janet Sernack

It’s been a tough two and a half for everyone since the COVID-19 crisis began. Some of us have been hit very, very hard, by the impact of the pandemic exacerbated by the rate of exponential change and now, by the impact of the conflict in Ukraine.

As result, many of us are feeling overwhelmed and exhausted and languishing in varying states of anxiety and discomfort. Some of us are struggling with “not knowing” how to deal with the extreme uncertainty existing within our business and personal environments, whilst many of us are optimistically seeking to prepare and manage for what might possibly come next.

At the same time, many of us are seeking collaborative partnerships to support us and explore options for keeping both ourselves, our people, and teams engaged in moving forward creatively in a constantly changing world. Where both the work environment and the nature of work are in a state of flux, where we are going through exceptional and extraordinary changes, and, where to both survive and thrive, we need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable with it all.

Safely stepping into the unknown

This creates an opening and a threshold to partner with others in resourceful and creative ways to support them, to safely and bravely step into the unknown.

To perceive this unique moment in time as an opportunity for growth, shape-shifting, and change – by empowering and equipping them to cautiously abandon and exit their comfort zones and get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Because the patterned worlds of our “business as usual” existences, which traditionally kept us get comfortable and calm, and helped us stay emotionally and mentally even, free from anxiety and worry to a great degree, are no longer certain, predictable or stable.

Where constant and accelerating change, coupled with uncertainty are the harsh realities of today, and of tomorrow, in the decade emerging as one of both disruption and transformation.

Impact of our neurological survival mechanisms

As humans, we have an internal need for consistency, represented by our internally mapped, largely unconscious, neurological comfort zones, our own unique places for getting comfortable, and amenable to what we habitually do. When we experience cognitive dissonance, in an extremely uncertain and disruptive operating environment, we unconsciously encounter apparent inconsistencies between what is really happening and what we believe to be really true.

As result, we often, mostly unconsciously, slip into our auto-pilot range of varied aggressive and passive defensive, reactive responses: including avoidance, denial, anger, opposition, and resistance to change. Often described as the “retreat, freeze, or take flight or fight” reactions to what is “seemingly” going on. This is because we distort and generalize our thoughts or feelings into believing that have no control over events. Which is a normal and natural neurological, yet primitive, survival mechanism that enables us to cope with the situation.

However, when we operate this way, we lose our personal power and question our abilities to shape and manifest the outcomes we want, or feel we lack the ability to influence others or constructively impact our environments.

Resistance is futile

Manifesting as feelings of discomfort, most of us will do anything to move away from – because we want to avoid pervasive, visceral, challenging thoughts and feelings, derived from our conflicting beliefs and values. Our auto-responses or neurological urges to remove the discomfort, and typically keep us in our comfort zones, where we procrastinate, make excuses, shift into denial, avoidance, and justification, resulting ultimately, in immobilisation and inaction.

The outcome is that we may feel paralysed, and become inert, inhibiting and preventing us from developing the mindsets, behaviours, and actions required to thrive in the future. Where our only “new normal” will depend on our abilities to flow with constant change, unpredictability, instability, and uncertainty and get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Hidden costs of resistance

Resistance to change prevents us from:

Adapting to the current and future environment is not the survival of the fittest, it’s he or she who is the most adaptive, who ultimately survives, and thrives!

Exploiting this moment in time as an opportunity and threshold to improve our confidence, competence, and emotional capacity to effectively transition through the range of professional and personal crises, brought on by uncertainty and disruption.

Exploring possibilities and unleashing opportunities available in this moment in time as a turning point to learn and grow, as a coach, leader, or team.

Strategizing in the new global, hybrid, and virtual work environment to improve, competitiveness, productivity, and innovation grow our practices and help our members expand their roles, and grow their teams and businesses.

Breaking down silos that add to many of our member’s current states of disconnection and loneliness, and inhibit connection and collaboration.

Creating permission, tolerance, and safety for members to safely download and let go of their fears and anxieties, share their negativity and pessimism, fears of failure, and co-create positivity and optimism towards thriving in an uncertain future, together.

Embracing the new world of digitisation and experimentation, from implementing change, enhancing individual and organisational agility, and developing the mindsets, behaviours, and skills to be comfortable in constantly changing contexts.

What can we do about it?

Being agile and adaptive

In normal times, creating a comfort zone is a healthy adaptation for controlling much of our lives. Yet having the boldness, bravery, and courage in extreme uncertainty, to step up and out of our comfort zones helps us be agile and adaptive in transitioning, growing, and transforming through the enormous challenges, disruptions, and adversities many of us are confronting.

Entering the learning zone

In fact, once we do take the first baby steps out of our comfort zones and into our fear zone (fear of loss, blame, shame, envy, punishment, retribution, opposition, being controlled, humiliation, being envied or made wrong) we can safely enter the learning zone. Being in the Learning Zone is the first stopping point toward generating creative energy and expanding our comfort zones.

Facing the fear

Doing this builds the foundations for being more comfortable with being uncomfortable by facing, feeling, acknowledging, and letting go of some of our deepest fears by dealing with them rationally and realistically, with empathy and compassion, and without bias and distortion.

Reducing our levels of anxiety

By withdrawing, discerning, and deciding to let go of the need to be constantly in charge and in control and be willing to enter the Growth Zone, where everything that happens is a resource for being tolerant, and accepting, of the possibilities for making positive change.

Stepping into being comfortable

This is a great opportunity to co-create a new playbook for ourselves, our people, and their teams by enabling and empowering the mindset shift to the Growth Zone, to transform cognitive dissonance, and use it as the creative tensions toward being comfortable with being uncomfortable.

This involves engaging in a set of consistent and regular practices, to build and support a willingness to embrace change, disruption, and uncertainty, to take on even the impossible.

Hit your Pause Button: retreat from activity, get grounded in stillness and silence, and be fully present to your energetic state. Be mindful and pay deep attention to recognise your patterns, attune to what is really going on, and get unhooked from any internal chatter, stories, and unconscious default patterns.

Label Your Thoughts and Emotions: be fully present and get connected to yourself and to others you are interacting with, feel the feeling, knowing that it is transient.

Acknowledge and Accept: allow yourself to accept and embrace the range of feelings, be empathic, compassionate, and open-hearted with yourself and with others.

Detach from and Observe your Thoughts and Emotions: be willing to create and sustain an open mind, be inquisitive and curious, explore the non-judgemental space between your feelings and how to effectively respond to them.

Identify difficult feelings: as you experience them and find more appropriate ways of responding instead of reacting, be willing to become a “detached observer”.

Be emotionally agile: learn to see yourself as the operating system, filled with possibilities, knowing that you are more than one part of it and flow with it

Be courageous and brave: challenge the status quo, and your habitual thinking, feeling, and decision-making habits and build your confidence to reboot, consistently disrupt yourself and be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Be imaginative and creative: reimagine your most desirable future state, be optimistic and positive about choosing the best ways to reset, and walk your way forward into the unknown.

Focusing your attention and being intentional

Being comfortable with being uncomfortable, enables us to re-think creates openings and thresholds for developing 21st-century superpowers, limitless possibilities for change, growth, learning, and innovation.

By empowering us to respond positively to uncertainty, and dynamic change that respects and engages people’s values and humanity, in co-creative and innovative ways that improve the quality of people’s lives in ways they value, appreciate, and cherish.

An opportunity to learn more

Find out about our learning products and tools, including The Coach for Innovators Certified Program, a collaborative, intimate, and deep personalized innovation coaching and learning program, supported by a global group of peers over 9-weeks, starting Tuesday, May 4, 2022.

It is a blended and transformational change and learning program that will give you a deep understanding of the language, principles, and applications of an ecosystem focus, human-centric approach, and emergent structure (Theory U) to innovation, and upskill people and teams and develop their future fitness, within your unique context.

Image Credit: Unsplash

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Innovative Approaches to Change Management in Modern Organizations

Leave a reply

Innovative Approaches to Change Management in Modern Organizations

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

In today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving business landscape, modern organizations must embrace change management as a crucial strategy for survival and growth. The digital age has brought about unprecedented challenges and opportunities, necessitating innovative approaches to managing change. Traditional methods are often inadequate in addressing the complexities of change in today’s interconnected and globalized world. Therefore, organizations must adopt novel strategies that stress agility, inclusion, and sustainability to thrive. This article explores some of these innovative approaches, supported by real-world case studies that demonstrate their successful implementation.

Agile Change Management

Agile change management borrows principles from agile software development, focusing on flexibility and iterative progress. This approach is particularly valuable in environments characterized by rapid technological advancement and shifting market demands. Unlike traditional linear models, agile change management emphasizes small, manageable cycles of change that allow for continuous improvement and adaptation.

An essential component of agile change management is the involvement of cross-functional teams. These teams are empowered to make decisions, facilitating quicker responses to emerging challenges and opportunities. Regular feedback loops are established, encouraging ongoing communication and transparency throughout the process.

Case Study 1: Spotify

Spotify provides an excellent example of agile change management in action. As a tech company operating in the highly competitive music streaming industry, Spotify attributes its success to its distinct organizational structure and agile practices. The company utilizes “squads,” small, autonomous, cross-functional teams responsible for specific areas of the product. Each squad has the autonomy to decide how they will achieve their goals, promoting a sense of ownership and accountability.

This structure allows Spotify to maintain agility and adapt quickly to changes in the industry. Regular retrospectives are conducted, where teams reflect on their work and find ways to improve continually. This agile approach has enabled Spotify to innovate rapidly, delivering new features and improving user experience consistently.

Inclusive Change Management

Inclusive change management prioritizes collaboration and input from diverse stakeholders, recognizing that change is most successful when it incorporates diverse perspectives and fosters a sense of ownership among all involved. This approach challenges the traditional top-down model, advocating for a bottom-up strategy that empowers employees at all levels.

Effective inclusive change management requires creating an environment where open dialogue is encouraged, and cultural differences are respected. Organizations must facilitate platforms for feedback and actively involve employees in the decision-making process, ensuring transparency and trust are maintained throughout the change journey.

Case Study 2: Microsoft

One of the most prominent examples of inclusive change management is Microsoft’s transformation under CEO Satya Nadella. When Nadella took over, he shifted the company’s culture from one of internal competition and individual achievement to a collaborative and inclusive environment. The redefined mission of “empowering every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more” became the foundation for Microsoft’s new inclusive approach.

Nadella emphasized listening to employees, customers, and partners, fostering a growth mindset throughout the organization. By actively seeking out different perspectives and involving employees in the change process, Microsoft cultivated an inclusive culture that enhanced innovation and adaptability. The result was a remarkable turnaround, with Microsoft regaining its position as a technology leader and exceeding a market capitalization of over $2 trillion.

Sustainable Change Management

Sustainable change management focuses on implementing changes that are not only effective in the short term but also ensure long-term viability. This approach emphasizes alignment with environmental and social responsibilities, acknowledging that sustainable practices are no longer optional but integral to business success.

Organizations adopting sustainable change management strategies often integrate sustainability goals into their core business objectives. This involves incorporating environmental considerations into decision-making processes, developing eco-friendly products, and minimizing resource consumption. By aligning change initiatives with sustainable development objectives, companies can enhance their reputation, drive innovation, and ensure resilience in the face of future challenges.

Conclusion

The dynamic nature of modern business demands innovative approaches to change management that go beyond traditional methods. Agile, inclusive, and sustainable change management strategies provide organizations with the tools needed to navigate complexities and thrive in today’s competitive landscape.

As demonstrated by Spotify’s agile practices and Microsoft’s inclusive transformation, organizations that embrace these innovative approaches can drive continual improvement, foster collaboration, and achieve long-lasting success. By prioritizing flexibility, diversity, and sustainability, modern organizations can not only adapt to change but also lead it.

This is a comprehensive article on innovative change management approaches in modern organizations, enriched with case studies from Spotify and Microsoft. It outlines agile, inclusive, and sustainable change management, emphasizing the importance of each approach in today’s dynamic business environment.

Extra Extra: Futurology is not fortune telling. Futurists use a scientific approach to create their deliverables, but a methodology and tools like those in FutureHacking™ can empower anyone to engage in futurology themselves.

Image credit: Unsplash

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Four Key Attributes of Transformational Leaders

1 Reply

Four Key Attributes of Transformational Leaders

GUEST POST from Greg Satell

Change isn’t what it used to be. Where earlier generations had leaders like Gandhi, King and Mandela, today’s change efforts seem rudderless. Movements like #Occupy, Black Lives Matter and #MeToo hold marches replete with strident calls for change, but they never seem to get anywhere. Lots of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Many believe that if only these movements had more charismatic leaders or more inspiring oratory they would be able to gain more traction. Others say that society has become too corrupt and our politics too coarse to make change happen. They want to blow the system up, not work within it.

The truth is that leadership has little to do with fancy speeches or clever slogans. The notion that today’s call for change face greater opposition than the British Raj, Jim Crow or Apartheid is simply laughable. In researching my book, Cascades, however, I found that, despite important differences, transformational leaders had these four things in common.

1. They Work To Make A Difference, Not Just Make A Point

When the #Occupy Wall Street movement broke out in 2011, it inspired millions with its rallying call,, “We are the 99%.” Yet soon it became clear that all was not well. As New York Times columnist Joe Nocera noted, the group “had plenty of grievances, aimed mainly at the ‘oppressive” power of corporations,’ but “never got beyond their own slogans.” It soon fizzled out, a massive waste of time.

Making lots of noise and achieving little seems to be a common theme among the failed revolutions of today. All too often they believe that the righteousness of their cause, along with some clever memes on social media, will win the day. It won’t. Real change requires real work. You have to want to make a difference, not just make a point

It’s not just young activists who make this mistake. Corporate bigwigs often fall into the same trap. They seek to “disrupt” without any real affirmative plan for change. In Lights Out, Wall Street Journal reporters Thomas Gryta and Ted Mann chronicle how General Electric CEO Jerrfey Immelt tried mightily to gin up the stock price and project an innovative image, but did little to create actual value.

For transformative leaders, making a difference is the real point. Thurgood Marshall, to take just one example, spent decades working in relative obscurity, not to mention facing significant danger, before he triumphed in Brown vs. Board of Education. If we are to achieve anything of significance, we need to think less about disruption and more about tackling grand challenges.

2. They Lead With Values

Today, we regard Nelson Mandela as an almost saintly figure, but it wasn’t always that way. In fact, throughout his career as an activist, he was accused of being a communist, an anarchist and worse. When confronted with these accusations, however, he always pointed out that no one had to guess what he believed in, because it was written down in the Freedom Charter in 1955.

Being explicit about values helped to signal to external stakeholders, such as international institutions, that the anti-Aparthied activists shared common values with them. In fact, although the Freedom Charter was a truly revolutionary document, its call for things like equal rights and equal protection would be considered unremarkable in most societies.

After Apartheid fell and Mandela rose to power, the values spelled out in the Freedom Charter became important constraints. To uphold the stated principle that “all should be equal under the law,” his government couldn’t oppress whites. His reconciliation efforts are a big part of the reason he is so revered today.

Values are just as powerful in a corporate context for many of the same reasons. In Lou Gerstner’s IBM turnaround in the 1990s, for example, he not only put forth serving customers as an important value, he also made it clear that he was willing to forego revenue on every sale to make good on it. His willingness to incur costs showed his values were more than lip service.

Make no mistake. Every significant change comes with costs and being explicit about values makes it clear what costs you are willing to incur. Far too many would-be change leaders fail to be explicit about their values because they don’t want to be constrained in any way. It’s much easier to spout slogans like “Disrupt” or “Innovate or Die” than to think seriously about what change will cost you and others.

3. They Shape Networks

The March on Washington was a defining moment for the civil rights movement and for America. So it shouldn’t be surprising that those seeking change today, such as Black Lives Matter and the modern women’s movement, try to emulate that earlier success with marches of their own. These efforts consistently fail to achieve anything real and, in fact, often do significant damage when they spin out of control.

The truth is that the civil rights movement didn’t become powerful because it held the March on Washington. In fact, it was very much the opposite. The March on Washington was held because the civil rights movements had already become powerful. It wasn’t an opening shot, but part of the end game, the culmination of decades of painstaking work of not just Martin Luther King Jr., but a broad array of leaders.

General Stanley McChrystal took a similar approach in revamping the US Special Forces in Iraq to fight Al Qaeda. Realizing that a conventional approach would not be effective against an unconventional opponent, he declared that “it takes a network to defeat a network and shifted his “focus from moving pieces on the board to shaping the ecosystem.”

The truth is that it is networks of small groups, loosely connected but united by a shared purpose that drives transformational change. Effective leaders know that their role is to empower others by helping to connect people in order to achieve that purpose.

4. They Learn From Their Mistakes

One of the most surprising things I found in my research is how consistently early efforts failed. The first march on Washington, the Woman Suffrage Procession of 1913, quickly spiraled out of control. Gandhi’s first efforts to bring disobedience to India ended so horribly he would later call it his Himalayan miscalculation. Steve jobs, quite famously, was fired from Apple.

What made the difference wasn’t the mistakes they made, but how they learned from them. Alice Paul developed more innovative strategies, such as the Silent Sentinel protests, which were less vulnerable to disruption. Suffrage was won in 1919. Gandhi replaced widespread protests with the Salt March. Steve Jobs became more focused and built the World’s most valuable company.

Unfortunately, many of today’s activists don’t seem to have the same strategic flexibility. Once the #Occupy protesters went home, they never seemed to come up with an alternative approach. The riots at Ferguson were replaced, six years later, by the George Floyd riots. The modern women’s movement continues to march, with little to show for it.

None of this is to say that these causes are unworthy or that they are doomed to failure. What it does mean is that, if they are to succeed, they need to understand how revolutions fail and do something different. In an age of disruption, the only viable strategy is to adapt.

— Article courtesy of the Digital Tonto blog
— Image credit: Pexels

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

12 Reasons to Write Your Own Letter of Recommendation

1 Reply

12 Reasons to Write Your Own Letter of Recommendation

GUEST POST from Arlen Meyers, M.D.

Are you stuck? The first step in making a career change is self reflection.

One way to describe yourself and your transferable skills and what you have in mind for the future is to write your own letter of recommendation instead of asking me to do it.

Here are some tips on how to do it. But, why should you do it?

It saves me the trouble of doing it
You know yourself a whole lot better than I do
It makes you think about why somone would want to hire you
It gives you some ideas about where your blind spots and skills gaps are once you have read the job description of a potential job
You will do a much better job than I would
It will give you the chance to use key words that will drive AI resume scanners
You can link to your personal website and other online social media sites that I don’t know about
You can delete social media posts and sites that are not flattering
It will force you to buff up your resume and coordinate it with your Linked profile for a particular job
You can use if for a personal statement, even if they are falling out of favor and a waste of time
It is another way to be kind to yourself and cultivate your inner advocate
It will help you get over your imposter syndrome and tell people about all those transferable skills you have

If you are taking the long view, then write your own obituary. If that’s too heavy a lift at your stage of the game, then just write you own letter of recommendation before you have to request one and ask someone you know, like and trust to send it for you at the appropriate time. I heartily recommend it.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Bring Newness to Corporate Learning with Gamification

1 Reply

Bring Newness to Corporate Learning with Gamification

GUEST POST from Janet Sernack

I was first introduced to gamification upon meeting Mario Herger, in 2012, when he was a Senior Innovation Strategist at SAP Labs LLC, in Israel, as a participant in his two-day gamification workshop for Checkpoint Security Software. It was an exciting and exhilarating journey into the playful and innovative world of gamification pioneers such as Farmville, Angry Birds, and BetterWorks. Creatively exploiting the convergence of trends catalyzed by the expansion of the internet, and by the fast pace of exponential technology development making gamification accessible to everyone.

Propelled further by people’s increasing desire to socialize and share ideas and knowledge across the globe. Coupled with their desire to learn and connect in a high-tech world, to be met in ways that also satisfied their aspirational, motivational, and recreational needs, as well as being playful and fun.

The whole notion of making gamification accessible to corporate learning simmered in my mind, for the next ten years, and this is what I have since discovered.

Evolution of the gamification market

In 2012 Gartner predicted that – Gamification combined with other technologies and trends, gamification would cause major discontinuities in innovation, employee performance management, education, personal development, and customer engagement. Further claiming that by 2014, 80% of organizations will have gamified at least one area of their business.

It seems their prediction did not eventuate.

In their Gamification 2020 report, Gartner then predicted that gamification, combined with other emerging trends and technologies, will have a significant impact on:

Innovation
The design of employee performance
The globalization of higher education
The emergence of customer engagement platforms
Gamification of personal development.

It seems this prediction is now an idea whose time has come!

According to Mordor Intelligence – The global gamification market was valued at USD 10.19 million in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 38.42 million by 2026 and grow at a CAGR of 25.10% over the forecast period (2021 – 2026). The exponential growth in the number of smartphones and mobile devices has directly created a vast base for the gamification market.

This growth is also supported by the increasing recognition of making gamification accessible as a methodology to redesign human behavior, in order to induce innovation, productivity, or engagement.

Purpose of gamification

The initial purpose of gamification was to add game mechanics into non-game environments, such as a website, online communities, learning management systems, or business intranets to increase engagement and participation.

The initial goal of gamification was to engage with consumers, employees, and partners to inspire collaboration, sharing, and interaction.

Gamification and corporate learning

The last two years of the coronavirus pandemic caused many industries to deal with their audiences remotely and combined with an urgent need for having the right technologies and tools to:

Reach out to, and connect with, both their employees and customers, in new ways

Acknowledging the range of constraints and restrictions occurring globally we have an opportunity to couple these with the challenges, disconnectedness, isolation, and limitations of our remote and hybrid workplaces.

While many of us are seeking more freedom, fun, play, and adventure, yet, we are still mostly bound to our laptops, TVs, and kitchens, and locked up within the boundaries of our homes, local neighborhoods, and hometowns.

Expanding knowledge, mindsets, behaviors, and skills

At the same time, this period has also created incredible opportunities for expanding our knowledge, and developing new mindsets, behaviors, and skills!

In different ways to help teams and organizations adapt, innovate, and grow through gamification, which increases our adaptability to flow and flourish and drive transformation, within a constantly, exponentially changing, and disruptive workplace.

Benefits of a gamified approach

Companies that have focused on making gamification accessible within their learning programs are reaping the rewards, as recent studies revealed:

The use of mobile applications gamified individually or as a complement to an LMS or e-learning platform has been shown to improve employee productivity by 50% and commitment by 60%.
That 97% of employees over the age of 45 believe that gamification would help improve work.
That 85% of employees are willing to spend more time on training programs with gamified dynamics.

Gamification is finally at an inflection point

The shift from face-to-face and live events to online created an opening for improving the quality of coaching, learning, and training experiences in ways that align with the client’s or organization needs and strategic business goals.

Keeping people and teams connected, engaged, and motivated in the virtual and hybrid workplace for extended periods of time is a key factor in business success.

Atrivity is a platform that empowers employees and channels to learn, develop, and perform better through games have identified eight trends influencing the growth and adoption of gamification including:

Gamification for Digital Events are here to stay, people are time and resource-poor, and will more likely attend a digital event rather than invest time and resources in travelling.
Gamification for Millennials and gen-Z is their new normal, being a generation who have grown up with, and become habitually attuned to Facebook and Instagram.
The start of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality is speeding up and offers new creative approaches.
Remote onboarding becomes standard as we all adapt to a globalized and diversified work environment.
Gamification helps to reduce hospital strains with emerging telehealth innovations.
Customization of, and access to contents allows us to visit museums, galleries, libraries virtually
Knowledge evaluation metrics have become common proactive through the use of app-based dashboards and scorecards that provide gamified reward and recognition processes
Gamification is an Enterprise “must-have” tactic to attract and retain talent.

Corporate learning is also finally at an inflection point

Innovative new organizations like Roundtable Learning focus on co-creating one-of-a-kind training programs that utilize innovative technologies, reflect the client’s brand, and show measurable business results by enhancing traditional corporate learning practices and embracing more interactive, engaging programs.

This is what ImagineNation™ is collaborating with Binnakle Serious Games to bring newness, creativity and play, experimentation, and learning in gamified ways to enable people and teams to innovate, by making gamification accessible to everyone!

We have integrated technology and co-created a range of blended learning solutions:

Digital and gamified learning experiences for groups and teams.
Playful and experiential learning activities that deliver deep learning outcomes.
Co-creation of customized or bespoke blended learning programs that deliver what they promise.

Making corporate learning accessible, affordable, and scalable

Our aim is to make corporate learning agile, by making gamification accessible, and scalable to everybody, across all time zones, modalities, geographies, and technologies.

Where people have time and space to unlearn, relearn, reskill and upskill by engaging in and interacting with both technology and people:

Understand and learn new innovative processes, concepts, principles, and techniques and feel that their new skills are valued.
Retreat, reflect and explore, discover and navigate new ways of being, thinking, and acting individually and collectively.
Question, challenge the status quo and experiment with new ideas, explore effective collaborative analytical, imaginative, aligned problem-solving and decision-making strategies.
Safely fail without punishment, make and learn from mistakes, to iterate and pivot creative ideas and innovative solutions that really matter.

To meet our client’s short- and long-term learning needs in terms of innovation focus or topic depth and breadth. Through enhancing teaming, teamwork, and collaboration, by offering products and tools that make gamification accessible to suit all peoples learning styles, time constraints, diverse technologies, and cost needs.

Who was I to know that it would take another ten years for making gamification accessible enough to reach a tipping point!

An opportunity to learn more

Image Credit: Unsplash

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

A Brave Post-Coronavirus New World

Leave a reply

A Brave Post-Coronavirus New World

GUEST POST from Greg Satell

In 1973, in the wake of the Arab defeat in the Yom Kippur war with Israel, OPEC instituted an oil embargo on America and its allies. The immediate effects of the crisis was a surge in gas prices and a recession in the west. The ripple effects, however, were far more complex and played out over decades.

The rise in oil prices brought much needed hard currency to the Soviet Union, prolonging its existence and setting the stage for its later demise. The American auto industry, with its passion for big, gas guzzling cars, lost ground to the emergent. The new consciousness of conservation led to the establishment of the Department of Energy.

Today the Covid-19 crisis has given a shock to the system and we’re at a similar inflection point. The most immediate effects have been economic recession and the rapid adoption of digital tools, such as video conferencing. Over the next decade or so, however, the short-term impacts will combine with other more longstanding trends to reshape technology and society.

Pervasive Transformation

We tend to think about innovation as if it were a single event, but the truth is that it’s a process of a process of discovery, engineering and transformation, which takes decades to run its course. For example, Alan Turing discovered the principles of a universal computer in 1936, but it wasn’t until the 1950s and 60s that digital computers became commercially available.

Even then, digital technology, didn’t really begin to become truly transformational until the mid-90s. By this time, it was well understood enough to make the leap from highly integrated systems to modular ecosystems, making the technology cheaper, more functional and more reliable. The number of applications exploded and the market grew quickly.

Still, as the Covid-19 crisis has made clear, we’ve really just been scratching the surface. Although digital technology certainly accelerated the pace of work, it did fairly little to fundamentally change the nature of it. People still commuted to work in an office, where they would attend meetings in person, losing hours of productive time each and every day.

Over the next decade, we will see pervasive transformation. As Mark Zuckerberg has pointed out, once people can work remotely, they can work from anywhere, which will change the nature of cities. Instead of “offsite” meetings, we may very well have “onsite” meetings where people from their home cities over travel to headquarters to do more active collaboration.

These trends will combine with nascent technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain to revolutionize business processes and supply chains. Organizations that cannot adopt key technologies will very likely find themselves unable to compete.

The Rise of Heterogeneous Computing

The digital age did not begin with personal computers in the 70s and 80s, but started back in the 1950s with the shift from electromechanical calculating machines to transistor based mainframes. However, because so few people used computers back then—they were largely relegated to obscure back office tasks and complex scientific calculations—the transformation took place largely out of public view.

A similar process is taking place today with new architectures such as quantum and neuromorphic computing. While these technologies are not yet commercially viable, they are advancing quickly and will eventually become thousands, if not millions, of times more effective than digital systems.

However, what’s most important to understand is that they are fundamentally different from digital computers and from each other. Quantum computers will create incredibly large computing spaces that will handle unimaginable complexity. Neuromorphoic systems, based on the human brain, will be massively powerful, vastly more efficient and more responsive.

Over the next decade we’ll be shifting to a heterogeneous computing environment, where we use different architectures for different tasks. Most likely, we’ll still use digital technology as an interface to access systems, but increasingly performance will be driven by more advanced architectures.

A Shift From Bits to Atoms

The digital revolution created a virtual world. My generation was the first to grow up with video games and our parents worried that we were becoming detached from reality. Then computers entered offices and Dan Bricklin created Visicalc, the first spreadsheet program. Eventually smartphones and social media appeared and we began spending almost as much time in the virtual world as we did in the physical one.

Essentially, what we created was a simulation economy. We could experiment with business models in our computers, find flaws and fix them before they became real. Computer-aided design (CAD) software allowed us to quickly and cheaply design products in bits before we got down to the hard, slow work of shaping atoms. Because it’s much cheaper to fail in the virtual world than the physical one, this made our economy more efficient.

Today we’re doing similar things at the molecular level. For example, digital technology was combined with synthetic biology to quickly sequence the Covid-19 virus. These same technologies then allowed scientists to design vaccines in days and to bring them to market in less than a year.

A parallel revolution is taking in materials science, while at the same time digital technology is beginning to revolutionize traditional industries such as manufacturing and agriculture. The expanded capabilities of heterogeneous computing will accelerate these trends over the next few decades.

What’s important to understand is that we spend vastly more money on atoms than bits. Even at this advanced stage, information technologies only make up about 6% of GDP in advanced economies. Clearly, there is a lot more opportunity in the other 94%, so the potential of the post-digital world is likely to far outstrip anything we’ve seen in our lifetimes.

Collaboration is the New Competitive Advantage

Whenever I think back to when we got that first computer back in the 1980s, I marvel at how different the world was then. We didn’t have email or mobile phones, so unless someone was at home or in the office, they were largely unreachable. Without GPS, we had to either remember where things were or ask for directions.

These technologies have clearly changed our lives dramatically, but they were also fairly simple. Email, mobile and GPS were largely standalone technologies. There were, of course, technical challenges, but these were relatively narrow. The “killer apps” of the post-digital era will require a much higher degree of collaboration over a much more diverse set of skills.

To understand how different this new era of innovation will be, consider how IBM developed the PC. Essentially, they sent some talented engineers to Boca Raton for a year and, in that time, developed a marketable product. For quantum computing, however, it is building a vast network, including national labs, research universities, startups and industrial partners.

The same will be true of the post-Covid world. It’s no accident that Zoom has become the killer app of the pandemic. The truth is that the challenges we will face over the next decade will be far too complex for any one organization to tackle it alone. That’s why collaboration is becoming the new competitive advantage. Power will reside not at the top of hierarchies, but at the center of networks and ecosystems.

— Article courtesy of the Digital Tonto blog
— Image credit: Unsplash

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Aligning Vision and Execution in Change Management

Leave a reply

Aligning Vision and Execution in Change Management

GUEST POST from Chateau G Pato

In the ever-evolving landscape of modern business, the ability to implement effective change management strategies stands as a crucial determinant of an organization’s success. At its core, change management is not just about overseeing transitions; it’s about crafting a vision for the future and ensuring that vision is executed in alignment with organizational goals. But alignment between vision and execution is easier said than done, requiring a meticulous blend of strategic foresight and operational ruthlessness. In this article, we explore how organizations can better align their vision and execution, using compelling case studies to illustrate key points.

The Importance of Alignment in Change Management

Imagine a symphony orchestra preparing for a performance without a conductor. Each musician may be skilled and dedicated, yet without someone to align individual performances, the result would be cacophonous rather than harmonious. Similarly, in organizations, an unaligned approach to change can lead to fragmented efforts, wasted resources, and unmet goals. Alignment ensures that every team member, resource, and process reflects the broader vision, fostering synergistic efforts toward common objectives.

Case Study 1: The Boeing 787 Dreamliner Project

Few change initiatives capture the imagination and exceed complexity like Boeing’s development of the 787 Dreamliner. The bold vision was to create an aircraft that would revolutionize air travel through unprecedented fuel efficiency and passenger comfort. However, the execution proved challenging and serves as a seminal example of the pitfalls of misalignment.

Initially, Boeing’s vision for the 787 was ambitious; they sought to integrate cutting-edge technology and materials, such as composite materials, at a scale never before attempted. The intention was to set new standards and transform the industry. However, execution faltered due to over-reliance on a global network of suppliers combined with the insufficient coordination and oversight mechanisms. Misalignment occurred because the vision did not translate effectively into the operational plans needed for execution. Substantial delays and cost overruns ensued, culminating in the project’s delay by three years and a multi-billion-dollar budget overrun.

The key takeaway from Boeing’s experience is the critical need for effective synchronization between strategic vision and operational execution. To achieve success, organizations must not only define an inspiring vision but also establish a practical roadmap to carry it out. This requires clear communication of roles, expectations, and timelines so that all stakeholders work cohesively towards the shared vision.

Case Study 2: Kotter’s Change Model at Google

Contrast Boeing’s struggles with Google’s relatively smooth adoption of Kotter’s change management model during the rollout of its internal Work-from-Anywhere (WFA) policy. In response to employee feedback and the changing dynamics of workplace flexibility post-pandemic, Google implemented a new telecommuting structure that adhered closely to an established change framework for seamless results.

Google began by communicating a strong vision—a future where work would cater more closely to the individual needs of employees while optimizing productivity. This vision was aligned from the top down, with Google’s leaders embodying the principles being communicated. Execution hinged upon methodical adherence to Kotter’s Change Management principles, including creating the urgency, forming a guiding coalition, and generating early wins to maintain momentum.

By leveraging these principles, Google ensured that all layers of management were engaged and empowered to drive change. Monitoring progress was integral; Google utilized both quantitative KPIs and qualitative employee feedback to iteratively refine and reinforce its approach. The result was a successful shift towards a flexible work model, with minimal disruption and positive employee feedback.

Strategies for Successful Alignment

Reflecting on both successes and setbacks, several strategies emerge for aligning vision and execution:

Clear Communication: Articulate the strategic vision in a way that resonates with every employee from the top levels of management to front-line workers. Use storytelling to connect emotionally with stakeholders.
Empowerment and Engagement: Ensure every team is empowered to make decisions within their domain, fostering a sense of ownership and accountability.
Agility and Adaptation: Build mechanisms for feedback and learning into your change process, allowing you to pivot swiftly when seniors identify mis-alignments or changing conditions.
Technology Leverage: Use technological solutions for tracking, coordinating, and reporting progress in real-time, providing visibility across all levels of the organization.
Leader Involvement: Ensure leaders are both champions of the vision and active participants in its execution, modeling the behaviors and mindsets desired.

Conclusion

Aligning vision and execution is not a one-time task but an ongoing, iterative process that requires diligence, communication, and genuine commitment from all organizational levels. As organizations navigate the complexities of the digital age, those that master this alignment will not just survive but thrive, setting new benchmarks in their industries. The case studies of Boeing and Google illustrate that while the road may be riddled with challenges, transformative success is achievable when vision and execution walk hand in hand.

Extra Extra: Because innovation is all about change, Braden Kelley’s human-centered change methodology and tools are the best way to plan and execute the changes necessary to support your innovation and transformation efforts — all while literally getting everyone all on the same page for change. Find out more about the methodology and tools, including the book Charting Change by following the link. Be sure and download the TEN FREE TOOLS while you’re here.

Image credit: Pixabay

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Creating the World’s Best Change & Transformation Book

Leave a reply

The Perfect Change & Transformation Book On Friday I was speaking with my publisher Palgrave Macmillan (now part of Springer) about doing a second edition of Charting Change.

This means that my publisher is interested in having me create a new version of Charting Change that would include most, if not all, of the content contained in the first edition, while also adding thousands of words of new insights (plus new pictures and tools).

This causes me to ask you the following questions:

What human-centered change and transformation topics are missing from Charting Change?

What information would the perfect change & transformation book contain?

What tools do change management professionals and transformation leaders need to enjoy greater success in their jobs, projects, and programs?

Toolkit subscribers – which of my new tools should I highlight in the second edition that I didn’t introduce in the first edition?

Who do you think has something compelling to add to the conversation in an additional guest expert section in the book? And what is the topic you want to hear from them on?

Charting Change introduced my Human-Centered Change™ methodology and a suite of 50+ tools available for purchase (book buyers get access to 26 of the 50+ tools). That toolkit has since grown to a collection of 70+ tools available to toolkit subscribers.

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported the first edition thus far and also to my Human-Centered Change™ Toolkit subscribers.

I’m interested to hear in the comments below your thoughts on the questions above!
(or send me an email)

If you don’t already have a first edition copy of Charting Change, you can get one here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1137536950/
(support my sharing of free Human-Centered Change & Innovation tools and insights)

And don’t forget to download your Free Human-Centered Change Tools!

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Navigating Change in the 21st Century for Digital Transformation

Leave a reply

Navigating Change in the 21st Century for Digital Transformation

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

In the dawn of the 21st century, digital transformation has become a buzzword that promises to revolutionize industries, enhance customer experiences, and drive business growth. However, digital transformation is more than just adopting the latest technology; it’s a fundamental shift in how organizations operate and deliver value to customers. As a thought leader in human-centered change and innovation, I, Braden Kelley, explore how organizations can successfully navigate this complex landscape.

Understanding Digital Transformation

Digital transformation involves leveraging digital technologies to create new—or modify existing—business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements. It’s a multi-faceted process that requires embracing change across all levels of an organization.

The goal is to integrate digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value to customers. It’s not just about upgrading old technology or adopting new ones but reshaping business processes and thinking differently to attract and retain customers.

Challenges in Digital Transformation

Despite its potential benefits, digital transformation poses several challenges. Organizations often face resistance to change from employees, legacy systems, and outdated processes that can hinder progress. Additionally, a lack of clear strategy, insufficient skills, and the risk of cybersecurity threats can complicate the transformation journey.

Case Study 1: Netflix

The Challenge

In the late 1990s, Netflix began as a DVD rental service, competing with established giants like Blockbuster. As digital streaming technology emerged, the company faced the challenge of adapting or becoming obsolete in the rapidly changing entertainment landscape.

The Transformation

Netflix successfully navigated this challenging environment by embracing digital transformation. The company shifted from DVD rentals to a streaming platform, investing heavily in technology to deliver an unparalleled user experience. By collecting and analyzing user data, Netflix could offer personalized recommendations, making it a leader in the entertainment industry.

Key Takeaways

Netflix’s transformation highlights the importance of staying ahead of technological trends and being willing to pivot business models. Adopting a data-driven approach enabled Netflix to craft a more personalized user experience, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Embracing Change: A Human-Centered Approach

A successful digital transformation requires more than just deploying new technologies. It’s about changing organizational culture and embracing a human-centered approach. This involves considering the needs, pain points, and potential resistance of employees and customers.

Start by fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement. Encourage employees to be part of the transformation journey by providing training and resources to develop digital skills. Engage with customers to gain insights into their behavior and expectations, and use this feedback to inform your digital strategy.

Leadership is crucial in driving change. Leaders should communicate a clear vision of the benefits of digital transformation and involve all stakeholders in the process. Transparency, collaboration, and open communication can help reduce resistance and build a shared vision for success.

Case Study 2: General Electric (GE)

The Challenge

General Electric, a history-rich conglomerate, recognized the advent of digital technology as both a threat and an opportunity. Operating in sectors like energy and aviation, GE faced the challenge of integrating digital technology to improve operational efficiency and develop innovative solutions.

The Transformation

GE embarked on a digital transformation journey by building its Industrial Internet, focusing on merging big data analytics with industrial engineering. The company developed Predix, a cloud-based platform for creating customized applications tailored to specific industrial needs. This move transformed GE’s operations, enabling proactive maintenance, reducing downtime, and improving overall efficiency across its business units.

Key Takeaways

GE’s transformation underscores the significance of integrating digital tools with traditional expertise. By adopting a platform-based approach and investing in talent and technology, GE positioned itself as a digital industrial leader. The commitment to innovation and continuous learning fostered a culture ready to adapt to future changes.

The Path Forward

As we navigate the 21st century, digital transformation will continue to evolve, presenting new opportunities and challenges. Organizations must be agile, adaptable, and innovative to remain competitive in this dynamic environment.

Focus on building the right team with a combination of digital skills and industry experience. Encourage a mindset of lifelong learning and continuous improvement. Moreover, prioritize cybersecurity and data privacy to build trust with customers and partners.

In conclusion, the journey of digital transformation is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It’s an ongoing process that requires strategic planning, cultural change, and a customer-centric approach. By embracing change and leveraging digital technologies effectively, organizations can unlock new possibilities and thrive in the digital age.

Image credit: Pixabay

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Balancing Stability and Change in Leadership

Leave a reply

Balancing Stability and Change in Leadership

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

In today’s dynamic business environment, leadership requires not just vision but also the wisdom to navigate the ongoing dance between stability and change. Leaders who can skillfully balance these forces are able to steer their organizations towards sustainable success. This delicate balancing act involves fostering an environment that values innovation while ensuring that the core stability of the organization is never compromised.

The Significance of Stability and Change

Stability is crucial for creating a sense of security and predictability within an organization. It involves setting clear goals, maintaining reliable processes, and upholding values that have long-term relevance. Conversely, change is necessary for growth, improvement, and adaptation to shifting market conditions. The real challenge for leaders lies in cultivating a culture where both stability and change coexist harmoniously.

Case Study 1: IBM’s Transformation Journey

Background

IBM, a pioneer in the technology industry, is an iconic example of how a company can balance stability and change. Throughout its history, IBM has managed to reinvent itself multiple times to survive market disruptions and technological advancements.

Leadership Strategy

In the early 1990s, IBM faced significant challenges due to technological shifts. Under the leadership of CEO Lou Gerstner, the company underwent a fundamental transformation. Gerstner focused on stabilizing operations by cutting costs and streamlining business units, but he also championed change by steering IBM towards services and software, areas that became cornerstones for future growth.

Outcome

Gerstner’s approach preserved IBM’s core capabilities while opening new avenues for competitiveness, ultimately stabilizing their financial standing and allowing the company to evolve with industry trends. This balance of stabilization and innovation positioned IBM as a leader in the tech industry once more.

Case Study 2: Netflix’s Agile Adaptation

Background

Netflix, originally a DVD rental service, illustrates the power of balancing stability with a constant penchant for change. As the industry shifted towards digital streaming, Netflix recognized that maintaining existing stability would not suffice for future growth.

Leadership Strategy

Under the guidance of CEO Reed Hastings, Netflix moved away from its successful mail-order model towards digital streaming. While ensuring stability in delivering high-quality content, Netflix embraced radical change by investing heavily in original content and international expansion.

Outcome

By successfully balancing operational stability with innovative change, Netflix transformed into a major streaming powerhouse, redefining the industry and setting standards for competitors. This agile transition has helped Netflix maintain its competitive edge and expand its global presence.

Strategies for Leaders to Balance Stability and Change

As demonstrated by IBM and Netflix, effective leaders employ several strategies to balance stability and change. Here are some key approaches:

Empower Innovation: Encourage a culture of innovation where employees can experiment and take calculated risks without fear of failure.
Maintain Core Values: Hold steadfast to organizational values that provide a stable foundation while adapting practices based on them.
Feedback Loops: Implement feedback mechanisms that allow for quick adjustments in line with internal insights and external market changes.
Strategic Change Management: Develop structured processes for managing change that align with customer needs and market demands.
Continuous Learning: Promote learning and development as central to both maintaining stability and facilitating growth.

Conclusion

The most successful leaders skillfully orchestrate stability and change, creating organizations capable of thriving in the face of uncertainty. By following strategic practices and learning from the successes of companies like IBM and Netflix, leaders can guide their organizations toward sustainable future success. In the world of business, where change is the only constant, the challenge for leaders is not only to foresee disruption but also to embrace and integrate it into the very fabric of organizational life.

Image credit: Pixabay

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.