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"Less top-down, fewer one-size-fits-all programmes: how digital training, learning and remote work could change for the better after the COVID-19 pandemic..."

A Wake-Up Call For Business

Steve Denning: In 2011, I wrote that the Shift Index was the most important business study ever. It’s great to have it updated, although disappointing to see that there has been continuing decline.

John Hagel: Hopefully, it’s a wake-up call. The core message is that technology is creating this mounting pressure to do things differently. It’s creating a world that is very different from the world that businesses have operated in the past. So until they figure out how to reconfigure their businesses and their operations, they are going to face mounting pressure and the deteriorating performance. The positive side is that the situation creates virtually unlimited opportunities if they can figure it out and adapt to the new world.

Denning: That’s a paradox: unlimited opportunities limited exploitation of them.

Hagel. Unfortunately the reaction of many companies when faced with mounting pressure is to do what they have always done, that is to squeeze harder on what they are currently doing, and try to squeeze more out of everybody. One of the most striking contrasts is the metric around labor productivity, which has been steadily increasing, versus the return on assets which has been plummeting.

Whenever any new technology emerges that challenges the way people and businesses have been doing things for years or even decades, the initial excitement is often overshadowed by uncertainty and reluctance to try something new. In the early days of the cloud, it was almost inconceivable to think that it would lead to such a profound shift in how businesses operate. More recently, the drive toward digital transformation has caused even greater anxiety in some organizations.

In this age of digital transformation, all industries -- from manufacturing and banking to hospitality and retail -- are evolving. This means that decision makers must identify key business issues, not technology issues, that digital transformation can tackle. Companies need to not only harness the power of the latest digital technologies and platforms to stay relevant and competitive but also course-correct their business models based on evolving customer demands.

This type of transformation should be seen as a journey, not a destination. It is a cycle of change and progress, both from a technological and organizational standpoint. It’s about constantly reassessing opportunities to do things better, faster and with greater scale in the evolving environment in which one’s business operates.

Today’s organizations and institutions are suffering from a severe case of responsiveness lag, where their internal structures, operating procedures and time signatures are increasingly out of sync with the external pace and scale of change. As Jack Welch, the legendary chief executive of General Electric, famously quipped: “If the rate of change outside exceeds the rate of change inside, the end is near.”

Today, organizations and institutions are disappearing at increasing rates because they are failing to adapt to the increasing complexity of the economic ecosystem. To survive digital Darwinism, organizations and institutions must evolve into ‘instant enterprises’ that maintain a perpetual state of readiness to respond to the unexpected.

When it comes to Strategic Management for decades the focus has been on Scientific Management - which was never scientific in the first place - and the idea business could be run and controlled like a machine. Such ideas ignored the fact businesses are social systems – the clue being in the term “company” - and operate within even larger social systems. And for decades management theories have been obsessed with performance, efficiency and competition. I am not suggesting they are unimportant factors, but as Colin Price, a co-author of Beyond Performance[v] said in an interview with me, “When it comes to achieving sustained excellence in performance, what separates winners from losers, paradoxically, is the very focus on performance. Performance focused leaders invest heavily in those things that enable targets to be met quarter-by-quarter, year-by-year but they tend to neglect investment in company health; investments in the organization that need to be made today in order to survive and thrive tomorrow”. Good strategic management cares about performance and health in the short, medium and long-term.

Huh? What is change management?

It’s a question that those of us in the field get a lot. And having heard a few people try and answer the question, gee whiz it gets complicated.
Here’s the simple break down.

You know how people generally don’t like change?

And you know how businesses like to change things a lot?

Change management is the practice of helping people like the changes a lot more than they normally might.

Innovation is happening at an unprecedented rate. It feels like technology is advancing faster than ever because it actually is. It’s happening in nearly every industry, from biotech to diamond mining, and not only are we seeing great strides when it comes to efficiency, affordability and access, we’re also seeing total disruption. New models are systematically uprooting the way we think and behave.

The term “disruptor” has developed a unicorn status in Silicon Valley. If you didn’t know better, you might think the Race to Disrupt was an extreme sport. I myself have been called a disruptor for removing sweeteners from flavored water and bringing attention to the epidemic of sugar consumption in the beverage industry. While I’ll admit I don’t hate it, I have to say: being a disruptor is not all glory. There are a few things you should understand about disruption. Here’s how to turn the world upside down.

The impact of work cultures on the bottom line is a hot business topic. More execs and HR leaders are connecting the dots on how an ecosystem of commonly held values, beliefs, and positive work behaviors drives engagement, innovation, and high performance.

Yet culture doesn't just happen. It takes visionary, servant leadership at the top creating the environment for intrinsically motivated employees to release discretionary effort.

These are selfless leaders who shine the spotlight on others instead of themselves. They have one thing in mind: How do I empower my tribe to reach their potential? You'll find that they are givers--in a personal, leadership, and organizational sense.

In a national report released today, two out of three adults surveyed said they want to spend time with people who aren’t their age, while three in four wish there were more opportunities to get to know different age groups. Why, then, aren’t there more intergenerational programs and initiatives?

In a change it is vital to think about the people and what they are going to lose (and also what their perceived losses will be).

Anyone attempting to lead change in an organization knows to expect some resistance. Change is not a rational process; no matter how positive the future you are creating, it’s natural for humans to struggle with it.

Such resistance is no less frustrating for being predictable. At times, it can seem that all that stands between you and your goals are a few naysayers and whiners. And to those on a mission, such reactions can seem like putting one’s head in the sand. “The old business is not coming back,” one CEO told me. “We have to innovate or we will die.” Faced with negative remarks, critical questions, or stony silence, change champions naturally begin to interact more with those already on board, consciously or unconsciously distancing themselves from those who “don’t get it.

Gradually, a wall begins to form between “us” and “them” — champions who support the change, and resisters who openly or quietly oppose it. Unfortunately, approaching change with an “us versus them” mind-set actually increases pushback. When we think of people as resisters, we don’t truly engage with them. We tend to discount their perspective, assuming that if we are right, they must be wrong.

There’s a lot of discussion about what makes a person successful. Some say it’s the people you know or your network. Others say it’s all about how you organize your day and your priorities. Others say it’s innate personality characteristics.

All of the things listed above are extremely important. And, we wanted to know what really creates true greatness in people—where their work is so good that they win awards for it. 

Most people go through life not really getting any smarter. Why? They simply won't do the work required.

It's easy to come home, sit on the couch, watch TV, and zone out until bedtime rolls around. But that's not going to help you get smarter.

Sure, you can go into the office the next day and discuss the details of last night's episode of Mad Men or Game of Thrones. And yes, you know what happened on Survivor. But that's not knowledge accumulation; that's a mind-numbing sedative.

You can acquire knowledge if you want it. In fact, there is a simple formula, which if followed is almost certain to make you smarter over time. Simple but not easy.

It involves a lot of hard work.

We'll call it the Buffett formula, named after Warren Buffett and his longtime business partner at Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger. These two are an extraordinary combination of minds. They are also learning machines.

When we bluntly challenge ourselves to figure out what we can change & can’t, what to lose & keep, we often surprise ourselves

“Acknowledge the impediments to change and tackle them with cultural change from the top. Make sure those people you challenge to be the catalyst for change have the necessary knowledge of the business at hand, competencies, and respect from others. And empower them to win the battle.”

Big Bang reorganizations don’t work. They are lengthy, ineffective and hard.

Organizations reorganize all too often. This resets the culture changes of agile transformations. They are also expensive, and it is hard to attract and retain talent when they get tired of yet another reorganization. 

There is a better way: incremental reorganization. It's like incremental Product Development for your organization.

During the past decade, business analytics platforms have evolved from supporting IT and finance functions to enabling business users across the enterprise. But many firms find themselves struggling to take advantage of its promise. We’ve found three main obstacles to realizing analytics’ full value, and all of them are related to people, not technology: the organization’s structure, culture, and approach to problem solving.

The contemporary business world lauds those who are seen as creative. Innovators such as Elon Musk and Jony Ive have become household names. Yet, for many of us, despite our best efforts to be recognized as creative thinkers, our suggestions in meetings are ignored and our pitches to bosses get rebuffed.

If your colleagues have already formed an opinion of you as technically competent but a little staid, it’s going to take a lot to change their minds and get them to listen — a situation that’s especially true for women, who, research suggests, are often unfairly viewed as less creative than men.

Great business leaders should always seek out ways to work smarter, not harder. Efficiency is incredibly important, especially when time is money. Hard work is draining and long hours keep you away from your family and social life. It's important to keep a healthy balance between your work and personal life, so it only makes sense that you would want to find better ways to get things done. Here are five tips on how to work smarter, not harder:

I’m accustomed to handling clients who are at a crossroads in their lives and are looking for change—after all, I’m a career coach. So this usually involves guiding clients through some pretty heavy soul-searching to help them find the sort of truly fulfilling work that we all deserve.

This also means many of my clients are in an indecisive state at the outset—that’s to be expected. But I don’t think I’ve had a more indecisive client than Kevin. When I asked Kevin what sort of career he truly wanted to pursue, he blanked. I asked him what he enjoys doing and what he’s really good at, and he could never seem to articulate a direct answer.