Continuous Transformation: Using Continuous Transformation to Create a Transformation Engine
Strategic and orderly continuous transformation sets companies apart over the long term. The unleashing of sustained value creation through continuous transformation provides financial, personal, as well as societal rewards. Continuous transformations are possible when a Transformation Engine exists. Examples of transformation engine success stories continue to be recognized and trumpeted. It is inspiring to learn about how one company or another is either changing the world or leading the way… “The Machine that Changed the World” and “The GE Way” among others come to mind. These two situations, as well as many more, all “started small” and grew into transformation engines.
As a result of these perceived benefits, transformations are being pursued all the time at various places and levels within every organization. Internal transformation success stories are broadcast throughout every company in some manner and they are what everyone is talking about. Markets are changed, careers are made and success is contagious when transformation engines are created. So how do local transformations turn into transformation engines? More fundamentally, how do you lead your transformation activities to become a transformation engine for your function, site, or business?
Transformation activities that turn into transformation engines share a similar structure or model. Transformation engines have a combination of design and operating elements/characteristics that are captured with an Operating System Model. The design elements provide the description of the framework within which business is conducted. The operating elements enable the business to function while concurrently enabling learning that leads to testing and implementation of the necessary adaptations needed to sustain transformation.
Very often transformations focus on one or two elements within the overall Operating System. For example, Lean often focuses on process and measures. The focus provides context (where in the design)and clarity(what operating characteristics). Addressing a combination design and operating elements very often leads to success. However, sustaining the transformation beyond the initial area, function, location, business or leader or leadership team requires engagement of all 6 elements.
The OS Design Elements policy and synchronization are often left out of the initial stages of the transformation. In addition, transformations often end when certain leaders move on. Complexity of the situation, lack of agreement, lack of overall leadership engagement/knowledge are some of the reasons transformations never become transformation engines. Furthermore, the management system and the redesign management operating elements are critical for execution and, particularly, for learning. However, both of these elements include implicit “ways of doing business” that are generally not addressed explicitly or likely not connected making them difficult to transform.
In addition, the OS Elements are deliberately quite broad, but need to be addressed in an orderly fashion. Employing an effective and efficient approach within and especially across OS Elements has to be based on intimate knowledge of a department, function, site, business or company. Therefore, the transformation must be managed “from within”. An OS based transformation cannot be “done to an organization”. It must be done by an organization to itself.
At this point, it is critical to provide further description of each of the 6 OS Elements to enable them to be better understood to enable effective definition and usage. The version of the OS Model shown below was developed by Alex Brown of Recon Strategy and it provides valuable high level descriptions of each element. These descriptions enable the OS Design and Operating Elements to begin to “come to life”.
When thinking about your transformation, which OS elements are you addressing? Which elements have you not addressed or not addressed sufficiently? If you were to address them, what would be your approach? What would be your starting point? Is the starting point based on diagnosis? These are a few of the questions for anyone endeavoring to move to the next level by creating a transformation engine that achieves Continuous Transformation.
