A Practical Guide to Redesigning Your Organisation
Transformational Change
Learn how to navigate transformational change with a structured framework for aligning strategy, design, implementation, and management.
Overview
Introduction
Transformational change redefines how organisations operate, moving beyond incremental improvements to strategic, cross-functional overhauls. This guide introduces the “Storyboard” approach, a structured framework to align strategy, design, implementation, and management, ensuring cohesive and sustainable transformation. Whether addressing digital disruption or redesigning an operating model, this is your practical roadmap for success.
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Table of Contents
In this guide you will learn about:
What is Transformation
Change in organisations varies from day to day improvement to drastic shifts in the way things are done. The range of change is vast, from simple process improvement in Kaizen sessions to radical shifts in operations due to substantial disruption.
Transformational change is a bit more than just change, it means cross functional revolution that requires substantial rebuilding of operational capabilities. Some call this “step change” which conjures up the right image of a “big change” generally based on a change in strategic direction.
Transformation is amending an organisation from one model of operating to another very different one.
How transformation differs from Continuous Improvement
There is much written on continuous improvement, which proposes change through repeated small steps, many approaches exist like lean sigma and these methods are well documented.
Much of continual improvement is based on incremental change – small evolutional steps and these are emergent within operational environments. The changes improve day to day operations by removing waste and applying new skills, technology and innovation to existing problems and issues.
This type of activity often is confined within departments or functions and rarely is cross functional or end to end in its delivery. Continual improvement seeks to improve an existing manifestation of a strategy, it rarely involves “clearing the decks and starting again”.
This type of change also has a diminishing return as the “low hanging fruit” are picked and successive improvements deliver less and less value. Continual change has a role but at some point it reaches a point where transformation is required instead.
Introducing Digital Transformation
Today we see the phrase “digital transformation” where historic methods of operation have been or are in the process of “turned over” wholesale by new technologies. As much as this revolves around technology and in some cases too much, it describes the concept of transformation well.
Of course this is nothing new, Michael Porter described the threats of new entrants and substitution of product some twenty-five years ago and essentially digital disruption and its digital transformation “buzz phrases” are old ideas in new packaging but nevertheless it all makes sense.
Issues with Transformational Change
Transformational change requires a mix of skills: strategic, design, implementation and day to day operational management control.
Each of these stages, which we will revisit later, are disciplines in their own right with their own methodologies, professional competencies , training and literature:
- Strategy people do strategy.
- Designers, architects of various forms and business analysts do design.
- Project Managers do delivery
- Operational managers manage the result.
Separate disciplines exist
Within each zone is a body of knowledge in its own right with, in many cases, professional qualifications certification and bespoke methods.
In frequent negative transformation initiatives the following is true:
- Strategists are often misjudged, or unclear as to how to make their ideas happen.
- Designers misconstrue the strategy and have preconceived technical solutions in mind.
- Implementers are judged by project management disciplines and just get things done whatever.
- Operational managers see themselves as clearing up the mess afterwards.
Communication across the boundaries and the implicit cultural competition between protagonists within bespoke disciplines described is often the cause of poor transformation.
Change is functionally based
Often change occurs in departmental or organisational isolation; “stove pipes” is a popular phrase and describes the situation well.
How the whole organisation fits together to serve its stakeholders is difficult to understand and represents the most significant change for the executive layer in firms. This cross functional collaboration is a principle challenge.
Transformation is often seen as a temporary
This temporary approach is resourced as such with the use of outside consultancies and contractor staff both of whom consolidate the cultural differences embedded in the disciplines described above.
This all prevents long term cultural ownership and accountability. Often transformation is broken down into work streams and handed off to outsourced partners or people hired to deliver section and these people have little overall ownership of the vision – they are paid to deliver their bit.
Often, they do but sometimes at the expense of the greater whole.
The Transformation Storyboard
Many of us can write lyrically about the issues of transformation and can quote one failure after another, this is not exactly too helpful so what can we do about it?
We propose a “Storyboard” that provides well-defined scenes to take us from formulating a strategy right through to controlling the outcome of that strategy. The story board paints a picture of the journey giving a “route map” to help people deliver transformational change across disciplines and ensure it all fits together,
The “voyage of transformation” has four phases that need clear direction and guidance from beginning to end. The four phases are:
- Strategy Definition
- Operating Model Design
- Implementation
- Management and Control
Each phase logically follows on from the other but with the intention to revisit and refine. One step does not have to finish in its entirety, or to all levels of detail, before the other starts. There is a little bit of fluidity between the stages with rework as details and implications become clearer.
A strategy may need some modification if its design suggests lack of practicality or reduced business benefits. So please don’t get the idea that you complete each phase sign it off and move on, transformation isn’t as simple as that unfortunately.
- Each phase has a proposed model or method for its completion the parts of which are described in detail model by model. This gives guidance and structure to assist in completing the task at hand.
- Each model produces out puts that provide the entry point for the next step and later stages accept the information from earlier stages and add and transform the prompts and key points into progress along the overall journey.
- Each component of the models has tools and techniques to provide guidance to complete the method. These guidelines and steps give greater of detail activity at both a leadership and practitioner level.
- Each of the four models has a “canvas” to help collect and develop structure in the analysis and thinking.
Transformation tools and themes
There are a number of tools and themes that run right through the quest to tie the parts together; these are:
- Stakeholder Value Analysis
- Value Delivery Chains
- Business Case
- Benefits realisation
In all we provide the tools and techniques to deliver transformation in one place and in one way – this is quite a revelation in a change management landscape that previously was fragmented and disconnected.
Watch this space over the next few months as we reveal each phase and the tools within it.
About the author
David Winders BSc (Hons), DTLLS
David is a strategic partner of The Sixsess Consultancy an organisation specialising in Business Architecture and the development of effective business change.
David has worked in business design and business transformation for over three decades with many large organisations including Centrica, Barclays Bank, Dell Financial Services and AXA.
David Winders
Business Architect - Principal Target Operating Model Course Facilitator.
