Business transformation is a catchall phrase for many types of organizational initiatives: aligning people, process, technology with key strategic imperatives, and vision. Ultimately, the only reason for business transformation is the outcome – better performance, growth, and often turning a company around from impending doom. It’s all about the results.
According to HBR.org – The Daily Stat:
Changing a company is tough: only about 40% of transformation programs succeed, according to McKinsey research.**…Our research finds that most successful transformations are those that are both offensive and proactive – we call them “progressive” – which have a 47% success rate. Defensive transformations have a 34% rate of success.
In addition to structure and clear targets, one element of the success formula is “maintaining energy and involvement” throughout the transformation. What does that mean and what does that look like?
To me, this is beyond leadership. For one person to maintain energy and involvement, that would be leadership. For an entire organization to maintain steady levels of energy for change is a feat. I think this is what’s possible when there’s a mindset of never giving up. This is a transformation of epic proportion.
Transforming this mindset is essentially transforming an organization’s context. This is a shift from the normal and natural tendency of giving up, to keeping going; from sacrifice, to having; from limitation, to unlimited. Easier said than done. But when done, it gives a true transformation with an impact larger than business results. Families, communities, and who knows who or what else, can get impacted by an organization that holds the line on anything being possible.
Perhaps this is the ultimate possibility of business transformation.
What should we write about next?