i-Transform - It's All About The People

This part of the site highlights blogs and aspects of our forthcoming book on organizational transformation. We've been busy since the site went up, carrying out the primary research to support our work on our forthcoming book.

How Co-Creation Leads To Successful Innovation

Definitions of innovation continue to abound—sustaining, disrupting, process, technological, digital, business model—are just some of the different spins that put on this word (innovation) ... To me, true innovation is inherently about exploring first the ‘why’ and then the ‘how’ of coming up with new ways of creating and/or delivering value. It’s not just one or two people having a brilliant idea; it’s translating that idea or invention into something that creates value for a customer. It’s a team sport. That’s where co-creation comes into the picture. ...

From Understanding Customers To Business Model Reinvention

Most organisations today still make things which they sell to customers. When the customer tires of the thing or the thing breaks down, or a shiny new thing comes along (either from the company or a competitor), the customer is expected to buy a new thing. It’s up to the customer to get the value out of the things. And let’s face it, as customers ourselves, our expectations on value have changed over recent years. We want that value—however we perceive it—delivered faster, cheaper, and more conveniently ...

A Framework For Business Transformation

Organizations are still trying to figure out how to transform as they struggle to meet the ever-changing expectations’ of their customers, and begin the process of rationalising their businesses and technology infrastructure. They want a roadmap—one that delivers the revolutionary benefits of transformation but without the risks. Instead, firms need to find an evolutionary path—a pragmatic set of steps and approaches that help the organisation and its employees develop the skills and competencies they need for the journey ahead. ...

The Journey Of Change

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
'I don't much care where -' said Alice.
'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.”

And for many corporations, it is challenging to set the direction. They don’t know where they are, have no map or compass, and only a vague idea of the objective in the distance. ...

Understanding Organisational Maturity And Why It’s Important

We’ve analysed some 670 change programs over the last 4 years, with detailed responses from 150 organisations in 2015. In partnership with the Process Excellence (PEX) Network, we conducted two surveys in 2011 and 2013 to understand organisational maturity. We set out to understand the benefits of increased maturity and how firms have improved their maturity. In mid-2015, we conducted a third round of research to find out what it takes to achieve successful change programs within an organisation. ...

A Major European Bank Employs Business Architecture And CX To Overcome Silos

EuroBank was embarking on a major change programme aimed at reinventing the core of the organisation over the next 5 years.

Business Challenge

The Bank had been relatively successful in avoiding the financial meltdown – mostly as a result of some cautious risk management in the early 2000s. Following previous rounds of M&A, the Bank had multiple overlapping systems and products. With strong functionally-organised business units, there was no effective way of challenging their dominance; each department set its own budgets and employed their own IT resources. To set up the Bank for a successful, long-term business simplification change initiative, the Bank started to explore a combination of a centralised Business Architecture initiative and CX programmes. It had to develop both the muscles and reflexes it would need for the transformation ahead. ...

Career Development Within A Major Financial Institution

Career development is one of the top engagement and retention drivers for all generations.

>The careers team of a major financial institution looked for a way to help its people take ownership of their own careers. They wanted to help them develop more fulfilling career paths – and equally important, to increase the organisation’s engagement of its employees.

The careers team felt that they needed to build the self-awareness amongst employees and then help them use this insight to develop their career plans. ...

Change The Trajectory

In a workshop for Change Program Managers at a major bank, one of the teams started their project presentation with the phrase “There’s nothing like a major operational failure to get everyone’s attention …” Think BP in the Gulf, Volkswagen the diesel cheat, RBS and their countless systems meltdowns, Standard Chartered and Iran, Barclays and Libor … Sony or Target with their security woes. ...

The central thesis of this book is that the deterministic approach to change just doesn’t work. Galileo Galilei once said “You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him find it within himself.” Too many change efforts in big businesses start with exactly the opposite; they begin with decree and diktat. The initiative risks getting derailed before it gets started ...

How Do You Ensure Change Program Success?

Answer: Start with Customer Experience and Business Architecture

Our research is based on three surveys conducted with IQPC and the PEX Network over the last 4 years. We've been exploring the maturity of organizational change programs, looking for the ingredients of success. In that time, we’ve analysed some 670 change programs, with detailed responses from over 150 organisations in June 2015.

We found that the primary benefit of organizational maturity was the significant reduction in change programme failure ...

Your Furniture Will Not Transform Your Business

Answer: You Need To Engage Your People To Do That

So often, we hear of “transformation” initiatives where the result has somehow been pre-ordained. In relatively low maturity organisations, the management team might think it is just question of “add technology and stir” – as though, all they need is a believable sounding plan and then to make someone accountable for making it happen.

Their mental models are often stuck in a top-down, mandate the change and it will happen mode. ...