As funding cuts, conflict and new approaches to foreign relations upend the status quo of global development, it would be easy for organisations to cling to established systems, seeking out stability in the face of the unknown. But their survival depends on how well they can adapt.
Recently, SRI Executive led discussions at the Friends of the Career Development Roundtable (FoCDR) on how successful organisational transformation is achieved. It was clear from the beginning that these new global challenges were creating a need for internal transformation, but that fear could hold organisations back from courageous change. With the right process, organisations can address this fear and create lasting, impactful change, ensuring that they not only survive but thrive going forward. In this article, we are sharing our reflections from these discussions.
Defining the Change You Need – What is Organisational Transformation?
Understanding what organisational transformation really means for you is essential to ensuring lasting change. At the most basic, it can be defined as creating a shift in how your organisation operates. But it is far more complicated than a few simple process changes. In our experience, successful transformations require changes in culture, leadership, technology and strategies. A comprehensive process ensures that your organisation adapts to internal and external challenges and thrives across all areas of operation.
Crucially, organisational transformation is about recognising the need for your organisation to evolve and to continue evolving as the world around you shifts and your own internal needs change. An agile organisation that knows how to adapt has the foundation needed to build a better future. But understanding the transformation you need is only the first step to creating this foundation, there are still barriers you will face as you attempt to make real change.
Addressing Fear - What stops change from working?
Fear. Over and over again at the FoCDR, this word came up. It can be easy to fear change, particularly at the scale that an organisational transformation requires. People are uncertain of their future and how they will fit into their organisation after alterations are made. Leaders worry about upsetting their teams, being judged around their capabilities, and not being able to move fast enough to keep up with the speed that change happens. Across all areas of an organisation, SRI has seen fear of failure. It can be hard to start a transformation process when you are afraid that the end result will be a disappointment.
It is not that fear is the only obstacle to successful change, but it is often the root of the wider obstacles, such as a lack of buy-in from the team, assigning of fault for internal issues, and difficulty aligning on end goals. Creating a lasting transformation requires a process that deals with the fears your team are experiencing from the top leadership throughout the entire organisation.
Creating Lasting Change – Generative Change
Creating change that lasts is the greatest challenge for organisational transformation. You can understand the changes you need to make, invest in the process and address your team's fears, and still find that the transformation you achieved was only temporary. This usually occurs because organisations make the mistake of seeing their transformation as a predetermined endpoint. Traditional organisational transformation even encourages this, building transformation around a singular goal with unchangeable milestones that leave no room for creativity or innovation.
What you need is an approach that encourages ingenuity and adaptive thinking. A Generative Change process creates space for solutions that evolve with your organisation, accounting for the unpredictable. At its core, it is a process that recognises that change is a continuous process and that even as a solution is implemented, there are going to be areas for improvement. It is also an approach that encourages team member and stakeholder engagement, creating space for them to voice the challenges and problems they are facing and then be part of identifying innovations to address them. When an organisation takes an approach like this to transformation, it not only allows them to hear from multiple stakeholders at all levels and develop ideas they may never have thought of otherwise, it also makes sure your team feels heard. They know that they are contributing to the transformation rather than it being something happening to them. Their fears can be directly addressed.
Through Generative Change, we are able to design a transformation process that is built around adaptation, where solutions that work are incorporated into standard operations and failures are learned from and taken into account when developing new ideas. Creating lasting change is about recognising that it is a continuous process.
Conclusion
The reality is that an organisation never reaches a point where it will never need to evolve or change again. The world does not stay still, and organisations can't either. Adaptation is central to survival, particularly in times of extreme instability. An effective organisational transformation can create an agile organisation that has the systems and people in place it needs to move quickly and effectively in the face of new obstacles. It is understandable to fear change. It can be stressful to step forward into the unknown. The problem comes when you allow this fear to prevent you from moving at all. At SRI Executive, we have worked with numerous clients as they make the decision to lean into change and overcome the fear holding them back. With the right process in place, you can achieve real transformation and create an organisation that is ready to handle the evolving challenges being faced by the global development sector. Fear does not need to be a barrier; it can be part of the forces that drive you forward and make you face your obstacles head-on. Change is inevitable, but the way you engage with it, is up to you.
Thank you to the panel members, coaches and co-organisers for making FoCDR a success. If you'd like to discuss your own barriers to change and learn more about successful transformations, don't hesitate to get in touch with us.
Photos from the FoCDR event held in Dublin