Competition has changed the corporate landscape and the way we must do business. Differentiation in the marketplace used to be much simpler: focus on making a great product or providing an improved or much-needed service. Those days are gone. Today, products themselves have become undeniably similar and struggle to deliver differentiation on their merits alone. The result is a shift
There is not always a clear path to an organization design and implementation of a strategic plan. While leadership might decide that a change is in the best interest of the company, there are many obstacles that could stand in the way of a real change transformation. Our work with hundreds of companies over the years has identified seven impediments
I am often asked how to implement organization change. Effective implementation starts with the leadership team. The role of leadership in change management is to: Facilitate Change: Bringing the right people together, understanding the parts of the organization that will be affected, and knowing how to orchestrate the complexity of all of the moving parts. Architect Change: Establishing the processes,
In today’s highly competitive global market, companies rise and fall faster than ever before. Motorola, Eastman Kodak, and Blockbuster are examples of well-recognized brands that were once market leaders in their respective industries. These companies were known for being innovative and capitalizing on market opportunities. All of that changed when they lost sight of emerging trends and failed to make the
Having the right people on your strategic business planning team is essential for achieving desired results. Leaders should include people who are aligned with the organization’s goals. It is also advisable to have people on your strategic business planning team who understand and agree with the logic used in making holistic business decisions, as well as the processes required to
Altering the organization’s structure might be necessary, but approaching change by changing the organization chart alone is insufficient in most cases. Over the years, a pseudo-science has emerged that focuses on finding the perfect organization chart. We call this boxology. Even if a perfect organization chart did exist (with the right spans of control, optimal layers of management, proper placement
Organizations often have their own specific third rails—sensitive topics that are so highly charged that no one feels they can survive trying to address a problem or change needed. Sometimes these are long overdue changes where a powerful executive shuts down discussion. And so the organization continues irrationally behaving the way it has in the past, even though the marketplace
As we work with major organizations undergoing HR transformation (and many are still underway), we find variants of the three-pronged HR delivery model (business partners, HR operations and centers of expertise) popularized by David Ulrich over 20 years ago. One recurring challenge is freeing up Business Partners to fulfill the strategic relationship building and brokering role envisioned in many, if not most HR models.
So you have to make cuts. Make sure they’re the right cuts. “Here I am—most unwelcome, I know. Against my own will, too, since no one loves a messenger who brings with him bad news.” Sophocles’ play Antigone expresses well the distaste of delivering bad news. It’s one of the toughest parts of being a leader. And often the bad news is that costs must be cut.
We all deal with a flood of information. Spam, unwanted correspondence, and irrelevant information stuff our inboxes and voicemail. It can be difficult—despite sophisticated technological communication systems—to get clear and relevant information.