BLOGS

Is Inaction Undermining Your Organization Transformation?

Throughout the process of organization transformation, leaders often reach points where they must decide when (or whether) to step in and take action, versus sitting back and allowing a situation to play itself out. There are times when the wisest course of action is inaction. However, in many cases inaction

Change Management

Redefining Change Management

Traditionally, much of the activity involved in change management has revolved around the art of communication and persuasion. To effectively create change in an organization, it is imperative to anticipate the reactions of stakeholders to a proposed change, and effectively communicate with them in such a way that they willingly

Organizational design professionals can adjust when virtual work environments fail

When Virtual Work Environments Fail—and How to Leverage Them for Success

Working virtually is no longer the wave of the future. Readily available technology has made virtual work environments ever more prevalent, both within and between organizations. Virtual, networked organizations offer many advantages. For instance, holding a meeting on Zoom is cheaper, more convenient, and has a lower environmental impact than

Organizational Change

Organization Change at the Speed of Business

Resource availability is one of the built-in challenges of managing organizational change. For successful change transformation to occur, leaders and teams must learn to work effectively within the constraints of resource limitations. Limiting resources vary from one organization to the next, but the scarcest resource of all for many is

Strategic Business Planning

How to Do Strategic Business Planning at the Speed of the Market

Most companies approach the strategic business planning process as an annual ritual starting mid-year and lasting three to four months, to identify how to allocate resources for the coming year. Once they’ve turned in the plan and gotten approval, many leaders set planning aside and turn back to discussions that

Organizational Change

How to Implement Organizational Change Without Losing Momentum

I’m not a volleyball player, but I did have one memorable experience playing the game in a gym class back in high school. The other team hit the ball high. As it lofted over the net, each one of us tracked its trajectory, tensed for action. We could see where

organization effectiveness

Overcoming the OE Talent Shortage

Over the past few decades, more and more organizations have established internal organization effectiveness (OE) groups and capabilities, with the idea that OE groups can help them restructure, manage change, and optimize business performance. Each OE group approaches the task uniquely. Some provide hands-on consulting services; others build out a

Change Management

Change Management in an Agile Organization

More and more companies are adapting Agile methods and principles in the way they work. However, most change management practices have evolved out of linear ways of working (like project management or waterfall development), not from Agile ways of working. So, what happens when an organization begins to operate in

organization diagnosis

When Knowing the “Root Cause” is Not Enough

In our organization diagnostic work we often compare finding the root cause of an organization issue to finding the root cause of an illness. This medical metaphor has recently become even more useful because the medical industry in North America is starting to hold itself responsible for outcomes, rather than