Transformation is a multi-dimensional process that involves agile approaches, digital literacy, automation, artificial intelligence, and cultural change. When a company considers transformation, it must paint a picture of its current state and the steps it would take to achieve the desired future state. Employees are the most important part of the transformation process, and if they can embrace change, technology and the business process will follow suit.
An approach that has proven to work well for most companies is based on the principle of ‘Skunkworks’ This concept was first introduced, by Lockheed Martin in 1943 to build the U.S. fighter jet, the P80 shooting star. Chief engineer Kelly Johnson promised to deliver the Jet in 150 days, but his team did it in 143 days. Skunkworks Is based on the philosophy of rapid innovation. Other Skunkworks successes have followed even across industries. These teams become places where the brightest minds are given the time, freedom, and resources to create amazing things. Steve Jobs used the same concept to create the Apple Macintosh, which eventually led the company to become the world`s first trillion-dollar company
The first key of Skunkworks is tackling big goals. The team defines its own rules, allowing for greater flexibility and the use of various processes and technologies. Bureaucratic processes are eliminated, and little monitoring occurs, with the leader taking ownership of the concept and empowering the team to deliver it.
For change to happen, outdated assumptions must be challenged, and the status quo must be disrupted. Therefore, the leader must own the idea and empower the team to deliver on it.
Transformation strategies:
1️. Bottom-up strategy: The bottom-up strategy gives all teams a voice in decision-making. When there Is no Top-down mandate, change needs to be inspired. Such an approach was pioneered at a Dutch e-commerce company. Thirty employees and about 1% of the workforce unleashed a movement that has transformed ways of working.
2️. Top-down strategy: A top-down strategy is a decision-making approach where leaders at the top level of a company make all the decisions. This involves three phases:
* Identify individuals and teams that are eager for change and focus exclusively on them.
* Let pioneers experiment and change small things first such as meeting structures, decision-making processes, individual roles, and responsibilities. If an experiment succeeds, move on to the next one. If not, learn from the errors and adjust the course.
* Initiate a public change movement in hopes of going viral. (Vlogs, blogs, presentations, meetups, pamphlets, and online platforms create enthusiasm.) As the movement grows, more people will jump on the bandwagon.
3️. Change strategy: A change strategy combines both top-down and bottom-up approaches to drive organisational transformation.
These are strategies, driven by leadership and the rest of the organisation. This strategy was developed and used by the housing association UNITED WELSH, and involves four phases:
* The leadership team outlines what they hope to achieve and launches a project team to drive change. Everyone in the organisation is invited to participate.
* The project team splits into smaller groups to visit progressive organisations and explore their work practices. Based on their research, the team generates a list of recommended changes and is presented to the entire organisation.
* The recommendation is then turned into reality, starting with the easy ones to build trust. Changes are sponsored by leadership but driven by the project team.
* Once the first changes are implemented, the process repeats, and over time simple changes are followed by those that push boundaries.
4. Participatory top-down strategies: This approach has been successfully pioneered by K2K, the Spanish transformation company, which has transformed over 50 organisations in the past decade. This involves five phases:
* The owners and CEO must go all in before any transformation starts. The CEO must agree to be replaced should they obstruct a successful transformation.
* The company is shut down for two days, during which employees visit other progressive companies. They then vote anonymously on whether to proceed with the transformation, with more than 80% support required to proceed.
* Once the owners, CEO, and 80% of the employees have committed, the change process officially begins. It starts first by gauging the hopes, dreams, and fears of the employees, to generate ideas, understand challenges, and find out what people want.
* Based on this input, a new organisational plan is presented to the workforce. This usually includes a structure based on self-managing, reduction of pay difference through a new reward policy, the distribution of 30% of profits to employees, Introduction of full transparency on performance and financials, removal of privilege and control mechanisms, and Introduction of a new business rhythm.
* These changes are implemented at once, and the new organization is put in place.
It’s important to note that each strategy has its pros and cons, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to creating a highly progressive organisation. It takes time, effort, and dedication, but as various pioneers have shown, the results can be truly exceptional.
Furthermore, adopting a multidisciplinary approach where governments focus their development fund on stimulating entrepreneurship is paramount to encouraging open creativity among citizens. Local institutions and small and medium enterprises can partner with NGOs and civil societies and governments and foreign multinationals. This partnership can birth the establishment of regional research and innovation centres to encourage the budding ingenuity and ensure sustainability of the process.
Social and political resilience reflects the maintenance of social cohesion and the ability to absorb shocks in the event of crises such as social conflict, civil unrest and political instability. It can be built through effective enforcement of non-discrimination, the development of functional institutions, durable political settlements, and identities that cut across pre-existing lines of conflict or exclusion, including gender. Environmental resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa often involves prioritization of environmental disaster risk reduction, development of effective natural resource management to areas that are highly susceptible to these hazards, such as the Sahel. Designing programs and meaningful partnerships between government, intervention groups and communities in an effort to build highly capable and legitimate institutions is paramount to building national resilience and sustainability. Sub-Saharan African countries need to create the right conditions for sustainability to take place, including infrastructure, education and the creation of larger and more competitive markets. Sustainable economies are focused on nurturing and developing opportunities in terms of natural resources development, technology, research, and discovering new ways to develop the economy without conflicting with the needs of the environment and society. By building resilience and encouraging sustainability, governments and institutions are helping to promote economic, social and environmental wellbeing and also raising the people’s quality of life while guarding against external attacks.
