Things I Wish Leaders Knew About Transformation

 An open, letter to leaders, from a candid agile transformation coach.

Dear Leader,

I am writing you to share some observations I've made as I've supported leaders through all kinds of transformations for almost 20 years now. I attempt to be candid and direct in sharing these observations.  For some of you, they may be challenging to read. They may make you feel uncomfortable.  You may think “he’s talking about someone else.” That’s fair.  If you do have that reaction, I might suggest that you pause for a few moments and ask yourself: 'where is this reaction coming from?'… We can't improve if we don't inspect!

So, without additional fanfare or disclaimers - 6 (candid) observations that I hope leaders learn as they begin (and continue) a transformation. 

Observation 1 - Don’t say you want to change, if you don’t really want to change.

"The road to perdition has ever been accompanied by lip service to an ideal."- Albert Einstein

It’s pretty easy to say you’re “on board” with changing, but an entirely different thing to actually show that you embrace the change. It doesn't take long for the people around you to recognize that, while you say we should change, your behaviors (actions, decisions) send a very different message. 

• Are you insisting that teams have detailed plans and report out on weekly-effort by individual project so you can control how much time your team members spend in individual projects?

-or-

• Do you want teams that are nimble and able to self-organize around the most important (valuable) work?

Which do you want, because asking for both is really confusing to people who are trying to help you change. 

• Do you want a perfectly vetted and approved requirements documents?

-or-

• Do you want user stories that focus on what the customer needs?

Trying to do both is confusing (and expensive, slow and sub-optimal.) 

• Do you want to know how much something will cost before you invest in it?

-or-

• Do you want to decide how much you want to invest in delivery a priority outcome, and then let a cross-functional, dedicated, persistent team tackle it in a way that makes sense to your customers? 

Having both is really complicated and counter productive.

If you are truly interested in transforming, you have to know what you want, and be willing to lead with your actions and behaviors in that direction. That means that you’ll have to build different skills, and learn to trust your people in ways that are very different from what you do today. Your actions will send a far clearer message of what you actually want than any all-employee email or town hall ever will.

Observation 2 - If things don’t look and feel very different (and maybe a little scary) as you change, you’re not really changing.

“Just because everything is different doesn’t mean anything has changed.” – Irene Peter

Everything about an organization has been created and structured to reinforce and “optimize” the old way of working. Think about it… 

Structure within an organization is often a manifestation of its culture. Everything, from the processes put in place, to the policies codified, to the metrics reported and analyzed, to the organizational structure, have all been designed, created and curated to reinforce the way it works today.   

If you try to “transform” without taking a very hard look at everything from the organizational structure all the way down to how individual team members interact with each other, you really aren’t transforming. You may be improving… making the way it works now work a little better...and that may be enough. However, if a company is in a place where they are seriously considering a transformation, then improvement to the status quo isn’t going to be enough to carry a company forward in the long term.

Transforming requires a hard, honest look at everything, and that is scary! It means that the organization you’ve built will not be the same as it was before. Heck, it may even mean that the job you do will be very different tomorrow. If you aren’t okay with that, then at a least be honest with how you feel about transforming. That honest understanding of how you feel about the transformation will shed light on how you’re showing up to the teams, and the messages about the change you’re sending to them.

Observation 3 - If you see change as a threat, people around you will notice.

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw

If we have truly learned anything over the last few years it is that things will change regardless of what we want. How you choose to view changes around you is a pretty good indication of how successful your organization will be at adjusting to evolving conditions.

Any response to change depends on how you interpret that change. Do you see that change as a threat or do you see the change as an opportunity? 

If you see it as a threat, you’ll assimilate the data about that change as a reinforcement of the status quo… (“Things changed, we’ll have to do things faster now.”)

You may try and make improvements. You’ll streamline. You’ll look for ways to reduce waste. Really what you’re doing is buffing up the status quo to make it through this change. Your focus will be on how you deliver.

If you see the change as an opportunity, you’ll use the data about the change to reimagine or even redefine what is valuable.,,  (“Things changed, we can deliver different value now.”)

You may try to align your capacity, energy and resources toward what your customer finds most valuable. You’ll look for ways to focus a bigger percentage of energy toward fewer things that matter the most. Your focus will be on what you deliver.

Are you defending against the change or are you leaning into the change and considering what it means to your value proposition? It’s easier to defend, that is for sure. It’s less risky to defend. It’s also a downward spiral. Sooner or later you’ll run out of “optimization” opportunities and you’ll have created an “efficient organization” that isn’t capable of creating a different kinds of value without massive retooling.  

If you really want to transform, you’ll have to decide what’s important; defending against change or leaning into it.

Observation 4 - An organization won’t change if you don’t change.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi

You are a leader. You probably got to where you are because you did things better than anyone else. You’re a smart person. A successful person. You’ve got a laundry list of successes that you can stack up against anyone. If people just did things your way, things would be much better.  

I would not argue a single one of those points with anyone reading this. I can easily concede that every one of those points is accurate. However, consider this...

Your organization is talking about transforming because people led it to where it is today. People who are smart, talented, and the best at what they do (until you happened along of course.) What makes you think that leading the same organization, but better, will really change things? Why do you think what you did before (and were successful with) will work now that things are different? Will your organization just be doing similar things, but better?  

Sure you can do what you did at the last place you were that got you noticed. It will undoubtedly make things different, and maybe even a little better. But are you really making a change that will matter long term? Are you imagining a different way to provide value to your customers? I would humbly argue that if you approach this transformation as “building a better mousetrap” the change will fall short in the long run. If you’re focused on building that better mousetrap, then you’re not thinking about how you can leverage the mouse as an advantage.  

Leading like you (and everyone else) have in the past will not get the organization to where it  needs to be. You will have to explore different ways of leading if you want a real transformation.

Observation 5- It’s not “everyone else” that needs to do better.

“When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves.” – Viktor E. Frankl

As a coach, I hear two things all the time. “This transformation is just what we need, when do we start?” and “My team has already transformed, everyone around us needs to change too.” These two statements are indicators that you, as a leader, are not yet ready to start transforming.  

If you’re waiting for permission from your boss to start looking hard at what you do every day, how you show up every day, what behaviors you teach everyone around you to copy, then there is a good chance that you aren’t going to be a leader in changing an organization’s culture… (Side note -  if you don’t yet know that changing an organization's culture is key to a successful transformation… well then I don’t give good odds of you enabling those around you to change either.)

Conversely, if you think that you’ve already created a bubble of excellence, that you’ve already perfected your part and it’s “everyone else that needs to change”, then bluntly, I will tell you that you’re part of the problem.  

First, nothing is ever perfect. Everything can and will (if we let it) improve and evolve with practice, observation, a relentless desire to deliver value, and an open mind. 

Second, unless your team is able to deliver value end-to-end (meaning from “hey we should make this” all the way through to “look how our customer used what we just created”) then you are a handoff in a process flow.  

Every handoff creates risk, delay, and is a disconnect from the value chain. Every handoff makes it harder for an organization to instantly react to changing conditions. I don’t care how “perfectly” you execute your part, the fact that you are a “stand alone” part means that there are improvements to make in the system.

Observation 6 - This change really isn’t just about you.

“Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster.” – Elon Musk

This observation may feel contradictory to the previous ones. It’s not. If you think so, it means you missed the meaning of the previous observations. This change is about everyone and everything. I understand it feels overwhelming to hear that, but you are a leader. It’s your job to chart a path through it. 

If you’re truly transforming, you may uncover things you’ve done in the past that need to be reimagined or even undone. You may learn you’ve actually been inhibiting the more effective and efficient creation of value. You may have to reimagine your definition of value and your place in creating it. You may find that there isn’t a place for the things you excel at today in a reimagined, transformed organization. That’s not an easy realization to have.  

What can you do?

You can do a lot to stand in the way of your organization truly transforming. You can even stop your organization from being able to meet the ever-changing needs of your customers. If you make this transformation about you, you’ll protect yourself until the next job comes along or the change fizzles out, but you’ll put what others are trying to do at risk.

If you make this transformation about your customer, and the organization's ability to create something valuable for them, then you’ve got a really good chance of having a successful transformation.  

• Set a clear goal about how you want to be (as an organization, and then as a leader) - then figure out how you’re going to transform.
• Be honest with yourself (and your coach) - what does this transformation really mean to/for you?
• Be honest with your teams - let them know that this is hard for you too, but very much worth it.
• Ask your teams and your peers to hold you accountable - make it safe for them to point out if what you say and what you do aren’t lining up.
• Measure what matters - if you want to produce results, make sure that's what you measure?  (i.e. Does X number of new features released really equal incremental business results?  Which do you want more?  X features, or the business results?)
• Make time to reflect, inspect and learn - do your actions reflect your intention?  Does what you do reinforce the vision of how you want your organization to be?
• Give yourself permission to make mistakes - and then learn from them.  No one says leaders have to be perfect.

Teams create things that are valuable for customers. Leaders (of all levels) are there to set a vision, ensure there are adequate resources available to achieve that vision, and to continually challenge the teams to relentlessly improve how effective, efficient and engaged they are in creating that value.

There is a lot to unpack here.

Some of these observations may be unpopular. That’s ok. All I ask is that you consider what you've read, and think about how you are showing up to your teams and others around you. Are you walking the talk?  Would an observer say the same thing? If you’d like to explore any of these topics further, I’ve no doubt your transformation coach will be happy to create a space to think and reflect with you (and if they can't, give me a call!)  We really do all win together.

Best -