Get ready to fail more
In the recent IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) report, their research found that 43% of CEO’s say they’ll increase the tempo of their organisation’s transformational change in 2024.
Let’s marry that with research from numerous organisations such as McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group that show over 70% of transformation initiatives are not delivering the outcomes intended.
For years we’ve had a problem that has been costing companies trillions and it’s now about to get bigger - quickly.
And with so much investment and large scale change around the phenomenon that is Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is just not feasible to continue on that trajectory without understanding the root cause of these failures.
Most organisations understand it’s a people issue, but that is just a lazy way of diagnosing the issue. To put it in context, imagine if 70% of the roads we built didn't reach their intended destinations or 70% of the bridges we constructed were collapsing. We’d be urgently addressing that crisis to find a solution. In reality, we are experiencing a similar crisis right now.
The investment in digital transformation is beyond belief. According to IDC research from May this year, by 2027 we’ll be spending $4 trillion globally. Yep – read that again. FOUR TRILLION. It is time that we invest in the areas that will enable organisations to be successful, and it starts by understanding Human Intelligence and how people acquire skills – in other words, understanding how people change.
At BREWYD our human behavioral change process is founded in sports science and we have a saying:
"When you try to change too much too quickly in athletes you injure the athlete, when you try to change too much too quickly in a business you injure the business.”
But if leaders want to change quickly what is the best way to go about it?
- The company's vision should be deeply embedded in its purpose and values, providing everyone with guiding principles to operate by and a clear understanding of the target
- Recognise that individuals acquire skills at varying rates, so your learning and development programs must emphasise skill repetition rather than one off training
- Short term milestones are critical steps in behavioural change that lead towards a long term, well communicated vision
- Don’t just tell people what to do, show them how to do it
- Empower your people to scale change and arm them with the skills to navigate their path toward the destination
- The number one factor in acquiring a skill is the individual's motivation to have it, we must tap into the collective motivational drivers of our people
- People will follow your example more that your words. If you want to know where to start, look in the mirror
If organisations and their leaders aren’t ready to lead their people through change from a human perspective, they’re going to need to get ready to fail more.
The good news is, there’s an alternative.
