Time and again we see transformations failing to achieve their outcomes. It seems surprising that transformations with large budgets, strong business cases and talented people still fail. However, if you look closely, it’s often the same common patterns repeated over and over again.
Five patterns tend to contribute to transformation failure. We call these the Five Dysfunctions of Transformations:
Not focusing on value
To overcome the upheavals and turbulence of large-scale change, you will need a transformation vision that the whole company is on board with. A transformation vision will ensure your brand’s survival and needs to be strong, measurable and clear. Without a well-understood transformation vision, your business is unlikely to unlock real change.
Not removing blockers
The number one priority in leadership should be to get the value flow running again and resolve any transformation blockers. When blockers are not addressed quickly, they will slowly strangle delivery.
There are many impediments that can obstruct delivery, or stop it completely. These include hiring slowly, rigid corporate services governance, and slow decision making.
We once worked with a global car manufacturer who did not provide enough video conferencing equipment and meeting rooms for their remote delivery teams, resulting in communication and coordination issues. The issue was not fixed for six months, and the $4m project ended up being delayed by nine months.
Lack of metrics
It is essential to make your targets clearly quantifiable. Being unable to measure or track your progress will make it hard to stay on track. Track your position today, and at the point where you will reach your end goal.
Try to embed metrics at the centre of each decision you make. If you have clear metrics you will gain confidence, have an aligned team and stay on track towards your outcome.
Poor transformation vision
One common error businesses make is focussing on what’s easy, rather than what will make real change. We were once consulting for a government department who had been working on several projects at the start of data transformation. We noticed none of them were in the top 10 highest value projects, and our advice was to scale back existing projects and work on the top 3 highest contributing projects. After doing this, they were able to show their actual savings and clear ROI, which developed their confidence for future projects.
Lack of board sponsorship
A delivery blockage without sponsorship will stay blocked and cause issues later on. Because transformations challenge the established ways your organisation works, if you don’t have a board that buys into the project, it’s unlikely you will make the difficult changes when things get tough. It’s something we see time and again, but with the right processes, the issue can be solved.
A large Brazilian company we worked with began their transformation from the bottom up, without securing a strong board buy-in. This meant that when the transformation tried to change the operation process, they hit resistance from middle management. As a result, the project fell to a halt and was eventually dropped after a year.
Arif Harbott is co-author of The HERO Transformation Playbook with Cuan Mulligan, out 22nd September 2020, published by Practical Inspiration, priced £29.99
