Preemptive Transformation: Fix It Before It Breaks
Transforming while things are going well takes less time, costs less, and generates more value than reactive reinvention. Here’s how to master this crucial aspect of the change management process.
To win the ’20s, companies must not only adapt to shifts in the business arena. They also have to excel at ongoing change—initiating it even when all’s going well.
But 75% of transformation efforts don’t deliver the hoped-for results.
How to beat these odds? Three tactics can help: Ground your transformation programs in evidence. Rethink how you lead the change management process. And don’t ignore the importance of changing organizational culture when you launch transformation efforts.
“The dynamic nature of business will require organizations to build capabilities for ongoing large-scale change—so they can keep up with evolving technology and competition.”
In tackling the change management process, don’t rely on intuition and experience. Instead, take an evidence-based approach to change. Thanks to the availability of data and new analytical approaches, you can now empirically decode what makes transformation efforts succeed—or fail. And you can use those insights to drive the changes you need to win the ’20s.
Transforming while things are going well takes less time, costs less, and generates more value than reactive reinvention. Here’s how to master this crucial aspect of the change management process.
Facing perpetual disruption, companies must transform to survive. Yet most large-scale change initiatives fail. A new study reveals tactics for beating these odds.
It's time for an evidence-based approach to the change management process. The authors of this article in MIT Sloan Management Review explain why—and offer tips for deploying this approach.
As a change leader, you have another valuable mechanism for grounding your company’s transformation programs in evidence and data: Analyze the tactics and traits that other leaders have leveraged to drive successful change. Then apply what you’ve learned to tackle your own enterprise’s transformation efforts.
Change is hard—but necessary for companies to compete in the 2020s and beyond. An analysis of successful turnarounds reveals secrets to putting the odds in your favor.
Successful change hinges on people’s capacity to absorb and internalize new ways of working. Smart leaders take steps to boost this capacity—so their organization transforms not just quickly but also effectively.
Changing organizational culture is vital to succeeding in the next decade. In particular, the right culture can help companies transform themselves to compete more effectively in the digital age. To drive this uniquely challenging type of reinvention, change leaders at all levels must foster a digital culture in their enterprise.
When team members collaborate to solve complex problems, a culture of tolerance and acceptance often matters more to success than specialized knowledge.
In changing organizational culture within any enterprise, enabling people to adopt new ways of working can prove the biggest challenge. It’s also the most important one to overcome.
Winning the ’20s
How should leaders prepare their companies to thrive in the new decade?
Across an array of industries, forward-thinking leaders have taken bold steps to help their companies execute the transformations needed to stay competitive amid relentless and profound disruption. To strengthen your own enterprise’s change prowess, consider taking a page from these leaders’ playbooks:
BCG managing director and partner Loïc Mesnage sits down with Airbus’s digital transformation officer Marc Fontaine to discover how the aircraft manufacturing giant is embracing the digitization imperative.
Martin Danoesastro at BCG asks Nick Jue, ING CEO, to share insights on how introducing agile ways of working helped his company unearth new sources of competitive advantage in the fast-changing financial-services industry.
BCG’s Antoine Gourévitch invites Renault’s CIO Frédéric Vincent to explain how the automotive giant is capitalizing on the opportunities that digital disruption has presented for players in his industry.
Most transformation programs don't deliver the hoped-for results. It doesn't have to be that way, says BCGs Lars Faeste -- if companies take a fresh approach to the change management process.