Reaching The Transformation Escape Velocity
The “Escape Velocity” is a powerful concept for a successful and sustainable business transformation.
You might be wondering how a physics lesson taught in high school can help an organization going through change?
To answer this, let’s break it into three parts: 1) What is the escape velocity? 2) How does it relate to business transformation? 3) How can we achieve the escape velocity for successful change?
What is the escape velocity?
Just as a spacecraft needs to hit speeds of 40,000 km/h to break out of Earth’s orbit, organizations need an initial thrust to leave their existing state. Transformations require a strong initial momentum to overcome the gravitational pull of the as-is organization and stay in orbit long enough to effect change.
How does it relate to business transformation?
Recall there are three forces at play for a spacecraft launch: Mass, Drag and Thrust. Each of these respectively represent a vital aspect of an organization:
- Mass: is the company’s as-is state — its processes, resources, people, and architecture. The larger the organization, the more formidable the mass, demanding greater force for change.
- Drag: is the resistance, like systems, behaviors and norms that resist the change. Overcoming this requires breaking old habits and fostering new patterns of behavior.
- Thrust: is the driving force of change, that means the agents of change and leadership that steer the transformation. Larger organizations require more robust and decisive thrust to mobilize their greater mass.
How can we achieve the escape velocity for successful change?
While there are many way to fuel a transformation, here are three top recommendations: I) Establish a sense of urgency II) Develop a 10x strategy III) Cultivate a 10x leadership
I) Establish a sense of urgency
“Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value.” — Jim Rohn
Urgency is about recognizing that stagnation is not a viable option because it will lead to failure. Creating a sense of urgency starts with identifying the system, product or way of work that is no longer serves the business and accompanying that acknowledgment with swift corresponding action.
II) Develop a 10x strategy
A 10% improvement places us in a direct competition with everyone else in the world, a scenario where the success odds might not be favorable. In contrast, pushing for 10x improvements and outcomes forces an organization to define and approach problems in a radically different and innovative way.
III) Cultivate a 10x leadership
To achieve 10x outcomes in accelerated environments, leaders shouldn’t just sponsor but rather, own the change. This means leading by example to actively step up and remove the impediments in the path of transformation.
Understanding this analogy and recognizing the forces at play, enables us to launch and navigate a transformation that actually achieves change. Just as a spacecraft must reach escape velocity to journey into space, an organization needs bold, Moonshot thinking to realize a sustainable transformation, anything less leads to nothing but failure.
