Corporate Status Quo is Unacceptable, Connect the Corporate Dots
We are moving into the realm of change management. Think of a traditionally organized firm where you have a CEO at the top, higher management, lower management and the people on the work floor. The CEO is a seasoned veteran usually mid-fifties. The same counts for higher management although there may be some exceptions who are in their mid-sixties or forties. Lower management has more variety in age and experience, they are the upgrades of the work floor. Work floor people are a rainbow of colors, ages, experience, and jobs. Note that I didn’t go into gender. That’s a whole different argument event though it may interlink at points.
Sounds familiar? This is the typical organization of a corporate which has been around for years.
Now imagine that this corporate’s market is heavily disrupted by newcomers. Newcomers being in their twenties with little or no experience at all. Those of the kind ‘Just roll up those sleeves and go’. No traditions to worry about. No unnecessary meetings. No reporting hierarchy.
This must sound like heaven to those corporate innovators. Those of the kind constantly asking WHY? Those who want to invest heavily in change but who get thwarted at every corner. Thwarted by budget, priorities, limited resources. Guess where these arguments come from? Yes, indeed management. No not lower management who are still very much connected to the work floor. It is more in the higher regions where there is politics going on, people fighting for their spot in the CEO’s limelight.
How do you make sure that change will happen?
Fire higher management
One solution you might say is just to throw out higher management, the regions where the political fistfight is going on. That would establish a direct connection to the CEO with the lower management and the work floor people.
Question is, is this wise? Well at least when innovators coming from the work floor and lower management get their hands on the budget, it will definitely look different. ROI will no longer be invested in management salaries and enhancements of existing products but in new developments, more resources for UX, design and development. With the expected consequence that priorities shift as well. The focus is no longer on the existing products, but new is the buzz word.
However at the same time developing new products usually has a high risk profile. Failure is an inherent part of testing out new stuff. But when positive results are achieved this in turn might benefit the corporate’s market. And the corporate may even come to compete with its disruptors. Remember the CEO is still there in this scenario. Failure and high risk are things which a CEO is not naturally fond of. He or she might be highly tempted to embargo the budget. Well you can guess what that would result in.
Fire the CEO
Well just fire the CEO then, freeing up the way to that changed budget. But do work floor people and lower management have enough knowledge and experience of upcoming trends in the market, are they able to deal with shareholders, with the yearly check of the accountant, with legislative rules and regulations? Or protests coming from the corporate’s market which claims the existing products are dwindling in quality since they are no longer updated? I don’t think so.
The Trap of Status Quo
Does this mean that you should just accept the status quo? No because in the end when nothing changes, when the management hierarchy stays where it is, when ROI is not allocated to innovation, when the focus is on enhancing existing product for your existing customers you’ll be wiped out. Wiped out of the market which has changed and keeps changing.
Connect the dots
Making sure to connect the dots between the various levels of management, flattening this out. Creating direct connections to the people on the work floor. Listening to them and learning from them, listening and learning from the market. Reflecting these learnings into ROI spread out more evenly between innovation and existing products. Reflecting these learnings into a new set of KPIs. KPIs which may change with the changes in the market. Giving innovators the room to drive change. Hiring resources if they need help.
That will finally make the way for the change your corporate needs desperately and will ensure its future.
