Companies need gamechangers

Words like ‘digital transformation’, ‘disruption’, ‘innovation’, ‘making impact’, and ‘incubator labs’ are used frequently during business conversations and can often be found in business articles. They are used loosely, may be considered ‘buzz words’ and as such, they tend to lose their meaning, as they are mostly seen as an end goal and not as means to evolve.

Before the digital evolution, the business landscape was a lot simpler. The supply- demand equilibria was a lot more balanced, there was a limited, yet adequate number of options available to consumers, which at the time satisfied their needs. Consumers didn’t seem to question the status-quo and were happy with the services and products available to them.

The world changed rapidly with the appearance and evolution of digital means. The access to information and suppliers around the world turned to be a big gamechanger. Big scale economies made their appearance, and the cost of starting something, making something or selling something significantly dropped. People had access to unlimited number of resources, and market gaps became more prominent. Any business idea could easily be tested via off-the-shelf website templates, and margins were maximized when partnering up with affordable suppliers around the world. As a result, the great, and abundant availability of products lead to a consumerist culture, and a thirst for products that were designed to provide higher satisfaction.

The evolution of digital and the appearance of social media gave access to a plethora of feedback. Peer feedback started getting a reputable position even against expert organizations, as we see in the example with Michelin. If an organization treated unfairly customers, it could become viral in a few hours. Consumers were able to read objective opinions of products, find organizations that share their values, and buy products offered by those. Suddenly, consumers were in the look out of something more than just a product, and this turn triggered the need for companies to start addressing their consumers and their evolved needs.

This transition hasn’t been completed yet. Consumer needs and expectations are ever changing, spreading to new markets at all the times, requiring dynamism from organizations to keep up with addressing those.

Organizations have no option but to be closer to the consumer and be agile. They need to find the means to reinvent their business models, update their offering and address the ever-changing consumer needs for them to stay relevant. Failure in doing so, may have a detrimental impact to the survival of an organization itself, as we see in the example of Nokia.

However, most organizations seem to have severe operational gaps.

They don’t know who their target audience or customers are, what their needs are and how those needs are changing or are about to change.

They follow a reactive approach, and often stay behind competition.

They don’t have a clear vision or mission, a common purpose that brings employees together, making them work closely together and helping them understand how to behave and enabling them to unify towards a goal.

They have strict, old fashioned and hierarchical approaches which don’t allow for quick decision making.

They have waterfall ways of working, which don’t allow for fast changes and therefore, cannot address the ever-changing customer needs. As a result, they become less competitive and relevant to the new market standards

They have leadership teams that keep on implementing outdated practices, long replaced by modern digital mechanisms.

They make decisions based only on business needs and what is best for the organization, leaving on the side what is best for the consumer.

Why are gamechangers needed?

Sooner or later, organizations are outperformed, and are confronted by an urgent need to change. Most commonly, they turn to a top-down planned approach, led by a reputable consultancy that brings in repetitive practices, often called ‘digital transformation’.

However, this approach in most cases doesn’t work for two reasons: it doesn’t provide the flexibility and agility needed and it takes a long time for it to be designed and implemented; if the company culture remains the same, then strategy will not be successful.

It takes some time for change to show results. It doesn’t happen through planning and talking; change happens by doing new things in new ways. Infusing changes when new things are about to start, then those will be embraced and put forward.

On the other hand, changemakers are there to infuse small pockets of change into an organization, which are going to be further spread like a virus. Those are seen as rays of optimism and soon, become the reason for people to unite.

There is a lot of reasoning for changemakers to follow this approach:

· They empathize with your customers and employees, can sense their changing needs and want to address those early

· They can articulate an inspiring vision of where the organization needs to get to. As such, they are seen as leaders to which like-minded colleagues are drawn towards and are willing to support.

· They build strong relations with people that share the same ideas and strive for a change, whether they are high up in an organization’s ladder or work at the bottom base

· They can create concrete, detailed and practical plans to move forward with their vision, breaking down a big challenge in smaller and manageable chunks of work, which can also show progress

· They are resilient. They will keep on pushing even if everyone is pushing back. Their vision is feeding their higher goal

· They care about the big picture and making an impact, rather than their own award and recognition

· They use new technologies, and as such, they operate as early adopters, which will enable them to move fast, stay connected and bring results, in most cost-efficient ways

But who are the gamechangers?

Don’t try to look for such a role, as this is a personal characteristic and has nothing to do with hard skills. Changemakers are rare individuals that are driven by a strong personal motivation. Those people can be found in different functions within an organization, however the pattern to spot them remains the same.

There is a number of common characteristics that changemakers share, and as such, they serve as indications for them to be spotted.

· They tend to be generalists, moving between different roles and types of organization. They have a concrete and clear understanding of a lot functions within an organization and are able to formulate a holistic and cohesive ‘action plan’.

· They don’t hold c-level positions, however they are tenured with corporate politics, and have enough experience. They can influence and get things moving without permission or ‘approval’ and as such, they can get things moving.

· They tend to be seen as people with unique character, often perceived a ‘bit difficult’. They tend to be overlooked for promotions because they aren’t hesitant to voice their opinion, which often conflicts personal interests.

· They don’t care about hierarchies or departments. They care about doing their job right. They build relations across functions, beyond silos and layers and only care for the good of the organization.

· They are doers and aren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty, in spite of being senior.

How to support changemakers

As changemakers are difficult to find, any organization that has people with those qualities should grasp the opportunity to make an impact and step up their game. Instead of perceiving changemakers as the outcasts, invest some time to listen to their ideas, feedback and opinions.

Let them put forward their vision and proposals and understand how they can benefit an organization in the long term. Enable them to infuse their ideas within the different departments and become the champions of change within an organization.