EP Perspective March 2017

COMMENT: BUSINESS MODEL
THE PROBLEM IS:
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT
THE PROBLEM IS
Ambiguity is everywhere; it is the one constant. How do
you successfully create a new business model in a sea of
disruption? Build your foundations through emotional
engagement and values based change says Heather
Gibson, Managing Director at Pendulum Partnership.
Imagine mining for resources but not
being sure whether to upscale the final
product to sell to luxury markets in Asia or
expand your tried and tested product into
new markets across the globe. Imagine
too that the complexity of the challenge is
amplified by speed of change in the external
environment and the need for new capability
to deliver a new business model, or even
conceive of one. Further factors could be
added such as political or regulatory change,
demographic and human shifts, but suffice to
say that this mining scenario is not pretend
or isolated. This fundamental question
– how do we build a model to sustain our
organisation into the future – is being played
out across all corners of the world at this very
moment in time in boardroom conversations.
The problem is, you don’t know what the
problem is and, if there is one thing to glean
from reading this article, it is that this is okay.
Accepting this constant ambiguity is the first
step towards building strong leadership and
cultivating new thinking to be successful
in change.
Leading change involves incredible
resilience and agility. Acceptance of
ambiguity as the norm provides a leader with
the mental freedom to ask the questions
that need to be asked and explore scenarios
without limitation. With so many variables,
particularly the intensity of information flow
and the pace of change driven by digitisation,
leaders must adopt an open mind and
incessantly question the potential for new
impacts on their strategy. To effectively
conceptualise the scope of the challenge
and then respond appropriately, desired
outcomes need to be driven through an
approach to change that is fluid and agile.
Values based change is fundamentally about
establishing a set of specific values that
recognise the need for change leadership
THE TRUTH IS THAT
CHANGE FAILS BECAUSE
IT IS FRONT-LOADED TO
FOCUS ON A ‘BIG BANG’
APPROACH AND A
SHORT-TERM OUTCOME.
across an organisation as part of the culture;
prizing authentic, real discussions; growing
creativity and curiosity; and allowing passion
to thrive. It’s also about coaching leaders
to align themselves with these values and
giving them freedom to communicate and
engage in a way that continues to tell a story
of change, which will inspire discussion and
build trust. Focusing on these values creates
a base for emotional connection with your
key audience – your employees – to build
a state of change readiness and sense of
urgency around the agenda, in addition to
breaking down historical mental barriers.
Most individuals resist change through the
lens of what has happened before, and it’s
vital that these are unblocked in order to be
able to deliver outcomes.
Many of us look at change within the
context of what has failed and why. It’s true
that change does fail but the mistake is often
to focus on the symbol of that failure – the
ousted CEO, the bust company, a restructure
destroyed by resistance – without focusing on
the real issue. The truth is that change fails
because it is front-loaded to focus on a ‘big
bang’ approach and a short-term outcome,
without enough investment in the back-end to
see change embedded and get to the desired
future state. The issue here is a failure to invest
in sustaining engagement with employees who
will make the change happen. Resistance to
change is complex and hard worn employees
who have ‘seen it all before’ have often just
learnt to ride things out until the current
wave disappears, as it so very often does.
This is a bad outcome for both parties, and
no longer good enough. The financial cost of
failed change is significant and it is troubling
to see organisations waste money in wave
after wave without adopting a more holistic,
values centric approach that embeds change
into the culture of an organisation. This is
why investment in emotional engagement is
CONVISUM | 123RF.COM
38 | Perspective | March 2017