Why are so many large organisations struggling in today's economy?

The world has changed. Though we are being told that the economy is growing by politicians, the truth is that the economy still lacks stability and many a brave economist and social scientists are proving that growth is not and never has been a sustainable ambition. The future remains uncertain.

To survive this uncertainty, the principle of 'lack of stability' is an important one to respond to. It suggests that at any given time more challenges may need to be faced, insisting on a resilience and adaptability for any organisation. This is not easy to achieve, particularly for larger organisations.

Organisations who hold onto stability by not reviewing and amending their values, culture and practices in line with an unstable economy create a tension between themselves and the economy. This tension can be felt in the guise of increased reactivity, stress, overwhelmed workforce and often an increased commitment to centralised control, which in turn negatively affects the performance of the workforce, quality of decisions and service delivery. It also can lead to a need to downsize. All of these are symptoms of an Organisation in Crisis.

The traditional organisational practices which were built when the economy was stable should be reviewed if the organisation wishes to stay healthy, adaptable, resilient and sustainable. If not, these practices can actually feed increased negativity, distrust and blame into the already highly-pressured environment, which is trying to 'fight' the tension and the changes needed to resolve the tension. The consequences are that the organisation, despite its increased commitment to control, looses its grip and very quickly slips into dysfunction, ill-health and its inevitable decline.

So what do organisations need to do different?

Organisations do well to match the principle of instability with becoming more agile and adaptable in their nature. For larger organisations, which can be compared with a large tanker trying to avoid icebergs, this is not an easy task, yet absolutely crucial for its survival.

The following questions may help Governance Boards and Senior Managers reflect on their organisation's adaptability:

1. Have you recently reviewed your organisational values, culture and practices in line with the changes in the economy?
2. What leadership mindsets and strengths do you need to build an adaptable organisation and lead agile teams?
3. How quick can your organisation respond to an opportunity or challenge? What role does the hierarchical organisational structure play in decision-making?
4. Do your centralised processes and communication channels help or hinder your organisation's agility?
5. Can your workforce move around the organisation fairly quickly? And what can help to make this easier?
6. Are there parts of the organisation which prioritise Business as Usual over being involved in the organisation's Transformation initiatives?
7. What can large organisations learn from innovative and adaptable SMEs?

Not only can the principle of adaptability translate to the organisation and its leaders, but also can be applied to the qualities you require from your workforce. A flexible workforce is not solely about having policies and procedures which support workforce mobility, it - like with leaders - equally comes down to attracting and retaining complimentary mindsets and strengths.

So what if an organisation feels it's losing its grip? Is it too late?

Though a proactive approach is always advisable to keep an organisation in good health, it may not be too late to seek advice and support at time of crisis. Like an individual, organisations who are suffering ill-health need to first acknowledge it and be open to exploring different ways to restore organisational health.

'Why' are Systems Thinkers so annoying to work alongside?

If you have ever worked alongside a Systems Thinker, you will know exactly what I mean. All they keep asking is 'Why?'. They even have a technique called the '5 Why's' encouraging them to ask 'Why?' five times in a row ... You may as well invite a 5-year old to a meeting.
 

Well before you resort to settling for a 5-year old, let me try to shine a little light on the science and benefits behind the question 'Why?'. Why is a very important question. It has a number of positive outcomes.
 

Purpose, Motivation and Engagement - Firstly, the question 'Why?' uncovers the purpose or positive intention of an activity or project. Purpose is a driver of motivation, high performance and ownership. Employees who are not able to answer the question 'Why?' are generally less engaged with the process of delivering an activity or project. It is also impossible for employees to work with others if they miss this information, encouraging silo working mentalities.
 

Unlocking curiosity and creativity - 'Why?' also helps to unlock people's curiosity and creativity. When people are not able to answer the question, they are more likely to want to gain this knowledge. In today's world where practically everyone has the answer to any question at their fingertips with the help of mobile technology, the question 'Why?' can even drive people to be more self-directed learners.

Linking people and resources - Seeking a higher purpose or cause by asking 'Why?' also helps identify possible collaboration opportunities (aka duplication efforts) with others who are moving towards a similar outcome. Connecting people and resources around a higher purpose can often mean better informed solutions and, in combination with the above benefit, unlock collaborative innovation.



 

Chasing true causes and higher systems - The science behind the 5 Why's? can be found in NLP, in the format of chunking up. Definition of Chunking Up: 'In NLP, ‘chunking up’ refers to moving to more general or abstract pieces of information.' Every time someone asks 'Why?', it encourages others to seek for a higher purpose or cause. For example:
 

Why is unemployment high in the UK?
Because there are too few jobs.
Why are there too few jobs?
Because businesses are not creating jobs.
Why are businesses not creating jobs?
Because there is very little demand from customers.
Why is there little demand from customers?

Because people are saving their money out of concern about the financial climate.

The example shows how each higher purpose identifies the cause of the problem in the question. Asking 'Why?' several times actually shows that there is a higher cause to the problem, in this case a broken economic system.
 

So why is that important? Well, to use the above example, what would happen if the government tries to encourage businesses to create more jobs by giving them grants? Does that solve the problem, or does it set businesses up to fail?
 

So much effort and resources go into causes which are really symptoms of a bigger national or even global system which has become dysfunctional in today's world. This in turn leads to bigger problems and loss of even more effort & resources. It can leave people and systems dysfunctional and totally overwhelmed.
 

So next time someone asks you 'Why?' remember this blog.
 

Signed - the annoying Systems Thinker ;)

Learning Methodologies for Multi-Disciplinary Teams in high-paced environments

Has your learning & development budget been cut, while workforce performance needs investing in more than ever? Stuck on how to deliver learning in a different way?

Across many Councils, fast-paced change and cross-organisational commissioning are requiring the need for high performing board and multi-disciplinary teams with diverse perspectives and organisational cultures to work effectively together. The fast-paced world means there is a need for fast-paced learning methodologies.

Formal learning activities still play an important part in the workplace, however it is often costly and takes people away from their work. Formal learning practices also pre-supposes that that what we have always considered as relevant continues to be relevant in today's world. For example, if I continue to offer only traditional 'training' to our workforce, I will soon find demand for it diminishing as more manager and employees have less time. So it is important to acknowledge first that a change or even a transformation is needed. 

In making learning and development  relevant for today, there is a need to look beyond formal learning if we are to address the increasing demand for higher-paced learning by multi-disciplinary teams grows. A good place to start is to look at the 70:20:10 model of learning. This model suggests that we should split our learning methodologies into 3, namely:

10% Formal Learning (includes course and e-learning, often built around technical knowledge)

20% Feedback & Coaching (includes individual and group feedback and coaching by managers, peers and customers)                            

70% Experience (e.g. on-the-job, on-demand Google search, sharing, working out loud, mentoring others etc)                     

Note how formal learning only constitutes a small percentage of the overall learning experience. The 90% new world learning methodologies are crucial, better timed, more relevant and often a lot more cost-effective in a fast-paced world. They are also more empowering for the learner who becomes more self-directed in their CPD (and career choices).

Put simply, what we've done in the past won't get us where we need to be in the future.

Merger Planning and Employee Engagement Advice and Support

During a major organisation-wide transformation, Future Catalyst has offered Merger Planning and Employee Engagement advice and support to Senior Managers during the merger/TUPE of teams from different organisations. The support included a number of facilitated meetings to support the Senior Managers in planning the merger journey, planning of communications and employee engagement activities before and during the merger. After the merger, Future Catalyst also planned and facilitated an interactive group coaching workshops where all managers and employees were encouraged to participate in building a new team culture and future direction, combining the strengths of the merging teams into one cohesive team.

When asked why the Future Catalyst OD Consultant opted for an interactive workshop rather than an induction, they replied:
'Mergers need to be handled with much care and sensitivity. While most organisations perceive a company or team induction as a nice welcome, employees who join the new organisation actually experience it as a total loss of identity as the induction is asking them to adopt the welcoming organisation's culture, practices and processes. It is not perceived as a merger - which should be a melting pot of strengths - but a takeover. Utilising activities which send hidden messages of a takeover rather than a merger, will lead to a unfriendly working environment, silo working, continuous team conflict, poor employee well-being, divided loyalties and disengaged staff.

Opting for an interactive workshop, Future Catalyst provides the two parties with an opportunity to come together as equals, get to know everyone and work together to identify combined team strengths, work on a continuous team building action plan and the future direction of the team/organisation. Employees who attended one of our workshops told us they felt it was a great way to get to know new team members and were excited about continuing to build the team after the workshop.'

To contact Future Catalyst, please visit our website - www.futurecatalyst.net