Change Fatigue is very real. As organizations push forward efforts to Digital Transform their work – countless applications, processes, and reorgs are being tossed at employees. In fact, the change doesn’t stop – there is no ‘done’ for Digital Transformation. The future of work, as it were, has got to be better than this. In the interim, along with all of this change comes Change Fatigue. The idea that at some point, employees have had enough. The reaction to any…
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” — James Baldwin When we had a reduction in force at Charles Schwab, we all knew why. We all knew why because the leaders opened a dialog about the needed change. The talked to all of us, they listened to all of us, and they helped us all face the inevitable. Well, not everyone was able to face the change – Larry struggled….
I’m in no way shape or form a futurist. I will also admit that I’m not entirely sure what that means. Can I predict the future? Can I read minds? No, I can not — but I can and will be able to share my predictions for the remainder of 2020. What do I think digital work is going to be and feel like after a cure for COVID is found; after the unemployment rates decrease; after the racial work…
Coronavirus (COVID-19) is real. It may not be the plague, but it’s for real. South by Southwest (SXSW) did not cancel its conference attended by 300,000 people from around the world because of fiction. Italy did not quarantine 16 million people because of some fake news stories. Coronavirus as a pandemic may be overblown, but it’s real. I can’t believe I had to say the above but we live in a post-fact world where truth can be hard to decipher….
Iowa. For many in the US, just saying the name of that state causes a visceral reaction. On February 3rd, 2020, Iowa held the Democratic caucus. This was to be the day where the Democratic party would begin the takedown of the Republican Presidential Incumbent, Donald Trump. Instead, it was the Democratic party’s takedown of the Democratic party. I may be jumping to conclusions and exaggerating a fraction here. But for the first time in many years, the candidates left…
The book “Good to Great” is filled with Case Study after Case Study of organizations that faced a critical inflection point about whether to change something that was working or stay the course. There are a ton of examples of companies that didn’t recognize the need to change (Best Buy, Kodak, etc..). The internet is littered with these stories – this blog too. The opposite is harder to find. Most companies seem to get lucky — but my personal favorite…
You are two years or more after implementing an enterprise software solution and you get the question, usually at renewal, and usually by someone in procurement: Why the hell am I paying this much for this software? (or some version of that). If you do get that question, it’s really handy to have a good response already prepared. Even better, it’s good to know you are going to get asked this question well before you get asked it. The following…
How do you prepare for another Industrial Revolution? If you believe it is happening or around the corner – then you are likely taking Digital Transformation seriously. And like any major change, you are probably trying to figure out where to begin. The first step is understanding the future state (as far as you can predict in your line of business) and then mapping it to your current state (as objectively as you possibly can). Once you do that, you…
Whether you are a change leader, accidental or other, you’ll want some help to understand and explain the challenge that lay before you. If you are an intentional change leader, you are likely in possession of some of these data points. If you are an accidental change leader, either you volunteered or was volunteered, this will hopefully help calibrate with your Executives. The Law of Diffusion Simon Sinek often references The law of diffusion in his “Start with Why” talks….
Before you take on a Digital Transformation project, there are a few things I’d recommend that you consider before undergoing such a significant shift. Based on my previous experience too few companies slow down long enough to do this, but it will save you time and money in the long-run. What I’m talking about is performing a self-assessment of your organization’s capabilities and readiness for change by completing a Digital Transformation Readiness assessment. This will help you understand just how…