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Transforming?
The ability to implement effective major organisational change is recognised by business leaders as a critical requirement for future success. Yet:

In 1995 Kotter published his findings showing transformation success rates at only 30%. He went on to contribute his 8-step change process. 

In the late 1990’s PROSCI, the market-leading BPR and change management research and consulting organisation, published their ADKAR change model, followed in 2004 by their Change Management Maturity model.  Yet, inline with the Kotter and McKinsey research, PROSCI’s year on year research findings show little movement from the 30% success rate of programmes.  PROCSI’s latest 2009 research cites the top two reasons for failure as:

What is clear is that whilst significant academic developments and contributions have been made over the past 15 years, transformation programmes really haven’t moved off the bottom of the business capabilities league table! 

Why stagnant?

So why is there no improvement when: 

• Change management methodologies have dramatically improved
• Transformation has moved to centre stage
• Most companies now have sophisticated programme management offices, allowing structured application of project management techniques and approaches
• The amount spent buying in expertise from change consultancies has grown into a hundreds of billion pound market
• Enormous research has been done year-on-year understanding performance levels and showing that the reasons behind this (consistently they are: poor sponsorship, methodologies, tools, and engagement of people)?

It is almost as if transformation has hit a ‘glass ceiling’.  Something else must clearly be going on when every other business process has improved out of recognition during this same period, including the so-called soft processes such as sales and HR.  What is it about Transformation that’s so different and could be behind the continued poor performance of it as a business competence/process?  We think three important characteristics make it different:

• transformation work is complex
  Sustainable transformation requires many pieces of the organisational jigsaw to be adjusted simultaneously – leadership, resources, capabilities, business processes, structure, performance measures and insight, engagement.  So a one-size-fits all approach won’t work.
• transformation is a highly human process
  Transformation work is mainly designed and delivered through face-to-face activity, workshops, meetings, coaching with limited collaboration tools to support it (emails, use of shared drives for programme documents, etc.).  These human-to-human interactions are critical to gain the buy-in and engagement that are required.  So, how do you scale and accelerate this process?
• 
  transformation processes are unique and highly localised
  Different types of transformation require different delivery approaches.  For example, implementing a technology transformation requires a different programme of activity from trying to build a more innovative culture. In addition transformation typically involves and includes tops-down strategies (T), bottoms-up (B) widespread engagement, and cross-business (X) projects and delivery.  So again, a one-size-fits all approach won’t work.

McKinsey’s research and model from the 1980’s (still valid!) highlights what has been a gaping hole in the work and world of transformation.   Their 7-S model calls for an integrated and aligned approach to be taken in order to make strategic change happen and stick.  Over the years each dimension of the 7-S has been researched, developed and improved; except for systems.  For example, the mechanistic, tops down style that was the perceived wisdom has evolved to more inclusive, empowered approaches.  Likewise structures are typically flatter, and often matrix in nature, allowing for increased individual responsibility and the complexity of global businesses to be accommodated.  Staff and skills dimensions are unrecognisable with talent management processes and employee value propositions, for example, demonstrating a massive shift in businesses’ relationship to staff.  Across the 7-S’s much has changed. 
But if we look at the systems side of things, almost nothing has changed.  Most programmes, to this day, are:

• managed via excel spreadsheets or project management tools that rely on manual tracking of component parts of the programme to deliver updates so that:
• the performance snapshot is out of date the minute it is issued
• professionals spend most of their working day phoning and chasing after people trying to determine progress (never mind gathering insight from the data)
• manually cascading and facilitating (or not) the engagement of the wider organisation
• delivered within a collaborative environment that is substantially below that which people enjoy at home - project teams work independently of each other, largely they communicate via email, sometimes they work face-to-face, maybe they use a shared drive for project documents.

Overall, the systems being used are 20th century, not 21st, and are sub-standard to what people have access to at home care of Facebook, Slideshare, Skype, Google, et al! 
This places massive strain on the work of transformation, it is almost like having an arm tied behind our back:

• Engagement at any scale becomes hugely challenging
• Embedding TBX change (tops-down, bottoms-up, cross-function) becomes almost impossible to achieve
• Keeping informed about progress is heavy duty work, only ever delivering back-ward-looking, infrequent, snap-shots in time.

A way forward – bridging the systems gap

The technology now exists to accommodate these differences and bring transformation approaches and tools into the 21st century - all of it, into one, cohesive environment.   The combination of web2.0 technologies with proven and scalable business and performance management technologies is game-changing.  For the first time the complexity of processes, humanity and flexibility needed to successfully deliver transformation is available.  This technology is available within xpoint™ which:

• provides a common environment for all transformation – T-B-X
• allows people to explore and align on business strategies and issues – T-B-X
• means people can go beyond discussion and ideas, into deployment of actual change, delivering initiatives in a collaborative, open manner so others can help and be helped
• automatically delivers real-time information about the state of play – which aspects of the transformation agenda are flying, and which are sinking fast and need life-boats?

xpoint™’s technology is beyond:

• facilitating conversations (but it does this and uses it as an important piece of the transformation jig-saw puzzle)
• capturing ideas, or being a whizzy sort of ideas box (but it does this and also helps teams to actually take their ideas forward within the system)
• social networking (but it uses this to help people find other experts relevant to delivering their initiatives, and build valuable cross-business relationships)
• performance management (but it enables this through making people’s initiatives transparent and tangible regarding business impact)
•  knowledge management (but it applies this to ensure any transformation work or conversations across the organisation can be accessed and SWP - stolen with pride!).

Element8’s xpoint solution goes beyond component solutions to deliver a comprehensive environment and toolkit that is integrated, purposeful and flexible.
Do you need to bridge any transformation gaps?