Lead an Innovative Organization: From Change Management to Manage FOR Change--SA

Have you ever thought, “If I could just avoid all this bureaucracy, I could get things done?” You’re right. Too many organizations think they’re helping the teams when those very practices make work more difficult to accomplish. Sometimes, all you need to do is stop demotivating people from doing the work. Innovative organizations don’t just innovate their products—they innovate their processes. You might not be able to influence all of these ideas, but you can start the conversation.

Transcript

1. Johanna Rothma n @johannarothma n www.jrothman.com Lead an Innovative Organization: From Change Management to Manage FOR Change
2. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Your organization wants innovation . How do they act? 2
3. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Does Your Organization Demand: • Detailed plans : • Estimate s • Schedule s • RO I • Upfront planning 3
4. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Does Your Organization Offer: • An opportunity where you know : • The value of your wor k • The goal for this versio n • Trust for you to do the right thin g • Request for demos on a regular basis 4
5. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman The Demand for Unknowable Data v s The Offer for Great Work 5
6. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Don’t blame the managers. They are part of a greater system of work. 6
7. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Common Innovation Problems • Want to “manage change” instead of embrace chang e • Managers work in silos • Lots of planning at all levels—too little strateg y • Bureaucracy burdens worker s • Mechanistic view of managemen t • Conservators (conserve the status quo) outnumber the experimenters 7
8. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Want innovation ? Innovate management/leadership practices. 8
9. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Consider These Suggestions 1. De fi ne “why” for the organization 2. Reduce management decision tim e 3. Shorter feedback loops to reduce all planning burde n 4. Reduce policies and procedure s 5. Encourage change : A. Make it easy for people to disagre e B. Make small mistake s 6. Eliminate performance management 9
10. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 1. “Why” for the Organization • Why is your strategy: Why does your organization (products & services) exist? • Return $ to shareholders is an outcome of satisfying customers . • Strategy answers these questions : • Why this product/service ? • Why now ? • Strategy has nothing to do with slogans 10
11. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Some Strategies • Help people retire better . • Help patients check out of the hospital faster . • Help people order groceries . • Value-focuse d • Customer s • Societ y • Offers options for many products and services 11
12. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Portfolio of Products & Services • Organize all products and services into these buckets : • KTLO: Keep the lights o n • Grow current busines s • Possible transformatio n • Assess how many projects are in which bucket s • My suggestions for an innovative organizations : • 10% KTLO; 40% Grow; 50% Transformation 12
13. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman What If You’re Not a Top Leader? • Build your portfolio up from the various products and services your team(s) deliver and suppor t • Bucket into: KTLO, Grow, Transform bucket s • See if you can generate the “why” from thos e • Assess the percentages in each bucke t • Look for allies for change 13 Strategy Deliver
14. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 2. Reduce Management Decision Time with Management Teams • Do your functional managers/leaders collaborate ? • Organizations based on individual rewards : • Reduce management collaboratio n • Create slow decision s • Optimize too low 14
15. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Fast product experiments lead to more innovation . That means fast product development feedback loops and fast management decision time 15
16. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Hierarchical Decisions Take Forever 16
17. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Management Teams • Senior leadership teams already exis t • Many orgs have a cohort at one leve l • Why not have cohorts at each level? 17
18. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Resource Ef fi ciency vs Flow Ef fi ciency • The more managers work in fl ow ef fi ciency, the faster all the work fi nishe s • Once managers work in teams, they can also address the why for the organization 18
19. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman (Mgmt) Delays Often Outweigh Work Time 19
20. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Evolve Management 20
21. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 3. Reduce Planning, Especially Based on Estimates • Too many “plans” depend on estimates or forecast s • Those estimates or forecasts don’t take cycle time into accoun t • The longer the cycle time, the longer everything takes—even simple things 21
22. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Reduce Feedback Loop Duration • Cliff looked at the time from T2 to T5 (cycle time ) • Started at 2-5 week s • Reduced to a few day s • Projects fi nished inside of 6 month s • Time from T0-T2 regularly a year or mor e • Management asked for estimates every single time they replanne d • Article is here: https://www.jrothman.com/ proj-delays 22
23. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 4. Reduce Policies & Procedures • How many policies, procedures, rules, and other things that impose friction on people ? • Ask for vacation or sick tim e • Imposed “standard” agile approac h • Imposed boards and other tool s • How few rules do you need ? • Guidelines and constraints (as few as possible ) • Delegate problems and outcomes, not tasks 23
24. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 5. Make Disagreement and Mistakes Easy • Product development requires learnin g • How easy is it for you to : • Disagre e • Make mistake s • Work togethe r • Mistake-proof the outcome s • Experiments create short feedback loops 24
25. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Small, Safe-to-Fail Experiments Work • Reframe “Fail Fast” to “Learn Early ” • Allow safe-to-fail experiment s • Need at least one hypothesis for change 25
26. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 6. Eliminate Performance Management • Performance management does not wor k • Ranking doesn’t wor k • Comparing people or teams doesn’t wor k • Competition doesn’t wor k • Feedback, especially reinforcing feedback, does work 26
27. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Create Engagement • Learn why each person works (one-on- one) and see if you can offer them opportunitie s • Explain the why (organization, team/ group, product, project ) • Encourage autonomy, mastery, purpos e • Encourage fl ow ef fi ciency at all level s • Create an opportunistic culture, where people discover new and interesting work, skills, collaboration, and more 27
28. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Lead an Innovative Organization 1. Clarify your purpose (you, team, organization). 2. Build empathy with the people who do the work. 3. Build a safe environment. 4. Seek outcomes and optimize for the overarching goal . 5. Encourage experiments and learning. 6. Catch people succeeding. 7. Exercise your value-based integrity. 28
29. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Manage for change: Optimize to learn 29
30. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Let’s Stay in Touch • Pragmatic Manager: • www.jrothman.com/ pragmaticmanage r • Please link with me on LinkedI n • Modern Management Made Easy: https://www.jrothman.com/mmme 30