Welcome to the fourteenth application lab in the [Re]Create Application Lab Collection. The lab includes a downloadable workbook (PDF), a video, and editable worksheets (PPTX).
Introduction
The journey to [re]design and [re]create an organization is challenging and uncertain. Many change efforts fail to achieve their objectives because leadership fails to set the example and personally see it through to the outcome. But you aren’t alone. The collaborative leader develops a team of organization architects and engages them in a collective effort to [re]design the organization. To get this team moving, you will need to leverage the tension (dissatisfaction x compelling vision) and continuously raise the bar as the journey unfolds to maintain that tension. Your task is to create an environment that helps the people in your organization create ever-improving value for multiple stakeholders, including themselves.
While there are many ways to [re]create the organization you want, there is a logical “form follows function” sequence or path that includes the least amount of rework. The first phase is to build a solid foundation with a leadership team that understands the 14 components of the Leadership and Design Blueprint. That leadership team then develops the enterprise systems model that is the framework for the organization. Once the framework is developed, the next step is to [re]design the top-level systems including customers, production, supplier and partner, workforce, knowledge, leaders and strategy, and governance systems. Only then are you ready to deploy [re]design throughout the organization. We begin with you and your team of organization architects.
Read Chapter 14, Facilitators of Change, in the [Re]Create Book.
Available on: Amazon | iBooks | Nook | Kobo | Audible (Audiobook)
Application
Objective – Understand the Facilitators of Change concepts, components, and relationships and how they contribute to leadership and organization [re]design for sustainable excellence. Conduct a consolidated assessment and analysis and develop an improvement plan that includes all 14 components of the Leading Transformation Framework.
How well is your organization doing on the 14 components of the leading transformation framework? In this lesson, you will conduct a comprehensive assessment and develop an improvement plan that addresses all 14 [Re]Create Labs. In step one, you will assess each of the 14 leading transformation framework components. In step two, you will consolidate the results into a matrix for analysis. Finally, in step three, based on your analysis of the consolidated matrix, you will identify strengths and opportunities for improvement.
Part One
Assessment Video 0:54
Objective – Complete an Assessment of ALL 14 Leading Transformation Framework Components (Labs).
The task here is to take everything you have done in the previous labs and lessons and assess where the organization stands in each of the 14 labs. For each lab, take the worksheets and your notes on the reflection questions and complete a separate assessment worksheet with nine questions for each lab. When complete, the 14 labs total 126 questions.
Consolidated Matrix Video 3:04
Objective – Complete a Consolidated Analysis of ALL 14 LTSE Components.
Once you have completed all the worksheets, consolidate the results onto one page. To develop the consolidated matrix, transfer the scores from the 14 individual assessment worksheets to the consolidated matrix. The 9 x 14 consolidated matrix is a useful tool to help provide an overall perspective for analysis.
Matrix Questions
The question number is in each cell in the matrix, and the Lab #s are across the top 1 through 14. There are 126 total questions that you answered in the 14 worksheets.
Example Matrix
Enter the “agree” scale score. Then sum the scores for each column and divide by 9. The result is the average score for each column at the bottom of the matrix.
Example Matrix – Color-coded #1
Next, color code each cell and analyze the results for each column (lab). Then, using the color-coded cells, identify the low-scoring columns (Labs). In the lab workbook example, there are three low-scoring columns. The column for Lab #7 is a low-scoring item with dark red, red, pink, and several yellow cells. There is only one green in that whole column. The column for Lab #8 is only slightly better with a few more pink cells, no dark red cells, but still only one green. Finally, Lab #14 is somewhat better, with one strong green spot.
Example Matrix – Color-coded #2 Low scoring areas highlighted
If you remove the higher-scoring color from the other columns and individual questions, the low-scoring columns become a little easier to see. One option is to develop strategies that address each low-scoring column. In addition, there may be other low-scoring elements (individual questions) that are opportunities for improvement. The purpose of these different visual displays is to highlight the opportunities for improvement as input to an improvement plan.
Improvement Plan Video 8:58
Objective – Identify Strengths, Opportunities for Improvement, and Improvement Plan.
Once you have analyzed the color-coded matrix, you can move on to the improvement plan. The improvement plan captures the most important strengths and opportunities for improvement and identifies potential solutions.
Once you have analyzed the color-coded matrix, you are ready to move on to the improvement plan. The improvement plan captures the most important strengths and opportunities for improvement and identifies potential solutions.
1. Strengths to Leverage
What are the key strengths identified in the LTSE Assessment Results and Analysis? What activities should you keep and reinforce?
2. Opportunities for Improvement
What are the key opportunities for improvement identified in the LTSE Assessment Results and Analysis? What activities need to change (redesigned)?
3. Development Activities
What are the top few things that you could do to improve the areas identified in Step 2? Note, detailed plans will be developed in the next lesson. The objective here is to identify ideas for further development in the action planning process in the next lesson.
Part Two
Where will you go from here? What will you do to improve your organization? In this lesson, you will reflect on all the previous labs and apply what you have learned to improve your organization and leadership.
Reflections Video 0:49
Objective – Reflect and identify what you have learned about your organization and your leadership.
Key Takeaways
What are the most important lessons learned from this lab? What did you learn about the facilitators of change? What did you learn about your organization? What did you learn about your leadership?
Questions
What questions do you still have about the facilitators of change? What questions do you still have about your organization related to the facilitators of change? What questions do you still have about the facilitators of change?
Based on everything you have experienced in this Facilitators of Change Module (key concepts, application worksheets, assessments, etc.), identify the key lessons learned or “takeaways” and the questions you still have. Identify the sources you will use to find answers to your questions.
Action Plan Logic Video 2:03
Objective – Apply your knowledge to develop an action plan to improve your organization and leadership.
For each opportunity for improvement that you identify, describe the actions you will take. Next, identify the expected reactions from the stakeholders involved. What will they SEE and HEAR related to the actions? What will they THINK and FEEL about the actions? How will that influence their behavior? How will those changes in behavior change the results and outcomes?
1. Opportunity
Identify and describe each opportunity for improvement on a separate row.
2. Actions
Identify and describe the actions that will address each opportunity. For every opportunity that you identify in your action plan, define the steps needed to be taken to address that opportunity for improvement. What is it that you need to do? Actions might include changes in leadership behavior. Or perhaps a change in strategy or the policies and practices of the organization. You may need to reallocate some resources or make changes to how resources are allocated. Maybe you may need to change some decisions and projects or process improvements you are making in the organization.
3. Expected Reactions
Describe the reactions that you expect from the stakeholders. Once you have identified the actions needed for each opportunity, the next question is what are the responses that you can expect from your stakeholders when they see and hear these changes that you are proposing. What are they going to think, and how are they going to feel about the changes?
4. Expected Results & Outcomes
Describe the results and outcomes that you expect from the actions and reactions. How does what they think and how they feel about the changes affect what they say and do, thus improving performance or behavior? In turn, how does that affect the results of the organization or the outcomes?
Action Plan Video 4:40
Objective – Apply your knowledge to develop an action plan to improve your organization and leadership.
Prioritize the most critical actions you will accomplish in the next 90 days, 30 days, and seven days. It is important to stretch yourself and your organization, but it is also essential to set realistic goals, accomplish them, gain momentum, and get going forward. As you set goals, it is important to avoid unrealistic expectations that put your people in ethical dilemmas. In other words, you want to avoid putting people in a position where they must cheat or cut corners to accomplish the goal.
1. Next 90 days
We begin by identifying the organization and leadership changes you need to make in the next 90 days to address the most critical improvement opportunities.
What organization change(s) will you make in the next 90 days? What leadership change(s) will you make in the next 90 days?
2. Next 30 Days
Then working backward from there, what do you need to do in the next 30 days to meet your goals for the next 90 days.
What organization change(s) will you make in the next 30 days? What leadership change(s) will you make in the next 30 days?
3. Next 7 Days
Then working back even further, what do you need to do in the next seven days? What changes to the organization and leadership do you need to make in the next seven days to meet your 30-day goals?
What organizational change(s) will you make in the next 7 days? What leadership change(s) will you make in the next 7 days?
Journal Video 6:26
Objective – Track your progress in your [Re]Create Journal.
Once you start making changes and working on those action plans, it is time to keep a journal. The first thing to record in the journal is the opportunity you are working on. What is the status of the project? Did we get everything done this week we thought we would get done? Why? Why not? What results are we seeing, and how do those compare to what we expected to see? Ask, what is working? What did not work, and why? Record the lessons you are learning and use those to make course corrections to improve progress and keep you on track.
It is important to keep a journal and record these as you move forward because you will be working on many things. Some of your actions will have positive results, while others may not create the results that you expected. In order to learn and get better at identifying and making changes, it is important to learn what worked, what didn’t, and under what conditions.
Opportunity – Identify and describe the opportunity that you are working on.
Actions Taken – Identify and describe the actions you have taken or are now taking to address the opportunity.
Expected Reaction & Results – Identify and describe the stakeholder reactions and the subsequent results that you expect based on the actions.
Status & Actual Reactions and Results – Identify and describe the status of the actions, reactions, and results.
Lessons Learned – Reflect on your experiences and identify the lessons learned. What worked, what didn’t work, and why?
Worksheets
- Complete – Complete the worksheets by yourself or with your group.
- Review – Present and explain your worksheets to your colleagues and boss and get their feedback.
- Revise – Incorporate their feedback into your worksheets.
Conclusion
On the surface, a building is a collection of walls with a foundation, a frame, sheetrock, wires, plumbing, air conditioning, etc. But we do not live and work in the walls. We experience the SPACE that those walls create and surround. A building is a container for space. It creates an environment for humans to interact and communicate. Some have proposed that organizations do not exist because the organization itself is not very tangible. However, the organization has many tangible artifacts that influence the stakeholders, including documents, policies, strategies, plans, rules, rituals, symbols, and, yes, the physical environment. The people inside the organization experience the combination of these artifacts, which influences their feelings, thoughts, and behavior. In other words, they experience the space or environment that those artifacts create.
We can think of the organization as a human-created environment for people to interact and communicate to accomplish a mission. The central design CHALLENGE for the organization architect is to create a humanistic environment that allows multiple stakeholders to create value for others and themselves.
Should you accept the challenge of [re]designing an organization that creates value for multiple stakeholders, make sure you enjoy the journey. There is an old saying, “When you think your journey to excellence is over, it is.” The journey to sustainable excellence never ends. The only constant is the need to learn and improve continuously. I hope this book helps you on your journey to [re]create the organization that you really want and society needs.
Enjoy the journey!