An "organizational strategy" (aka "transformation strategy") describes the changes you plan to make in organizational systems such as structure, culture, metrics, and resource-governance processes to achieve your vision of the organization of the future.

It's inefficient, less effective, and perhaps even dangerous to just start changing things without a plan. An organizational strategy helps you implement the right changes in the right sequence. It helps you design each change so as to align with other planned changes. And it helps ensure that your series of changes add up to your desired end-state.

An organizational strategy planning process does two things: It helps a leadership team develop and communicate a comprehensive action plan; and it helps to open an organization's climate for change.

If you're embarking on a change program (such as a transformation), organizational strategy is essential.

The Change Formula

What's the value of a documented organizational strategy?

It starts with a desire to create an organization that's somehow different from the one that exists today. It's a desire for change.

Consider the "change formula" -- the three essential prerequisites of change.

• Dissatisfaction with the status quo

• A clear, safe, compelling destination

• A viable path from here to there

Organizational strategy has a role in all three.

1. Dissatisfaction with the status quo: Change isn't easy. People won't change if it's a "nice to have." They have to be sitting in a "hot pan" before they'll jump. The people affected by the change have to believe that while we may not have failed in the past, it's not okay to stay where we are.

   A strategy must explain why change is absolutely necessary -- essentially, what problems the strategy intends to fix.

2. A clear, safe, compelling destination: Next, people won't jump "from a hot pan into the fire." They need a safe place to jump to -- a clear understanding of the end-state. Beyond safe, that end-state should be positive, even exciting and worth their while.

   A strategy is a way to get somewhere. So it has to explain what that "somewhere" is -- the end-state that results from the strategy.

3. A viable path from here to there: Third, people need to know that their investment in change is going to pay off. They may have developed cynicism as a result of past change initiatives which were much touted but made little difference in their lives. To buy into the change, people need to see a clear and viable path from the present to that end-state.

   A strategy is a sequence of planned changes, in the right order and properly paced. It's the antidote to "management flavor of the month," and builds trust that the changes will succeed.

"I've gotten a lot of advice over the years on how to develop a high-performing organization (HPO), even a 5-day executive program at a prominent university. Most were disjointed, complex, and lacked clear guidance on what do to and where to start. In contrast, Meyer's [approach] is easy to digest, comprehensive yet pragmatic, and engaged my leadership team in a well-planned change process that produced powerful results."

Steve Monaghan CIO and Chief of Staff, County of Nevada, CA

Crafting and communicating an organizational strategy is the best way to start a transformation process. But it's never too late. Even if you've already implemented some changes, you'll still get a lot of benefits from formalizing your organizational strategy.

Steps in the Transformation Planning Process

The steps in a transformation planning process are:

1. Vision

   A transformation begins with a clear, comprehensive, and compelling blueprint of the end-state.

   That vision of the future organizational operating model might be based on two fundamental pillars: empowerment, and the business-within-a-business paradigm.

   More on the role of a vision in change management....

   Consider the "change formula" -- the three essential prerequisites of meaningful change.

   1. Dissatisfaction with the status quo: Change isn't easy. For most, it's not worth the time, costs, and risks unless it's really necessary. Saying "we're fine, although we could be better" isn't going to motivate anything other than marginal change. The people affected by the change have to believe that while we may not have failed in the past, it's not okay to stay where we are.

   2. A clear, safe, compelling destination: Next, people won't jump "from a hot pan into the fire." They need a safe place to jump to -- a clear understanding of the end-state. Beyond safe, that end-state should be positive, even exciting and worth their while.

   3. A viable path from here to there: Third, people need to know that their investment in change is going to pay off. They may have developed cynicism as a result of past change initiatives which were much touted but made little difference in their lives. To buy into the change, people need to see a clear and viable path from the present to that end-state.

   Vision has a role in all three.

   1. Dissatisfaction with the status quo: To be able to say, "we may not have failed in the past, but now we must change," you need to explain the gaps between the current organization and the future one.

      A vision of the future is the "stretch assignment" that explains why we can't stay here. It creates tough standards by which to measure the gaps.

   2. A clear, safe, compelling destination: A vision statement directly fulfills this component. It communicates where we're going, to make people comfortable that the changes will be good for them.

      Beyond just safe, a good vision is compelling. Customers should say, "That's the kind of organization I want to do business with." And staff should say, "That's the organization I want to work with."

      When they do, they'll support the changes. Their support helps justify the needed funding for the changes. It builds credibility so that the enterprise will empower the leadership team to drive those changes. It engenders patience with the time it takes to build something really different and worthwhile. And for staff, it induces loyalty, even if things aren't so great today.

   3. A viable path from here to there: To engender trust that the changes will be successful, leaders have to communicate their strategies for implementing change.

      A vision explains all the things that need to be implemented in your organizational strategy. Furthermore, it guides every decision in each step in a transformation process.

2. Gap assessment

   The next step is to assess the current organization against this vision, and identify the gaps. These gaps are the compelling reason for change (the "hot pan").

3. Root cause analysis on those gaps

   The next step is to trace gaps (symptoms) to their root causes -- obstacles in the organizational ecosystem that impede staff from achieving the vision.

   There are five fundamental organizational systems: structure, internal economy, culture, methods and tools, metrics and rewards. When poorly designed or out of alignment with one another, they induce good people to perform poorly.

   More on the organizational ecosystem that can cause good people to perform poorly....

   "I've learned a lot from you -- a wealth of information that I believe will help me for many years to come."

   Harold W. Sallee Administrator to the General Superintendent and transformation program manager Assemblies of God

4. Definition of systemic changes that address those root causes

   The root causes are then translated into corrective actions, the specific change initiatives that you'll undertake.

5. Sequencing the systemic changes over time into your transformation road-map

   Organizations can only absorb a limited amount of change. It's best to focus on just one or two systemic changes at a time. Thus, the corrective actions have to be sequenced into a plan.

The result is an organizational strategy that addresses systemic root causes (not symptoms), in the right sequence, leading to your vision of a high-performing organization.

Whom to Involve

An executive has options with regard to whom to involve in an organizational strategy planning process.

An executive could develop the plan alone, or engage his/her leadership team in the planning process. A broader set of stakeholders (staff, bosses, cutomers) could be involved in some steps in the planning process.

No matter who is engaged in the planning process, the plan has to be communicated to all stakeholders. Of course, the more people who were involved in its creation, the easier communications gets.

"In my 30+ years of working at the crossroads of leadership, technology, and human communication, I've never found a more comprehensive and systematic approach to building a high-performing organization. Meyer's fundamental organizational design principles are timeless and effective."

Mary Boone, author, Leadership and the Computer and Managing Interactively

Benefits

• A shared and detailed understanding among participating leaders of the vision of a high-performance organization (the end-state).

• Understanding among leaders of the need for change (the gaps).

• Training for participating leaders in organizational systems and root-causes analysis, a skill that's useful in finding permanent solutions whenever problems arise.

• A comprehensive organizational strategy, well sequenced and well paced, which serves as an antidote to the "management flavor of the month" accusation.

• Full consensus of the leadership team on the changes to be made, and widespread support from staff and key clients -- a foundational climate for change.

Next Step

Senior leaders may schedule a telephone meeting with Dean Meyer to sort out the best path forward in the context of your aspirations and circumstances. Contact us....

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