Organizations today are struggling to be more customer-centric , adapt and be flexible by incorporating more technology, or be more agile by using business digitization. What do they really need to do to create the conditions necessary to make these innovations a reality?
There are three cardinal behaviors that people in an organization must develop today to increase the chances of success of these organizational transformation initiatives:
- Working pressure tolerance.
- Initiative and autonomy.
Because having motivated, autonomous and initiative people and being able to develop lasting links with other collaborators in the organization is a precondition for making digital innovation a reality in the value chain. The organization must then prepare for a near future (almost imminent) in which the norm is the constant redefinition of talent.
What should leaders do in this context? Feeling anxious because innovative initiatives will change the status quo? Or to feel comfortable talking to your teams about business challenges and thinking constructively about solutions, without being “back of the line” all the time?
We know that for a company to remain relevant, it must be constantly launching transformation initiatives , like water flowing in a river without a predefined pattern, but within a cause that changes much more slowly, but also changes.
To truly innovate, we have to be able to let go of acquired knowledge.
How to stay relevant?
We normally define intelligence as our ability to think and learn, but in a world that is constantly changing, we must incorporate the ability to rethink and unlearn in order to learn again.
Because in the end learning to program, design digital campaigns, incorporate virtual stores is not what is important: what is critical and central is being able to forget our assumptions in order to remain relevant.
Let’s see a practical example on a personal level: Do we still think about our “career” as its syntax makes it explicit? Like a career? Who must we beat? Is the track or route defined?
Do we have a clear goal and when will we cross it? do The stages that we must go through are clear , like in a rally? Surely by now you will have realized how obsolete these questions are…
The current path of labor and professional development is much more fluid and dynamic compared to how it was conceived in the last century: today we can be in a position in a multinational with regional reach, and then collaborate in a start-up Contributing our experience, in At the same time, we will give our support to a social impact foundation, and we are interested in going deeper into topics such as philosophy, sociology or sustainable design.
We constantly train ourselves to be changing, because diversity enriches us and teaches us to have different points of view, to relate to and listen to others who see the world differently.
In the digital age, organizations must function with greater flexibility.
The value of the search.
We feel that we evolve and grow as people and as workers. If we are able to do it, why can’t organizations do it? Our mind is always searching, and the search is activated when any of these three occur: Behavior :
- Learn new things.
- Highlight our unique skills.
- Understand the personal impact we have on the world.
By searching, we activate our brain so that it is open to transformation, because we go into those gray areas to embrace them without fear. Listening to a classical music orchestra, perfectly synchronized, rehearsed and conducted, sensitizes us, conveys a sense of order, perfection, professionalism : it opens us up to listening and prepares us to let ourselves go.
In the same way, a jazz jam session invites us to surprise, to the unexpected, to appreciate the natural synchronization of structures of each instrument and each musician, to the rhythm of known general guidelines, but whose result is totally unknown. Both experiences show us that it is possible to obtain wonderful results with completely different methods.
Industrial-age organizations were inspired by a philharmonic orchestra where the conductor (the CEO) carefully coordinates each group of instruments (the functional areas) based on a predefined scheme (the score) so that everything sounds perfectly in sync (the processes). and deliver the result (the piece) expected by the audience (the market).
In the digital age, organizations need to function more flexibly. like jazz musicians who get together to improvise: they know general guidelines of the musical structure (processes, rules, policies) but without a director to direct them or a score to guide them, although they all listen, communicate and visually understand and join in the emerging melody of the ensemble (the results obtained).
Industrial age organizations were inspired by a philharmonic orchestra.
And this is only possible if, like a band of jazz players who improvise, with people well prepared in their flexible trade, with an understanding of the business, willing to take risks within the general guidelines of operation, uninterested in personal brilliance but passionate about the common result.
To truly innovate and think outside the box as they say in English, we have to be able to let go of our acquired knowledge , being able to encourage ourselves and question what we know to make room for new spaces of opportunity. Otherwise, we will always keep playing the same melody.