The new organization is described in the Boundaries of Change. The Prescriptive Transformation Values push the new behaviors required by the Structural Changes that will make the organization become what it must. The Structural Changes reconfigure the underlying networks of the organization. The Peer Coaches use the Prescriptive Transformation Values as the focus for coaching Diverse, Volunteer Teams who learn to behave in new ways and implement the structural changes for the new organization.
All these elements interact in a specific and special way to produce lasting,
organizational transformation. Just as the DNA molecule determines our nature,
the DNA of organizational transformation determines the nature of change.
What kind of
organizations are at the point
of "change or die?"
Do the following situations sound familiar?
A)
A microelectronics industry was ISO-9001 certified and also had a documented quality system. It manufactured tiny chips that made thousands upon thousands of decisions in tiny increments of time.Income was at an all-time high and stock prices were rising. It had problems of rigidity and slowness.
Although changes in products and design took place in a matter of hours, changes to processes and procedures in the organization could take years. It had developed a multilevel bureaucracy. Easy decisions were filtered through chains of approval. It took two years to decide to use seven-hole punch on paper so both four ring and three-ring binders could be used.
When some customers ordered components that the company had the capacity to manufacture, the process to code a new product was cumbersome – so every month 10 percent of the new orders rolled over to the next month.
The organization was sub-divided into silos. Each silo was measured as a profit center and they were measured against each other.
The CEO heard customer complaints about missed deadlines and delivery failures. Customers also complained about arrogance and inattention. Customers lied about requirements for products because they knew delivery would be late. Customer service lied because the representatives knew that the customers were lying … and so on.
Many of the employees had 30- to 40-years experience. Benefits included pension plans, 401K, profit sharing, medical and dental coverage. However, for some reason, the workforce avoided participation in change initiatives and the percentage of new hires of young, professionals had dropped. Innovation was present in product development, but manufacturing and administrative processes stopped new products from getting to market.
The CEO tried re-engineering and replacing key executives. Vision statements were circulated. Various initiatives to create excitement among the workforce flared briefly but died away. The CEO realized that the survival of the organization was in jeopardy. If it stayed on its present course, the organizations’ competitors would pass it by.
It had to change or die.
B)
Another company produced high-quality product. It had a loyal following and was profitable and successful. It expanded its market share every year.Customers called the Customer Satisfaction department for help. Customer Satisfaction Representatives took messages and were authorized to help in a small percentage of complaints. Customers who were angry and requested to speak to a supervisor were put on hold for extended periods of time. The Customer Satisfaction Representatives called their division, "Customer Dissatisfaction."
A customer had go through many channels to place an order. Verifications of credit card orders had to be referred to another desk with a limited amount personnel and resources to process requests. The more successful a marketing campaign was, the more time was needed to process orders because of the traffic at the verification desk.
Customer Satisfaction Representatives had to push a button repeatedly in order to get through. Marketing started new programs without telling Customer Satisfaction. Customers called for information about new offers and the representatives said that they had no idea what they are talking about. Access to information was available only to management.
Independent contractors provided service to the customers. Customer Satisfaction Representatives described them as untrustworthy and unreliable. The independent agents were penalized according to the number of complaints made about the service by Customer Satisfaction Representatives. The agents described the department as people "who do not know what they are doing."
Turnover was about 186 percent. Qualified applicants were often turned away because training schedules were preset. The average tenure of new hires in the department was less than three months. Representatives were monitored and measured on "wrap up" time; the time it takes to get the customer off the phone so that they could take new calls. Calls in queue were posted on a tally board at the front of the room. The supervisors required the Customer Satisfaction Representatives to stay seated in their chairs at all times. Often the answers to customers’ inquiries were available elsewhere in the department. Representatives changed desks every day.
Incompatibilities between systems required printed reports and frequent manual re-entry of data. Workarounds were invented daily and became institutionalized. Decisions were made rapidly without any real consideration for consequences. Most solutions, therefore, became enormous problems.