Every year thousands of change initiatives are undertaken globally in the form of reorganization, structural and procedural change, new product and service launches, and the setting of strategy, goals, and objectives. Yet, according to Harvard Business Review, 70% of all change initiatives fail. The financial cost of failed change to organizations, the economy, and society …

We talk about change as a process, but it is also the emergence of a new system from within the existing system. This systemic evolution occurs when we are unable to incorporate environmental discontinuities into the current Status Quo. As organizational Adaptive Strain increases, a cycle of change is induced. “How are we going to …

The events of last week remind us that VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) lives just under our radar screen and can catapult us from the status quo into radical change instantly. Like the 2008 economic crisis, events of this magnitude create unavoidable systemic strain that threaten to tear organizations, even countries, apart. As leaders, we …

Equilibrium is death. As a biologist, I believe this fundamental truth of life also applies to business. When a living breathing business flat-lines, the end is near. It is the dynamic flow of resources, goods, services, money, information, and workers that keep businesses alive and healthy. The global financial collapse of 2008 came close to …

I became fascinated by change in 1997 when I led an organization-wide change initiative to purposefully redesign our Product Development and Commercialization Process (PDCP). After 18-months of organizationally created VUCA we declared victory – a success that only 30% of change initiatives achieve. Let me put this in perspective. If only 30% of your product …

To apply the learning of VUCA ∞ VUCA Prime I draw a visual metaphor of my situation. I have limited drawing skills so I need something that is simple and provides just enough structure to guide my thinking. I start by establishing context, in this case the design for a cultural change program to create …

Leadership development is an important aspect of the director role, and not just something that is recommended for executives. All directors should review their own leadership skills from time to time and determine what and how to improve.

Recap from VUCA – A Leader’s Dilemma A multinational organization faces a major structural reorganization that contains significant functional changes and leadership challenges. Facing the Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA) are four leaders responsible for implementing a significant part of the organizational change without losing strategic momentum. Finding VUCA Prime Like most organizations, the …

Three Sub-Systems This post is the third in a series on Leading in Complex Human Systems. In my last two posts, we began our review of The Butterfly Model of Human Systems. The Model suggests that larger world of  human systems are composed of three major subsystems: The Face-to-Face System–what happens “in the room,” in …

There is significant outcome data that demonstrates a strong correlation between the skills and knowledge of the individuals responsible for leading change and the actual success of organizational change initiatives. This again begs the question: What leadership behaviors or competencies are most strongly associated with effectively leading or overseeing change initiatives? This blog entry addresses three competency areas associated with effectively leading change.