"If only we'd known then, what we know now..."
"We don't provide any guidelines for that. Our People can work things out for themselves".
"I don't like red tape. We prefer to think on-the-fly".
"Our systems and processes are fine. They got us this far!"
Sound familiar? Maybe you've heard or read this before, or perhaps you've experienced it yourself in an organisation? It's not an unfamiliar song, particularly from those in start-up mode, to be flying by the seat of their pants, encouraging their people to figure things out themselves in terms of how to navigate their role, organisation, and networks.
There's no doubt that those in start-up, or explore mode, will experience chaos and change at a greater level. That's to be expected. But what if you're an established organisation? Perhaps you're gearing up for further growth and transformation? Are you about to expand globally? Maybe you're at that point of moving out of start-up mode into established growth? The bad news is that the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants rule just won't cut it anymore. Trust me, it won't.
The Good News
You've got a window of opportunity to put your house in order now, in order to reap the rewards later on. I've worked with many organizations that haven't put this discipline into their businesses at this critical stage of growth, often confusing disciplined and robust business practices with 'red tape'.
My advice to you, from years of working with different clients and organisations, is 'don't let this opportunity pass you by'! I can assure you, that when done correctly you won't kill your business. Face the challenge head on now - before you get too big, too established, gather too much technical/system debt. If you do this, and do it well, then you won't hear comments from your people such as "we're so much slower", and "we've never had to do this before". Instead you'll hear "you've saved me so much pain!", "why didn't we do this sooner?!", and "now I can focus on the important work with all that 'noise' removed".
If you're gearing up for future growth, change or transformation (even better, before that point!), then you should take stock now. Learn from those who have gone before you. Learn from those leaders who have said "if only we knew then, what we know now" in terms of wishing they had taken the time to strengthen their foundational systems, structures, and processes at this critical juncture....
Get Your Ducks In A Row
If you find yourself approaching that junction, where you can invest in ensuring your delivery and operational excellence will be positioned well for your growth and transformation, then do it! Balance that with a strong focus on the customer and employee experience, and you'll avoid a lot of organisational, cultural and cost issues down the track.
Don't Delay
I've worked with a lot of organisations where I've been brought in to lead the transformation and change, particularly the People and workforce strategy. 9 out of 10 times, the horse is already out of the stable and we're running furiously alongside, attemping to get the saddle on. Can it be done? Sure. But there's a lot of blood, sweat and tears, hidden costs, higher-than-needed cultural impact, and some good folk lost along the way.
It doesn't need to be that way. Set yourself and your organisation up for success by assessing your foundations - your systems and strutures that will support operational excellence as you grow.
Don't be the one saying "if only we'd known then, what we know now".
Interested to know more? There's research and plenty of stories and books you can access. A few to consider are:
- 'The Good Jobs Strategy', Zeynep Ton
- 'The Hard Thing About Hard Things', Ben Horowitz
- 'The Knowing-Doing Gap', Jeffrey Pfeffer & Robert Sutton
- 'Scaling Up Excellence', Robert Sutton & Huggy Rao
- 'Lead and Disrupt', Charles O'Reilly & Michael Tushman
Bron Hall is the founder of Workplace Redesign, employee & customer experience specialist, and passionate advocate for NZ Inc.
Workplace Redesign. Delight your customers and team, increase productivity, and drive innovation. We transform your business through redesigning workplace practices and the employee experience.
Website: workplaceredesign.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WRedesign
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workplaceredesign
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