By Dr. Ross Wirth, Franklin University, USA
Organisations traditionally use change to move from a poor position to one thought to give the organisation a competitive advantage – a new business model. However, this use of change is a traditional application of moving to a new state and the “change process” was the vehicle to make the transformation. On the other hand, if the objective was to be better than any other organisation at being able to quickly change, the new business model is not an end state but the ability to routinely embrace continuous change.
Competitive advantage can come from the new business model or the competencies for change where change is not a disruptive activity, but seen as the competitive advantage itself. In this way, change as a business model is a shift in the way we think about organisational change.
Further, if the focus is on “risk management” there is an assumption of risk mitigation which implies traditional managerial control that leads to constraints on what changes are acceptable. On the other hand, if you were to switch from causation thinking to effectuation, risk shifts from something to be avoided to something that is acceptable – if the possible loss is affordable in the event the decision proves “wrong.”
For change to be a business model, the organisation must embrace many experiments to find what works in an evolving environment. There is no time to wait to see how things evolve to sufficiently determine the degree of risk associated with the many different responses that are possible. By that time, the opportunity will have passed. Similar to the shift in the mental model for change, so too, there is a shift in how risk is considered and embraced.
Let’s now jump ahead to the operating principles that will enable self-organisation for an organisation built for routine, continuous change.
Four Organising Principles for Change as a Business Model
- Focus on action within your control – create the future
- Take action with available means – move toward possible goals
- Partner with others even if imperfect – generate new means
- Manage a portfolio of continuous adjustment – not episodic disruptive change
- Seek opportunities first – and chunk problems quickly
- Test ideas if the downside is affordable – not able to fully predict outcomes
- Invite surprise – learn, adjust, & keep moving
- Organise as a network of work groups & teams – dynamically adjust at will
- Involve others – empowerment & decentralized leadership within area of influence
- Purpose alignment – boundary management and oversight of change
The result is:
An adaptive network that is purpose aligned and effectually driven.
About Dr. Ross Wirth
Dr. Wirth is a management professor teaching strategic management, leadership, and organisational change at the undergraduate and graduate levels at the Franklin University, Oklahoma, USA, and a consultant in organisational change and strategic leadership.
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