What is holding you and your organisation back from truly achieving your goals? Is it just the turbulent world, the aggressive competition, the changing market conditions and new, complex expectations of customers and stakeholders? Or could it be that there is something inside your organisation that’s holding you back? Could it be that your organisational DNA itself needs to change to adjust and evolve to the new environment you find yourself in?
This is increasingly the experience of leaders, as they battle to shift their organisations and teams to face the realities of change in their industries and markets. We know that we need to change. Most leaders also know ‘what the change is’ that needs to happen – they have new strategies and updated metrics for their teams. And yet, in spite of all this, the ability to change enough, and to do it quickly too, seems beyond them.
Many organisations are incapable of the agility, nimbleness and speed that are all necessary DNA elements to thrive in a rapidly changing world. TomorrowToday Global’s research and experience leads us to believe that it’s because organisational DNA is not fit for the future. Out-dated business models, ill-suited organisational systems, fuzzy thinking about people, motivators and development, and lots of internal clutter combine to prevent, inhibit or nullify the essential changes that you know are needed; changes that might well determine your future and whether or not you have one.
Re/Evolution is a workshop that addresses these internal elements in a dynamic and engaging manner, bringing fresh insights into the real challenges you and your organisation are facing. It identifies the ‘stuff’ getting in the way of becoming what it is you (as individuals and companies) need to be, in order to safeguard your future. It is about your organisational DNA, and what needs to be done to make yourself fit for the future. Organisational DNA defines who we are, how we work together and what it is we’re trying to achieve. In each of these areas there are three key DNA components that need to be analysed, to ensure that it is healthy and contributing to a successful future. It is these nine areas that form the heart of this presentation or workshop, shining a light on the potential causes of organisational failure. They are:
- People
- Physical environment
- Purpose
- Decision-making
- Structures and processes
- Innovation and experimentation
- Development
- Measurement
- Motivators
In each of these areas we need to learn from the lessons of evolutionary biology, when organisms are confronted with significant change in their environments. Initially there are behavioural changes which lead to changes in shared memories and orthodoxies (habits of thinking and action), which ultimately lead to changes in DNA. With each change in the environment, we need simply ask: what must change, what must stay the same, and what needs to be adjusted? These simple questions, when overlaid with an organisational DNA analysis of the nine key areas of concern outlined above, provide a helpful framework for organisational and individual actions.