Disruption is a given for every business leader 45 or older – the Tech Bubble, 9/11, the 2008 Financial Crisis and Covid at the global level and abrupt executive suite changes, M&A, reorganizations, and reengineering within their own companies. We’ve been transferred and promoted. Bosses have come and gone. Yet whenever disruption reoccurs, we and our organizations are inevitably disoriented and struggle to regain our footing.
I have successfully led transformation programs inside companies as an executive at Merrill Lynch and E*TRADE and have designed and supported similar efforts around the world for many organizations across industries, ranging from global industry leaders to pre-seed startups to churches as a consultant, advisor, and board member. I’ve also had to respond to massive change outside of work – I lost my father suddenly as I entered my teens, and my daughter was diagnosed with osteosarcoma halfway through 6th grade.
Rather than waiting and responding to crises, I am convinced that the most resilient organizations approach transformation proactively. Reflecting on my experiences and harnessing lessons learned on my own and through others, I’ve created a 5-step system to accomplish this. I call it the HABIT Cycle. While every situation is different, the HABIT Cycle enables organizations to assess its situation, inventory its strengths, clearly define where it wants to go, and focus its actions on getting there – all using a disciplined, proven approach.
If you follow these steps, you’re far less likely to get caught flatfooted, readying yourself for change you know will happen. And as the HABIT Cycle is repeated you will magnify its impact:
- Grow insight into your organization and what your market demands
- Build a more loyal, empowered team
- Prioritize what’s important – get everyone driving in the same direction
- Open dialogue to maintain a pulse on what’s happening
Curious? Read on to discover how!
Step 1: HEARING
The first step is leading through change is HEARING what people have to say – different parts of your organization as well as your customers. Getting good ideas on what to do is only the beginning! You will also kickstart your transformation program, foster grassroots support and identify leaders who will build enthusiasm and impact.
It’s become a lot easier to collect feedback through surveys. But this process has become superficial. Customers become jaded. Large online meetings provide an illusion of dialogue but only begin to scratch the surface. Go farther and deeper into your organization than what’s normal!
Invest time to travel to understand the crises in the Manila overnight service center, the nuances of serving clients in Delhi versus Mumbai, and the innovative new hire training happening in Little Rock – this can’t be taken away from you. Investments in physical travel are even more rare as we emerge from Covid limitations. Far-flung locations tend to be most appreciative of visits and the effort you make generates strong internal PR. Use it to your advantage!
Step 2: ARTICULATING
Once you’ve gathered insights, you need to ARTICULATE where you want to go. In the early days of your program, it’s important to provide more detail than a single vision statement. You also need to define how you want to get there. As the HABIT Cycle progresses, the organization will better internalize the direction. The need to define specifics diminishes over time, but in the early days detail is vital to the success of your program.
Here’s a key point – make it clear that both the vision and detail was not just built top-down, but also bolstered from input from the grass roots. “Footnote” the vision and its detail by referencing what you heard in Step 1 and who you heard it from.
One of my clients was a decades-old institution who was not getting credit for innovation rarely seen in its industry. We created a “Smart Solutions” campaign that defined for all parties – clients, Wall Street investors, the press, and employees what the company was doing. This was created bottom up using input from front line professionals. We cited transactions done by the company that were highly complex, requiring teamwork, creativity, and client focus. Built on tangible evidence, it was immediately credible with external audiences. And the work was more impactful internally because the internal teams felt “heard.”
In this Articulating phase cite vivid examples large or small – the collaboration between teams to deliver a breakthrough solution, the impact of installing large monitors to review data with clients, the need to sync in-person customer interactions with a digital experience. Highlight actions already being taken to deliver the vision and early wins. These anecdotes show that you are taking the time to capture input, already acting, and enlisting the team to make progress.
The articulation phase builds on what you started in Step 1. As you Articulate your vision in Step 2, make sure the rollout also includes some Hearing time. This will allow you to collect more examples and build additional momentum as you continue to communicate and begin to take action in Step 3.
Step 3: BUILDING
Designing a program to move forward can only be truly transformational by enlisting BUILDERS beyond your leadership team. Think about all the ways your clients or customers interact with your company – desktop, app, live phone call, chat, in stores, advertising, social, and content. Then think about who enables those interactions – your data architects, engineers, intra-company connections, external partners / vendors, APIs. They all can help you magnify the impact of your vision.
But only if you let them! Like Articulating in Step 2 enables additional Hearing beyond Step 1, you can continue Articulating as you move into the Building phase. Begin by restating the vision and some of the detail on how you intend to get there. Then acknowledge that the vision is incomplete – you need their expertise to get define how the vision will impact them.
For example, if you lead a hotel chain and have a vision to “make every guest a more informed global citizen,” give your functional leaders or project teams a few weeks to imagine how the vision comes to life – future property locations, the digital experience, the brand’s personality, where it is advertised, the offsite guest experiences, and so on. This provides time for team contemplate the vision while on the job and think creatively. Regroup and see what they’ve come up with, allowing the team to share ideas and build on them.
Step 4: IMPLEMENTING
IMPLEMENTING is where things get real! You should have no shortage of ideas emerging from Step 3. Each function or project team should focus on a tight set of initiatives. Through Step 3 you have empowered your organization – HEARING what they have to say and ARTICULATING the vision so they can run with it. Teams have now begun BUILDING plans to fulfill the vision. Your role changes in Step 4 – by directing focus toward which actions to take, you will help to ensure the actions deliver the greatest impact.
Review and actively edit the agenda. What’s on the list and the detail behind each item? Who is in charge of each workstream and who else is part of the team? What work is going to stop to ensure focus on what remains? Many transformation initiatives fail at this stage because it’s not clear who is in change or there is too much going on.
Make sure each workstream includes at least two milestones that can be delivered within 2 months. You want to ensure that your organization sees that progress is happening. Ideally, the impact of these milestones can be easily measured. This brings us to Step 5.
Step 5: TRACKING
A program without TRACKING is not a transformation program! TRACKING should be happening on three main levels. First, you want to be tracking implementation progress. Each project team should be able to track progress on a single page. Which milestones have been hit? Is progress toward longer-term deliverables on time? If not, what’s holding them back?
The second level of tracking monitors “leading indicators.” This is especially important in businesses where true outcomes take time, such as in investment banking. It’s too late when well-paid bankers discover they’ve missed deals. Instead, you need to track the creation of client coverage plans as well as meetings with clients and prospects – are they happening, who’s there, what’s being discussed and what are the follow-ups?
The final tracking focuses on results, but in absolute terms and relative to expectations. If Banker A and Banker B both generate $20 million in fees, should they be evaluated identically? If Banker A is working with an established client in a booming sector, while Banker B lands a new client, establishing a presence in a sector dominated by another institution, perhaps Banker B deserves more recognition.
CONCLUSION
A HABIT Cycle will yield immediate dividends to any organization. Like riding a bicycle, progress becomes easier and requires less effort once you get started! And once colleagues begin to “get it” the benefits of your HABIT Cycle can multiply exponentially. We’re providing a lot of detail to equip you to begin this process on your own. But if you’re interested in having Market Junctions support your efforts to build a HABIT Cycle in your organization, please do not hesitate to reach out!
Market Junctions has multiple approaches to address challenges leaders face in growth and disruption. We’ve also created the Resiliency Map to support leaders and organizations through challenging times.
Kyle Okimoto is the founder of Market Junctions, which helps businesses and leaders harness the power of disruption to generate positive change. Kyle is a consultant, advisor and investor in startups ranging from Eargo (direct to consumer hearing aids — IPO October 2020), AltoIRA (self-directed retirement accounts for alternative investments — Series A, $17m raised), Percent Technologies (high yield short term alternative investments — Series A, $12.5m raised), Janover Ventures (commercial real estate financing marketplace), Trade Exchange (connecting top stock pickers to top stock pickers) and ARIS Technology (robotic quality control laser scanning).
