Embedded Files
If we understand that change is a continuous process to facilitate that we need to break down into initiatives to make progress, how might we approach it?
If we understand that change is a continuous process to facilitate that we need to break down into initiatives to make progress, how might we approach it?
What we have done in the ‘Case for Change Canvas’ is to unpack the change initiative into 7 elements. This is an easy method to better understand what you are working with.
What we have done in the ‘Case for Change Canvas’ is to unpack the change initiative into 7 elements. This is an easy method to better understand what you are working with.
Find it here as a PDF or a Google Doc
We will work with this canvas throughout the whole program, because it’s a ‘Kaizen’. ‘Kaizen’ is Japanese for “improvement” and in this case, means that everything is up for grabs. Everything is editable. Everything can be improved, incrementally, little by little, forever. View this document as a living compass that uncovers clarity as you progress and learn.
Each section below represents a section in the canvas. To support you, we have shared three examples of three different transformation cases to exemplify each section.
Those are transformations related to:
a) Digital Skills: A company in need of upgrading their Marketing team with digital skills and mindset
b) Purpose: A company in need of transforming their company through a new purpose
c) Culture: A company in need of changing their company culture to more collaborative
Remember that you are in charge here, choose your level of ambition and perhaps set a limit to how much time you have to complete this. Plan your time to make sure you will have it “good enough” by the deadline.
Keep ‘Kaizen’ in mind - it won’t be the last time your work on this document!
THE 6 PARTS OF THE CANVAS
THE 6 PARTS OF THE CANVAS
The change canvas is divided into 6 main parts. Each part asks a set of specific questions to help frame the overall change case.
- Define the Purpose. Why
- Assessing Current state. From Where
- Visioning Future state. Where to
- Articulate the Change. What
- Identify Who
- Challenges & Opportunities
1. DEFINE THE PURPOSE (WHY?)
1. DEFINE THE PURPOSE (WHY?)
Start with the why. A compelling purpose provides direction and a sense of engagement.
“Why do we need to transform?”
“Why do we need to transform?”
“Because we need to get digital”
“Because we need to get digital”
What is your reaction to this purpose statement? Is it clear what it actually means? We would say it is not clear because it invites to too many different interpretations about what “get digital” could actually mean.
When driving transformation it is easy to quickly define your purpose for change based on shallow assumptions of why the change needs to happen. If your transformation process lacks a clear and thought out purpose, you will easily get lost when facing resistance or barriers and struggle to engage others along the way. Getting to the core of your transformation can take time and be frustrating, but the payback will come. Grounding in the root need of change and uncovering the arguments that will drive and engage you and your organisation, you need to drill down through the shallow reasons.
One tool to get to the core is the Sakichi Toyoda's 5 Whys technique. Ask yourself several times why you need to do this transformation. Why, why, why, why, why?… Below is an example of how this method stopped an airport from being moved.
Going back to the “Why do we need to transform?” example above and using the 5 Whys technique you might have landed in something like the statements below.
Why do we need to transform?
a) Digital Skills: “To empower confidence in the ability to take advantage of the opportunities created by the digital revolution”
b) Purpose: “To unlock motivation and aligned focus in the company”
c) Culture: “To increase the organization's ability to collaborate efficiently and constructively”
REFLECT:
REFLECT:
Why would it be better when this change has been accomplished?
DO:
DO:
- Fill in your purpose in your ‘Case for Change’ canvas.
- List the different arguments you uncovered on your way to the core reason.
2. ASSESS THE CURRENT STATE (FROM WHERE?)
2. ASSESS THE CURRENT STATE (FROM WHERE?)
Understanding where you are and what capabilities you hold is a great starting point. But also identifying problems and underlying mind-sets that must change for any transformation to succeed is equally important. By considering all these things you can effectively focus on what really matters and prepare yourself for what stands in the way of what you set out to accomplish. When you are assessing your current state you are looking at how things are done today. It is the collection of processes, behaviours, tools, technologies, organisational structures, skills, business models, and products that constitute how work is done.
There are many tools to assess your current state. At Hyper Island, we’ve created our own tool called the Progress Index . It's a tool that supports you to assess your organisation's readiness for constant change by looking at five key aspects. We call them core, culture, systems, value and competence.
The Index will help you identify where you need to put your transformation focus now. The aim is to become a transformation-ready organisation at all levels. The index will guide you through a simple process of reflection and assessment – it’s something you can do individually or in conversation with others. It’s a great way to start understanding and articulating your current state.
Building on the index, another effective tool that you probably have worked with before is the SWOT Analysis.
Here is how the three transformation examples could have defined their current state.
a) Example Digital Skills:
“Our current state is that we use digital as an add-on to the marketing plan, we take actions based on gut and intuition, we make big plans and investments without testing our assumptions”
b) Example Purpose:
“Our current state is that we are spread too thin, we don’t know why (we do what we do), we have misalignment in strategy, we are depending on individuals to take decisions.”
c) Example Culture:
“Our current state is that we working reactively and siloed. Our behaviours and mindsets are blaming, hierarchically and based on fear of failure.”
REFLECT:
REFLECT:
What is your organization's current state?
DO:
DO:
Fill in the ‘Current state’ in the ‘Case For Change Canvas’
3. ENVISION THE FUTURE STATE (WHERE TO?)
3. ENVISION THE FUTURE STATE (WHERE TO?)
A future state describes what your organisation, are going to look like, after the transformation has been made. It is often not fully defined and can actually shift while you are progressing through the process (remember ‘Kaizen’). When defining a future vision you need to put yourself in the context of what future you see emerging around you. Reading articles, reports and mapping trends will help you to reflect on and describes what you should be able to do based on the opportunities that emerge from this increasingly fast-moving world. One workshop tool to that can help you to see what is emerging in the future is Future trends.
Also recommend you to read Leading from the Emerging Future (by Otto Scharmer).
As you craft a vision of the future, spend time speaking to a diverse range of peers and stakeholders. Ask your team, your boss, your clients: where do you envision us in 3, 10, 20 years? Gather a range of perspectives and inputs or do it collectively at the same time.
Define your future state in positive, affirmative terms instead of expressing what you want to get rid of. A great change vision is easy to understand for people that are going to have to change. It aligns your team around who they want to become together, and inspires others to engage to help make it happen.
The dimensions of how the future state appears could include your organisation's processes and structures, behaviours, tools, technologies, skills, business models, and products that constitute how work is done.
Here is how the three transformation examples could have defined their future state.
a) Digital Skills:
“We use digital marketing to deliver growth throughout the consumer journey, we focus on people and keep the consumer at the heart, we empower our marketing with data & technology, we innovate locally and scale best practice with agility.”
b) Purpose:
“We attract talent that feel motivated by what we do and why we do it, staff feel confident to take decisions and start initiatives, we have a common sense of alignment in our offerings.”
c) Culture:
“Having a culture of feedback & openness, teamwork & togetherness, a habit of reflecting & gaining perspective (from outside the company), being more future focussed and empowering teams with a sense of personal responsibility.”
REFLECT:
REFLECT:
What does it look and feel like when you have made progress and accomplished the change?
DO:
DO:
Fill in ‘Future State’ in your ‘Case for Change Canvas’
4. ARTICULATE THE CHANGE (WHAT?)
4. ARTICULATE THE CHANGE (WHAT?)
After you have defined your future state, it will become clear that there is a gap between the current state (where you are) and future state (where you want to be). What is the fundamental gap between these two? This gap is the change required to achieve the desired future.
What is it that really matters that will unlock progress for the change initiative? Look for the fundamental needs within people.
a) Example Digital Skills:
“How might we train a digital mindset and equip marketers with digital tools?”
b) Example Purpose:
“How might we develop and live by an aspiring higher purpose for our business, customer and society?”
c) Example Culture:
“How might we equip staff with tools and confidence for effective collaboration and self-leadership?”
REFLECT:
REFLECT:
What is the change you need to accomplish to get from the current state to the desired future state?
DO:
DO:
Fill in ‘Articulate the Change’ in your ‘Case for Change Canvas’.
5. IDENTIFY THE STAKEHOLDERS (WHO?)
5. IDENTIFY THE STAKEHOLDERS (WHO?)
Now when you have identified what the change is about, it’s time to define who will be affected by it and which key stakeholders could additionally impact it.
a) Example Digital Skills:
“Affected: Global Consumer Marketeers”
“Affect: Global Digital Marketing Capability Manager, Chief Digital Officer, Global Digital Marketing Director, Capability Director Commercial and Marketing”
b) Example Purpose:
“Affected: Whole organization”
“Affect: Board, Leadership team”
c) Example Culture:
“Affected: Whole organization
“Affect: Leadership team”
REFLECT:
REFLECT:
- Who will affect the initiative?
- Who will be affected by the initiative?
DO:
DO:
Fill in ‘Identify who’ in your ‘Case for Change Canvas’.
6. SPOT THE CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES
6. SPOT THE CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES
To finalize your 'Case for Change' you will now identify key opportunities and challenges with the transformation. It can be upcoming events or activities that could have a positive or negative impact on the change. Or it could be the existence or lack of communication channels, systems or processes. Maybe you see a challenge with too many different stakeholders wanting different things or together you are lacking a shared vocabulary.
Before you decide how to approach your change initiative ask yourself - what are the things that will help or prevent us to get to our future state?
c) Example culture:
Opportunities
- Engaged Culture: We have a culture which understands this and is engaged to moving forward
- One Company: We are moving towards being a truly global organisation without silos; opportunity to collaborate more
- Passion: We have 55,000 passionate co-workers, who could all be marketing channels
Challenges
- Policies & Bureaucracy: We have too many policies and systems in place to move forward
- Ownership & Slowness: We have behaviors that are not building on ideas; reinventing rather iterating
- Internal Communications: We have poor internal UX in order to change internal behaviours
REFLECT:
REFLECT:
- What are the things that will help us to get to our future state?
- What are the things that may prevent us from reaching future state?
DO:
DO:
Fill in ‘Opportunities and Challenges’ in your ‘Case for Change Canvas’.
Report abuse