Michael Smith, the Chief Information Officer of Estee Lauder, brought together a group of technology executives for a conference the day following George Floyd’s death. Given the terrible circumstances of his demise and the subsequent protests in the wake of the tragedy, the technology topics that the group planned to discuss did not seem so meaningful. Ralph Lauren’s CIO Janet Sherlock decided this was a good time to talk about how the gathered executives could be agents for change. Inspired by Sherlock’s comments, Smith decided to activate the ideas, reaching out to his network, fleshing out the ideas further. Earl Newsome, the CIO for the Americas at Linde Inc. was a member of the original group and a primary architect defining the approach.
While there is no textbook for leading through a crisis like the current pandemic, one of the things one can do is learn from the wisdom and insight of leaders who have been around longer than us and have a perspective that is broader than ours. While no leader has faced circumstances quite like these, Charlie Feld’s experience leading technology organizations—for some of the most recognizable names in business—over the last 55 years, is a voice worth listening to.
Feld is one of America’s most recognized and successful Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and information-technology consultants. His leadership insights, operational experience, and strategic framework for enterprise success have been developed over the course of his career. Feld is the author of two books on Leadership, including The Blind Spot: A Leader’s Guide to IT-Enabled Business Transformation. To continue his commitment to helping organizations and executives achieve technology-enabled business transformation, Feld founded The Feld Group Institute in 2009.
Last week, IDC presented its top 10 predictions for IT industry for 2021. The report highlights how enterprise IT teams are navigating the challenges posed by the pandemic and seeking to gain competitive advantage in the new normal.
The pandemic has not just spared but has accelerated digital growth. Despite the disruptions caused globally, enterprise IT teams are marching towards what the report refers to as “digital destiny” as most of the products and services today are either based on digital delivery models or require digital capabilities to stay in the competitive playground. The IDC report states, “65% of global GDP is digitalized by 2022, driving $6.8 trillion of IT spending from 2020 to 2023.”
We are within days of Halloween, but the Covid-19 pandemic has dimmed the prospects for many children regarding the holiday. Enter Mars. Halloween is one of the biggest days of the year for the candy behemoth. Necessity is the mother of invention, and in this case, the company’s chief digital officer Sandeep Dadlani and his team have developed a method to save Halloween called Treat Town. This is part of his broader strategy to make the company 100 times faster with its digital engine.
Last week, Gartner, Inc. announced its top nine strategic technology trends for 2021. Analysts presented their findings during Gartner IT Symposium, which was virtual this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Just as the pandemic reshaped the conference, it has also reshaped the trends, as many of them are brought about or will be emphasized to a greater extent due to the health crisis that the world continues to face.
Very few chief information security officers have risen to the ranks of chief information officers. On the one hand, it would seem like a logical progression. CISOs historically have reported to CIOs. The importance of their roles has grown tremendously as the threat landscape has done the same. Also, as security has risen to a board-level concern, CISOs are often asked to speak before the executive team and board, underscoring the importance of the discipline, while also raising the profile of the executive.
So why has this not been a greater pathway? First, as CIOs must focus increasingly on innovation, which is about risk taking, CISOs manage or mitigate risk. That is not to say that there is not profound innovation that CISOs can undertake on behalf of their companies, but this focus has been a limiting factor to these executives’ rise, nevertheless. Additionally, security roles can be siloed relative to other roles in information technology, and the lack of leadership roles across IT can be viewed as another limiting factor.
On October 21 from Noon to 3:00 p.m. ET, global technology executives, entrepreneurs, investors, and CEOs will gather virtually to discuss the ways in which data is enabling agility and fueling transformation efforts across industries.
At our last gathering in July, our audience of more than 100 global CIOs noted that data and analytics would be the technology area of greatest importance in the second half of 2020, as well as the area in which they planned to invest most significantly. To that end, we have brought together leaders from across industries to share their insights into how their companies have developed and implemented data strategies and are leveraging analytics at scale to drive growth.
Please see our agenda below. To learn more or request an invitation, please email steven.norton@metisstrategy.com. We look forward to seeing you there!
Noon ET
Welcome and introductions
Peter High, President, Metis Strategy
12:15 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. ET
Fireside chat with Andrew Ng, CEO and Founder, Landing AI
Andrew will discuss lessons he has learned throughout his career and share his thoughts on the state of AI in the enterprise, among other topics.
Andrew Ng, CEO and Founder, Landing AI
Moderated by Peter High, President, Metis Strategy
12:30 pm – 12:50 p.m. ET
Panel: Organizational agility in the ‘New Normal’
Mars Chief Digital Officer Sandeep Dadlani and Aflac CDO and CIO Rich Gilbert discuss the ways in which data is enabling both business and cultural agility amid an uncertain economic backdrop.
Sandeep Dadlani, Chief Digital Officer, Mars
Rich Gilbert, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Aflac
Moderated by Alex Kraus, Vice President and East Coast Office Lead, Metis Strategy
12:50 p.m. – 1:05 p.m. ET
Entrepreneur spotlight: Sunny Gupta, Apptio
In this fireside chat, Sunny will share his thoughts on the state of IT management, his career at Apptio, and the increased importance of analytics in IT decision-making.
Sunny Gupta, co-Founder and CEO, Apptio
Peter High, Metis Strategy
1:05 p.m. – 1:20 p.m. ET
Fireside chat: The digital journey of Domino’s Pizza
In this fireside chat, Chief Digital Officer Dennis Maloney will discuss how continued investments in technology have helped Domino’s thrive during the pandemic and explore trends that will drive the business forward in the future.
Dennis Maloney, Chief Digital Officer, Domino’s Pizza
Moderated by Peter High, Metis Strategy
1:20 p.m. – 1:40 p.m. ET
Panel: Implementing automation and machine learning at scale
Many organizations have jumpstarted their efforts to automate existing workflows and embed machine learning into a variety of business processes. Scott Spradley of Tyson Foods and Bonnie Titone of Duke Energy will discuss their firms’ journeys to leverage ML to create new products and services, and share lessons learned throughout the process.
Scott Spradley, Chief Technology Officer, Tyson
Bonnie Titone, Chief Information Officer, Duke Energy
Moderated by Steven Norton, Co-Head of Executive Networks, Research, and Media, Metis Strategy
1:40 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET
Panel: Differentiation through data
In this conversation, Sathish Muthukrishnan of Ally and Alorica’s Steve Phillips will share examples of how they use data as a strategic asset and discuss their tactics for creating a data-driven culture across their organizations.
Sathish Muthukrishnan, Chief Information, Data, and Digital Officer, Ally
Steve Phillips, Chief Information Officer, Alorica
Moderated by Chris Davis, Vice President and West Coast Office Lead, Metis Strategy
2:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. ET
Entrepreneur spotlight: Nick Elprin, Domino Data Lab
Nick will share his journey as an entrepreneur and discuss his firm’s focus on increasing the productivity of data scientists.
Nick Elprin, co-Founder and CEO, Domino Data Lab
2:15 p.m. – 2:35 p.m. ET
Panel: Building a 360 view of the customer
Ariel Gorelik of AmTrust Financial and Gurmeet Singh of Al-Futtaim discuss how their firms are aggregating and contextualizing various types of customer data to drive more intelligent processes, products, and experiences
Ariel Gorelik, EVP, Global Technology & Operations, AmTrust Financial
Gurmeet Singh, Group Chief Digital Officer, Al-Futtaim
Moderated by Michael Bertha, Managing Director and Central Office Lead, Metis Strategy
2:35 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. ET
Fireside chat: Cathy Bessant, Bank of America
Cathy will share the progress her team has made on AI and discuss the many sources of value and innovation the organization has created during the pandemic, among other topics.
Cathy Bessant, Chief Operations and Technology Officer, Bank of America
2:50 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET
Closing remarks and adjourn
Please see below for a sampling of our speakers and the topics we plan to discuss. We will continue to add to this list, so stay tuned for more updates. To learn more or request an invitation, please email steven.norton@metisstrategy.com.
Andrew Ng, CEO and co-founder, Landing AI
Dennis Maloney, Chief Digital Officer, Domino’s
Scott Spradley, Chief Technology Officer, Tyson Foods
Sandeep Dadlani, Chief Digital Officer, Mars Incorporated
Rich Gilbert, Chief Digital Information Officer, Aflac
Ariel Gorelik, EVP of Global Technology & Operations, AmTrust Financial
Steve Phillips, CIO, Alorica
Organizational agility — the ability to continuously improve, iterate, and adapt to fast-changing technology developments and customer expectations — has long set apart corporate leaders from laggards. The pace of change and innovation has never been faster and technology developments and digitalization set the pace as much as they demonstrate the impact of change for businesses and individuals alike.
If the pace of change, (and need to keep up to remain competitive) wasn’t already fast enough, the current environment, shaped by a global health crisis and the related economic uncertainty, is recognized as a (digital) change accelerator extraordinaire. A number of data points emerge that confirm the extraordinary pace and magnitude of change that is occurring. In a survey by Fortune, for example, 77% of CEOs say that their company’s “digital transformation was accelerated during the crisis.” And of the 100 CIOs, CTOs, and CDOs who attended the Metis Strategy Digital Symposium this summer, 72% said that the pace of their organization’s digital transformation accelerated since the pandemic started.
The crisis is expected to further shape the competitive landscape and likely widen the gap between organizations on the path to a successful future and those fighting for survival in a post-Covid “new normal” world.
Of the factors that will determine success or failure, two feature prominently on essentially all executives’ agendas: digital readiness and organizational agility. Both of these are tied to an organization’s organizational change management capabilities.
It may appear logical that organizations and their business and technology leaders would focus relentlessly on making sure that organizational change management (OCM) capabilities are mature and ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice, especially since change initiatives will remain an integral part of business operations and are widely expected to increase. However, despite the widely recognized need for more organizational agility, OCM is still an underdeveloped, underutilized, and underappreciated competence, even in organizations that are otherwise recognized as being high-performing and successful in their core competencies.
Most companies have some change management capabilities within their organizations, but often these efforts start too late or are haphazard in their implementation. This can lead to frustration among employees and customers and may ultimately lead to higher cost and/or risk. Digital transformation, for example, requires a great deal of change, and 70 percent of digital transformation efforts do not fulfill the promises made. Sometimes, change management may be viewed as a “soft” topic that is difficult to explore and even harder to influence in the pursuit of “hard” business results.
This presents a significant opportunity to improve operational performance and shape more favorable business outcomes by applying well-established change management approaches differently and adopting a more strategic and data-driven approach to change leadership.
Bestselling author, thought leader, and Harvard Business School professor John Kotter and his 8-Step Process for Leading Change are widely regarded as the authority on change management and leadership. The 8-Step Process, which ranges from “Create a Sense of Urgency” to “Institute Change,” provides a useful framework for a number of change initiatives. Metis Strategy has used it as a starting point for the change efforts we are involved in and built upon it to address individual situations.
As robust and proven as Kotter’s 8-Step process is, it doesn’t guarantee success; it’s thoughtful execution and careful tailoring to the unique organizational context will make the difference.
In order to build upon the power of Kotter’s framework and to address the issues we have encountered in our OCM and organizational agility work with technology and business leaders across industries, we have identified five “Moments of Truth” in change management. These work in concert with Kotter’s eight steps and make the approach more powerful and more likely to produce the desired business outcomes. We will explore each Moment of Truth below:
The delineation between continuous evolution, which ideally is part of business-as-usual, and a significant change event is gray. Where the line is crossed will depend on how much change is “normal” within an organizational context. As soon as an action or development falls out of the norm, leaders should communicate that change is taking place even if the extent and impact of any such change is still not entirely known. Doing so will allow organizations to begin managing that change and reduce the potential costs and risks associated with not addressing it early enough.
After significant change is identified but before Kotter’s “burning platform” has been identified or the sense of urgency created, firms should determine the outcomes that the change process is expected to deliver. Companies should list desired outcomes of the change initiative, as well as consequences that may occur if the change is left to occur without significant oversight. Think of this as the risk/return calculus or scenarios analysis of change. If the outcomes of freely occurring change pose a risk of being costly or distracting to the organization, active management may be necessary.
If active management is necessary, firms should assess their change readiness and put an explicit plan in place. These plans can be brief, corresponding to the magnitude and implications of the change and the desired business outcomes. At this point, the needs for change management (such as risk avoidance or mitigation), as well as related opportunities (such as faster realization of benefits) will begin to emerge. These will help make the case for – as well as increase the likelihood of – successful change management. At this stage, leaders should also gather and gain alignment among relevant stakeholders, as well as have initial conversations about change management activities and success metrics.
A high-level change readiness assessment will help firms understand the costs and benefits of OCM efforts in its fundamental terms. It will also provide an opportunity for companies to solicit perspectives and perceptions from teams or employees affected by the change. People respond to change – or even the prospect of change — in different ways, and it’s important to acknowledge the different types of perspectives and reactions that play a role in change management. This may include enthusiasts, skeptics, those who are complacent, and others.
Most importantly, leaders should identify key change agents and potential change inhibitors, as both of these groups should be engaged with care and diligence. The former can serve as advocates and accelerators of change, while the latter may need to be proactively engaged to limit the emergence of negative sentiments or inaccurate information that will be difficult to remedy after the fact. Ideally, a broad set of perspectives from all relevant levels and functional areas will be represented as the change management work kicks off in earnest. Now that the need for change management has been identified and the fundamentals are in place – with the opportunity to iteratively enhance or scale them as efforts progress – companies are ready to identify the burning platform and create the sense of urgency that will launch the change efforts in a more public and open manner.
As organizations prepare to share their change management plans widely (in the transition between Kotter’s “Create a Vision for Change” and “Communicate the Vision” steps), it is important to assess the organizational context that is relevant for the change at hand. Many change efforts often fall short because they fail to consider organizational realities, such as the circumstances of an organization’s operations or the perceptions and feelings of its employees.
At this point in the change management process, the desire for and commitment to the change efforts should be clear. This may cause employees’ natural fears and anxieties to flare up. Unless the change management plan, specifically the communication and engagement efforts, reflect specific thoughts and concerns, there’s a risk that the change efforts will meet resistance from a growing number of people affected by the change.
In order to manage this critical juncture effectively, empathy and transparency become important tools in the change leader’s toolkit. Employees are looking for leaders and colleagues to listen and to understand. They want to be heard and see their concerns and expectations addressed. The more clearly and specifically senior leaders can relate to employees of all functions and demographics, the more likely it is that their message will resonate.
A practice that I have seen work well to express empathy and ensure that team members feel heard and understood is cross-functional communication at the executive level. For example, if the chief marketing officer can explain the move towards DevOps and a microservices architecture, the CIO references the newest design standards, or the Chief Data Officer shares the vision for the customer engagement campaign, employees will take note and recognize the shared commitment to the change objective.
In our experience, honesty and plain-spokenness go a long way. Simple language and basic concepts coupled with real-world examples will be more effective than a well-drafted and well-polished presentation.
A key recommendation relative to this step is to embrace the ideas of “servant leadership” and the role of clearing obstacles in the way of change, no matter what they are. Empowering employees, delegating responsibilities, and providing space for creativity will instill and strengthen trust that is likely to yield benefits well beyond an individual change effort.
As you begin to implement your change management initiatives and realize a few “quick wins,” change leaders will transition to ensuring the sustainability and institutionalization of change, as Kotter outlines in the last two steps of his 8-Step Change Process. This is the time to not only scale the change management initiatives, but also to document and scale lessons learned so that they can be applied to other change management efforts, even those that are not the focus of the original project.
The opportunity to scale, repeat, and improve what has already worked is both difficult and valuable. If the change efforts can be broken down into individual components, the organization has the opportunity to iterate on each component in pursuit of different change objectives and business outcomes. If, for example, the original change effort focused on developing a Scrum product team, the organization could consider taking the dedicated or capability team concept to other parts of the business; explore whether other parts of the organizations are ripe for a project to product operating model shift; improve demand and capacity planning practices; or apply minimum-viable-product (MVP) principles to general operations.
The scalability and repeatability of change will be both a source and an indicator of change management maturity and the culture of change at an organization. In many cases, the success of change can be attributed to heroic efforts of individuals or teams or is the result of extensive deployment of resources to effect the change. While changes achieved under these circumstances are still commendable and, and many will be deemed successful, they may not be repeatable or scalable, either because motivation or resources cannot be replicated, or other contributing factors are no longer at play (e.g., a crisis or emergency, a regulatory deadline).
Like all business capabilities, an organization’s change management competencies should not be static. They should be subject to continuous review and iterative improvement. As you learn which change management activities work and which ones don’t, you will develop the type of change management capabilities that best meet your organization’s needs. To the extent possible, it can be useful to create a data-driven after-action review. Identify and document the insights, and work with change management and functional leaders to turn the lessons learned into concrete improvements.
A well-written OCM playbook will enable an organization to leverage the advantages of similar or even repeatable change management efforts while also building capabilities that can successfully manage new or uncertain challenges. While there are universal OCM “best practices,” what is right for your organization will largely be driven by the prevailing organizational culture.
In addition to these five Moments of Truth in Change Management, two critical ingredients to OCM and Organizational Agility must be called out. First is recognizing that organizational culture will not only make or break any particular change effort. It will also determine the sustainability and repeatability of change.
Secondly, data and analytics in change management is becoming an increasingly powerful tool to enhance the effectiveness of an organization’s change management capabilities and counter the false yet common perception that change management is “soft.” These powerful tools at change leaders’ disposal should be used throughout the change effort and beyond.
A data-driven approach to change management includes:
These two critical success factors of culture and data and intrinsically linked. An organizational culture that embraces changes and develops a data-driven mindset is a rare but powerful combination that all organizations and leaders should aspire to attain.
Throughout this article, we have emphasized the symbiotic relationship between organizational agility, organizational culture, and change management capabilities. In this setup, culture and agility will likely continue to shape change management capabilities more than the other way around. Ultimately, the general maturity of the organizational change management capability, as well as the success of each individual change management effort, should be judged by the organization’s universally accepted measures of business outcomes, business impact, and business value.
