Where this applies
A transformation has been signed off.
The plan was approved against how the business is described, and it now has to succeed under the conditions in which the business currently operates.
How it shows up
- Milestones are met while the business runs largely as it did before.
- The new structure exists on the chart, and the established one still runs the work.
- The new language spreads faster than the new practice.
- The benefits in the business case are difficult to locate in the reporting.
The context
A transformation is generally approved on a business case and a target state, built from the information available at the time, usually the operating model on record, the reporting and the views of the leadership team. The case sets out what the business will look like at the end and what it will deliver.
The starting point it assumes is the documented one. In most businesses the operation has moved on since that record was written, as teams adapted to conditions it did not anticipate, and much of what they built is the reason the business performs as it does today. A transformation designed from the record plans the distance from one point and begins from another, and the gap usually becomes evident when the benefits fall short of the case, after the investment has been made.
The work holds both. What the business has built is understood and kept where it still serves, and the target is designed against the conditions the business currently operates in. As the change progresses, the starting point for each phase moves again, so the plan is reassessed at every milestone.
When
In a transformation the moments overlap, because each phase begins while the last one is still settling.
Before
Before the change begins, while the business case and the desired end state can still be grounded in how the business currently operates.
During
During the change, when the plan and the business need to realign, so the phases ahead are designed from where the business now stands.
After
After each phase, to confirm the benefits against the baseline and carry what was learned into the next one.
What we do
Establish the real starting conditions.
We establish how the business currently operates in the areas the transformation will change, with the people who run them, including what in the current operation works and should be kept.
Define how it needs to work.
We design the desired end state with the teams that will run it, testing the current state against situations that have already occurred and the target against scenarios the business is likely to face.
Set the sequence and the measures.
We define the order of the change, the conditions each phase has to meet, and the measures that show whether the benefits in the case are being delivered.
What you get
A baseline.
The measures as they stand at the start, so the benefits in the business case can be demonstrated against a known position.
What stays and what changes.
The parts of the current operation that carry the business's performance and are kept, set alongside what the transformation changes, so the target builds on what already works.
The desired end state.
How the business needs to run to deliver the outcome the case was approved on, with the decisions, who is responsible, and the working agreements that hold it together.
The decisions that are yours.
The options on structure, sequencing and scope, each with its trade-offs and its cost.
The conditions for each phase.
What each phase has to deliver before the next begins, defined in advance and agreed by those who approve it.
How the plan stays current.
At each milestone, what has been delivered is checked against the conditions set for it, and the phases that follow are reassessed against where the business now stands, with a defined way to approve changes to the plan itself.
Where else this applies
Technology and AI
A technology or AI implementation is going in.
The requirements were specified against the documented process, and the conditions the pilot succeeded in are not the ones it has to scale into.
Major project
A major project or program is being mobilised.
The schedule and the delivery plan assume an organisation that behaves the way the org chart describes it.
Joint venture
A joint venture or alliance has to work as one.
The contract sets out how the parties will work together, and neither party works exactly that way today.
To start that conversation, get in touch.
The first step is a conversation about the program, what has been committed, and where the open questions are. It takes about an hour and it produces a view on whether this is the right work to do.
The first stage can also be commissioned on its own. It sets the starting conditions and defines what the rest of the work would involve.
Get in touch