Gerstner went on to save IBM from stagnation and rocketed the company back into the forefront of the technology industry (he also coined the term e-business). He did so by implementing sweeping changes in the organization. The same mindset holds true today. Even the best should be ready to change.
Time to Change
With increased marketplace volatility and the rapidly evolving needs of attractive customer segments, business approaches and practices age faster and faster.
Change is a powerful response to declining competitiveness and a decisive means to seize new opportunities.
Large scale change is complex. It impacts the whole organization: how broad should the effort be? Is it a one-time exercise or does it call for ongoing capabilities?
Change is above all a matter of mindset, attitudes and behaviors throughout the whole organization. It's about developing a culture that engenders high performance.
When confronted with commoditization, new regulations or increasing uncertainty, senior leaders and their middle managers should be able to strive comfortably and define new value propositions and attractive areas of opportunity.
Challenging The Status Quo
Courage to challenge orthodoxies is the driver. Re-thinking the customer value proposition is the fuel. Finding ways to deliver this superior value at a profit is the engine.
Experiencing this complex and sometimes risky process is of paramount importance in building executive confidence to find new space for their superior offering.
Naturally, gaining experience has a cost. Bad experience can be particularly painful, as it can seriously damage not only executive careers but also the company’s results.
For the last three decades, StratX has been an agent of change, immersing thousands of managers in intense, emotionally charged yet risk-free learning programs to help them experience the process of change. Building confidence through experimentation is what it is.
Executives on a StratX program go through a complete journey. Starting with a critical look at how a fictitious company is performing, they go on to recognize and evaluate opportunities to design new customer-driven value propositions and must allocate resources to bring these to the market in a fast and effective way.
Rethinking Your Value
In rapidly evolving markets, the ability to constantly re-think the value your company brings to customers is the ultimate advantage: what worked fine yesterday may not be enough tomorrow. A laser-focus on customer needs is critical to unlock new advantages and win customer loyalty. As StratX founder Jean-Claude Larréché writes: customers are the unlimited potential to secure profitable growth.
Change is both an attitude and a mindset. In practice, building a stronger connection with customers in order to unveil insights and develop new offerings is the duty of the entire management population.
Whether we use the word change, adjust or adapt, energy and agility are the key ingredients for organizations that want to seize attractive opportunities and respond rapidly to new needs emerging from new regulations or market disruption. Speed is of the essence.
Is your company entrenched in its past success? Emotionally attached to long suffering products or activities? Are you ready to ‘dance’?
Learn how Stratx can prepare your organization to provide and capture new value from customers: e-mail Yann Cartier at yann.cartier@stratx.com
Discover how experiential learning can drive lasting change in your organization by downloading our Experiential Learning User’s Guide.
