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Fig: 1 |
In the first team meeting with people from multiple divisions, the consultants presented a visual tetrahedron model. Similar models had been used for applications ranging from organizational change, business planning, corporate mission development and product design. The four corners of this model represented desired future state, cultural enabers/impediments, structure, and strategy. Using this tetrahedron model shown in Figure 1 (which will be described later in the chapter), the group was able to identify the sequence of questions and tasks they should address as a team. The information generated by this process gave the consultants a sense of the preferred future for the new business as well as the technology that was being developed and introduced. Additionally, the questions the team addressed (in a facilitated dialogue format) helped them to identify cultural enablers, impediments, strategy, structures, technology architecture and potential “show stoppers.”
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Fig: 1 |
The actual questions were:
What constitutes business success? What is the highest vision that you can have in terms of shared vision for this business? Where can you demonstrate sustained leadership?
What are the cultural enablers and impediments that would accelerate or impede our progress
towards the shared vision?
What are the core incompetencies (this concept will be addressed below) integral to this culture that should have our attention? How do we overcome those incompetencies to make this business successful?
What is the structure that would make sense for this business? What do we need to keep in mind while generating appropriate governance structures?
What is the strategy that would take into account the business model of Company X? How do we leverage the external partners in buying into our technology and create win-win?
The answers to the above questions were elicited from the group in a facilitated dialogue. Consultants facilitated three dialogue sessions; and the conversations were reported to be very useful for the team. They understood what worked in Company X, what didn't, how they could go about changing the rewards and recognition for different roles (like sales person vs. customer service engineer vs. product development engineer) and finally the ways in which they could streamline their business processes to come up with a successful new kind of business.
Each of the questions considered in the dialogue sessions led to detailed and meaningful responses from the team members. For example, a question on the company's vision led to “"successful adoption of Company X technology as the industry standard"” as the definition of business success. They defined the desired outcomes, market opportunities, and what they could do to become the industry leader. The ideas around governance, sharing the vision with people on the front line and enrolling them in it, the execution style that would increase the return on investment in the current market place with their competitors and partners etc. were raised and addressed to the best of their abilities. This question was similar to what is asked in preferred futuring approach used by Ron Lippitt.
Similarly, conversations around culture led to identifying enablers, impediments, root causes, and how they could establish appropriate policies, procedures, and rewards and recognition systems to make their new business successful. There were also discussions about how decisions were made, the execution style of senior managers, sales people, customer support representatives, partners etc. They examined when to hold on to a point of view and when to let go as well as how much will power they would need to push appropriate people to make timely decisions, release budgets etc.
Questions about the organizational structure led to discussions of product architecture, solution architecture, customer support structures, channel-related issues, how people could be motivated or de-motivated, and how, who and when decisions were made etc.
Finally, strategy-related questions led to a smaller group of people getting together to develop a better understanding of their ecosystem needs. They examined the market realities, customer needs, partner interests, technology advantages, product readiness and overall strategic design that could help them to succeed in their business and emerge as a leader. This process led to creating a strategy part of the business model with four cornerstones: Customer, Technology, Partners and the Company X. (See Figure 2.)
