What do we really mean when we say ‘transformation’?
Not long ago I was having lunch with a client, someone exceptionally astute, someone who has been around transformation work for most of his career. He is not easily impressed and he understands the difference between genuine organisational change and the countless ‘initiatives’ that get labelled as transformation. He is also exceptionally well-read in Lean, having made several visits to Toyota. And most deceptive of all, he is humble despite his position in the company, but not to be taken for a pushover. He also has the knack for finding fiendishly good restaurants.
During our conversation, I mentioned that I was about to step into a significant transformation role, essentially operating as a transformation director while working closely inside the business.
He paused, looked at me and asked:
“When you say transformation, what do you actually mean?”
I stopped. Damn, I knew he wasn’t asking for clarity on the definition. He was searching for my thoughts on what this meant. I bought myself some time by stuffing some warm bread into my mouth and gesturing that I would answer forthwith, once the mouthful was over. Because, at this point, I realised, we throw the term around in our world of consulting, sometimes without considering the implications.
I chewed. He waited. He was inviting me to think, to slow down and to articulate what I truly meant by this. In other words, what was I going to do with my transformation that truly meant it would be such. For someone with his experience, and he can certainly judge the final outcome having a strong financial background, his question hit with more punch than he realised. This simple challenge forced me to confront the complexity of the answer.
The word ‘transformation’ gets applied to everything: restructures, cost reductions, digital deployments, cultural resets, changes in strategy, process redesign and sometimes even rebranding exercises.
Yet most of those things are not transformational. They may be important, and in some cases necessary, but they are not transformational in the sense that organisations actually need.
So when he asked me, “What does transformation actually mean?” I knew the answer required more than a surface explanation.
So, what is involved with ‘transformation’?
Here is the definition I arrived at, and it reflects what I have lived rather than anything I have simply read:
Transformation is a fundamental shift in how an organisation thinks, operates and creates value.
It is deeper than improvement alone; broader than change management; more demanding than project delivery; and far more human than most methodologies acknowledge.
So when asked to support a transformation role, I’m really accepting a role as an instigator or agitator, like the whisk in a cake mixture, to blend four key areas:
1. A Shift in Purpose and Direction – the North Star
Transformation begins with clarity, real clarity. Not a slogan or a poster, but a grounded understanding of:
- Who the organisation serves
- What value must be created
- Where future competitiveness will come from
- Which capabilities must be developed
Without this, the transformation has no anchor.
2. A Shift in How Work Actually Happens – the operating system
This is the operational layer, the space where value is created or lost every day.
Transformation means redesigning:
- Processes and workflows
- Decision rights and governance
- Information flows
- Ways of working
- Systems of accountability
- How people interact with the work and with each other
This is not process improvement.
It is the rethinking of the system that produces the organisation’s results.
3. A Shift in Leadership and Culture – leader-led by humble, capable people
No transformation will endure unless leaders change first.
Leaders must:
- Learn new behaviours
- Believe in the new direction
- Shoulder the responsibility of modelling the change
- Build psychological safety
- Engage differently with their teams
- Demonstrate humility, curiosity and respect
Back to the old adage: tools do not change culture; people do, specifically leaders.
4. A Shift in Capability and Improvement Discipline – a serious engine of continuous improvement
Transformation may not be an immediate jump to a new condition, although that is what we want and is possible, but it must have the ability to continually adapt.
This requires:
- Problem-solving capability
- Stability and standardisation
- Habits of continuous improvement
- Coaching and learning systems
- Visual management and operational discipline
- Decision-making at the right level
Without these elements, any improvement is temporary.
Transformation and Shingo Model
Over time I have seen organisations that have embraced Shingo as a guiding roadmap find themselves grappling with a transformation. They may not have realised it at the outset but it drives them towards a shift, a paradigm shift in their operating DNA. This is a good thing. What it taught me, when I was first starting out in my career as a Lean consultant, was that the work that I was doing was important and impactful. Take a look at the four key dimensions and you can see why Lean, done effectively and true to the principles, is a transformation.
1. Cultural Enablers
Respect for people and humility provide the foundation. Transformation begins with leadership behaviour and with recognising that people create results.
2. Enterprise Alignment
Constancy of purpose and systemic thinking ensure that systems and behaviours do not contradict the transformation intent.
3. Continuous Improvement
Scientific thinking, flow, quality at source and the pursuit of perfection provide the discipline that sustains transformation after the programme phase ends.
4. Results
The point of transformation is improved value for customers and stakeholders, and the ability to sustain that improvement.
As a youngster graduate in my first role as a Team Leader and being exposed to a transformation through the Kawasaki System, I understood the need for leadership commitment, alignment through a North Star and a fair wind with the unions. The Shingo model, however, encapsulates the requirements neatly and would seem like a good framework for judging the success of any transformation.
So, what was my answer to my lunch companion? In truth, it was a word salad. A fumbled mixture of thoughts that I’ve now put into some order.
That question over lunch has stayed with me. It forced me to think hard and reflect on the word, because, before anyone claims they are leading a transformation, they should be able to articulate, simply and honestly, what transformation actually means.
So here goes
“I’m the whisker, mixing up a culture that can thrive in stormy waters. It’s a paradigm shift, nothing incremental.”
Now that will mean looking at all that I’ve tried to capture above: vision and strategy, technologies, leadership, capability and, of course, the operating system. All these need to be evaluated before picking up the whisk.
