Pearl Zhu's Blog, page 1408
September 6, 2015
Three Aspects to Harness Employee Experience
Digital is the age of people.
Although every forward-looking organization intends to build a customer-centric organization, very few of them see the interconnectivity between Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction. People are always the most invaluable asset in the business, Employee Satisfaction (ES) is a company’s ability to fulfill the physical, emotional, and psychological needs of its employees; and then, Employee Experience is to treat employees as internal customers, engage employees at every touch point and delight employees via empathy and understand them deeply. What are the principles and practices to build a people-centric organization with high engaging employees via tailored talent management approach?
Both employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction are indispensable elements of an organization’s "strategic information architecture"; it also represents KEY "sensing" processes of an organization - a vehicle for "sensing" the external customer environment and "sensing" the internal employee environment. It is crucial to focus on the Employee Experience in the work. This helps orient your thinking and ensure business leaders develop strategies that are integrated across the employee lifecycle and have the right impact on employees, so people are engaged both rationally (systems and processes) and emotionally (mindsets, attitudes, and behaviours). The goal is to breaking down the silos and refocusing the attention of employees on the purpose of the business and putting that at the top. Under awareness of the purpose, focus on which delivers the opportunity for increased productivity, greater efficiency, and better engagement, you give the staff the opportunity to thrive and as long as the roles of the functions remains clear, empower the staff to get on and do what they do best in the way that they do it best.
A proactive talent management approach could be to provide an easy platform for employees to communicate with HR. It includes the knowledge base, asking questions, sending feedback- tracking questions, and clicks in the knowledge base might be insightful to discover areas of concerns or communication gaps. This is good for a couple reasons. One, employees feel as though they have a voice and that upper management is listening to their concerns. Two, it allows upper management to see what the employees think of the company and gives them an idea of how to improve certain factors. You can also ask employees to provide feedback on how you can improve during a roundtable discussion. Surveys are always a good idea to take the “pulse” of your workforce to link workforce effectiveness dimensions to drive change and business improvement. It should be presented to employees as a mechanism for collecting meaningful feedback since the organization values their opinions and perceptions. Questions would focus around assessing and measuring the positive experience of their workforce. As a best practice, follow up should occur immediately following the reporting/analysis/readout of the results with the senior leadership team.-Identify the gap-Analyze the gap-Analyze the things in the gap-Identify which things are internal and which are external (outside of anybody's control)-Analyze each thing within your control - What can we do to change it? Can we change it? Who can change it? When can it be changed? If it doesn't change or cannot change, what are other options?
HR people are marketing the company from the beginning of the HR cycle till the end. And they should be very focused on the Employee Experience. And in the meantime they are the ones making the values of the company very visible, but also the future vision and strategy. Internal culture must be aligned with the external brand to ensure a complete "user experience," the new approach focuses on the employee. Branding has become a compass for new generations, and they seek to join an organization that makes them feel they belong to something bigger than themselves. It is a natural evolution of HR based on the changing marketplace. Millennials will continue to drive much of the change over the next decade. As long as employees represent the single largest asset for most companies, HR will play a vital role in shaping the future of the workplace. There is potential in the new model for HR to really step away from the more operational HR practices and into the strategic leadership role. The challenge comes in ensuring that as each department does their own recruiting and talent development that the Employee Experience is consistent across the board. This means a focus on developing the HR skills of every manager across the business who now takes on these responsibilities to improve Employee Experience.
The important factors to affect Employee Experience include leadership effectiveness - do they have clear visions and strategy to lead organization toward the right direction; the process management - can employees work seamlessly via robust workflow, not over-rigid business processes; and the innovative culture- is creativity encouraged and free thinking inspired. From outside-in viewpoint, customer is the focal point; from inside-out, employees are the key to executing strategy, the successful organizations should look at both lenses, and leverage management practices in exploring cause & effect, and build a truly people-centric organization.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Although every forward-looking organization intends to build a customer-centric organization, very few of them see the interconnectivity between Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction. People are always the most invaluable asset in the business, Employee Satisfaction (ES) is a company’s ability to fulfill the physical, emotional, and psychological needs of its employees; and then, Employee Experience is to treat employees as internal customers, engage employees at every touch point and delight employees via empathy and understand them deeply. What are the principles and practices to build a people-centric organization with high engaging employees via tailored talent management approach?
Both employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction are indispensable elements of an organization’s "strategic information architecture"; it also represents KEY "sensing" processes of an organization - a vehicle for "sensing" the external customer environment and "sensing" the internal employee environment. It is crucial to focus on the Employee Experience in the work. This helps orient your thinking and ensure business leaders develop strategies that are integrated across the employee lifecycle and have the right impact on employees, so people are engaged both rationally (systems and processes) and emotionally (mindsets, attitudes, and behaviours). The goal is to breaking down the silos and refocusing the attention of employees on the purpose of the business and putting that at the top. Under awareness of the purpose, focus on which delivers the opportunity for increased productivity, greater efficiency, and better engagement, you give the staff the opportunity to thrive and as long as the roles of the functions remains clear, empower the staff to get on and do what they do best in the way that they do it best.
A proactive talent management approach could be to provide an easy platform for employees to communicate with HR. It includes the knowledge base, asking questions, sending feedback- tracking questions, and clicks in the knowledge base might be insightful to discover areas of concerns or communication gaps. This is good for a couple reasons. One, employees feel as though they have a voice and that upper management is listening to their concerns. Two, it allows upper management to see what the employees think of the company and gives them an idea of how to improve certain factors. You can also ask employees to provide feedback on how you can improve during a roundtable discussion. Surveys are always a good idea to take the “pulse” of your workforce to link workforce effectiveness dimensions to drive change and business improvement. It should be presented to employees as a mechanism for collecting meaningful feedback since the organization values their opinions and perceptions. Questions would focus around assessing and measuring the positive experience of their workforce. As a best practice, follow up should occur immediately following the reporting/analysis/readout of the results with the senior leadership team.-Identify the gap-Analyze the gap-Analyze the things in the gap-Identify which things are internal and which are external (outside of anybody's control)-Analyze each thing within your control - What can we do to change it? Can we change it? Who can change it? When can it be changed? If it doesn't change or cannot change, what are other options?
HR people are marketing the company from the beginning of the HR cycle till the end. And they should be very focused on the Employee Experience. And in the meantime they are the ones making the values of the company very visible, but also the future vision and strategy. Internal culture must be aligned with the external brand to ensure a complete "user experience," the new approach focuses on the employee. Branding has become a compass for new generations, and they seek to join an organization that makes them feel they belong to something bigger than themselves. It is a natural evolution of HR based on the changing marketplace. Millennials will continue to drive much of the change over the next decade. As long as employees represent the single largest asset for most companies, HR will play a vital role in shaping the future of the workplace. There is potential in the new model for HR to really step away from the more operational HR practices and into the strategic leadership role. The challenge comes in ensuring that as each department does their own recruiting and talent development that the Employee Experience is consistent across the board. This means a focus on developing the HR skills of every manager across the business who now takes on these responsibilities to improve Employee Experience.
The important factors to affect Employee Experience include leadership effectiveness - do they have clear visions and strategy to lead organization toward the right direction; the process management - can employees work seamlessly via robust workflow, not over-rigid business processes; and the innovative culture- is creativity encouraged and free thinking inspired. From outside-in viewpoint, customer is the focal point; from inside-out, employees are the key to executing strategy, the successful organizations should look at both lenses, and leverage management practices in exploring cause & effect, and build a truly people-centric organization.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
September 5, 2015
From Systems Thinking to Systems Understanding: Why things are the way they are?
The System, being dynamic, is always already in the flow.
Things are complex; people are complex, and nature is complex as well. Particularly when you look at a situation and wondering how on earth things could have evolved in such a way, this is the clue that you should first seek to understand. Otherwise, there's a great danger that the new "better" solution will fail because it runs straight into the same underlying factors that brought about the old state. So in which circumstances “WHY things are the way they are” matter more than the other situations? And how does it help you for problem solving or decision making?
From a management perspective, it's important to make sure the cause vs. symptoms is being acted on to sustain desired results. The WHY can also inform lessons learned as we progress with similar activities the next time for continuous improvement. That said, the WHY may never be fully known so while the intervention seeks the best information it can move toward a consciously derived resolution, we often have to act to test the assumed solution and then of course gauge its response. The System, being dynamic, is always already in the flow. Hence, certain pre-existing systemic flows have brought about the situation. There are two opportunities for intervention whenever a problematic situation is discovered. Firstly, tracing the dynamics of these flows backward to their upstream origins helps isolate the most promising points for intervention, to avoid or prevent future cases of the situation. Secondly, there should also be an attempt to mitigate the negative effects of the situation's dynamics flowing further downstream in cases where it could not be nipped in the bud at its upstream source.
In fact, there might be many negative and positive vector to a decision and each is weighed against each other to arrive at a satisfactory way forward. A negative way forward may be chosen, given it leads to a more positive vision, where the positive path may be declined, given it is calculated that it may ultimately lead to an unsatisfactory conclusion. From some participants point of view in a complex system, things might be working just fine. It might be worth asking: How am I looking at this? Is there another way/another understanding? How come things are the way they are? The combinatoric details of how they got that way are often unknowable to any adequate level, but the abstracted principles may be sufficient to understand the dynamics. What does this have to do with systems thinking? It provides a starting point for investigation. The other part of this is whether you are focusing on processes for themselves or their results. Sometimes, the reasons why things are the way they are, whatever they may be, can get set aside or ignored because of preponderance given to process design innovations for its own sake.
It depends on the problem, how and to what extent it is manifesting in a way that cries for fixing, from where it emanates the greater context. If you understand the origin of the situation, where you want it to go, and how to get there, you would understand the specific WHYs to dig through the root causes. It matters a lot if cost effectiveness is important in developing solutions in bridging the gap between how things are and how they ought to be instead, this would be the analytical approach necessary in the course of value engineering exercise applied to identifying critical elements. Either way, it's never a bad idea to revisit from time to time the assumptions embedded in the original system design to check for latent or accomplished obsolescence or, for originally invisible errors. Obsolescence or errors in foundational embedded assumptions in principle would make for obsolete or erroneous outputs. So the question boils down to figuring out the cost/benefits matrix of correcting or not correcting outputs and what cost/benefits factors get internalized or excluded from the analysis.
It's worthwhile considering why things are the way they are for, in doing so, one may challenge automatic assumptions that something needs 'fixing.' To 'just go ahead and fix it' carries assumptions, Particularly assumptions about something wrong, limiting, or not working in some way that requires 'fixing.' If you don't understand all the causes, or most of the causes of the situation and also the context of the situation, then intervention maybe worse than non-intervention. Even Systems Thinking may not be enough, perhaps you need Systems Understanding to intervene, also you need to narrow what type of situation you are considering. As the situation depends on how many people, objects, systems, subsystems, cultures, geographies, times are involved.
Why things are the way they are matters more when you work from the “problem solving” paradigm: On another angle, people dealing with complex systems first observe them very deeply, then they apply minimal perturbations to see how the complex system behaves, aiming to mitigate a non-desired behavior. If a system is not so much broken, but it is no longer fit for purpose, and so it needs to be replaced, it becomes very helpful to know what purpose the obsolete system was built to fit, and how that purpose has changed, when figuring out how to change the system to make it fit for a changed purpose. If you work from the "problem solving" paradigm, then it matters to figure it out why thing are the way they are, If you work from the "strength" paradigm, then it matters less, if at all, provided you that you trust people to have ideas and glimpses of times when it worked better, and coach them to investigate the causes of WHY it worked better. One could say it's a way to understand the system though it's a side effect of coaching people toward whatever will work for them. If a system is broken and needs fixing, it can be helpful to know what caused the system to break down so that the repairs can also prevent further system failures.
As humans, we have nature curiosity to ask the big WHYs. People's knowledge of ourselves and the world increases over time through a process of change and co-creative, an evolutionary adaptation to change - in the sense of automatically self-regenerating and endlessly ongoing - the pursuit of better. From System Thinking to System Understanding, continuously asking “why things are the way they are” does challenge the assumptions and the “old way doing things,” it’s the good start pointing to see beyond the surface, understand the context, and capture the insight for human progression.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Things are complex; people are complex, and nature is complex as well. Particularly when you look at a situation and wondering how on earth things could have evolved in such a way, this is the clue that you should first seek to understand. Otherwise, there's a great danger that the new "better" solution will fail because it runs straight into the same underlying factors that brought about the old state. So in which circumstances “WHY things are the way they are” matter more than the other situations? And how does it help you for problem solving or decision making?
From a management perspective, it's important to make sure the cause vs. symptoms is being acted on to sustain desired results. The WHY can also inform lessons learned as we progress with similar activities the next time for continuous improvement. That said, the WHY may never be fully known so while the intervention seeks the best information it can move toward a consciously derived resolution, we often have to act to test the assumed solution and then of course gauge its response. The System, being dynamic, is always already in the flow. Hence, certain pre-existing systemic flows have brought about the situation. There are two opportunities for intervention whenever a problematic situation is discovered. Firstly, tracing the dynamics of these flows backward to their upstream origins helps isolate the most promising points for intervention, to avoid or prevent future cases of the situation. Secondly, there should also be an attempt to mitigate the negative effects of the situation's dynamics flowing further downstream in cases where it could not be nipped in the bud at its upstream source.
In fact, there might be many negative and positive vector to a decision and each is weighed against each other to arrive at a satisfactory way forward. A negative way forward may be chosen, given it leads to a more positive vision, where the positive path may be declined, given it is calculated that it may ultimately lead to an unsatisfactory conclusion. From some participants point of view in a complex system, things might be working just fine. It might be worth asking: How am I looking at this? Is there another way/another understanding? How come things are the way they are? The combinatoric details of how they got that way are often unknowable to any adequate level, but the abstracted principles may be sufficient to understand the dynamics. What does this have to do with systems thinking? It provides a starting point for investigation. The other part of this is whether you are focusing on processes for themselves or their results. Sometimes, the reasons why things are the way they are, whatever they may be, can get set aside or ignored because of preponderance given to process design innovations for its own sake.
It depends on the problem, how and to what extent it is manifesting in a way that cries for fixing, from where it emanates the greater context. If you understand the origin of the situation, where you want it to go, and how to get there, you would understand the specific WHYs to dig through the root causes. It matters a lot if cost effectiveness is important in developing solutions in bridging the gap between how things are and how they ought to be instead, this would be the analytical approach necessary in the course of value engineering exercise applied to identifying critical elements. Either way, it's never a bad idea to revisit from time to time the assumptions embedded in the original system design to check for latent or accomplished obsolescence or, for originally invisible errors. Obsolescence or errors in foundational embedded assumptions in principle would make for obsolete or erroneous outputs. So the question boils down to figuring out the cost/benefits matrix of correcting or not correcting outputs and what cost/benefits factors get internalized or excluded from the analysis.
It's worthwhile considering why things are the way they are for, in doing so, one may challenge automatic assumptions that something needs 'fixing.' To 'just go ahead and fix it' carries assumptions, Particularly assumptions about something wrong, limiting, or not working in some way that requires 'fixing.' If you don't understand all the causes, or most of the causes of the situation and also the context of the situation, then intervention maybe worse than non-intervention. Even Systems Thinking may not be enough, perhaps you need Systems Understanding to intervene, also you need to narrow what type of situation you are considering. As the situation depends on how many people, objects, systems, subsystems, cultures, geographies, times are involved.
Why things are the way they are matters more when you work from the “problem solving” paradigm: On another angle, people dealing with complex systems first observe them very deeply, then they apply minimal perturbations to see how the complex system behaves, aiming to mitigate a non-desired behavior. If a system is not so much broken, but it is no longer fit for purpose, and so it needs to be replaced, it becomes very helpful to know what purpose the obsolete system was built to fit, and how that purpose has changed, when figuring out how to change the system to make it fit for a changed purpose. If you work from the "problem solving" paradigm, then it matters to figure it out why thing are the way they are, If you work from the "strength" paradigm, then it matters less, if at all, provided you that you trust people to have ideas and glimpses of times when it worked better, and coach them to investigate the causes of WHY it worked better. One could say it's a way to understand the system though it's a side effect of coaching people toward whatever will work for them. If a system is broken and needs fixing, it can be helpful to know what caused the system to break down so that the repairs can also prevent further system failures.
As humans, we have nature curiosity to ask the big WHYs. People's knowledge of ourselves and the world increases over time through a process of change and co-creative, an evolutionary adaptation to change - in the sense of automatically self-regenerating and endlessly ongoing - the pursuit of better. From System Thinking to System Understanding, continuously asking “why things are the way they are” does challenge the assumptions and the “old way doing things,” it’s the good start pointing to see beyond the surface, understand the context, and capture the insight for human progression.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
How to Build a Dynamic Digital Business to Encourage Free Thinking
A positive learning culture is associated with successful digital companies in which people can be creative and express themselves openly!
The business world is constantly evolving with emergent strategies and new technologies. Successful companies have employees that understand and lead with these new emerging trends. The business today can no longer be running as a static organization which keeps silo thinking and extremely hierarchical structure, with command-control management style and order-taking type of employees only, today’s digital businesses must design for change, and do more with innovation. But how to build a dynamic workplace to encourage free thinking?
The tone is set from the top management level, the leaders need to free their mind first. They have to be the life learner themselves, continue to learn the new trends and updated knowledge in order to build a clear vision and craft a good strategy. When you have the vision and later the as-is, then it's a lot easier to "see and connect the dots" to make strategic plan deliverable, and perhaps even adjust, modify or change the mission. Business evolvement is essential as markets are continuously developing. If a business does not adapt and evolve it will be disappearing soon. How to evolve and adapt is the real question. As a top business leader, you are capable of thinking "out of the box," looking at it from the advanced level of technology, always challenge yourself to free your mind on what and where to change, when and at what cost/benefit. Starting with your current as-is situation will often limit (restraint) you in thinking far enough out of the box.
The culture of the organization must nurture free thinking. Most of organizations today are process and control driven. Emphasis is on compliance with the result people forget to think freely. Why organizations are not realizing that the very process and controls instituted are emanated from thought process of people; and to be robust and helpful, you must allow people to think and contribute to design and restructure the process. But to enable lateral thinking, opportunities must be created for learning both within and outside. When it comes to learning that takes place by people in organizations, it really depends on the strength of the culture in the organization. What is not so evident is the factors that shape up an organization's culture? What are they? How to change organizations for embracing a learning culture, and for that matter societal culture needs to become more " human well-being nurturing" as well?
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Model summarized five tiers and self-actualization was at the top of the triangle. Self-realization is a desire to experience ever deeper fulfilment by realizing and actualizing more of own potential, and later the 6th tier was added to the top of the model: Self-transcendence; which is to experience, and unify with and serve that is beyond the individual self. Employees are already paid to put their time, effort and skills at the company to make contribution for organization's success, and at the same time, to climb Maslow’s pyramid, for discovering purposes, achieving self-actualization, cultivating capabilities and mastering skills.
A positive learning culture is associated with successful digital companies. In such organizations, people can be creative and express themselves openly, employees are fully engaged, enjoy the changes, and not fearful of challenging the status de facto standard. And a major focus by the senior management team to establish in the organization's DNA would be a fantastic step in the direction. For that, top management will have to proactively create such a culture of learning and innovation, to strike the balance between leading and following, pushing and pulling, changing and stability.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
The business world is constantly evolving with emergent strategies and new technologies. Successful companies have employees that understand and lead with these new emerging trends. The business today can no longer be running as a static organization which keeps silo thinking and extremely hierarchical structure, with command-control management style and order-taking type of employees only, today’s digital businesses must design for change, and do more with innovation. But how to build a dynamic workplace to encourage free thinking? The tone is set from the top management level, the leaders need to free their mind first. They have to be the life learner themselves, continue to learn the new trends and updated knowledge in order to build a clear vision and craft a good strategy. When you have the vision and later the as-is, then it's a lot easier to "see and connect the dots" to make strategic plan deliverable, and perhaps even adjust, modify or change the mission. Business evolvement is essential as markets are continuously developing. If a business does not adapt and evolve it will be disappearing soon. How to evolve and adapt is the real question. As a top business leader, you are capable of thinking "out of the box," looking at it from the advanced level of technology, always challenge yourself to free your mind on what and where to change, when and at what cost/benefit. Starting with your current as-is situation will often limit (restraint) you in thinking far enough out of the box.
The culture of the organization must nurture free thinking. Most of organizations today are process and control driven. Emphasis is on compliance with the result people forget to think freely. Why organizations are not realizing that the very process and controls instituted are emanated from thought process of people; and to be robust and helpful, you must allow people to think and contribute to design and restructure the process. But to enable lateral thinking, opportunities must be created for learning both within and outside. When it comes to learning that takes place by people in organizations, it really depends on the strength of the culture in the organization. What is not so evident is the factors that shape up an organization's culture? What are they? How to change organizations for embracing a learning culture, and for that matter societal culture needs to become more " human well-being nurturing" as well?
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Model summarized five tiers and self-actualization was at the top of the triangle. Self-realization is a desire to experience ever deeper fulfilment by realizing and actualizing more of own potential, and later the 6th tier was added to the top of the model: Self-transcendence; which is to experience, and unify with and serve that is beyond the individual self. Employees are already paid to put their time, effort and skills at the company to make contribution for organization's success, and at the same time, to climb Maslow’s pyramid, for discovering purposes, achieving self-actualization, cultivating capabilities and mastering skills.
A positive learning culture is associated with successful digital companies. In such organizations, people can be creative and express themselves openly, employees are fully engaged, enjoy the changes, and not fearful of challenging the status de facto standard. And a major focus by the senior management team to establish in the organization's DNA would be a fantastic step in the direction. For that, top management will have to proactively create such a culture of learning and innovation, to strike the balance between leading and following, pushing and pulling, changing and stability.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
September 4, 2015
“VUCA” Talent in VUCA Era
Digital age has the “VUCA” characteristics - Velocity, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. The combination of ever more rapid technology changes, information abundance, and a multi -generational workforce will have more influence over our collective way of life than any time in memory. Therefore, the future of talent management also needs to be changed. The age of disruption has taught us to be nimble in our ability to assess the environment. With so much data available and with the reconstructed definition of "talent," organizations are facing increased pressures to be adaptive. The future of work will involve those associated with hiring to gather more pertinent information on talent and evolve from the mentality of making "safe hires" via search for keywords in the resume, and more toward the social hiring - track the digital footprint of talent people to discover who they are and "who can make a difference to our organization." And some say, today’s digital professionals also have such “VUCA” traits:
Value - Value is multidimensional but also very specific. To really recognize value, we must value everything. People’s mindsets, skills, capabilities, emotions and weaknesses, our professional goals, our relationships, nature, society at large. Only then can we strike a balance without compromising the value of any person or anything. If you treat everyone and everything as valuable then deal with your own biases, everyone starts with a level playing field. Value is very specific. It depends on how one would define value and interpret it to fit the mold or apply criteria to create the desired value. Value is also multidimensional, such as personal value, ethical values, principal values, and cultural values, etc. You can not determine a value of someone based on observation, statistics, or assumptions. However, you can experience the value of someone directly or indirectly through engagements or interactions with that someone or a group of people. Since we now have the most diversified workforce ever, Managing diversity in the workplace is one of the most important issue now and on future.
Understanding -The ability to understand is due to the intellect present within the person to recognize patterns and create meaning. Understanding requires a person's ability to grasp or comprehend information. Too often assumptions and prejudices get in the way of understanding. It is the responsibility of each to examine themselves and to make sure they are open to true understanding. Assumptions and prejudices are due to lack of deeper understanding. So far wisdom and knowledge has evolved in humans with their eyes and ears open to understanding. Understanding has happened to human, which is a reflection of the intellect that has evolved. An understanding mind has better ability to adapt to changes and make fair judgment and decisions.
Connecting - At today’s always on and always connected workplace, it’s also more important for digital professionals to fully engage the work by connecting the heart, the head and the hands, be holistic and authentic. Creativity is emerged as one of the most desired qualities for digital workers, and creativity is all about connecting the dots. Creativity to some extent, is the nature of seeing the patterns that already exist, and then being able to predict how they change, and sometimes manipulate them in a direction that fits our needs or that of our objective.
Adaptation - With increasing speed of changes, the ability to adapt to change also becomes more crucial than ever. An adaptive mind has better learning capability, being resilient, like water that can flow. Each person has a different level of knowledge (the consciousness about a problem) and react to environmental changes, with behaviors that are strictly linked with the information they have and with the way other people share and collaborate with them. Therefore, knowledge management will be a huge factor in the workplace of tomorrow. With all the access to information that is available, and becoming more accessible by the year, managing knowledge from that information will be crucial. The future looks to have more real time sharing of information and knowledge across industries and professions of the likes we have not seen yet. Sifting that information and capturing what's value to the organization will take saavy and speed to be on the leading edge.
With "VUCA" characteristics of digitalization, Talent Management will see the urgency of being innovative - because the frequent digital disruption is inevitable and ideally, "hiring for digital minds" with “VUCA” traits discussed above should be common practice for talent managers to take innovative initiatives, set the course for people management, culture management, and business growth in digital way.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
How to Develop Executable Strategies
With the rapid speed of changes and explosive information, digital disruptions could happen overnight, Strategy-Execution are no longer linear steps, but an ongoing continuum.
Strategy making is perhaps one of the most challenging tasks in organizations today, and more than two thirds of the strategy execution fail to achieve the expected result. What are the principles and practices to make a good strategy? What are the underlying assumptions people contributing to scenario planning are making, and where are these people coming from? Are these strategists internal to the organization or involving also outsiders? Which school of scenario planning are you most fond of? The deductive school, the inductive one or "La Prospective" school? The underlying assumptions from different schools imply different methodologies and approaches. Or to put simply, how to develop an executable strategy?
Strategy and execution are not as a different processes, but as integral part of strategy management. It is broadly contextual. There are circumstances where you do not have the time to "plan" or rescue the firm because of external shocks that are difficult to envisage, or because the strategic decisions made in the past are irreversible. In a turnaround, you must act fast and make some tough decisions, whether you have the support of all the organizational functions or not; your goal is to survive and it is inevitable that resistance will emerge. Some other times, it is more feasible to adopt a more collaborative approach that make the organization aligned with the broadly shared goals. Everything depends on (1) the context (external and internal; (2) the dimensions you and your organization want to focus on and; (3) how you go about it.
Most companies are very poor in communicating. In many cases, the problems are in fact caused by management myopia, hubris, organizational inertia. A great strategy tool exists that, used correctly, will more than adequately address that problem, especially in companies that have become a bit too comfortable with their past success. And before any of that can happen, organizations need to make sure they have a robust and shared view about Why? Why they are here and what is their real intention, ask "what if” questions as well. Believe in your plan and convince everyone else to believe in it as well. With all employees aligned behind a plan execution. Strategic plans are about change and changes will challenge some employees status quo, jobs, prestige. Expect them to undermine your strategies, so find a way to work around them, believe in your plan, communicate it widely, neutralize naysayers, vet all business decisions against the plan and adjust as necessary. Then maybe success will come your way.
"Developing Executable Strategies" is what needs to happen - not developing "Strategic Plans." If strategies are formulated in the first place to deliver on vision and mission, or specific outcomes connected to mission, and they take execution into account from the beginning, 'success' can follow. If they are formulated to tick a box and then just sit in the bottom drawer until next time, not much is likely to be achieved. The top leader should have the comprehensive competencies, not only hard skills but also balancing with soft skills, to manage strategy with agility. Otherwise, the "strategy" is only the document in the drawer, respectively, binary or silo thinking has had its day at industrial age. No organization can be successful anymore with such thinking any more. And continuous check-up is necessary as well: Are you running the risk to force the mental maps into the strategy making process and apply "rigidity" at a time when market dynamics require more flexibility?
A Scenario-Based Strategic Planning does not start with extrapolating the past, but starts with imagining possible future. Scenario-Based Strategic Planning, is an approach that acknowledges there can no longer be a singular path to a prosperous future for today’s companies. Scenario-Based Strategy does not start with extrapolating the past which is a pitfall of traditional planning processes. Rather, it starts with imagining possible futures without the constraints of the past, a necessary condition for companies who want to successfully plan for the future in the disruptive environment we are in today. A Scenario-Based Strategy is a bit more demanding to manage, but it not only better engages management teams and their direct reports, it also leads to the needed agility that so many companies talk about but rarely can operationalize well. When Scenario-Based Planning is done right, it forces management to consider what will happen to their business, and how they will response in proactive way.
Ownership could be key. The more focus needs to be on what is realistic and how the expectations of the business and its employees can grow. Executing strategies should be a doddle if the actual planning is spot on, listen to your employees, listen to the market , listen to the competition, be realistic, believe in the plan , more to the point is to make sure everybody else believes on the plan too and last but not least, be innovative. How many employees involved in the Strategic Planning process really feel full ownership? Probably not as many as top management would believe. The best way to do this is to bring to the process the same level of motivation and energy they had when they first took on their leadership role. Because with that comes the willingness to be unattached to what's come before, the freedom to not need to justify any prior decisions, and the freedom to ask the hard questions and see things as they really are. They make the time for it because they believe it will set the path for their leadership. An effective process allows the right decisions to be made, with a sufficient understanding of the impacts of those decisions. The elephants in the room get tamed, because leaders make it their mission to do so. Leaders who are just 'surviving' the planning process will struggle. Leaders who see the opportunity to shape the future of their organizations will jump in. Leaders who haven't been making as much progress as they'd like, always have the opportunity to look for new ways to do their strategic planning.
Strategic Planning is a term thrown around a little too easily and sometimes with very little thought going into the actual strategic bit. As old saying goes: it’s not a plan, but planning that matter. Nowadays, with the rapid speed of changes and explosive information, and digital disruptions could happen overnight, strategy-execution are no longer linear steps, but an ongoing continuum.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Strategy making is perhaps one of the most challenging tasks in organizations today, and more than two thirds of the strategy execution fail to achieve the expected result. What are the principles and practices to make a good strategy? What are the underlying assumptions people contributing to scenario planning are making, and where are these people coming from? Are these strategists internal to the organization or involving also outsiders? Which school of scenario planning are you most fond of? The deductive school, the inductive one or "La Prospective" school? The underlying assumptions from different schools imply different methodologies and approaches. Or to put simply, how to develop an executable strategy? Strategy and execution are not as a different processes, but as integral part of strategy management. It is broadly contextual. There are circumstances where you do not have the time to "plan" or rescue the firm because of external shocks that are difficult to envisage, or because the strategic decisions made in the past are irreversible. In a turnaround, you must act fast and make some tough decisions, whether you have the support of all the organizational functions or not; your goal is to survive and it is inevitable that resistance will emerge. Some other times, it is more feasible to adopt a more collaborative approach that make the organization aligned with the broadly shared goals. Everything depends on (1) the context (external and internal; (2) the dimensions you and your organization want to focus on and; (3) how you go about it.
Most companies are very poor in communicating. In many cases, the problems are in fact caused by management myopia, hubris, organizational inertia. A great strategy tool exists that, used correctly, will more than adequately address that problem, especially in companies that have become a bit too comfortable with their past success. And before any of that can happen, organizations need to make sure they have a robust and shared view about Why? Why they are here and what is their real intention, ask "what if” questions as well. Believe in your plan and convince everyone else to believe in it as well. With all employees aligned behind a plan execution. Strategic plans are about change and changes will challenge some employees status quo, jobs, prestige. Expect them to undermine your strategies, so find a way to work around them, believe in your plan, communicate it widely, neutralize naysayers, vet all business decisions against the plan and adjust as necessary. Then maybe success will come your way.
"Developing Executable Strategies" is what needs to happen - not developing "Strategic Plans." If strategies are formulated in the first place to deliver on vision and mission, or specific outcomes connected to mission, and they take execution into account from the beginning, 'success' can follow. If they are formulated to tick a box and then just sit in the bottom drawer until next time, not much is likely to be achieved. The top leader should have the comprehensive competencies, not only hard skills but also balancing with soft skills, to manage strategy with agility. Otherwise, the "strategy" is only the document in the drawer, respectively, binary or silo thinking has had its day at industrial age. No organization can be successful anymore with such thinking any more. And continuous check-up is necessary as well: Are you running the risk to force the mental maps into the strategy making process and apply "rigidity" at a time when market dynamics require more flexibility?
A Scenario-Based Strategic Planning does not start with extrapolating the past, but starts with imagining possible future. Scenario-Based Strategic Planning, is an approach that acknowledges there can no longer be a singular path to a prosperous future for today’s companies. Scenario-Based Strategy does not start with extrapolating the past which is a pitfall of traditional planning processes. Rather, it starts with imagining possible futures without the constraints of the past, a necessary condition for companies who want to successfully plan for the future in the disruptive environment we are in today. A Scenario-Based Strategy is a bit more demanding to manage, but it not only better engages management teams and their direct reports, it also leads to the needed agility that so many companies talk about but rarely can operationalize well. When Scenario-Based Planning is done right, it forces management to consider what will happen to their business, and how they will response in proactive way.
Ownership could be key. The more focus needs to be on what is realistic and how the expectations of the business and its employees can grow. Executing strategies should be a doddle if the actual planning is spot on, listen to your employees, listen to the market , listen to the competition, be realistic, believe in the plan , more to the point is to make sure everybody else believes on the plan too and last but not least, be innovative. How many employees involved in the Strategic Planning process really feel full ownership? Probably not as many as top management would believe. The best way to do this is to bring to the process the same level of motivation and energy they had when they first took on their leadership role. Because with that comes the willingness to be unattached to what's come before, the freedom to not need to justify any prior decisions, and the freedom to ask the hard questions and see things as they really are. They make the time for it because they believe it will set the path for their leadership. An effective process allows the right decisions to be made, with a sufficient understanding of the impacts of those decisions. The elephants in the room get tamed, because leaders make it their mission to do so. Leaders who are just 'surviving' the planning process will struggle. Leaders who see the opportunity to shape the future of their organizations will jump in. Leaders who haven't been making as much progress as they'd like, always have the opportunity to look for new ways to do their strategic planning.Strategic Planning is a term thrown around a little too easily and sometimes with very little thought going into the actual strategic bit. As old saying goes: it’s not a plan, but planning that matter. Nowadays, with the rapid speed of changes and explosive information, and digital disruptions could happen overnight, strategy-execution are no longer linear steps, but an ongoing continuum.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
September 3, 2015
As a Business Leader: How do you Value your People
Value is multidimensional but also very specific.
We experience a value of someone we just met through an exchange of information. Employers experience a value of their employee every day through their daily interactions with the company customers. In our data-driven society, we seem to measure everything and everyone, and then, we use that information to judge the value and worth of people consciously and unconsciously. However, how can you look at "value" as situationally specific and multidimensional way, and as a leader or manager, when you value someone, can you make a fair judgement and treat them the same by treating them differently?
Value is multidimensional but also very specific: To really recognize value, we must value everything. People’s mindsets, skills, capabilities, emotions and weaknesses, our professional goals, our relationships, nature, society at large. Only then can we strike a balance without compromising the value of any person or anything. If you treat everyone and everything as valuable then deal with your own biases, everyone starts with a level playing field. Value is very specific. It depends on how one would define value and interpret it to fit the mold or apply criteria to create the desired value. Value is also multidimensional, such as personal value, ethical values, principal values, and cultural values, etc. You can not determine a value of someone based on observation, statistics, or assumptions. However, you can experience a value of someone directly or indirectly through engagements or interactions with that someone or a group of people.
The value of an individual is measured based on productivity, creativity and contribution to the organization today and tomorrow. An individual hired in the wrong capacity may not seem as valuable or as contributing as much unless allowed to help with other functions or share ideas that change the way processes or procedures are done, adding value to the organization. The value of an individual is based on their contributions and connections to the organization. Many skills can be taught, but if someone doesn't have a passion for their work and a connection to the organization, it becomes very difficult to contribute fully, and, therefore, the value is less. All companies & HR departments claim to value their employees highly, but this value (perceived or actual) of a person changes depending on time & circumstances. Employees are valued when they are seen as performers who devote maximum time, efforts and resources to meeting organizational goals. Talent managers should also spend time on unleashing the talent potential and transform it into business value for long-term growth.
Valuing someone implies respecting them, just like valuing nature implies respect for the environment. For people this is reflected in seeking their support and offering yours; being courteous and caring. By collectively valuing everyone also places you strategically to extract the best performance from all employees. It is obvious that the actions we CHANGE is our behavior to pass judgment when we have not had an opportunity to experience the value of what it is that we want to judge. Valuing someone implies respecting them, encourage them to be who they are, understand them via empathy, and align their value with organization’s value propositions.
Avoid falling into the value assessment trap and looked at each person as a valuable team member. At first glance they may not fit the mould expected or be at their best in a specific role but time spent on getting to know the team allows a leader to understand the individual contribution of all of their people; adjusting, realigning roles and responsibilities and optimizing output - making best use of all of your valuable people. There is always a good chance that many people will see a value in anything. What another fail to do is controlling their prejudices, which is an individual choice. By accepting that every employee is unique with unique sets of abilities, it is critical to recognize that everyone is valuable, so treat them same by treating them differently, and manage them accordingly.
Valuing employees does not mean you treat everybody exact the same way but means you treat them same by treating them differently. In terms of capability for how people need to engage with one another, whether it be in a professional or personal sense and whether those capabilities can be nurtured and developed in a way that is mutually beneficial for both parties. The feeling of being valued or not is mostly the result of how we have or haven't communicated our intentions to use or develop people's capabilities and unleash their potentials.
Value is multidimensional and situational; there is a tangible value and intangible value as well. So managers need to avoid making value judgments even in the face of performance issues by understanding who, what and why. They need to be a huge advocate for making people feel secure in the wider organization, and then tuning the individual's role or responsibilities to suit their character, abilities or preferences, which required the whole management team to really get to know their people profoundly.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
We experience a value of someone we just met through an exchange of information. Employers experience a value of their employee every day through their daily interactions with the company customers. In our data-driven society, we seem to measure everything and everyone, and then, we use that information to judge the value and worth of people consciously and unconsciously. However, how can you look at "value" as situationally specific and multidimensional way, and as a leader or manager, when you value someone, can you make a fair judgement and treat them the same by treating them differently?
Value is multidimensional but also very specific: To really recognize value, we must value everything. People’s mindsets, skills, capabilities, emotions and weaknesses, our professional goals, our relationships, nature, society at large. Only then can we strike a balance without compromising the value of any person or anything. If you treat everyone and everything as valuable then deal with your own biases, everyone starts with a level playing field. Value is very specific. It depends on how one would define value and interpret it to fit the mold or apply criteria to create the desired value. Value is also multidimensional, such as personal value, ethical values, principal values, and cultural values, etc. You can not determine a value of someone based on observation, statistics, or assumptions. However, you can experience a value of someone directly or indirectly through engagements or interactions with that someone or a group of people.
The value of an individual is measured based on productivity, creativity and contribution to the organization today and tomorrow. An individual hired in the wrong capacity may not seem as valuable or as contributing as much unless allowed to help with other functions or share ideas that change the way processes or procedures are done, adding value to the organization. The value of an individual is based on their contributions and connections to the organization. Many skills can be taught, but if someone doesn't have a passion for their work and a connection to the organization, it becomes very difficult to contribute fully, and, therefore, the value is less. All companies & HR departments claim to value their employees highly, but this value (perceived or actual) of a person changes depending on time & circumstances. Employees are valued when they are seen as performers who devote maximum time, efforts and resources to meeting organizational goals. Talent managers should also spend time on unleashing the talent potential and transform it into business value for long-term growth.
Valuing someone implies respecting them, just like valuing nature implies respect for the environment. For people this is reflected in seeking their support and offering yours; being courteous and caring. By collectively valuing everyone also places you strategically to extract the best performance from all employees. It is obvious that the actions we CHANGE is our behavior to pass judgment when we have not had an opportunity to experience the value of what it is that we want to judge. Valuing someone implies respecting them, encourage them to be who they are, understand them via empathy, and align their value with organization’s value propositions.
Avoid falling into the value assessment trap and looked at each person as a valuable team member. At first glance they may not fit the mould expected or be at their best in a specific role but time spent on getting to know the team allows a leader to understand the individual contribution of all of their people; adjusting, realigning roles and responsibilities and optimizing output - making best use of all of your valuable people. There is always a good chance that many people will see a value in anything. What another fail to do is controlling their prejudices, which is an individual choice. By accepting that every employee is unique with unique sets of abilities, it is critical to recognize that everyone is valuable, so treat them same by treating them differently, and manage them accordingly.
Valuing employees does not mean you treat everybody exact the same way but means you treat them same by treating them differently. In terms of capability for how people need to engage with one another, whether it be in a professional or personal sense and whether those capabilities can be nurtured and developed in a way that is mutually beneficial for both parties. The feeling of being valued or not is mostly the result of how we have or haven't communicated our intentions to use or develop people's capabilities and unleash their potentials.
Value is multidimensional and situational; there is a tangible value and intangible value as well. So managers need to avoid making value judgments even in the face of performance issues by understanding who, what and why. They need to be a huge advocate for making people feel secure in the wider organization, and then tuning the individual's role or responsibilities to suit their character, abilities or preferences, which required the whole management team to really get to know their people profoundly.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
What is the Purpose of Systems Thinking
The voice of Systems Thinking, to communicate within the spiral of conscious awareness, is a story.
Humans as intelligent beings have ability to think! One might ask: What is the purpose of thinking? Does primitive and sometimes fairly sophisticated forms of 'thinking' take place with other species or do we humans confine it to homo sapiens? What is the purpose of Systems Thinking and what is the purpose of being a Systems Thinker? Would you agree that every human mind is a complex system designed to perceive the systematized world in a systematic way, enabling it to perform the simplest of tasks to highly complex engineering?
The purpose of Systems Thinking is to solve problems and creating desirable futures. So many people do not know how to connect the dots within complex systems, nor think inclusively, or holistically, nor comprehend dynamics, induction or deduction, nor understand expensive variables, interfaces, and interactions. System thinking can not be completely acquired from a theory, or book, or from formal schooling. System Thinking is gained via experience during professional practices. Those who find their way into Systems Thinking, or indeed to a more holistic and integrated way of approaching situations and problems, may do so because of a set of cognitive competencies, or preferences that they possess. Whether our psychological styles and preferences have come about through genetic (innate in some way) or environmental factors is an argument that pervades psychology and beyond.
System thinking can be applied to an entity. A “system” is a source of abstraction. System axioms all equate to context. Experienced System Engineers may be aware that it is all connected. There is flexibility, abstraction, and pliability in the concept of a system and system of systems. These entities are comprised of humans, machines, and the environment. In an oversimplification, one must understand the interactions and interfaces of the defined system under consideration. Your System Thinking abilities can be limited based upon the knowledge of applied system engineering axioms. Unfortunately, many have a limited understanding of complexities within integrated systems comprised of hardware, software, firmware, the human and the environment. One has to understand interfaces and interactions associated with complex systems. We cannot oversimplify thinking about failures and functions. Not everything is stochastic or probabilistic. System Analysis requires many forms of additional thinking: abstract, holistic, system, quantitative, objective, subjective, temporal (life cycle), and critical.
The true purpose of Systems Thinking is to understand and to integrate oneself within the General System. It’s the way that keeps reducing inconsistencies between the actual flows of the System, and one's understanding of the System and its flows. True Systems Thinking practitioners are those who have integrated Systems Thinking so thoroughly that they see themselves too as being already integrally in flow within the rest of the dynamics of the General System, ever alert to the other system dynamics flowing around and through them on a continuing basis. The purpose of a Systems Thinker is determined by the role she or he undertakes in the system she or he perceives as the one she or he inhabits. Who else can determine the purpose other than the systems thinker? Everyone has internal motivations that may conflict with the systems in which we purportedly operate.
Systems Thinkers are experts in helping people and team get the complete and full pictures. Once we fully understand that any act that we have made is having an effect on everything around us, we can truly understand the value and the importance of "Systems Thinking," until then many may not understand the voice of the Systems Thinkers- in order to gain insight and understanding. Within a team, observations come from different viewpoints, different mindsets, life experiences, educational backgrounds. A team must be grounded in the same value paradigm, which in turn assures the integrity of individual contributions, provides certainty of 'intentions' by individual contributors. Systems Thinking sees the essential components interconnected and interdependent, co-creating lifetimes of shared desirable consequences both intended and unintended, as a way of being modeling the way in every present moment committed to embracing uncertainty, co-leading, and shaping patterns doing the right things right in a world and universe where we are all inclusive. The systematic structure provides the shell within which individuals can collaborate to create transparency to problems. Once a state of transparency has been reached, collaboration turns into cooperation, as multiple approaches to finding solutions require efforts only guided by intentions, based on common values.
Systems Thinking is searching for meaningful relationships both within these subsystems and between them; monitoring and observing links and feedback systems. That is complex. One description of purpose, for an efficient and flexible living system is to thrive, (safe conditions, energy inputs, and reproduction), to sense objects distal or proximal, and to adapt to environmental deviations. The living system achieves this through taking the path of least resistance. Those interested in Systems Thinking are either drawn to or interested in the variability of nested interactions. The interactions are required to maintain or be enabled in returning to a thriving condition.
The voice of Systems Thinking, to communicate within the spiral of conscious awareness, is a story. Metaphors that appeal to 'common sense' understandings of situations that require solutions. ST is about agility of decision making in unfamiliar and rapidly changing environments Solving problems in a lasting way without creating other and more problems, or at least optimize the solution via understanding the trees without missing the forest. Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Humans as intelligent beings have ability to think! One might ask: What is the purpose of thinking? Does primitive and sometimes fairly sophisticated forms of 'thinking' take place with other species or do we humans confine it to homo sapiens? What is the purpose of Systems Thinking and what is the purpose of being a Systems Thinker? Would you agree that every human mind is a complex system designed to perceive the systematized world in a systematic way, enabling it to perform the simplest of tasks to highly complex engineering?
The purpose of Systems Thinking is to solve problems and creating desirable futures. So many people do not know how to connect the dots within complex systems, nor think inclusively, or holistically, nor comprehend dynamics, induction or deduction, nor understand expensive variables, interfaces, and interactions. System thinking can not be completely acquired from a theory, or book, or from formal schooling. System Thinking is gained via experience during professional practices. Those who find their way into Systems Thinking, or indeed to a more holistic and integrated way of approaching situations and problems, may do so because of a set of cognitive competencies, or preferences that they possess. Whether our psychological styles and preferences have come about through genetic (innate in some way) or environmental factors is an argument that pervades psychology and beyond.
System thinking can be applied to an entity. A “system” is a source of abstraction. System axioms all equate to context. Experienced System Engineers may be aware that it is all connected. There is flexibility, abstraction, and pliability in the concept of a system and system of systems. These entities are comprised of humans, machines, and the environment. In an oversimplification, one must understand the interactions and interfaces of the defined system under consideration. Your System Thinking abilities can be limited based upon the knowledge of applied system engineering axioms. Unfortunately, many have a limited understanding of complexities within integrated systems comprised of hardware, software, firmware, the human and the environment. One has to understand interfaces and interactions associated with complex systems. We cannot oversimplify thinking about failures and functions. Not everything is stochastic or probabilistic. System Analysis requires many forms of additional thinking: abstract, holistic, system, quantitative, objective, subjective, temporal (life cycle), and critical.
The true purpose of Systems Thinking is to understand and to integrate oneself within the General System. It’s the way that keeps reducing inconsistencies between the actual flows of the System, and one's understanding of the System and its flows. True Systems Thinking practitioners are those who have integrated Systems Thinking so thoroughly that they see themselves too as being already integrally in flow within the rest of the dynamics of the General System, ever alert to the other system dynamics flowing around and through them on a continuing basis. The purpose of a Systems Thinker is determined by the role she or he undertakes in the system she or he perceives as the one she or he inhabits. Who else can determine the purpose other than the systems thinker? Everyone has internal motivations that may conflict with the systems in which we purportedly operate.
Systems Thinkers are experts in helping people and team get the complete and full pictures. Once we fully understand that any act that we have made is having an effect on everything around us, we can truly understand the value and the importance of "Systems Thinking," until then many may not understand the voice of the Systems Thinkers- in order to gain insight and understanding. Within a team, observations come from different viewpoints, different mindsets, life experiences, educational backgrounds. A team must be grounded in the same value paradigm, which in turn assures the integrity of individual contributions, provides certainty of 'intentions' by individual contributors. Systems Thinking sees the essential components interconnected and interdependent, co-creating lifetimes of shared desirable consequences both intended and unintended, as a way of being modeling the way in every present moment committed to embracing uncertainty, co-leading, and shaping patterns doing the right things right in a world and universe where we are all inclusive. The systematic structure provides the shell within which individuals can collaborate to create transparency to problems. Once a state of transparency has been reached, collaboration turns into cooperation, as multiple approaches to finding solutions require efforts only guided by intentions, based on common values.
Systems Thinking is searching for meaningful relationships both within these subsystems and between them; monitoring and observing links and feedback systems. That is complex. One description of purpose, for an efficient and flexible living system is to thrive, (safe conditions, energy inputs, and reproduction), to sense objects distal or proximal, and to adapt to environmental deviations. The living system achieves this through taking the path of least resistance. Those interested in Systems Thinking are either drawn to or interested in the variability of nested interactions. The interactions are required to maintain or be enabled in returning to a thriving condition.The voice of Systems Thinking, to communicate within the spiral of conscious awareness, is a story. Metaphors that appeal to 'common sense' understandings of situations that require solutions. ST is about agility of decision making in unfamiliar and rapidly changing environments Solving problems in a lasting way without creating other and more problems, or at least optimize the solution via understanding the trees without missing the forest. Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
September 2, 2015
The CIO Leadership is the CENTER of the “Future of CIO”
CIO LEADERSHIP is the CENTER of the "Future of CIO"!
The blog is a dynamic book flowing with your thought; growing through your dedication; sharing your knowledge; conveying your wisdom, and making influence through touching the hearts and connecting the minds across the globe. The Blog is a Dynamic Book which Flip to the Future Continually!
The “Future of CIO” Blog has reached 1.5 million page views with the #2131th blog posting today. Among 50+ different categories of leadership, management, strategy, digitalization, change/talent, etc. blog posting, CIO LEADERSHIP is the CENTER of the "Future of CIO" ! Here are a set of featured “Future of CIO” categories to highlight CIO leadership and management capability:
The CIO Leadership is the Center of “Future of CIO”CIO Leadership/CIO Debates/ (350+ Blogs): The magic “I” of CIO sparks many imaginations: Chief information officer, chief infrastructure officer, Chief Integration Officer, chief International officer, Chief Inspiration Officer, Chief Innovation Officer, Chief Improvement Officer, Chief Insight Officer, Chief Imagination Officer, Chief Interaction Officer, and Chief Influence Officer etc. The future of CIO is entrepreneur driven, situation oriented, value-added, she or he will take many paradoxical roles: both as business strategist and technology visionary, talent master and effective communicator, savvy business enabler and relentless cost optimizer, and transform the business into a Digital Master!
IT Transformation/IT Strategy & Roadmap/IT Performance/KPIs (300+ Blogs): IT is not just to support strategy, IT strategy is an integral part of business strategy. The main problem is that business executives still limit their vision of IT as “IT supports a strategy,” CIOs role as C-level is to contribute to the formulation of the business strategy where new trends of technology will provide strategic business capabilities to the business that will enhance the competitive advantages of the organization. With information and technology interwoven into business strategy, IT will re-integrate into the business, delivering business initiatives derived from corporate strategy. Such effort will just be one that is appropriate to the organizational maturity and culture.
3. Digitalization/Digital Master Tuning (250+ Blogs): Digital Master - Debunk the Myths of Enterprise Digital Maturity was published in Jan. 2015, it is the book to envision the multidimensional impact that digital philosophy, technology, innovation, and methodology will have on the future of business and human society. It received overall great feedback in the IT community and beyond. After publishing, I also wrote more than 100+ blogs to continuelly advocating the best principles and the next practices to run a “Digital Master” - The organization that has rich digital insight , high level innovation capability and maturity, not only to initiate digital innovation, but also to drive enterprise - wide digital transformation.
4. Information Management/Analytics/Cloud/Social Computing (500+ Blogs): Information Potential directly impacts business's potential of organization: Potential value of business all depends on how the information will be used again in the future and this is often exceptionally uncertain. Information may never be used again, or it may be used multiple times. Unless you can predict how it might be used again for tangible gain, it is difficult to say what, if any, potential value. The art and science of information management are to optimize information usage and achieve its value and full potential. The purpose of IT organization is to leverage the latest technology trends such as SMAC and ensure the right people getting the right information at the right time and location.
5. IT Principles/Practices//EA/Capabilities/PM/BPM (350+ Blogs): Organizations today have to manage the large quantity of projects to beat competition and delight customers. Think about how a portfolio platform might look, it includes innovation management, portfolio management, enterprise architecture, business process, the planning aspects of a portfolio, all should make up a platform. They all offer extensive reconfigurability to reflect the way you like to see the portfolio sliced and projects run (flexible or formal process with "forks"), with links to business strategy alignment, scenario planning, program and project life cycles, project initiation, requirements management, risk management, resource management, project controls (progress, finance, quality and change), comprehensive dashboard reporting and tracking of benefit realization.
6. Innovation/ Creativity (250+ Blogs): In recent years, creativity has become a very highly valued skill. Creative people combine existing possibilities to reach more often unexpected solutions. Creativity is an essential building block for innovation in business. It is very important to recognize that innovation is an essential factor for a company’s long-term success. However, becoming a truly innovative company is difficult, due to the risks involved and management skills needed. Innovation is about moving forward. In any business, if you are not moving forward, you are moving backward.
7. Talent Management (200+ Blogs): People are the most invaluable asset in any organization anytime and anywhere. However, the traditional talent management treat people more as cost or resource, less as an asset or capital investment; performance management approaches more focus on measuring behaviors and quantitative result, with ignorance of qualitative assessment about character, mindsets, talent potential, multidimensional intelligence and culture effect. Talent competency is the digital lenses through which people managers ought to assess and manage talent in more strategic, analytical and creative way.
8. Change Management (200+blogs): Change Management and Strategy Management need to go hand in hand. The goal for change is always to make improvement or innovations happen, and it's a progressive journey to keep business move forward. Change is inevitable, but more than two-thirds of change effort fail to achieve the expected results. The change shouldn't be treated as a singular occurrence when it is an ongoing, continued process and dynamic capability within the organization.
9. Governance/Decision Making/ Quality/UX/IT Vendor Relationship (250+ Blogs): Governance is like a steering wheel, to ensure your project or business as a whole to run towards the right direction. The entire point of any governance discipline is to optimize decision making. Governance, risk, and compliance are not a single process. It is a collection of processes (and other governance mechanisms, such as roles) to improve quality, efficiency, effectiveness, agility and maturity of the business.
Blogging is not about writing, but about thinking and innovating the new ideas; it’s not just about WHAT to say, but about WHY to say, and HOW to say it. It reflects the color and shade of your thought patterns, and it indicates the peaks and curves of your thinking waves. Unlike pure entertainment, quality and professional content takes time for digesting, contemplation and engaging, and therefore, it takes the time to attract the "hungry minds" and the "deep souls." It’s the journey to amplify diverse voices and deepen digital footprints, and it's the way to harness your innovative spirit.Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
The blog is a dynamic book flowing with your thought; growing through your dedication; sharing your knowledge; conveying your wisdom, and making influence through touching the hearts and connecting the minds across the globe. The Blog is a Dynamic Book which Flip to the Future Continually!The “Future of CIO” Blog has reached 1.5 million page views with the #2131th blog posting today. Among 50+ different categories of leadership, management, strategy, digitalization, change/talent, etc. blog posting, CIO LEADERSHIP is the CENTER of the "Future of CIO" ! Here are a set of featured “Future of CIO” categories to highlight CIO leadership and management capability:
The CIO Leadership is the Center of “Future of CIO”CIO Leadership/CIO Debates/ (350+ Blogs): The magic “I” of CIO sparks many imaginations: Chief information officer, chief infrastructure officer, Chief Integration Officer, chief International officer, Chief Inspiration Officer, Chief Innovation Officer, Chief Improvement Officer, Chief Insight Officer, Chief Imagination Officer, Chief Interaction Officer, and Chief Influence Officer etc. The future of CIO is entrepreneur driven, situation oriented, value-added, she or he will take many paradoxical roles: both as business strategist and technology visionary, talent master and effective communicator, savvy business enabler and relentless cost optimizer, and transform the business into a Digital Master!
IT Transformation/IT Strategy & Roadmap/IT Performance/KPIs (300+ Blogs): IT is not just to support strategy, IT strategy is an integral part of business strategy. The main problem is that business executives still limit their vision of IT as “IT supports a strategy,” CIOs role as C-level is to contribute to the formulation of the business strategy where new trends of technology will provide strategic business capabilities to the business that will enhance the competitive advantages of the organization. With information and technology interwoven into business strategy, IT will re-integrate into the business, delivering business initiatives derived from corporate strategy. Such effort will just be one that is appropriate to the organizational maturity and culture.
3. Digitalization/Digital Master Tuning (250+ Blogs): Digital Master - Debunk the Myths of Enterprise Digital Maturity was published in Jan. 2015, it is the book to envision the multidimensional impact that digital philosophy, technology, innovation, and methodology will have on the future of business and human society. It received overall great feedback in the IT community and beyond. After publishing, I also wrote more than 100+ blogs to continuelly advocating the best principles and the next practices to run a “Digital Master” - The organization that has rich digital insight , high level innovation capability and maturity, not only to initiate digital innovation, but also to drive enterprise - wide digital transformation.
4. Information Management/Analytics/Cloud/Social Computing (500+ Blogs): Information Potential directly impacts business's potential of organization: Potential value of business all depends on how the information will be used again in the future and this is often exceptionally uncertain. Information may never be used again, or it may be used multiple times. Unless you can predict how it might be used again for tangible gain, it is difficult to say what, if any, potential value. The art and science of information management are to optimize information usage and achieve its value and full potential. The purpose of IT organization is to leverage the latest technology trends such as SMAC and ensure the right people getting the right information at the right time and location.
5. IT Principles/Practices//EA/Capabilities/PM/BPM (350+ Blogs): Organizations today have to manage the large quantity of projects to beat competition and delight customers. Think about how a portfolio platform might look, it includes innovation management, portfolio management, enterprise architecture, business process, the planning aspects of a portfolio, all should make up a platform. They all offer extensive reconfigurability to reflect the way you like to see the portfolio sliced and projects run (flexible or formal process with "forks"), with links to business strategy alignment, scenario planning, program and project life cycles, project initiation, requirements management, risk management, resource management, project controls (progress, finance, quality and change), comprehensive dashboard reporting and tracking of benefit realization.
6. Innovation/ Creativity (250+ Blogs): In recent years, creativity has become a very highly valued skill. Creative people combine existing possibilities to reach more often unexpected solutions. Creativity is an essential building block for innovation in business. It is very important to recognize that innovation is an essential factor for a company’s long-term success. However, becoming a truly innovative company is difficult, due to the risks involved and management skills needed. Innovation is about moving forward. In any business, if you are not moving forward, you are moving backward.
7. Talent Management (200+ Blogs): People are the most invaluable asset in any organization anytime and anywhere. However, the traditional talent management treat people more as cost or resource, less as an asset or capital investment; performance management approaches more focus on measuring behaviors and quantitative result, with ignorance of qualitative assessment about character, mindsets, talent potential, multidimensional intelligence and culture effect. Talent competency is the digital lenses through which people managers ought to assess and manage talent in more strategic, analytical and creative way.
8. Change Management (200+blogs): Change Management and Strategy Management need to go hand in hand. The goal for change is always to make improvement or innovations happen, and it's a progressive journey to keep business move forward. Change is inevitable, but more than two-thirds of change effort fail to achieve the expected results. The change shouldn't be treated as a singular occurrence when it is an ongoing, continued process and dynamic capability within the organization.
9. Governance/Decision Making/ Quality/UX/IT Vendor Relationship (250+ Blogs): Governance is like a steering wheel, to ensure your project or business as a whole to run towards the right direction. The entire point of any governance discipline is to optimize decision making. Governance, risk, and compliance are not a single process. It is a collection of processes (and other governance mechanisms, such as roles) to improve quality, efficiency, effectiveness, agility and maturity of the business.Blogging is not about writing, but about thinking and innovating the new ideas; it’s not just about WHAT to say, but about WHY to say, and HOW to say it. It reflects the color and shade of your thought patterns, and it indicates the peaks and curves of your thinking waves. Unlike pure entertainment, quality and professional content takes time for digesting, contemplation and engaging, and therefore, it takes the time to attract the "hungry minds" and the "deep souls." It’s the journey to amplify diverse voices and deepen digital footprints, and it's the way to harness your innovative spirit.Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
How to Define the Quality of Experience
The better way to define experience is as “Lessons Learned.”
Humans are curious by nature and have an unfazed attraction towards perfection. Whatever we are today - our knowledge and our capabilities is on account of our cumulative experience only right from the day we were born, even before. These experience got created consciously and subconsciously both as such, some are positive, and some are negative; some help us grow, and some are undesirable and become the stumbling blocks. What is exactly the experience? Should Experience be measured in more quantitive or qualitative way? And when does experience become a hindrance to future progress?
Experience in most of the case is a mixture of success and failure. It is much more like our personal library, a reference or a chronicle. The very theme for us is that our life is the journey with the knowledge we gain and the experience we accumulate, etc. Everything is like a partially full, or partially empty glass of water, depending on the optimistic or pessimistic mode you are in. We all are in some way givers and seekers. From knowledge point of view, we gave others what we learned or experienced and sought new knowledge from others or experiences of others. All efforts directed to fill the gap in the water level of our glass. Either the fresh thinking or the old thoughts, analyze them, evaluate them and choose the best for the situation. It is not necessary that a correct solution in one situation will be correct in all similar situations. Experience is not about doing the same things again and again; it is about always learning the new things through it -either it’s success or failure. Working with attention to detail by staying focussed at the moment while having a certain awareness of the big picture is the best way to handle both. It is a win - win situation. When experiences become cyclical, repetitive with no focus or interest; it soon becomes a trap.
The experiences become a hindrance to future progress when experience resist you to intake knowledge, or de-learn and relearn when necessary. Or the experience causes the arrogance, makes you feel that you are finally capable of everything. Nowadays, we live at the age of information explosion; knowledge is only clicks away, but wisdom is still in scarcity. And knowledge life cycle is significant shortened. A knowledgeable mind can become outdated much sooner than before if it stops filling in the new knowledge. And an experienced professional is faced with similar challenges - do you have X years experience or do you have ONE year experience X times? The pace of change is increasing, EXPERIENCE can no longer be measured quantitatively only, quality counts, dynamic counts, and learning agility counts - in mastering the full cycle of learning, de-learning and relearning. You just have to deepen the experience continually to capture the insight, or broaden your experiences to cultivate creativity or refine wisdom.
The better way to define experience is as “Lessons Learned.” If lessons are NOT Learned, then it is not Experience. Any lessons learned are helpful in future progress.We as a human also have few attributes like fear (the most important quality needed for survival), skepticism, "first impression is last impression" syndrome, and so on. Although these attributes are necessary, it may actually contribute towards the possible conversion of an experience from an opportunity into a hindrance. But in that case, the so-called "experience" cannot be truly termed as experience. Experience, be it bad or good, has a repository of learnings of "do & don't." Our intentions to gain experience needs to be pure and aim should be solely driven towards understanding the truth and filling our emptiness in the glass; it will definitely drive us towards progress personally, socially, and technologically, you name it. Some researchers experiment to leverage the systematic thinking and methodology of getting rid of such undesirable experiences. As the nervous system cannot distinguish between a real and vividly imagined experience, they used the synthetic ( vividly imagined ) experience to bring about the desired changes. They found that synthetic experience could change people's behavior - habits, attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, etc.
When experience saturates your mind, you are not open to understanding beyond what you’ve already known. If one has understood about a certain thing in a particular way, then one is not ready to leave it and look at it in multiple different directions. Experience needs to be defined as the lessons we learn, from Experience to Education to Wisdom. If experience brings wisdom, then there is a definite growth. If an experience is repetitive, and then there is a limitation. Experience to tackle new situations under diverse factors is what we should be looking at. So the quality of experience is very essential.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Humans are curious by nature and have an unfazed attraction towards perfection. Whatever we are today - our knowledge and our capabilities is on account of our cumulative experience only right from the day we were born, even before. These experience got created consciously and subconsciously both as such, some are positive, and some are negative; some help us grow, and some are undesirable and become the stumbling blocks. What is exactly the experience? Should Experience be measured in more quantitive or qualitative way? And when does experience become a hindrance to future progress?
Experience in most of the case is a mixture of success and failure. It is much more like our personal library, a reference or a chronicle. The very theme for us is that our life is the journey with the knowledge we gain and the experience we accumulate, etc. Everything is like a partially full, or partially empty glass of water, depending on the optimistic or pessimistic mode you are in. We all are in some way givers and seekers. From knowledge point of view, we gave others what we learned or experienced and sought new knowledge from others or experiences of others. All efforts directed to fill the gap in the water level of our glass. Either the fresh thinking or the old thoughts, analyze them, evaluate them and choose the best for the situation. It is not necessary that a correct solution in one situation will be correct in all similar situations. Experience is not about doing the same things again and again; it is about always learning the new things through it -either it’s success or failure. Working with attention to detail by staying focussed at the moment while having a certain awareness of the big picture is the best way to handle both. It is a win - win situation. When experiences become cyclical, repetitive with no focus or interest; it soon becomes a trap.
The experiences become a hindrance to future progress when experience resist you to intake knowledge, or de-learn and relearn when necessary. Or the experience causes the arrogance, makes you feel that you are finally capable of everything. Nowadays, we live at the age of information explosion; knowledge is only clicks away, but wisdom is still in scarcity. And knowledge life cycle is significant shortened. A knowledgeable mind can become outdated much sooner than before if it stops filling in the new knowledge. And an experienced professional is faced with similar challenges - do you have X years experience or do you have ONE year experience X times? The pace of change is increasing, EXPERIENCE can no longer be measured quantitatively only, quality counts, dynamic counts, and learning agility counts - in mastering the full cycle of learning, de-learning and relearning. You just have to deepen the experience continually to capture the insight, or broaden your experiences to cultivate creativity or refine wisdom.
The better way to define experience is as “Lessons Learned.” If lessons are NOT Learned, then it is not Experience. Any lessons learned are helpful in future progress.We as a human also have few attributes like fear (the most important quality needed for survival), skepticism, "first impression is last impression" syndrome, and so on. Although these attributes are necessary, it may actually contribute towards the possible conversion of an experience from an opportunity into a hindrance. But in that case, the so-called "experience" cannot be truly termed as experience. Experience, be it bad or good, has a repository of learnings of "do & don't." Our intentions to gain experience needs to be pure and aim should be solely driven towards understanding the truth and filling our emptiness in the glass; it will definitely drive us towards progress personally, socially, and technologically, you name it. Some researchers experiment to leverage the systematic thinking and methodology of getting rid of such undesirable experiences. As the nervous system cannot distinguish between a real and vividly imagined experience, they used the synthetic ( vividly imagined ) experience to bring about the desired changes. They found that synthetic experience could change people's behavior - habits, attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, etc.
When experience saturates your mind, you are not open to understanding beyond what you’ve already known. If one has understood about a certain thing in a particular way, then one is not ready to leave it and look at it in multiple different directions. Experience needs to be defined as the lessons we learn, from Experience to Education to Wisdom. If experience brings wisdom, then there is a definite growth. If an experience is repetitive, and then there is a limitation. Experience to tackle new situations under diverse factors is what we should be looking at. So the quality of experience is very essential.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Digital Master Tuning #108: Three Aspects to Differentiate Digital Leaders from Laggards
Digital masters are dynamic, high-agile, high-innovative, and high-mature business leaders or champions with their own unique strengths and styles.
Digital transformation is a journey, compared to the change, TRANSFORMATION is definitely the more ambitious sounding term, and organization’s digitalization is surely a transformation journey, it has to permeate into business vision and strategy, mindset and culture, communication and action, process and capability. In the book of Digital Master, I defined the tree-level of digital maturity: Level 1: Digital Laggard, Level 2: Digital Mediocrity. Level 3: Digital Master. What are the important factors to differentiate digital leaders from laggards? Why are there so many companies not taking advantage of customer-facing opportunities to digitize interactions with digital technologies? Even during the journey, shall you continuously check: Are you doing the right things? Are you doing them the right way? Are you doing them well? Are you achieving the desired outcomes? Are you shaping the good digital strategy about the future and positioning appropriately for your place within it? Do you have enough resource to implement the digital strategy? Are the assumptions and risks understood and manageable smoothly? Here are three aspects to build a Digital Master.
Change capability: Digital transformation is the leapfrogging scenario with accumulated steps of changes. Change turns to be one of the ongoing strategic capabilities which underpin successful execution and move an organization from efficiency to agility. However, no change is for its own sake, there's always a clear business purpose behind it, and people are the core to changes. Developing change capability in those who'll help drive and deliver the change, consider also the capability or ability of those impacted by the change to handle its impacts; their resilience will be massively increased if they are involved, included and educated as to what they should expect. Many people across the organization are either directly involved in contributing to the change effort, or they have the opportunity to participate and choose to hold back but know they had the chance to contribute, or at least they regularly hear about the key change effort, the design and progress made even if they have no direct involvement at all. The key trait is credibility at every level of organizations. It is imperative to find a progressive executive sponsor, but you must also find other like minded, well-respected individuals throughout the organization, to take accountability on the change project or any transformation effort. They will serve the organization with more energy and determination.
Innovation: According to Drucker,” Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship, the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.” From a business perspective, innovation is how to transform novel ideas into products and services to achieve its business values. At the individual level, what matters now is creativity. Creativity can manifest in a collective environment: While the individual contributions provide the building block of creativity, it is the collective consensus on what to do with them that is exciting. Develop employees entrepreneurially, let them do things and problems solving in their own way to meet good results. Though the guide is needed at that crucial time, you will see the innovations in your company pipeline. Management should direct workflow, support the health of the team, create an environment where people want to work, encourage brainstorming. If management is successful, innovation will follow. Business innovation is bravery - it may take you to a whole other place. And it’s the success factors to grow into a digital master.
Learning agility: Learning agility is the willingness and ability to learn, de-learn and relearn, and then apply those lessons to succeed in new situations. People who are learning agile continuously seek new challenges, solicit direct feedback, self-reflect, and get jobs done resourcefully. They see unique patterns and make fresh connections that others overlook. At the organizational level, learning organizations are comfortable with complexity, ambiguity, paradoxes and they have a penchant for candor. So high organizational learning relates to high response in recognizing and addressing system constraints. Unless constraints are addressed, a range of employees’ frustrations, risks, stress, and poor organizational performance examples can increase. This means in turn understanding levels or approaches at which organizational systems operate, and recognizing how and why they should change, and how they learn. As a result, this can influence employee and group learning and development. Thus, for a learning organization, it is not enough to survive only, but for thriving; not just for running business today, but for growing and transforming business to reach high level of digital maturity in the long run.
Digital Masters are the high mature digital leaders in their vertical sector and business ecosystem. The digital transformation does not mean only to adopt the latest digital technologies or tools; it refers to modification and internalization of new values, behaviors, and culture when the need for the significant digital shift is identified. The business capabilities are also different from the mere sum of individual abilities and skills of its members; processes underpin business capabilities; and culture nurtures capability coherence. It’s about what we do as a company, how we do it, it’s collective capabilities to ensure organization as a whole can achieve more even it is consist of group of normal people, and the well set of optimal capabilities can be cultivated via cultural coherence and continuous process improvement. Digital masters are dynamic, high-agile, high-innovative and high-mature business leaders or champions with their own unique strengths and styles.
Digitalization is like a flywheel, and Digital Masters are the one riding above it. Surf more Information about Digital Master:Digital Master Kindle Version Book Order URLDigital Master Book URLDigital Master Author URLDigital Master Video Clip on YouTubeDigital Master Fun Quiz
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Digital transformation is a journey, compared to the change, TRANSFORMATION is definitely the more ambitious sounding term, and organization’s digitalization is surely a transformation journey, it has to permeate into business vision and strategy, mindset and culture, communication and action, process and capability. In the book of Digital Master, I defined the tree-level of digital maturity: Level 1: Digital Laggard, Level 2: Digital Mediocrity. Level 3: Digital Master. What are the important factors to differentiate digital leaders from laggards? Why are there so many companies not taking advantage of customer-facing opportunities to digitize interactions with digital technologies? Even during the journey, shall you continuously check: Are you doing the right things? Are you doing them the right way? Are you doing them well? Are you achieving the desired outcomes? Are you shaping the good digital strategy about the future and positioning appropriately for your place within it? Do you have enough resource to implement the digital strategy? Are the assumptions and risks understood and manageable smoothly? Here are three aspects to build a Digital Master.Change capability: Digital transformation is the leapfrogging scenario with accumulated steps of changes. Change turns to be one of the ongoing strategic capabilities which underpin successful execution and move an organization from efficiency to agility. However, no change is for its own sake, there's always a clear business purpose behind it, and people are the core to changes. Developing change capability in those who'll help drive and deliver the change, consider also the capability or ability of those impacted by the change to handle its impacts; their resilience will be massively increased if they are involved, included and educated as to what they should expect. Many people across the organization are either directly involved in contributing to the change effort, or they have the opportunity to participate and choose to hold back but know they had the chance to contribute, or at least they regularly hear about the key change effort, the design and progress made even if they have no direct involvement at all. The key trait is credibility at every level of organizations. It is imperative to find a progressive executive sponsor, but you must also find other like minded, well-respected individuals throughout the organization, to take accountability on the change project or any transformation effort. They will serve the organization with more energy and determination.
Innovation: According to Drucker,” Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship, the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.” From a business perspective, innovation is how to transform novel ideas into products and services to achieve its business values. At the individual level, what matters now is creativity. Creativity can manifest in a collective environment: While the individual contributions provide the building block of creativity, it is the collective consensus on what to do with them that is exciting. Develop employees entrepreneurially, let them do things and problems solving in their own way to meet good results. Though the guide is needed at that crucial time, you will see the innovations in your company pipeline. Management should direct workflow, support the health of the team, create an environment where people want to work, encourage brainstorming. If management is successful, innovation will follow. Business innovation is bravery - it may take you to a whole other place. And it’s the success factors to grow into a digital master.
Learning agility: Learning agility is the willingness and ability to learn, de-learn and relearn, and then apply those lessons to succeed in new situations. People who are learning agile continuously seek new challenges, solicit direct feedback, self-reflect, and get jobs done resourcefully. They see unique patterns and make fresh connections that others overlook. At the organizational level, learning organizations are comfortable with complexity, ambiguity, paradoxes and they have a penchant for candor. So high organizational learning relates to high response in recognizing and addressing system constraints. Unless constraints are addressed, a range of employees’ frustrations, risks, stress, and poor organizational performance examples can increase. This means in turn understanding levels or approaches at which organizational systems operate, and recognizing how and why they should change, and how they learn. As a result, this can influence employee and group learning and development. Thus, for a learning organization, it is not enough to survive only, but for thriving; not just for running business today, but for growing and transforming business to reach high level of digital maturity in the long run.Digital Masters are the high mature digital leaders in their vertical sector and business ecosystem. The digital transformation does not mean only to adopt the latest digital technologies or tools; it refers to modification and internalization of new values, behaviors, and culture when the need for the significant digital shift is identified. The business capabilities are also different from the mere sum of individual abilities and skills of its members; processes underpin business capabilities; and culture nurtures capability coherence. It’s about what we do as a company, how we do it, it’s collective capabilities to ensure organization as a whole can achieve more even it is consist of group of normal people, and the well set of optimal capabilities can be cultivated via cultural coherence and continuous process improvement. Digital masters are dynamic, high-agile, high-innovative and high-mature business leaders or champions with their own unique strengths and styles.
Digitalization is like a flywheel, and Digital Masters are the one riding above it. Surf more Information about Digital Master:Digital Master Kindle Version Book Order URLDigital Master Book URLDigital Master Author URLDigital Master Video Clip on YouTubeDigital Master Fun Quiz
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
