The PeopleAlchemist Edit: change & transformation, business & lifestyle experimentation for TheWomanAlchemist

Debunking the change & transformation myth, because life is complicated enough.

In 2020 businesses had to respond almost instantaneously to a global crisis following the spread of Covid-19. They had to implement remote working, fix the supply chain and adapt to the ever-fluctuating customers’ demands. Organisations were forced to adapt to the disruption—change & transformation in motion.

Many companies used disruption as an opportunity for innovation to emerge from it more robust. 

Transformation has the potential to be, well, transformative. And it can enable businesses to reap significant benefits. But, when talking about change and transformation, there is a tendency to hype up what it means and not think through the basics of execution until the promise doesn’t live up to the expectation.

DEBUNKING CHANGE & TRANSFORMATION

Change & transformation aren’t a one-and-done event but a continuous process of adapting to a volatile and uncertain environment and life in general.

Change happens regardless. It might not be in prominent and so evident ways, but it happens nevertheless. But as much as change is inevitable, progress is not. 

There should be a constant push to innovate to enable breakthroughs in value and business performance. And that’s a continuous journey.

Transformation starts with leadership, a mindset that needs to be carried out to all members of an organisation at every level to improve their business model, and drive value and connect with end customers.

Technology can be a powerful enabler, but a genuinely transformational outcome is complicated to achieve without an organisational structure aligned to support the project’s objectives. And a culture that accepts the rationale for change. Together with business processes that connect people and systems.

Most companies do not take the time to figure out their business processes and have active process maps. 

When organisations don’t have a complete inventory of their business processes, they cannot answer questions like how you cross-sell and innovate.

There is also a perception that businesses need to constantly bring in new tools, models, and skills to compete on a new playing field rather than creating unique new experiences and value for customers, partners and employees.

The main thing to remember is that, in the end, it is all about the consumer and employee experience. Therefore, businesses should be enamoured with their customers, not their products or services. And continuously innovate to help/satisfy/enrich those customers.

DEBUNKING THE MYTH

And is not as complicated as it sounds. 

Let’s put it into layman terms. Let us examine, for example, something as simple as going on a diet. Of course, we have all been on at least one diet of some sort in our life.

You go on a diet either because you have been told that you need to lose weight (for example, by a doctor) or because you want to look better/fit into more fancy clothes. This is similar to a business (any) that realises it needs to change either from external market factors or via an internal review.

The steps:

• set a target (goals)
• choose the diet (methodology)
• remove from cupboards/fridge all temptations and food not complying with the selected diet (process review)
• buy new food or research new recipes (specifics of how-to)
• look at your habits ( like sleep, movement etc.) and see what small or significant changes you need to put in place to achieve desired goals ( processes and tools)
• monitors progress
• adapt/buy new clothes as you lose weight (review and adjusts the plan)
• see what part of the chosen diet you can incorporate into your ongoing lifestyle to maintain the goal weight ( post-evaluation to glean what it has done for them and the ROI).

See? We have all implemented change at one point or another in our lives. There’s no reason to overcomplicate it in a business environment.

Just remember the basics: why you are doing and who for.

And this can be applied in business and life.