As a follow-up to my post on wild and crazy ideas, I’ve been thinking about the process for transformation, i.e. how do individuals and organizations implement ideas once they are generated.

I know lots of people who are idea-generating engines, but their locomotive jumps the tracks or runs out of rails when it comes time to do the hard and laborious work of implementation.

There are exceptions, of course, but turning ideas into reality is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration, as the saying goes.    

When it comes to implementing ideas, It struck me that most organizations could benefit from the McKinsey 7S process: Strategy, Shared Values, Structure, Staff, Systems, Skill, and Style in that firing order.

For me, it is critical to start with strategy and shared values and then move to structure and so on.

Skills and style are last because conversations about them are meaningless until the first 5 S’s have been addressed. It’s not about what style is right or wrong, it’s about what is required to implement the strategy. Here are a few thoughts on each of the 7S’s.

Strategy should be inspirational and aspirational.

It should start in a safe place with a clean sheet of paper for brain-storming possibilities for the future instead of tweaking or protecting something from the past.

This is where idea generation is most important, but creativity is required for every step of the process. The strategy includes vision, mission, goals, and objectives.

The vision should capture your dreams and give people compelling reasons to get excited and to mobilize.

Goals provide 3-5 year directional statements; and objectives are the specific, measurable and time-bound deliverables for the next year. Google’s vision was providing universal access to the world’s information—not a bad example. It appears that Facebook’s real vision was to amass as much money and power as possible at the expense of the truth. Visions, like everything else, can be for better or for worse.

Shared values define what’s most important to us. They serve as the anchors for decision making and the guideposts for our behaviors and actions.

I’m partial to values like community, connectivity, collaboration, integrity, impact, innovation, inclusivity, trust, respect, and equality.

Part of the transformational process is to reach agreement not only on the values but also on the norms that describe what the values look like to us.

For example, some norms underpinning trust might be: we do what we say (reliability), we say what we do (honesty), we say what we say (genuineness), and we do what we do (consciousness).

Strategy and shared values create the energy for organizational transformation.

Structure outlines the organizational chart required to operationalize the vision and strategy.

It doesn’t start with the current structure and staff and then determine what roles each could fit into.

Structure typically includes positions for leadership, marketing, human resources, finance, information technology, programs and operations. Structural decisions start with the requirements of the strategy.

Systems address how each of the components, functions and processes of the organization can be enabled to perform optimally.

They define what is needed to fulfill the vision, values, goals, and objectives most efficiently and cost-effectively.

Staffing begins by defining the requirements of each position detailed in the structure.

Each job description clarifies the level of education, experience, and motivation needed to fill the roles effectively. When the requirements are clear it’s possible to assess each applicant’s capabilities to fulfill those requirements instead of assessing capabilities independent of requirements, or worse, putting a crony or your son-in-law in a position for which he is completely unqualified.

Staffing decisions only come after these first five areas have been addressed and the respective jobs defined.

Clearly, it is important to retain as many staff as possible in this process. The idea is to find the right fit for every person given the requirements of the new vision, goals, and jobs. All the previous work can inform development plans for each of the current staff. As positions open up over time, new staff can be recruited who have the necessary experience and skills to fulfill the new requirements.

Style issues are addressed in the context of all the above.

I always look for open, positive, energetic, agile, adaptive, resilient and enthusiastic people to carry out the vision, implement the strategy and reflect the values.

This process helps organizations navigate their way to entirely new positioning and purpose.

Individuals can also engage in a transformational process guided by their purpose and values. In a previous post entitled “Who, Why, How”, I discussed the importance of having a clear purpose and well-defined values before making any major life decisions or even simple decisions about what to do on any given day.

Transformation always begins with purpose and possibilities.

A very basic, but profound, transformational change for individuals is to focus as much on allowing and welcoming as we do on doing.

At the most fundamental level, we can either breathe by taking a deep breath (Do), we can let ourselves breathe more freely by letting go of whatever we are attached to or identified with (Allow), or we can experience the peace, joy and gratitude of being breathed by Universal Energy (Welcome).

Whenever we walk from Point A to Point B and wherever we go, we can either push one leg in front of the other in a forced march (Do), experience our weight shifting back and forth between left and right but more consciously noticing the action (Allow), or we can feel the rhythm of our pedestrian movement as a dance (Welcome).

When we read a book or newspaper or any other document we can do the work of understanding what the words are saying, or we can allow the real meaning to sink in, or we can welcome a new revelation if we are open to possibilities and to looking at things from an entirely different perspective in entirely fresh ways.

Purpose, possibilities, and values create the energy for individual transformation.

Here’s a chart that summarizes the transformational process for just a few of the actions we take every day. The questions are: 1) are we performing those functions habitually or mindfully? 2) are we staying open to fresh new possibilities and perspectives?, and 3) are we generating ideas and energy for individual and organizational transformation as we live our lives?

What happens when we engage in the transformational process by being more conscious of basic functions and by welcoming new experiences and deeper meanings?

Our whole being and energy change, as shown in the chart below:

The two charts contain some simple vocabulary that enriches our energy literacy.  For a much more complete discussion of moving, welcoming, and Energy’s Way, read this article on the Energy’s Way website.

I continue to believe that ideas can transform our living, learning and working environments if a transformational process is followed to turn dreams into realities for individuals as well as for organizations. Organizational transformation, however, begins with and is dependent upon individual transformation. Each of us can bring more energy, joy and power into our own lives and into the lives of others if we are more conscious of our actions. May it be so. 

Tags: mission statementorganizational developmentorganizational growthpersonal growthpurposework experience

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