Less speed, more velocity!

We’re now into February, past the “longest month” of January and perhaps reconciling ourselves that the New Year’s resolution(s) can be tackled at a later date, because the restraint shown by refusing the mince pie and glass of prosecco at one of the Festive bashes proves how much personal willpower is available when required!

Some thoughts around organisational willpower, habit or choice and speed or velocity.

Let’s not forget organisations are a collection of people with all the potential benefits individuality brings. Let’s also not forget that there is another entity defined as the organisation individuals work in to provide for themselves, their families, customers and so on.

This could lean that organisations, in themselves, have “New Year’s resolutions” and are just like the rest of us in the ability to complete those good intentions. How many organisations have Mission Statements, Value Statements, Corporate Behaviours and the rest? As statements of good intent, they are perfectly ok. Now, as statements of how “things are done around here” in reality, that’s maybe a different matter.

This potential difference between what organisations say and how they do what they do can set up ideal circumstances for organisational and personal cognitive dissonance, separate thoughts all believed to be true but are not so.

Compare what is said on organisational behaviours with the expectation that this is how work is actually carried out in the organisation. It’s likely there will be differences with the gap between reality and statement; different in every individuals head to a lesser or greater extent.

There is no good reason, at least in theory, as to why there may be differences between the plan and the actuals of organisational life. More likely it is as a result of the evolution of Habit or Choice within each organisation, with the gap between what is said and how work is actually done gradually widening over time.

Maybe now is the time to confront the truths about how work is actually done around “here”.

One specific potential organisational myth I’d like to mention is the organisational myth about being busy and the reality of actually getting stuff done! Over time, I believe a confusion has occurred between being busy – or more accurately being seen to be busy – and the reality of productive work efficiently and effectively delivered.

I suggest a “virtual pause” in how organisational change is implemented in organisation. The reason for the “virtual pause” is – even in 2019 – thinking and planning remain not as highly valued as “being busy”.

There are more than enough tools, methods and approaches available today supporting effective organisational change.  Perhaps now is the time to review how organisational change is implemented in your change teams, what are the good practices used, what are customised good practices used and how are outputs and outcomes achieved compared to the change management business case?

In closing, a few words around Agile. I’m a fan of Agile in almost all of its various guises. Not so much of a fan when it is viewed as an organisational panacea.

For Agile to be effective, operating methods, roles and responsibilities need to be clear, understood and used as agreed. Then it works well but then again, so would all the other existing methods if even RACI was applied and used.

Agile brings many positives including a definition of velocity and effort aligned to the organisational strategy direction of travel. This is very different to organisational speed, doing things quickly but not necessarily aligned to organisational strategy, or indeed to “how things should be done around here”.

Even as January has passed and we’re moving at a pace through February, maybe there’s time enough to make a few organisational change implementation resolutions. More velocity than speed with your organisational change programmes in the coming year!

Author: Bob Black

Bob is Principal at People Skills OD Consultancy