LEADING TRANSFORMATION

The methodology for business innovation that Nathan Furr, Kyle Nel, and Thomas Zoëga Ramsøy describe in their book Leading Transformation can come across as intimidating at times.

It’s a methodology they used to help Lowe’s—one of America’s large home improvement retailers—successfully implement a technology strategy for augmented and virtual reality services long before either had become mainstream. By their account, it was a fairly involved undertaking. Science fiction writers were brought on board with the task of developing comic books to help articulate to key personnel the vision behind the initiative. Workflows were re-engineered. Prototypes were commissioned to get a feel for the technologies that would ultimately be rolled out. Most importantly, insights from behavioral neuroscience informed the entire process, resulting in a fairly successful digital transformation.

Several aspects of that account would certainly give skeptics pause. Comic books? Neuroscience? Investment spent to develop mere prototypes? Most importantly, would such an approach work for companies without the scale and resources of a company like Lowe’s?

Furr, Nel, and Ramsøy would argue that each of these things were vital to the success of Lowe’s initiative, which applies to organizations of different types; indeed, they have already consulted with many different clients since. In Leading Transformation, however, the authors stress that it’s important not to get caught up in the specifics behind the how of a change initiative but to proceed with a clear understanding of the why that one must help others comprehend and appreciate as well.

Change management is always sensitive matter, and all that Furr, Nel, and Ramsøy really describe in Leading Transformation is an emotionally intelligent approach to achieving it. That’s the whole point of the comics, the prototypes, and even the neuroscience. Ultimately, it is by showing empathy for those who will be subject to a drastic change—in the case of Lowe’s, both the employees across the company as well as its customers—that such initiatives have a chance of succeeding.

Dreaming big is one thing, getting the change made so it can be a possible future is quite another. The authors claim that the process in this book will provide the tools for leading and creating real change in your business.

One of the tools that grabbed my attention is the creation of a story, with a narrative arc to help people to see the future. The objective is to be open to what’s possible rather than making small changes based on the small opportunities that are more obvious to you, now. The science fiction is a genre that they see as one that helps us see potential futures more easily and the process of building your story and sharing it, is one they spend a great deal of time and effort on.

There is a vast amount of content to work through (and other tools to consider). Some insights I found useful:
Disrupting habits can help facilitate change
You need to speak a language people value or use
There is power in data linked to behaviour
The value of fast early wins in helping to get people to buy into the change
Persistence is essential
The importance of getting comfortable with uncertainty

This may be a process more accessible to corporates such as Google, Walmart and Lowe’s but with my experience, I was not convinced that this is accessible to smaller and medium-sized businesses (up to 500 employees). It came across as complicated and a process requiring extensive financial and people resources.

With many thanks to the author, the publishers Harvard Business Review Press, and NetGalley for my free copy to review.

Leading Transformation by Nathan Furr, Kyle Nel, and Thomas Zoega Ramsoy was a more interesting read, but I'm not sure how repeatable the case study would be. The book basically shares a fascinating business case study that resulted in organisational transformation. It draws heavily on neuroscience and change management, and talks about using science fiction writers to design the vision for the future - sharing good practices relating to storytelling. You'd need a brave organisation to replicate the results, but there are tools in here in your own projects.

Leading transformation in organizations is hard. We are not just only dealing with financial and other kinds of resources constraints but also the human side of it. Fear, uncertainty, lack of priority, organizational politics get in the way of truly changing our organizations for the better.

This book presents unique insights on how companies can facilitate change. Here we are not talking about incremental changes. We are dealing with radical, transformative (maybe disruptive at some point) change which many organizations need not just to stay relevant but to be on top of their game.

One of the featured organizations here is Lowe. Lowe is a furniture manufacturer. This book explains how the furniture company took advantage of unconventional way of convincing the company’s executive leadership to make the necessary change. You will things like creating a narrative arc, use of comics, and many more.

Another things that I really find helpful is the detailed explanation of the steps the authors took to create the changes. The authors speak from their actual experience combined with research they’ve used to illustrate their points.

This book is a also result of collaboration which makes it unique. We have the perspective of a manager, neuroscientist, and academic all in one book. Their expertise truly resonates on this work.

Anyone who is in the business of making transformative changes in their organization needs to read this book.

A very interesting and useful book. It's full of great examples and it guides you through the necessary steps.
I was fascinated by the graphical novel as it was a great way to summarize the content.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Harvard Business Review Press and Netgalley for this ARC