The Problem
Maybe because of the failings above, or maybe due to a host of other reasons, near-term results may not be realized. This lack of traction can be disastrous, and lead to a vicious cycle. Presented with a lack of traction, those team members who were committed may waver. Those who were originally unconvinced or disengaged will view subpar results as justification for their lack of commitment. These repercussions can also hold true for executives, whose continued support, engagement, and investment is so critical.
What to do About It
It is important for teams leading transformation to establish a culture and focus on getting results. In this effort, teams are well served by adopting an agile mindset, breaking projects into smaller components of work, speeding delivery, and doing more frequent iteration.
This also often requires leaders to figure out a way to make fast changes in culture. To start achieving the results needed, it is important to recognize that culture change, which is often the biggest impediment to transformation, also needs to happen fast. In a report, Gartner analysts describe pragmatic approaches for instituting the change required, referring to these tactics as “culture hacking.”2 Culture hacking is about taking fast actions to make change real and immediate. This can include a range of tactics:
- Using a weekly meeting to collect new ideas and committing to testing one idea within a week.
- Changing terminology, for example instead of using the term “fail,” using “experiment and learn.”
- Selecting the team note taker at the end of the meeting.
To learn more, see our "Challenges in Digital Transformation" blog post.
