Citizen development unlocks transformation
Transformation is the new black. It is very hard to do. There’s a lot of things written about transformation. Most of the literature about transformation is a bit simplistic. If you do this, they do this, this, this, and this and you’re sorted. That’s just not ever going to be the case. Organisations are complex systems, where a one size fits all is never going to work.
Slow
It is also very slow. Transformation is not something that you can do overnight. It’s something that takes three, four years to do it properly. Because there are always cultural and behavioural elements attached to transformation.
The speed of transformation is becoming an issue. It is too slow. You do not have three years. Jack Welch, the former chairman and CEO of General Electric, said: “When the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.”
Blank slate
The good news is that COVID has given the CEOs and the management team a blank slate. You finally have the permission to fundamentally do things differently. You can re-assess everything and change whatever you want. You finally have the legitimacy to change. Your organisational structure, the purpose, the values and guiding principles, your stance on sustainability…
