How Do We Transform in 2024?

Transformation seems to be on everyone's minds lately. Digital transformation, personal transformation, just transformation.How do we transform our organizations to meet future needs, to meet current needs? How do we transform ourselves?

I’ve been having many conversations over the last few weeks about digital transformation: how do we need to do things differently in our lives and in our organizations? How do we need to transform for the future that is upon us? As I have these conversations, I see so many people stuck and wondering what to do and how to move forward.

Many people stay where they are because they don't know what steps to take. But it's not about knowing all the steps to take. Trying to plan everything all out ahead of time can paralyze us, especially in a world where everything is changing all the time.

So, how do we transform our workplaces (and ourselves) when we are paralyzed with indecision and fear of doing the wrong thing?

No Right or Easy Answer

The first thing to keep in mind is that in many cases there are no right answers. Doing the right thing depends on context, the people involved and the culture of the organisation. As much as we have been educated to believe there is a right answer, there often isn’t; there is only trial and error, and learning.

To move past the fear that may be paralyzing us, we can try some of these activities:

Acknowledge the fear.
Understand the fear.
Positive self talk.
Reframing.
Take small steps.
Visualization and preparation.
Practice mindfulness or relaxation techniques.
Learn from failure.
Focus on the benefits.

Ultimately, it's about taking a step, whatever that step might be. Maybe the first thing we do is take a walk, make some art or get creative in the kitchen or garden. We need to do something that allows our brains to go into diffuse thinking mode, rather than focused thinking, so that it can identify the first thing we need to do. Maybe the next step is asking some questions, creating a strategy, or doing some research to figure out what things could change or what others are doing.

The Roadmap Process

What comes after the mindset work and the first step? Figuring out what it is you want to transform. Where are you now (current state) and where do you want to be (desired future state)? Even if you can’t map out all the steps between current and future, it’s important to know where you’re trying to get to, otherwise, you’ll never get anywhere.

In doing the strategy and planning work that has made up a significant part of my consulting practice for over 20 years, I have always started off with that kind of gap analysis and outlined a set of projects to get there, typically over a three to five-year timeframe, although more recently it’s been one to three years because things are changing and evolving more quickly than ever.

In fact, I published a roadmap process for ensuring business and technology alignment in my first book, and that is still what I follow when I’m doing any kind of technology work. The roadmap process is made up of eight steps, starting with collecting the requirements, moving through selecting and implementing the technology and processes, and ending with using and evolving the technology and processes

We iterate and pilot and learn as we go, adjusting as necessary. Collaborating with those who wanted to be involved leaving the naysayers until later. Communicating, communicating and then communicating some more — because you can never communicate enough.

This is how we transform whether it’s personally or professionally or organizationally. It takes time and patience, and we need to adjust along the way. I’ve seen sailing metaphors used to describe this approach: we might know that we need to get to the other side of the lake or bay or ocean, but we’re going to zig-zag back and forth depending on things like currents, winds, weather, and other boating traffic. We need to prepare, but we also need to be flexible and adaptable and to cut ourselves some slack when things don’t go the way we expected.

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