Organizations evolve like human beings: the
essence of us remains the same, yet on the outside we change continuously. Even
after many decades of time we are still familiar and recognizable to those from
our past, as is evidenced when I returned to an alumni meet after 30 years. We
have changed, yet we have not changed.
In today’s VUCA, a world of rapid change,
we are constantly engaged at work doing one of the three things: Thinking,
deploying strategy or implementing and embedding.
Perhaps this calls for a new way of looking
at talent: those that are involved with the thinking unit (TU), some who are
involved with the building unit(BU), while others in the operating unit(OU).
Let me offer an analogy to explain this. If
suppose, we want to build a world class Hospital on 30 acres of land, you would
first want a team of specialists who would be involved with the thinking unit:
those who would be responsible for developing the blueprint, the actual plans.
They would be tasked with the Design and Architecture. This would be the most
critical stage to the whole piece and would require deep Subject matter
expertise.
The next phase would be the building stage:
clearing the land, digging, building the foundation, the columns and the
floors. This stage is the conversion of the design to that which is physical
and would require its own brand of expertise, but quite different to the
earlier set above.
Finally, once the hospital is built, one
would require talent that can operate the unit well: doctors, nurses,
administrators, cashiers, lab technicians, etc. This stage requires the design
of the operating model that would allow for integrated operations to come
seamlessly together.
As we resource Projects, we need to be very
clear, what phase we are on: TU, BU or OU. This would determine the right
talent that would be effective at this phase. Usually, one tends and brings in consultants
at the TU Stage, Service Partners and external vendors to help in the BU stage.
Its only at the OU stage that regular role profile are appropriate.
I argue that Business Leaders need to keep
this perspective in mind when selecting the right resourcing. Projects fail,
often because the specific competencies required for each phase is not
available.
Very thoughtful for the current organisation challenge Steve ! But, I also see Organisations going sort of Bimodal to attack this !
ReplyDeleteOne is the traditional Organisation, which has all processes, controls and works in its own rhythm as in the past ; other is the one which is New Age - sort of roll up sleeves, get things done ! Keep changing fast to ensure the ultimate customer needs are met and to firm up the business model ; These two are very different and these days often exist within the same organisation