This is a book by John Kotter, one of the world’s preeminent experts on leadership and change. He is ranked among the world’s top ten management gurus and one of his earlier books Leading Change was named as one of the 25 most influential business management books by Time.
The book starts by setting out that no matter how you look at it, the world is moving faster and faster and the rate of change ever increasing.
Whenever there is a competitive threat or a big opportunity, most companies create a strategic initiative in response and appoint their best people to make change happen. Change does happen, but not fast or effectively enough. Value gets lost and things drift back to the default status.
Kotter proposes a new framework for winning in a world of constant turbulence and disruption.
The concept is of a ‘dual operating system’ – namely an agile network type of organisational structure working in tandem with a traditional corporate hierarchy structure.
A traditional hierarchy structure evolved to meet the daily demands of running a business, but the system is not ideal where change has become the new normal.
A network style structure is dynamic and free of bureaucratic layers and run by an army of volunteers who work on a Big Opportunities alongside their day-to-day roles within the hierarchy structure. Most start-ups begin with a network style but over time become the usual hierarchy structure, which is usually the right thing to do.
However, there are times when these big changes or big opportunities come along and they need a different approach, and hence the view of Kotter to have a dual operating system, that run together. The areas of major change or big opportunity are dealt with in a network style but in concert with the rest of the business operating with a hierarchy style.
For a properly functioning dual operating system, Kotter sets out 5 principles that need to be in place:
- Having many people driving important change, and from everywhere, not just the usual few appointees
- A ‘get-to’ mindset, not a ‘have-to’ mindset
- Action that is head and heart driven, not just head driven
- Much more leadership, not just more management
- An inseparable partnership between the hierarchy and the network, not just an enhanced hierarchy
Management has to launch a dynamic atmosphere in which the network and hierarchy remain integrated and use continuous accelerators to perform faster and faster.
There are 8 Accelerators which ensure that a dual system’s achievements and the network itself are sustainable over time. The processes ensure the powerful system does not evaporate as may be usual in the normal life cycle.
The eight accelerators are:
- Urgency on big opportunity
- Guided coalition of volunteers
- Change vision and strategic initiatives
- More and more volunteers
- Barriers knocked down
- Wins celebrated
- Relentless action
- Changes institutionalised
The book goes into considerable detail of the 5 principles and the 8 accelerators to explain how they should work and examples of businesses that have successfully used this system.
A really interesting view on having different systems within a business and if nothing else certainly make you think about the way businesses are structured and whether they always fit for purpose.