Susan's Articles
Leading transformational change: Making the impossible possibleOver many years of leading transformational change in large organisations, I have learnt that the things most people think are impossible in organisations are usually possible.
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8 Step roadmap for successful strategy & changeI thought I would share one of my frameworks that you could use for putting your goals into action, in either your work of personal life.
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Breakthrough Innovation - The germ of a brilliant ideaExponential performance improvement in organisations requires the creation of cultures that nurture and empower people who have the germs of brilliant ideas.
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The mystery of human potential and transforming change outcomesFrom the 1970’s onwards a range of social research emerged that should have revolutionised the accepted wisdom about human motivation, people management, and change. But it didn't.
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Human beings and the power of othersPeople are profoundly social beings. Our thoughts, behaviour and performance are influenced far more than we want to admit by the people around us.
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Do we underestimate the ability of people to change?In his 1995 book The Road Ahead, Bill Gates wrote, “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next 10. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.”
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Rule 1: Emotions before reason during changeImagine your boss, uncharacteristically, asks you to come into her office as she has something important to talk to you about. The chances are you start worrying that something bad is going to happen and your adrenalin starts pushing your heart rate up as your autonomic fight or flight response kicks in.
Human beings use emotions as their first screen for all information received and trust their emotional instincts above all else. We also hear negative news first and loudest. |
Denying human instincts undermines changeFor over a hundred thousand years homo sapiens have dealt successfully with huge species-threatening change, with life and death tribal and personal threats, and with normal everyday disruptions. So why is change seen as a challenge for people in the relative safety or our organisations today?
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7 Secrets about strategy & changeHere is my list of seven key elements for effective strategy and change.
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A beginner’s mind – ask more questionsThe story goes that Steve Jobs was a proponent and practitioner of the Zen principle known as shoshin or “beginner’s mind”. This involves asking fundamentally naïve questions, often involving “why”. It is based on the idea that the mind of the beginner is empty and free of the habits and preconceptions of the expert. Such a mind is open to all possibilities and can see things through fresh eyes, or in new ways.
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Tools & frameworks for innovation & changeBlue Ocean Strategy (BOS) is globally recognised as a world-leading model for the formulation, validation and execution of innovative strategy and transformational change. It is the result of 30 years of research and consulting experience by Insead Professors W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne and has been used around the world by governments, organisations and individuals to develop and implement innovative strategy and transformational change.
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3 Important ways middle leaders can lead innovation & changeMiddle managers are a much-maligned group. They are the level that is often most at risk in times of cost reductions, downsizing and change. Yet they are also critical in making change work – or not work – in organisations.
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The future of work – can HR catch up?Eighteen months ago I wrote an article on the need for a revolution in Human Resource Management practice, but I could not find much evidence that the transformation I flagged as necessary was underway. Now however I can see some green shoots starting to sprout that indicate change is happening in a small percentage of HR units. The question is, will this produce the transformation that is needed, or does it just signify Marketing terminology is taking over HR?
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Gender equality in Australia in another 251 years!According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020 released recently by the World Economic Forum which assesses various measures of equality between males and females, in the past 14 years Australia has slipped 29 places to rank 44th globally on their gender equality benchmark.
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It's time for an HR revolutionIn my last newsletter I suggested the Banking Royal Commission shows it is time for the HR profession to step up and lead a revolution in people management “best practice” in organisations.
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HR Exposed - The Banking Royal Commission is a call for actionIn the past week the Australian Government’s Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry released its interim report. When summarising their findings on the question of why the misconduct occurred – their simple answer is: “… greed – the pursuit of short term profit at the expense of basic standards of honesty.”
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Three common sense rules to avoid people management problemsCan we change engagement and performance at work by simply saying hello and showing some good manners? A program is being trialled in a Victorian Hospital to make the workplace more employee friendly by getting staff to change their behaviour towards each other and greet fellow workers.
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4 Tips on how to achieve aspirational targets in organisationsNone of us like to fail. So we have learnt it is safer to set easy targets and avoid failure. This happens often in organisations where going for aspirational targets could be setting yourself (and your team) up for criticism or a smaller slice of the bonus pie if you do not achieve your performance targets.
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Was Maslow wrong?Humans are hardwired to be social – so much so, that maybe Maslow got his famous hierarchy of human needs wrong.
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7 Ways to improve possibility thinking for better planning outcomesRemember this drawing of the old crone and the young lady that is used to illustrate how we miss seeing possibilities that are right in front of our noses. This also illustrates why it is important in the early stages of a strategy, planning or change process to spend time exploring possibilities before deciding on a course of action.
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Where are we now- the first step in strategy and changeIf you want people to commit to change, first of all they need to see what is wrong with where they are now. Motivation for change comes from people experiencing the gap between where they are now and where they want to be. Creating this gap is your first challenge if you are a change leader.
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There must be a better way - 5 tips for change makersIf you are one of those people who is always looking for a better way, the chances are you find yourself walking down the paths less travelled – often on your own. Adam Grant in his best-selling 2016 book Originals described two paths to achievement – conformity and originality. The browser test may indicate which path you are more likely to choose.
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Organisational redesign that creates value, or just another restructure?If you’ve worked in large organisations you have probably lost count of the number of restructures you have been through. In 2016 The Boston Consulting Group reported 80% of surveyed companies said they had undergone a recent reorganisation, at least 50% involving the whole organisation, and more than half reported these had been unsuccessful.
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What does the Banking Royal Commission tell us about HR practices & leadership?Australian businessman Geoff Cousins called out the business community for not speaking up publicly to condemn the behaviour coming out in the Federal Government’s Banking Royal Commission:
“Where are the business leaders! For goodness sake, please come out and say “This is wrong”! … Speak up for what is right in business.” |
Are you joining the 80% of strategy and change attempts that fail?In this article I share four questions you can use to assess the risk that your organisation’s approach to strategy and change will result in you joining the estimated 80% of strategy and change that fails.
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Mind the gap – silos are a risk and an opportunity for improvementA few years ago I was editing a book on the military strategy of the WW2 June 6 1944 D-Day landings at Normandy in France. Not being a student of military history, I was struck by the lessons from that invasion that could be applied to organisational strategy and change generally – all be it on a much smaller scale.
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Top 5 tips from the dying on getting life’s priorities rightI love this time of year - looking forward to the Christmas break when the weather in Sydney is warm and sunny (hopefully) and I can take that pile of books that I have collected for my summer holiday reading into the garden and lazily read with a cup of tea and a piece of Christmas cake and no guilty feelings that I should be working.
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If not you, then who?If you look at Australian politics at the moment you could be forgiven for despairing. Our leaders on all sides are missing in action.
If the CEO or Board of Australia is not able to create a compelling vision and strategy for the country and then implement it – who can? The answer, is the same for the country as for an organisation. Prime Minister/CEO/Board and cabinet/executive leadership team – if not you, then who? |
A poem for change leadersDo you remember advice you have received over the years that helped shape you as a leader?
This is the mug l keep as a memento of a piece of advice I received many years ago that was one of those defining moments in my career. |
4 Tips on how to fix a "basket case"Have you ever found yourself describing an organisation as a “basket case”? Here are a few tips on how to transform a “basket case” organisation into a place where people are delivering exponentially better results.
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I will change if ....I came across a simple diagram the other day that says the important things about why people in organisations do (or don't) change. You can use it to quickly check if you have the building blocks in place to support the change you want to introduce.
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Top 5 ways HR can make a difference to strategy & changeFrom my experience in leading strategy and transformational change, both from within and from outside of HR functions, here are the five key areas in which I think HR can make a significant difference to the delivery of effective strategy and change.
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The organisational pyramid of potentialThe greatest treasure-trove of untapped human potential can usually be found near the bottom of organisational pyramids - but do leaders even know it is there?
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Corporate Culture #1 concern for CEOs & boards - But where is HR?Does the absence of People and Culture (Human Resources) professionals on Boards create a blind spot in the governance capability of Boards?
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Service NSW - a Blue Ocean Strategy case studyService NSW is a case study on the application of Blue Ocean Strategy principles to transform government service delivery in the NSW government. Susan Kehoe was the Executive Director People and Culture for the start-up of the award-winning Service NSW.
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