Business Transition by "Revolution" (aka, Part Three).

November 03, 2016 by iamgpe in Change and Adaption, Leadership

The following is the original and rewrite can be found by clicking here.

Transition (the noun) is defined as the process or a period of changing from one state (or condition) to another*, and with respect to business, I will say this is a constant state... the exception I suppose is when a business is stagnate (showing neither growth nor decline). Even this stagnation though will tip either towards growth or decline in time, and return the business to its natural state of change. BY DEFINITION, A BUSINESS IS ALWAYS IN TRANSITION... sometimes fast and sometimes slow, but always transitioning, one way or another.

I wrote a recent blog on the topic of Businesses in Transition contemplating the processes and stewardship that good leadership uses to navigate the natural changes of business for long term success, growth, and viability... a glimpse at the natural evolution of a well run company.

But what about business transition by "revolution"?

You know, a sudden, complete or marked change in the business due to poor performance, a change in leadership, a merger and/or acquisition, or the loss of your biggest client... the list could go on, but these tend to be some of the bigger reasons.

Revolution conjures up the stories of accidentally walking in on someone being terminated, a senior leader hearing about her termination by voicemail, people escorted out of the building with a career's worth of belongings in a box, or a 300 person business reduced to three; the figurative and bloodless sound of the guillotine echoing through the hallways. If you are in the private sector, particularly in a public company, I can say with great certainty you will go through a merger and/or acquisition sometime in your professional career... and probably more than once. I've gone through no less than seven and some were very much a business transition by revolution".

Sometimes the natural evolution of a business will lead to a revolution as part of the plan; it is the natural order of things as a business grows. Revolution is simply an aspect of the magnitude of change that occurs as a result... and as I've said, "BY DEFINITION, A BUSINESS IS ALWAYS IN TRANSITION". It is fair to say that business transition by revolution refers to "big change".

So what have I gleaned from the experiences?

If you are "Leading the Revolution"

Don't underestimate how difficult leading a revolution can be - It can get very complicated to move an idea forward, incorporate new strategy, integrate new systems and processes... all the while managing the people and emotion that comes with big change.

Communication is imperative to counterbalance rumour, speculation and misinformation - If you don't communicate what is happening and how things are going, people will simply make things up... and as they say, "Fantasy is far more interesting than reality."

It may be an obvious, straight forward, intellectual "business exercise" to you, but people will make it emotional very quickly - What you are doing may be the right thing on paper, make sense as business goes, but it will create the discomfort that comes with change, most likely shift people's roles, and in some cases make a person's position redundant... all very emotionally charged topics.

If you are "Participating in the Revolution"

You will be asked to do difficult things - You may be asked to lead the change people don't want, give the answers people don't like to hear, and tell people the organization does not want them anymore... if you are participating in a revolution your hands will get dirty; figuratively speaking.

Ensure what you say is aligned with the company's message and don't feed the rumour mill - You will be on the frontline hearing it all (real and imagined); it is important to stay on message regarding what is happening and any conversations you have, lead them back to your Leadership's message of what's happening, why, and the reasons... as they say, "With the fog of war, the first thing to die is the truth"; do your best to keep the truth alive.

Offer candid feedback to those leading the revolution because they need a clear understanding of the situation - You are the lynch pin between those leading the revolution and those caught up in the revolution. It is important to let those leading know how it is going, what people are saying, and any issues... articulate the clearest picture possible to support better course corrections.

If you are "Caught up in the Revolution"

Stay focused on "business as usual" because that's the only thing you can influence - It is easy to get caught up with all of the things going on around you but in the end, you can only impact your role and its responsibilities... show everyone you are really, really good at what you do.

Ask questions, and where possible, understand how you can support the revolution - Knowledge is power as they say and this is how you identify opportunities in the future... let people know you are engaged.

Understand what is happening intellectually and not emotionally - Business is an intellectual pursuit... try really, really hard not to make it emotional; this can be very, very difficult sometimes.

Throwing someone else under the bus is no guarantee it will save you - In other words, don't try to prop yourself up by putting someone else down... it rarely works, makes you look bad, and is a big waste of energy.

A business transition by revolution, unlike a more traditional one with people shooting at each other, cannot be suppressed or crushed. Once started, the business transition by revolution can only move forward, maybe a little sideways, but never back. Change will happen and you cannot stop it... it's best to accept it, understand it, and look for the opportunity.

Because in a business transition by revolution, you can always be guaranteed there will be opportunity.

iamgpe

* Thank you Internet for the definition.

More thoughts on businesses in transition... or Part Two.

October 22, 2016 by iamgpe in Change and Adaption, Leadership

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

Recently I wrote a blog on businesses in transition and quickly discovered that the topic was much bigger than a 500 to 750 word blog. In the spirit of what I started, this is the second in a series of thoughts on transition.

One of the considerations that I put forward was Business Transition due to internal factors.

As a working definition, this transition and change in the organization is driven by internal activities and initiatives by leadership and employees to build a more viable and successful business. This is the transition that conjures up the images of people like Jack Welsh, Andy Grove or Steve Jobs whose leadership and vision created great companies and brands (not to mention a great PR machine that made them household names in business).

There are a number of elements that are needed to support this type of transition successfully but unfortunately often get forgotten or dismissed when the organization is small, or if the organization is large, can be unwieldy, administratively onerous, or make the organization slow to react to what's happening outside the company.

The first two elements are components of planning; the development of long term and short term plans.

The long term plan looks at the direction of the organization over the next five years... this is the strategic plan that ensures the organization is aligned with its vision, and keeps an eye on longer term goals to ensure short term activities have the evolution of the organization heading in the right direction.

The short term plan looks at the next year and is very tactical regarding what needs to be done, how it will be done and what is measured to ensure success. This safeguards that the organization continues to drive activity in line with what it wants to do. In many cases the short term plan is part of the iterative process to get to the longer term goals.

Discipline is needed to ensure that the planning process is part of the business calendar, is properly resourced, and is actively communicated throughout the organization as a priority. Experience has shown that there are two critical components to the planning process:

A framework and process for planning: This will offer focus, context and a process for thinking when people meet around the table. I have always liked the McKinsey 7s model, and although a little long in the tooth, it has always worked to keep everything on topic and moving forward.
A facilitator: You need someone designated to manage the planning process and ensure you end up with the deliverables... this also allows leaders the white space to develop their thinking, instead of focusing on the process.

The third element is the review of the people in your organization.

This is extremely important because people "run everything".

The only reason that this is not number one on this list is because you need to know what you are doing (and where you are going) before you can think about the people needed to help you. Every person in the organization should be assessed regarding skill sets, strengths, and weaknesses, so you can understand the capability of the people in the organization. This guides hiring, development, exiting, promotional opportunities and the skills (and people) needed for the future. This review is done at least once and year and supports the long and short term planning.

The forth element is having robust operating mechanisms to manage the business.

In other words, have a project and meeting calendar to execute the plans, and manage the workings of the business in an organized and on-going way. There is always a balance needed between not enough projects and meetings and having too many projects and meetings; in both cases nothing really gets done. What you are looking for is the perfect number of meetings and projects to successfully get things done... there are two main contributors to being effective, and that is leadership and having the resources available to get things done.

The fifth element is having as much transparent communication as possible.

There are two aspects to this -

Communicate the vision, the plans, what needs to be done, how things are going, etc. as much as possible.
Work out the mechanisms as to how you are going to get your message out there and as deep into the organization as possible (town halls, quarterly reviews, team meetings, 1:1s)

The six element is a culture of urgency, meritocracy, respect, and curiosity.

This is the formula for success in my experience.

Can any of this guarantee success as you transition your business... unfortunately not. Although, not doing it, can almost guarantee difficultly through the natural transition of a business. And this isn't even before you consider external and revolutionary transition.

Not to worry, we will get to that soon enough.

iamgpe

Mergers, acquisitions, and the inevitable "integration".

September 13, 2016 by iamgpe in Change and Adaption, Leadership

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

If you are in the private sector, particularly in a public company, I can say with great certainty you will go through a merger or acquisition sometime in your professional career... and probably more than once. I've gone through no less than seven, and that is not including the various acquisitions "just for the technology".

I will defer to the Directors, Investment Bankers and Lawyers to offer up the subtle differences between "a Merger" and "an Acquisition" as it seems there is always someone in the equation who was doing the "acquiring". Semantics aside, there is always an integration of one organization into another... what used to be two, is now one.

Unless you are part of the aforementioned group, more often than not you will find out about the "merger and/or acquisition" through a press release, a company wide email or if you are really lucky, get called into someone's office and given a heads up 30 minutes before "something is about to go down". No one integration is ever the same in my experience; all having different rules of engagement and scenarios with no standardized check list to help get you through it.

At the very most, I was able to come up with three guiding principles over the years that have served me well.

There will be CHANGE, and there will be OPPORTUNITY.

This is a truism (and quite possibly a universal law) that may or may not be to your benefit, advantage or convenience when it comes your way; you may be able to influence it or even champion it, but in the end, you will have to manage it no matter where it takes you. I was introduced to the book "Who moved my Cheese by Spencer Johnson" many years ago during my first integration; I encourage everyone to read it at least once. It is an excellent book on managing change.

You will hear the phrase, "Business as usual" to be sure and this is a very true statement; it does carry the presumption that everyone internally understands that there is an accelerated need to manage through transition and that any subsequent changes don't negatively impact the customer experience. From an external perspective it needs to be business as usual, but do not assume that applies internally.

It's wasted energy trying to rationalize that change will not touch you, and more important to focus your energy on how to effectively manage through any change and opportunity that will present itself. If you are thinking, "My function is too important to be impacted", or "We bought them so they will have to do what we do", or "We are doing really well so there this no way they will change how we do things", or the countless other ways we rationalize that things will not change... you need to stop and refocus your thinking.

CHANGE and OPPORTUNITY are coming.

Synergy, restructuring and unfortunately good people will leave.

A Merger and/or Acquisition poses the question, "How can the new organization be run more efficiently to reduce costs and increase revenue?".*

Revenue synergy (more revenue as a result of the merger and/or acquisition)
Cost synergy (cost savings as a result of the merger and/or acquisition)

This is the reality of business... reduce duplication and inefficiency to increase profits. This is the birthplace of all that change, the resulting restructuring, rationalization of two departments into one, and the reduction in duplication of resources.

More often than not, restructuring and the search for synergies is not an overnight event. You will be part of the process as you manage "business as usual" and directly or indirectly restructure for the future. Like it or not, inevitably good people will leave... either out of the organization or to a new opportunity within the new organization.

No matter how much change there is, an organization doesn't want to lose good people because there is just so much work to do... be open to where restructuring and opportunity may ask you to go.

In the end, all you have is your Leadership and your Character.

The question you have to ask yourself is what does "Leadership and Character" mean to you and what will it look like as you work through the dynamic and difficult times that are often part of any Merger and/or Acquisition. You represent yourself during these times... no one else.

And remember people are watching, that they are also managing through the same change, and they have most likely been asked to make difficult decisions.

My recent merger and/or acquisition experience ended up having me saying goodbye to a company after twenty-two years... on good terms, with a smile, a tear, and a handshake. What an amazing ride to be sure. I made a point of passing on these guiding principles before I left to anyone who would listen. Alas, that wasn't as many as I had hoped.

iamgpe

* I would suggest a business interested in staying modern and viable always needs to be asking "How can the new organization be run more efficiently to reduce costs and increase revenue?"