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Traditional approaches to support Transformation rely on consultants to play not just the lead but the dominant role. Those efforts are naive because they ignore the unique idiosyncrasies of your culture (cookie-cutter best practices don't work), often rely on systems implementation as a panacea and, frankly, because no consultant will ever understand your business and operations as well as you do. We believe this approach, advocated by consulting firms looking to deploy and bill for armies of their staff, is incorrect. Why? Because while these efforts tend to drive Transformation through your organization rapidly, they result in lower buy-in and stickiness.
We're not alone on this one. Many organizations across both the Public and Private sectors agree. Choosing, instead, the go-it-alone method of Transformation. Whereby they rally their internal teams to diagnose, plot and lead large scale change initiatives. A knee-jerk reaction against consultants that suffers from its own hurdles. Hurdles that slow and stall out Transformation efforts altogether. That's a predictable outcome. At a basic level, you hired people for the expertise they bring to their day-to-day jobs. And those job descriptions didn't screen for Transformation expertise. At a higher level, people have biases because they have fiefdoms to protect. Few people willingly want to give up or diminish the level of control they possess within an organization. Circular debates and endless decision-making processes ensue.
Tower Strategy believes there is a middle ground. Transformation can be employee-led but should be centrally coordinated by an objective third party. With your people providing the domain expertise and internal knowledge needed to make certain that the solutions brought to the table (KPI development, organizational restructuring, process / workflow re-design, etc.) actually have relevance to the organization. While a third party consultant:
(1) Leads the upskilling and training needed to equip your teams to re-imagine and adapt their environment
(2) Centrally manages those individual efforts against a common backbone and vision
(3) Provides objectivity on the most political and complex decisions
(4) Measures outcomes, creates accountability and trouble-shoots problem areas that could result in stallout
This proven model requires that consultants play a different role. Less of the all-knowing Oracle and more of a Transformation Sherpa. Helping your organization prepare for the climb ahead, carrying and providing the right tools and capabilities at the right time and helping to diagnose and overcome the obstacles you'll naturally encounter along the way.
That's why, since 2008, we've built and continue to refine a proven methodology and set of analytical, process reengineering and change management tools that allow our clients' teams to create focus, improve efficiency and create and capture ROI on their employee-led Transformation efforts. A set of tools and methods that are simplified and usable across your entire staff. From those with deep Transformation expertise to those just starting the journey for the first time.
Contact us to learn more.