Have you ever noticed that change initiatives are often led in the absence of any link with the company’s values and purpose?
Harvard Business professor and author, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, writes in her new book, SuperCorp: How Vanguard Companies Create Innovation, Profits, Growth, and Social Goo, about companies that are leading the way, both financially differentiating in the marketplace and socially in terms of positively contributing to their communities and global issues. Dr. Kanter illuminates how these companies are raising the standards for how to do business and how values and purpose pervade the enterprise. One of her observations in the book is that ‘vanguard companies’ (companies at the forefront) have purpose and values at the heart of the enterprise and is a core part of the business strategy and every change they make. Companies that represent the best of what business can be and do for society lead change by linking change with their values and purpose.
What is a surprise is that change management processes emphasize communication, sponsorship, and reinforcement, but where’s the link with values?
Does your change management process include explicitly linking change with your company values and purpose? Do you at least have the conversation about how the change supports your company’s values and purpose? I would love to hear your stories.
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Melissa,
Nice post, thanks. I have always believed that values and purpose are critical to an organization achieving success – not short term financial success, but rather long term community impact success. Many of the change initiatives that are happening have to deal with realizing a financial or other short term gain, then, a few months later, institute another change initiative because there is another short term opportunity to grab. You point out well that these change initiatives have little to do with getting back to the original values or purpose the organization had when it began. Change initiatives that focus on a "revival" back to the core values are the changes that have the more lasting impact.
Bill Bliss
Author, "Leadership Lessons From THE BOOK" (NIN Publishing, 2009)
Thanks Bill and good luck with your book! I’m looking to publish a book in the spring of 2010. If you have any nuggets about how to go about that effectively – please let me know!
Kind Regards,
Melissa
Any changes should align with longer term strategy. To achieve this you may well need short term initiatives which give you the 'money' or capability to achieve the long term. The original and long term objectives would be to stay in business, I take profitable to be understood. With competition often taking market share either through price or innovation the ability to constantly improve in both of these areas is a pre-requite to survival. With the speed of change today, being good at change in the short term is also fundemental otherwise if you react too slowly you may not be in a position to win-back, and win-back is costly when compared to retention.