Strategic Alignment
Have you ever read John Kotter’s Harvard Business Review paper on ‘Why Transformation Efforts Fail’? Have you ever been told that a change programme has no chance of success without the right level of executive sponsorship? Yes, so have we. So it was refreshing when we were asked to work with an IT Executive who could not only answer ‘yes’ to both of those questions, but was determined from the outset to do things differently in leading the transformation of his own business function.
The applicant for the role of Head of Group IT at one of the world’s largest banks was asked by a panel of Executive Board members from the retail, corporate and business banking sectors about his vision for the IT function.
‘Well,’ he said, ‘can I answer that by first asking you a question? Would you ever consider asking someone from IT to run one of your own business units?’
The panel laughed in unison, then remembered themselves and looked back again at the prospective candidate in front of them. He waited for them to settle.
‘So, my vision is a simple one. I want to create a function that develops business leaders, not just IT experts; business leaders that you would readily consider appointing as heads of other units in your own parts of the business.’ He was offered the job the next day. He’d been working as Head of IT for one of the large American investment houses, and although it would mean a 50% cut in pay, it wasn’t about the money at this stage in his career and he fancied the challenge of turning this UK bank’s IT function around, a function with some 3,500 employees located in over 20 legacy sites UK wide.
We often work with larger consultancies and their clients to help shape the behavioural change element of any transformation programme. In this instance, under the aegis of the newly appointed Head of Group IT, the Bank and Accenture, the global management consulting, technology and outsourcing services business, had entered into a major co-sourcing deal aimed at transforming its culture and improving the way Group IT worked with other areas of the business – as well as improving all its processes, tools and methodologies.
Before the programme started, ‘leaders’ worked in silos and tended to look inwards rather than out to their business users and end customers, and they focused their time almost exclusively on management of day to day service issues rather than leading their areas towards a better way of doing business. Significant change was required if they were to deliver a wholesale transformation on the scale envisaged.
A leadership workstream was therefore one of 5 ‘people streams’ set up, and one of its first deliverables was the design and rollout of a ‘leading through change’ programme to help the Directors and their direct reports effectively lead and drive the benefits out of this – and future – change programmes. It needed to be quite different from the start if it was to capture the imagination of these seasoned senior ‘leaders’ who had been exposed to a multiplicity of leadership assessment and development programmes over the years.
And indeed it was. Eschewing staid hotels or conference venues, we took a lease out on a small manor house in a tiny Oxfordshire village. It would signal ‘difference’ from the get-go, and allow the participating Executives to get right away from the day-to-day humdrum, not least because it had very limited mobile ‘phone reception. The venue was great value for money, especially when compared to an ordinary hotel and other venues, and most importantly it was a homely environment, which gave the event a distinctly different feel, and allowed the participants to get to know each other and interact in very different ways – for example by cooking, eating and washing up together. The venue’s relative isolation and this need for all to pitch-in earned the programme, at least among some sceptics yet to attend, the moniker of the Big Brother House, although more as a nod towards the then-famous television reality show of the same name than any Orwellian nightmare. However, the steering team were quick to take advantage of that moniker and make it our own, even installing a video diary room to capture leaders’ reflections and use that footage to aid broader communication efforts.
The first event in the house was run for the Top 60 leaders, 6 months into the transformation programme and then again 12 months later, to allow them to take stock and reflect on their role in the change to date, and to make sure that they were all aligned and communicating the same messages to their teams and the broader organisation.
Groups of 6 attended the house each time, and importantly the Head of Group IT attended all 10 events for one evening and one morning – thus demonstrating his commitment, sharing his vision, getting to know all of his team better, and observing for himself the interactions between his team members and discussions on how the overall programme was progressing.
During their spell in the house, the team members spent time on relatively informal but facilitated sessions around leading change, making time to lead, setting expectations, and using organisational values as a leadership tool. On the second visit to the house, attendees focused on team effectiveness, building trust and creating an environment of open and honest feedback.
Vitally, this wasn’t a one off or secretive event. There were communications out of each week’s ‘house’ on some of the thinking done during that ‘house’ thus creating both a common thread and evolving story. The Big Brother houses were also supported by many branded communications events for the same population, as well as individual and team coaching interventions. Momentum built and excitement mounted as events to engage more junior change leaders were rolled out and ‘buddy pairings’ between IT Board members and front line staff were initiated.
We keep in touch with many of our Big Brother housemates and the Head of Group IT. All considered Big Brother a game-changing programme. As one participant tells it, ‘Big Brother was a seminal time for me, it stills feels fresh. The values based leadership changed the way we think and act.’