A Dynamic Future For Business

Extensability

Capability

Most businesses today were designed in (for) a different era. That means at least a year ago. They were definitely not designed with today’s dynamic context in mind. Their processes and systems were deliberately baked to withstand nuclear attack. They were fixed in place (and now highly resistant to change) because their ambition (and idea) of success was driven by a desire for efficiency rather than flexibility.

Now – imagine what we need to do to change this. What will need to be thought about? Everything, right? Capability, Composability and Extensibility – thinking that covers everything.

Capability : Having the capability to do things ‘well’ in the 21st Century makes a real difference – that’s true in every walk of life. These capabilities include critical thinking with impartiality and objectivity, achieving marketable insight through patterns, applied creativity and decision quality are some examples. Nowadays being comfortable with ambiguity, systemic thinking, and visual thinking are rapidly becoming the newer imperatives.

And doing these things ‘best’ is what distinguishes the leader from the commodity, being right in the game versus being just a bystander. Having the capability to understand and then master the new dynamics and opportunities of the current business world is still very rare. So creating, transferring and maintaining these newer capabilities within an enterprise is now the new battleground. This field and practice marks out the opportunity we believe is central to the progress and performance of every business.

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Capability

Composability : Most situations our clients find themselves in are paradoxically highly the same and highly unique.

For example they demand the distinction and differentiation of their position and brand – yet they are dealing with the same marketplaces, multiplicity of channels and the critical systems and resources as most of the competition. They want to solve their specific problem – but these problems are very similar in nature to those of every other business – cultural, behavioural, leadership, decision making quality and so on. Composabilty is therefore a way of thinking – orchestrating all these moving parts into unique combinations of other proven approaches or solutions – in rapid time.

Extensability : Extensability on the other hand is a way to deal with the future now – but central to both Capability and Composability. By thinking differently and imaginatively about what patterns we see (or have experienced and can calculate) we can ‘engineer’ smarter pieces into the way we think, build and work that will enable far less risk and cost than if we were to add them in at a later date.

BUSINESS PROGRESS AND ‘OUT-PERFORMING’ Developing the attitude to win by getting to grips with today’s Dynamic Business Reality.

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Extensability

Matching thought with practice.

We have been supporting leadership teams in a number of ways over the last 12 years – always with a view to the way

the world is heading and the eternal challenges of dealing with

increasingly complex dynamics and staying relevant in business. Over

the years we have been studying these dynamics and helping to translate and organise

them into better frameworks. Everything that we have learned (and continue to learn), combined with our continuous exploration of the world dynamics, has been applied to a new model for Consulting Services.

The same core principles and philosophies that have guided us over the years are still present; this is an evolution of an approach that will never stand still for long – because the world won’t let it. We believe organisations need these kinds of services; the kind that take a different, more agile, approach to dealing with complexity and dynamic environments.

This new range of services are described in this portfolio and there are many permutations possible that we can consider based on the Exam Question, the level of ambition, level of complexity and degree to which our support is needed.

Fundamentally they represent what we think it really takes to change ‘The Way Businesses Think and Work’ – the degree of change needed by the organisation and the capability that is available to drive this from within will ultimately determine the right programme.

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Leveraging skills and capabilities that are not readily available within the enterprise.

One of the realities for most organisations is that they are not easily able to look objectively at their context to see what needs to change, or even where the real problems lie. The response to that for many years has been to seek external help. While there is complete sense in the consulting model principle, all too often the end result is either a costly dependency on the consulting practice or short-term benefits that cannot be sustained.

For this model to be truly effective there has to be a transfer to the organisation – capability, new skill, new insight and perspective – all leading to the ability to make change real and meaningful. And anyone enlisted to help make this possible has to be able to bring a specific set of capabilities of their own to make their contribution valuable and relevant.

In Group Partners we draw from a number of skills and disciplines that we believe represent the vital ingredients of our contribution to our clients:

Objectivity and Neutrality – not swayed by any one particular perspective and able to look clearly at a given challenge and context to see it for what it really is.

Insight – from across Industry and based on a wide range of global challenges, built on practical application working with senior leadership teams.

Critical Judgement – A holistic and structured approach to strategic thinking and problem solving.

Rapid dissemination and synthesis – of complex, multi-dimensional data.

Creative approaches to collaboration – across eco-systems and alignment of leadership teams.

Effective engagement of the enterprise – around the vision and mission – to create widespread ownership and commitment.

Honest and unbiased assessment – of maturity and potential using models that take each organisation’s unique context and dynamics into account.

Foresight – in tune with the world and the latest developments.

A New Business Model for Services

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These are backed up by a variety of tools and techniques that have been developed – and proven over many cases – to create much needed structure while still providing space and flexibility to respond to today’s business dynamic:

• Structured Visual Thinking™ & 4D™

• The Dynamic Architecture™

• Capability & Excellence Frameworks

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The Portfolio Applied

D1 Discovery Framework

D2 Development Framework

Customer Experience Framework

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Once we have identified specific areas that require further clarity (or re-design) we will ‘deep dive’ as appropriate using our Capability and/or Excellence Frameworks.

All programmes start with the first two phases of our 4D™ Methodology – D1 Discovery and D2 Development. This will allow us to clarify the context and Exam Question and to build an overarching strategic framework. Supporting this will be your personal Dynamic Architecture™ and Maturity Index. The Dynamic Architecture™ is simply our way of mapping the DNA of your organisation - it’s what makes you unique and helps to illustrate your specific complexities and dynamics as well as showing us where your particular challenges are and giving us insights into the best way for you to organise and leverage your capabilities and assets. This will be refined throughout the engagement until we reach a point where it accurately reflects the best achievable strategy and operating model for your business.

Capability Frameworks are aligned to the skills and competencies – as well as the way we will measure them – that are most critical to the attainment of the outcomes and vision we will have created. They make the implications and imperatives very clear and allow us to validate that we are building an aligned workforce and operating model.

An ‘Excellence Framework is simply that – a way to drive excellence into the given area. We have developed frameworks in all key business areas – innovation, leadership, organisation culture, behaviour, governance, technology, systems, process, customer experience and so on.

The Dynamic Architecture

A New Portfolio of Services

We have grouped our range of services into two broad categories.

The first represents our offers to clients who are eager to explore the art of the possible. They are the thought leaders and market shapers – businesses and organisations who thrive in complex uncertain environments and are comfortable leading the way.

The second category of services represents our offer to clients who – for various reasons – need to take a more pragmatic and incremental approach to change. These programmes are still designed to stretch thinking and push at the boundaries, but are more attuned to the immediate needs of performance and alignment within the organisation.

In each case we like to establish a maturity and measurement index that will be based on a benchmark appropriate for your organisation. The level of detail that we apply will depend on the programme selected.

This index is the underpinning of our Dynamic Architecture – all measurement will be based on the capture and synthesis against the Discovery and Development framework logic.

1. ‘THE EARLY WARNING BOOT CAMP’

Thinking out loud, generating possible scenarios and ways of thinking before being bogged down with the traditional ways of thinking and doing. Thinking ahead/catalysing value into the system.

Reasons to engage:

• Fresh thinking is needed that requires objectivity, experience, impartiality in accelerated timeframes

• Revisiting the marketplace/exploring new markets

• Developing a growth plan

How we can help: Think tanks – retreats/advances – visioning rooms, scenario modelling and testing.

All Terrain Thinking and Execution Services specifically designed for 21st Century thinking and creativity, for organisations that are willing to make bold decisions and take the lead in defining and shaping the future.

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2. ‘BUILDING DYNAMIC TEAMCOLLABORATION PLUS!’

Capability transfer – getting teams ready for anything – leadership excellence – transformation /change/new strategy/new vision – spotting the clues and insights, patterns and likely dynamics playing out inside and outside the enterprise.

Reasons to engage:

• Changes are required and being made in the enterprise

• Building new leadership teams

• Redesigning the organisation and/or the operational platform

• Revitalising teams and equipping them to take on a new strategy/challenge

• Creating strategic partnerships and alliances – or merging organisations as a result of a joint venture or acquisition

How we can help: Leadership team assessments/boot camps, goal congruence, building flexible collaboration platforms.

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3. ‘THE FUTURE CAMP/MARKET WATCH’

Just thinking about what next. The future of everything – innovation/creativity around business thinking – new products, new services – new points of view.

Reasons to engage:

• Opportunity development and exploration

• Market creation – or redefining an existing market

• Strategy development – initial exploration and insight development

How we can help: Innovation lounges, value proposition development, mapping the future trends – context setting. The physics of thinking.

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4. ‘UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL’

Everything from the creation, shaping and socialisation of a fresh vision through to its realisation, ensuring that the right capability is developed and a meaningful and relevant operational platform is in place.

Reasons to engage:

• To bring a vision to life and create a model that will sustain it

• Shaping a change and transformation programme

How we can help: Storyboarding, capability mapping and defining, organisational design.

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5. ‘THE WHOLE-LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM’

The science of performance – rehearsals, 21st Century Thinking, stagecraft. Presence and the art of engaging audiences in the 21st Century (from iPad to iCan). A whole new dynamic language.

Reasons to Engage:

• Ongoing and wide ranging support is required for leadership teams

• Client impact and quality engagement is critical

• Communication has to differentiate and grab attention

• The ability is needed to engage across multiple platforms

How we can help: Communications tools, coaching and rehearsals, script writing, story telling, choreography and information design.

1. ORGANISATIONAL ‘HEAT MAPS’

Helping organisations to assess the maturity of their organisation, identify an ideal state and plot the strategy and approach for achieving it – with a measurement model established to track and measure progress.

Reasons to engage:

• Revisiting a strategy

• Gaining greater focus and alignment across the enterprise

• Regrouping after a change in leadership

How we can help: Business DNA mapping (create the Dynamic Architecture current state). Alignment of Vision, Strategy and capability to a new Future State. Creation of personalised maturity model and supporting programme.

Changing the DynamicsFor organisations who are looking to optimise and get the best performance possible – while staying as close to the forefront as is possible within their environment.

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2. TROUBLE SHOOTING & DIAGNOSIS

Getting to the root causes of recurring problems

and challenges. Making sure that the underlying issues are unearthed and fully understood – so that corrective action can be taken to achieve a lasting result.

Reasons to engage:

• Concern over performance – internal or customer focused

• Parts of the organisation are consistently experiencing problems and/or overload

• Inability to deliver expected results/outcomes

How we can help: Forensic data analysis, systems mapping, surveys and interviews, root cause assessments.

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3. RE-ENERGISING & COURSE CORRECTION

Rapid intervention of a strategy/change programme that is stalled or failing in some way – may follow Trouble Shooting and Diagnosis or be a variant of that. This is designed specifically for change weary enterprises that really need to change the way they work but have repeatedly been unable to make a significant breakthrough.

Reasons to engage:

• At the sign of a troubled programme

• It is hard to engage the workforce and make the case for change

• There is clear resistance or apathy to change

How we can help: Storytelling, on-boarding teams, creating ambassadors, developing the business case, creating relevance for everyone, decision compression.

4. OPTIMISATION OF THE ENTERPRISE ECO-SYSTEM

Working with internal and external stakeholders to map and align the Enterprise Value Network so that it works in the most effective and integrated manner and creates value for all parties.

Reasons to engage:

• There are many disparate groups who need to work closely together

• A new service provider is engaged – or before ideally to define the right model and relationship

• Thinking about the implications of a change to the organisation

How we can help: Eco-system mapping, collaboration platforms, goal congruence, excellence frameworks.

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5. CAPABILITY TUNING

Primary focus on identification and clear definition of the capabilities (and disciplines) required across the organisation (and from external parties) to achieve successful and sustainable outcomes – with alignment of performance measures.

Reasons to engage:

• When it is time to raise the bar on capability

• There is a specific need to excel in a specialism or discipline

How we can help: Capability frameworks, maturity models, operational alignment.

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6. BUSINESS VALUE-CHAIN SUPPORT

Enterprise focus and connection – collaboration and co-creation at multiple levels of granularity. Embracing the enterprise beyond the elite teams.

Reasons to engage:

• To revitalise a workforce around a vision/strategy

• To increase the likelihood of successful execution

How we can help: Road shows, communication and collaboration tools, The Art of Dialogue.

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