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Marc Buyensmarc.buyens@xpragma.com

www.xpragma.com

random thoughtsabout a changing business world

About this presentation

This is a small list of musings or if you want, “beliefs” that we have about the inner workings of today’s businesses. They are just a random selection. There isn't a relation between the different items, no system behind, no specific ranking.

In this world of accelerating change, few frameworks or methodologies are available that can help us making sense of emerging opportunities and challenges. So, having these “beliefs” helps us making sense. They give direction, they provide context, they are some kind of rules of thumb that help us understanding the real potential or the likely failure of new approaches and technologies.

None of these thoughts must be viewed as an absolute truth. As with most things in life, things are rarely completely black or white. There are always shades of grey.

None of these thoughts are very detailed either. There is much more that can be said about each of them. However, when being faced with growing complexity, simple rules often work best.

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Evolution isn’t an interconnected network that allo ws you to choose paths as you wish; evolution is a tree and you climb the branchesEvolution isn’t an interconnected network that allo ws you to choose paths as you wish; evolution is a tree and you climb the branches

Evolution isn’t an interconnected network that allows you to choose paths as you wish; evolution is a tree and you climb the branches

While making decisions, we always have this expectation that, when things don’t turn out as expected, we will be able to recover, to retreat, to return to our startingposition.

This, unfortunately, is an illusion.

Whatever small step we take, it has consequences. It leaves traces. It cannot beundone.

Of course, this should not be an excuse for not making decisions.

However, before doing so, it might be worthwhile considering whether we reallywant to face the consequences.

Employees areindividuals

Employees areindividuals

Employees are individuals

All employees, even when having identical jobs, are different individuals. The only thing they have in common is a job description.

Therefore, when looking at a functional group within an organisation, we must look at it as being a network of individuals having complex interactions, instead of viewing it as a row of silent dots.

Especially in these times of the deployment of social networking tools within the enterprise, we must be well aware of the fact that the “social enterprise” should not be about connecting anyone to anyone, but about connecting someone to someone.

Resistance to change does not existResistance to change does not exist

Resistance to change does not exist

While implementing change programs. resistance to change is often viewed as a major roadblock. That is weird, because it does not exist.

Just have a look at our own private life. We grow up, get married, get a job, buy a house, get kids: a continuous sequence of fundamental changes. Yet, do we experience this as "change"? So, why do we do in a business context?

Well, the main difference is our perception of the level of control that we have over the situation.

In our private life we have, in reality, little control over all these things, but we feel confident that we will manage. Consequently, we view change as an opportunity.

In a company context and especially as a regular employee, we know that our level of control is limited and therefore, we view change as a risk. And then, we need Kotter's8-step change model. Step one: Create a sense of urgency...

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The problem is thatthere is a solution

The problem is thatthere is a solution

The problem is that there is a solution

When envisioning the future, we humans have this fundamental handicap that our thinking is severely conditioned by what we already know, by the things that we know are possible, by the solutions that we know are available.

As such, there’s nothing wrong with that. It makes absolutely sense. However, this behaviour has the inherent risk of scanning our world for problems and matching them with the solutions that we know, without really asking whether we are addressing a root cause problem or just the symptoms of a much deeper problem.

Humans are not socialHumans are not social

Humans are not social

Well, this one is certainly a bit controversial, especially for the social business pundits who claim that “business has to be social because people are social”.

They are right, of course. We humans are indeed social. It is somewhere in our genes. In the past, working together was a bare necessity for the survival of the human race.

However today, little of this “bare necessity” still remains. In addition, various forms of formal company constructs, such as hierarchies, departments and job descriptions, disturb the mechanisms of normal human interactions.

The outcome is a variety of behaviours whereby people try to do less than their fair part of the work or try to get more than their fair part of the gains.

So, “social” might be a characteristic of the average behaviour of individuals, but don’t count on it too much.

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Youngsters areadults

Youngsters areadults

Youngsters are adults

Well, this isn’t really a scientifically correct statement, but what we mean by this is that we largely overestimate our ability to “change” individuals. Countless amounts of time and money are spent on training programs that will not deliver any result.

Reality is that, once grown up, there is very little that will ever change to our “personality”, even when having to face extreme challenges. This does not mean that we can no longer learn. If you are an introvert, very likely you might not like speaking in public. However, this is something you can learn; you can become a skilled presenter; you might even like doing it. Still, you remain an introvert and it will show in a myriad of situations in your day-to-day activities.

Far too many training programs try to address aspects of our personality that cannot be changed. You can bring individuals in situations that are unfamiliar, making them to react in a “different” way. However, once these artificial conditions disappear, everything returns to normal.

You cannot transform a mule into a race horse. You simply have to make sure that you hire the right individuals for your business.

When being faced with new challenges, failure is ra rely caused by not understanding the new paradigms, but rather by our belief of understanding the old ones

When being faced with new challenges, failure is ra rely caused by not understanding the new paradigms, but rather by our belief of understanding the old ones

When being faced with new challenges, failure is rarely caused by not understanding the new paradigms, but rather by our belief of understanding the old ones

Each time a new technology emerges, sales people and consultants will rush into your office, explaining you how this great new technology will “transform” your business.

Granted, many of these new technologies can really add value. However, in most cases, they are only “transformational” to the extent that you did not understand, implement and use the previous generation of solutions.

So, try understanding why this new solution can claim to be really transformational in your specific business context and fix before you buy.

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Quantum entanglement is OK, even for engineers

Quantum entanglement is OK, even for engineers

Quantum entanglement is OK, even for engineers

Quantum entanglement is one of these weird phenomena in quantum physics whereby it has been found that, in specific situations, two particles are still able to “influence” each other while, according to today’s theories, this should be impossible (e.g. because they move away from each other at light speed).

It is one of these things that make life interesting: to know that there are still things to discover.

But also in business, there is still much to learn and to discover. In today’s increasingly complex world, little of the traditional management wisdom still holds. In this new complex business world, companies will no longer be able to control and to plan every aspect of their business environment. The complexity just gets too great.

Instead, they must organise for better adaptability, resilience and recoverability, which are all competences that call for less hierarchical control and more self-control at all levels of the organisation.

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The solution is never the reason for the success

The solution is never the reason for the success

The solution is never the reason for the success

In management literature there is this very popular thing, called the “business case”. The concept is simple. Solution ‘X’ is a current hype, so you look how successful company ‘Y’ is using it, a so-called “best practice”. Or you examine a number of successful companies and you look for what they have in common, a so-called “driver for success”.

The problem with approaches like this is that they look at the relationship between business success and a single dimension of the business activity. That can be interesting. However, such approach also suggests that there is a causal link between that single dimension and the business success.

Unfortunately, reality is that successful companies never are successful just because they are excellent in just this single aspect of their business. They are successful because they are excellent in every aspect of their business.

So, the only thing the business case really tells us is that, even when using this “great new solution”, you can still be successful.

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ColourColour

Colour

Sitting on the train in front of two Muslim girls

Both very traditionally dressed wearing white kerchiefs

Vividly talking about their planned visit to the hairdresser

To have their hair coloured

Sometimes, everything seems perfectly normal in this crazy world

In far too many aspects of our business activities, we think to know and to understand and we take decisions, based upon this understanding. Yet, in most cases, this understanding is incorrect, based on perceptions or, at least, very incomplete.

There are no miracle remedies for this, no tools that we can buy. We just have to experience it the hard way.

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