How to drive momentum for continuous adaptability and agility

Dec 05, 2016 • Features • Management • Jan Van Veen • management

Jan Van Veen outlines how your field service organisation can succeed on a journey of continuous improvement through ongoing innovation...

Overview

We need to drive Momentum to continuously adapt to changing requirements and new opportunities and drive performance of today, tomorrow and the future. Common management practices and perspectives do not work anymore in today’s rapidly changing and complex world.

They create resistance against adaptation and change.

In this article I will provide an overview of the need and elements of the Momentum-Framework, which enables business leaders and organisations to increase Momentum. In following articles, I will elaborate on the todays management challenges and the elements of the Momentum-Framework.

The problem

Most companies focus on maximising performance of the existing operation and follow tight planning & control types of management practices. These create resistance against change.

This results in one or more of the following:

Ongoing performance issues, without adequate, timely and sustainable interventions
Execution of strategies and change programmes slow down, fail and cost huge amounts of resources
No significant innovation beyond incremental improvements of current products and practices
No preparations for (potentially) disruptive change

However, the winners of today and tomorrow already have adjusted their management practices and increased Momentum. They see their people think and act collectively and drive continuous adaptation and change.

This is why they outperform their industry and safeguard their future existence.

What is Momentum?

In the most adaptable and agile organisation people are passionate and eager to perform, develop and grow. They collectively take action in a coherent way, across the entire organisation.

Performance and progress are reviewed transparently without fear or hiding information.

They have a proactive strategic dialogue to adjust actions and approaches, align priorities and jointly make things happen. Everyone is curious about what is happening in the world, what impact that potentially could have and how to respond to it.

The Momentum Framework

The Momentum Framework consists of perspectives and practices which most successful and adaptive organisations apply. This drives their Momentum to continuously adapt to changing requirements and new opportunities.

The elements of the Momentum Framework are:

Momentum Perspectives:

The following perspectives will help drive Momentum when they are well incorporated in the company’s values. They will serve as a guiding principle in all decisions, actions and messages.

People drive change: By nature, people can and want to drive change, if there are good reasons and no serious obstacles. Resistance does not come from people themselves, but from the obstacles organisations create.
Capabilities drive performance: People and organisations can only deliver sustainable high performance through adequate(organisational) capabilities. Pushing performance by merely working harder and faster is considered not to be sustainable
Future success lies beyond business as usual: In a rapidly changing world, there is no sustainable success without adaptation and adjusting the core-business, business models and organisation.

Momentum Practices
The best-in-class organisations apply modern “sense & respond” types of management practices at all levels and entities:

Compelling direction: The organisation has a shared, explicit and compelling view of its mission and future state, which resonates in people’s minds and hearts. Everyone has a clear picture of the upcoming change.
Strategic dialogue: The organisation has a strong practice of ongoing dialogues at and across all levels and functions for defining, aligning, adjusting and executing strategies and driving performance in a way.
Continuous learning: The organisation regularly explores (potential) changes and trends, new threats and opportunities. It prepares adequate measures and strategies to respond to these (potential) changes and trends. Everyone openly shares experiences, results and progress, including setbacks.

Setbacks are important learning points, not input for performance review.

Momentum Road Map

Organisations which are most successful in step-by-step increasing Momentum, followed a roadmap for mobilising, increasing and sustaining Momentum.

Mobilise Momentum

In case an organisation has a fairly low level of Momentum, the first step from a few business leaders is to focus on increasing awareness and a shared concern about Momentum and sustainable success.

With their personal leadership approach and actions, they create increased interest, dynamics and action.

Increase Momentum

Once an organisation has some level of motion and energy in some parts of the organisation - often heavily driven by a few business leaders - Momentum will be further increased by mobilising a critical mass and implementing more and more of the Momentum Perspectives & Practices through the entire organisation.

Momentum gradually becomes an integral part of daily practices. However, business leaders still need to drive the new practices and prevent the people from falling back into old habits.

Sustain Momentum

Once an organisation has a high level of Momentum and applies most of the Momentum Perspectives & Practices, the next step is to embed these into the mind-set of everyone. It becomes part of everyone’s DNA.

Momentum will then become less dependent upon the individual business leaders and will survive changes of leadership teams.

Assess your Momentum with our research: Momentum for Sustainable Success

Our research further defines and validates a pragmatic and complete Momentum-Framework consisting
of management practices, perspectives and practical tools. These will help you to increase and maintain
Momentum for sustainable success, to strengthen your competitive position and leave others wondering
how you did it.

You are invited to join by conducting a web-based survey. It takes approximately 15 minutes. Your input will remain confidential and will be reported in an aggregated form only.

In return you will receive in early 2017: