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Organisational Change Doesn’t Occur in A Vacuum

It seemed like a good idea at the time. You’ve got a problem and identified a solution. Tested the solution, and now you’ve rolled it out.

The team and you sit back and celebrate your success…only to find unexpected impacts derail the change. Dependencies and connections you hadn’t identified have risen to the surface, and not in a good way.

This happens all the time and is perfectly illustrated by the cane toad.

The cane toad was introduced in the 1930s in Far North Queensland (Australia).

The plan was to help eradicate the native cane beetle that was destroying sugar cane crops. However, introducing a new player into the system had unintended consequences because there were no natural predators for the cane toad. So whilst the change solved one problem (the cane beetle), it also created a new problem (increasing and spreading populations of cane toads with resulting environmental damage across large parts of Australia).

In identifying a solution to the problem, the solution had only been looked at through one lens, and the downstream consequences hadn’t been considered. The way the ‘system’ operated hadn’t been thoroughly thought through.

Are You Alert to the Change Cane Toads?

BY MICHELLE GIBBINGS

This happens with organisational changes too.

I was working on a change project, and we were ready to release a significant process change. We’d gone through the design and tested the new process, and it worked (and worked well). A week before the launch, a part of the organisation I didn’t even know existed popped up and explained the negative impact of this process change on their work. We had to change the proposed change.

Organisations, just like the natural world, are systems. And systems are interconnected and interrelated. They are made up of many players with many roles. However, those relationships can sometimes be hard to spot; the dependencies and connections are unseen, so the impacts can be overlooked.

Systems today are characterised by:

• Ambiguity – there’s lots of information, ideas and changes, making it hard to grasp all the potential and possible impacts of a change • Complexity – the pace, nature and volume of change are unrelenting, which means multiple changes are occurring at the same time within the same system • Dependence – everything is connected, but often the connections are unknown, and so these impacts can go unseen and be unaccounted • Variety – there are many different stakeholders (both internal and external to the organisation) with ideas, opinions, needs, and the desire to be heard

Organisational change doesn’t occur in a vacuum. To make changes in an organisation, it’s crucial to understand the system in which the change is taking place.

Think about it…

Change is driven by some form of pressure. In nature, water is turned into steam by the pressure of heat. New laws are often passed in societies due to the community’s pressure.

The same goes for organisations. Some form of pressure sparks the need for change, which can be either internally or externally generated. External forces may include competition, the environment, social landscape, regulations and technology. At the same time, internal forces can consist of new leadership teams, cost pressures, mergers, changes in the organisation’s life cycle, shifting employee demands and cultural needs.

For example, PWC recently highlighted what it sees as the four forces driving an organisation’s workforce strategy – specialisation, scarcity, rivalry and humanity. These forces don’t work alone. They connect, and when working through them, you must be cognizant of the organisation’s strategy, competitor frame, culture, operating environment, and technological landscape.

Forces don’t happen in isolation from each other, and often a change is driven by multiple forces operating simultaneously but with different impacts and intensities.

However, while examining the impact of those forces and working through the approach, it’s crucial to understand the totality of the effect on the organisation’s system. Like much in life, this starts by getting curious and asking many questions. Here are a few I would be asking: • Is the change incremental, transitional or transformational? • Has it been driven by internal or external needs? • Is the change proactively planned or reactive? • Is the change taking you ahead of your competition, or are you playing catch up? • Do you understand the disruptive forces in your markets, and are you looking at forces beyond your traditional competitors? • Is this change an adaptive or technical challenge? • Have the rules in your industry changed (or are they changing), and what does this mean for your organisation? • Who will benefit from this change within the system? • Who will be impacted (directly and indirectly) by the change within the system? • Who supports the change – both internal and external to the organisation? Think beyond traditional networks and hierarchies • What other changes are occurring in the system at the same time? Where are the connections, dependencies and potential overlaps? • What don’t we know that we should know before we commit to this? • What assumptions underpin our thinking?

Change is crucial, and you need to get it right. Flourishing organisations always have an eye on the external environment and seek to understand what is happening now and what is likely to be happening in the future. They know they can’t stand still because they’ll join the endangered or extinct company list if they do.

As Jack Welch said: “When the rate of change inside an institution becomes slower than the rate of change outside, the end is in sight….”

Republished with courtesy from michellegibbings.com

MICHELLE GIBBINGS

Michelle Gibbings is a workplace expert and the award-winning author of three books. Her latest book is ‘Bad Boss: What to do if you work for one, manage one or are one’.

GO DIGITAL

Abang Jo says it again “

Sarawak has successfully accelerated the state’s economic development since the start of the digital economy in 2018 by transforming the sectors of agriculture, the oil palm industry, e-commerce, finance and fintech, digital government, smart cities, tourism, manufacturing, and services industry. Therefore, I hope by 2030, Sarawak will be a developed state with a thriving economy driven by data and innovation where everyone enjoys economic prosperity, social inclusivity and a sustainable environment.

The Right Honourable Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari Bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg Premier of Sarawak | 12 July 2022

BENEFITS OF INTEGRATING DIRECT CLOUD CONNECTIVITY INTO YOUR BUSINESS MODEL

DIRECT CLOUD CONNECTIVITY ENHANCES EFFICIENCY!

With data technology and data protection constantly in the news, it has become crucial to protect the data you store as a business. While some businesses still opt for company hard drives and other such options, these options are not only becoming less sustainable: they are becoming less efficient, particularly with the dawn of the cloud.

The cloud itself, despite its benefits, has also presented problems for businesses with serious data storage needs, mainly with its reliance on internet connection and its public nature. However, there are ways around this, namely, one that has appeared in the past few years: direct cloud connectivity.

This solution has several benefits and makes handling your data more secure; it eliminates several other worries about storing and organising documents, contracts, and other such data in the process.

Source: Photo by Caspar Camille Rubin on Unsplash

Source: Photo by Jaffer Nizami on Unsplash

So, direct cloud connectivity may be best to integrate into your business model if you own or work for a business that handles massive amounts of data and need to store it securely to continue operations.

What is Direct Cloud Connectivity and Why Should I Integrate It Into My Business Model?

Direct Cloud Connectivity changes just one thing from typical cloud connectivity: the means of accessing cloud storage. Direct Cloud Connectivity eliminates the middle-man, public internet, and uses a private line or server connected directly to a specific cloud storage point. In the data storage industry’s lingo, this is called a point-to-point or P2P connection and offers greater reliability, speed, and security than traditional cloud storage methods.

When using DCC, your private network sends data directly to a cloud storage server of your choice. This slight change can drastically change the security and reliability of your data storage.

Direct Cloud Connectivity does not just benefit data analysis companies. It can make your storage airtight while organising your data and making your business’s day-to-day operations easier. Therefore, its function and benefits have a wide appeal within the market. If your business is in one of the following sectors, direct cloud connectivity will be useful for you:

• Content creation (graphic design/writing/video content) • Medical practice • Financial/wealth management • Call management/tech support • Payment management • Law practice - public and private • Education • and many others.

Security Benefits of Integrating Direct Cloud Connectivity Into Your Business Model

Public internet usually poses few problems as a means of accessing cloud storage or data storage networks. But its potential pitfalls can have consequences for your business and your clients.

Hackers are experts at finding ways around the internet’s security features, and they make their money executing this same task. Companies dealing with high data loads often manage sensitive information, such as bank account numbers, financial information, and copyrighted designs and content. Therefore, moving sensitive data through the public internet to cloud storage has an inherent risk of theft.

You can eliminate that risk by incorporating direct cloud connectivity into your business model. Personal networks are significantly more difficult for hackers to find, let alone hack. With its point-to-point technology, your data is backed up immediately in the cloud and can be accessed at any time.

Source: Photo by Dan Nelson on Unsplash

Direct Cloud Connectivity and Security

Direct Cloud Connectivity allows for high bandwidth transmission, meaning you can transmit massive amounts of data without losing speed or any information. This process also enhances the security of your documents and information.

This storage solution makes your information less susceptible to being stolen, both in the transmission process, as it passes only through private networks, and in your cloud provider itself, which must legally meet stringent encryption requirements.

With the enhanced security of a direct connection to your cloud storage provider, you can store sensitive information, such as financial and copyrighted content, without worrying about interference, theft, or leakage. This security alone is worth the cost of direct cloud connectivity alone but it offers yet another tremendous benefit for your business if you choose to incorporate it: efficiency.

Efficiency Benefits of Integrating Direct Cloud Connectivity Into Your Business Model

Public internet has other potential risks beyond security. WiFi connections are not always reliable, and their signal strength is also not always in your control, even on home or office networks. Internet delays (or high internet latency) can also cause “packet loss” - the loss of bits of data or information as documents are transmitted through the internet.

The internet can also suddenly crash at any time, and you may not know when it will be working again. These realities of working with the internet can frustrate your employees when they are trying to move high volumes of data and obstruct the efficiency of your business.

So it is best to stop relying on the public internet and remove it from the equation when computing the best way to store high volumes of data. Incorporating Direct Cloud Connectivity’s Point-to-point process does just that and provides technology with higher reliability than the internet. As mentioned before, direct cloud connectivity’s pointto-point connection bypasses the need for public internet while speeding up the process of moving documents and high volumes of data. That speed and efficiency, in turn, removes frustration, impatience, and inconvenience in storing and moving your business’s information and documents.

Only your company can access the server used to transmit data to the cloud. So, it eliminates your reliance on other factors and reduces the troubleshooting needed when issues appear.

Thus, as long as you and your employees carry out tasks correctly, direct cloud connectivity will make your data storage process smoother and more efficient.

Integrating Direct Cloud Connectivity Into Your Business Model - Last Take

If any of the above-mentioned features of direct cloud connectivity sounded appealing to you, there is an abundance of direct cloud connectivity providers you can contact.

Direct cloud connectivity is a layer one cloud feature, and as such, most telephone communications companies can provide direct cloud connectivity.

There are other factors to consider for your specific business and its Direct Cloud Connectivity needs, but you can discuss these factors with the provider.

All in all, no matter your business model, direct cloud connectivity’s heightened security and efficiency have the potential to assist your business in increasing its efficiency.

Source: Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash Source: Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

LEADERONOMICS

This article is published by the editors of Leaderonomics.com with the consent of the guest author.