At the Brink of Change – Creating the Desire to Change

At a recent conference I attended, there were two trends that made me ponder about change management.   First of all, for years now, we have been hovering around 30% success rate for change efforts.  This stat, even with improved efforts, more practice with change, refined methods, has been status quo. It might be one of the only aspects of corporate life that has not changed since the early 2000s, ironically enough.  The second trend is that the average tenure of a Chief Procurement Officer is 3 years and there is an expectation to drive transformational change within the first 18 months of their stead. 

The impact of these two trends is noteworthy - significant change for the workforce, which was not adopted fully, and that will change again in the next year and a half.  Unfortunately, this results in a workforce that is on a brink of two reactions.  One group realizes that they really do not need to change, because it will just change again in the coming months, thus becoming more and more resistant to change.  The second group rides with the change, but likely will get frustrated or tired of the lack of sustained vision that they are adopting, resulting in disengagement. 

Given that change is going to occur, and possibly even occur at a faster rate with digital transformations happening in most organizations at this time, we need to think about leading our people differently through the change.  We have two choices related to how we lead change – mandating all change, thus not giving our employees a choice or focusing our efforts more on creating the desire to change (I am opting for this). 

Creating desire is often the hardest part of change, and the one that we most often overlook.  Without desire to change, you can train, communicate, explain the benefits, etc but realize no lasting change from that individual.  Think about yourself for a moment.  Let’s just say we know we should lose weight.  How do you create a long lasting, sustained change in your life to actually lose the weight?  Some of us might have short-term motivation (the January exercise routine), but it does not create a lifestyle change and we continue to struggle.  We know is it better for us, but we have limited desire to change.

To truly create this desire, I believe there are three critical elements that are missing from current, corporate change strategies. 

1.     Long Term Purpose – With change happening so rapidly, one thing that must stay constant in a company is a long-term purpose, which is deeply rooted into the culture of the company.  With this purpose, the change you are trying to drive should be tied closely to it, thus providing longer-term perspective to the individuals impacted.  This purpose cannot be created project by project, as then you get the flavor of the day reaction from your teams and change is not sustained.  However, all project communications, training, goals, should reference this greater purpose.  The purpose is the larger story around why it is important to change and sustain the change.

2.     Provide Opportunities to Help – Change initiatives can get so focused on WIIFM, which are those benefits to the individual related to the change.  Those benefits are a motivator; however, if there is a perception that those are short-lived or not impactful, they little to move the desire to change where it needs to be.   There is another great motivator to create desire that we often overlook which is the opportunity to help.  People flourish if their leaders understand their strengths and provide them the opportunity to share those strengths with others.  I reflect on studies related to sustained, life-altering change, like those struggling with addiction.  Those who beat addiction often site serving others as one of the key factors in their success.  They lose their selves through serving others.  While our change programs often do not need to be life changing, the challenge that we face in our corporations is creating those same opportunities within our organizations.   So, instead of only looking at a stakeholder analysis from a perspective of who might resist change, maybe we should be looking at people’s strengths, leveraging those strengths, and creating an environment of service on the project.

3.     Coaching – Last but not least is a new way of coaching people through change.  From my experience, “coaching” during change has been in one or two areas – expecting the people leaders to help their teams through change or developing a network of “super users” to guide people through change.  Most of the time, both of these tactics are used.  However, I believe they are flawed because those same people are often struggling with the change themselves and often do not have the skill set to truly coach people through change.  For large change initiatives, dedicated coaches are likely needed to support the critical stakeholders who need to change.  These coaches can be external or internal resources, but they must have the ability to mentor, build trust, understand the change cycle, and be proven in their ability to listen and advise.  These coaches also cannot be part of the core project team, as they need to be a trusted sounding board, impartial to the objectives, but still able to move people through the change curve.

As my dad always tells me, “if it was easy, it would be done already.”  These words echo in my mind as I think about the responsibility we have as leaders to not only think about the transformations we are leading, but also tackle the hardest part which is assisting individuals, our teams and organizations through the change.   I hope these ideas help with that challenge, and that in the coming years; we can experience amazing change results. 

Digital Roadmap Series: Define Priorities

Let’s recap what steps we have completed to get to this point.  First, we defined the problem that we are trying to solve.  Then, we took the opportunity to document the actual process and where it was not working for us.  Third, we used that process to redefine the process through digital technologies and other investments. 

The fourth and final step of building your digital roadmap is to prioritize all of the opportunities identified.  There are several ways to do this, so let’s discuss a few options for you.  (Note:  I would assess these compared to your culture and need to determine best fit for you.  You might be able to use a combination of the below.)

Option #1:  The “30, 60, 90, 120” day approach

This technique focuses on how quickly you can accomplish the goals at hand.  Your “day” buckets might be different, depending on the need.  For instance, it might be 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 1yr+ or 6 months, 1 year, 2 year, etc…  This technique is good if you what to focus on getting some quick wins for those easier opportunities and the more investment intensive ones you be later in the roadmap.

Option #2: Return Based

For this option, you write all of the opportunities in a list and you have two columns to the listing – amount of pain you have today if the option is not corrected (labeled “pain”) and the estimated amount of value that could be delivered when corrected (labeled “value”).  For the pain column, 1 is least amount of pain and 10 is the most.  For the value, please do not get overly scientific on this.  We usually just identify if it is over a certain dollar value of opportunity and place a check in the column. 

Go through the listing as a group to get consensus on the pain and value ratings.  Then, sort the “10s” for pain and those with the check to the top.  Those at the top are the biggest opportunities to get placed on your roadmap.  Then, discuss as a team where each one should be placed on the roadmap (ideally with the top opportunities first, then the lower ranking ones in the later years). 

Option #3:  Sequencing

This one is focused on instances where your opportunities might logically need certain investments to be made first before making other investments.  For instance, you might need to invest in a Contract Lifecycle system before you can do advanced analytics on your contracts.  Or, you might need a P2P system in place before you implement RPA on the P2P process.  This option can be used with option #2 above, to help you sequence the roadmap of top opportunities.

Option #4:  Heat Map

This option I find most used by consultants that I have worked with.  This is where you plot your projects on a heat map to drive prioritization.  The X axis is value and the Y axis is difficulty of implementation.  There are four quadrants made on the map.  Lower left – easy to implement, low value.  Upper left – hard to implement, low value.  Lower right – easy to implement, high value.  Upper right – hard to implement, high value.   Ideally, you would consider the lower right as your quick wins that you would implement first and your upper right those opportunities that would be placed in the future.  You can also look at the lower left as potential quick wins. 

These are the four options that I have used most successfully in the past and I think the most common ways to approach developing your roadmap.   Most recently, I used the sequencing and the return based option together to build a roadmap.  It seemed like a great balance between driving value and sequencing where it was needed.

With that said, that wraps up how to build your digital roadmap.  In the coming weeks, I will be covering what is next because there is still a lot to do!  Topics will include now that you have the roadmap, how do you gain approval for the investments and how to manage the changes with your teams. 

I would love to know your thoughts on the digital roadmap series and if there are any other suggestions that you might have to share with others.  Please feel free to comment and share. 

Have a great week and shine on!!

Digital Roadmap Series: Re-imagine the Process

Happy Kentucky Derby Day, everyone!!  Currently, I am sitting in the Las Vegas airport waiting for my extremely early flight to Nashville.   Why Nashville?  ISM 2018 is kicking off tomorrow.  Anyone else going?  If so, please connect with me.  Would love to catch up.

Ok, to onto step three.  Just to recap where we are.  In step 1, we created the problem statement and step 2, we created the actual process and identified opportunities with that process.  You should have the problem statement and the listing of opportunities up on the wall for the step 3. 

For this session, plan on another 4 hours and have the same group get back together.  This session is typically the most challenging one, as we are asking people to let go of the constraints we “have” today.  We are also going to ask them to let go of what has not worked in the past or the technology that they lack. 

To get started, place a big blank piece of paper on the wall.  It needs to be big enough to draw out your newly imagined process.  The idea here is that you, with this new process, fix the opportunities identified in the last step.  Therefore, draw the process which includes such things as:

• What if you could automate a process?
• Where could you have better data available?
• What process steps maybe are not needed anymore?
• What if you had workflow?
• What if you had a different organizational structure?
• What if you had different capabilities on the team?

Draw this wonderful process on the piece of paper on the wall.  This will take some time to do, and writing it like I did, makes it sound overly simple.  It will take a strong facilitator to keep the group unconstrained.     

Once you have it documented, jot down what investments are needed to make this happen.  For instance, it might be:

•      We need to invest in RPA.
•         We require better data visualization.
•         We need to reskill our organization with “X” skills.
•         We have to create “Y” team.
•         We need a chat bot.

The fantastic part about this approach is that you will know exactly where you would like to apply/implement these investments and the value they could deliver.

As an output of this session, have someone document the newly imagined process flow and the listing of investments that are needed for the process to work. 

And that is it for step 3.  The last step to developing your digital roadmap is to take the opportunities and investments needed and prioritize them.  There are several ways to do this so I will be giving you some options next week.

Go shine on this week and I hope to connect with you at ISM.  

Digital Roadmap Series: Define Where You Have Opportunity to Improve

In this series, we are learning how to simply and quickly get on the digital journey.  Last week, we learned about defining the problem statement.  This provides focus to the strategy and gives you a true north for the team.  This week it is all about where you have room for improvement.

Long ago, I was taught a valuable lesson.  I took someone’s process flow and assumed that it reflected what people were actually doing.  It bit me in the booty big time.  (Not sure if that was appropriate, but roll with me here…)

What I learned since then it that there is a big difference between the process flow and what is actually occurring.  In this step, we will take the time to clearly define what is actually occurring and where there is opportunity for improvement.  This is important to do because if you are going to change something, you can create a clear “as is – to be” to describe the change.  It also is critically important to understand what you should prioritize first in your journey.

To identify your opportunities, here is the approach I have found works best.

• Before the meeting gather all “process flows” that people have within your scope.  Ideally, you do not want to build the actual process from scratch, but if you have to, it can be done.  Take all of those process flows and try to combine them into one flow.  Indicate where there was conflicting information.  I have found that using Visio is the easiest way to create process flows, but there might be up and coming tools that you prefer.
• Get the same group of people together as the problem statement meeting.  In fact, I recommend this being held with the problem statement meeting, especially if you are flying people in or holding a 2 day session and get it all done.
• Post the process flow you created from your examples collected up on the wall.  Make it big, because we are going to draw all over it.  If you do not have a process to start from, put up blank paper because you are going to need to create it in the session, my friend.    This will take longer, so plan that into your schedule.  I would plan for 3 additional hours.  Just had to do this myself and it was not fun…sorry.
• Next, I like to reuse the same technique as in the problem statement session. Have everyone use their sticky notes again to write down what is not working for them within the process. Again, one idea per sticky note and then have them place it on the process flow on the wall. o You will notice typically large concentrations of sticky notes at the beginning of the process and certain steps along the way. Those are likely your biggest areas for improvement.
• Then, walk through each step of the process with a big red marker (or other bright color of choice).  Touching on all of the below:

o   Is this what actually happens today?  If not, change it on the wall.

o   What does not work well within this process step?  Write down why.

o   Does this step create a rework loop (where you go back to previous steps to redo work)?  Mark the loop.

o   Do you have all the information or data to make an effective decision?  Write down what data is missing.

o   Is the process step manual?  Mark that down.

o   Prone to error?  What errors, mark it down.

o   Does it take a long time to complete? Write down the estimated time if known.

• Now, you have this crazy masterpiece on the wall and a ton of areas for digital and process improvements. To close the session, create a summary of the session with the people in the room, listing the top areas of opportunity that were identified. REMEMBER – you are not solving in this session. This is a listing of opportunities to tackle.  
• If you want to go above and beyond, you can break out Visio (or enlist someone with that capability), to document three artifacts from the session.  The process flow, the marked up process flow, and the summary of opportunities. 

With that completed, you have a problem you are trying to solve and a listing of opportunities to start tackling.  You are well on your way to having a digital roadmap.  Next week, we will be covering re-imagining the process and building the plan.  

Step One to Developing Your Digital Roadmap

Let’s get one thing straight before we start into this process.  I was at a different conference several months back and there was mention that with digitalization – process is dead.  It shocked me.  Maybe I am not thinking about this correctly (and please chime in if I am wrong), but I do not want to apply digitalization on a broken process or on bad data.  Seems like the ol’ equation of just getting crap faster – and we have already lived through that too many times.  With that said, I do firmly believe that the processes we have today can be radically re-imagined and machine learning can help us with the data problem.  So, if you are in the “process is dead camp”, you might not like what I will be recommending in this posting.  Just a word of warning.  J

Ok, now that we are clear on that, where to start.  Step One is to define the problem you are trying to solve.  This is often overlooked and critically important, especially when you are trying to explain why you are changing to your teams.  Without a problem defined, you do not know if you are successful in solving your needs, how to communicate the change, and how to keep your scope locked in. 

Here is how you go about defining the problem:

1.  Pick a scope you want to work on.  Think of it maybe in terms of I want to digitalize procure to pay or source thru pay.  Be deliberate in your scope, as it sets the course for the rest of the work we are doing.
2. Define a team of people who are involved in the process.  Please remember those people upstream and downstream to the process – like in procure to pay – your end users and your suppliers.  Also, try to keep to it a group under 15.  If you feel like you need more people, it is a good indication that your scope is too big.  ;-)  Gotta love control points!!
3. Get those people in a room for a 1 to 1.5 hour session.  (Note – You can combine this session with the next session that I will talk about next week, making it a 4 hr session in total. Or, you can do a 2 day workshop and do all the steps I will describe.)
4. During that session, describe that you are trying to understand their pain points, what they believe could be done faster/more effectively, etc... It is very important to be humble and welcoming of all and any ideas. Also, share how this work ties into the bigger picture of what you are or the company is trying to achieve.
5. To collect the ideas, pass out sticky notes and have the attendees write one opportunity per sticky note.  This technique is call individual or silent brainstorming.  Give them as much time to complete as appropriate.
6. Once everyone is completed, you stick the notes on the wall and start putting them into themes and naming those themes.  You will be amazed how clearly the opportunities start popping out before your eyes. 
7. Now here is the fun part, you discuss those themes as a group, gaining a better understanding of the feedback.  You and/or your team should be in listening and “5 why” mode (asking why or clarifying questions).
8. Lastly, and the hardest part, is co-creating the problem statement.  Taking the key words in the themes, you create one statement that gives focus to what you are trying to solve.  It should read something like, “Due to the lack of information when we are making decisions, we have to spend valuable time researching supply markets, identifying suppliers, and making gut decisions, thus delaying the process further, impacting new product introductions and our stakeholder relationships.”  Totally just made that up, but hopefully you get the point. 
9. Keep that problem statement in the front of the room for all of the next sessions.  This is now your true north.  It should be used during the sessions to question if you are staying focused on solving the actual problem. 

Like I said before, hopefully, you will find that these are really simple techniques that do not require any investments other than your time.  The hardest part of the session is keeping it an open discussion, being objective, no defensiveness, and keeping people open to all feedback and ideas. If you do not believe that you can facilitate the meeting in an objective way, then maybe enlist a trusted colleague or a top performer to have the opportunity to facilitate.  Note:  I have had a lot of squirming in seats and even some emotional reactions from attendees that were just plain uncomfortable during the session.   If that happens, it is ok to take a break and regroup in a few minutes, as the intention is not to make people uncomfortable, but to get everything out on the table.   

Good luck with step 1.  Would love to hear from you all once you hold this session and how it goes.  Would also love to get questions on the above if something is not clear.  Happy to help in any way I can.

Are You Ready To Lead a Digital Transformation?

Hello strangers.  It has been awhile since my last posting.   I have been on quite the adventure over the last year at work and at home (all great things, but took my focus).  However, I feel like I have my blogging mojo back and I have time to dedicate. 

With that said, I had an amazing experience at Generis’ Supply Chain Summit in Dallas, TX earlier this week.  The presenters were mostly practitioners with a subtle mix of suppliers. It was great to hear the up and coming trends, what companies are already doing, and having the opportunity to meet so many talented people is always a great motivator. 

At the conference, I had the opportunity to present on a lot of the concepts that I have written about on this blog (video will be available soon, but if you do not know the concepts, please read the historical posts), with a particular focus on Sourcing Acceleration and the type of talent we need in Procurement to meet the consumer centric, individualized Supply Chain needs of the future. (Note - for some the future is very much now). 

In order to meet those needs, we have the perfect opportunity to get on the digital bandwagon.  95% of respondents in a recent Hackett study said that digitalization will drastically change Procurement in the next 2-3 years.  So, do you have a strategy to apply machine learning to make recommendations for you?  Do you have a pilot for RPA to automate your Sourcing processes?  Do you have an RFP scenario optimizer?  Have you thought of how to get data on demand for all decisions that are being made by your Sourcing team?  Do you believe that a simple sourcing event could take seconds and a complex one under 4 weeks?  What if you had a potential supplier database at your fingertips? 

Did I just overwhelm you?  Sorry.  You want some good news?  Unlike the trends of the past, you do not need to invest tons of money in this.  I do not even believe you need a slew of consultants to tell you what to do to make this happen.  And, you can move pretty quickly, as these solutions are fairly simple to implement (get that ERP implementation out of your head…).

Because I believe in Procurement so much and that we can make this happen TOGETHER, I would like to share in my upcoming posts about a) how to develop your digital roadmap and b) a suggestion around how to implement the changes, while getting engagement from your teams to drive the change. 

The concepts that I will share, I have learned through the several transformations that I have lived through and/or led.  Unlike blockchain, 3D printing, machine learning, these concepts that I will be sharing are not new but can be applied to this need. 

If you are in, please follow the updates in the coming weeks on Saturday mornings and share with a friend.  It would be my wish for all of you to be digital rockstars for your company by the end of the year.   

The Era of Disruption

I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at ISM Tech 2017 this past week.  It was one of the most forward thinking conferences I have attended in awhile.  From discussions on 3D printing, to drones that help with inventory management, my mind was blown with all of the innovation and advancements that are poised to completely change how we think of supply chains and deliver on customized solutions for the customer base.

Much like how Amazon disrupted the retail world and how Uber changed the game in delivery (people and product), we are at the cusp of some major advancements in Supply Chain and Procurement.   Let's take 3D Printing, as an example.  Rick Smith, CEO, from FastRadius described how 3D Printing IS changing how we think of inventory.  Inventory is no longer physical, it is digital.  It is changing the design cycle.  No longer do you need to have lengthly designs and protoyping and all the costs associated.  With 3D printing, you are designing as you are producing.  It changes where you produce, as you can produce close to customers than ever before.  It also changes how much you produce at one time, as everything can be on demand.  Therefore, the cost model is completely different.  No longer are we looking at larger purchases to drive down costs or MOQ discussions.  Lastly, and might be the most important, 3D Printing allows for customization based on specific customer needs or requests.  A current example is 3D printed knee replacements.  Due to the technology, the knee replacement can be customized to the individual receiving the replacement and it also can have pain relieving drugs inside the replacement itself.  My mind starts wondering about all the possibilities this could have.  Gone are the days of mass production to an average requirement.

Another topic was on robotics.  I spoke on RPA, which is already changing the way we look at end to end integration and process automation.  However, there was also a great conversation on physical robots, in this case drones, that are helping with asset management and inventory outside and inside buildings.  The thought process here is to have a drone count assets/inventory for you.  They can perform it so rapidly that gone could be the days of cycle counting, as they can count the entire warehouse/DC daily if you wanted.  PINC, known for their yard management expertise and software, is driving this innovation.

A couple of items that were not talked about at length, but are relevant none the less, are how these changes impact human capital/how we can start planning for it now and how we are living also in a unstable geo-political atmosphere. After reading several overviews of the Procurement environment in 2017, tit was clear that there is a high level of uncertainty around populism, trade changes, and how this could impact global markets.   There is also a general lag in human capital capability building, within businesses and within our schooling systems, to get ready for such a disruptive change.

So, the question is with the state of the Procurement functions today, are we ready for such an Era of Disruption?  Who will see this as a large opportunity to leap frog the competition?  Or will Procurement be overrun by such changes?   The amazing thing to me is that if you are not having conversations now about these changes, you are already behind.  These changes are already occurring and they are not waiting for anyone.   It is time now to be a disruptor!