“If we don’t change our direction we are likely to end up where we are going.”
-Professor Irwin Corey, American comic and actor.
This sentiment rang loud in a recent pitch when championing that corporations (the really big ones) will incrementally open up to become more transparent, and indeed to embrace change. Stuffy, traditional, megacorporations will need to become comfortable with ambiguity if they are to stand a chance against their leaner emerging counterparts. A case in point, are the values of the biggest UK phone company (no names necessary) – Bold, Clear, Open, and, Trusting.
But in a rapidly changing landscape these same values will need extending to become more akin to Disruptive, Purposeful, Social, and Co-creative.
Skeptics of this inevitable shift for big businesses cite the age-old reluctance of corporations to relinquish control, often with ultra-conservative CEOs at the helm of the ship. Yet attempting to maintain control in a new economy where it either becomes illegal (a la Rupert Murdoch) or alienates your customers, simply ain’t good business. It was over thirty-five years ago now that Charles Handy was prescribing that organisations need to adapt to changing situations in order to survive. When he explained that what may work today may not work in 5 years time, he could not have foreseen the warp speed at which a digital revolution could manifest.
The question really is then how do conservative businesses begin to embrace change? Big businesses – private, public, and voluntary know that they need to evolve but many aren’t exactly sure how. The answer would be easy if it bared no risk, but here are 3 questions that could be a good place to get started:
1. What kind of culture does our corporation cultivate? Do employees refer to the company with a “They” or a “We” terminology?
2. What small steps can we make towards a value creation process that genuinely involves our customers?
3. What partners can we strategically align with who are willing to co-create products and services together?