A Sea Change is Underway

A sea change is underway and from what I see most organisations are not prepared for it, and in some cases don’t want to hear about it.

Most are confronting multiple strategic initiatives in play, changing systems architectures, automated decision-making, shifting markets, and increasing regulatory pressures. Each may be manageable in isolation, yet together they change the operating system of the business. 

The greatest risk is not the change itself, it’s the gradual loss of visibility, coherence and control as successive waves of change alter structures, processes, systems, dependencies and accountability. Change is happening faster than most organisations can make sense of the impact and combined effect. 

History shows us that organisations don’t always stumble and fail because they lack capability. Some fail because previous success creates complex structures, systems and ways of working that become increasingly difficult to challenge and adapt. Confidence can remain high even as organisation coherence is being eroded.  

If coherence and visibility are becoming harder to maintain, we should be having a conversation about what is getting in the way and how to overcome it.