Bridging the Gap in Mindset

To be really good at transformation the binders must come off.

These two images capture the ‘from’ and ‘to’ of making the mindset shift into an agile, interoperable organization that is capable of continuous transformation.

Each organization has a greater or lesser degree of each mindset and the reason for the identification and discrete definition of the Transformational Organization Paradigm is to provide a platform for assessing the current mindset of the organization.

Characteristics of pre-millennium thinking that are fast becomming obsolete can be described as ‘Industrial Age’ in nature. The degree to which an organization holds to Industrial Age thinking, methods, organizational structures, practices in management and governance, and leadership techniques indicates how large a gap must be bridged to bring the organization into alignment with new-millennium ways of operating.

Moving from Industrial Age thinking through Information Age tactics to New Millennium ideologies is work each pre-millennium business must approach. The Transformational Organization Paradigm and Framework provide a measurable, repeatable way of doing just that.

In this area of the Transformational Organization Framework, employee demographics, prevalent leadership styles, reward and value characteristics are evaluated against the particular industry, business environment and specific transformational pressures the organization faces.

Before an organization can embrace the kind of agility and inter-operability represented in the second image above a number of dicotomies must be resolved within the day to day work context of the balance of employees from the board and executive team to field staff. Below is an example of these.

In order to bridge the gap in mindset the organization must also address the divide between the ‘business’ side of the organization and the ‘technology’ side of the organization. So as the organization work to bridge the gap in mindset, it must also work to bridge the divide between ‘business’ and ‘technology’.

The common objective is an aligned stride and cadence of organizational agility – in preparation for the next ‘age’ that is coming into view.