CHANGE TALK

Many established companies struggle immensely with the concept of becoming more agile. On the one hand, they wish to react quickly to unforeseen circumstances by creating innovative opportunities. On the other hand, they fear that their size, level of establishment and need for structure might get in the way – or simply – that chaos will break loose if they even try.

In an increasingly volatile work environment, businesses are more predisposed to change than ever. Not only has the necessity for change increased, but there is also a new understanding of the nature of what needs to be changed.

Everybody wants it, nobody seems to have it: A culture of innovation. But what exactly do we mean when we call for a culture of innovation? After all, how can we create a desired culture, if we don’t know exactly what it looks like?

Organizational storytelling is a new buzzword in the world of organization development. While for decades, nothing but quantitative data and process orientation mattered, we are now finally paying more attention to less tangible factors such as organizational culture and storytelling.

Faced with decreasing market share caused by the "Pepsi Challenge" taste-test battle, Coca Cola launched “Mission Kansas” in the 1980s to reformulate Coke. As Pepsi was going sweeter, New Coke was to follow the trend in an attempt to take over the lead again with the altered taste.

In a study released by Gilbert and Bower, the authors extrapolate that when companies face major disruptions in their markets, the way their managers perceive that disruption influences a company’s response profoundly.

Bill Gates once said that every business leader should have a coach. Also former Google CEO Eric Schmidt insists that the best advice he ever got was to work with a coach. How come some of the most successful business leaders of our times, recommend coaching so emphatically?

Dynamic and super successful organizations such as Apple, Google and Virgin Airlines are showing us that making a unique organizational culture the focal point of all business endeavors pays off and offers many bonuses along the way.

An African proverb suggests: If you want a different dance, change the music. In other words: To see different moves and different actions, find the factors that drive the behavior and alter them.

One thing is clear, much of today’s business success depends on the ability of an organization to flexibly adapt to unforeseen circumstances, changing markets and new trends.