From a brilliant start to profound transformation

What is this about?

You know this from many experiences with long-term change processes: Transformation processes are launched with a lot of energy, commitment, resources and confidence. After one or two years, it can happen that the process runs out of steam, either subtly or noticeably.

The reasons for this are manifold and understandable:

People who were involved in the change process leave the organisation. New people join the organisation, but do not know the history of the process. New change processes are superimposed on the transformation, and the original reason for the transformation is lost through restructuring activities and the daily workload. What remains is resignation and disappointment:

‘Of course – change processes always fizzle out here’ …

… ‘We can’t manage so much change at once’ … I’m sure you can think of other examples from your own practice.

So how do you succeed in developing the productive energy in change situations that is a prerequisite for moving in the right direction? How do managers manage to inspire their teams for sustainable growth and make them curious about unique business opportunities?

We have been looking into which relevant sources of energy are needed to ensure that change projects have long-term strength and can unfold their full effect. Here we share some of the findings from our observations and research.

It all starts off brilliantly

At the beginning of a transformation process, there is preparation and often a brilliant start: The change issue is pressing, the drive to ‘finally get going’ is huge. This can be triggered by growth issues, acute crises, strategic goals, emergent developments and much more.

Objectives and tasks are clarified following every trick in the book, stakeholders are involved through steering groups and process architectures are designed. Process supervisors and steering groups orchestrate the procedure, draft future visions and implementation plans in co-operative settings. Kick-off events, team events and consistent communication promote commitment and emphasise the urgency.

Farewell linear thinking

After some time, the first effects become visible. The first implementation steps and successes are recognised and energy and insights are drawn from them for the rest of the process. At the same time, progress may be smaller or more tedious than expected, resistance arises and it becomes more challenging for managers to switch between the operational logic of the business and the logic of change management. Changing contexts due to economic trends, crises and market developments require consistent readjustment and communication of the Why, What and How.

A study by Handelsblatt from 2024 shows that the biggest challenges for transformation are unclear goals (36%), resistance from employees (26%) and transformation fatigue as well as a lack of willingness to innovate (19% each).

Companies must therefore say goodbye to the ‘unfreeze-freeze’ approach of the nineties and noughties and instead focus on the ongoing transformation process and the organisation’s adaptability to a new environment.

Here are our recommendations on how you can effectively manage your transformation process in the long term:

Focus on purpose
Again and again: We are doing this to……
The board, management and leadership need an answer to this. One that they themselves and others can understand and that consistently sharpens the Why and Where-to in dialogue.

Dialogue is particularly important to us at this point: There are almost always very different visions of what the future should look like in reality. This makes professional strategy work and change implementation more difficult, as different expectations of each other and of the process cause blockages of various kinds.

Communication becomes the most important management tool here: The conscious development, design and consistent implementation of a narrative is one of the main ingredients for a successful transformation process. This is what makes focussed strategy and implementation work possible and creates commitment and the takeover of responsibility across the board.

Incidentally, empirical evidence shows that in the case of existential threats, something similar to a fighting spirit can actually be generated among employees if a clear picture of the threat can be painted. However, only if this is also shared with the workforce and the necessary trust is communicated accordingly. Changing narratives often has more to do with re-framing existing narratives than actually reinventing everything:

But we’ve always done it this way. → We continue to develop!

It’s never going to work anyway. → Let’s at least give it a try!

Amazon can do that, but we can’t. → If it works for them, it can work even better for us, given that we have so much more experience!

Customise roadmaps
As described, internal and external conditions change in the course of a transformation. Successful leadership in these processes is not achieved by following through with a plan once it has been drawn up. Checking and, if necessary, adapting roadmaps, implementation plans and timetables has proven its worth.

For example: New compositions of steering groups, establishing feedback groups, sharing success stories from the organisation and consistently regular communication formats for information and dialogue.

Employees and managers need to feel the new. Months of announcements without action or impact lead to disinterest and resignation. Confidence takes a back seat and is difficult to bring back. Working prefiguratively, i.e. organising the entire process in such a way that it already contains and lives the desired goal, makes it noticeable right from the start that ‘something is different’.

For example, involvement from the very beginning through analyses or interview processes as opposed to communication of completed projects and goals. The speed of change in departments or sub-areas is often completely different. Whilst some are already restructuring and implementing, others have not yet noticed anything or very little. Here too, communication, explanations and an overview are needed to prevent mutual devaluations from being fuelled.

Recap

To improve the performance of the whole, we need to improve the individual parts. Says linear thinking! To improve the performance of the whole, the relationships between the individual parts must be improved. Says systemic thinking!

The structure of communication determines whether a social system is more intelligent than its individual members or ‘more stupid’.

If you want to manage a company, a department or a team, you need to know the mechanisms that lead to more intelligent or less intelligent decisions. Fritz Simon already said that!

Clarity wins! Transparent communication at eye level instead of a top-down approach. Because instead of coming up with perfect speeches and presentations for the board and management, the WHY (someone supports) is at least equally important.

Get to know the needs, attitudes and opinions of your employees and stakeholders and work with them. And don’t forget: Messages are effective if they fulfil three requirements: They activate people to act, they work on a cognitive level and they also appeal to the target groups emotionally –

Do, know, feel!