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New survey results find that the most effective transformation initiatives draw upon four key actions to change mind-sets and behaviors.
When making large-scale organizational changes, the design of a transformation’s initiatives is not a matter of guesswork. Rather, the results from a new McKinsey Global Survey on the topic suggest that companies that design their initiatives to support desired shifts in mind-sets and behaviors see the most successful transformations.
Prior McKinsey research on transformations confirms that change efforts are hard work and that implementation is critical to overall transformation success. The latest findings suggest that investing time and effort up front to design a transformation’s initiatives also matters. According to the new results, the most effective initiatives involve four key actions: role modeling, fostering understanding and conviction, reinforcing changes through formal mechanisms, and developing talent and skills. These actions are critical to shifting mind-sets and behaviors.
But it’s not enough to design a portfolio of initiatives based on one, or even two, of these actions. When executives report that their companies used all four, the odds of a successful transformation are much higher than if just one were used. The process of how initiatives are designed is critical too. When companies take a systematic approach to prioritizing initiatives and involve input from a range of company stakeholders, executives are more likely than average to report successful transformations.
[Here is the first “key action.”]
Effective design is not guesswork
Psychological research and McKinsey’s experience point to four specific actions that drive changes in mind-sets and behaviors—the very changes that underlie successful transformations. We asked executives about the use of all four at their companies (see sidebar, “Changing mind-sets and behaviors through the ‘influence model’”).
Of these four, respondents report that their companies’ initiatives most often fostered a common understanding and reinforced changes through formal mechanisms; initiatives involved role modeling least often. Regardless of the actions taken, though, changing mind-sets and behaviors is hard work. Majorities of respondents believe it was difficult for their companies to implement initiatives that drew upon each of the four actions, highlighting the general challenge of executing transformations shown in previous McKinsey research.
Executives also report that no one action is the most important. The use of each action correlates similarly with a transformation’s overall success, defined as the successful improvement of company performance (improved profitability, for example) and preparation for sustained, long-term performance (improved capabilities, for example, or positive changes in organizational culture). For instance, initiatives that focus on developing talent and skills have roughly the same effect on a transformation’s success as initiatives that emphasize fostering understanding and conviction. Rather than drawing upon only a subset of these actions in designing initiatives, winning organizations take a comprehensive approach to changing mind-sets and behaviors by using all four. The more actions employed, the more likely executives are to rate the transformation a success (Exhibit 1). What’s more, successful transformations are nearly eight times more likely to use all four actions than to use just one.
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Looking ahead
o Treat design as a science. The survey results confirm that effective transformation initiatives have specific traits in common. Therefore, companies should not treat transformation design as a guessing game. The most effective initiatives use all four actions to change mind-sets and behaviors; they are also designed to complement one another, align with the company’s context, address both strengths and weaknesses, and extend beyond actions the company has previously taken. By ensuring that these characteristics are built into initiatives, executives stand to increase the odds of their transformations’ success.
o Focus on the “what” and the “how.” Just as the nature of transformation initiatives matters, so does the process by which they’re designed. The results indicate that systematic prioritization and involvement of people across the organization is essential for overall transformation success—which may seem like common sense, but it’s not always common practice. Leaders would do well to spend time thinking through the design process to ensure that their transformations are focused and that multiple stakeholders are involved.
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Here is a direct link to the complete article.
The contributors to the development and analysis of this survey include Tessa Basford, a specialist in McKinsey’s Washington, DC, office; Bill Schaninger, a director in the Philadelphia office; and Ellen Viruleg, a consultant in the Washington, DC, office.
They would like to acknowledge John Parsons and Jonathan Slonim for their contributions to this work.