Capacity for change

I’m surprised how much change I’ve become accustomed to, having moved country for the 3rd time in 4 years (UK, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Melbourne) and recently changed employer and industry – along the way our daughter was born in Beijing.

There seems to be a parallel to the business environment today, where change has become a constant. Mike Smith (CEO ANZ Bank) in a recent market release said “In a highly competitive environment, it means successful banks are going to have to drive productivity and innovation even harder. We need to remove cumbersome structures and do things in new and different ways.”

For me, this is about moving the organisation from being change-averse towards actively seeking and embracing change. I can’t think of many (successful) organisations that are not involved in mergers and acquisition activity or embarking on ‘transformational’ projects! Continuous improvement becomes more than a phrase; it becomes a value that is integrated into the organisation. Technological changes are examined constantly for opportunities to add further value to customers and shareholders. Competitive intelligence (across industries and geographies) is pursued vigorously as organisations strive to satisfy customers’ needs before others are able to.

It’s an exciting time; I believe organisations that are reluctant to change will fail whilst the organisations which build capacity for change will prosper. Harold Wilson said “He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.”

I heard a leading organisation use the term ‘acquisition-ready’ recently in relation to people, process and technology. This epitomises the level of corporate-wide change that leading organisations are embracing.

At home, baby #2 is due any day so life is about to change again!

Mark Hunter