This session makes one argument: driving Humanized Growth is a change management journey, and it should be led like one. The number it puts on the table first is that 70 percent of all change journeys fail.
The session covers poll results and a benchmarking brief, the change model itself, breakout sessions, and next steps.
Key findings
- The polls show participants already reject the narrow definition of growth. Only 32 percent agree that growth is about winning market share from direct competitors, while 73 percent agree that growth is all about increasing customer satisfaction.
- Almost nobody accepts culture as fixed. Two percent agree that their culture cannot be changed because it is in their DNA, against 98 percent who disagree.
- Finance is less of a blocker than expected. Thirty-nine percent agree that if something does not fit the ROI model finance will kill it, against 61 percent who disagree.
- Agile is reshaping accountability for most. Eighty-four percent agree it is forcing them to redefine their RACIs, and 82 percent say their objective is to boost profitable growth.
- The Humanized Growth equation multiplies value for colleagues, customers, community, and capital markets, with short termism working against it.
The benchmark participants run themselves
The benchmark has a qualitative and a quantitative half. Three to seven stakeholder interviews are recommended, chosen for influence or subject matter expertise, and structured around the seven building blocks.
The online survey suggests a sample of 30 to 100, split two thirds marketing and sales and one third other functions, and split evenly between C-suite, vice president or director, and manager level.
The toolset is a presentation, a qualitative vision interview guide, and a survey link. Support is a one-to-one sparring session with an IRG founder, and the growth opportunity deadline was extended to 22 January.
The case for doing it is put in a participant’s own words: the benchmark exercise helped identify the growth opportunity and drive alignment for the leadership team.
Creating a climate for change
The first step is to establish a sense of urgency: leverage energy and never waste a crisis, make it outside in and personal, and educate toward one version of the truth.
The second is to create a guiding coalition through volunteerism, a diverse many rather than a limited few, and no egos.
The third and fourth are about the vision. Develop one change vision starting from the business strategy, paint a picture that appeals to hearts, and integrate it into strategic planning. Then communicate it: brand it, market it, manage it, use external media, and be a broken record.
Engaging the organization, then making it stick
The fifth step is to empower broad-based action: lead by example at the top, equip the coalition with new capabilities, and inspire bottom-up ideas.
The sixth is to generate short-term wins by piloting, finding and celebrating wins, providing proof and iterating the strategy, and working with lead markets and brands.
The seventh is never to let up: be patient but maintain momentum, and do not celebrate too early. The eighth is to build the change into the culture, cascading horizontally and vertically, creating an ecosystem with influencers, and fostering a growth mindset.
What participants were asked to do
Individually, participants review change initiatives they have led or been part of against the framework, and evaluate their own change leadership opportunities and challenges.
In breakouts of three, each person introduces their change leadership experience and the group identifies common themes, which are then debriefed in plenary.
The session closes with two reflection questions on the platform: what the key take-outs are, and whether anything should be actioned.
Scope and limitations
The poll results come from the participants in this session rather than from the study sample, and are reported as agree and disagree percentages without a base size.
Source
This page summarises Leading Humanized Growth, by Institute for Real Growth, 2021-01-08.