Inhouse Consulting Change and Agility
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The extent and speed of change in the world is increasing, and companies are also changing ever faster and more profoundly. How can this change be managed, shaped or at least positively influenced? - Nothing is keeping company management, HR managers, organizational developers and consultants/coaches more busy at the moment.
Disruption, Transformation, Change, Flux
The specific questions and needs for change that entire industries and individual organizations face are very diverse. Keywords: Digitalisierung, Internationalisierung, Agilisierung ... They have one thing in common: They seem overwhelming, intangible, and in a way, superhuman. VUCA: volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Actually too much at once. Many are asking themselves: How - for heaven's sake - are we supposed to manage this?
We are not talking about disruptions that sweep across entire industries and how to "implement" disruptions. You can't do that. We are talking about how existing and somewhat entrenched organizations, whose previous success patterns no longer function (well), can design transformation processes, how they can embark on the path to more agile units, how they can interpret leadership in a modern way, and at the same time become a significantly more attractive employer for the upcoming generations.
Many previous solutions operate within the framework of conventional logic: Often, top management decides to start with an organizational change or the introduction of novel tools (e.g., SCRUM or Design Thinking). Or, they simply eliminate a management level. However, this is largely ineffective and quite exhausting if it is not accompanied by measures that change leadership behavior in the company.
Three questions for Martina GoldhornA circular logic of change
Should one start with leadership training? That would be largely ineffective and quite exhausting if new leadership behavior is not explicitly supported and positively accompanied by top management. Often, while the executive level desires modern leaders, they still engage in subtle micromanagement and sophisticated controlling, often without being fully aware of the implications. So should one start better with the top management and its attitude? (Congratulations if you manage to personally involve top leadership!) That would be quite good, but largely ineffective and exhausting if employees only very hesitantly take on self-responsibility and self-organization, and the traditional organization (hierarchy!) remains unchanged. So do we first need to train the employees and then change the organization...?
Conclusion: It somehow only works all at once, because things are circularly connected, highly interdependent. And this unfolds in the reality of transforming companies an unpredictable dynamic that is not controllable down to the smallest detail, but is in any case (positively) shapeable.
We are professionals in accompanying consulting and leadership of such demanding and conflictual (change) dynamics in companies and possess the necessary consulting skills and what we believe is a beneficial self-confident yet modest consulting attitude.
Below are a few notes on our approach and our methodology. We can clarify everything else in a personal conversation.
Enough reading. I want to talk to you!Wer fragt, der findet
Dead end? A fresh start!
If you invite us to take a joint look with you at your situation, the remaining need for change, the different perspectives on it, and possible next steps, lively gatherings emerge. They are never harmonizing but always energizing, never rigidly scheduled yet highly goal-oriented, not inexpensive but worthwhile.
We achieve this by creating — together with you from the very beginning — an atmosphere of listening, of daring to step forward, of appreciation, and of a willingness to engage in constructive confrontation. And this constant willingness to begin anew is constitutive for every transformation process with Janus. It serves to reaffirm direction, to (re)adjust, sometimes to let go of ambitious intentions, and sometimes to realign toward entirely new priorities. In this way, resilience, sustainability, and performance emerge.
That sounds too good to be true. Please give me a call.
A structure takes shape...
There is no such thing as the perfect organization or the perfect structure. Or, if there is, the answer is “42”! Don’t follow the ever-changing trends in organizational structures. Find your own way of organizing. And change it as soon as it no longer feels relevant. You’re welcome to draw inspiration from current trends, but never imitate them.
We’re here to support you with all our tools: design workshops, large-group sessions and town halls, individual coaching for you and your leaders, team development where challenges arise, and, last but not least, our internal Janus sounding board.
A question of culture
Cultural change is a collective learning process. And the truth is, we learn best through feedback and by example. Ambitious reorganization processes, appeals, and well-crafted mission statements, along with sophisticated financial reward and penalty systems, can serve as supporting measures, but on their own they achieve relatively little.
Cultural change is simple because top leadership can largely shape it through their own actions. It is difficult because it demands a high degree of self-reflection and willingness to engage in conflict, as well as staying power from everyone. Our joint effort consists of searching for opportunities in your company’s day-to-day operations—or creating opportunities and routines there—in a well-planned, creative, and clever way, so that the new culture becomes immediately tangible. The advantage: We don’t overwhelm your organization with useless cultural workshops and save you a lot of paper, energy, and money.
Personal growth included
Development processes (of companies, children, (business) relationships, families, partnerships, friendships...) primarily require clarity, active listening, presence, sincerity, a willingness to take a stand, acceptance, and appreciation. And this is a matter of attitude or mindset.
Your top people are therefore called upon not so much as managers, but much, much more as leaders. And since it is completely ineffective to demand a change in mindset from others, the (further) development of one’s own personality is an integral part of every transformation process with Janus.