In this Random Thoughts post, I want to present a topic related to Week 1 of the Quick Start Action Plan. The objective for Week 1 is to “complete the Change Accelerator Project Dashboard in the Module 5 Activity titled Increase Change Management Capability.”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into business and social enterprises over the last forty years where senior managers had spent virtually no time in preparing to lead their organizations through change. Yes, they may have created comprehensive project management plans with gantt charts, etc. But in the vast majority of cases, none of these plans addressed the “human side of change.” That is, there had been little thinking about how project and management teams would address key issues like “making the case for change” or “communicating the future vision” or  “managing resistance and conflict.”

It’s no wonder the vast majority of strategic initiatives do not deliver sustainable results. As reported in Gender Wealth Strategy Key Finding #8:

• “44% of strategic initiatives did not succeed in the last three years.” (Project Management Institute, 2013).
• “60-80% of businesses fall short of the targets identified in their strategic plans.” (Kaplan and Norton, 2008).
• “Only 8% of large companies were able to deliver sustained organic growth of 5% or more over a ten-year period.” (Bain and Company, 2012).

This is the reason why I approached Jesse Jacoby, Managing Principal and Founder of Emergent Consultants, in 2016 about his Change Accelerator© change management platform.

The Change Accelerator© platform is the best I’ve seen since my days as a graduate student in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Organization Development (MOD) programs at Bowling Green State University. In particular, I’d like to call your attention to the ACT™ Model section of the Change Accelerator website.

The Accelerating Change and Transformation Model is conceptually sound and practical. It’s a model refined and honed through 25+ years of real-world application in large corporations and mid-size enterprises across the U.S. Both the model and platform meet my requirements for a well-designed solution and tool. As you know from the Whose Needs Come First? section of Gender Wealth Strategy, I use the What, Why, How, and How Well criteria to design effective and sustainable solutions.

The ACT Model answers these design criteria in an exemplary manner:

• 6 Activity Checklists with a total of 60 performance expectations or tasks (addressing the “what” of change leadership and management)
• 68 Tools spanning all six phases of the ACT Model (addressing the “how” of change leadership and management)
• 6 Phase Health Checks with a total of 49 performance standards (addressing the “how well” of change leadership and management)

Of course, the “why” for using the ACT Model and Change Accelerator platform is built into the primary objective of Business Impact Accelerator©: to build a sustainable and high-impact enterprise that creates enduring social and economic value.

I recommend you and your team spend time to review the 6 Activity Checklists and 6 Phase Health Checks in Change Accelerator during the first two weeks of the Quick Start Action Plan. Make copies of these Checks in order to examine the “what” and “how well” of effective change management and leadership. As 50% of performance issues in organizations are created by unclear expectations and standards, these two checklists will enable you and your team to become “change masters” and navigate your enterprise through the trials and tribulations of organizational change, growth, and transformation.

In addition, I recommend downloading the Change Accelerator tool titled Change Management Overview Presentation. It’s a customizable presentation you can use with your team and staff to start the conversation about what it will take to lead, manage, and accelerate change across your organization. Note the slide titled Formula for Change Management Success (slide #6). Here’s a pdf of the presentation that Jesse Jacoby can help you customize:

Successfully leading and managing change is never easy. There will be constant challenges and issues to address during your journey toward sustainable growth and impact. However, the ACT Model and Change Accelerator Toolkit will make this long-term process much easier. Ultimately, your stakeholders and investors (if you’re planning to raise revenue-based growth capital on a crowdfund investment platform) will be happy and pleased!

In this Random Thoughts post, we focus on using a gender lens to (1) make profitable and sustainable investments in woman-owned enterprises or (2) develop new business growth opportunities that positively impact women. In case you’re not familiar with the term, gender lens investing is defined as the practice of investing for financial return while also considering the benefits to and impact on women. It is closely aligned with the developing fields of impact investment and positive impact.

Wikipedia describes gender lens investing as a form of investment which “can include funding women-owned businesses, businesses with a strong track record of employing women, or companies that improve the lives of women and girls with their products and services.” A 2017 book titled Gender Lens Investing: Uncovering Opportunities for Growth, Returns, and Impact makes a solid case for investing in woman-owned businesses or developing new business growth opportunities that positively impact women. And, a recent article in Medium titled Forget China or India, Women Will be the Most Disruptive Economic Force of the 21st Century makes a similar argument.

There is a sentence in the Gender Lens Investing book (among many) that clearly explains the rationale for looking at women as key drivers of business and economic growth:

“An economy not fully deploying its human capital–both men and women–is an economy operating below capacity, inhibiting its ability to compete, drive growth, spark innovation, reduce poverty, and increase equality.”

Listen to this Knowledge at Wharton interview with Jackie VanderBrug, one of the co-authors of Gender Lens Investing, discussing the benefits of using a gender lens to build a sustainable, high-impact enterprise or investment portfolio. Note the research Ms. VanderBrug cites about the values of millennial and impact-driven investors.

My cofounder Kem Ellis and I could not agree more with the insightful analysis provided by Ms. VanderBrug and Joseph Quinlan, her co-author and colleague at U.S. Trust (a division of Bank of America).

However, I believe Ingrid Stange, Board Chair of Partnership for Change, goes straight to the heart of the gender wealth problem with her quote underneath the image at the front of this blog post: “women carry half the sky, we should make sure women own half the world.” Partnership for Change is a Norwegian NGO (non-governmental organization) that works to secure economic independence for women and youth with projects in Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Norway.

During my forty year career as a strategic transformation and change consultant, I often had to call out the “800-pound gorilla” in the room when leadership, management, or work teams refused to talk about real issues or address root causes of problems. Ms. Stange has done this by putting the issue of gender wealth and equity squarely on the table in front of us. Is this not the 800-pound gorilla in the room? Is this not what our biased and broken system of finance and investment has prevented women from achieving over the years?

At The Social Impact Foundation, we firmly believe that sustainable solutions to our most pressing social, economic, and environmental problems will only emerge when women are treated equitably and given every opportunity at all levels of society to succeed in their personal and professional lives. And this means having opportunities to acquire and own the financial and non-financial assets that males (especially white males) have been privileged to enjoy.

So, are you interested in growing your business and/or retirement portfolio? Or, making the world a better place for everyone? Then, you might be ready to adopt a gender lens and respond to the challenge provided by Ms. Stange. Let’s be honest, is there any reason why women should not own half the world and half the wealth?

In this Random Thoughts post, we examine work you and your team need to accomplish in order to create a genuine sense of urgency for change in your organization. After the initial assessment phase, it is often the case leadership or design teams will begin to ask questions about “next steps.” They have a sense the process is about to shift from straightforward analysis to more complex decision making about the organization’s future.

As a former business transformation consultant, this is is the point where I had to share three inconvenient truths with many leadership or design teams. First, I had to tell them that no one in their organization cares as much about this work as they do. Second, I had to remind them that employees and other key stakeholders (e.g., corporate executives or owners) may not agree with their assessment results and in fact, may have a vested interest in ignoring problems (hard to believe I know). Third, I had to challenge them to “step up” and accept the job of helping others navigate through the difficult process of letting go and embracing a new path or course of action.

To drive home these points, I often used the famous quote from American humorist Will Rogers: “Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Other times, when concerns about resistance to change surface, I use the boiling frog story (also known as the Boiling Frog Syndrome):

“If you throw a frog into a pot of boiling water, he will jump out. But if you place a frog into a pot of cold water, and turn the heat on low, it will float there quite placidly. As the water gradually heats up the frog will sink into a tranquil stupor. Before too long, with a smile on its’s face, it will unresistingly allow itself to be boiled to death.”

At times, team members would ask me if I thought their enterprise was at the boiling frog stage. I typically avoided a yes or no response and instead offered: “maybe, maybe not … what do you think?” And that lead to important dialogue and conversation about the depth and breadth of change needed to resolve current issues and level of commitment to work through any and all challenges.

One resource I wish had been available to me during my first career as a management and business consultant is the Change Accelerator© platform from Emergent Consultants of Denver, Colorado and its toolkit of 60+ change management tools. In particular, both the Health Check and Activity Checklist related to Create Urgency, the second phase of the Accelerating Change and Transformation (ACT™) Model, would have been very helpful during this stage of the process.

In the Create Urgency Health Check, there are seven areas which describe competent performance in this area of the ACT™ change management model:

1. We have gathered specific data that demonstrates the need for change.
2. We have linked the need for change to the company’s ability to compete.
3. We have framed the need for change as some combination of threats and opportunities, and sorted them into the short-term and long-term.
4. We have provided a credible assessment of the likely consequences (business results) if we do not make this change successfully.
5. We have defined the likely benefits (business results) of effective implementation of this initiative for the organization, units, and individuals.
6. The team responsible for making this change happen is aligned around the need for this change and feels a genuine sense of urgency.
7. Key stakeholders outside of our group/unit/organization understand the reasons this initiative is critical; and feel a sense of urgency.

I think statements #3 and #6 in this Health Check are important for you and your team to consider. Item #3 often is a great way to externalize the need for change and sidestep (for the time being) sensitive social and political issues that could derail a young change management process. A tool called Threat-Opportunity Matrix in the Change Accelerator Toolkit is an excellent way to develop a compelling “case for change.”

Item #6 is the second statement in the Create Urgency Health Check I would ensure is present for every member of your immediate team. The words aligned and genuine are important indicators for knowing if you are ready to engage other team or organizational members in the business transformation process. Without alignment and a genuine sense of urgency, you could mistakenly proceed ahead thinking team members “have your back” and are supportive of change (when they aren’t).

These tools from Change Accelerator© will help you implement the Principle of Involvement (people support what they help create) and enable your enterprise to successfully navigate these first stages of organization change, growth, and transformation.

In this Random Thoughts post, I’d like to preview one of the activities you will complete in the Business Impact Accelerator© learning program. This activity–Examine Business Model–is found in Module One. In Examine Business Model, you and your team will create a Business Model SWOT Diagram and a Business Model Environment Map. Both deliverables are referenced in Business Model Generation, one of the five core books used in Business Impact Accelerator.

There is also another book listed in the Recommended Resources section of this activity that is relevant to the assessment of your current business model and business impact. This book is Gender Lens Investing: Uncovering Opportunities for Growth, Returns, and Impact. Its co-authors are Jackie VanderBrug and Joseph Quinlan, who work for U.S. Trust, a division of Bank of America.

Gender Lens Investing is relevant not only for this particular activity, but also for other activities you and your team will be completing in Module Two of Business Impact Accelerator©, including Envision Sustainable 10X Impact and Design/Validate a Sustainable 10X Impact Business Model. It’s also relevant because of these questions posed in the Sustainable 10X Impact Business Plan Checklist (this Checklist is referenced and reinforced throughout the entire program):

1. How does your business model canvas create enduring social and economic value?
2. How will it positively impact women?

This second question is the focus of today’s post. It’s a simple question, but one with big implications for your business or social enterprise. This is because the question requires you and your team to put on gender lens “glasses” as you develop a Business Model SWOT Diagram.

Why is this important? Well, Gender Lens Investing makes the case that women are “drivers of future growth” for economies around the world and for enterprises searching for profitable and sustainable growth. Watch this video to learn more about adopting a “gender lens focus.” It features Ms. Jackie VanderBrug, one of the book’s co-authors:

You and your team can apply the ideas presented by Ms. VanderBrug by putting on your gender lens glasses while answering the SWOT assessment questions outlined on pages 217–223 of Business Model Generation. These are the assessment questions you will be using to create a Business Model SWOT Diagram.

As you work through questions in the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants of the SWOT Diagram, think about the impact your enterprise is generating in the lives of women you serve, or partner with in your supply chain, as well as employ throughout your organization. Is your enterprise unleashing their full potential and talents? Are there opportunities for improvement? Can you create a competitive advantage or develop a new business opportunity resulting in a stronger, more profitable, and sustainable business model and enterprise?

In regards to the Business Model Environment Map, go back to the 5:49–7:40 section of the interview with Ms. VanderBrug. Here, she cites research describing some of the core values of women and men who form the millennial generation. As you and your team review Key Trends, Market Forces, Macroeconomic Forces, and Industry Forces (pages 201–209 of Business Model Generation), ask if there are opportunities for your enterprise to redesign and innovate its business model using a gender lens. Use statistics from Gender Lens Investing to help “size” potential market opportunities which may be knocking right now on your front door.

This classic image (to the left) about “perception” from basic psychology textbooks illustrates the challenge and opportunity facing your enterprise. Stare hard at the picture. What do you see? An older woman looking downward or a younger woman gazing off into the distance?

In essence, I’m encouraging you and your team to conduct a gender lens exercise at the same time as you complete the Examine Business Model activity. Since our perceptions (or points of view) influence subsequent decisions and behaviors, it’s important we put on a different set of glasses (or lens) if we want to move the needle to close the gender wealth gaps and create a more equitable world. So, how do you plan to positively impact women with your business model and enterprise?

In this edition of Random Thoughts, I’d like to discuss performance improvement. The term was popularized in the 1970’s by Thomas F. Gilbert, who published a pioneering book on the subject titled Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance. Gilbert’s systematic approach to improving performance at all levels of an organization gave birth to the discipline and profession of Human Performance Technology.

I first became aware of Gilbert and the field of performance improvement in the mid-1980’s, when as a rookie internal organization development consultant, I was given an opportunity to lead a project to accelerate the learning and performance of frontline teams in one area of a Cummins Engine Company manufacturing facility. I was reminded of the influence of Gilbert’s work near the end of my forty year career after attending a seminar from The Performance Thinking Network and learning about their Six Boxes Model, which is based on the approach first created by Dr. Gilbert.

In between these two points on my career timeline, I used the term PIO (for performance improvement opportunity) to help teams identify initiatives, projects, or investments that would “move the needle” on priority strategic, business, financial, and organizational strategies. 

As an example, review the SWOT assessment methodology outlined on pages 216–224 of Business Model Generation. You utilized (or will soon utilize) a SWOT diagram to conduct an assessment of each of the nine building blocks of the Strategyzer business model canvas. I refer to the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats documented in the SWOT diagram as a set of priority Performance Improvement Opportunities. These PIOs can be translated by planning or design teams into short- and long-term strategic initiatives, projects, or investments and incorporated into a One Page Strategy Map and Plan (or balanced scorecard). You will become familiar with the One Page Strategy Map and Plan in Module Four of the Business Impact Accelerator© program.

One mid-size enterprise I consulted with in the defense industry from 2007–2011 internalized this concept of PIO to such a degree that one of the strategic measures and initiatives on their balanced scorecard focused on identifying, measuring, and tracking PIOs in every team of the enterprise, including the top management team. The aim of this initiative was to involve all 225 employees in building an enduring, high-performance enterprise. The second aim was to spark innovation as enterprise leaders anticipated (correctly) a downsizing in defense spending ahead of troop withdrawals from major conflict areas in the middle east. The goal was to tap into the creativity of the workforce and identify new products, services, or business opportunities that would offset projected cuts in spending by military and government customers. By the way, this goal was achieved with development and introduction of a successful new product and operating division.

I highly recommend the structured approach to business model SWOT assessment outlined by the team at Strategyzer. I’ve had too many experiences facilitating SWOT sessions where teams could not (or would not) describe the activating forces (strengths/opportunities) and restraining forces (weaknesses/threats) of their enterprise in sufficient detail. I often had to work with a small team later to clarify the wording on a SWOT diagram. The approach outlined in Business Model Generation is an antidote to the vagueness and lack of focus of many SWOT assessments.

There’s another reason why identifying and describing performance (and business) improvement opportunities is critical. It’s called business model expiration, which is a fancy way to say a business model is on its deathbed and ready to fail. Watch this short video from the Strategyzer Channel on YouTube about the four primary reasons for business model failure.

I keep this video close at hand to show coaching clients how easy it is to lose focus and start sliding toward business model expiration. Note the four major reasons for failure described in the video:

• Solving an irrelevant customer job
• Flawed business model
• External threats
• Poor execution

These four reasons are weaknesses, risks, and threats faced by every enterprise, regardless of age, size, or industry. They represent “performance improvement opportunities” and a good place for you and your team to start as you complete the business model SWOT assessment. However, the real question here is how your enterprise will address these and other PIOs and turn them into strengths or opportunities that improve business performance and business impact.

Do you know your top 10 PIOs? Do you have a plan to use these PIOs to make your enterprise and business model stronger, healthier, and more sustainable?