Orchestrating Transformation - Preview

The Context for Transformation

THE STRUCTURE OF THIS BOOK Throughout Orchestrating Transformation, we provide real-world sto- ries of how organizations have taken a connected approach to their transformation programs (or, in some cases, failed to do so). Along the way, we lay out specific direction and executable tools that, when assembled, constitute a methodology for how to orchestrate large- scale organizational change, including four appendices at the back of the book with tools for practitioners. In the first chapter, we detail three organizational characteristics of today’s market incumbents—scale, interdependence, and dynamism—

and show why the “entangle- ment” of these characteristics makes it nearly impossible to achieve success in digital business transformation using traditional change methods. We call this the “transforma- tion dilemma” of today’s in- cumbents.

Note: Appendix 4 provides an actionable summary of 21 of our most critical

recommendations for transformation practitioners.

Borrowing from other disciplines like ecology, climatology, and urban planning, we show how orchestration has addressed similar challeng- es in other settings. For years, a lot of smart people have been think- ing about how to orchestrate in domains outside of management and digital business transformation. What can they tell us? We explain what it means to orchestrate—“to mobilize and enable so as to achieve a desired effect”—and how a mindset focused on con- nectedness enables firms to address transformation challenges in a profoundly new way, operating in what we term the “Orchestration Zone.” Chapter 2 provides a recap of some key concepts from Digital Vortex, including customer value creation, business models, and our Strategic Response Playbook. Note that several important ideas and frame- works from our earlier book are discussed in this one as well. We view these two bodies of work as a tandem that provides prescriptive insights for practitioners—first on how to create the organizational ca- pacity for change, and now on the mechanics of executing change.

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