Relationship networks and security mechanisms prevent creative solutions

In their book „Der kleine Machiavelli“ [The little Macchiavelli], they have described the rules of career and clarified which structures, mechanisms, and regulations within a company hinder creative responses to the constant market changes.

Through the concept of foresighted self-renewal, we demonstrate the ways to adjust an organization at an early stage to changing conditions, and to find and implement innovative and pioneering solutions, despite its established structures and decision-making mechanisms.

Basis Mechanisms of self-renewal processes

On the basis of the work by Donald T. Campbell (1974), we reckon that there are three evolutionary mechanisms: Variation, Selection and Stabilization. Their recursive interlink makes the foresighted self-renewal possible.

Variation: We specifically use various resources of irritation (e.g. perceptions of key players, experts and customers), with the purpose to generate impulses for innovation and changes and to therewith increase the chances of learning stimuli.

Selection:  A company’s processing competence will be enhanced by changing communication and decision-making structures as well as monitoring and evaluation criteria. As a result, new opportunities and risks can be evaluated beforehand.

Stabilization: The aim here is to lead to the new and the opportunities for success. In order to proactively achieve effective change, the organization-specific characteristics are taken into account and appropriate reflection processes and structures are established. Consequently, organizations can avoid recurrent resources-consuming emergency operations and also secure a sustainable competitive advantage.

The change is to change the organizational competence

With the concept of foresighted self-renewal, transformis® supports organizations to recognize the external signals for relevant changes at an early stage and to take necessary measures.

Current communication and decision-making structures, the evaluation criteria, and the relationship network will be scrutinized so that the opportunities for growth and renewal will be identified and implemented. Through the concept of the foresighted self-renewal, you can find early and adequate procedures for the increasingly rapid changes in the market and ensure the competitiveness of your organization.

Do you want to learn more?

Do you want to learn more about the topic? Please fill out the following contact form to receive further information or schedule a free, personal online dialog to see our references and practical examples of our current projects.

Der Beitrag The Law of Old Men – Foresighted Self-Renewal erschien zuerst auf transformis Consulting SE.

Because every swan I have ever seen was white, all swans must be white!

If the contrary had not been proven true over time, this statement would sound quite reasonable. Until the 17th century Europeans firmly believed that all swans were white. The discovery of the black swan in Western Australia in the 18th century disabused them of this misconception. The impossible was possible after all. This event laid the foundation for the “Black Swan-Concept”, which has become a metaphor for unpredictable or unlikely events.

According to Taleb (2008), individuals tend to transfer their past experiences to not-yet-experienced events. They also tend to search for cases that confirm their own theories, or to ignore the Black Swan completely. However, this will eventually provoke obliviousness. Individuals usually worry about the existing and well-known Black Swans instead of the potential ones. As a result, unlikely events skip their attention and are not captured in time.

This is not only the case for individuals. Organizations also tend to re-interpret the meaning of unexpected events so that their own views of the world can be confirmed. Based on the organization’s learning history, specific patterns of observation and evaluation can be derived which have an impact on all organizational information sources and decisions. If these patterns led to successful actions and results in the past, they will most likely stay in service. The relevant impulses (Black Swans) outside an organization would have been noticeable. However, they are often not recognized or talked down to a level that the valuable impulses for self-renewal can no longer be used. This may lead to serious consequences: opportunities or threats are overlooked or misinterpreted. Hence, it is necessary to regularly question the established observation and evaluation patterns from a meta perspective. In this way, it can ensure that the organizational selection also admits variation.

With the foresighted self-renewal concept transformis® helps your organization to recognize and capture the external signals at an early stage. By deliberately feeding relevant impulses to the organizational communication process, developments can be seen early and used for decision-making processes, which will in turn sustain the organization’s competitiveness.

Do you want to learn more?

Do you want to learn more about the topic? Please fill out the following contact form to receive further information or schedule a free, personal online dialog to see our references and practical examples of our current projects.

Der Beitrag Foresee Unpredictable Events erschien zuerst auf transformis Consulting SE.

The German economy participated particularly in the Chinese reflationary program; the exports to the Middle Kingdom were increased by 25% in the first half of the year. Nearly 6 % of Germany’s exports go to China.Im Januar 2011 wagten wir die Prognose, dass das Wachstum in Deutschland für 2012 nur noch zu 1,3 % ausfallen würde. Wenn wir den Experten Glauben schenken dürfen, war unsere Einschätzung nicht zu pessimistisch, da sich die aktuellen Wachstumsprognosen für das Jahr 2012 zwischen 1,2 und 0 % im Vergleich zum Vorjahr bewegen.

Anyone who actively does business in China clearly experiences at the moment that the Chinese government is slowing down the growth in a controlled manner according to  their Five Year Plan. This will also have implications for the German economy.

The current Euro crisis is being considered by the majority as being the greatest risk at the moment. We have to assume that volatility and unpredictability will rather increase and not decrease.

How can companies adjust to that? Ongoing projects show that the self-renewal ability of organizations is a critical sucess factor in keeping up with fast and massive changes.

If you are interested in our research results regarding this topic, please request further information free of charge via our website at www.transformis-consulting.de/prognose2012.

Request free Information

Der Beitrag Adjust To The Next Crisis erschien zuerst auf transformis Consulting SE.