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ROBERT “JAKE” JACOBS

Real-Time Strategic Change

I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion.

—Thomas Jefferson

Collaborating Instead of Competing

In New York City, 1.1 million children require care after school, on weekends, holidays, and during the summer. Several city agencies have overseen these critical, yet complex services. They have relied on multiple funding streams. There has been great need for consistent, high-quality care. Collaboration in the past had been low. Out of School (OST) programs in the city have been principally provided by several hundred nonprofit agencies and community-based organizations. Each of these multiple stakeholders has competing needs, since there is a fixed sum of money to allocate. Though all are well intentioned, they have suffered from a lack of alignment. The need to make fast and lasting change has been clear.

During a six-month process, representatives from each of these stakeholder groups met in a series of large group Real-Time Strategic Change (RTSC) events, subgroup working sessions, and leadership team meetings. They realized they shared common challenges. They learned they could better serve the children of the city by collaborating instead of competing. They agreed on a vision, goals, and guiding principles for all OST care throughout the city. Today, city agencies, foundations, and nonprofit service providers have developed a coherent OST system that provides a consistent level of excellent care for the children of New York City.

Frequently Asked Questions

WHAT IS REAL-TIME STRATEGIC CHANGE?

RTSC is an approach that enables people to claim the future they deserve—faster than they ever believed possible. Its focus and methods have evolved in three generations over the past decade:

• First Generation: Characterized by a focus on RTSC events. These large group, “roll up the sleeves” working sessions were attended by 10–2,000+ people. The purpose of RTSC at this stage was to build organization-wide alignment, commitment, and action that created lasting change.

• Second Generation: Characterized by extending the focus from events to also include the application of RTSC as a way of doing business on a daily basis. Six core principles formed RTSC’s foundation—the solid and fixed basis of the approach. The six RTSC principles supported lasting change because they provided guidance in any situation—for change work and for daily work as well.

• Third Generation: Characterized by extending the focus from events and principles to also understanding these principles as key polarities. The more effectively organizations manage these polarities or dilemmas, the faster and more sustainable the future they deserve.

WHY DOES IT WORK?

RTSC shines a spotlight on six of these dilemmas that when taken together, enable people to create their future, faster. Each of the RTSC principles manages a specific tension or polarity (table 1).

Table 1. The Principles of RTSC

WHEN AND WHERE IS IT USED?

RTSC helps to make big things happen fast. If the situation fits the following three criteria, Real-Time Strategic Change is a path to pursue:

1. Multiple stakeholders have competing needs

2. Aligned action is required

3. Results need to be achieved in radically reduced time frames

HOW DOES IT WORK?

There are three phases to RTSC work: Scoping Possibilities, Developing and Aligning Leadership, and Creating Organizational Congruence. Figure 1 shows how RTSC becomes part of an organization’s daily work. Each phase of work leads to desired ways of doing business that ultimately deliver sustained results.

Figure 1. How RTSC Works—Achieving Sustainable Organizational Performance

Scoping Possibilities is about crafting a clear, considered plan for the future. It energizes people with many possibilities for moving forward. This expansive mode complements the focus people require to create a unique pathway that fits their organization’s culture, needs, and constraints. For most organizations, creating their own road map is significant evidence of doing business in a new way and symbolizes the power and possibilities of the collective.

Developing and Aligning Leadership is about building leadership competencies and commitment required to succeed. These capabilities can be grown in a number of possible settings: large-scale events, smaller retreats, action learning initiatives, individual reflection and coaching sessions, and training, as well as through daily work with other leaders and the larger organization. These efforts focus on developing a preferred and consistent leadership style, strategy alignment, and a range of skills including leading and supporting implementation of desired ways of doing business.

Creating Organizational Congruence is about engaging the entire organization in developing a solid fit between strategies, actions, processes, systems, practices, and culture. This phase begins with communicating to people the purpose, scope, scale, and plan. Support initiatives for change typically include RTSC events as well as teams, task forces, processes, and methods suited to the particular initiative. Over time, what gets learned in this phase translates into better ways of thinking and acting on a daily basis.

Table of Uses

About the Author

Robert “Jake” Jacobs ([email protected]) has a 20-year track record helping organizations achieve fast, lasting, systemwide change. His clients have included American Express, Corning, Ford, Home Depot, Marriott, Mobil, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Shell, and the City of New York. Jake’s first book, Real Time Strategic Change: How to Involve an Entire Organization in Fast and Far-Reaching Change (Berrett-Koehler, 1994), taught readers the principles and practices of Large Group Engagement. He coauthored his latest book, You Don’t Have to Do It Alone: How to Involve Others to Get Things Done, which was reviewed in the New York Times as “a complete blueprint on involvement” and “the best of the current crop of books on this topic.”

Where to Go for More Information

REFERENCES

Jacobs, Robert. Real Time Strategic Change. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1998.

Johnson, Barry. Polarity Management. Amherst, MA: HRD Press, 1992.

Weisbord, Marvin. Productive Workplaces. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1987.

ORGANIZATION

Robert W. Jacobs Consulting—www.rwjacobs.com