PERPETUAL TRANSFORMATION

Foreword

Pursuing a transformation agenda is no longer optional; it is essential for business survival. Nor is it a six-week program or an initiative; it is a state of mind, a philosophy, a part of organizational DNA. Transformation is unending.

Over the last several decades, leaders have talked extensively about change — especially as the pace of disruption has accelerated like never before with the dawn of the Digital Era. Barely a week passes now without another (virtual) conference on achieving change, the publication of a freshly minted book on the subject, the introduction of a new business school program on the topic, or an announcement of another corporation dedicating itself to change.

But how to actually implement change? Many organizations turn to outside experts to help them turn all of the “change” talk into reality.

These experts often come equipped with the latest thinking and models which explain how change can be achieved. These models are often brilliantly captured and communicated. They are then unleashed; change programs and initiatives rolled-out across teams, divisions, departments, sometimes entire organizations.

For all the sound and fury surrounding change, however, virtually every piece of research on the subject suggests that organizations still remain very poor at turning the change into reality. Too many businesses are seeing their change programs deliver disappointing results, ground to a halt, miss targets, drift into oblivion, or get replaced by newer and shinier versions.

In the twenty-first century, change has been increasingly reconfigured as transformation. While change suggests subtle, targeted improvements, transformation is more far reaching, ambitious and challenging.

And in truth, it never quite ends. Transformation isn’t a distant shore or destination, but a continuous journey.

This new language of transformation isn’t decorative. It reflects a realization that tinkering at the edges of organizational behavior and performance is not enough.

Just think of the challenges we have all faced in the last decade: a global financial meltdown. A pandemic of historic proportions. And, the relentless and unstoppable forward progress of technology reinventing companies, markets and all corners of the world for today and tomorrow.

So, welcome to the new reality which is powerfully mapped out in the selection of insights captured in Perpetual Transformation.

As the articles gathered together here make clear, perpetual transformation is difficult, challenging, endless, stretching and involves rewriting the rule book. None of that makes it less necessary.

Though it might appear daunting, perpetual transformation actually confirms the realities which business legends have always acknowledged: now is the time to transform, not tomorrow. The choice is there for every manager in every organization. I hope that Perpetual Transformation provides the inspiration they need — and their organizations demand in order to continue to succeed.

Michael DePrisco

Chief Operating Officer at Project Management Institute