Blog Post

Being human doesn't always lead us to act with humanity yet it can.......My choice to raise consciousness and build #humaneworkplaces

As someone who has the privilege of raising three young women, I am concerned not only for the future that they face as women but as humans in general. What will the world look like in another few years? Although we have a general lack of humanity occurring throughout the world I am choosing to focus on an area that I believe I can influence. Workplaces are micro-systems that are impacted by and can in return impact the outside world. This is one realm that I believe I can help to change and where I would like to elevate the level of consciousness.

It is easy to get caught up in all that appears to be doom and gloom yet I am choosing to take another perspective. I am choosing hope and love. Hope that we are capable as humans to re-find our centre (in this case my centre involves being open, honest. loving and being accepting of all humans regardless of where we come from, the colour of our skin or the deity that we may choose to honour). For what are many complex and divergent reasons we are operating from fear and not from hope and love.

So what does this mean for us as individuals and human beings? What are the options that we have? I no longer want to engage in a discourse of doom and gloom and want to shift it to one of hope and opportunity; including in our workplaces, where we spend so much of our lives.

I want to be part of a movement; a movement that chooses humanity; a movement that chooses tolerance; a movement that raises consciousness; a movement that changes the discourse; a movement that chooses love and not hate. This may all sound like rhetoric and like a nice to have- a pipe dream of sorts. I refuse to believe it so and I choose to bring it to life.

How? How will I live the aspirations of this 'movement'?

  1. I will carefully choose the words and language that I use in all of my interactions. Yes, words do matter and we need to be mindful of the  choice of words and discourse that we espouse. When we say things like 'feelings don't belong at work' or 'don't take it personally after being underhandedly or subtly dehumanized' it creates angst and anger and takes people further away from our humanness. I will also choose to not stand silently when I hear words that I believe to be dehumanizing. Silence is not always golden. Know when to step out of the silence!

  2. As a change agent, I will help those around me to choose processes, interventions, etc that are based on human centred principles. For example, when I engage in designing a process for change and development I do so in a manner that is inclusive of all voices (and not just those of management or the chosen few). I commit to bringing in processes that engage both the 'self' as well as the 'content.' Although we can argue that engaging with the self is the content. The more I work with individuals, teams and systems the more I realize that we cannot de-couple asking people to work on being their best selves from looking at 'how' things get done. We are the how.

    Another example of this is the revamp that we have made in how we are building our Leadership Development Programs. They used to be heavy on the 'how to' of leadership and not so much delving into the 'who I am' (self-awareness) as a leader. We have shifted this to better create space and opportunity to help people reveal who they are as leaders and humans before being able to talk about 'how' to lead. The more we can raise our self-awareness the better we can connect to our core and build our empathy, the better we can then connect to others. Conscious leaders are a conduit to humanity in the workplace.

  3. I will always choose to give before asking for anything. This is as true in my personal life as it is in my professional world (really they are the same in that I am who I am!). It is so easy to ask others what they can do for you, yet it is a 1000x more gratifying to be able to contribute and do things for others. Not because you expect anything in return or are keeping some kind of accounting system (it is not tit for tat); simply because it is the right thing to do. If we can make this shift I truly believe that our world including our workplaces will be healthier and more filled with empathy.

  4. Mentor, teach, support, coach those who need our time and help. I am often approached by people who are just starting out in their careers or still in school and needing someone to soundboard with. I make it a point to support as many people as I can. Why is this important? For me, it is a sign of caring, knowledge sharing and the belief in abundance. Some people seem to fear that if they mentor or guide younger people that it will put their career or job at risk. This is not the case; we must believe in a world of abundance and not lack. I am disheartened when I hear comments like 'I figured it out on my own and so can they.' This is an approach that I see as dehumanizing because it creates an environment of hostility rather than collaboration. When we engage with people who 'need our help' it is amazing how much we stand to also grow and be enriched.

  5. Volunteer and contribute. When we engage in causes that are meaningful and close to our hearts it allows us to expand our perspective and feel connected to something larger than us. I have learned that giving time is as valuable as giving money (if not more so in some cases). Sometimes I wish that I could make very large donations to causes close to my heart and yet even if I could write a very big cheque it would not give me the same sense of connection and fulfilment as giving of my time. Organizations need to create space for people to get involved and contribute. This allows people to connect to a purpose that they care about and allow them to fulfil needs that go beyond paid work. It is truly a win-win for the person and the organization.

  6. Work and interact with people who are very different from you. Do not seek to strictly be with people who are like you. Although there's great comfort in being with those we consider to be our 'tribe', it is equally valuable to seek to dialogue with those who you fear or know little about. I seek to acknowledge my biases and have dialogues with those who may not share my worldview, values or beliefs. It is by stepping into my zone of discomfort that I will grow my empathy and capacity to love.

Organizations have to ensure that they do not fall into a trap of hiring solely those who fit their current mould. We must embrace that which makes us uncomfortable. In our organization, we question ourselves constantly as to whether or not we are truly embracing differences (whether it be in the people who join our team or the clients who we work with). When we see ourselves becoming too 'like-minded' we aim to push the envelope by seeking out those who have a different point of view. I can personally tell you that this is sometimes a huge personal challenge for me as I struggle with what I sometimes perceive to be a clash of values. What I try to reconcile within myself is the fact that my values are not nobler than those of others; yet if truth be told this is a challenge that I must admit to having......if someone else values something that I conceive to be 'wrong' I have a very difficult time in accepting it. This is where I try hard to draw up my empathy and to suspend judgment; and to operate from love- not always easy! I do truly believe that the more we embrace those who are not like us the more we connect the world through our humanity.

So, although I may not be able to change things at a very large level I can most certainly make an impact in my spheres of influence:

I will show up with compassion and non-judgement with my family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances
I will live by my values and call out things that I believe to be offensive and hurtful. Yes, I am my brother and sisters keeper.
I will get involved and not passively sit by and expect someone else to change things.
In my work, I will step out of my comfort zone and talk about things like love, compassion and empathy even when I know that I will be met with resistance or ridicule.
I call on all my fellow human beings to consider how you show up, speak up and use the power of your words, actions (or sometimes inaction) to help shift the needle if only even an inch. If we all push just even an inch to bring humanity back into our way of being and shape shift our organizations to being more humane we will collectively move the needle by miles and not just inches.

Join the movement and I invite you to make a public commitment to create more #humaneworkplaces.

Caroline Samne - Change Leadership and Culture  Change Expert

The Pillars Blog

Larva being transformed into butterflies to resemble why business transformation can not be treated
06 Oct, 2022
Organizational change is complex and multidimensional; therefore, it is critical to use a holistic and human centric framework for change and transformation to capture the effects of a change on all aspects of the organization. What do we mean by a holistic and human centric framework? Too often we think of change and transformation as something that is project based and that can be done in some sequential and procedural manner. This is, in our experience, never the case. Why is that? First, organizations are complex living systems where like an organism, it changes based on both internal and external variables; therefore, it is very difficult to predict and account for every possibility or situation. When we use methods that are too rigid and timeboxed it causes much stress and inability to follow the plan, therefore causing it to be ineffective and unrealistic. This ultimately leads to people feeling overwhelmed and drained by unrealistic expectations in plans that often are built without any consultation or input from the very people who will most be impacted. Second, we often see a lack of alignment amongst the leaders who are asked to guide others through the process of change. Lack of alignment on where we are headed, why we are headed there and an imbalance in leaders ability to lead change. All of these factors can cause confusion and stress for all stakeholders involved. Third, the behavioural sciences have shown us that people are motivated by autonomy, mastery and meaningful contribution as key elements of fulfillment at work. These elements do not disappear during a process of change and transformation. On the contrary they most often become heightened in that people don’t want to feel like they don’t have control, or that things are being done to them instead of with them. If we know this about human motivation then it should be included in any process of transformation. The other element often missing within a transformation is a systemic view of the interrelationships between all the parts of an organization. We often mistakenly believe that we can truly isolate change to one part of an organization and box it into a project plan. Systems thinking encourages us to look at how the parts are interconnected and understanding how pulling one string often ends up unraveling many other parts. It is naïve to believe that organizations can completely isolate a change within one part of an organization without impacting other pieces. When we don’t think about the interrelations, we end up planning a siloed approach which long term rarely works. It is akin to going to the doctor for a pain in your back and the doctor never looking to understand the root cause or if the back pain is coming from a problem somewhere else in the body. Looking strictly at the back leads to a limited view with a strong possibility of not ‘fixing’ the problem long term. When we instigate a change within one part of the organization without looking at the impacts throughout, we risk creating short-term change that cannot be sustained long term. This then means that a holistic and human centric approach should be based on several guiding principles: Involvement: This includes meaningful involvement of all stakeholders in the change process. Alignment: This means working with leadership teams to align on the change and to commit in a meaningful way to the change process. Empowerment: This includes giving people control over certain decisions in parts of the process that impact them. Systems thinking: This includes understanding the relationships and impacts throughout the organization because of the change and planning for a holistic strategy. If change and transformation should not be treated in the same way we do projects, then just how should we ‘manage the process?’ First, it requires borrowing from human centered design principles: Identify other users: this means that when you are building a process, you do not do it in isolation but with those who will be most impacted and ask yourself the question ‘who else may also be impacted by this?’ An example of this includes when building your plan is to bring together a cross-section of all the stakeholders who are impacted by the transformation to co-create and develop the process so that they can not only feel ownership of the process but also highlight any blind spots that we have. Follow your users: this implies that they are the ones who have the expertise and knowledge about what works best- let them guide the timeframes, outcomes, etc. This should be a collaborative effort. Continuing the example above, this same group of people who have been brought together are best placed to speak to the reality of their workloads, resources available etc. This not only builds commitment to the process it also creates alignment as to what is possible throughout the organization. Think about the whole journey: this means that you cannot build a plan strictly in the traditional phased manner. When we try to build plans in a phased way it may seem easier to handle yet does not look at the process as a whole and risks missing important connections between ‘phases.’ In other words, draw out the whole journey map even if you would like to break things down into smaller-sized deliverables. This means that we create a journey map with our group of stakeholders, who can then see the process in its entirety instead of just small parts at a time. When we look at things from a holistic point of view it allows the organization to be better prepared for what’s to come, minimizing the element of surprise which can cause people to push back. The more that we can give people control over what’s to come, the better we set the foundation for success. Second and maybe first is to understand your organization’s readiness for change by identifying factors that could impact the success of the change. If people do not feel ready, capable, and supported to engage in the process of transformation then even the best devised ‘plan’ will not be sufficient to help people transition to a future state. How can you assess if your organization is ready? You can use a variety of different assessments such as the Organizational Transformation Alignment Survey to tap into the potential levers for success and areas of concern. You can also host a variety of one-on-one conversations, focus groups and other pointed types of surveys to assess readiness. The key point is that your organization’s readiness and people’s willingness and capacity to embark on a journey of transformation must be present before even considering the how. The Pillars works with organizations that are ready to embark on journeys of change and transformation. Our process using our Organizational Transformation and Alignment (OTA) framework considers the mechanics of a change (e.g., how processes will be impacted), as well as how people within the organization grapple with a change. Just as no two organizations are alike, no two changes are alike. Our OTA framework operates on this principle. Our framework is accompanied by our Organizational Transformation Alignment Survey. The Organizational Transformation & Alignment Survey (OTAS) is designed to help organizations identify strong points and areas of improvement that could potentially impact their efforts at organizational change. It measures performance in and alignment between four key areas, referred to as the four pillars of an organization. These four pillars are: 1) Strategy and Culture, 2) Leadership, 3) Organizational Practices and 4) Employees. If you would like a sample report of our Organizational Transformation Alignment Survey please feel free to email us at info@thepillars.ca 
Business people sitting around a work table discussing if they are a team or a group.
By Caroline Samne 26 Jan, 2022
Are you a team, or are you a group? What is the difference, and how does that affect your work dynamics? Find out more here.
By Caroline Samne 18 Mar, 2021
The last 12 months have forced upon us more change than what we would have normally experienced in many years. This has been heavy for people, organizations and societies to carry. Some are handling the changes well and many are struggling in one way or another. This article will explore how the changes brought about by recent events have been addressed, how to thrive through change in general and why we may get stuck in the process of transformation. I have been working in the area of organizational change and transformation for more years than I can remember. Through my experience in the field I have sadly seen many recurring challenges and unsuccessful change initiatives. When I say unsuccessful, I measure this by so many yard sticks which include: The people impacted by the changes were often left worse off than they were found. This is an issue that I get very emotional about, as I have seen many people left stressed by changes that were imposed on them or were not well thought out, often without support. Many people have their reputations tarnished for being deemed ‘resistors’ or ‘trouble makers’ because they didn’t acquiesce or ‘get on board’ with the change. This to me cannot be deemed a success when we force change on people and figuratively leave a trail of casualties behind and tell people that the change is done. The organization never really had a clear reason or vision as to why they were embarking on this change and therefore could not align leaders or team members to the desired outcome. This lack of clarity and alignment has in my experience led to half-done projects that keep getting altered as people cannot agree on what it was supposed to be in the first place. When you don’t know why you are doing something and do not have a clear vision of where you are headed, it becomes difficult to say that you have reached your destination. Changes that may have seen a ‘go-live’ date yet had no engagement or enthusiasm behind them, ended up dying within months of a so-called successful implementation. Real transformation happens as an ongoing process of adaptation, adoption and integration into the DNA of the organization. The change advantaged a small group within the organization yet caused a lot of heartache and problems for other segments of the organization. Changes that are not systemic in nature in my experience are rarely successful. When we treat organizations as completely siloed entities (despite how they may be drawn on the organigram), we are not being realistic, as organizations truly are living systems of interconnected parts. Although these above noted points are not new or completely revolutionary, what this past year has exposed to all of us is the fact that, like it or not, we are all connected. What happens in one part of the world has ripple effects in all parts of the globe. This principle of connectivity is true in organizations as well, a reality which the pandemic has exposed. As we had to adapt most of our work to a virtual setting and navigate our way through many unknowns, we saw people working hand in hand to figure it all out. We have seen people who never really collaborated before working together to make things happen; whether it was to create ways in which to keep people connected, create shared virtual work spaces, research best technologies to use, etc. People started to really understand how much we truly do depend on each other. When one discovers something new it is good for all of us to learn, and if one of us fails it is up to all of us to help to lift that person/project/team up. We learned that if one department wasn’t succeeding it would impact all of us as we are ONE ORGANIZATION. These same lessons hopefully will be carried into how we bring long term change into our organizations. The other thing that Covid has exposed to us is that we are now looking at not simply making changes in our organizations, but undergoing transformations. I define a change as moving from being a red apple to a green apple; an example of this would be changing one software for another that has different features. In contrast, I define a transformation as moving from being an apple to becoming an orange. A transformation is a true shift in the essence of either who you are, what you do, or why you do it. An example of this is a company that goes from being hierarchical and top-down to one that is flatter in structure with more self-managed teams. As a result of what we have been experiencing, many organizations are currently thinking about what their future work model will look like. Will they adopt a hybrid model of work, will they go back to status quo, will they have a flex model? All of these questions will not only change an organization but will transform it at many levels as it will require more than simply adopting a policy and sending some communications to ‘inform’ people of what is happening. This is a transformation, as it may require different values, new team agreements/norms, a shift in leadership mindsets, or a re-design of work, amongst many other things that will need to transform. Now is the time to break the molds of the many old and outdated models and beliefs we have around change and transformation in particular. We have been developing and testing a framework that has allowed us to blend not only the components we believe are needed for successful transformation (the WHAT), but also the way in which we implement the components of the framework (the HOW). For us, the HOW refers to using human-centric principles that allow for authentic and heart-centric leadership as well as full engagement and co-creation by the stakeholders impacted by the transformation. We have concluded over time that a holistic process of transformation is really built on some core principles: Organizations need to look at transformation as a holistic process because when we ‘push one button’ it almost immediately triggers other parts to shift as well. Not only is transformation about people, it has to be co-created and designed with people. Organizations are living systems which need to have alignment within all ‘parts’ for the whole to function optimally. We called the framework Organizational Transformation and Alignment (OTA) as we believe that for acceleration, adoption and long term sustainability to occur, we need alignment in 4 key areas: Strategy and Culture: Strategy encompasses the organization’s mission, its vision of the future and the goals it sets to achieve them. Culture represents the values, beliefs and behaviours shared by all members of an organization. Leadership refers to how capable and aligned an organization’s leaders are of leading their organization through a process of transformation in a way that is consistent with the organization’s vision and values. Organizational Practices include aligning the processes, structure and tools that are put in place to support the desired transformation. Employee Engagement: Employees are integral to a successful transformation. This pillar incorporates factors that promote employee engagement and processes for collaborative input into the transformation. The interplay and alignment between these 4 areas is critical as we know that systems are interconnected and real transformation cannot occur if we have misalignment in one or more of the four areas. Let’s take the example of an organization re-imagining what it’s future work model will look and walk it through the OTA framework: Strategy and Culture: Are we able to clearly articulate who we are as a company? Do we have clear values that are translated into actionable behaviours? Has our vision changed? Are our goals and intentions still the same? Will we need to change any products/services, etc.? These questions not only need to be answered, you need to have alignment amongst your leadership team and all team members. This is foundational to help you move forward in your thinking and determine which work model will best serve your organization rather than try to ‘pick a model’ and then try to retrofit it to who you are as a company. One size will not fit all and each process should be customized to who you are and what you are trying to accomplish as a company. Leadership: Are your leaders aligned to the same vision of the transformation? Do your leaders have the skills/mindset/behaviours needed to navigate through the desired future reality? If your leaders do not align, then the messaging that is sent throughout the organization becomes distorted, confusing and chaos provoking. For example, if the organization decides that based on strategy and culture you are going to provide a complete flexible choice model allowing people to work from anywhere they want, yet have leaders who do not buy into this and send different messaging to their people, you are in for trouble and chaos between teams. Organizational Practices : Are your tools/processes/resources etc. aligned to support the desired transformation? If you go with the example of allowing for full flexibility yet don’t provide people with the technology and software needed for virtual collaboration, then your transformation will not succeed fully if at all. Employee Engagement and Alignment: Are people involved in the process in a meaningful way? This means not just simply sending a survey asking people what they would prefer but truly engaging people in meaningful conversations about the possibilities, what they would need, how they would like it to happen, etc. This means that they get to not only fill in a survey but actually engage in the design and implementation of the new reality. It also means that we equip people with meaningful development opportunities and support to learn how to thrive in the new reality. This framework is not linear and will flow back and forth as organizations are organic, living systems. Nothing stays static for too long and new variables arise all the time. Therefore, just because you feel like you aligned on any one (or more) of the pillars does not mean that you do not check back in to see if anything needs adjusting. The OTA Framework requires that leaders come into the process with a mindset of humility, meaning that they understand that they do not hold all the answers and that they must harvest the collective wisdom of their people in order for their organization to not only adapt to on-going changes and transformation but to really allow for accelerated and sustainable results. This process also requires that everyone within the system believe that they are leaders and act accordingly. This means that we adopt a mindset of collaboration and true co-creation rather than waiting for someone else to take a first step, try something new or simply get involved. For people to feel capable to jump in and contribute they must have psychological safety, as well as the tools and space to do so. This may seem easier said than done, yet it is necessary and critical to creating successful transformation.
Storm on the sea depicting VUCA (volatile, unpredictable, complex and ambiguous) climate.
By Caroline Samne - Co-Founder of The Pillars 17 Mar, 2020
When we talk about living in a VUCA (Volatile, Unpredictable, Complex and Ambiguous) world, this pandemic is an unfortunate example of this concept. Until we are faced with events that throw us for a double loop, it is easy to think of VUCA as a concept that only applies in theory.
How to bring change to an organization.
By Caroline Samne 12 Aug, 2019
Everyone has a journey and no one way or method is the answer. The truth of our journey lies within us; the key is to take the time to look inward so that we can become the best version of ourselves. It is at that point that we can truly become effective stewards of change within organizations.
Understanding the Impact of Organizational Structure Upon Mergers & Acquisitions
By Sean M. Hayes, PsyD Cohaesio; Dominique Laverdière, CRHA Cohaesio; Caroline Samne The Pillars; Anne Pertus, The Pillars; 03 Jul, 2019
In a recent Health Leaders Intelligence Report the authors concluded that recognizing and addressing organizational cultures is the cornerstone for effective and efficient mergers and acquisitions. Our research has found that while organizational culture should be king, organizational culture it is at best overlooked or neglected altogether. Why? Read more here.
Why do Mergers and Acquisitions have such a high failure rate?
By Sean M. Hayes, PsyD Cohaesio; Dominique Laverdière, CRHA Cohaesio; Caroline Samne The Pillars; Anne Pertus, The Pillars; 18 May, 2019
Considerable time, effort and investment is undertaken to asses the variables of structure, legal, process, technology, systems, human resource, and infrastructure and to plan accordingly. Nonetheless, in spite of this rigor, estimates indicate that 83% of M&As fail. Why? Find out here. Part 1
By Martin Plebon 28 Mar, 2019
When I look at organizations and workplaces in general, I am hopeful that we are making progress in creating cultures that are human and caring. Yet there are days when I am met with situations where people relate stories such as “today my boss told me that I am focusing too much on the 'soft stuff.” This often stops me in my tracks and I ask the question, "Well, what is considered the soft stuff and how much is too much?"
More Posts
Larva being transformed into butterflies to resemble why business transformation can not be treated
06 Oct, 2022
Organizational change is complex and multidimensional; therefore, it is critical to use a holistic and human centric framework for change and transformation to capture the effects of a change on all aspects of the organization. What do we mean by a holistic and human centric framework? Too often we think of change and transformation as something that is project based and that can be done in some sequential and procedural manner. This is, in our experience, never the case. Why is that? First, organizations are complex living systems where like an organism, it changes based on both internal and external variables; therefore, it is very difficult to predict and account for every possibility or situation. When we use methods that are too rigid and timeboxed it causes much stress and inability to follow the plan, therefore causing it to be ineffective and unrealistic. This ultimately leads to people feeling overwhelmed and drained by unrealistic expectations in plans that often are built without any consultation or input from the very people who will most be impacted. Second, we often see a lack of alignment amongst the leaders who are asked to guide others through the process of change. Lack of alignment on where we are headed, why we are headed there and an imbalance in leaders ability to lead change. All of these factors can cause confusion and stress for all stakeholders involved. Third, the behavioural sciences have shown us that people are motivated by autonomy, mastery and meaningful contribution as key elements of fulfillment at work. These elements do not disappear during a process of change and transformation. On the contrary they most often become heightened in that people don’t want to feel like they don’t have control, or that things are being done to them instead of with them. If we know this about human motivation then it should be included in any process of transformation. The other element often missing within a transformation is a systemic view of the interrelationships between all the parts of an organization. We often mistakenly believe that we can truly isolate change to one part of an organization and box it into a project plan. Systems thinking encourages us to look at how the parts are interconnected and understanding how pulling one string often ends up unraveling many other parts. It is naïve to believe that organizations can completely isolate a change within one part of an organization without impacting other pieces. When we don’t think about the interrelations, we end up planning a siloed approach which long term rarely works. It is akin to going to the doctor for a pain in your back and the doctor never looking to understand the root cause or if the back pain is coming from a problem somewhere else in the body. Looking strictly at the back leads to a limited view with a strong possibility of not ‘fixing’ the problem long term. When we instigate a change within one part of the organization without looking at the impacts throughout, we risk creating short-term change that cannot be sustained long term. This then means that a holistic and human centric approach should be based on several guiding principles: Involvement: This includes meaningful involvement of all stakeholders in the change process. Alignment: This means working with leadership teams to align on the change and to commit in a meaningful way to the change process. Empowerment: This includes giving people control over certain decisions in parts of the process that impact them. Systems thinking: This includes understanding the relationships and impacts throughout the organization because of the change and planning for a holistic strategy. If change and transformation should not be treated in the same way we do projects, then just how should we ‘manage the process?’ First, it requires borrowing from human centered design principles: Identify other users: this means that when you are building a process, you do not do it in isolation but with those who will be most impacted and ask yourself the question ‘who else may also be impacted by this?’ An example of this includes when building your plan is to bring together a cross-section of all the stakeholders who are impacted by the transformation to co-create and develop the process so that they can not only feel ownership of the process but also highlight any blind spots that we have. Follow your users: this implies that they are the ones who have the expertise and knowledge about what works best- let them guide the timeframes, outcomes, etc. This should be a collaborative effort. Continuing the example above, this same group of people who have been brought together are best placed to speak to the reality of their workloads, resources available etc. This not only builds commitment to the process it also creates alignment as to what is possible throughout the organization. Think about the whole journey: this means that you cannot build a plan strictly in the traditional phased manner. When we try to build plans in a phased way it may seem easier to handle yet does not look at the process as a whole and risks missing important connections between ‘phases.’ In other words, draw out the whole journey map even if you would like to break things down into smaller-sized deliverables. This means that we create a journey map with our group of stakeholders, who can then see the process in its entirety instead of just small parts at a time. When we look at things from a holistic point of view it allows the organization to be better prepared for what’s to come, minimizing the element of surprise which can cause people to push back. The more that we can give people control over what’s to come, the better we set the foundation for success. Second and maybe first is to understand your organization’s readiness for change by identifying factors that could impact the success of the change. If people do not feel ready, capable, and supported to engage in the process of transformation then even the best devised ‘plan’ will not be sufficient to help people transition to a future state. How can you assess if your organization is ready? You can use a variety of different assessments such as the Organizational Transformation Alignment Survey to tap into the potential levers for success and areas of concern. You can also host a variety of one-on-one conversations, focus groups and other pointed types of surveys to assess readiness. The key point is that your organization’s readiness and people’s willingness and capacity to embark on a journey of transformation must be present before even considering the how. The Pillars works with organizations that are ready to embark on journeys of change and transformation. Our process using our Organizational Transformation and Alignment (OTA) framework considers the mechanics of a change (e.g., how processes will be impacted), as well as how people within the organization grapple with a change. Just as no two organizations are alike, no two changes are alike. Our OTA framework operates on this principle. Our framework is accompanied by our Organizational Transformation Alignment Survey. The Organizational Transformation & Alignment Survey (OTAS) is designed to help organizations identify strong points and areas of improvement that could potentially impact their efforts at organizational change. It measures performance in and alignment between four key areas, referred to as the four pillars of an organization. These four pillars are: 1) Strategy and Culture, 2) Leadership, 3) Organizational Practices and 4) Employees. If you would like a sample report of our Organizational Transformation Alignment Survey please feel free to email us at info@thepillars.ca 
Business people sitting around a work table discussing if they are a team or a group.
By Caroline Samne 26 Jan, 2022
Are you a team, or are you a group? What is the difference, and how does that affect your work dynamics? Find out more here.
By Caroline Samne 18 Mar, 2021
The last 12 months have forced upon us more change than what we would have normally experienced in many years. This has been heavy for people, organizations and societies to carry. Some are handling the changes well and many are struggling in one way or another. This article will explore how the changes brought about by recent events have been addressed, how to thrive through change in general and why we may get stuck in the process of transformation. I have been working in the area of organizational change and transformation for more years than I can remember. Through my experience in the field I have sadly seen many recurring challenges and unsuccessful change initiatives. When I say unsuccessful, I measure this by so many yard sticks which include: The people impacted by the changes were often left worse off than they were found. This is an issue that I get very emotional about, as I have seen many people left stressed by changes that were imposed on them or were not well thought out, often without support. Many people have their reputations tarnished for being deemed ‘resistors’ or ‘trouble makers’ because they didn’t acquiesce or ‘get on board’ with the change. This to me cannot be deemed a success when we force change on people and figuratively leave a trail of casualties behind and tell people that the change is done. The organization never really had a clear reason or vision as to why they were embarking on this change and therefore could not align leaders or team members to the desired outcome. This lack of clarity and alignment has in my experience led to half-done projects that keep getting altered as people cannot agree on what it was supposed to be in the first place. When you don’t know why you are doing something and do not have a clear vision of where you are headed, it becomes difficult to say that you have reached your destination. Changes that may have seen a ‘go-live’ date yet had no engagement or enthusiasm behind them, ended up dying within months of a so-called successful implementation. Real transformation happens as an ongoing process of adaptation, adoption and integration into the DNA of the organization. The change advantaged a small group within the organization yet caused a lot of heartache and problems for other segments of the organization. Changes that are not systemic in nature in my experience are rarely successful. When we treat organizations as completely siloed entities (despite how they may be drawn on the organigram), we are not being realistic, as organizations truly are living systems of interconnected parts. Although these above noted points are not new or completely revolutionary, what this past year has exposed to all of us is the fact that, like it or not, we are all connected. What happens in one part of the world has ripple effects in all parts of the globe. This principle of connectivity is true in organizations as well, a reality which the pandemic has exposed. As we had to adapt most of our work to a virtual setting and navigate our way through many unknowns, we saw people working hand in hand to figure it all out. We have seen people who never really collaborated before working together to make things happen; whether it was to create ways in which to keep people connected, create shared virtual work spaces, research best technologies to use, etc. People started to really understand how much we truly do depend on each other. When one discovers something new it is good for all of us to learn, and if one of us fails it is up to all of us to help to lift that person/project/team up. We learned that if one department wasn’t succeeding it would impact all of us as we are ONE ORGANIZATION. These same lessons hopefully will be carried into how we bring long term change into our organizations. The other thing that Covid has exposed to us is that we are now looking at not simply making changes in our organizations, but undergoing transformations. I define a change as moving from being a red apple to a green apple; an example of this would be changing one software for another that has different features. In contrast, I define a transformation as moving from being an apple to becoming an orange. A transformation is a true shift in the essence of either who you are, what you do, or why you do it. An example of this is a company that goes from being hierarchical and top-down to one that is flatter in structure with more self-managed teams. As a result of what we have been experiencing, many organizations are currently thinking about what their future work model will look like. Will they adopt a hybrid model of work, will they go back to status quo, will they have a flex model? All of these questions will not only change an organization but will transform it at many levels as it will require more than simply adopting a policy and sending some communications to ‘inform’ people of what is happening. This is a transformation, as it may require different values, new team agreements/norms, a shift in leadership mindsets, or a re-design of work, amongst many other things that will need to transform. Now is the time to break the molds of the many old and outdated models and beliefs we have around change and transformation in particular. We have been developing and testing a framework that has allowed us to blend not only the components we believe are needed for successful transformation (the WHAT), but also the way in which we implement the components of the framework (the HOW). For us, the HOW refers to using human-centric principles that allow for authentic and heart-centric leadership as well as full engagement and co-creation by the stakeholders impacted by the transformation. We have concluded over time that a holistic process of transformation is really built on some core principles: Organizations need to look at transformation as a holistic process because when we ‘push one button’ it almost immediately triggers other parts to shift as well. Not only is transformation about people, it has to be co-created and designed with people. Organizations are living systems which need to have alignment within all ‘parts’ for the whole to function optimally. We called the framework Organizational Transformation and Alignment (OTA) as we believe that for acceleration, adoption and long term sustainability to occur, we need alignment in 4 key areas: Strategy and Culture: Strategy encompasses the organization’s mission, its vision of the future and the goals it sets to achieve them. Culture represents the values, beliefs and behaviours shared by all members of an organization. Leadership refers to how capable and aligned an organization’s leaders are of leading their organization through a process of transformation in a way that is consistent with the organization’s vision and values. Organizational Practices include aligning the processes, structure and tools that are put in place to support the desired transformation. Employee Engagement: Employees are integral to a successful transformation. This pillar incorporates factors that promote employee engagement and processes for collaborative input into the transformation. The interplay and alignment between these 4 areas is critical as we know that systems are interconnected and real transformation cannot occur if we have misalignment in one or more of the four areas. Let’s take the example of an organization re-imagining what it’s future work model will look and walk it through the OTA framework: Strategy and Culture: Are we able to clearly articulate who we are as a company? Do we have clear values that are translated into actionable behaviours? Has our vision changed? Are our goals and intentions still the same? Will we need to change any products/services, etc.? These questions not only need to be answered, you need to have alignment amongst your leadership team and all team members. This is foundational to help you move forward in your thinking and determine which work model will best serve your organization rather than try to ‘pick a model’ and then try to retrofit it to who you are as a company. One size will not fit all and each process should be customized to who you are and what you are trying to accomplish as a company. Leadership: Are your leaders aligned to the same vision of the transformation? Do your leaders have the skills/mindset/behaviours needed to navigate through the desired future reality? If your leaders do not align, then the messaging that is sent throughout the organization becomes distorted, confusing and chaos provoking. For example, if the organization decides that based on strategy and culture you are going to provide a complete flexible choice model allowing people to work from anywhere they want, yet have leaders who do not buy into this and send different messaging to their people, you are in for trouble and chaos between teams. Organizational Practices : Are your tools/processes/resources etc. aligned to support the desired transformation? If you go with the example of allowing for full flexibility yet don’t provide people with the technology and software needed for virtual collaboration, then your transformation will not succeed fully if at all. Employee Engagement and Alignment: Are people involved in the process in a meaningful way? This means not just simply sending a survey asking people what they would prefer but truly engaging people in meaningful conversations about the possibilities, what they would need, how they would like it to happen, etc. This means that they get to not only fill in a survey but actually engage in the design and implementation of the new reality. It also means that we equip people with meaningful development opportunities and support to learn how to thrive in the new reality. This framework is not linear and will flow back and forth as organizations are organic, living systems. Nothing stays static for too long and new variables arise all the time. Therefore, just because you feel like you aligned on any one (or more) of the pillars does not mean that you do not check back in to see if anything needs adjusting. The OTA Framework requires that leaders come into the process with a mindset of humility, meaning that they understand that they do not hold all the answers and that they must harvest the collective wisdom of their people in order for their organization to not only adapt to on-going changes and transformation but to really allow for accelerated and sustainable results. This process also requires that everyone within the system believe that they are leaders and act accordingly. This means that we adopt a mindset of collaboration and true co-creation rather than waiting for someone else to take a first step, try something new or simply get involved. For people to feel capable to jump in and contribute they must have psychological safety, as well as the tools and space to do so. This may seem easier said than done, yet it is necessary and critical to creating successful transformation.
Storm on the sea depicting VUCA (volatile, unpredictable, complex and ambiguous) climate.
By Caroline Samne - Co-Founder of The Pillars 17 Mar, 2020
When we talk about living in a VUCA (Volatile, Unpredictable, Complex and Ambiguous) world, this pandemic is an unfortunate example of this concept. Until we are faced with events that throw us for a double loop, it is easy to think of VUCA as a concept that only applies in theory.
How to bring change to an organization.
By Caroline Samne 12 Aug, 2019
Everyone has a journey and no one way or method is the answer. The truth of our journey lies within us; the key is to take the time to look inward so that we can become the best version of ourselves. It is at that point that we can truly become effective stewards of change within organizations.
Understanding the Impact of Organizational Structure Upon Mergers & Acquisitions
By Sean M. Hayes, PsyD Cohaesio; Dominique Laverdière, CRHA Cohaesio; Caroline Samne The Pillars; Anne Pertus, The Pillars; 03 Jul, 2019
In a recent Health Leaders Intelligence Report the authors concluded that recognizing and addressing organizational cultures is the cornerstone for effective and efficient mergers and acquisitions. Our research has found that while organizational culture should be king, organizational culture it is at best overlooked or neglected altogether. Why? Read more here.
Why do Mergers and Acquisitions have such a high failure rate?
By Sean M. Hayes, PsyD Cohaesio; Dominique Laverdière, CRHA Cohaesio; Caroline Samne The Pillars; Anne Pertus, The Pillars; 18 May, 2019
Considerable time, effort and investment is undertaken to asses the variables of structure, legal, process, technology, systems, human resource, and infrastructure and to plan accordingly. Nonetheless, in spite of this rigor, estimates indicate that 83% of M&As fail. Why? Find out here. Part 1
By Martin Plebon 28 Mar, 2019
When I look at organizations and workplaces in general, I am hopeful that we are making progress in creating cultures that are human and caring. Yet there are days when I am met with situations where people relate stories such as “today my boss told me that I am focusing too much on the 'soft stuff.” This often stops me in my tracks and I ask the question, "Well, what is considered the soft stuff and how much is too much?"
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