Effectuation

Effectuation is the the processes of opportunity identification and new venture creation...

https://philippesilberzahneng.wordpress.com/2017/10/16/effectuation-how-entrepreneurs-really-think-and-act/

Transformation - distinguishing between strategy and execution

• One of the worst mistakes of transformation is distinguishing between strategy and execution.
• Strategy is designed by the executive management in collaboration with premier consulting firm, and Execution is delegated to second-rung consulting firm, as an after thought.
•  The strategy thus is a romantic and mechanistic conception. 
• It soon turns out to be - "Our transformation strategy is perfectly clear, but we had a big execution problem",
• This leads to stalling of transformations in large companies and causes a strong push from the top management and strong tensions within the middle management.
• The strategy is not executed because it is not a true reflection of the capabilities of the organization. 
• If strategy execution is a problem, then execution is a strategic issue that strategic thinking has wrongfully ignored.
• To distinguish Strategy from Execution is to exempt top management of any responsibility in the transformation. 

Courtesy: Philippe Silberzahneng

Entrepreneurial Posture

• Employees are bombarded with messages praising the entrepreneurial posture. Innovate! Get started! Be brave! Accept to make mistakes! Be like Google! Take the plunge! There are 3 problems associated with this:
• This is a bad prescription, since hoping for everyone to become an entrepreneur is a fantasy.
•  It is counterproductive. Creative Chaos is not conducive to activity at all levels. 
• The entrepreneurial imperative is stressful and humiliating. Employees are already overworked and immersed in everyday problems, under pressure for results. Not everybody can be a superhero.
• Entrepreneurial mindset is indeed helpful, to put organization back in motion. 
• There is a need to abandon the super-hero connotations associated with Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs are ordinary mortals, with a deep affinity towards partnership, collaboration to do new and useful things.

Courtesy: Philippe Silberzahneng

Disruption and Speed of Change

• Disruption develops in a non-linear way -- first almost invisibly for years
• Then it suddenly, after it has reached a tipping point, begins to be "noticed"
• Incumbents' initial reaction -- is "Why Worry"?
• But when it suddenly accelerates, sets a panic in the incumbents.

A disruption is therefore a process, not an event. It emerges and develops, sometimes for years, without any noticeable impact, at least from the point of view of the incumbents, who thus tend to dismiss it. As time passes without visible impact, the dismissal seems more and more justified when, after sometimes a long while, it goes into accelerated mode. And then it generates shock and surprise, but this shock and this surprise are entirely self-inflicted. They result from the inability from incumbents to appreciate the true non-linear nature of the disruption.

Courtesy: Philippe Silberzahneng

Why Organizational Change is Difficult...

Adapted from Phillipe Silberzahneng's write up.

"When an organization’s capabilities reside in its resources (initial stage of startup), change is easy: the founders decide to change, and the organization can pivot. It is the strength of startups to change very easily when the founders are aware of the need to change their model. But when, at a later stage, an organization’s abilities reside in its processes, and even more so when they reside in its values, change becomes extremely difficult."

Changing values is difficult -- for e.g. most of us don't exercise regularly or eat balanced diet despite knowing its benefits. It's a deep change in lifestyle that affect the present commitments. It's the same for companies affected by disruption.

Changing values of an organization is titanic because it entails undermining the legacy long before it allows the birth of new one.

A solution to this is create an Autonomous Entity that takes care of this disruption.