The ultimate recipe for change in business management

4. Going through a battle

As the team tackles the complex and pressing problem through exploration and action, they will go through conflict and turbulence, or what I like to call The Battle. This is a crucial part of the change process and needs to be managed by an experienced coach. If not managed well, or dismissed entirely, this conflict will significantly affect productivity, morale and results. When going through it successfully, however, the team will have a better understanding of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, form a closer bond and produce significantly better outcomes.

5. Synergistic co-creation

Research suggests that teams often perform less well than the sum of their members’ contributions, or 1+1< 2. This is due to flaws such as groupthink, social loafing, conformity, intragroup conflict, group polarization, the illusion of unanimity and prioritising consensus over innovation. To avoid these common traps, it’s important to understand the difference between Traditional Teamwork and 1+1=3: Synergistic Co-creation.

In Traditional Teamwork one’s ability to influence, communicate and sell one’s ideas are common success factors. In 1+1=3 however, team members are required to have an open mind, receive other’s thoughts and input and build on and challenge their ideas. This poses a tough challenge on the team as they have to break down old ways of working and create a culture of cohesion and collaboration.

6. The coach

Just like in professional sports, managing The Battle and ensuring the team is practicing 1+1=3, requires a superb coach. The coach should be hand picked and trained to empower teams to work through issues and create solutions. They should work side-by-side with the team, managing the change journey, challenging thinking, providing external perspective and ensuring the team creates breakthrough solutions and innovations that they believe in.

This model can be scaled up depending on the size of your organisation. The key is to involve approximately 15-33 per cent of your employees and developing them into change agents. That way, the desired change can more successfully ripple through the entire organisation.

Now that you have the recipe, isn’t it time you unleashed the potential in your organisation?

Therese S. Kinal is the CEO and co-founder of Unleash, a disruptive innovator in the management consulting industry. She is the co-author of “Unleashing: The Future of Work”.

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