What if your team owned transformation?

I've spent years as a marketing and comms agency owner sitting across the table from senior leadership teams wrestling with constant change and embracing transformation programs as a magic pill that will fix the organisation for good. 

And it took me the best part of 2 decades to get my head around why transformation, especially in large organisations, is such a challenge and is often short-lived despite the leadership team’s best intentions. 

Here's what I've observed 

The organisations and the teams that truly thrive are not “subjected” to transformation. They own it. They make it a business capability that they drive from within. 

If I think about how most transformations play out... More often than not it starts with someone in the leadership team identifying a deep issue in the organisation that is limiting performance. Then there’s an agreement internally that something has got to change. Not sure what, when, how… Often feeling too close to the issue to see straight. So the leadership team decides to reach out to an external consultancy firm to come to the rescue. The consultants come in with frameworks and roadmaps, stakeholders’ engagement plans (if you’ve worked with me before you know I love these by the way). Excitement builds up: workshops, presentation packs, big launch, training sessions, and… that’s it. The organisation is now equipped to change.  

Unfortunately, from here, it’s common for momentum to fade quite quickly; until the next big transformation program! 

Why is it that transformation does not stick?  

I asked myself this question over the years and it’s only when I came across the CubeNorth philosophy and systems that it all became clearer to me.  

Transformation in most cases is “prescribed” from the outside. That magic pill I referred to earlier. Leadership waits for direction and teams implement without real buy-in. It feels like something done for, even to, them, as opposed to something they have agency over.  

The leadership team nods along to external advice although deep down they feel it won't stick without internal roots. Sustainable transformation demands internal drive and governance. 

On the flip side, when the team treats transformation as their own, as a capability they have developed, something they lead, adapt, and renew on their own accord, transformation seems to become a part of the organisation’s DNA. That is when the magic happens.  

The shift I'm seeing with forward-thinking leaders  

Leaders who are empowering teams to adapt to change by equipping the organisation so that it can evolve from within are the ones that make transformation sustainable. By internalising transformation, the team builds the skills, mindsets, structures and tools for self-sustaining change and continuous reinvention.  

The role of external consultants to support business leaders is becoming clearer. It is one of a catalyst to guide deployment, provide structure and the tools for the organisation to build their own capability to enable transformation. 

Forward-thinking leaders understand that consultants are not rescuers fixing everything for good. They are important to identify gaps, provide a diagnosis and some direction. Their “intervention” is temporary. Sustainable change happens when the organisation owns the transformation capability and the ability to evolve from within. 

I've watched this transformation first-hand with leadership teams we worked with. They were trapped in reactive rollouts, fragmented efforts, and low team engagement. Once they embraced ownership of their transformation system, they moved to a more seamless adaptation, empowered teams and greater performance.  

As cliché and overused as it may sound, “Change is the only constant”. So, what if we embraced change as a fuel for high-performance? What if transformation wasn't a survival mode but a capability your team owns?