Transforming an enterprise is not fundamentally different from what happens when an individual decides to change. Properly understood, a corporation or a non-profit organization is like a living creature, a coherent entity with a single identity that comprehends all of its constituent parts. Like a living organism, a business is one thing, regardless of its size or complexity. Like an organism, an enterprise can change.
How does change occur? The formula is: awareness + intention + sustained effort. It happens when:
- A compelling, intrinsic reason to change exists
- That reason is understood and accepted by a critical mass of people
- Those people voluntarily decide to effect a change
- They sustain the effort to make that change until it is done.
This is not rocket science, but it’s hard. The capacity of an enterprise for transformation depends upon its respect for its constituent people and their independent capacity to make decisions for themselves. When people decide that change is necessary, change happens.