Deep Change – ElPropósito3 min de lectura

What happens when we change the foundations?

Photo by Nathaniel Shuman on Unsplash

Values describe the culture we want. Many organizations fight every day to make deep, substantial changes of every kind. When those changes come from the need to serve customers better and deliver much more value, they tend to have a big impact. The environment, the playing field they operate on, also plays a major role in setting the direction of change. Big changes start in the deepest fibers, and when those shift, everything changes.

Once we understand that the most radical changes come from altering the foundations and essence of a person or organization, we’re talking about deep change. We talk about transformation through innovation, executing strategy, building the organization of this century, taking the company to the next level and so on. Deep down, what people want is radical change, and radical change happens in values and therefore in culture. It means completely, or largely, changing how things have been done. That has consequences, because as we alter the foundations and core pillars, the new organization needs to stand on much sturdier ones. How do we know the strength is right?

One of the big mistakes we can make when changing the foundations, such as the values I’ve been describing, is forgetting that the change can’t be undone. Change doesn’t always mean altering the foundations. Very often it means adapting while keeping them intact. A building gets torn down when it can no longer stand, let alone hold up the people inside. Yet some buildings date back centuries and still stand, which tells us that what lies beneath was extremely well built. Some organizations have no need to change their values, culture or foundations. What they need is leadership, vision, a good strategy and, above all, discipline in executing it.

The key to change is identifying the vision of the future: where we want to go and where we’re heading. A ship on the right course stays true to its north, its purpose. It knows that once it has set sail, changes are kept to a minimum to hold the course. That’s how great transformations happen. They stay true to the essence that gave the organization life from the start, its purpose and its values. They believe deeply in a cohesive culture. And above all, they guide every step while respecting everything that simply can’t be changed on a whim, to follow a trend, or without accepting that the change can’t be undone.

Can we change? Of course. Change is what moves the universe. Yet the universe itself has two or three inviolable laws, and they’re what hold it together and allow us to live. So the question should always be: what, at its core, do we want to change?

Warm regards and all the best,

Rodrigo Baccaro

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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