PERSPECTIVE: THE BUSINESS ECOSYSTEM 

Every organization has an ecosystem where there is a direct and indirect relationship between all parts. A change in one part will impact all other parts to varying degrees. That’s why, for example, reorganization and restructuring has rarely produced the expected results. Changing organizational structure without re-engineering work processes will only put more stress on the organization because existing work volume is simply redistributed to current capacity. As executives and management consultants we know how many times the team working on the restructuring program didn't understand all the work processes and worse, didn’t know what they didn't know and was not open to learning.

This is the obvious. Not so obvious is leaders looking at the restructuring as an opportunity to re-invent rather than just reduce costs. As you engage in re-inventing, suddenly new possibilities emerge across all business dimensions, in strategy, products, technology, human capital, etc. 

TIME TO VALUE x VALUE OVER TIME: 

How well a plan can be executed depends on how well aligned the plan is with the culture and ecosystems of the enterprise. The less obvious approach is how to reduce time to value and increase value over time when designing and deploying a plan. Improving performance requires a plan for change. It takes time for the implementation of the plan to be completed. As the implementation advances, the results improve. How quickly the enterprise wants to get to the results depends on how committed it is to the plan and how effectively it implements. Every plan will go through a number of implementation stages. The greatest challenge occurs between integration of the plan and taking full ownership of the plan. The value of an outside agency will include filling the gaps, whether strategic or otherwise, in order for the client to achieve the greatest results in the shortest period of time. Through capitalizing on the synergy inherent in the collaboration between the client and the firm, we can move clients into the green zone. They achieve greater results in shorter periods, and are able to achieve a higher level of institutionalization to sustain the results. And ultimately, as the welfare of the client improves, so does ours.