By Rich Wellins, Ph.D.
Recently I had an opportunity to hear Gary Hamel speak, which ranked right up there as one of my top five ever. That’s saying a lot after three decades of listening to management gurus. Gary, a Harvard professor, talked about his new book, Competing for the Future. You can read a great summary of his recent thinking in a Harvard Business Review article called “Moon Shots for Management.”
Some of Gary’s moon shots:
- Eliminate the pathologies of formal hierarchy.
- Reduce fear and increase trust.
- Redefine the work of leaders as architects of innovation and collaboration.
- Empower the renegades, disarm the reactionaries.
- Make key decisions based on the collective wisdom of the entire organization.
- Share the work of setting direction.
While I listened to Gary I could not help but think, no way! I could not think of any corporation that truly embraced more than a very small handful of his moon shots. That is, until last week when I met Johan Dennelind, the CEO of DiGi Com, one of Malaysia’s leading telecoms.
A tall, blond, blue-eyed Swede, he almost seems out of place with 2,000 plus Malaysians. What blew me away was his relentless focus on culture. Almost everything went back to culture; talent and culture, strategy and culture, innovation and culture. I asked him how much of his time he spends thinking about culture. His answer: all the time!
Just a few examples:
- The building was designed with clear glass purposefully to reflect transparency.
- All titles were eliminated (even Johan’s) to reflect equality.
- Levels went from 16 to just 6 to reduce hierarchy and foster empowerment.
- All space was open. No walls or cubes. Employees sat at large worktables with 6-8 colleagues and could move from day-to-day.
- Signals of the importance of constant and shifting change include hour glasses installed on the wall.
- There are forums for associates to get involved in all aspects of the business. For example, regularly scheduled free-flows allow employees to work directly with the CEO on critical issues, like embracing the customer experience.
I could go on and on. DiGi Com’s business transformation was led by a cultural transformation. And, it paid off with substantial sales gains!
Rich Wellins is senior vice president at Development Dimensions International (DDI).
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