This column is co-written by Sebastiaan Laurijsse, Senior Director IT & Digital Transformation Manager at NXP and Ilse Kerling, Founder of Global Business Academy.

Missed Part 4 of the series? Read it here.

In the previous article we outlined the complexities that service providers add to transformations.

In this article we examine the key question: do you know your stakeholders well enough? Do you understand the culture? To do this, we draw on the examples of Dutch manufacturing giant NXP. Sebastiaan Laurijsse, NXP’s Senior Director of IT & Digital Transformation Manager provides the insights in this article, and shares NXP’s journey to realising the true potential of transformation through analyses of employee skillsets.

No compromise

On the one hand, we need to understand the stakeholder and create a better connection, and on the other hand we must show that NXP is prepared to look at the cultural differences and collaboration – but we should not be prepared to compromise on the operating model in the DevOps and agile culture we want to create.

Excuses, excuses

On top of that, we’re fortunate to have really great Indian talent, but also to run into the phenomena culture. It is not okay to use culture as an excuse to delay driving collaboration. That conflicts with the principle of unlocking the true intrinsic motivation! You can only do that when you understand your international workforce. That’s why we entered into a long-term partnership with Global Business Academy, who are specialised in 21^st century intercultural skills.

Skillset of the future

21st century intercultural skills are in the top 10 skillsets of the future. It’s not just about the knowledge that there are differences – everyone knows that – but how are they different and how do you close the gaps. How do you influence, give pushback effectively, and lead in a globalised world? Thàt’s when you achieve the intercultural skillset of the future. First time rights, rolling planning, giving and receiving feedback, influencing decisions, driving efficiency: it’s just a sample out of Global Business Academy’s offering that really appealed to us. They add the global context to our curriculum.

 Integrated into DevOps and Agile

Within NXP, this is being integrated with our Agile and DevOps curriculum. Phenomena like failing fast, transparency, self-management and accountability all have a different meaning in Indian, Dutch, American and Romanian cultures. This program enables us to look at these phenomena with a global mindset. On top of that, the teams at NXP create their own common ground culture in which they turn assumptions and expectations into team agreements, and create a strategy to enhance kaizen.

 Knowledge and assumptions

The quick reaction is: I don’t have a problem. But it’s not just about growing your global mindset and learning how practical skills can help you work more efficiently; it’s also about seeing yourself through the eyes of the other person. Dutch people find it fairly easy to be vulnerable – “Brainstorm and put it on Yammer so that we can react”. But that doesn’t always work across other cultures who may not be comfortable with that level of vulnerability. By gaining insights into your own culturally-influenced expectations, you become much more effective outside of your country’s borders.

 Bias

But perhaps even more important is to challenge your own assumptions. Is it my bias, the other person’s bias, the cultural difference, or the individual? The behaviours are the same, but the foundation of behaviour really is different. This also includes challenging your opinions:

• Am I judging this person on the basis of their work or on their style?
• Do I create the safety that is needed for people to deliver good work?

It’s not just about expanding your viewpoints on the outside world, but also on the inside.  

Leadership capabilities

And that brings us back to the beginning: the value of transformations not yet realised. The singular most important aspect in transformation is leadership. The product owner manages teams of 12 – 14 people. This person must know everyone – truly know everyone. Know your people. What would be possible if you were able to unlock their intrinsic motivation? Because when you embrace change, you are the one who has the knowledge and knows the value.

In the next article, all components of article 1 to 5 come together and we will show how Sebastiaan completes successful transformations at NXP.

The post Transformation (Part 5): 21st century intercultural skills appeared first on Global Business Academy.

This column is co-written by Sebastiaan Laurijsse, Senior Director IT & Digital Transformation Manager at NXP and Ilse Kerling, Founder of Global Business Academy.

Darwin’s evolution

“If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near,” said Jack Welch, years ago.

In these times of AI, RPA, data science, blockchain and virtual agents, this saying is becoming more relevant than ever before.

The only difference is that we have so much technology, at such low costs, that we can’t speak of Jack Welch’s ‘change’ anymore. Given the huge amount of technology and, not to forget, the ever more demanding consumer, the rate of change experienced is so high that companies have to transform.

For a long time, the law of the strongest prevailed. Multinationals seemed undefeatable. But this has been replaced by Darwin’s law of evolution. Speed is crucial: it is the survival of the fastest. If you are not first to market, the potential for future revenue may begin to evaporate.

US$900 billion

While cash is still king during the pandemic, digital transformation is so important that globally, companies have spent $1.3 trillion on it this year alone.

So, the money is there. The technology is there. So why is it that, according to McKinsey, 70% of all transformations miss their goals? That translates to $900 billion for this year alone.

Before we examine the answer, let’s reflect: What does this $900 billion mean to you? How much money have you allocated to transformation? If an average of 30% is successful, what are the risk investments? And what does that risk mean for the future of your company?

Back to the main question: With such an abundance of money and technology, why do 70% of transformations still miss their target?

You probably know the answer: people and culture. But why is that so challenging? Sebastiaan Laurijsse, Senior Director IT & Digital Transformation Manager at NXP, offers some explaination: “Transformation is not the singular goal,” he says. And he is right. Transformation is a tool to reach your goals. The benefits – whether to increase sales, produce at lower cost, or reduce time to market – those are the goals.

Seen from an internal context: You need to ensure that the new ways of working are adopted so that you can develop at lower cost or need fewer resources. There is always a goal to accomplish.

Goals are often measured in revenue and costs. Experienced shareholders look at the return on investment, however: How much revenue is generated from every CapEx dollar? If you can influence the metrics of the market, you will gain shareholder interest. That means more investors and more liquid assets.

Next week: The crucial role of the CFO

In the next article we will look at the crucial role of the CFO and the skills that CFOs need to improve the success of transformation initiatives.

Sebastiaan Laurijsse
Senior Director IT & Digital Transformation Manager NXP

The post Transformation (Part 1): The Law of Evolution appeared first on Global Business Academy.

Missed Part 2 of the ‘Future Is Now’ series? View it here.

Every day we see headlines about Artificial Intelligence, Robotic Process Automation, Blockchain (see the 2019 SSON Blockchain Market Report) and many more. Jobs are disappearing and we hear predictions that Gen Z will have four careers. But what does it all mean?

A client gave me a beautiful glimpse into the future by explaining what their product does today. Rather than simply phoning a list of clients who haven’t paid their invoices yet, their AI application runs through all past invoices and checks for irregularities. So once you have turned on your PC and sipped your morning coffee, it tells you that Anna pays 80% of her invoices on time; and that in the 20% of cases where she did not pay on time, there was an irregularity. Now you can phone Anna, ask her if this is indeed the case and discuss how to solve it. After your call, you can get that other cup of coffee you need to wake up, because your AI has already implemented the agreements that were made during the phone conversation.

Global Findings: Division of Labor as Share of Hours Spent (%)

Source: Future of Jobs Report 2018, World Economic Forum  

 This example tells us two things. First, that, unless you like data entry, our work is going to get more exciting; and second, that our human skills like emotional intelligence, empathy and creativity are going to be at the core of our work. Otherwise Anna is not going to listen, co-operate or feel like a valued client. It’s not for nothing that Forbes quotes: “If managers want to survive the challenge of AI, they must embrace EI.”

How do you increase Emotional Intelligence? Empathy? Soft skills? … in other words: 21^st century skills? And how do you apply those in a global environment?

Here are some steps to apply these skills in an intercultural context:

The first key is to understand cultures. Not that there are cultural differences, we all know that, but to truly understand cultures. If Anna was Chinese, she would react differently than if Anna was American. By understanding how people in other countries communicate and collaborate, you grow your own global mindset.  

The next key is to understand yourself. Take a word like proactiveness. What does that mean to you? In some cultures, proactiveness is understood as something time related: finishing tasks before deadlines, etc. While in other cultures, the word is understood differently: it could mean coming up with out-of-the-box ideas, pointing out errors, preventing problems etc. Expectations are culturally influenced, and so are assumptions. Understanding this and reflecting what does and doesn’t work outside your country’s borders will make you a more powerful leader.

The last key is the concept of 21^st century skills. This includes key practical and futuristic skills like self-management, knowledge transfer, true inclusion, strategic planning, alignment of expectations, coping with failures etc. – all of which are required in this era of rapid transformation while working with global teams.

The future is already here. The future is now.

The post The future is now (Part 3): Asia, embrace change! appeared first on Global Business Academy.

Holmes and Watson Unravel RPA Derailment

A few weeks ago, Ankur Bansal, Director Strategy and Transformation at Deloitte and Ilse Kerling, Founder Global Business Academy – aka Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson – met up for lunch. Sherlock had just visited a client in India who had recently embarked on a RPA journey. As he entered the board room, Sherlock could hear murmurs:

“Was it covered in the agreement?”

“Can we contractually penalize the supplier?”

“There we go!”, Sherlock said to himself. That was his first clue.

In the meantime, Watson had been supporting a client in Amsterdam, whose RPA journey turned from 6 weeks into 13 months.

“There we go!”, Watson said to herself. Frustrated teams and deadlines that are pushed out again and again and again.

That was her first clue.

In both cases, the RPA implementation went horribly wrong. There were delays and extended timelines resulting in budget overshoot.

What clues can unravel the mystery of “why RPA implementations go wrong and who is to be blamed?” How to meet deadlines, operate within budget and ensure your operation moves swiftly?

“Well Holmes, what do you make of the project delays in my case?” asked Dr. Watson.

“Let me know the facts, Watson. You know I only rely on facts,” said Holmes.

“What we know so far is that the first RPA implementation was agreed to be delivered in 6 weeks, yet took 13 months. The client had anticipated it would take longer, as first-time agreements such as IP and server location had not been agreed on yet, but never in their wildest dreams did they think it would stretch to 13 months,” explained Watson.

“How was the timeline of 6 weeks finalized?” asked Holmes.

“That’s a good questions Sherlock. I only got involved once the client wanted to execute their work. But in this case, both vendor and client contractually agreed to lower the contract value by replacing headcount with RPA. Because the contract value was lowered immediately, my client wasn’t initially concerned about the delays. But, after the umpteenth conference call with senior leaders and the umpteenth deadline that wasn’t met, they realized it was costing them a lot of time, money and frustration. That’s when my client took over the project internally,” said Watson.

Then Watson switched gears. “I’d love to hear more about the pre-agreement stage in your case, Sherlock,” she said. “If there is one person who knows all about it, it’s you. Enlighten me! What happened? What signals indicated it was all going wrong? What were the underlying problems? What are best practices? Then I’ll tell you all about the miscommunication that my client ran into.”

“Well Watson. You see, best practices are nothing but a strong process of due diligence, before you get into a contractual agreement with the vendor,” explained Holmes. “After all, it’s a binding agreement hence some effort should go into it.”

“The first best practice is to understand that RPA automates a process “As Is” and does not change the process. In fact, it also excludes any exception in the series of activities that cannot be automated,” said Holmes.

He noticed that Watson had a blank look on her face, so he clarified.

“I mean activities where manual interpretation is required, dear Watson”, he expanded, smoke circling from his beloved pipe.

“Planning an RPA implementation requires a detailed assessment of the processes that need to be automated. This is called the Discovery exercise. This exercise is important to understand the complexity of the processes in order to determine the effort required for RPA implementation. Most often, lack of Discovery is a major cause for delay,” continued Holmes.

“That makes sense,” said Watson. “But this begs another question. What I really wonder about is this: Is RPA always the right choice? Is it sometimes not better to replace legacy systems instead of applying RPA?”

“Well, Watson. I think that replacing a legacy system and RPA have different objectives,” said Holmes. “However, this can be a warning to organizations that are looking to adopt RPA. They should not expect RPA to fix processes or plug functional gaps in legacy systems. Replacing a legacy system with new state-of-the-art systems brings new features and functionalities that serve different purposes. RPA is simply to automate tasks,” continued Holmes.

“So I guess when teams are feeling the pain and pressure of ‘speed to market’, the pace of change required means a band-aid is necessary,” said Watson. “If they wait for the legacy system to be upgraded or replaced they could become obsolete waiting.”

“But if that is not the case, then replacing the legacy system has big advantages. Not necessarily cheaper, but more functionality,” she added.

“Spot on, Watson,” smiled Sherlock whilst he looked at his watch – and then rushed out of the door exclaiming … “I’m so sorry, dear Watson, I have to cut our conversation short. I have to investigate a new client case. Next time, we’ll discuss how you can recognize a good from a bad vendor, big fat promises and underdeliveries, successful agreements and success factors.”

And with that, out of the door rushed Holmes, leaving Watson alone in the restaurant and a little astounded, which really, after all those years of knowing Holmes, she shouldn’t be.

The free Sherlock Holmes – aka Ankur Bansal – summary:

1. Conduct a strong process of due diligence before you get into a contractual agreement
2. Conduct a thorough Discovery exercise; a major cause of delay when not done well
3. Assess why you want RPA versus replacing the legacy system

In the next installment, The Adventure of the RPA Derailment, Holmes and Watson discuss how to recognize a good from a bad vendor, big fat promises and under-deliveries, successful agreements, and success factors.

The post RPA (Part 1): The Mystery of the Delayed RPA Caper appeared first on Global Business Academy.