Summary: The Heart of Transformation: Build the Human Capabilities That Change Organizations for Good by Michael J. Leckie

• The book argues that technology alone cannot transform organizations for the better, and proposes six human capabilities that enable people to adapt, learn, and innovate in the face of complexity and uncertainty.
• The book explains how these capabilities can be translated into simple and practical behaviors for leaders and employees at all levels of the organization, and provides examples, tools, and frameworks to help organizations assess, design, implement, and measure transformation initiatives.
• The book offers a human-centric perspective that recognizes the importance of people’s mindsets, skills, and behaviors in driving change and creating competitive advantage, and provides a clear and actionable roadmap for developing the human potential and collective power to change organizations for good.

The Heart of Transformation (2021) is a how-to guide for changing an organization. It focuses on six specific capabilities that leaders can adopt to meet the demands of the twenty-first century.

Introduction: Learn six capabilities that can transform your organization for the better.

Technology – especially digital technology – has changed the way we do business. Many of the old rules of the game no longer apply. Unfortunately, most organizations are still abiding by them, too stubborn or shortsighted to change direction.

Just consider General Electric. For more than a century, it was a stalwart of the economy – a titan of American industry that seemed untouchable. Then, in a few short years, it was shaken to its core and needed to be rebuilt from the bottom up.

The case of General Electric illustrates just how fickle the modern economy can be. But this summary to Michael Leckie’s The Heart of Transformation is here to help.

We’ll explore how organizations can use six transformative capabilities to build resilience in the fast-paced and unpredictable nature of this new era. You’ll also learn how to incorporate these actions into your company through a series of questions that pertain to each capability.

Exploring before executing

So, how do you transform an organization for the better? The first step is to explore before you execute. To be clear, there isn’t anything wrong with executing per se. Execution simply means carrying out a plan or course of action – and every business relies on execution to some degree.

But fixating on execution becomes a problem when the needs of an organization change. Execution is all about sticking to the plan. Trouble arises when the plans that fixed yesterday’s problems don’t work for today’s. More specifically, leaders get stuck when they refuse to question whether once-useful strategies are still viable.

This is where exploring comes in. You have to ask whether the systems and practices of old still work, or whether they need revising. It can be hard for leaders to challenge the ideas they once championed. But this kind of exploration is exactly the type of leadership that results in transformation.

So, what does exploring before executing look like in practice? Here are five questions to ask others – and yourself – to accomplish the task.

First up is, “What do you think?” As simple as it is, this question activates the curiosity necessary for transformation.

Second, “What are you assuming is true?” Assumptions shape many of our ideas. Laying them out in the open helps everyone better understand where stakeholders are coming from.

Third, “Whose voice is missing?” This question takes aim at the echo chamber. It invites diversity of thought – which is more important than ever, given the information silos many people occupy today.

Fourth, “What is your third-best idea?” There’s a method to this madness: Typically, the first answer people give is the “safe” answer. Their second choice is usually just the first answer in different words. It’s often not until the third-best idea that people start thinking outside of the box.

The fifth and final question is, “What didn’t you say that needs saying?” This urges people to state the things that are uncomfortable or scary, but that need to be heard.

These five questions can help leaders explore the best ways to address rapidly changing problems before executing their plan of action.

Learning before knowing

Knowledge plays an important role in any organization. But, Leckie argues, learning is even more important – especially in today’s digital world.

This shift from knowing to learning is a relatively new phenomenon. For previous generations, a worker’s knowledge is what created value for a business. These “knowledge workers” – such as lawyers, doctors, and engineers – came to dominate the economy. First, they acquired specialized knowledge. Then, they got a job and put that knowledge to use.

But the digital world has disrupted this paradigm. Nowadays, the knowledge that workers have when they’re hired simply isn’t enough. The value of modern workers comes from their ability to learn on the job. The more digital technology speeds up the pace of innovation and change, the more “learning workers” will dominate organizations.

So, how exactly can you make the switch from knowledge worker to learning worker? Well, it may be obvious, but putting learning before knowing requires you to question what you think you know – and a willingness to quickly change course if needed.

First off, ask yourself, “Who challenges my beliefs?” Seek out people who will tell you when you’re wrong. Give them permission to challenge you, and thank them for their willingness to call you out.

Second, “How is my idea wrong?” By asking how an idea is wrong rather than if it’s wrong, you preempt others from affirming your idea. While it’s uncomfortable to have people point out where you’ve erred, it’s a necessary part of learning.

Third, “What is my blind spot?” This question serves to pick up on patterns of error. If you’re constantly overlooking one part of a problem, others are likely to spot where you’ve gone wrong and help you correct the course.

Fourth, “When was I last wrong?” If it’s been too long since you were wrong about something, chances are you’re not getting quality feedback. Pointing to a specific mistake, acknowledging it out loud, and learning from it will help you build trust and respect.

And fifth, “Am I OK with not knowing?” This question is meant to foster humility. It’s OK not to have the answers. It’s also OK to move forward even when this ambiguity is present. Learning before knowing means having the agility to put a plan in place – and then to alter that plan as you learn more along the way.

Changing before protecting

It’s perfectly natural to protect the things we care about. But if done improperly in an organization, protection can become a liability. In order to grow, adapt, and improve any business, leaders and managers must be willing to embrace change.

Organizational change happens little by little – and person by person. This kind of change is hard, and it requires us to accept the discomfort that comes along with it. But Leckie has laid out another series of questions to help facilitate the process.

First ask, “What’s the worst that could happen?” When it comes to a new business idea, the answer is usually that it won’t work. Failure is never fun. But admitting the possibility of failing out loud can actually help change seem less daunting.

Second, “What’s the cost of staying safe?” Of course, change is risky. But maintaining the status quo can be risky, too. Make a list of the positives that might be missed if you keep sticking to the old script.

Third, “What am I afraid to do? This question is more personal. It focuses on what you as an individual are risking by making a change. Asking this helps reveal what you value, and where your priorities lie.

Fourth, “How can I lead out loud?” Change requires leaders to embody the behavior they want their organizations to adopt. So, find the best way to model the change you want, and others will be more likely to follow.

Fifth, “When did I last ask for help? To truly know if you’ve changed, you need to enlist the help of others. For instance, getting feedback is a great way to measure if substantive change has taken place – or if your words need to be backed by more action.

Pathfinding before path-following

Next, we’ll examine the virtue of pathfinding before path-following. Pathfinding is about establishing a set of values and granting others the freedom to forge their own path forward.

To illustrate what this looks like in practice, let’s consider the Canadian paper manufacturer Abitibi. Leckie was working at the company in the 1990s, when it suddenly fell into financial hardship. It needed to cut costs by 10 percent – fast. The company’s first impulse was to evaluate spending across every team, and to institute a budget that detailed how money should be spent down to the dollar.

Instead of this top-down approach, however, the company chose a different tactic. Leadership instructed each team to cut their costs by 10 percent, but left the details up to them. In other words, it let them find their own path to the 10-percent target. And it worked! By the next quarter, expenses had plummeted by 15 percent.

Now, let’s turn to the questions you can ask to put pathfinding before path-following in your own organization.

First inquire, “Where are we really going?” This question clarifies the destination – the North Star that your company is trying to achieve not simply through words, but by acting on its values.

Second, “What is most important?” This question speaks to the tacit assumptions of an organization – the unspoken parts that make up a company’s culture.

Third, question your accountability by asking, “Is this who we are?” It’s a way of checking in to ensure that your day-to-day actions are getting you closer to your North Star.

Fourth, “Who would know best?” It’s important to ask the right people for help – those who might have special insight into a subject.

Fifth, “Can we discuss our differences?” There’s no way around the fact that disagreements are going to happen. This question opens the door to awkward or uncomfortable conversations that need to be had.

And sixth, “What am I hiding from you?” This is a question to ask yourself. If something feels off with a decision you’ve made, try to explore what’s causing your inner turmoil – and confront it head-on.

Innovating before replicating

Every business seems to want to be a leader in innovation. But the truth is, most companies don’t innovate at all – or even try to. They mostly focus on replicating and scaling what works.

This obsession with replicating and scaling is a double-edged sword. It usually works – for a while. But then it doesn’t, and businesses get stuck replicating a business plan that’s no longer useful.

So how can you put innovating before replicating? By learning from your mistakes – and by playing the long game.

Just consider Amazon. Before taking the company public, Jeff Bezos laid out his plan for the company to lose money for at least five years. The company needed to gain market share and get to know what customers wanted. Through trial and error, it did. And shareholders were rewarded in the long run.

Not every company can be Amazon. Still, learning from failure and adopting a long-term strategy are tenets of true innovation. Here are some questions that can guide you along the way..

First ask, “What have I learned from my failures?” Make a list of your failures, and try to identify patterns in them. That way, you can make a concerted effort to avoid those same mistakes in the future.

Second, “Can I stomach the long game?” It’s hard to adopt a long-term strategy, especially given the short-term motives of many shareholders. This question helps you acknowledge the costs of the long game – and assess whether you’re willing to pay them.

Third, “What’s the cost of replicating our success?” This question addresses the opportunity cost of replication. When you advise workers to simply replicate a strategy, you’re basically telling them not to bother coming up with better ideas.

Fourth, “How can I stop being the center of the world?” Looking at problems from the perspective of others is hard. It’s also worthwhile – and necessary.

Fifth, “How would I disrupt me?” Consider, from your competitor’s perspective, how you might be weak or vulnerable. By being proactive, you can identify and strengthen your weaknesses before others take advantage of them.

Humanizing before organizing

The final capability we’ll examine is humanizing before organizing. This approach is all about the way you treat people in an organization. Specifically, it’s about treating your colleagues as full people, and not simply as the positions they occupy.

Every organization has defined roles – from entry-level worker to CEO – that come with a set of specific expectations and responsibilities. The trouble is, people often outgrow their role and become capable of offering a lot more. But because doing so might violate their role’s specifications, they usually just put their head down. This is a huge missed opportunity to get the best out of your team.

It’s also important to humanize people by getting to know who they are outside of work. When you know someone, it’s easier to be honest with them, rely on them, and make sacrifices for them – all of which are assets. Even though this kind of intimacy is difficult to achieve in large organizations, it’s worth investing the time and effort to build it.

Here’s one more series of questions to ask your peers, which will help you put humanizing before organizing.

First, “When are you at your best?” This question gives you an idea of when and where people are most productive.

Second, “How will we know when things have started to go sideways?” Any relationship has the potential to veer off course. And when things go wrong, shame usually starts to creep in. Recognizing this preemptively – and out loud – can mitigate that shame and help you improve your situation.

Third, “How could we work better together?” As obvious as this question may seem, it’s one of the most vital. It gives both parties permission to alter their working dynamic for the better.

Fourth, “What’s most important to you?” Understanding people’s motivations can help you relate to them better. In turn, this can help foster a better working relationship.

And last but not least, “What do you want from me?” Asking this question earnestly and with genuine curiosity can go a long way toward humanizing a workplace relationship.

Summary

In this summary you’ve learned the six capabilities that can help transform an organization. Let me repeat them for you: exploring before executing, learning before knowing, changing before protecting, pathfinding before path-following, innovating before replicating, and humanizing before organizing.

About the author

Michael Leckie is the former Chief Learning Officer for the Digital Industrial Transformation at General Electric (GE) and is currently founding partner of Silverback Partners, LLC, an organizational consultancy based in Ridgefield, Connecticut. He also held the position of Managing Vice President in Gartner’s Executive Programs business, managing teams that provided executive coaching, strategic guidance and research-based advisory services to Gartner’s C-suite clients. He speaks, coaches and advises all over the world and across most industries: public, private and non-profit.

Genres

Entrepreneurship, Management, Leadership, Corporate Culture, Career Success, Business, Business Structural Adjustment, Organizational Change, Business and Organizational Learning

Table of Contents

About the author xi
Foreword by X xii
Acknowledgments xiv

Introduction: Learning to swim 1

01 Getting Started with a Heart of Transformation 7
What is at the heart of transformation? 7
Why did I write this book? 10
Why another book on change or transformation? 11
Digital transformation requires human transformation 12
The human capabilities that drive transformation 16
Endnotes 19

02 Why Does Our Digital World Demand a Human Solution? 21
Too many things to too many people 21
The stagnation of human systems in a world of rapidly advancing technology 25
A brief history of organizations 26
Talking ’bout a revolution 29
Recoding our brains, for change 31
The role of group dynamics in individual change 34
How to hack change 35
Endnotes 36

03 The Challenge of Change 37
They myth of changing your mind 37
The central problem of change management 39
How the nature of change is changing 40
Leaders need to guide adaptive change 42
Change is personal—and hard 44
Moving from problem solving to problem finding 45
The six human capabilities required for adaptive change 47
Living the six capabilities 49
Endnotes 49

04 Exploring Before Executing 51
A story of execution 51
Becoming a digital industrial 52
What is execution? 58
The five questions of Exploring Before Executing 61
Curiosity is at the heart of transformation 65
Tools for transformation—operationalizing your curiosity 68
Making it real—three times with your whole heart 69
Endnotes 70

05 Learning Before Knowing 71
A story of learning 71
The journey from labor to knowledge to learning 73
How technology advances demand human advances 78
Learning to learn 80
Why my truth is truer than yours 81
The truth that saves can also derail us 84
The five questions of Learning Before Knowing 88
Learning from the best—the art of self-interrogation 91
Making it real—learning out loud; the art of the debrief 93
Tools for transformation—the debrief 94
Endnotes 97

06 Changing Before Protecting 99
An intersection of friends 99
A story of not protecting 101
Why protecting might not be good protection 105
The five questions of Changing Before Protecting 108
Learning from the best—the virtue of small recoverable tests 111
When bold changes are needed 118
Endnotes 119

07 Pathfinding Before Path Following 121
A story of pathfinding 121
From following the path to finding the path 128
Losing control to gain engagement 129
The five questions (plus one) of Pathfinding Before Path Following 136
Endnotes 143

08 Innovating Before Replicating 145
A story of innovating 145
The replication religion 148
The costs and rewards of fearlessness 150
Challenging assumptions with platform thinking 151
The five questions of Innovating Before Replicating 155
Learning from the best—the awesomeness of awkwardness 161
Tools for transformation—turning awkward into forward 162
Endnotes 164

09 Humanizing Before Organizing 165
A story of humanizing 165
The problem with scientific management in a digital age 169
Why personizing matters more 171
Schein’s levels of relationships 173
Get engaged with goals before roles 180
The five questions of Humanizing Before Organizing 184
Endnotes 187

10 Your Heart of Transformation—Making It Strong 189
Getting started building your heart of transformation 189
Begin the begin—how do you start building a heart of
transformation? 191
Being foolish for fun and profit 194
Where do you start building a heart of transformation? 195
Your roadmap to a heart of transformation 197
Learning from the best—analyze and then aggregate to see your patterns 201
Finding your pacemakers for your heart of transformation 204
The value of thinking time to a heart of transformation 206
Getting help with your thinking time for a heart of transformation 208
Finding your thinking group for a heart of transformation 209
Tools for transformation—building heart health 210
Your story is still being written 211

Endnotes 213
Index 215

Review

Michael J. Leckie is a former Chief Learning Officer at Goldman Sachs and a global expert on organizational change and learning. In his book, he argues that technology alone cannot transform organizations for the better. Instead, he proposes that the key to successful and sustainable change lies in developing six human capabilities that enable people to adapt, learn, and innovate in the face of complexity and uncertainty. These capabilities are:

• Exploring before Executing: Being curious, open-minded, and willing to experiment with new ideas and approaches before jumping to conclusions or solutions.
• Learning before Knowing: Being humble, reflective, and eager to learn from feedback, failures, and successes before claiming expertise or authority.
• Pathfinding before Path Following: Being proactive, creative, and resourceful in finding new ways to achieve goals and solve problems before following existing plans or procedures.
• Changing before Protecting: Being flexible, agile, and resilient in embracing change and uncertainty before protecting the status quo or comfort zone.
• Innovating before Replicating: Being original, visionary, and daring in creating new value and impact before replicating existing products or services.
• Humanizing before Organizing: Being empathetic, compassionate, and collaborative in building relationships and trust before organizing tasks or processes.

The book explains how these capabilities can be translated into simple and practical behaviors for leaders and employees at all levels of the organization. It also provides examples, tools, and frameworks to help organizations assess their current state of transformation readiness, design and implement transformation initiatives, and measure and sustain transformation outcomes.

The Heart of Transformation is a refreshing and insightful book that challenges the conventional wisdom on organizational change and transformation. It offers a human-centric perspective that recognizes the importance of people’s mindsets, skills, and behaviors in driving change and creating competitive advantage. It also provides a clear and actionable roadmap for developing the six human capabilities that can help organizations thrive in the digital age.

The book is well-written, engaging, and easy to follow. It combines research, theory, and practice in a balanced and coherent way. It draws on the author’s extensive experience as a leader, consultant, and educator in various industries and sectors. It also features real-life stories and case studies from organizations such as Netflix, Spotify, Airbnb, Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Starbucks, Lego, NASA, UNICEF, and more.

The book is not only relevant for leaders and managers who are responsible for leading or supporting organizational change and transformation efforts. It is also useful for anyone who wants to improve their personal or professional effectiveness in a complex and uncertain world. It is a book that inspires us to develop our human potential and unleash our collective power to change organizations for good.