“Transformation is a difficult process for workers at all levels of the organization.  Employees who have spent decades responding to orders are now being asked to think, innovate, and make strategic decisions.  Workers accustomed to being commanded from above must now assume a high level of autonomy and responsibility.

While many companies will make the transformation to the new story of business, others are likely to remain stuck in the old story.  Some will simply refuse to acknowledge the need for transformation.  Others will confuse transformation with reform, and attempt to apply new story approaches within fundamentally unchanged organizations.  Still others will begin the transformation, only to revert to the old story during a period of crisis.”

(Quotes taken from Charles Garfield’s book:  Second To None…The Productive Power of Putting People First.)

It is so important to take some TRIPLE III TIME…and critically absorb all of the very important points contained in Mr. Garfield’s words.  Purely his reminding all of us in any workplace…that TRANSFORMATION is NEVER A Single Event!

Think about all the variables that will impact our worlds of work today and tomorrow.  New bosses, employee changes, different products, diverse customers, more (or less) organizational operations dollars, a global economy, governments & politics and the list continues.  So when someone tells you to take TRANSFORMATION personally…they are offering very solid, timely advice.

Continuous organization/business TRANSFORMATION is now just a necessary “standard operating procedure” in order to stay strong and competitive in today’s economy.  Likewise, as Mr. Garfield points out, critical thinking, employing innovation options and making strategic decisions has also become a regular equal opportunity responsibility for personnel at all operational levels.

Is TRANSFORMATION a bad thing…absolutely not!!  Accepting that TRANSFORMATION is NEVER A Single Event and that adopting an operational philosophy that progressive change is and should be an everyday opportunity…is just growing in the right direction!