The Secret of Adaptable Organizations Is Trust

Unveiling the secret behind adaptable organizations, we delve into the pivotal role of trust. It's not just about flexibility and innovation, but a profound reliance on trust that fuels adaptability. Discover how trust becomes the cornerstone of organizational resilience and adaptability.

The pandemic has shone a sharp spotlight on the need for companies to be adaptable

The real issue is not successfully transforming your organization on a one-time basis – it’s writing the ability to adapt and transform into the company’s DNA.

• How can they move from crisis mode toward forward thinking? The key lies in achieving a permanent state of adaptability.

Make the process part of operational routine, not a special, one-time event

The airport effectively established a new way of working, with transformation taking place on the job rather than in the boardroom

Less Is Actually More

Traditional organizations were designed for stable market environments and often come with a heavy legacy of complex administrative processes that make them notoriously inflexible and difficult to transform.

• The default approach is to impose more rules and tighter controls from above as a way of keeping disruption in check.
• In fact, what management should do is loosen their hold and give the organization the freedom it needs to work effectively.

Test each solution

The topic teams had to back up each solution they devised with a way of measuring whether or not it was successful

Adaptability Design Principles

Address purpose: Define the purpose of the transformation right at the outset

• Steer changes in advance as much as possible
• Nominate owners: Employees must be able to take ownership of their topics
• Test, don’t guess: Run experiments
• Spark collisions: Enable direct interactions between individuals within the organization
• Encourage people to exchange ideas and experiences

Ensure exchange between the individuals involved

The board did this partly by having diverse teams and introducing regular “pit stops” every two weeks

• They also designated a specific room at the airport that everyone involved in the program could access
• During stay-at-home orders, this was replaced with a virtual room

The Role of Business Leaders in an Adaptable Organization

In traditional organizations, the person at the top focuses on making operational decisions, especially the big ones.

• Adaptable organizations: the leader focuses on facilitating the right environment
• How can you know if you’re currently doing too much, getting overly involved in the nitty-gritty, or not enough?
• Count the number of decisions you make in a day to see if you are holding the reins too tight or allowing emergence to work.

Specify the goal of the transformation

The board defined their goal as improving the top and bottom lines.

• They also held meetings with representatives of each business unit and department to find out what success would look like from their perspective
• This strategy ensured that the board didn’t start out with a mix of half-questions and half-baked solutions

Choose owners for the different topics

The board set up “topic teams” led by pairs made up of a pilot, who is ultimately responsible for decisions, and a co-pilot, who assists the pilot and acts as a sparring partner

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