Rewired, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 15Making the transition in a controlled way

Transitioning several thousand employees into a new operating model is no small feat. This level of change requires a well-structured transition process and meticulous planning. Oh, and also people still need to manage the day-to-day running of the business.

Three things are usually top of mind for the transition to the new model:

1. Who should lead this transition and how should it be governed?
2. What should the transition sequence be to minimize implementation risk and be completed in a reasonable time frame?
3. What repeatable process would help stand up and support the operations of each domain, platform, and chapter?

Leadership of the transition and transformation architecture

One of the most important decisions that CEOs need to make is who will lead the overall transformation. It often makes sense to have a credible C-suite member own this. We have found that CFOs and COOs make for good candidates because of their knowledge of the business and their ability to cut through complex issues.

Putting a capable C-suite member in charge of the transition signals that the effort is much more than a tech transformation and it gives employees confidence the transformation will be done pragmatically.

That C-suite leader will then go on to identify a day-to-day transformation lead to run a transformation office (TO), which in turn will help stand up different implementation teams for key parts of the blueprint. Exhibit 15.1 shows the ...