Fresh Eyes Drive Transformation

Fresh Eyes. 👀 You have them once and only once. If you are looking to drive change and transformation for growth or efficiency you must use fresh eyes. 

Once you have been around a bit, you are an insider and lose those fresh eyes.

If you don’t use fresh eyes then you will perpetuate what has gone before. I have entered organisations who have previously given the transformation brief to a long serving employee. They typically only move the needle a bit as they become bogged down in existing culture and practices. That's failed transformation. That is why you need fresh eyes.

If you have this brief, you will need to cleanse yourself of all thought and understanding. Purge your preconceptions and rationalisations of why things are as they are. If you cannot do this, then you need to go out and find somebody with fresh eyes to do this step for you. This requires honest personal insight and self awareness. Ignore this and your transformation will fail. 

The best approach is to bring in fresh eyes from outside the division or company itself. If you are a leader and need to transform but have no fresh eyes, then go outside and recruit. I would prefer to start with employing somebody who has led transformation in the past. If this doesn’t work for you then look for an individual on a short-term contract. 

My last resort would be a large consultancy firm. That said this is the best use of them. They have fresh eyes and experience. On the negative side, they have their own culture. They will bring their own methodology. Most importantly they will do all in their power to sell the answer that they should implement the change. Remember that renumeration and success in a large consultancy is dependent on individuals maximising the length of their engagement and the number or resources they deploy. That’s the route to partnership. Rarely have I seen embedded culture change stick when using a large consultancy.  Use a consultancy to be the fresh eyes but be brave enough to limit to that step and control their mission creep away from implementation and leading change especially cultural.

Need help then find a transformation advisor, either an independent or a boutique consultancy who focuses on this and helps augment your team.

Follow me on LinkedIn Charlie Herbert for more transformation pearls 🦪. Contact me for help and advice. Or just read the book 'How to be the Grit in the Oyster'📖