In this presentation Gary discussed why creating continuous relevance with the markets is becoming business-critical. He shared how companies can perpetually tune their strategy, structure and operations to perform effectively in a changing business environment. He also talked about the hurdles that must be overcome in order to become responsive and value-driven. Gary is Global Advisory Lead at ThoughtWorks and works with large enterprises to drive change to the culture, planning, governance, and structure to better align with customers’ needs. He has over 20 years of experience in helping teams to build humanistic organisations more capable of responding to the increasing pace of change.

1. ENABLING SUSTAINABLE
TRANSFORMATION
GARY O’BRIEN
Global Head of Advisory, ThoughtWorks

2. SUSPENDING DISBELIEF
1930
Skin Care
1950
Smoking
1912
Children’s Colds

3. SPEED AND RESPONSIVENESS
ARE THE NEW BATTLEGROUND

4. DISRUPTOR ADVANTAGE
INNOVATION SCALE
MONTHS YEARS MONTHS
INNOVATION SCALE
MONTHS YEARS MONTHS
IDEA-MVP-
FEEDBACK-FIT
VALIDATED
PRODUCT
BRAND,
RESOURCES,
CUSTOMERS
SUCCESSFUL
PRODUCT
IDEA-MVP-
FEEDBACK-FIT
VALIDATED
PRODUCT
BRAND,
RESOURCES,
CUSTOMERS
SUCCESSFUL
PRODUCT

5. LIMITING RESPONSIVENESS
● Rigid policies make it difficult to respond flexibly to customers
● Making the numbers takes precedence over investing in growth
● Individuals shape their opinions to fit the biases of managers
● Few individuals feel empowered to initiate change
● The need for certainty has slowed the pursuit of new opportunity

6. In a digital world tech is the
enabler, the organisation
is now the constraint.
TECH AVAILABLE TO
NEW DISRUPTORS
ENTERPRISE’S
ABILITY TO ABSORB
TECH EVOLUTION
THE INCREASED RATE OF
CHANGE IN TECHNOLOGY
INCREASES THE GAP
This event will have live subtitling. Please sit where you can view the text clearly.

7. ● Align all work to maximising
the delivery of value to
customers.
● Apply measures that
support this.
CUSTOMER
OUTCOMES
REMOVE
CONSTRAINTS
LEVERAGE
TECHNOLOGY
SHIFTS
● Align the org to supporting
the volume and frequency
of value delivered.
● Use knowledge as the key
decision criteria, not
structure.
● Put technology at the core
of your business, not as a
separate cost centre.
● Platforms that support
constant change and
autonomous teams.
BUILDING THE RESPONSIVE ORG.

8. OUTCOMES FOR CUSTOMERS
Homes not Mortgages
DEFINE YOUR
OUTCOMES
IDENTIFY THE
MEASURE
UNLEASH THE
TALENT

9. ALIGN THE WORK
Let people “feel” what it is like
CREATE AN
EXEMPLAR SLICE
EMPOWER
WORKFORCE
TO DEAL WITH
AMBIGUITY &
COMPLEXITY
MAKE BUSINESS
DECISION
OBVIOUS
CAPTURE
WEAKER SIGNALS

10. THE ABILITY
TO MEASURE
VALUE
COST
VALUE

11. REMOVE THE CONSTRAINTS
Let the work decide
LET MEASURES
DECIDE THE
WORK
LET WORK
DECIDE THE
PEOPLE
SEPARATE
BUDGETS FROM
THE WORK
A ‘CHANGE’
ARCHITECTURE
FOR SMALLER
CHUNKS

12. DIFFERENTIATE THE WORK
EXPLORE EXPLOIT SUSTAIN RETIRE
KILL
(at any point)

13. LEVERAGE SEISMIC SHIFTS
Digital means Tech@Core
EXPOSE
IMPACTS
EXPLORE
OPPORTUNITIES
EMBED THE
CAPABILITY

14. TECH AS A STRATEGIC DIFFERENTIATOR
TECH@CORE
3RDINDUSTRIALREVOLUTION
(Informationasaresource)
4THINDUSTRIALREVOLUTION
(Technologyattheheartofvalue)
BUSINESS
SUPPORTING ROLE COLLABORATION
TECH-LED
DIFFERENTIATION
Formal
walls and
moats
Tech creates
digital assets
Tech / business
boundaries blur
Collaborative
execution
Tech pervades a
digital business
TECH

15. EVOLVING
INTERACTIONS
RISE OF THE
PLATFORMS
PHYSICAL.
NOW DIGITAL.
SECURITY,
PRIVACY AND
TRANSPARENCY
HUMANITY
AUGMENTED
SEISMIC SHIFTS

16. A NEW KIND OF LEADERSHIP
DEAL WITH
AMBIGUITY THROUGH
TRANSPARENCY
STRONG COMMUNITY
BUILDERS WHO FORM
GREAT TEAMS
ABLE TO LISTEN,
STEWARD, MENTOR
CLEAR THE PATH FOR
PACE AND ADAPTABILITY
PROVIDE OUTCOMES
WITH A MINIMUM
CONSTRAINTS
RETURN PROBLEMS
UNSOLVED

17. SO WHAT STOPS US?

18. 1
LOSING SIGHT OF
THE CUSTOMER

19. 2
FIXATION ON
ROLES

20. 3
OVERBALANCING
ON EXEMPTIONS

21. 4
FEEDING THE
MACHINE

22. 5
GETTING STUCK
IN TRANSITION

23. LEARN HOW TO EVOLVE
NOT TRANSFORM
● A simplified business model that optimises delivering value to customers
● An organisation aligned to maximise the flow of value
● A delivery approach that can respond to change, using smaller chunks
● The servant leadership that enables great culture to thrive

24. "Get rid of budgets and job titles;
Work small, learn often;
Gather people around a clear outcome;
Measure success as something your customers get
...and watch what happens.
Or at the very least, head in that direction!..."
GARY O’BRIEN

25. THANK YOU
For questions or suggestions:
GARY O’BRIEN
gobrien@ThoughtWorks.com