Bob Mosher (BM): Friends, welcome
back to yet another Performance Matters podcast!
We are going to go into one of the
more important strategy matters series we've ever done. I’m excited for you to
hear the experience of two dear and respected colleagues of mine, Carol Stroud
and Conrad Gottfredson.
A lot of great reactions to our last
episode, which was on the overall understanding of, and need for, a Maturity
Model.
As promised, we're going to go a bit
deeper.
So, let's get right down to this. In
your opinions, why is it so important that a Maturity Model has materialized
for the industry and frankly even more so in the times we’re living
today?
Carol Stroud (CS): I have always
been tactically focused. What I have found over the years is a lot of
conversation about good ideas, but a lack of tactical road maps to actually do
something about it. I have listened to the same conversations, repeatedly, in
the elearning world for probably eight to nine years. They just didn't go deep
enough in the tactical way of, “here's how you actually make it happen” in an
organization.
When I learned The Five Moments of
Need methodology, I was seeing a similar sort of conversation happen. While at
a conference, I was speaking to someone at a coffee break and the individual
said, “Well, I get it. I get it's a great idea and I'm really keen on doing it,
but I don't know how to do it and I'm not hearing anyone here talk about how do
I actually make this happen in my organization”. I went, “Oh… I
think we have a gap”, because certainly I was living that when I was out
working with different organizations and trying to help them implement this
different way of doing business.
So, over the years as I have worked
to help organizations implement the principles and methodologies around the 5
Moments of Need, I began aggregating those “tactical” lessons in an effort to
turn this into something that would be usable by other people who are going
down this road. So, collaborating with Conrad and bringing his number of years
into coordination with all these ideas, it's given us, I think, a very solid
grounding in terms of how to actually do this. It's no longer just a good idea.
We now explain “how to do it” at several different levels.
BM: This Maturity Model to me really
talks about how to do it and how to do it clearly it has a tactical level. But,
Con, there's so much more to getting to where you are 'doing it' than that,
isn't there? How does this move beyond the tactical to you?
Conrad Gottfredson (CG): Organizations
have a natural resistance to change. People naturally worry about the impact any
change is going to have on them. Organizations
also have work systems in place that often get in the way. Over the years, we've
helped organizations build and implement magnificent solutions that do great
things at the outset, but then as we step away and think that they're doing
great and it's going to keep growing, it fizzles out due to the resistance and
challenges within the organization.
When we transform how an organization
learns it requires the organization to change. And what we've been missing is
what Carol has been talking about. It is the ability to provide an organization
a pathway for navigating that change, and to have it be sustained over time so
it can make its way into the cultural fabric of the organization.
We don't want to just be a flash in
the pan. We want to really impact the organization and make it last because we
know what it can do, not just short-term but long-term.
BM: So, the model pushes us beyond
tactical into strategy. Why should we listen to this, you guys? What is this
grounded in that makes this maturity model worth the effort?
CS: So, what makes this different is we
have looked at the scope of essentially all the barriers that we find in an
organization and we’ve looked at what are the right ways to come up with
solutions to move through those barriers. So, in that context, we actually look
at this from three levels; strategic, tactical, and a technical component of
what are the systems and infrastructure that need to be put into place to
support this change.
This just isn't a general
description, but a very specific view of the organization’s capabilities it
progresses across four levels of maturity. It's the comprehensive picture of
how everything can be brought together to ensure that the bigger picture is an
ecosystem and all the pieces are finely tuned to work fluidly together in the “performance
zone” where employees are able to appropriately respond to whatever situation
they are in and have all the resources they need in order optimize their work
production.
So, ultimately the value that comes
back out to the organization is a streamlined, optimized, and well-oiled
machine that is able to achieve the objectives of the organization.
CG: This maturity model isn’t
theoretical. We've drawn upon decades of
experience to develop it. We've worked with many hundreds of organizations, applying
and evolving methodology and practices. We’ve benchmarked with many
organizations over the last few years. This has provided us a clear view of
where organizations need to go and the capabilities they need to get there.
CS: The other aspect of it is this is
founded on The Five Moments of Need Methodology and ensuring that we are
getting those resources into the hands of the end performer—at the time they
need them. There are other industry standards out there that help support us
and roll this out in an organization. For example, we looked at project
management and what are good project management methodologies and standards
that need to help us ensure that these projects move forward? What are good
change management strategies from both a change management and change
leadership perspective? What are good measurement and business impact
components that need to come to the table to support all this? So, we take our
grounded thinking and methodology of implementing performance support and the
full Five Moments in Need solution in an organization, and then we wrap the
other components around it to ensure success throughout the organization. So,
it's not just a one single little micro view of how this works in an
organization, it is the broader perspective.
BM: So, team for many people listening
this sounds Herculean. These are words we've not used in our industry a lot. We
mire ourselves understandably in ADDIE and some change management and
technology, words like that. But for those listening, what kind of a mountain
is this like to climb? Who’s best to be involved? Is it something that they can
do in a week, a day, a year? What's the expectation on their side to get this
done in your opinion?
CG: Our benchmarking with trailblazing
leaders and organizations revealed this need for a clear road map. These early
adopters have made their way, learning through trial and error. So, overall,
the time, effort, energy, and cost has been prohibitive for too many
organizations. This is what has really prompted us to develop this maturity
model. We see it as a way to help
organizations move more quickly and safely to where they need to be. The climb
can’t be too steep, especially at the beginning, or it fails, right?
The initial current and future state assessment
takes about 12 hours of virtual worktime with the leadership team that has
responsibility for supporting through learning and performance support, the
work in a specific part of the organization. It doesn't have to be for the
entire organization. It can be for a business unit or for a cross-functional
area of work. It's just got to be an area where there is need for a road map to
gaining and sustaining effective job performance in the flow of work.
Following this assessment, there's
some interaction that goes back and forth to transform the data into a detailed
road map, prioritizing what to do, and when to do it.
Listen to the full episode to hear how this model and approach is
more than a one hit wonder. Learn how it can bring true change to an
organization.
Don’t forget to subscribe to The Performance Matters
Podcast to stay up-to-date on all
the latest conversations and guests in The 5 Moments space.
To try your hand at empowering
the flow of work with an actual project, join us at our upcoming Summit.
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