Resources | Transformation

Executives Feel like They Need to Know How to Do Transformations

Brad Bennett
on August 06, 2020
Do executives need to know how to do transformations?

During our second episode of At Home With Interesting People, I asked our guest Matt McCormack from Cognizant, about the big lessons he’s learnt from his years of doing digital transformations.

He replied: Executives are generally smart people at what they do, but know very little about transformation.”

You can see that they’re incredibly good at what they’ve done and they’ve been able to build their way up to an exec level. And there’s always this sense of “they have to know about transformation” and you look at them go “You’ve never done a transformation in your life!”

“I think it’s very confronting (for them) to understand that they don’t know much about the transformation journey they’re about to go on.”

How can executives being vulnerable result in transformation success?

Matt explains that leaders who are willing to be vulnerable and listen to advice, generally have greater success in their transformations.

“If you can get them over that hurdle of being vulnerable enough to understand that they don’t know enough, you can have a good conversation. That’s been the key learning. The transformations where I’ve succeeded and where we’ve been able to consult the best, are the ones where you’ve had those really tough conversations upfront.”

Watch the video above to hear more of the discussion between Matt and myself. We go on to discuss Green Leaders and how MIT Sloan research shows digital-savvy leaders are a leading indicator of transformation success.

What is ‘At Home With Interesting People’?

Now that a lot of the world is in some form of self-isolation and in-person events are problematic, EPiC thought it would be a good idea to start a new virtual event. We’ve called it ‘At Home With Interesting People’.  It’s a one-hour webinar show where EPiC chats about business agility and has fun with an interesting person, while at home.

Our first episode was with guest star, Jody Weir, Head of Agility at THE ICONIC. Watch below:

Matt McCormack from Cognizant
“If you can get them over that hurdle of being vulnerable enough to understand that they don’t know enough, you can have a good conversation. That’s been the key learning. The transformations where I’ve succeeded and where we’ve been able to consult the best, are the ones where you’ve had those really tough conversations upfront.”
Related Post
Agile Values
Agility Isn't Something That is Perfect
I asked our guest, Jody Weir, a hard question: Have you ever behaved in a way that was contrary to Agile values and principles in your role?
Read more
Finding the Balance
Delivering Value vs Fixing Core Systems
Digital Transformation Expert, Matt McCormack, chats with us about finding the right balance
Read more
Business Agility Roadblock #4 – Your Vision Doesn’t Align to Your Values
There is no point in pursuing business agility if you’re just going to swarm around bad ideas. First, you need to make sure that the ideas driving your business forward are first-rate. To do this, you need to reorientate value and vision.
Read more