Agile thinking, emerging technology, digital transformation – these are the defining buzzwords of our time. These are words that are at least as much talked about as “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” was in its day. Many people may think of them this way, as it inevitably brings changes within organizations if someone “wanders” down this path. But are we really prepared for it?
It all started with the agile methodology. Almost immediately, every company tried to become more or less agile, sometimes without any underlying content or tangible value creation. This was followed by the digital transformation that was immediately thrown into the public consciousness. Here, the majority of decision-makers and senior managers, deducing from the wording, immediately classified this as one of the tasks to be solved by IT departments. Later, the realization came that this is much more than a single area being responsible for its implementation. We have now reached the point where HR departments view the topic of digital transformation as a “homework” within the framework of a comprehensive organizational development.
Yet, how can we approach this topic in the right way? How can we shake up organizational units, improve their communication, or simply make them aware of the fact that organizational cooperation and the shared value creation it represents are the clear determinants of successful companies of our time?
There are undoubtedly many possible answers, as every company is different in terms of its attitude, behavior, and culture. However, one thing is common and of paramount importance to all of them: employees.
Let's ask ourselves the question as leaders: to what extent do we encourage our employees to try new things, take responsibility, and perhaps dare to make mistakes when the time comes? To what extent do we allow our employees to use their critical thinking and move from "we've always done it this way" to "what if..." type questions?
It's not surprising if we get no answer to our question, just downcast eyes or a sigh that says it all, coming from deep within.
Of course, we don't have to write off our organization, as many others are in similar shoes, and organizational change management and corporate culture development are a key issue not only in Hungary but worldwide. There is no question that the issue must be put on the agenda among the company's decision-makers, if not today, then within a tight deadline.
Practice makes perfect: “learning by doing”
Effective communication, critical thinking, and collaboration can be learned, mastered, and indeed, encouraged. It is undeniable that it takes much more time at first, but in the long run it is definitely a rewarding and guaranteed investment. A very effective tool for this is business simulation, where participants are placed in a safe environment and situational situation, where methodologies and working methods can be tested with “impunity” that would almost certainly cause failure or even damage to the organization if they were to fail to implement or apply them.
Until we try something and test the developed, documented processes and procedures and experience their benefits or drawbacks, we will have nothing more than a theoretical concept and many questions about possible outcomes.
Is it worth taking the risk? I don't think so.
We are looking for our answers on Mars!
Six months ago, on February 28, 2019, the ITIL ® 4 service management framework was released, which, in its approach and content, formulated a clear message about the criticality of organizational value creation, more precisely shared value creation, and its guide compiled from mixed methodologies (Agile, DevOps, Lean). It thus targets every organization that is open to learning new working methods and wants to apply elements of best practices that can be applied to its own organization.
Of course, this is again "just" a theory in itself, but when combined with the MarsLander ® business simulation of the Dutch GamingWorks, the areas that can be success factors for our organizational performance become visible and tangible.
The MarsLander ® Business Simulation is a one-day simulation exercise in which participants must demonstrate their capabilities in a simulated corporate environment. As employees of the SPACE-Y space research center, they must participate in a mission that is carried out with the highest service expectations and supported by the most advanced technological tools. Each participant is responsible for 1 important area in specific roles, such as Flight Control, Application Development, System Operations or Supplier.
The goal is for the research institutes and universities acting as clients to receive the data, images or video materials collected during the mission in a timely manner and in the appropriate quality. Within the mission rounds, the participants must successfully deliver a set of tasks prioritized by the Product Owner in sprints. All this while trying to take advantage of the latest emerging technologies and create value for both the clients and the SPACE-Y company through joint organizational cooperation.
It is crucial that during the simulation, participants recognize the criticality of continuous development and improvements, which are essential for their organizational and operational maturity. In addition to meeting current customer service needs according to SLAs, they must also look to the future in order to meet the constantly changing, accelerated market demands.
During the simulation rounds, participants are given preparation time, after which they can test the concept they have put together in real life, and then at the end of the round, as a kind of retrospective, they can process their successes and failures with the help of the simulation instructor and jointly decide on the developments with which they will move forward in the new rounds.
Expected results
- Increasing team effectiveness and performance.
- The need for visualization in the implementation of projects and tasks becomes clear.
- Closer cooperation between different organizational units of the organization, or the need for its substantive development may be expressed.
- By introducing Lean and DevOps principles, the benefits of end-to-end visibility in everyday work become understandable.
- The critical factors that are essential for successful customer and service-oriented work become visible.
- Not only on the IT side, but also on the business side, insight can be gained into the processes that are the basic elements of the organization's value-creating activities.
- Easier transition from traditional methods to agile working methods.