Your organization is changing but where is your awesome Rocket project?

Oct 8, 2015

Capgemini

In my latest blog about Internet of Things  I wrote about the smart umbrella where I concluded that a simple LED-light on an umbrella has a disruptive impact on the manufacturer. In this blog, I will take a closer look at that impact and how to get and keep energy in such a transformation.

When IoT enters a certain branch, one of the effects is that the value chain in that branch is changing. New products and services become within reach and new players enter the market. This forces existing players to rethink their own role, their positions towards existing and new partners , their added value: in short, they have to reinvent themselves. This is the case for an umbrella manufacturer but also for:

• A logistic organization because of 3D-printing, self driving cars, IoT, smart city etc.
• A financial organization because of crowdfunding, bitcoin, blockchain, IoT etc.
• A governmental organization because of smart city concepts, internationalization etc.
• A health care organization because of 3D-printing, domotica, IoT etc.
• Etcetera

Note that the most important word in the list above is “etcetera”.  There is hardly a limitation.

There are many rapidly changing  technological developments with impact on the essence of organizations. Flexibility is the key here, so it is logical that many organizations are working on becoming more agile. I also see many organizations working on huge programs to be “ready for the future”. Mostly long term programs with an internal focus. Increasing flexibility and reducing internal complexity are usually part of this. These programs  tend to cost a lot of time, money and energy and they are not very great, but we just have to go through this.

For employees, these programs can be frustrating. It takes too long, the original goals slowly disappear out of sight, requirements are lost underway and people outside the program don’t understand what is going on. “When we finish this program, we should be ready for the future, but the future is changing faster than we do.”  These programs take energy but they do not give energy back.

“Rocket projects” do give energy. These are relatively small but with a very visible result, focused on the outside of the organization. They launch the transformation an organization wants to go through. Customers and employees will see and feel that the organization is heading for a new identity. At the same time, Rocket projects are very helpful in determining priorities and scope for your huge readiness program. A win-win.

I am pretty sure your organization is working hard to be ready for the future, but where is your awesome Rocket project?

About the author

Andre Helderman

Driver of innovation | Netherlands

André Helderman has studied both Business Information Technology and Sociology which makes clear that he is interested in the combination of technology and human behavior. Throughout his career he showed a keen eye for improvements and innovations.

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