Strategic Change Initiatives

Are you measuring what matters in your organization? A comprehensive measure of organizational effectiveness includes much more than profit margins and growth rates. The market and media often celebrate companies that show rapid financial growth or high profitability, leading to a cultural bias towards these metrics as signs of success BUT the tide is slowly turning- more businesses are recognizing the long-term value of a holistic approach to effectiveness and success. Many more businesses are embracing the concept of the "Triple Bottom Line," which measures success not just by financial profit ("Profit"), but also by the company's impact on people ("People") and the planet ("Planet"). HOWEVER 🚨 There is more work to be done! The prioritization of non-financial elements of organizational success can get pushed aside when financial pressures hit or quick results are valued. You have probably heard the phrase "What gets measured gets managed". This is generally true. Quantifying and measuring non-financial aspects of effectiveness, such as employee well-being, social impact, and workplace culture, is hugely important but remains challenging. 💡 Here's some straightforward steps to move you towards a more holistic approach to measuring success: 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬: Define what holistic success means for your organization. This could include specific targets related to employee well-being, social impact, and environmental sustainability. 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬: Talk to employees, customers, and community members to understand what aspects of your business matter most to them. Their insights can help shape your holistic success framework. 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐬: Based on your goals and stakeholder feedback, pick metrics that are meaningful and manageable. For example, employee satisfaction can be measured through regular surveys, while environmental impact can be tracked through energy consumption or waste reduction metrics. 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬: Look into established frameworks (like GRI or B Corp standards for sustainability; Gallups Q12 Engagement Survey for employee engagement or the Denison Organizational Culture Model to measure workplace culture). There are existing frameworks for most known elements of organizational effectiveness so it's just a matter of looking into them. 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠: Ensure that these holistic metrics are part of regular business reviews and decision-making processes, not just side projects. 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲: Share your progress openly, including both successes and areas for improvement. Transparency builds trust and credibility. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: Be prepared to adapt and refine your approach as you learn what works and what doesn't. This is a journey, not a one-time task. #organizationaleffectiveness #measurewhatmatters #leaders

How I Prioritize as a Program Manager at Amazon One of the toughest parts of being a program manager is deciding what gets attention when everything feels important. At Amazon, where the pace is fast and the stakes are high, I’ve learned that effective prioritization isn’t just a skill—it’s a necessity. Here are three approaches that help me stay focused and move the needle: 1️⃣ Impact vs. Effort Matrix When juggling multiple projects, I map tasks based on how much impact they’ll have versus how much effort they’ll take. High-impact, low-effort items? Those are no-brainers. Low-impact, high-effort tasks? They often end up on the backlog or get re-evaluated. This simple framework keeps me and my teams working smarter. 2️⃣ Customer Obsession At Amazon, the customer always comes first. Before prioritizing, I ask myself: How will this improve the customer experience? If an idea doesn’t bring clear value to the customer, it’s either deprioritized or reconsidered. It’s a principle that keeps us grounded in what really matters. 3️⃣ Time for Big-Picture Thinking Amid the daily fire drills, it’s easy to let long-term planning slip. I’ve started blocking time on my calendar specifically for strategic thinking. This helps me step back, focus on the bigger picture, and ensure we’re not just putting out fires but also building for the future. Prioritization is messy, and it’s not always perfect. But these methods have helped me find clarity in the chaos and deliver meaningful results. How do you decide what deserves your attention when everything feels important? #Leadership #Prioritization #CustomerObsessed #ProgramManagement

During my recent stay at Novotel Hotels Vijayawada Varun, I saw firsthand how hospitality brands are beginning to embrace sustainability. While I know these steps don’t yet make the hotel fully sustainable, it’s good to see meaningful action being taken. From biodegradable dental kits and refillable dispensers to glass water bottles, and cloth napkins, their commitment to reducing waste was clear.  They even provided sterilized reusable footwear - a practical and sustainable alternative to the typical disposable white slippers. Here are the three most impressive sustainability efforts that stood out during my stay: 1️⃣ Green Building: Powered by solar energy and equipped with LED lighting, sustainability is built into its foundation. 2️⃣ EV Charging Station: The first in Vijayawada, encouraging greener travel. 3️⃣ Composting & Herb Garden: Onsite composting and a vertical herb garden reduce waste and support local sourcing. These initiatives have earned Novotel Vijayawada Varun a Bronze Level in Accor’s Planet 21 initiative, a recognition of their efforts to support environmental stewardship. Accor, the parent company, has also committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and significant emissions reductions by 2030. While there’s still a long way to go, it’s encouraging to see brands I’ve grown up with starting to integrate sustainability into their operations. Every step counts, and it’s these thoughtful initiatives that can inspire broader change in the hospitality industry. What small sustainable changes have you seen recently that made an impression? Let’s share ideas! #Sustainability #GreenHospitality #EcoFriendly #ResponsibleTourism

When ROI is used to compare strategic initiatives, strategy disappears. Some firms unintentionally kill their strategy by evaluating every initiative with the same metric—usually ROI. When ROI becomes the universal yardstick, strategy collapses into short-term financial sorting or into expensive failures based on hockey-stick projections. This is especially dangerous if CEOs are remunerated on the basis of EBIT targets or short-term stock options. As a board member and strategist, I recommend a different approach: assess initiatives along the Three Horizons. Three Horizon thinking is strategic because it forces leaders to do what strategy fundamentally requires: Allocate resources across different time horizons under uncertainty to optimize the current business and build the business of tomorrow. In other words: perform and transform. Horizon 1: Strengthen the core business These initiatives keep the company competitive today. Yes—ROI is appropriate here. Efficiency, margin, and cash flow matter. Horizon 2: Grow emerging businesses These initiatives build the next engines of growth. ROI is dangerous here because too many assumptions are required. The right question is: Does this strategic initiative meaningfully grow our emerging business? Horizon 3: Create options for the future These are investment into resources and capabilities that lead to potentially disproportionate competitive advantages. Early ROI calculations are meaningless. Instead ask: Does this strategic initiative create options we may need later? A real strategy allocates resources across all three horizons. In my experience, only Horizon 1 initiatives should be assessed by ROI. Horizons 2 and 3 require strategic judgment, not spreadsheet logic. Please repost if you agree. Comment if you disagree. Follow if you like more reframing. #strategy #leadership #transformation #VRIO #ROI #investments     Source of the Three Horizon model: Baghai, M., Coley, S., & White, D. (1999). The alchemy of growth: Practical insights for building the enduring enterprise. Perseus Publishing.

Green's the New Gold. When buying luxury beauty products, us consumers want the whole shebang—stunning packaging that feels premium and looks great on our bathroom shelf. For this reason, luxury brands have always dazzled with their extravagant packaging. But behind that glossy exterior is a dirty secret—a mountain of waste... The industry pumps out 120 billion units of packaging annually, most of it tricky to recycle. Brands are starting to become more sustainable, but it's not proving to be easy or cheap. Reducing environmental impact while staying posh has been a tall order. Packaging here isn't just functional—it's how brands shout their identity. Think Tiffany & Co's Blue Box, Harrods' carrier bags, or Chanel's chic perfume boxes. These are not just packaging—they're status symbols. Luxury packaging is an experience, a sensory delight from the first glance to the grand reveal. Often involving delayed gratification with elements like ribbons and pull tabs—features that are typically unsustainable. Critics argue that sustainability cramps luxury's style, which thrives on the finest materials and creative freedom. Sustainable choices are seen as limiting. How can brands blend prestige with eco-friendliness? Is luxury packaging doomed, or can it evolve? Forward thinking brands are partnering with design agencies to navigate this new landscape and uncover solutions. Montague Brand Agency delivered new packaging for Hunter Lab's latest collection that balances opulence with eco-consciousness. Clear demonstration how sustainable materials can elevate luxury packaging, not hinder it. Created from sugarcane bagasse, wood pulp, wheat straw pulp, recycled paper, and more, boxes decompose in 45-60 days, enriching the soil. Design that shows sustainable can also be drop-dead gorgeous. Luxury brands are now at a crossroads. Sustainability is no longer optional—it's a movement driven by consumer demand. The challenge is huge, but so is the opportunity. By thinking differently, luxury brands can redefine what prestige means, making it about responsibility as well as style. Becoming sustainable doesn't mean losing your shine. As consumers get more eco-aware, they'll flock to brands that reflect their values. Sustainability and ethics have become hot selling points. Luxury packaging once, symbolising mere opulence, now looks poised to represent a commitment to a better world. What's your take? How do you see this shift unfolding? 📷Montague Brand Agency

As Product Managers it’s so easy to loose trust if features on the roadmap are not prioritised correctly. Here are 5 prioritization frameworks and when to actually use them: 1. RICE (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) ✅ Use when: You have multiple ideas/features and want to prioritize based on expected impact. 📌 Best for: Growth experiments, new features, MVP ideas 💡Tip: Confidence % is often biased calibrate with data! 2. MoSCoW (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have) ✅ Use when: You’re working with tight deadlines and multiple stakeholders. 📌 Best for: Sprint planning, product launches 💡Tip: Don’t let every stakeholder label everything as “Must have.” 3. Kano Model ✅ Use when: You want to balance delight with functionality. 📌 Best for: Customer-facing products 💡Tip: A feature that delights today might be expected tomorrow. 4. ICE (Impact, Confidence, Ease) ✅ Use when: You want a quicker version of RICE for fast decision-making. 📌 Best for: Rapid prototyping, early-stage prioritization 💡Tip: Use ICE when you don’t have a ton of data but still need to move. 5. Value vs. Effort Matrix ✅ Use when: You want to visualize trade-offs with stakeholders. 📌 Best for: Roadmap discussions, stakeholder alignment 💡Tip: Plot features on a 2×2: * Quick Wins (High value, low effort) * Strategic Bets (High value, high effort) * Time Wasters (Low value, high effort) * Fillers (Low value, low effort) So which one should you pick? Use RICE when you’re in a data-driven company. Use MoSCoW when time is tight and alignment is tough. Use ICE when you need speed > accuracy. Use Kano when delight matters. Use the Value/Effort Matrix when people keep asking, “Why this first?” 📌 Save this for your next prioritization war. 💬 Tried any of these at work? Drop your go-to framework in comments! #productmanager #job #PMjobs #learning #frameworks

"Culture change" is the biggest lie in organizational transformation. Here's what actually happens: You run workshops. You print posters. You train people on new values. Six months later, behavior looks exactly the same. Why? Because you've got the causality backwards. Culture follows structure. Not the other way around. Craig Larman captured this in his Laws of Organizational Behavior. The first law: Organizations are implicitly optimized to avoid changing the status quo of middle- and first-level manager positions and power structures. Read that again. Your organization isn't resisting change because people are difficult. It's resisting change because it's designed to resist change. The structure, rewards, and processes are all optimized to preserve existing power. Want to change culture? Change the structure. Want people to collaborate? Remove the structural barriers that make collaboration expensive. Want innovation? Create Product Groups with real P&L ownership and decision-making authority. Want customer focus? Merge customer-facing and product development units so everyone shares the same measures of success. Jay Galbraith's Star Model shows this clearly: Strategy, Structure, Processes, Rewards, and People practices must be in harmony. Change one without the others, and the system snaps back. Stop running culture workshops. Start redesigning your organization. The culture you want will emerge from the structure you create. #SimplificationOfficers #OrganizationalChange

"We have a margin problem." When was the last time you heard that statement? To be fair, the external environment for many businesses is intense today: diminished spending power of consumers, increased attention to inflation, currency impacts, growing costs, battle for talent, and greater competitive activity are all combining. It can certainly feel like a margin problem! Here are a few steps I recommend right away when looking at margins and taking decisions to improve your Competitive Positioning: 1) Start by re-segmenting your customers, markets, and products/services- consider what may have changed, and how you can best segment to understand the purchasing decisions of each key group. What criteria are you using to determine your priorities for the future? 2) Understand and re-evaluate your competitive advantage. Why are customers choosing you relative to all the other alternatives? 3) Challenge your value proposition for your highest priority customer segments, and rebalance where necessary- why are your customers loyal to you and sticking with you even as price increases may be necessary? Revisit your pricing initiatives and programmes, and understand where they can be improved on and what can be tested/experimented with. 4) Consider how new business models may be able to assist you in better servicing your current customer needs, or in attracting an entirely new segment of users with a different willingness to pay. What is your ideal portfolio of Core, Growth, and Explore business models? 5) Determine where you can better serve your highest priority customer segments through building, developing, and adapting entirely new capabilities Your customers are not static, and your Strategy cannot be reviewed just once a year in updating to the dynamic environment we are all in. Fire, Aim, Ready is not a winning approach. What are you finding most effective in addressing the "margin challenge" of 2025 and beyond? Strategy is Mastery. Let's build the future together.

Expectations around generating (and reporting) #socialvalue & the use of #socialprocurement have been growing in the Australian construction sector over the past few years - which is a good thing. However, social value claims from construction projects continue to often use output #/$ statements like: "100 jobs created" "$1M spent with local suppliers". "50 indigenous apprenticeships" Big numbers can sound good. They are meaningless and misleading though when they don't contextualise for effects of change. Those 100 jobs might be filled by 100 construction workers coming straight off another project in a tight labour market or they might be filled by workers who were previously unemployed, or on higher wages, new to the industry, or have a different gender or diversity split than other projects. A $1M local supplier spend can have a different impact based on what suppliers are used and their business context (such as are they new or already established, whether they are a social enterprise etc.), as well as the local economic context. Inclusive workforce claims often warrant a closer look also e.g. for "black cladding". Social impact is the consequence/ effect of changes experienced by people. The change part is critical. If a construction project's social performance reporting isn't focused on what is changing (outcomes) as a result of their activities, and the effect of that, it's not actually reporting on social impact. The Victorian Government has had a notable program over the past 18 months or so to support capability development across the civil construction supply chain around social procurement & related social impact reporting. Guidance and resources produced as part of this are available online here: https://lnkd.in/g6iBvj_2. Part of this online suite is this attached depiction of the scope opportunity on construction projects for social procurement - which I think is particularly handy for project leaders to contemplate. If you're involved in social procurement or social impact in the sector, I recommend especially looking too at the "Reporting social procurement impact" web information which aims to move the dial in the industry from reporting $ spend towards communication of outcomes. It's got some great introductory material in it around social impact measurement prepared by people who have specialist expertise in social impact .... and you can tell :) Construction sector reporting around social impact and procurement can still improve, including in Victoria. It's exciting though to see the evolving expectations and practice move more towards contributing to genuine change and social impact. #socialimpact #infrastructure https://lnkd.in/g6iBvj_2

𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗸. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀. Every January, organisations announce transformation programs. Most won’t transform much. Because real transformation is not about just: • Vision statements • Townhalls • New org charts • business development frameworks It’s about 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 that close doors. In my experience across geographies, cycles, and industries, transformation becomes real only when leaders are willing to: • Exit businesses that still make money but no longer make sense • Break legacy power structures that once delivered success • Reallocate capital before the decline is obvious • Upgrade leadership capability — even when tenure and loyalty argue otherwise These decisions are uncomfortable and often unpopular. And they are always revealing. The truth is this: Most organisations don’t fail to transform because they lack ideas. They fail because they lack conviction and 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲. Courage to disappoint some people today so the organisation can be relevant tomorrow. As I step into 2026, my belief is simple: Heritage is not a handicap — but it becomes one if it is used as an excuse for inertia. Transformation demands clarity, courage, and stamina. Not just at the start — but 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳. That’s the work. — I’ll be sharing more this year on leadership, transformation, and building future-ready organisations — drawing from my journey across global enterprises and now at Greaves Cotton Limited. If you’re building, changing, or questioning the status quo — let’s engage. #Leadership #Transformation #CEOPerspective #StrategyToExecution