0:00:00.825,0:00:03.176
Have you ever noticed[br]when you ask someone to talk

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about a change they're making[br]for the better in their personal lives,

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they're often really energetic?

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Whether it's training for a marathon,

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picking up an old hobby,

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or learning a new skill,

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for most people,

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self-transformation projects[br]occupy a very positive emotional space.

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Self-transformation is empowering,

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energizing, even exhilarating.

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I mean just take a look[br]at some of the titles of self-help books:

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"Awaken the Giant Within,"

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"Practicing the Power of Now,"

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or here's a great one[br]we can all relate to,

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"You are a Badass:

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How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness[br]and Start Living an Awesome Life."

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(Laughter)

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When it comes to self-transformation,

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you can't help but get[br]a sense of the excitement.

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But there's another type of transformation

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that occupies a very different[br]emotional space.

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The transformation of organizations.

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If you're like most people,

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when you hear the words "Our organization[br]is going to start a transformation,"

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you're thinking, "Uh-oh."

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(Laughter)

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"Layoffs."

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The blood drains from your face,

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your mind goes into overdrive,

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frantically searching[br]for some place to run and hide.

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Well, you can run,

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but you really can't hide.

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Most of us spend[br]the majority of our waking hours

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involved in organizations.

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And due to changes in globalization,

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changes due to advances in technology

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and other factors,

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the reality is our organizations[br]are constantly having to adapt.

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In fact,

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I call this the era[br]of "always-on" transformation.

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When I shared this idea[br]with my wife Nicola,

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she said, "Always-on transformation?

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That sounds exhausting."

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And that may be[br]exactly what you're thinking --

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and you would be right.

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Particularly if we continue to approach[br]the transformation of organizations

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the way we always have been.

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But because we can't hide,

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we need to sort out two things.

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First,

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why is transformation so exhausting?

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And second, how do we fix it?

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First of all,

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let's acknowledge that change is hard.

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People naturally resist change,

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especially when it's imposed on them.

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But there are things that organizations do[br]that make change even harder

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and more exhausting[br]for people than it needs to be.

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First of all,

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leaders often wait too long to act.

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As a result,

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everything is happening in crisis mode.

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Which, of course, tends to be exhausting.

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Or, given the urgency,

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what they'll do is they'll just focus[br]on the short-term results,

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but that doesn't give[br]any hope for the future.

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Or they'll just take[br]a superficial, one-off approach,

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hoping that they can return[br]back to business as usual

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as soon as the crisis is over.

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This kind of approach

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is kind of the way some students[br]approach preparing for standardized tests.

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In order to get test scores to go up,

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teachers will end up teaching to the test.

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Now, that approach can work;

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test results often do go up.

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But it fails the fundamental[br]goal of education:

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to prepare students[br]to succeed over the long term.

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So given these obstacles,

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what can we do

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to transform the way[br]we transform organizations

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so rather than being exhausting,

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it's actually empowering and energizing?

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To do that, we need to focus[br]on five strategic imperatives,

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all of which have one thing in common:

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putting people first.

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The first imperative[br]for putting people first

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is to inspire through purpose.

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Most transformations have[br]financial and operational goals.

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These are important[br]and they can be energizing to leaders,

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but they tend not to be very motivating[br]to most people in the organization.

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To motivate more broadly,

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the transformation needs to connect[br]with a deeper sense of purpose.

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Take LEGO.

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The LEGO Group has become[br]an extraordinary global company.

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Under their very capable leadership,

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they've actually undergone[br]a series of transformations.

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While each of these[br]has had a very specific focus,

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the North Star,

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linking and guiding all of them,

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has been Lego's powerful purpose:

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inspire and develop[br]the builders of tomorrow.

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Expanding globally?

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It's not about increasing sales,

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but about giving millions of additional[br]children access to LEGO building bricks.

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Investment and innovation?

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It's not about developing new products,

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but about enabling more children

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to experience the joy[br]of learning through play.

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Not surprisingly,

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that deep sense of purpose tends[br]to be highly motivating to LEGO's people.

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The second imperative[br]for putting people first

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is to go all in.

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Too many transformations

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are nothing more than[br]head-count cutting exercises;

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layoffs under the guise of transformation.

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In the face of relentless competition,

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it may well be that you will[br]have to take the painful decision

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to downsize the organization,

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just as you may have to lose some weight[br]in order to run a marathon.

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But losing weight alone

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will not get you across[br]the finish line with a winning time.

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To win

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you need to go all in.

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You need to go all in.

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Rather than just cutting costs,

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you need to think about initiatives

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that will enable you[br]to win in the medium term,

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initiatives to drive growth,

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actions that will fundamentally[br]change the way the company operates,

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and very importantly,

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investments to develop[br]the leadership and the talent.

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The third imperative[br]for putting people first

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is to enable people with the capabilities

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that they need to succeed[br]during the transformation and beyond.

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Over the years I've competed[br]in a number of triathlons.

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You know, frankly, I'm not that good,

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but I do have one distinct capability;

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I am remarkably fast at finding my bike.

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(Laughter)

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By the time I finish the swim,

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almost all the bikes are already gone.

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(Laughter)

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Real triathletes know that each leg --

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the swim, the bike, the run --

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really requires different capabilities,

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different tools,

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different skills, different techniques.

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Likewise when we transform organizations,

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we need to be sure[br]that we're giving our people

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the skills and the tools[br]they need along the way.

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Chronos,

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a global software company,

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recognized the need[br]to transfer from building products --

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software products --

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to building software as a service.

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To enable its people[br]to take that transformation,

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first of all they invested in new tools

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that would enable their employees[br]to monitor the usage of the features

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as well as customer satisfaction[br]with the new service.

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They also invested in skill development,

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so that their employees would be able

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to resolve customer service[br]problems on the spot.

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And very importantly,

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they also reinforced the collaborative[br]behaviors that would be required

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to deliver an end-to-end[br]seamless customer experience.

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Because of these investments,

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rather than feeling overwhelmed[br]by the transformation,

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Chronos employees actually felt energized

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and empowered in their new roles.

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In the era of "always-on" transformation,

0:08:46.440,0:08:47.936
change is a constant.

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My fourth imperative therefore

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is to instill a culture[br]of continuous learning.

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When Satya Nadella[br]became the CEO of Microsoft

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in February 2014,

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he embarked on an ambitious[br]transformation journey

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to prepare the company to compete[br]in a mobile-first, cloud-first world.

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This included changes to strategy,

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the organization

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and very importantly, the culture.

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Microsoft's culture at the time was one[br]of silos and internal competition --

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not exactly conducive to learning.

0:09:22.480,0:09:24.320
Nadella took this head-on.

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He rallied his leadership[br]around his vision

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for a living, learning culture,

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shifting from a fixed mindset,

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where your role was to show up[br]as the smartest person in the room,

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to a growth mindset,

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where your role was to listen, to learn[br]and to bring out the best in people.

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Well, early days,

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Microsoft employees already[br]noticed this shift in the culture --

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clear evidence of Microsoft[br]putting people first.

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My fifth and final imperative[br]is specifically for leaders.

0:10:01.200,0:10:02.856
In a transformation,

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a leader needs to have a vision,

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a clear road map with milestones,

0:10:08.600,0:10:13.056
and then you need to hold people[br]accountable for results.

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In other words, you need to be directive.

0:10:16.240,0:10:19.376
But in order to capture[br]the hearts and minds of people,

0:10:19.400,0:10:21.800
you also need to be inclusive.

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Inclusive leadership[br]is critical to putting people first.

0:10:27.920,0:10:29.720
I live in the San Francisco Bay area.

0:10:30.680,0:10:31.896
And right now,

0:10:31.920,0:10:34.400
our basketball team[br]is the best in the league.

0:10:34.960,0:10:37.616
We won the 2015 championship,

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and we're favored to win again this year.

0:10:40.600,0:10:42.656
There are many explanations for this.

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They have some fabulous players,

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but one of the key reasons

0:10:46.920,0:10:52.360
is their head coach, Steve Kerr,[br]is an inclusive leader.

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When Kerr came to the Warriors in 2014,

0:10:56.000,0:10:58.680
the Warriors were looking[br]for a major transformation.

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They hadn't won a national[br]championship since 1975.

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Kerr came in, and he had a clear vision,

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and he immediately got to work.

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From the outset,

0:11:13.840,0:11:17.936
he reached out and engaged[br]the players and the staff.

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He created an environment of open debate[br]and solicited suggestions.

0:11:23.360,0:11:25.056
During games he would often ask,

0:11:25.080,0:11:26.960
"What are you seeing that I'm missing?"

0:11:28.000,0:11:33.760
One the best examples of this[br]came in game four of the 2015 finals.

0:11:34.600,0:11:36.720
The Warriors were down two games to one

0:11:37.880,0:11:42.040
when Kerr made the decision[br]to change the starting lineup;

0:11:42.600,0:11:46.000
a bold move by any measure.

0:11:47.360,0:11:50.280
The Warriors won the game[br]and went on to win the championship.

0:11:50.960,0:11:52.216
And it is widely viewed

0:11:52.240,0:11:55.920
that that move was[br]the pivotal move in their victory.

0:11:57.440,0:12:01.120
Interestingly, it wasn't[br]actually Kerr's idea.

0:12:02.560,0:12:06.160
It was the idea of his 28-year-old[br]assistant, Nick U'Ren.

0:12:07.160,0:12:09.336
Because of Kerr's leadership style,

0:12:09.360,0:12:12.200
U'Ren felt comfortable[br]bringing the idea forward.

0:12:13.240,0:12:15.216
And Kerr not only listened,

0:12:15.240,0:12:16.800
but he implemented the idea

0:12:17.520,0:12:19.176
and then afterwards,

0:12:19.200,0:12:21.160
gave U'Ren all the credit --

0:12:22.520,0:12:28.040
actions all consistent with Kerr's[br]highly inclusive approach to leadership.

0:12:29.280,0:12:31.936
In the era of "always-on" transformation,

0:12:31.960,0:12:35.640
organizations are always[br]going to be transforming.

0:12:37.200,0:12:40.440
But doing so does not[br]have to be exhausting.

0:12:42.080,0:12:44.256
We owe it to ourselves,

0:12:44.280,0:12:46.256
to our organizations

0:12:46.280,0:12:48.000
and to society more broadly

0:12:49.000,0:12:52.840
to boldly transform[br]our approach to transformation.

0:12:53.920,0:12:55.576
To do that,

0:12:55.600,0:12:59.080
we need to start putting people first.

0:12:59.800,0:13:01.016
Thank you.

0:13:01.040,0:13:07.992
(Applause)