What are the stages of excellence in a transformation?

Transformation readiness develops through five stages. At the bottom, the reason for change is a budget hole, the programme is run by advisers, and change waits for the day job. At the top, people two levels down give the reason for change in their own words, and finance owns the value.

The stages are assessed across five dimensions, from the case for change to capacity and change fitness. A sixth covers a programme that is already running.

The five stages, in transformation terms

• Lagging. The reason for change is a budget hole or an instruction from the owners. The chief executive announced the programme and moved on. Savings are claimed with no baseline.
• Basic. A case for change was written for the launch deck and not used since. The chief executive sponsors the programme on paper. Workstream leads keep their full day jobs.
• Competent. One page says what happens if nothing changes, and the leadership team tells the same story. Finance signs off each benefit against a hard baseline. Workstream leads are freed or backfilled.
• Advanced. The case for change has been argued in person with every manager. A map shows how each benefit reaches the P&L. The pattern of red initiatives is traced to its cause.
• Leading. People two levels down give the reason for change unprompted. Finance re-runs the value model after every wave. Most problems are called early by the initiative's own owner.

The dimensions a transformation assessment covers

1. Case for change and ambition: why now, whether the initiatives add up to more than the target, and a picture of the end state.
2. Leadership commitment and ownership: who owns the programme at the top, commitment, line ownership, and whether the front line helped shape it.
3. Blueprint: workstreams, how each initiative is defined, sequencing, and early moves that show results.
4. Delivery, value and governance: a central team, the review rhythm, whether the benefits add up, tracking, what happens when an initiative goes red, and scope.
5. Capacity, capability and change fitness: people to run and change the business, delivery skills, readiness for change, behaviours, and change fatigue.
6. In flight: whether benefits are landing, whether gains are locked in, and whether the programme builds capability. This one applies only when a programme is running.

How is transformation readiness measured?

Transformation readiness is measured one practice at a time. A Stages of Excellence assessment asks about 22 practices across five dimensions. Three more appear in a sixth dimension when a programme is already running. For each practice, the respondent picks the one of five sentences that describes the business today. The answers roll up into a stage for each dimension.

The patterns that recur

Score patterns cluster into five types:

• The Spreadsheet Transformation: a well-run cost programme with a target and no ambition.
• The Big Bang: the number is bold, and the organisation cannot carry it.
• A Thousand Flowers: too many initiatives, and no programme.
• The Consultants' Programme: the infrastructure is real, but the business does not own it.
• The Restart: cynicism and unproven benefits left by the last attempt.

Sentences from the check

Each of these is the lowest of five sentences on its question:

• "A red initiative stays red for months, and the owner is blamed for it."
• "Savings are claimed with no baseline, two workstreams count the same saving, and cuts made before the programme are booked to it."
• "The same people run the business and change it, change happens when the day job allows, and it stops in the busy season."

See where your business stands: the transformation readiness check takes about ten minutes.