Best-in-Class Businesses Continuously Transform & In-Trouble Businesses Deal With CHANGE!

Today’s business world is no different than any other day in the past 30-years, yet it amazingly is blowing up business psychology … You are either CHANGING to avoid going out-of-business (not a good place to be) or you are TRANSFORMATIONAL and thus thriving (a great place to be)!

The Post 911 business world had a re-calibration and the businesses that were already on a transformational glide-slope survived and thrived, all others struggled to deal with CHANGE issues. The economic recession and disaster of 2008-2011 illuminated the same scene play out once again. COVID has become the next Great Global Reboot of 2020-21, that once again has shown that transformational businesses and transformational leaders are and were positioned to leverage the opportunities and have thrived. While once again there are and will be a lot of strugglers dealing with massive CHANGE and it may be too little, too late to survive.

Compounding this is the massive chorus line of “experts” (Coaches, Consultants, Advisors, Talent Firms, Speakers and Authors, not to mention Bloggers and Podcasters), today creating massive noise on how to transform and or change to be successful, yet amazingly most were all UNEMPLOYED during 2020 – a major clue to who one should be listening to and engaging in their transformational journey to continued successes!

So, what is the major difference between CHANGE and TRANSFORMATION?

Change is an event and Transformation is a never-ending journey!

Change is typically a reaction and past tense stimulated, while Transformation is a response to future context opportunities.

Change continuously occurs and is reflective of businesses and individuals that actually live on the A-B Trajectory, and Point-B always ends in “derailment or failure”. Point-C represents “success” and never ends …

Change is inevitable and the three core steps to change are powerful KPIs steps, yet if this were a part of your mental DNA, operational GPS and Cultural Fiber, then transformation would be the lens through which you see everything, everyday!

1. Change Step One – The AWARENESS step or stage that addresses the WHAT and WHY variables. Once fully explained, understood and grasped, buy-in takes place and one evolves to the second change state.
2. Change Step Two – The ENGAGEMENT step or stage that addresses the HOW variables. Once fully explained, understood and grasped, implementation can begin and one evolves to the third change state.
3. Change Step Three – The COMMITMENT step or stage that addresses the WHEN variables. This is where implementation and execution are seen. Accountability takes place and success is achieved.

Change is most often indicative of a business or individual being so micro focused or working within themselves (“in” their business), that they failed to be aware of the macro (working “on” their business).

Transformational businesses and individuals do not wait for circumstances, situation, or disruption to take place to trigger a CHANGE in how they think and operate. Change is hard wired into Transformational businesses and individuals, so they are continuously evolving forward, onward and outward, as a natural state-of-mind and operation.

Transformation is hard wired into everything you do and into your talent hierarchy. It is seen in your every action, every deliverable and every engagement with others. Transformational organizations and individuals are always mindful of what Trajectory they are on, and the ability to recalibrate in the 1% factor zones to stay on Trajectory A-C, allows for minimal CHANGE situations developing. If you live within transformation, you are a continuous learning, thriving and evolving entity – this takes true artistry and science to actualize!

Transformational organizations understand a leverage their human capital and understand the talent hierarchy as the core market differential.

Using this TRAJECTORY CODE Modeling (from the Best-Selling book YOUR TRAJECTORY CODE by Jeffrey Magee and published by WILEY –  Dr. Jeffrey Magee | Books) to calibrate Transformation, think of it this way:

Visualize Point-A in the above model as a thumbtack on a wall with two colored threads hanging downward to the floor. If you take one thread and tack it up to letter Point-B and the other thread tack it up at letter Point-C in the above model, the two threads as they leave Point-A would first appear to be one on top of the other. This is represented by the oval going across both threads or lines above the Point-A dot. I call this space the 1-Percent Factor area. As Point-A represented the Activating Event (or starting point to anything), Point-B (Behavior) represents derailment and Point-C (Consequence) represents success. Most people and businesses do not realize that they are off success trajectory, until they are way down line A-B or not even until they run into the wall at Point-B. Then massive change must take place to “survive” and for many, this may be too late in may situations.

However, if you can continuously be aware and monitoring your every effort as you continuously leave Point-A, you can always be transforming and recalibrating as you leave, launce, start to ensure you stay on A-C trajectory. By making an adjustment, when necessary, within the 1-Percent area to ensure you stay on A-C trajectory, this is transformational future focused and not change reactionary.

Literally hundreds of global best-in-practice businesses and leaders live by the TRAJECTORY CODE Modeling tool as their transformational beacon. I’ve seen CEOs walk to the front of a room during the multi-billion-dollar firms annual strategic planning retreat and draw the diagram on a smart board to frame and guide every comment, action and decision. I have sat in strategy meetings with military Generals and seen the same. Consider the academic of the model and then apply to your next endeavor, share it broadly with your talent hierarchy!

For decades I have designed many of the leading talent development professional training programs used globally in the human resource industry (for firms like SkillPath Seminars and CareerTrack Seminars), as well written into my many graduate managements text books, yet most people and businesses still fixate disproportionately on CHANGE versus TRANSFORMATION.

Change equals FOLLOWER and Transformation equals LEADER!

Look around and notice the individuals and businesses that are creating their daily and future realities (TRANSFORMATIONAL) and those that are working hard to survive (because of all the CHANGES taking place around them) … Who are YOU?

Written by Dr. Jeffrey Magee.