The Story of George The Baker

	Relieve the Transformers of the Operations
But he didn't get any results, the employees tended to reproduce what they already knew.	The Baker understood that to Transform is not the same thing as to Operate…
To stay the course, the Baker has to not only excel in the Operations, but must also know how to evolve by taking charge of his Transformation. They are both different kinds of activities and cannot easily be carried out at the same time. To Operate is to manage the present; to Transform is to prepare the future.	The Baker selects one of the most imaginative apprentices to be in charge of the Transformation.

Short-term concerns always win over the long term: an operational occurrence in the Operations needs to be dealt with as a priority compared with occurrences that may affect the Transformation Projects that are underway. If we want to successfully complete complex Transformations quickly, then we must relieve the Transformers of Operational tasks. To put it plainly, we must clearly separate the Operations from the Transformation.

IT departments have understood this well as they have traditionally isolated "studies" from the "IT operations".

But this obvious idea is not that easy to implement. Indeed, it is met with reticence by those in the Operations:

they produce the Enterprise revenues, whereas Transformation is a cost center: they therefore feel justified in managing the actions which use up the profits they have generated
they know what does not work well and what needs to be improved
they are close to the field and can come up with realistic Transformations, whereas Transformations hatched in an ivory tower by Transformers cut off from the reality of the Operations can fail
they feel apprehensive about the level of change acceptable to the Operational Actors

We can leave Operational Actors to lead simple Transformations that only require slight modifications of the Model.
On the other hand, we cannot let them carry out heavy Transformations that require new Models to be created:

they will always be absorbed as a priority by the Operations, to the detriment of the Transformation
they lack, in general, enough time to make an assessment: they know how to optimize their Model, but they rarely know how to question it
they rarely have the ability to build new Models
they underestimate their teams' ability to accept change, if it is well accompanied

How do we convince the Operational managers?

They will not direct the Transformation, but they will participate in it
- When the Transformation Goal is being defined, their input is invaluable
- During the formulation of the new Model, their reactions are invaluable
- When the time comes to Deploy, they are very closely involved
- And they will provide an assessment of the Transformation when the new Model is fully up and running
Avoid the tunnel effect and present rapid, concrete results of the Transformation as successive deliverables to increase the credibility of the Transformation
Do not hesitate to explain that the revenues they generate are only possible because some people have built the Model they use and that others manage their resources.

If one Business Line wishes to favor Agility, it is essential that it separates the Transformation responsibilities from the Operational ones.

The story of George the Baker is made available under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution - NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.

Relieve the Transformers of the Operations

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