Ruth Smith's artical in The Tom Peters Times - March 10 edition

The CEO of Coffee Nation started with the company at the very beginning. He's one of the founders--a strong entrepreneur. The organisation has grown dramatically, and the whole operation, new managers, new investors, and new staff all look to him for leadership as the Chief Executive. He realised that the whole organisation (including himself) had to undergo wide change in their way of working. He made the decision to implement change despite the economy being in the middle of a recession, because it was clear to him that a "micro-managed" management team was not going to see the business through the tough times and set it up for future performance.

The changes have meant that the business has seen an increase in bottom-line profit during this economic downturn and has provided a structure to capitalise on growth opportunities.

To me, the most significant change is not the tangible process of what they do; but the change to how they actually do what they do!
Important facets of the changes:

1. The change started from the leaders of the business. There was a recognition of the need to change from "leader as hero" making all the decisions; to wise decisions being made at the right level. Just by paying attention to being curious and asking questions rather than giving an answer (which has been difficult for a CEO who has always been in control) has given people the opportunity to take personal responsibility for their decisions.

2. To support the change to a "way of working" where people take responsibility and are accountable for the decisions they make, the management team have involved everyone across the organisation, in creating clarity of a shared purpose, the organisation's strategic intentions, and Coffee Nation values (way of working), giving a clear direction to all. All employees are able to confidently refer to this operational framework to make wise local decisions.

3. What has been apparent is the importance of the management team in "role modeling" the desired change of behaviours. There have been many occasions where it would have been really easy for the CEO to revert back into "making the decisions" for people. But he hasn't--and that has had a significant impact on the change in the organisation.

4. The behavioural changes have rippled through the whole organisation--being gradually integrated into every process--for example generating an inclusive budgeting process and ensuring the communication process is fit for purpose. The CEO uses examples of what he sees happening in the day-to-day running of the business to demonstrate the behaviour change we're looking for--and those we're not. The stories form part of the newly introduced communication process--ensuring everyone has the information they require to effectively deliver their job role.

These small (often hard) changes of behaviour often have the biggest impact. Do you have what it takes to loosen control in the face of an economic downturn? Could your company commit to decentralized decision making? Could your management team maintain a culture change like this one?