Spring 2017 newsletter – disruption in the polder
Spring is in the air and the terms Agility, FinTech and Hostile Shareholders echo across the polder.
An increasing number of Dutch organisations are exploring, embracing or in some cases, being forced, to become more agile – a technique with its genesis in the disruptive innovation taking place in Silicon Valley, USA. Flagship Dutch multinationals are also under threat from hostile and proactive shareholders demanding improved performance and new governance.
In this spring newsletter, we offer help to get beyond buzzword compliance and start making the fundamental changes that will be necessary to survive a new wave of competitiveness sweeping across Europe. We believe this will have a profound impact upon customer experience, organisation design, ways of working and people – in short it requires a new business model.
Discover the new norm of “organisational Agility”
For a new norm, the definition of “Agility” is somewhat fluid. The term was defined in the “Manifesto for Agile Software Development” and is migrating towards becoming the new norm for organisation design. In its simple definition, it refers to an organisation that is capable of rapidly changing to suit its environment by adhering to a set of basic principles. This has been extended with Silicon Valley success formulas to include principles for governance and organisation (e.g. organise around the person with the best idea), work definitions (e.g. work must be meaningful) and business infrastructure (software is eating the world). Together, this represents a fundamental break from our traditions in organisation governance and control – Fred Taylor’s division of labour thinking has been laid to rest!
Whilst many organisations state they are digitising or scrumming, we see a significant amount of “buzzword compliance” with superficial application of techniques in very limited areas and digitisation of outdated business models. Few organisations are embracing the spirit of Silicon Valley disruption and fundamentally challenging the basic assumptions of their business model in order to achieve breakthrough change. We believe this is now a necessity for all organisations.
We continue our work with Mark Zawacki (650Labs in Silicon Valley) to help organisations create sustainable advantage in what we simply call our Change Laboratory. This brings Silicon Valley insight to your business situation in a short series of workshops resulting in proposals for radical change. Its fast, radically different and will start an unstoppable change.
We can share our approach with you in a short briefing or you can attend our Silicon Valley masterclass.
Discover and design a data and technology leveraged business model
Internet is about sharing information, Blockchain is about sharing value. From Logistics and Trade Finance, through Asset Settlement and Peer-to-peer payment, blockchain is a new way of transferring value between parties without the involvement of traditional banking infrastructure. This is considered by many industry watchers to be potentially more significant than the invention of internet! If you would like to discover how blockchain will impact your business then contact us, join our upcoming blockchain masterclass or check out our blockchain help desk.
Data has become a source of competitive advantage as can be seen by the risk based pricing models in insurance. In addition to having to manage data across legacy systems, organisations must bring together disparate sources of data for analysis to enable better decision making. Bots and AI are now becoming standard tools of business. General Data Protection Legislation (GDPL) has raised the bar on how data must be managed in organisations and many organisations risk non-compliance by May 2018!
We are helping organisations to refine their strategy and design new business models which leverage technology and data for competitive advantage. We can also help you assess readiness for GDPL.
Risk management – balancing value protection with value creation
The Governance, Risk and Compliance function cannot ignore the changes that are sweeping across industry. As the business organisation and ways of working are being transformed, then risk must also adapt to realise a countervailing power role in this new dynamic environment.
This brings a significant change to the way we have organised risk and compliance: three lines of defence in scrum teams? Embedding a risk culture within a young and highly result oriented squad? And how to manage the integrated risk and control framework in a rapidly changing agile organisation? Static control structures may conflict with dynamic and agile transformation!
We help Finance, Risk and Compliance leaders to step up to the challenge with guidance in our masterclass and roundtables and consulting support to help you steward your team towards the future. Our new benchmark helps you assess the readiness and maturity of the risk organisation.
AXVECO update
CEO and Senior Risk Managers Roundtables
Our CEO roundtable on 16 May brings business leaders from across the Financial Sector together to discuss trends and their impact on organisations. Our risk managers roundtable continues as a key platform for risk leaders to share insights and experiences in a trusted and confidential environment. The next event is on 1 June and will focus on Risk Appetite and KRI’s.
In-company training and Masterclasses for Agility, FinTech and Risk management
Our training and organisation development support now covers Agility, Culture, FinTech, Blockchain, and Risk Management. These are designed as modules which can be delivered either in-company, where you can openly discuss how this applies in your organisation, or via our masterclass programme where you can explore how this applies with industry peers. The upcoming masterclasses are:
- 30 May – Blockchain and FinTech Masterclass
- 7 June – Agility and Silicon Valley Change Masterclass
- 12 & 13 June – Smart Contract (Etherium Blockchain) Masterclass
