16) xe) o » Selec LARGE GROUP INTERVENTIONS AT AIRBUS’ ICT ORGANIZATION* itbus. an EADS company. is one of the leac ing airerat manufacturers in the weld, Its lcustomer focus, commercial know-how, .chnolagical leadorchip, and manufactur. ing efficiency have propelled it to the forefront Of the industry. With revenues of over €38 bit lion in 2012 and an industy record backlog of 4,682 aircraft valued at over €523 bilion, Airbus today consistently captures ebout halt of all commercial ariner orders. Headquertered in Toulouse, France, Airbus is a ty gobal enterpise of some 55,000 ‘emiployees, with fully owned subsidiaries in the United States, China, Jepan, and the Middle East; spare parts centers in Hamourg, Frenkfurt, ‘Washington, Beijing, Dubai, and Singapore: train Jing centers in Toulouse, Miami, Hamburg, ‘and move than 150 field ‘physical footprint. Arbus also cele en industil ‘epoperation and perinerships with major compe- ries ell over the werld, and & network of some 1,600 suppies in 30 counties. ‘This case describes the launch of a tans- {oration process that has taken footin Arbus’ Information and Communication Technology {ICT] function. ICT is a transnational group of ‘around 1,300 information system professionals located wherever Airbus operates. ICT devel ‘ops, maintains, and operates—24 hours 2 day, 965 days @ year—every facet of the infor ‘mation systems that enable Airbus’ core bus ness processes ‘THE CHANGE CHALLENGE Guus Dekkers joined Airbus a3 Chief informe tion Officer in June 2008. The organzation he inherited had been split, integrated, and split again in a series of reorganizations over the pre- ‘vous seven years. Not surprisngy, he faced @ ‘change-fatigued and cynical ICT’ worktorce. Moreover, the reorganizations had not produced the results that Albus top management was ‘Susan Donen, Arbus; Roland L. Sullvan, Suton ‘Tansformaton Agents le Lid ‘exzectng with respect to time, cost and quality ‘bjactves in prejects or improved productivity in service caivery [At tho came time, the continuing global financial end economic crisis along with the intense competiton inthe eitcaft manutectur ing industry resulted in increasing budget ores- ‘sures, growing business demands, chenging business models, and increasingly dsen- ‘chanted intemal customers. The performance ‘of his function needed to improve sepnificantly and fast. In fis fist year, Dekkers formed @ new ‘executive tear with @ mix of experienced inter nal maneg2's, newcomers from outsde Ait, ‘and others from outside the aviation industry. He ‘worked with ns new team and 2 core group of riddle managers to define ICT's naw vision, mission, and customer facing tansnatonal 6a. nization Figue 1). Honever, he knew that these chenges were only the beginning. It could take months, 0 even years, 0 formulate and impe- ment the necessary changes. Dekkers asked Susan Donnan to guide the implementation process as his internal change agent. She hed the right background, educa- ‘ion, and experiance to facilitate large-scale ‘change in organizations. She joined Dekker's tear in July 2008. ‘THE CHANGE STRATEGY Working fiom her balef that high performance results when all parts of an organizations design ‘9 algned, Denran searched for @ change methodology that weuld simultaneously recon- ‘igure design featues end engoge @ citca mass of organizational members at all Eves. She had studied large group interventions during her Maste's of Science in Organization Develon- ‘ment (SOD) degree program at Pepperdine University. In addition, through her consulting ‘wotk, she had expetienced a variety of lage group interactive events as a participant, a mem- ber of ¢ design tear, end 2 member of a ogs- ‘ies teem that supported an event. She was ‘convinced that such an intervention should beThe New ICT Organization (-2009) ao HR Procurement Finance ‘Change and Communication Worldwide Services Infrae |covernance| Develop Fulfil ane Source Sell and Support [Manage and| Enable a central element of the change methodology. She consiiered a variety of these large group methods, inctuding the Appreciative Inquiry Summit and Future Search, but wes concemed that the curtent culture would not support such approaches, In the and, she salected a process known &s Whole Systems Trensformetion (WST), a process ceveloped and refined by Roland Sullven. Like other large group interventions, it is designed to eb leaders engage @ large, citicel, and represen- tative segment of the organization. it combines best practices in action research, smal group ‘dynamics, and large group dynamics. Unlike other large group interventions, it leads with alignment and trensformation of the executive team, then transforms a critical mass of the organization, and follows up with efforts to sustain the transforma- tion. In her experience, Donnan knew too well that an aligned leadership team was a critical success factor for transformation. She contacted with Sulivan to provide external consulting suppor. INITIATING CHANGE AT ICT Phase 1; Contracting with the Leadership Team Like most large organizations, Arbus had adopted a traditional change management aporoach—top management announced the change and faciteted it through extensive communication. To implement a change strategy that wes ceatly outside the orgenization’s norm, Donnan needed to convince Dekkess and his team that the traditional approach would be too sow and produce incremental change at best Her process began by securing executive com- iritment one-step-atarime while painting the pic tue for the whole journey. For example, Donnan presented a roadmap (Figure 2) that outined the different milestones for the WST process, ‘She emphasized that transforming the execu- tive team into a group with “one brain, one heat” would be a critical pre-requisite for launching the “transform the ICT critical mass” phase. Commit- ting ICT to such a radically different approach was a leap of fait and a courageous act for the execu tive team, especially for Dekkers. The executive team knew that they would need to lear and become different leaders to lead the transforma tion but they were willing 10 trust Donnan and Sulivan to guide them through the process. She aso recommended—because she knew from previous experience—that the organization needed to put en infrastructure in place to drive and support the transformation process. Figure 3 describes the ICT transformation infrastructure that was agreed to by the ICT executive team to support the change. Finally, she paid special atten- tion to ICT's Human Resource Business Pertness. She wes convinced that the HR organization needed to be fully on boardif the change was to be successtul |a. ar mv TA tensor CT Essense Tea (A. Transform ICT Cra Mass etek Tro tag TS Whole System Transformation Team Organization ere neat nes Event Design team: + Throughout the change G Dekkers + Microcosm of event process, teams can be participants chartered for specific Executivelsteering team: « Provide content experdse work products ICT executive ceam 1" Condesign detailed serpt +n the large group events, with consultants people often volunteer ‘Core team: ‘+ Ensure that paradigm shift for tasks that interest + Recommend ‘occurs in the event ‘hem, ranging from very ‘transformation blueprint Short efforts to longer to the executive team projects + Accountable for the Event Logistics team: transformation + Support the flow and + Include communication management of data and messurement experts during the event + Teams may be brought together for any necessary integration enecuccn tu atu + Facilitate the executive team, event design team, event logistics team, and the events + Guide, monitor, and evaluate the flow of the change processes + Knowledge transfer between external and internal consukants (Ctagaetoriy BEPhase 2: Transform the Leadership Team ICT’s transformetion process began with @ two- and-ehalt-dey leadership retreat for the executive teem in November 2009 that was jpintly faclitated byDonnan and Sulivan. The retreat amedto improve the effectiveness and alignment of the team and to develop “one brain and one heart” so that the team, members could speak with “one voice.” In preparation for the retreat, Donnan and Sulivan conducted ICT manager focus groups and executive team inteniews. Executives were asked about the key issues in becoming a higher perform- ing leadership team, helping ICT to become a higher performing function, thrling internal customers, and deserving the role ofa trusted business partner. The focus group and intevview data were synthesized into data reports that were shared with the entire teem prior to the retreat. Dekkers saw the data 2s, relable, valid, and rich, and it was used to ensure thet the reteat addressed the right topics. Two members of the executive team worked with Donnan and Sullivan to co-design the event, acting {as sounding board and providing valuable feedback ‘Three important outcomes were achieved dur- ing the retreat: 1. Using the feedback in the data teports, the par- ticipants explored issues of tust within the team and werked on improving their relationship with Dekkers and each other. They exchanged appreciation for each other's strengths, provided suggestions for improvements, and made requests and offers with each other. As a recently formed executive team, an important practical outcome of this conversation wes new teem norms and meeting ground rues. In addition, they developed a new annual calendar with dedicated meetings for operational reviews and strategic topics. Together, these deliver- ‘ables hed an important and positive impact on the team’s process effectiveness. 2. In addition to working on their relationships and teem performance, the executive team visualized and described how ICT would look When its vision, mission, and strategy were fully achieved. They identified the priorities to be addressed to take ICT from where it was to where they wanted it to be: @ trusted business partner delighting its intemal customers. They agreed on actions and commitments that they ‘would either personally or collectively perform to imolerment the ICT strategy. These included definng and refining the operating model, specifying ICT career paths, developing make or buy strategies with respect to ICT activities, building sourcing strategies for the ICT supply chain, and clearly articulating @ convergence strategy to simplify the complex portfolio of business applications. 3. A final important outcome was the decision to hold the first tworandanalf-day ICT summit in February 2010 with a clearly defined purpose and set of outcomes. Two members of the executive team volunteered to be sponsors for the summit, The summit participants would represent a cerefuly selected, dagoral cross- section O° microcosm of (CT with all sub- functons, all locations, and all levels involved. ‘The executive team nominated and empowered a design team of 13members, representative of the sumrrit participants, to design the event. Phase 3: Transform a Critical Mass of ICT Members Between November 2009 and Februay 2010, Donnan and Sullvan co-‘ecilitated three two- anchsrhalt-day sessions with the design team to plan the summit. In the beginning, the consultants intentionally alowed the process to be ambiguous. At times, it was a messy and disruptive process, an emotional roller cogster for the team’s mem- bers. However, it was necessary to creating a safe envionment where design team members could speak openly and directly about the organiza- tion’s challenges, their fears about the transforme- tion’s success, and their hopes for the future. Several design team members were skeptical of the need for change and did not believe that they would be empowered. To address this issue, exec- utive team members participated in the design sessions at different times, often in two's or three's, to show their support, to give their inputs, to answer questions, and to give feedback on the emerging summit design. The design team was surpiised and impressed by the alignment in the ‘executive team and how much they acted as ‘one. Over the three-month period, this new groupformed into a high-performing team. They were ‘motivated and comrritted to creating an impactful, memorable, and transformative experiancs for the participant. ‘With Donnan and Sulivan's guidance, the team used the folowing principles to guide the design of the summit: + The participants should represent a critical ‘mass of the ICT oxgarization, including belie ers and skeptics of charge. ‘+ The design should create a safe piace for pec- ple to speck openly and truthtuly by ensuring that all small group discussions involved 8 ‘maximum mix ("maxemix”) of pecple from di ferent leve's and sub-unctions, and by ensur ing no one in the group was from the same hierarchy or chain of command. All report ‘outs would come from the table as a whole 80 no individual would be exposed. + Table activities, breckout groups, and plenary sessions should engage each paricipant’s “whole brain,” both rational and emotional. ‘+ The purpose end outcomes for each activity should be defined clerly for participants, + Allow the large group to alternate between diver gent and convergent activities and reportouts. ICT Summit 2010 Purpose and Outcomes Purpose: * The purpose of the summit is to accelerete the continued implementation of our ICT vision end ‘mission by creating a single team with one mind and one voice, fully engaged and committed ‘to change—erabiing the success of Airbus. Tangible Outcomes: * Identified improvement and concrete actions ‘Personal commitment to change (measurable) things. * Communication and involvement plans to involve and engage the rest ofthe ICT oxgarizaton «Formal mechanisms to ensure execution/implementation and messurement of success. Intangible Outcomes: * Clear understanding and buy-in of the Vision, Mission and Stretegy of ICT. + System wide understending of opetational activites and how we each convibute. * Increased respect and trust * Change in attitude and mindset * Commitment to being ICT ambassadors. + Diverse perspectives and the awareness of ‘multiple realities should be genereted through divergent activities, such as generating ideas, Cteating multiple views of today’s frustrations, 0 visioning tomorrow's hopes and dreams, + Make effective, colective, and integrated deck sions through convergent activities, such as “preferring” (ie., @ voting prozess) to identify priorities and exper penels to share views from customers of senior managerment. + Leverage Beckhard’s change formula to drive ‘change activities in the summit: change is more likely to occur wihen the dissatisfaction with the status quo, multiplied by the vision Of the future, multipied by the clarification of first steps is greater than the resistance to change. The design team worked long and hard to define the purpose and outcomes (Figure 4) for the summit. They debated and deliberated unt ‘everyone on the team was satisfied Whenever the team could net agree, they referred back to the summit’s purpose and outcomes and used those as "tebreakers.” Eventually, the team designed the sumrrit to take the participants through @ process thatas ICT Summit 2010 High-level Agenda '* Powerful epening . ‘© Feedback from Day 2 ‘© Purpose and outcomes + ‘Elephant questions answered Elephant questions ‘© Building table teams + Aticulation of success answered © Achievements * Barry Oshry’s top/middle/bottom Breakouts—How to © Vision, Mission and Strategy» Intergroup breakouts— ‘engage rest of ICT © Whole system working and (Exec/MgrsiNon-mgrs) * ‘System-wide rot woking * Whole system ection planning communication = Customer view * Breakouts—Trarsversal action ° Appreciative feedback ‘© Elephant questions planning © Personal commitments: generated * Elephant questions answered * CO inspirational © ClO reflections * ClO reflections sendoff mirrored the roller coaster they had experienced in the event design process. Figure 5 shows the tigh-level agenda The first day of the summit began with a dramatic video that was edited just for this event, featuring the maiden fight of the A380 aircraft. Fo lowing the video, Ferrando Alonso, who was the leader of the fight crew for the maiden voyage, ‘spoke about the importance of trust. He talked pas- sionately about the confidence he hed in the A380 aircraft and its expected performance on that fist fight. He described what it was like having the ‘world’ attention on them but knowing that the fight ‘crew would rot decide to take off unless every team member was ready. He shared that ultimately his ‘tust extended beyond the flight crew to the entire Airbus orgenization. No one, at any Airbus meeting, had ever spoken about emotions, like trust, a8 the kay to success. Immediately, the particpants knew that the summit was to be unike any other meating they had ever attended ‘At the macmix tables, participants reflected ‘on the meaning and the implications of Alonso's talk on tust. They reflected on and celebrated per- sonal, team, and ICT achievements over the last 12 0 18 months. Then, after listening to ICT executive team members descrbe the vision, mission, and strategy, participants were encouraged to ask clar- itying questions. For the first time in their history, perticipants found themselves having deep and meeningful conversations siting face-to-face with their coles- (ques, middle managers, and senior raragers. The executive tear, who were equally distributed among the tables, were coached by the design team to “tust the process.” They were encour aged to Isten, be supporive of diverse ideas, and answer questions directly Perticipants then discussed what was working well and what was not working well, focusing on ICT’s mission, operating model, customers, and people. These strengths and weaknesses were posted around the room and each participant wes given green and ted dots to identify hisyher top three “working” nd "not working” focus areas. ‘The top issues for the group quickiy emerged and “dotting” has since becorre a favorite means to arrive at consensus at ICT. As the last activity of the day, participants were given the opportunity to pose “elephant” ‘questions—something that they hed always wanted to ask but were afreid to ask. Next, partici pents were invited to write down their feedback for the day. Finally, Dekkers closed the day with his reflections. He spontaneously asked participants to use thei green “thumbs up” or red "thumbs down” signs to indicate how they felt the summit was going, and he was rewarded with a sea of ‘oreen and a few red dots sprinkled around. Perticipants continued to sociakze and network in the evening over drinks end dinner with od friends and new colleagues. Because many of theParticipants came from around the world and “The second day of the summit began with the ICT executive team answering honestly some of ‘the “elephant” questions daveloped by the partici pants the day before. The participants ware both surprised and satisfied with the openness and wil- ingness of the executives to answer in a spirit of ‘vulnerability, honesty, and sensitivity. ‘Working at their tables, participants visualized ‘what sucoess would look lke in fve years’ ime. “The sharing of their creative prasantations of the “future” was one of the high points of the summit. With vivid pictures of success and knowledge of ‘ihe top issues, they identified actions needed ‘from the individual, sub-functon, and ICT levels to move ICT to whare they would like it to be. This ‘was breakthrough work. The day ended with Dekkers’ reflections and participants’ feedback, fo leawed by sociel ectvties and mare networking, ‘The third day of the summit also began with ‘answering additional “elephant” questions from ‘the first day. This was followed by activites to define ways to engage the rest of the ICT organ zation after the summit. The participants agree on ‘ways to communicate to the rest of the ICT com ‘unity going forward. After rounds of appreciative feedback at the tables, the summit closed with the ICT executive team making personal commitments ‘on stage in front of al, for which they received a standing ovation. Phase 4: Implement and Sustain the Change Immediately aftar the summit, the 300 participants retumed to thair ofioas and acted as arnbassadors for changa, At the top of the list was the wish to ‘communicate the process and the results of the ‘summit to the rest of the organization. Supported by communication kits and a web-based = journal ‘with photos and videos provided by Donnan, this ‘occurred in all subfunctions and allocations. In addition to communication, summit actions. ‘ware translated into. projects and personal cbjec- ‘ives, Examples of projects included: harmanization ‘and standardization of ICT actives using industry best precticas; understanding these activites’ d- ‘vers and costs and measuring their performance; ighting bureaveracy and streamlining processes: eli respective groups. The design team volunteered to ‘stay on as the transformation network. Together with Dornan, they montored progress rd sup pored the axecuWves in diving Implementation ff summt actions in their space functions. Donnan met menthy with the wensformaton net- ‘work 0 shar nights and bos: practcos. For the next 12 months, CT Tranetormation remained a priority for the executive team. ‘Many ofthe transformation projects dalivered bottomline savings and! enabled company objao- tives. The ICT organization got measurably better at delivering on its projects, services, and cost pro- mises. Communication up, down, ad across ICT improved apereciably Last but not least, the collaborative approach to change sent a clear message that transforma tion could not be successful wiinout the engage: ment of ICT employses. Grass roots initatives sre volunteerism were actively encouraged. People at al levels felt greater empowerment. For example, in mutipo locations, people chose to became local change agents and organized local transformation and social events, same of which continue today. MAINTAINING THE CHANGE MOMENTUM Following the success of the fist ICT sur, the (i) align ard transform the executive team {2} ascass and plan the noxt oye of change, G) aign and vaneform a eteal mass of organiza. tion members, and (8) implement and sustain change process became inttuionalzed and has ‘courted every year since A new design team fang 2 competing focus fram the ladershp team underpins the annual cycle ofthe process. For exarnge, the focus for the 2010-2011 eyce was eress-unt oF cfesfunctonal breakthroughs invoking the leadership populsion ef sbout 200 CT managers. The theme of the summit was “Leading a8 ONE.” The focus of the 2011-2012 ‘cle was erasing an ICT envronmant that actuoty encourages agit, novation, and leadership. Unie revs summits, the third summit did not focus on\what was not working or broken; rather it focused ‘on new way of thinking and working. Paricipants Jeamed about design thinking through a simulated innovation poject, exploied psychological concepts that contrbute to innovative thinking, and appled those concepts to four dynamics in the organization: agiity and stability; anticipation and reaction; cus- tomization and standerdzation; and innovation and standardization ‘During the months that followed the 2071-2012 ‘summit, ICT dealt with a dificult business challenge using a collboretive approach that most peoole agreed would not have been possible three years earlier. t received, together with its customers, five 2012 Awards for Excelence, three of which were in the "Drive Improvement and Innovation” category and one of these won the Top Award of the Year. In addition, ICT has made the greatest improve- ment in employee engagement in the company cover a three-year period as meesured by the Galup Q12, Through productivity improvements, ICT also succeeded in handling 25% in volume growth while ‘maintaining a fat budget in the same period. ICTs efforts have made importent contribur tions to implementing its vision, mission, and strat- egy. It has achieved operational excellence, ctitical foundation or prerequisite for becoming trusted business partner. Going forward, the exec- tive team would lke to evolve ICT's way of work- ing to be better immersed in the business strategy and business processes of its customers, to better anticipate their business needs, to focus sharply on value for Airbus, and to quickly propose and pro- Vide right-sized solutions. The journey continues. LEARNING Ever since her MSOD days at Pepperdine, Donnan had been searching for ways to facilitate systern- wide alignment end to accelerate change. For her, the WST process hes been the most effective ‘methodology for achieving both. She reflected on her learning. ‘+ The importance of aligned leadership. Ereak- throughs in the ICT executive team enabled breakthroughs in ICT as @ whole. When leaders speak with one voice, provide a unified direc tion in vision and stvategy, demonstrate sense of urgency, and walk their tak, it gives ‘organization members the confidence to act in ‘alignment for the health of the whole. On the ‘other hand, when leaders ere not aligned and ‘give conflicting directions, this ceuses conflicts ‘and confusion that cascades all the way down the organization ‘The critical roles of the event design team. ‘The ICT case would not have been a success without the effective use of the event design team. In addition to bringing in data from across the ICT organization and miroring the orgenize- tion's current state as pert of the design pro- ‘cess, the event design team members took ‘an actve role in facilitating different modules inthe summit listening to the partcipants dur- ing the summit, syrthesizing the participants’ daily feedback, and refining the summit design based on their feedback. The teamwork within for the smooth execution between large group interventions. While mary people focus on how a large group event “releases the magic” of a paradigm shift, the real work of transformation occurs after the event or between events in the “implement and sustain change” phase. ICT is part of a global organization that has exper enced and continues to experience temen- dous growth end challenge. Mangers ate typiealy overloaded just running and delivering today's business; requests to trensform the business for the future are often overwhelm- ing. Moreover, saying “no” to lesser prioiias remains dificutt for the organization. As result, finding the resources and time for tans- formation remains @ chellenge. ICT's expert ments with a mix of structured and emergent ‘approgches yielded two major lessons. First, do not launch mote actions than the organiza tion can handle, and second, focus rrore on ‘cross-unctonal improvements that optimize ‘overall results rather than local maximization The lead and lag indicators of success. Organization charge is a journey that takes time and requires incredible patience. Follon- ing a large group interactive event, the lead indicators of success are team spirit, con- fidence, commitment, reletionships, energy,| sae trust, inclusiveness, tansparency, and align- ment. These ate difficult to measure but can be felt, observed, end captured in anecdotal stories. Later, mprovement projects lead to more tangible results, such as behavioral and engagement changes. However, only when the improvement projects are successfully implemented can improved business results be seen, These ere the lag indictors of suc- cess. Executives and managers must under- stand that the easy-tomessure lag indicators of success will come if they recognize, sup- port, and nurture the difficultte-measure but equally valuable lead indicators of success. Many change initiatives fail because execu tives insist on instant results, give up 100 ‘soon and move onto the next change. Transforming how the organization deals ‘with change. The ultimate measure of oxgeni- zation development is the degree to which the ability to change again is enhanced oF dinin- ished. Without any doubt, the WST process has helped people in ICT build @ change cape- bility. Realizing thet transformation isa journey and not a destination, ICT people ere no longer paralyzed by changs and are more Ikely to embrace change 2s an opportunity rather than @ threat. They have developed greater pacity and capability to act in algned ways. In reflecting on the orgenization’s journey, Dekkers seid, "Today, our ICT community is better motilized and motivated to change.” WST needs to be repeated regularly. In today's complex, chaotic, and uncertain world, ‘an oxganization’s ability to leam and innovate at ‘the individual t2am, and organizational evels allows the orgenization to adapt. Change is ¢ ‘constant and the days of retuming to stability or businessasusual are gone. To ensure a sus- tained long-term journey, the WST process must be repeated to reguiary restore whole ‘system alignment while adapting to intemal ‘and extemal drivers for change, In conclusion, each year that the ICT has used the WST process, it becarie more and more com- petent to selfdirect and mester its own change process. The orgarizetion is becoming better at ‘doing what it says it will do, more respected by its customers, and more agile. CT people is learn- ing how to learn in real time as an entire function Questions 1. What is your analysis and eveluation of the design of this intervention? What large-group intervention theories and models were applied in this case? Do you believe thet the interven- tions made a difference in this organization? * If your analysis s posite, what do you think were the critical intervention features that led to success? «If your analysis negative, what chenges would you make in the intervention’s design or implementation? 2. What do you think of the summit’s agenda and flow? Do you think the right ectvities were planned and executed given the objectives of the intervention?