What Does Brain Based Learning have to do with Strategy Execution?

I attended a seminar on Brain Based Learning recently. We learnt about the latest thinking on how our brains work, how we learn and why we learn. One of the key takeaways for me was that static, lecture style learning doesn’t work for most of us. What does work is interactive, multi-dimensional methods supported by 'Learning 2.0' technologies. The seminar also got me thinking, again, about how critical learning is to an organisation’s success.


We all know that today’s turbulent, fast paced, ever changing environment means businesses must constantly change to survive and grow. The most successful businesses are ‘masters of change’1, they know constant change is essential, they excel at creating a compelling shared vision and they excel at managing change. They also have people who are experts at acquiring new skills, creating new knowledge and transferring that knowledge to others. When it comes to strategy execution, ‘masters of change’ are 10 times more successful than other businesses.

These 'masters of change' are Learning Organisations. The core principles of a Learning Organisation are deeply embedded within their culture, making these organisations more open to new ideas, less resistant to change and more capable of supporting the individual and team learning required to make change successful. When it comes to Strategy Execution masters of change already have the organisation capability to learn, change and succeed.

How do you become a Learning Organisation? Adopt these six strategies:

1. Commit to the fundamental principles of the Learning Organisation from the top down and create a culture that is supportive of learning. Business leaders need to demonstrate a willingness to learn, create a safe supportive environment for everyone to learn in and create a compelling vision of the business as a Learning Organisation.

2. Make Learning & Development a strategic priority. Learning & Development (L&D) is far more than the provision of one-size fits all training for your employees. It is a strategic workforce capability that ensures you have the right people, with the right skills, performing the right jobs. Make improving Learning & Development a priority for everyone, not just the HR folks. Build a plan and provide the resources necessary to make it happen

3. Support individual learning. Organisations only ‘learn’ when the individuals within the organisations learn. L&D strategies such as competency based assessments and individual learning plans allow organisations to identify gaps in essential competencies and focus individual learning on supporting business goals. However, they must be backed up with the necessary learning resources to be effective.

4. Provide flexible Learning 2.0 options instead of sending people to expensive offsite classroom training. Strategies such as webinars, knowledge sharing, just in time learning, coaching and mentoring allow individuals to select methods that suit their learning style. Not only will you save money, your people will learn more and your business will see better results.

5. Implement Collaboration and Knowledge Management: Organisations learn when they ‘know what they know’ and people can readily access, share and improve on the organisations knowledge.

6. Critically evaluate the results of learning activities: Business benefits when learning is aligned to the business vision and objectives. Build measurement of learning outcomes into your L&D strategy and regularly review what is working and what isn’t.

Organisation Change is vital to survive and grow in today’s turbulent environment. Organisation Learning - becoming a “Learning Organisation”- is one of the most important keys to becoming a master of change and excelling at strategy execution. The good news is advances such as Brain Based Learning and Learning 2.0 make it practical for even the smallest of organisations to become a Learning Organisation.

Make a start today. Click Here to request a copy of Beyond Strategy Consulting’s Learning & Development Capability Assessment tool and begin your journey towards a Learning Organisation.


(1) Making Change Work, IBM, 2009

Ensuring Projects Deliver Business Value

I recently spoke on this topic at the Australian Institute of Project Managers Conference in Queensland in a presentation that highlighted the importance of OCM to projects’ success and the need for Program and Project Managers to understand and apply OCM best practices in their projects.

As individuals we need to adapt to change constantly throughout our lives, from a new barista at our favourite coffee shop, a new tunnel, or a new government, indeed the ability to adapt to change highly regarded trait, demonstrating emotional intelligence. And in today’s fast paced, rapidly changing world so too must organisations develop the capability to successfully change if they are to survive and grow profitably. BUT,

It’s clear from the many studies on this topic that organisations are still struggling to successfully change, in 2008 IBM conducted a study involving 2500 CEOs from organisations worldwide. IBM reported that almost 60% of change management projects fail to achieve their business objectives.

The impact of failed projects is immense, from lost revenue, increased costs, lowered morale and reputational damage. Organisations that fail to change will ultimately fail in the market.

The same IBM study found that organisations that have adopted best practices in Organisational Change Management were up to 10x more successful in implementing change. The top organisations (change masters) had an 80% success rate while the bottom organisations (change novices) 8% success rate. why?

Organisation change is hard because organisations don’t change, people change, and without a compelling reason to change individuals are more likely to resist change than embrace it. Organisation Change Management (OCM), is fundamentally about people. it involves learning new behaviours, influencing people to change their mindset, and encouraging people to give up entrenched ways of working

All successful Project Managers have good people skills and the various PM methods do emphasise the need to manage people change, but they lack real guidance on the methods used to influence and motivate people to change. So, while we’ve become very good at managing the ‘hard’ side of change, using mature PM methodologies and highly skilled project managers, many technically successful projects still do not succeed in delivering the planned business value

We need to become better at managing the people side of change to ensure successful projects deliver of their promised business benefits.

In today’s complex, rapidly changing world simply managing successful programs and projects is no longer enough. The PM profession is at the heart of organisation change and needs to ensure every project is linked to business objectives and delivers the promised benefits. It’s clear that technical PM methods on their own aren’t sufficient to guarantee success and there is a significant body of research that illustrates the vital role of OCM in ensuring business value is realised.

Together OCM and PM are the keys to delivering real, sustainable business value for organisations.


This article is part of a series exploring the essential capabilities all CIOs and IT Organisations need to drive transformation and deliver enduring business value.Joan Dobbie is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Beyond Strategy Consulting. Her company offers a wide range of IT Strategy and Transformation services to IT Organisations of all sizes.

Why CIOs need to be Organisation Change Leaders

As CIO you are a catalyst for change within your company, but if your team thinks change management is a method of controlling software releases you could be missing the most important capability your organisation needs to be successful.


Your company has aggressive goals, more growth, new products, more branches, lower costs and do it quickly. IT’s role in achieving the company’s goals is vital, without the new systems, streamlined processes and new services, the corporate strategy fails. IT is the driver of change across the company and the CIO is expected to be the champion of that change. At the same time the IT Organisation needs to adapt to these changes, there are new technologies, legacy systems being replaced, new processes and increasing pressure from business partners to do more.

A significant percentage of all IT projects are considered failures by the business post implementation, not because of any technical failures but because of change management issues such as inadequate training, poor processes, poor fit to business needs. Bearing Point, for example, report that up to 70% of change management projects fail due to internal politics and personnel. So, even when you’ve got mature requirements and project management disciplines and can deliver on time on budget, projects will still fail to deliver the expected business value.

Organisation Change Management best practices such as creating a compelling vision of the change, communicating, empowering action, and above all else having the key stakeholders involved in planning for change and owning the outcomes, significantly increase the success of change projects.

If IT is central to the company’s strategy then CIOs need to be champions of change. If IT projects are to become business projects and deliver business value, they need to encompass the business change required to deliver value and must adopt Organisation Change Management best practices.

CIOs need to develop Organisation Change Management capability within their organisation. How ready is your team for the changes to come? How ready is your team to sponsor good change management throughout the organisation? How well do you score on this quick and easy Organisation Change Management Capability Assessment.


This article is part of a series exploring the essential capabilities all CIOs and IT Organisations need to drive transformation and deliver enduring business value.
Joan Dobbie is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Beyond Strategy Consulting. Her company offers a wide range of IT Strategy and Transformation services to IT Organisations of all sizes.

Succeeding in a turbulent, uncertain world

Six key capabilities every CIO should develop

“Change is the New Normal” - it’s a cliché, but it also reflects the reality for CIOs today. Globalisation, cloud computing, the GFC, skills shortages, compliance, social networking; climate change, green IT, “everything as a service” – it’s a turbulent, endlessly changing and increasingly complex world, and CIOs are at the heart of it. No longer is IT the provider of support services, a cost centre, a follower rather than a leader. Today IT is the driver of innovation, strategic change and value generation.

To meet the demands of the new normal, CIOs and IT Organisations need to develop new capabilities, that enable IT to become successful drivers of strategic change across the organisation.

Value Management: Delivering the expected business value from a program requires far more than the successful delivery of the program. Early stakeholder buy-in to the planned benefits, how they will be measured and how they will be realised is required. Program and project benefits need to be clearly linked to planned business benefits and tracked through the completion of the program. Finally, since benefit realisation usually extends well past the end of the program, ongoing tracking and reporting of benefits is required. Above all else IT must develop the necessary business skills to clearly articulate the value IT delivers.

Portfolio Management: If Program and Project management are about doing things right, then Portfolio Management is about doing the right things. Portfolio Management ensures that programs and projects are aligned to the strategic objectives and have clearly defined benefits.

Organisation Change Management: Upwards of 70% of change management projects fail to achieve stated business objectives due to “internal politics” and “people” issues according to Bearing Point. It is no longer acceptable to deliver successful technology projects, instead business change projects, using organisation change management best practices, should incorporate the required technology change.

Learning & Development: Research shows that high performing organisations, globally, take a strategic approach to talent management and build a learning culture. Establishing a strategic Learning and Development program, that is aligned with the organisations vision, strategies and goals, will ensure the right people with the right skills are available at the right time. Managing Learning & Development strategically is proven to deliver increased value to the business more efficiently.

Collaboration & Knowledge Management: Information overload and rapid constant change make it difficult for today’s knowledge workers to find the information they need. Knowledge Management and Collaboration strategies provide users with the tools they need to work collaboratively across the organisation, and to find the information they need, when they need it.

Strategic Business Planning: IT Strategic Plans generally address the technology changes required to meet the business objectives. Some, will also address the organisation change management required to deploy the new technology to the business. Very rarely does the IT Strategic Plan address the significant change the IT Organisation must also undergo.

To be successful drivers of strategic change, CIOs should assess their organisation’s capability in these six key areas and build a Strategic Business Plan for the IT Organisation that incorporates development of these key capabilities.


This article is part of a series exploring the essential capabilities all CIOs and IT Organisations need to drive transformation and deliver enduring business value.
Joan Dobbie is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Beyond Strategy Consulting. Her company offers a wide range of IT Strategy and Transformation services to IT Organisations of all sizes.