Rapid Transformation: A 90-Day Plan for Fast and Effective Change

by Behnam Tabrizi

Profound organizational transformation takes years and, in most cases is unsuccessful, right? Not according to change expert Behnam Tabrizi. In Rapid Transformation, Tabrizi shows you how to rapidly accomplish successful transformational change in your firm. Based on ten years of research into more than 500 leading companies including 3M, IBM, GE, Nissan, Apple, Bay Networks, Verisign, HP, Best Buy, and Non-Profits --this book demystifies fast, effective change and lays out a clear roadmap for achieving it.

Tabrizi's Rapid Transformational model enables you to analyze your company's specific challenge, develop a new course of action, and carry out the plan. Moreover, you apply the model in parallel with the normal workings of your organization--so you don't have to put your company on hold for the sake of the change effort.

With its detailed recipe and insightful stories from actual corporate reinventions, this book defies long-held assumptions about change and provides a practical and immediately actionable guide.

Genres: Business

336 pages, Hardcover

First published October 22, 2007

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

With regard to this book’s title and to the model that Tabrizi offers, it is important to note at the outset that he does not believe that organizational transformation can be completed in only three months. What he offers is a framework with which to formulate a program that, once implemented, may require 6-12 additional months (or probably more) to achieve the desired objectives. The proposed model has these characteristics: all-encompassing (i.e. “all aspects of the company, looking under all the rocks and leaving no stones unturned”), integrative (i.e. “various functions and processes within the organization” are synchronized), fast (i.e. “fully engaged in all [its] efforts in parallel, looking at everything at once” expeditiously), and have full, passionate commitment and buy-in, “especially at the top layers of the organization.” Tabrizi rigorously examines six companies that have used the 90 days model: 3M, VeriSign, Nissan, Bay Networks, Apple, and ACI. All of them proceeded through a multi-phase process.

Barriers are inevitable and some will probably be the result of what James O’Toole has so aptly characterized as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." He correctly points out that "today's executives believe they are struggling with an unprecedented leadership challenge to create internal strategic unity within a chaotic external environment.” This challenge is exacerbated by the fact that so many companies are now competing in what Thomas Friedman has described as a “flat world.” Tabrizi explains how to build on accomplishments achieved throughout the transformation process, duly acknowledging that the model he proposes is not for every organization. Moreover, those organizations that that select it when planning and then implementing transformation initiatives must be sufficiently agile and flexible to make whatever modifications of the model may be necessary. “However, it is only a matter of time before change is required again. The question then is, How do I continue to change before I have to? The beauty of the 90 days model is that it spins out an army of change agents with informal networks and experience working across numerous boundaries, and who have internalized change and the change process.”

[James Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Behnam Tabrizi’s ‘Rapid Transformation’ is essential reading for anyone committed to lasting change and organizational growth. Rapid Transformation provides a blueprint for applying agile principles for sustainable, structured, and coordinated change management. As the book lays out best practices and the essential steps for transformation, Tabrizi draws upon real-life examples, blending data-driven insights and academic rigor with highly accessible storytelling. It makes for a great read, but more importantly, it works in practice, because the foundation for the methodology is solid.
Above all, Rapid Transformation acknowledges the messiness of change and the intense focus and investment in people necessary for success. The Rapid Transformation process entails engaging teams across the enterprise in cross-functional change to foster collaboration, develop leaders with a growth mindset, and adopt best practices for change. Tabrizi does what he calls a “Pre-Mortem,” to anticipate and get in-front of the risks that kill most initiatives, and his processes create alignment up and down the chain through a shared vision, cascading goals, and proactive stakeholder engagement. This is baked into the transformation process, and it is as much about shifting your organization and your teams to an agile mindset as it is the success of any particular initiative. I’ve seen Rapid Transformation in practice, and I can personally attest to its success in creating value and the lasting positive impact it had upon morale, engagement, and innovation.

[Claudia Yahany · Rating 5 out of 5]

A veces hay que saber cómo organizar las ideas (y ponerle nombre a las cosas) para poder diagnosticar una empresa con el propósito de transformarla. Hay que hacerlo de forma oportuna, rápida y eficiente.
Aunque hay que acompañar el diagnóstico con una estrategia mucho más completa que la que viene en el libro, la primera fase es excelente—lista para planear.

[Julie Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

My pleasure reading has been cut short over the last month + thanks to this book. I'm excited to be trying the methodology, but pretty exhausted because it is significant effort.