New Tent, New Circus - Achieving More for Less

Firstly a little homework; you may want to read our initial article entitled ‘New Tent, Same Circus’ before embarking upon the following flight of fancy!

We often refer to organisations shifting to the next level from the assumption that they will maintain their current level of resources to achieve more.  As we move into a new era it seems that the level of resources most organisations will have available will decrease.  Yet achieving the ‘next level’ has become even more important to stakeholders who don’t want less.  There is no reason why an organisation should reduce their level of production, customer experience and the like simply because they have less.  Now is the time to move to a ‘New tent, New Circus’.

The metaphor of ‘New Tent, New Circus’ focuses organisations on two key elements of change.  Change mindsets and change the rules. Here are five factors of uncertainty which argue there has never been a better time to do this.

1.      Although there is a desperate rearguard action being fought by many to hold onto a status quo which deep down everyone knows is unsustainable; we all expect our lives to be different in the next few years.

2.     We don’t know what the future looks like.  This means that the future is there to be moulded.  There is an acceptance that there is no longer a ‘right way’; best practice is now only good practice; expert? – expert in what?

3.     Changes in resource mean new ways of delivery have to be found.  Some organisations are busy trimming people, service, infra-structure and the like.  Others are asking more fundamental questions about what purpose their organisations serve.

4.     There is a shift in power occurring.  Not just the rise of China.  Nor people asserting democracy by holding MPs to account, holding the newspapers to account and wanting to hold financial institutions to account. Those who had power can no longer expect to keep it. 

5.     Technology can create a new world in moments.  Giants like Kodak Eastman filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection demonstrates how quickly organisations can be left behind.  Google, Apple and Social Media rule the roost... for now.  This means three things:  1. Social Media is making our world more sensitive to the views of ordinary people 2. Markets can change rapidly, and 3.  What is great today could be unwieldy tomorrow.

This is why we live in such an exciting time.  The barriers to improvement are coming down. Organisations can take a fresh look at their purpose and how they deliver it. Imagination and creativity will become a much sought after currency, freeing people’s minds to the possibilities these five fundamental factors of uncertainty will bring.