The Quiet Voice of Transformation

I have a voice in my head. Okay, maybe a few. But one in particular repeats hard truths to me quietly. Subtly. It says: “doesn’t feel right” or “I am exhausted” or “reach deeper.” If I notice that little voice saying the same thing for a while, I pay attention. I especially pay attention when it asks, “What’s next?"

Could be the work is done, or my ability to impact the work has reached a limit. Either way, it is a signal that it's time to move on, to transform. After 5 years as an entrepreneur, and 15 years at IBM, most recently expanding the IBM Garage story, I listened to the voice advising me to tackle a new challenge. 

I am excited to announce that my next adventure is all about pushing boundaries, both for ourselves and our clients, leading Transformation & Offerings at Oracle.

A data-driven company by birth, Oracle is evolving their story toward the autonomous enterprise. I’ve written in the past about my views on ego-centric (replicate human capabilities) vs. system-centric (raise all parts of the system to their highest value) approaches, and Oracle’s philosophy aligns crisply to my own.

I have worked in transformation for a decade now, whether it was labeled business transformation, digital transformation, culture or organizational transformation. Yet, somehow it has only recently clicked how similar the concepts we apply in technology relate to the ways we should also look at ourselves, and the reverse. And no wonder! All transformation, even transformation facilitated by technology, in the end, is about humans! 

For companies, transformation is a lot like listening to our own inner voices. 

1. Change is sneaky slow, like that little voice getting louder. They say life is what happens when you are not looking; transformation is also what happens when you are not looking! Sometimes the pace of change can feel so painful that you don’t notice anything is even happening. And then, suddenly, you look around and realize the impact has been made 1% at a time. (How else could Oracle have completely reinvented their brand in just over 6 months?!?) I encourage organizations going through transformations to watch for a few markers, and one of them is language. Choose some words that represent the change that is happening, maybe words like “backlog” to represent a shift to an agile mentality, and then listen for them. When you start hearing those words increase in usage, and maybe from people you don’t expect, you can observe the sneaky slow change.
2. Looking backwards is best applied looking forwards, like realizing the little voice shouldn’t be ignored. When companies born in the cloud, shaped from the start to be technology native, seem to be ahead of the pack disrupting industries, it can seem as though having a history is a burden to overcome. I’ve observed an attitude in companies pursuing major changes that anything that happened in the past is sunk cost. However, transformation is not about ruthless forward progress, or being blind to history. Would anyone say 40 years of data is useless? There is value in understanding and leveraging what came before. Having people who’ve experienced evolution, who know the genesis of decisions, architectures, and processes that have been tested are all assets. I like to work with clients to understand the difference between unhealthy entrenchment that causes inertia and healthy retrospection to apply lessons from history to the next set of decisions.
3. Change : Decision = Chicken : Egg, did the little voice come first, or the condition that led to the voice speaking up? Sometimes a company is driven by a hard decision to transform, and change comes as a result of actions lined up to that decision. More often, the voice of transformation can come quietly. It begins as some whispers, some realizations the market is changing. A few spirited change agents who bring fresh ideas and attitudes, and adopt a following. The quiet voice speaks of the conditions that lead to the decisions to transform. Successful transformation is often not led by a dictator, but rather fostered by a careful observer. I advise clients to listen. What evolution needs encouragement? Where is the business moving fastest? Which people are suddenly breaking everything? Make decisions that acknowledge and allow change to gain momentum.

My next iteration will be applying everything I have learned about transformation, in a wildly new environment at Oracle. Technology companies are not impervious to the same challenges that we help our clients with - legacy decisions that need to be modernized, cultures that need to evolve to match the pace of the business. 

As I look to drive transformation, imbuing entrepreneurial lessons into the corporate culture, I will simultaneously be shaping the ways we add value to clients. What we consume will also be what we deliver, as we star in our own modern cloud story. We will develop offerings designed to be intuitive, simple, flexible. By beginning with a value proposition, applying our own experiences and learning, we will marry up technology with the people and skills to guide clients on their transformations to autonomous enterprises.

The cool thing is, as we transform ourselves, we don’t replace or shed experiences - we collect them. Human connections and the meaning of the work are always more powerful than whose logo sits currently on your profile. I look forward to exploring how we can do more amazing stuff together from this new context!

What is the quiet voice of transformation telling you? I want to hear all about it! Reach me as always at sltrunzo@gmail.com, or now also at stephanie.trunzo@oracle.com.