Today’s complex change asks organizations and their leaders to step up to the edge and into the unknown. Leaders, teams, and workers must think differently, expanding their capacities to adapt new ways of thinking, communicating, and working together.

And, it’s only hard if you expect it to be easy.

Modernization. Into the Unknown

Modernization and constant change put demands on organizations and their leaders to step up to the edge and into the unknown. They must rebuild systems to do things that have never been done before, bust silos to establish untested structures, and deconstruct swim lanes to integrate across old lines in new ways. With complexity as the through line, today’s organization and their leaders long for easy answers. And it’s only hard if you expect it to be easy.

Modernization efforts effect new ways of working. They call into question familiar definitions of success and known paths to get there. Leaders, teams, and workers must think differently, expanding their capacities to adapt new ways of thinking, communicating, and working together. In a recent study by NewVenture Partners 1 of 65 Fortune 1000 organizations executives accredited 95% of the challenges to successful Artificial Intelligence and Big Data adoption to people and their processes, with only 5% related to technology. And every time we mention this to organizations, heads nod in violent agreement. Modernization is too complex and consequential to be left to technologists alone.

Though each organization will need to navigate this terrain for itself, patterns are emerging to help map the way.