Change the work. Work the change

Change the work Work the change Why we can’t just throw technology at our problems any more

Holy cow.It’s been 62 years since the microchip was invented.

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53 years since the first PC flickered to life in the first office brave enough to give it a go.

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35+ years since the first spreadsheet and word processing software.

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33 years since Internet Protocol.

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16 years of smartphones.

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So here’s the big question about this information technology revolution…

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How’s it working for you?

For most people – and most businesses – it’s a mixed scorecard.Yes, we can do some pretty amazing things.

Things our parents’ generation couldn’t even imagine.

Things that make the Jetsons look like the Flintstones.

The productivity statistics are debatable. But ask yourself this:

Are your people working less or more?How often do they eat lunch at their desks?

How many times an hour do we all check our phones?

Are your evenings and weekends truly your own?

Thought so.

Somehow, the information revolution never really delivered on its glorious promises.Somewhere along the line, technology stopped working for us and we started to feel like we were working for it.

And all that productivity, free time and luxury profit never materialized.

“You can see the computer age everywhere except in the productivity statistics.” Robert Solow Nobel laureate

From 2010 to 2014, annual US productivity growth has fallen to an average of 0.9 percent. Financial Review June 2015

“ Most workers in advanced economies are now tethered to their workplaces essentially 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” Stephen S. Roach Yale UniversityFormer Chairman, Morgan Stanley Asia

To more and more businesses and governments, it’s starting to become painfully obvious:

We can’t just throw technology at our problems any more.

The returns are diminishing. We need to shift our focusto the way we work.

The big wins never come from technology alone.

They always come from the intelligent orchestration of people, processes and technology.

From looking hard at the actual work of work.

Deciding how to make it better.

And engineering new processes that are fit for purpose.

In short:work can work better.

Where ‘better’ means: more efficientmore responsive more transparent more connected

more collaborative more user-driven more productive more intuitive

more elegant more enjoyable more effective

This is the audacious opportunity facing every department in every enterprise in the world.

Changing the way we work to deliver the outcomes we value.

“ Always be executing like you’re 1/10th your size, with goals that are 10x your size.” Aaron Levie CEO, Box

But, as important as it is, designing and engineering better ways to work is only half the battle.

Someone also has to actually drive that change. To make the new way of working happen.

This may seem like the easy part, but, in reality, it’s the hardest.

“ Innovation is less about generating brand-new ideas and more about knocking down barriers to making those ideas a reality.” John Kotter Accelerate

In every organization, there are people who can do this. Who can marshal support. Rally troops. Align stakeholders. Hop over hurdles. And bring home the bacon.

( We celebrate these special people in a piece called Here’s to the stubborn – you might like it.)

These are the people actively attacking the broken processes holding everybody back.

The people who change the work, then work the change.

We work alongsidethese people every day. In major enterprises, massive healthcare systems, city parking authorities, global HR departments and community hospitals. And they’re the reason we go to work every day, two steps at a time.

It’s because of these people – and for these people – that we spend our days side-by-side with clients doggedly pursuing better customer experiences and interactions.

We know this to be true. If people like us, work together with people like you, we can figure out how to change the work, then work the change. And that can make all the difference.

We can’t think of anything more exciting.

Further readingMake your work flow. Read our new eBook Three flow killers and learn how to spot and attack the friction, noise and drag that are holding you back.

Friction

Noise Drag

Three flow killersThe forces that slow down businesses, clog processes and inhibit growth

Download

SourcesFinancial Review, Why have productivity gains become so terribly elusive?, June 2015

The Recent Rise and Fall of Rapid Productivity Growth, John Fernald and Bing Wang, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Economist Special Report: Technology Isn’t Working, October 2014

Does the “New Economy” Measure up to the Great Inventions of the Past?, Robert J Gordon, 2000

Accelerate!, John Kotter, Harvard Business Review, 2012

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About Conduent

Conduent is the world’s largest provider of diversified business process services with leading capabilities in transaction processing, automation, analytics and constituent experience. We work with both government and commercial customers in assisting them to deliver quality services to the people they serve.

We manage interactions with patients and the insured for a significant portion of the U.S. healthcare industry. We’re the customer interface for large segments of the technology industry. And, we’re the operational and processing partner of choice for public transportation systems around the world.

Whether it’s digital payments, claims processing, benefit administration, automated tolling, customer care or distributed learning – Conduent manages and modernizes these interactions to create value for both our clients and their constituents. Learn more at www.conduent.com.