Building a culture of Continuous Transformation

Six ways to take the challenge out of change
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It's time to change the way you change.

Every migration, every merger, every pivot. Every strategic initiative and course correction. Every customer experience overhaul and operational re-platforming.

They each feel like The Big One—until the next one. That's when you realize how crazy it is to start from zero every time.

And that the need for change never ends.

The winners in every market and industry are the companies that master the art of change.

They achieve this mastery by creating a culture of Continuous Transformation. You can, too.

Whether you’re an enterprise architect, a product or engineering manager or a strategic business lead, we’ll show you what this culture looks like and why it matters so much.

Companies that trust in SAP LeanIX

Telekom
Volkswagen-1
Doctolib-1
Bosch-1
Workday-1
Tesa-1
DHL

Chapter 1

Software gives you an edge.
Complexity takes it away.

Over the last few decades, software ate the world.

Every process in every department in every discipline now runs on software.

This has created a tangle of integrations and interdependencies between software systems:

  • Some bought, some built
  • Some in the cloud, some in data centers
  • All connected by APIs or hard, custom code
The result is chronic, compound software complexity—and it’s the number one obstacle to change.
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Dealing with each transformation as a one-off project just doesn’t work.

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Transformations have to be continuous.

Transformations should consist of a series of manageable micro-transformations rather than one big one.

Consider this. As software development became more complex, companies moved from the traditional Waterfall methodology to Agile. This involved breaking down development tasks into manageable chunks and decentralizing development efforts.
We need to attack software complexity in the same way.

Taming software complexity involves the whole organization. And it starts with a shared understanding of your global software stack, including all the relationships between software assets, as well as their connection to business capabilities. This requires, in part, an easy-to-use, single source of truth about your software estate.

With that in place, you can model and map out transformation paths while continuously uncovering new opportunities for adaptation, evolution, and competitive advantage.

We’re not talking about a theory here. Mitigating a critical vulnerability in less than 48 hours, for example, wouldn’t be possible without this approach.

Chapter 2

What is a culture of Continuous Transformation?

Per definition

A culture of Continuous Transformation is a set of beliefs, behaviors, and tools—all supported by a common language—focused on adapting to and mastering change.

Faced with a rapidly-evolving environment, this culture accepts that change is inevitable—and welcome.

To continually and flexibly balance long-term and short-term goals, this culture adopts agile management practices and takes an iterative, results-oriented approach to goal setting. 
Finally, to provide easy access to information and guide decision-making, this culture relies on tools that are cloud native and data rich.

Some examples of companies putting these ideas into practice

EA at Bosch: Lessons for Mapping Your IT Landscape

Engineering

EA at Bosch: Lessons for Mapping Your IT Landscape

Bosch maps its IT landscape and plans for continuous change with an approach based on common standards, a core capability of a Continuous Transformation culture.
Read Article
How the Government of Yukon has built a toolkit to enable rapid transformation – on a shoestring

Public Sector

How the Government of Yukon has built a toolkit to enable rapid transformation – on a shoestring

The government of Yukon in North West Canada has managed to keep pace with its technology toolkit thanks to a culture of openness and interoperability.
Read Article
[CSS] EN Travis Perkins

Consumer | Retail

Modernizing IT at Travis Perkins with EA and Business Process Transformation

Travis Perkins modernizes their IT systems and improves operational efficiency with standardization and a unified view of their IT and process landscapes.
Read Article
A culture of Continuous Transformation makes better decisions.

It also surfaces risks and opportunities earlier. So, you’re ready to change (fast), when the need arises.

The result? Happier customers, competitive advantage, and organizational resilience.
Chapter 3

The six principles of
Continuous Transformation.

There are six key principles that characterize a culture of Continuous Transformation.

You might recognize some from the way your organization already works. That’s awesome. But to realize the full power of this culture, you need all six.

Here’s what you need to change the way you change. 
.

1/6
Think “product,” not “project”

Continuous Transformation cultures approach organizational processes and capabilities with a sense of long-term ownership, from concept to decommission.

Like product engineers, teams tackle transformation iteratively and incrementally, driving innovation through a series of manageable sprints. This means, no more lengthy projects that are out-of-date before they’re even completed.

Case Study: First Group
Principle-01
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Put the customer first

Making customers (including employees) the center of your transformation programs means focusing resources on the outcomes most meaningful to them.

Customer needs never stop changing. Anticipating and meeting these needs naturally produces a continuous transformation mindset.

Case study: C&A
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Democratize your data

Data fuels fast, intelligent decisions. To make sure the entire organization can leverage its power, data must be collaboratively sourced and easily accessible to everyone.

Democratizing data calls for a culture that’s comfortable with transparency—internally and externally.

Case study: Reckitt
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Prioritize collaboration over control

Continuous Transformation cultures actively encourage collaboration. They empower everyone to make decisions and act on them.

They also rely on a shared source of truth to ensure that every part of the business consistently pursues the same goals. 

Case study: KUKA
Principle-04
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Foster creativity

It takes creativity to develop products, solve problems, and innovate. Continuous Transformation cultures empower all stakeholders to challenge the status quo, experiment, and respond to change.

They give people access to the data and tools they need to spawn and nurture ideas—along with guardrails to show where creativity is needed (think: customer experience) and where it’s not (think: accounting practices).

Whitepaper: Guide to business-led IT
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Thinking holistically

Like your software estate, your entire organization is interconnected in complex ways. That’s why cultures of Continuous Transformation are holistic by design.

You can’t create an outstanding customer experience without considering the entire organization—just as you can’t disconnect one IT system without affecting others. Everything is connected.

A holistic culture depends on a common language for talking about the business, a shared understanding of how decisions are made, and consistent, intentional alignment around goals.

Download: Business Capability Maps
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CHAPTER 4

LeanIX – the essential platform for Continuous Transformation.

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Companies that create a culture of Continuous Transformation win.

To build and support this culture, you need a platform that offers total visibility into your current state, where you want to go, and how you’ll get there.

Even more importantly, you need a platform that everyone can use.

LeanIX lets you master software complexity so you can quickly cultivate a culture that enables transformation—continuously.

Connect the dots

Taming complexity starts with a comprehensive, collaboratively sourced view of your software estate. LeanIX provides that, along with a host of capabilities allowing you to drive and manage transformation. Continuously.