100% Engagement and a radical transparent Leadership system

The impact of the Obeya as a driver of a company-wide movement

Imagine an organisation where every employee is fully engaged, customer satisfaction is at an all-time high of 85%, and a transparent leadership system seamlessly connects people to the company’s purpose, strategy, and execution.

Now, picture yourself walking through your workspace and stepping into a room, called the Obeya. The space is buzzing due to the collaboration between employees, stakeholders, and even customers.

This Obeya mirrors your organisation’s essence. It is the place to be for teams to come together and discuss, brainstorm, prioritise, and align on the topics that deliver the most value. It radiates energy with a visualised shared purpose, strategy, outcomes and a collective rhythm that unites teams throughout the organisation. It’s an inspiring cadence, like a steady and fascinating heartbeat.

Reflect for a moment

Who among you has a space like this? And who would like to have one?

When I ask such questions to companies I advise and coach, the natural response is often “Yes, absolutely!”. Yet, almost immediately after the initial response, doubts emerge: “100% engagement — is that realistic?” or “Can transparency really go that deep?”

This particular vision became a reality for a Dutch subsidiary of a global pharmaceutical company, Roche Diagnostics, who embraced the Obeya while I was supporting them during their strategic journey towards Business Agility : They wanted to move faster and be more flexible so they could focus more on patients and customers. To achieve this, they realised that this required a shift in direction as well as their way of working, thinking and collaborating. And so, we embarked on a people-led transformation journey: STAR 2023

It turned out to be a transformative journey for them, where working with the Obeya proved to be a catalyst for transparency and trust.

Business Transformations: A multifaceted but empowering journey

The Role of Leadership: From Managing to Enabling

One of the most significant shifts within was the role of its leadership. Traditional approaches to management had to evolve, as leaders learned to shift from directing to enabling. This transformation in leadership style was essential to the success of working with the Obeya as well, with leaders gradually embracing their new roles as facilitators rather than controllers.

Through workshops and targeted development sessions, leaders gained new perspectives on how to support change, helping teams to become and feel empowered, and with that, more accountable. Leaders learned to listen more deeply, adapt to more flexibility, and support their teams in this unknown new world. By communicating openly, building trust and providing clear guidance, they became champions of a transparent and collaborative culture that resonated throughout the organisation.

The People Journey in the Obeya: Creating a System for Transparent Leadership

So, is implementing the Obeya really a big change? Absolutely. The Obeya exposes everything in an organisation, revealing the organisation’s purpose, priorities, budgeting, collaboration models, and even the subtle dynamics of influence and hierarchy.

For Roche Diagnostics it meant that this kind of transparency exposed every process in the organisation, shining a light on what was working well and where friction existed. They transitioned to a model where every team could see the bigger picture, allowing for adaptive responsiveness and clear communication.

This transparency led to faster alignment, a greater understanding of customer journeys, and a realisation that siloed structures were hindering progress.

Our approach, rooted in the People Journey Circle* (red. part of the Twinxter transformation journey) was instrumental in supporting their transformation. Here are some key elements we focused on:

• People & Purpose: Together, we clarified the purpose of the Obeya and aligned it with the company’s vision, mission and principles to deliver what customers need next, establishing a connection to the larger organisational purpose.
• Communication & Awareness: Moving from top-down communication to a more interactive style of brave, honest storytelling and co-creation that created a desire amongst employees to actively participate in the transformation.
• Identifying Constraints: We created an open and transparent Governance of Trust, using visual management techniques, like the Obeya, to prioritise, problem-solve, and break down bottlenecks. In small iterations and a continuous rhythm, we scaled the new way of working company-wide.
• Role Modelling: Redefining leadership at all levels enabled everyone to be a role model for the new growth-mindset, promoting empowerment, autonomy and growth within teams.
• Community Building: By drawing on the collective intelligence of all employees and using lateral thinking, fresh perspectives and innovative thinking was unleashed company wide.
• Learning Organisation: Shifting towards a growth-mindset meant nurturing an environment where people and high-performing teams felt safe to experiment, fail, adapt and grow through multiple challenges.
• Ecosystem Thinking: Systems thinking and working in multidisciplinary teams helped leaders and employees to understand the impact of their decisions beyond their own expertise and department. The teams began to connect the dots and view the organisation as part of a broader ecosystem.

Our proven Twinxter methodology connects the tangible and intangible components of change. It helps you create a people-centred, purpose-driven and values-based organisation. Our Business Agility scan helps you to discover how and where to start your journey towards a human-centric organisation that is adaptive to change. Start your quick scan here

Creating a Blueprint for Transformation

You can’t ignite a major change by just starting somewhere without understanding what you are aiming for. Being aware of the implications and perspectives and checking your hypothesis is not the same as simply putting on some plaster on a wound and expecting it to get the same results as Roche Diagnostics did. A successful transformation depends on the climate you create the foundation you lay, and the time and investment you are willing to commit to the change.

The elements of the People Journey Circle are all important in a transformational journey, but not all at the same time. So, it functions as a menu from which you can pick and choose. Not just randomly but assessed from the beginning and tracking progress in short iterations to understand what to work on next.

There is only one element that is always at the centre, like a principle that guides you: People & purpose. This element helps you understand what the needs are of your employees, leaders, customers and society alike. The blueprint of your aspired organisation and system which is based on those needs and the value you want to deliver. The Obeya helps you to create such a system and will be the catalyst of the journey towards that future. However, it will be only as good as what you are willing to add, to show or to let go off.

Lessons learned along the way led to tangible results

The journey of Roche Diagnostics brought valuable lessons and proved once more that a major change or transformation cannot be rushed or imposed. The success of the new way of working depends highly on your input and about having a shared understanding of what that strategic vision is about.

“Invest in your leaders from start. Make sure that they understand what type of leadership is expected. I call it VAAC leadership – Visionary, Architect, Catalyst, and Coach. Make sure they understand what type of leadership is needed in an organisation like this. It’s not the telling, hierarchical leader, but a completely different profile of leadership.” According to Esther de Rooij, General Manager of Roche Diagnostics.

To understand what that means in all stages of the journey, it’s crucial that from start, you have all perspectives of everyone in the organisation in the room. This means that only filling out surveys is not enough. Continuous feedback related to the new way of working, on mindset and culture is essential.

Almost 70% of leaders and employees signed up to be involved in design sprints to explore what way of working and organising would help to improve the collaboration between teams. Together they created a shared understanding about Customer Journeys and patient pathways, adaptive operating models, and terminology.

Introduction and continuous evolution of Obeya. The online room where the company’s strategy, goals, Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and performance are accessible for all. All teams meet here to align their work that has to be done in a transparent way. This led to a 100% engagement of all employees and leaders during the Transformation Journey.

Customer satisfaction rose to an all-time high score of 85%. The result of all combined transformation efforts, working with Customer Journeys, Patient Journeys, and putting the customer at the heart of it all.

Explain through open and interactive communication that each person has a role to play in the upcoming change. Diversity in processes allowed for inclusion and new perspectives, encouraging a collaborative environment that was able to adapt to rapid changes, without losing sight of its purpose. As enablers, leaders discovered that their role wasn’t to provide all the answers, but to empower teams and individuals to find innovative solutions together.

Beyond Change: Transformation into a Governance of Trust

Learning from experimentation, failures and successes during each and every iteration led to more empowerment and the ability to scale and grow. The people developed a set of skills, behaviours, mindset and capabilities which created flow, flexibility and resilience in their system, so they could follow their purpose and be adaptive to changing circumstances.

The journey through the Obeya didn’t stop with this transformation; it reached far beyond that, transforming the very fabric of the organisation. By shifting from hierarchical control to a Governance of Trust, we created a transparent leadership system that put patients, employees, and society at the centre. Ensuring that every action that is undertaken adds value and is aligned with the company’s overarching purpose.

Are you ready to shift your focus towards a transparent leadership system that is purpose-driven, value-based system and has a 100% engagement rate?

During my session on Friday 15 November 2024, we will not only dive into all the details of this amazing story, leading to these remarkable outcomes. You will also have the opportunity to assess your current maturity-level related to the elements of the People Journey Circle.

Engage in an interactive game where you’ll experience firsthand how to turn resistance into opportunities and spark innovation through lateral thinking.

And there is more: If you are eager to create a real movement in your organisation, one that all people love to be part of? Bring all your learnings into practice and join our Seminar – The Change Accelerator, Friday 22 November 2024.

https://academy.twinxter.com/course/change-accelerator

As participant of the Obeya Summit you can use code CA2024

If you want to read the full story of the transformation of Roche Diagnostics, then download the case study here. https://www.twinxter.com/cases/roche-diagnostics/