Transformation
What a good transformation office actually does all week
It is not a reporting function. At its best, it is the place where problems arrive early enough to fix.
- Written by
- Daniel Hart
- Published
- Length
- 9 min read
Ask ten executives what their transformation office does and most will describe a team that collects status updates and turns them into a pack for the steering committee. That is a reporting function. It is useful, but it is not what changes outcomes.
Monday: the honest list
A good transformation office starts the week by asking initiative leads one question: what is going to go wrong in the next month? Not what is red on the tracker — what is going to go wrong.
Midweek: trading resources
Most transformation portfolios are over-committed. The office's real job is to make the trade-offs visible: which initiatives share the same scarce people, and which should pause so others can finish.
The most valuable thing a transformation office produces is a decision someone was avoiding.
Friday: benefits, in finance's language
The week ends with the benefits ledger — reconciled, conservative and owned jointly with finance. Credibility compounds; so does its absence.