A Transformation and Change Management Consultancy

Our transformation and change management consultancy helps clients work through their organizational transformation strategies then implement their change management best practices.

Why is transformation strategy important?

Even though true organizational transformations are long, winding, and uncertain in their fullness, every step of that journey is much more certain and manageable with the proper transformation plans. A transformation strategy of successive, contingent plans is essential.

Enable transformation

To survive and thrive, eventually all organizations must successfully transform. Digital transformation is the preoccupying evolution of the early 21st-century. Transition to non-carbon energy, adapting to climate changes, and social fracture are just a few of the other evolutions soon to be layered atop digital. Institute X guides modernizing organizations to benefit from successful transformation to evolving environmental reality.

Encourage breakthrough

When an organization makes the digital transition, Information Technology is invisible and reliable. Resources and energy can be dedicated to productivity gains, radical innovation, and any other pressing need. Institute X guides organizations toward valuable innovation in their digital environments.

Change Management for Organizations

Significant change, including digital transformation, usually turns accepted wisdom on its head. Successful transformations demand both creative non-conformity and personal/organizational conviction to move into the new reality through multiple changes (and likely, brief setbacks).

Yet leaders responsible to smoothly run organizations today are expected to disrupt sure efficiency for uncertain opportunity tomorrow. That's not natural. Institute X supports leaders to be transformative:

identifying weaknesses of the status quo

rethinking the business within the changed environment

challenging creative alternatives

preparing strategies and plans

architecting transformations

even leading artful transformation and Adaptation.

In any transformation or change of any sort, it’s critical to go into the process realizing and embracing the fact that for at least a while you will stand out and not conform to others’ expectations.

Where is change management most appropriate in Transformation?

Change management techniques are broadly valuable because they focus leaders and project teams on the response of people being changed. They require resources and energy and can lose their impact by misapplication. The organization needs to maximize effect and minimize cost. Knowing where and how change management technique will be most effective is key.

The ultimate value of project planning with change management is to be aware of and prepared to handle all resistance to change.

Where a project encounters resistance, change management perspective provides the insight and focus to deal effectively with these human behaviours.

Where a project is surprised by resistance, the solution is better, more relevant preparation. Change management perspective focuses on appropriate preparations for real human behaviours.

Knowing what you need to do is critical to knowing what to do.

Why is change management important?

The only way through a transformation journey is by successfully and repeatedly executing and applying change management techniques and tools.

Change management process: pick one

Whether Prosci, Kotter, or even Lewin is your cup of tea, the method has to be incorporated into the transformation consistently over time. Our approach is method agnostic.

Change management definition

Usually understood as the method, process, and techniques for the people side of organizational change, we have developed our approaches to understanding and dealing with where and how much to apply change management in an organization. Look here for our approach to change knowns and unknowns, and how that affects project/change management.

The Change Playbook: a guide to implementing change management technique

Institute X has developed a pragmatic, step-by-step, practical playbook for executing many change management best practices. It's just enough recipe for people to act, knowing what to do and what should come of it.

Covers preparation, communication, training, coaching, maintaining sponsor support, developing material, measuring performance, and so on.

A customizable, clear picture of action: how to start, what to do, what to expect, how to react, and how to finish.

Can be integrated and used with any change management model and change management method.

Tested and proven change management techniques and tools.

Sufficiently detailed instruction on change management process and protocol even for the beginner.

Have a look and become a Playbook member at The Change Playbook site.

The Change Playbook is the best guide and tool that anybody, novice to expert, can have to lead change or change manage a project.

What others have said

I really enjoyed Timothy's speech... particularly has views and perspectives that resonated very well with me and significant parts of the audience.
a Director at Eastlink
Tim has a natural ability to understand issues and implications of complex situations then break them down into actionable parts with meaningful results. If you have the opportunity to work with Tim, jump at it!
COO eCommerce marketplaces
...key in harnessing the skills of a number of team members.
a Managing Director at Accenture
A terrific business partner.
an SVP at Gartner
I've enjoyed the benefits of [Tim's] counsel many times over the years.
a Principal Consultant at brandrewire.ca
Tim's wide interest and experience... allows him to be an excellent coach and mentor.
a Product Manager that worked with Tim
... an inspirational thought leader who can also translate that to reality and execute on a business goal.
a Principal Consultant at Cistel Technology

Our Services

Review of threats and opportunities of evolution

Transformation feasibility assessment

Transformation strategy development

Hands-on transformation leadership and change management

Facilitate re-invention and innovation from ideation through implementation

Your Deliverables

Digitization Impacts Analysis

Feasibility Study

Transformation Readiness Assessment

Strategy, Architecture, and Program Planning

Successful transformation and innovation roadmapping

Knowledge transfer plans

We do business

We work with clients in a way that best suits them and the task

Fixed price contract

Open contract

Preferred supplier sub-contract

Pre-packaged service

keeping Clients in control

Projects vary from quick turn-around assessments and reports through extensive, ongoing engagement with client teams. We keep clients apprised of evolving circumstances so there are no surprises.

SPECIAL—The Digital Future Impacts and Innovation Study is a pre-pak assessment of the impacts of digital re-invention/innovation opportunities. For:

"Red team" validity check on staff, consultants, vendors

Board/Executive-level background and discussion

Strategic planning prioritization and sequencing

The DFI2 study provides value from $15,000 - $25,000 in 1-month elapsed time. Contact us to set the parameters of this service for you.

Institute X provides a packaged analysis and recommendation for the feasibility, readiness, and path to success for organizations contemplating a digital transformation to some aspect of or all of their operation.

Institute X abides by what it calls “X Factors,” those unknowable forces that can have positive or negative impact on a change or transformation project/effort. X Factors are what Institute X seeks to tame.

Transformation X-factors

An X-factor is an unknown more consistent than noise but not predictably understandable. X-factors are:

undefinable, unquantifiable impacts that alter outcome

not perceived (in advance); only experienced

"luck" until the cause is identified; a strategic advantage until revealed

Recognizing and harnessing X-factors first means advantage

Go to Institute X Research

Adaptive Transformation™

Our Adaptive Transformation™ model considers two dimensions of change: persistence and discontinuity.

Persistence—Change happens all the time everywhere. Where and how regularly affects how well it may be accepted.

Discontinuity—Change is adjustment from prevailing conditions on a continuum from negligible to extensive. The more extensive, the more discontinuous and risky.

There are many paths to transformation. Institute X has devised a 2x2 matrix to help guide the optimal approach to any transformation along two dimensions: Persistence and Discontinuity.

Adaptation

All organizations evolve. Some incrementally become better versions of themselves. Others implement radical change. The first group gets progressively more out of touch, and the latter introduce risk and new points of failure.

Adaptation is nature's most consistently effective approach to transformation. Billions of years of "case studies" support it. Persistent adjustment to evolving conditions always produces the lowest risk and highest acceptability within the environment.

Transformation

Change is relatively predictable and there are methods to manage it. Transformations are complex and unpredictable. Digital transformation, for example, merely changes basic technology; but forces reinvention of existing processes.

Transformations often have unintended consequences and risk far from the focus of change. They upset organizational equilibria, which are actually quite brittle. There are techniques, but there is no common method for this delicate activity.

Timothy Grayson

Timothy Grayson has been transforming and innovating for over 25-years. He has digitally reinvented front and back-end operations in both small business and large commercial enterprise, in the public and not-for-profit sectors, and in academia. Timothy's particular expertise is:

Reinvention

Strategy and innovation

Transformation change management

Transformation architecture

Cloud, digital identity, and cybersecurity

Timothy Grayson is a well-seasoned general executive leader of change and transformation with academic credentials to support Institute X’s strategies and tactics.

Experience

The driving force behind Institute X, Timothy's experience crosses functional areas and roles.

Strategy: transformation, business, product

Innovation and Start-up

Digital Reinvention and Operations

Digital Identity and Cybersecurity

Product Development: digital and traditional

Business Administration and Executive Management

Institute X has experience with transformation and change in many industries and many fields. Several brochures highlight that experience specifically to an area of expertise.

Clients

Institute X serves private sector and government clients that recognize the unique complexity of the real transformation affecting them and seek bespoke assistance.

Leaders that need to make a case to senior executives

Senior executives (c-suite) that need to make a case to the board

Senior executives that need to make a case to internal stakeholders

Institute X serves an array of private and public sector enterprises and organizations in Ontario, Canada, and the world.

Where you are, we're there

Institute X serves clients globally.

To contact us for a confidential, no obligation discussion about your situation and need

Complete the form below

From home base near Ottawa, Canada, Timothy Grayson and Institute X are prepared and able to serve customers around the globe virtually and in person.