Transformation consultancy Sullivan & Stanley has launched The 7 Percent, a podcast bringing senior executives together to discuss why major business change programmes struggle to deliver their expected financial and operational benefits. Hosted by chief executive Andy Haley, the nine-episode series examines decisions taken by leaders responsible for turning strategic plans into working changes across an organisation.
The opening guests include Adrian Mardell, chairman of Sunseeker and former chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover. In his episode, Mardell discusses how he divides opportunities to create business value into “boulders, rocks and pebbles”, concentrating attention on the largest potential gains rather than treating every proposed improvement as equally important. His experience spans operational leadership in a major international automotive manufacturer.
Haley introduces the series by examining the gap between what an organisation approves in a transformation business case and what it eventually achieves. A programme can meet its implementation timetable yet deliver a smaller improvement in service, cost or performance than originally expected, particularly where a new system requires changes to established workflows or management responsibilities.
The podcast takes its name from Sullivan & Stanley’s Intelligent Enterprise research. In that study, the consultancy reported that 90% of surveyed C-suite leaders expressed confidence in their business strategy but only 7% consistently captured the full value of transformation initiatives. It estimated that £27m in expected benefits was unrealised for every £100m invested. The figures come from the consultancy’s own research and describe its assessment of transformation performance.
The disparity between investment approval and realised value can arise in projects that depend on several business functions. A finance team may fund new technology on the assumption that routine work will take less time, while operations managers need to reorganise tasks and train staff before those efficiencies can be achieved. If those changes are delayed, the financial benefits may arrive later than the investment model assumed.
The series also examines the relationship between technology and management. Sullivan & Stanley’s Intelligent Enterprise framework describes four areas — Human, Artificial, Technology and Execution — which it uses in advising customers on transformation. These categories address workforce capability, automation, technical systems and the practical delivery of changes. The consultancy argues that concentrating on technology alone can leave the wider operating model unchanged.
Later guests include Simon Cooper, founder of Two Scoops Consulting and a former chief information officer at a major investment bank, who will discuss the challenge of changing organisations built around longstanding technology systems. Jane Bates, founder of The Koru Collective, is due to examine the human side of organisational change, including the role of leadership and engagement when established working arrangements are disrupted.
Haley said: “Most leaders I speak to are confident in their strategy. Where value slips away is in delivery, and that part of transformation rarely gets talked about openly. The 7 Percent gives leaders who have been accountable for the results the space to share the decisions behind them, so others can learn from what worked.”
The first season is scheduled to run across nine episodes, with two available at launch and subsequent conversations released fortnightly. The programme is distributed through Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube, giving management teams access to accounts from executives who have overseen substantial technology and business change.
Sullivan & Stanley’s programme combines the perspectives of operating executives with the consultancy’s research into transformation performance. The guests’ experience ranges from automotive manufacturing to banking technology and organisational development, reflecting the different functions involved in delivering major change. Subsequent episodes will examine further decisions taken during those programmes and the organisational arrangements used to sustain their results.
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