One village at a Time E-Book

Kristina Wright

• Herausgeber: BoD - Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 70

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Transformation is everywhere - but real, lasting change is rare. In this honest, practical guide, Kristina Wright shares what it actually takes to drive transformation at scale - across borders, silos, resistance, and spreadsheets. No buzzwords. No blue-sky theory. Just hard-won insight from over 20 years inside global companies where the stakes were high and the pressure was relentless. From leading AI pilots to rebuilding entire operating models, from the C-suite boardroom to frontline factory floors, this book reveals: Why culture kills good tech - and how to build it properly What makes an operating model truly scalable - and what quietly erodes it Why people burn out - programs stall and change gets stuck What to measure - when to compromise and when to stand firm And why sometimes transformation only works when you take it one village at a time Kristina writes as someone who's lived it: the burnouts, the blow-ups, the rebuilds - and the breakthroughs. Whether you're leading a major change or trying to survive one, this book will give you the clarity, realism, and occasional dark humour you didn't know you needed.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

1.

Title: One Village at a Time

Real Lessons from the Grit, Chaos, and Wins of Leading Global Transformation

2.

Foreword

3.

Introduction

4.

Strategy and Commitment

5.

Don’t Confuse Velocity with Progress

6.

The Role of a Transformation Leader

What This Role Really Requires

7.

Governance That Works

Real Steering: The Design Authority Model

The Role of ExM and Steering Committees

Cadence, Clarity, and Accountability

What to Avoid

8.

Don’t be afraid of Conflict

Silence is not harmony. It is a warning sign

9.

In Praise of Hierarechy

e

10.

No Accountability? No Progress

11.

Scaling for Intelligence

Why Scalability Is the Hot Topic of 2025

12. The 6 Pillars of an AI Ready OM

13.

Pillar 1: Culture & People

Why This Matters

What It Takes

Common Pitfalls

What Good Looks Like

14.

Pillar 2: Organisation & Governance

Why This Matters

What It Takes

Common Pitfalls

What Good Looks Like

15.

Pillar 3: Process Management

Why This Matters

What It Takes

Common Pitfalls

What Good Looks Like

16.

Pillar 4: Performance Management

Why This Matters

What It Takes

Common Pitfalls

What Good Looks Like

17.

Pillar 5: Data & Documents

Why This Matters

What It Takes

Common Pitfalls

What Good Looks Like

18.

Pillar 6: IT & Infrastructure

Why This Matters

What It Takes

Common Pitfalls

What Good Looks Like

19.

Staying it for the Long Haul

Real Steering: The Design Authority Model

20.

A Word on Perspective

21.

Final Thoughts

22.

Man in the Arena

Foreword

For the leaders in the middle of the storm.

For the teams carrying the weight.

And for anyone who’s ever sat in a meeting and thought, “This cannot be the plan.”

This book is not about perfection.

It’s not about theory.

And it’s certainly not about how transformation should work on paper.

It’s about how it really works—or doesn’t—when you’re in it.

Between 2012 and 2024, I led some of the biggest and hardest transformation efforts of my career. Sometimes I got it right. Often I didn’t. I’ve been exhausted, yelled at, and—in hindsight— became someone I didn’t always recognise. But I also helped build things that truly mattered. I saw people believe in something bigger. I saw teams win against the odds. And I learned that change, at its core, isn’t about systems or frameworks.

It’s about trust. It’s about tension. It’s about knowing when to listen—and when to lead, admitting when you get it wrong.

This book is my attempt to share what I’ve learned—with honesty, with scars, and hopefully with just enough structure to help others make sense of their own messy, brilliant journey.

Because real transformation doesn’t happen in one leap. It happens one team, one conflict, one breakthrough, one village at a time.

Let’s get to work.

From the Eye of the Storm

In 2015, I left a job I had once loved—exhausted, burnt out, and changed in ways I didn’t like. I had spent three years in the eye of a transformation hurricane. The company was fighting for its life—on the brink of bankruptcy, laying off people by the hundreds, trust eroded, and fear everywhere.

In the middle of that, I was leading a cross-functional team trying to drive end-to-end collaboration across deeply divided business units. Our tagline became “we take them one village at a time”— and we meant it. We believed in the work. We knew it mattered.

But somewhere along the way, I lost myself. After being yelled at, ridiculed, and undermined for so long, I stopped listening to understand—and started listening to attack. I became angry, defensive, hardened. Yes, the project succeeded. But I failed—as a leader, and as myself.

That was the moment I realised: transformation is never just about systems or structures. It’s about people. And if we don’t protect the people—ourselves included—we lose, no matter what the slide decks say.

3. Introduction

Scaling for Intelligence: Why AI-Ready Operating Models Separate Leaders from Followers

FOMO (fear of missing out) is not a strategy—yet many executive teams leap into splashy AI pilots before the basics are in place. The result? Fragmented rollouts, spiraling costs, and little to show for the effort.

The companies that actually scale impact—consistently and at speed—share one thing in common: a scalable operating model. One that allows them to grow, pivot, and innovate without recreating the wheel in every market or function. One that doesn’t break when change hits.

This paper is not about theory. It’s about practice. It sets out a clear, solution-oriented roadmap for building a truly scalable and AI-ready operating model—grounded in twenty years of hands-on transformation work at companies like Vestas Wind Systems, Maersk, OX2 and other high-growth, high pressure environments.

But let’s be honest.

This is not a playbook about perfection. It’s written by someone who has lived this work—the good, the bad, the energising and the utterly exhausting. I’ve led programs that flew, and some that fell flat. I’ve sparred with exec teams, stood up in front of sceptical crowds, and made the wrong call more than once.

As a leader, project manager and human—I’ve failed plenty. And learned more from those moments than from any polished framework.

Transformation is not about getting it right the first time.It’s about getting back up, adapting fast, and building systems that keep evolving—long after the excitement fades.

That’s what this is really about. Not slogans. Not surface-level change. But how you build something that lasts.

4. Strategy & Commitment

Declaring strategy is easy. Committing to it is the hard part.

Why This Matters

Every transformation begins with a strategy. A vision deck. A roadmap. But too many never move past that point. Why?

Because crafting strategy is intellectually satisfying. It feels like progress. But the hard part—the real part—is turning strategy into daily decisions, trade-offs, and behaviours. That’s where most efforts fail.

Bold Truth: Strategy without commitment is just theatre.

You’ll know the difference the moment things get hard—when budgets tighten, delivery lags, or priorities compete. That's when lip service is exposed, and real commitment is tested.

Transformation doesn’t require a bigger strategy. It requires leaders who are willing to change what they fund, how they lead, and what they reward.

What It Takes

1. Say No to Competing Priorities

You can’t transform and protect the status quo at the same time.

Stop funding pet projects that drain focus and dilute resources

Make the hard calls on what to pause, stop, or delay

Be transparent with teams about where trade-offs are being made

If everything is a priority, nothing is.

2. Align the Top Table—and Keep It Aligned

One-off alignment isn’t enough. Strategy must be reinforced weekly.

Ensure executive buy-in is not just verbal—but visible in decisions

Use shared KPIs and outcomes to track leadership accountability

Regularly revisit the strategy as reality evolves

When leaders drift, teams scatter.

3. Demonstrate Real Skin in the Game

If leaders don’t change, no one else will.

Shift your calendar, your attention, and your incentives toward transformation

Speak about it publicly. Defend it privately. Champion it daily.

Take personal risks—not just corporate ones

True commitment shows up in where you spend your time, not just your slides.

4. Translate Strategy Into Non-Negotiables

Big vision needs small, clear anchors.

Define what

must

happen—and what must

never

happen

Set boundaries for teams: the freedoms they have and the frames they must stay within

Ensure every initiative maps back to strategic themes

Ambiguity kills momentum. Non-negotiables create it.

5. Build a Strategy That’s Lived, Not Laminated

The best strategy isn’t found in a deck—it’s found in daily behaviours.

Make strategy part of how teams plan, decide, and deliver

Embed it into rituals, reviews, and resource allocation

Celebrate actions that move the strategy forward—not just results

A strategy only works when people at all levels can say, “This is how I contribute to it.”

Common Pitfalls

Leaders say “yes” to transformation, but fund the old world

Strategy created in isolation, then handed down

Vague commitments with no teeth or accountability