By Tammy Savage and Victoria Lemane
As the global stage is set for the 2024 Paris Olympics, many of us will be glued to our devices to watch these intense competitions — awed and amazed by the incredible feats of strength, speed, grace, and athletic prowess — all from the cozy comforts of our couches.
As these athletes prepare for their ultimate athletic experience, they must adapt to new workouts to keep their bodies in top form, travel to new places, compete in “away” arenas, sleep in strange beds, consume unfamiliar food, wear game-day uniforms, and probably the most challenging: use different equipment than what they train with at home. There’s comfort in the familiar.
Everything about being game-day ready requires patience, determination, and one additional crucial element: the ability to change and adapt to the current circumstances and environment — the very definition of being able to handle whatever the competition throws at you!
Olympic athletes do not achieve this level of success without a precise preparation and training strategy, and the same could be said for preparing your organization for transformation success.
But after 127 years, it was time for a change.
As successful and recognizable as the Olympics are, in July 2021, the International Olympic Committee approved a change to the Olympic motto to recognize and amplify the unifying power of sport and the importance of global harmony and community.
The new Olympic motto now reads: “Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together” (Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter).
In his remarks before the unanimous vote, IOC President Thomas Bach explained the link between the change and the original motto: “Solidarity fuels our mission to make the world a better place through sport. We can only go faster, we can only aim higher, we can only become stronger by standing together – in solidarity.”
The updated, modern motto beautifully ties together the spirit of the games with the five different-colored Olympic Rings. On their own, they represent the individualism of sport and the uniqueness of each culture from five continents: Europe, Africa, Americas, Asia, and Oceana/Australia. But when they come together to create the overlapping logo of the Olympics — they show us how all the individual parts make up the whole.
This summer, some of the athletes will be competing for individual honors, others for team wins, and some are in Paris for a combination of both individual and team accolades. Every athlete brings something different to the Games, for those in team competition, they were specifically chosen because they contribute in ways that collectively help the whole team succeed.
The skill and talent required to be an Olympian is as varied as each of the 10,500 individual athletes competing in Paris. You don’t have to look past two of the most recognizable summer Olympians for visible proof: Simone Biles, the most decorated artistic gymnast ever, is a gravity-defying powerhouse at 4’8”; and then there’s philanthropist, entrepreneur, and global basketball icon, Lebron James, who measures a lofty 6’9”.
At Avaap, we believe the same is true for you and your employees: change can vary - it comes in all shapes and sizes! Whether it’s enterprise-wide, at the business unit level, or within specific functions, Avaap can assist with critical transformation solutions to help close the gaps in your strategy and help you navigate and adapt to evolving work environments.
When you embark on a transformation journey, you and your team each approach the change with different mindsets, attitudes, and expectations. Our role is to help your team come together to operate, function, and work as one cohesive unit throughout the change initiative.
Organizational transformation also calls for a variety of skills and approaches. If your organization is looking to modernize to keep up with the changing business landscape, there are a variety of improvement areas that can be focused on alone or combined to formulate a winning game plan for you.
Organizational Change Management (OCM) is the people side of change – change experts can help you build a framework structured around the changing needs and capabilities of your organization and the people who make up the backbone of what you do. OCM is used to prepare, adopt, and implement fundamental and (often radical) organizational changes that encompass culture, policies, procedures, and physical environment, as well as employee roles, skills, and responsibilities.
Organizational Strategy and Design (OSD) provides organizations with a roadmap through the challenges of strategic planning and leadership alignment and can assist you with designing your organization in a way that fosters your ability to achieve your strategic goals.
Business Analysis and Process Design (BAPD) is a specialized technique to assess whether your current processes are working properly to successfully achieve their objectives. BAPD experts can partner with you to make sure your technology works with your current and future business needs, design processes that stand up to the changing business landscape, help you gather/test requirements and provide hyper care after your go live.
Program and Project Management (PPM) can help you build, create, and sustain a Project Management Office (PMO) and establish governance protocols to ensure strategic alignment to help you make better business decisions regarding your overall work portfolio and monitor program and project performance at the individual project level.
Strategic Technology Solutions (STS) focuses on strategic assessments, feasibility studies and software selections to help leverage technology to achieve your goals, optimize operations, and create competitive advantages in the market space.
No matter where you are in your transformation game, it’s never too early to start determining your current state and where you want your organization to be. Avaap is here to help you — whether you’re in the early stages thinking about a change or an executive sponsor ready to launch a change initiative — we’re here to make your organization bigger, faster, stronger – together!
Tammy Savage is a client-centric consultant specializing in organizational change management. She is passionate about equipping individuals and companies with strategies to build and execute their change plan. This summer, you can find her on her couch, cheering for Team USA.
Victoria Lemane is a change management consultant with experience in diverse industries supporting corporations through transformations, divestitures, and acquisitions. Her focus for Paris 2024 will be a little closer to home: rooting for her local beach volleyball Olympian.