For many organizations, undergoing a comprehensive, at-scale transformation effort can feel daunting. In this video, Jon Garcia, a senior partner and a leader in McKinsey’s Transformation Practice, discusses a simple formula that can help organizations understand what it takes to improve the odds of transformation success: “will times skill times rigor.” An edited transcript of his remarks follows.
Jon Garcia: While we are not Einsteins, we sometimes talk about an equation to emphasize the core elements that lead to transformation success: will times skill times rigor. What exactly does this formula mean?
I’ll start with the concept of will. Will is the health or effectiveness of the organization. This includes the individual and collective aspiration, the leadership team’s alignment around that aspiration, and the readiness to pursue the organization’s full potential.
By skill, we mean the capabilities of the organization as a whole, as well as the individuals who make up that organization. This means having the right knowledge and abilities for success embedded consistently across the entire organization.
Finally, rigor is the performance infrastructure of the transformation effort. Organizations need to create and maintain a disciplined, line-led delivery cadence coupled with a robust tracking of initiatives. This rigor enables successful execution and the sustainability of transformational impact.
Ultimately, the equation “will times skill times rigor” can exponentially improve the likelihood of transformation success and the sustainability of those efforts.
