While many consultants and experts claim that 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑩𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 (𝑰𝑩𝑷) cannot succeed without full commitment and mandate from the 𝑪-𝑳𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅, I beg to differ.
In our recent iBsing pioneers Meeting, we discussed how to overcome the common challenges and pitfalls of IBP, including shadow behaviours that undermine the process. One of the breakout groups proposed a solution for any type of shadow behaviour: “𝐓𝐨𝐩-𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩”. That resonated with me, because the engagement of the top leadership can be a gamechanger for IBP. However, what was even more encouraging was to discover that 80% 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐮𝐩.
This means that if you have an inspired and inspiring 𝑰𝑩𝑷 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 who is surrounded by a 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔-𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 that shares the vision and value of IBP, you can start implementing IBP practices and principles 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. It may take some time to gain momentum, but once you demonstrate the benefits and impact of IBP on your performance and customer satisfaction, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 of other stakeholders and eventually the C-Level board.
Now it’s your turn to chime in! Am I too optimistic, or have you also seen IBP succeed against all odds, even without initial top-down backing? Or maybe you’ve experienced the opposite, where even the highest-level support couldn’t make IBP fly?