4 Themes of the Year in Culture, Organisational Change and Human Capital Management seen in Cophi Transformation Projects.

1. The "Human" Becoming the Strategy

As AI begins to commoditise operational output, operational excellence is no longer a competitive advantage, it’s the baseline.

Organisations are pivoting their focus back to "Humanness."

In a world where algorithms are handling more process, the only truly unique differentiator left is Culture*.

Companies doubling down on human connection and psychological safety weren't just "being nice", they were building the only moat AI can't cross.

2. The Matrix Requires Friction

We saw ongoing challenges with 'matrixed' organisations.

Most continue to try to eradicate the conflict they creates.

This tension and complexity when met with Radical Candour, Constructive Confrontation, and high levels of Safety are what drive the greatest speed to positive change.

The highest-performing teams were the ones who had the skills to disagree openly, resolve quickly, and commit fully.

3. Governance = Speed

Contrary to the popular belief that governance slows things down, we saw that highly effective Governance is the accelerator.

In the race for organisational efficiency, the companies that moved the fastest were not the ones breaking rules, but the ones with very clear, simple to understand decision principles, and high trust levels.

When everyone knows how to decide and who decides, and what getting a decision wrong means, velocity skyrockets.

4. The "Engagement" Illusion

We saw a continued fatigue with traditional engagement surveys. HR seen as a processor rather than strategic driver of human capital performance.

High "engagement score" doesn't mean the system is working.

We looked past the scores and into the system and behaviours that actually drive performance.

If you got this far and spotted the * next to Culture... Iain M. Banks (the late and great) has a series of novels on The Culture that are great for imagining the importance of this as we continue to evolve with machines. In particular:

"If you disable change... you don't have life... you just have death."(Look to Windward)

"A lot of what passed for useful information-sharing within an organisation was really just the bureaucratic phatic of people protecting their position."(Surface Detail)

All his works are worth a read for how the future of organisational systems could play out!