This document summarizes initial research conducted by Albion and Ashridge on organizational "Influencers", individuals within large organizations who drive novel and lasting positive change in unconventional ways. They interviewed 11 senior Influencers from diverse sectors who described themselves as comfortable outsiders driven to achieve big goals and leave a legacy. Influencers build social movements to drive cultural change, are restless change-seekers but patient, and use different tactics based on personality. Their success depends on having just enough power, luck, and support from top management. Next steps are to develop propositions to help organizations and Influencers work together, and test these ideas with businesses.

1. Albion and Ashridge present
Organisation Influencers
Initial Research Report
N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 8

2. In 15 years’ experience driving change in organisations, we noticed
that certain individuals in large organisations have a particular knack
for achieving novel, lasting and positive change. They never quite ‘fit
in’, using unusual and ‘insurgent’ methods to drive change.
Academic literature has previously identified this group - yet
organisations struggle to find and leverage them.
Albion and Ashridge have come together to explore what drives and
what obstructs organisational Influencers - and discover what they
need to thrive.
The Research in brief

3. Our initial method
Who we spoke to
11 participants total
‘Pro’ Influencers - senior level, with extensive experience and networks
Diverse sectors and backgrounds: public and private, IT, design, insurance,
financial services, healthcare, telecoms, automotive, civil service
What we did
Qualitative, semi-structured interviews
45-60 mins over telephone
Our aim
Identify common motivations, behaviours and methods
Understand the barriers they’ve faced so we could develop tools to help
All interviews were conducted confidentially, responses have been anonymised.

4. A distinctive character

5. Comfortable outsiders, convinced of their mission and ready to take risks
Find what you believe in yourself, personally. Because
that’s the only way you’ll really convince others and
draw people to work on your team.
I have felt like an outsider most of my life. I
like being on the edge. There’s nothing worse
than being predictable!
I have a natural optimism. I can tolerate a lot
of crap. I draw my energy from my successes
and watching my people grow.
You need to be entrepreneurial which means taking
personal risk. e.g. at (company) I shared a budget with
operations in order to expand the role of social media.
This proves a point.

6. Restlessly seeking opportunities for change, but patient in making it happen
Radical solutions with a small ‘r’ - not leaving a
trail of bodies in your wake.
Selling in the brand to the board took many
engagements over months. But now they sell it
themselves, internally and externally. Change takes
longer than you’d hope.
I’ve worked in frontline services, at challenger
brands, in traditional corporates, in innovation
labs and everything in between.
The reason I do this stuff - that’s very hard and
can be hard on people - is because I want to
leave a real, tangible legacy. Not the stuff you
write on a CV - that’s crap.
You have to commit to about a decade to
change things properly.

7. Unusual or eclectic backgrounds, ways of thinking and working
I tend to fight against accepted, orthodox theory. My
instinct is to challenge a theory-first approach.
I don’t like cosy consensus. I challenge
people’s assumptions that they can’t solve
something.
I carved out a niche being an intellectual in a
non-intellectual environment. Sometimes
people don’t know what to do with me
because I work across their silos and spot the
common ground.
My uniqueness is I’m not a pure technologist. I’ve
worked in lots of high change environments, starting
business units from scratch in retail, pharma, gaming
and big tech before coming into Government.

8. What they want

9. Big questions, audacious goals and personal legacy
How can we disrupt and
change our fundamentally
flawed and corrupt financial
system?
Can we create a universal
ethos for leadership in health
and social care?
How can we put real citizens’
needs and voices at the heart
of public policy making and
service design?
How can we transform
marketing from a business
function to a driver of
customer value?
Can we create a unique
proposition in the
hyper-competitive, untested
IoT market?

10. They want to create radical change, then move onto the next thing
I set up a business unit that was considered
impossible in (company). I implemented the
fastest SAP in only 9 weeks. I created a whole
new supply chain in 16 weeks.
We’ve created a grassroots leadership
movement for the health and social care
system in Scotland and already had 2000
people sign up in 2 months
My work has saved the taxpayer £100 million
per year...but they won’t recognise it fully until
4-5 years from now. I want to be part of that
groundwork and then move on.
I try to get organisations from 60% to 95%
performance. I don’t have the patience for the
last 5%.

11. Their methods

12. Influencers build social movements that drive change
I measure change happening by
momentum. I want a big following.
People should feel it, in culture, in
quality of interactions.
How do you get large scale changes in the
mood of the organisation? Through a social
movement approach...light some fires and see
how they burn.
Change is all about culture. It’s not worth
identifying a bad process, spending thousands
to fix the process, if no one believes in it or will
help.
I motivate and align people around
a shared goal. I’m very open and
let them contribute to build
common ground.
You have to bat for your team. If
you’re the sole voice all the time
you’re just a crackpot.

13. 3 ingredients for building successful movements
In conversation with one exec about
transformation, he just wanted me to go
and ‘do my job’. But I was able to link my
strategy to performance, demonstrating
the need and aligning to where he was
trying to succeed.
At (company), everyone told me about
an ‘enemy’ I’d have. I went straight to
him and explained that I wanted him to
succeed, and that any interactions or
challenges were in that spirit. Changed
every conversation from then on.
It’s important to have supporters
across the business who don’t work
directly on your project.
Need to get out of your department
and talk to people - finance,
operations, IT
I brought senior leaders to review
everything we’re doing, and identify
what REALLY matters. Then we
empowered teams to deliver those
priorities, however they thought they
should.
WALK, TALK AND TELL REDIRECT RESISTANCE FREEDOM WITHIN A FRAMEWORK
I tell stories to make the idea much
more compelling to people, in a way
that reflects their wants and needs
I was half commissioned, half agitated
to start this movement. We created a
team and saw the green shoots.

14. Different Influencers use tactics that reflect their instincts and personalities
Side hustle…
Change needs discretionary effort. People
that will put in extra hours and energy to
change things. And for that, you need them to
care.
...or Committed Resource
You need people whose job is
transformation. No one can do this stuff off
the side of their desks.
...or Lead with consideration
Remember: it’s not personal. It’s not a fight,
and they’re not saying no because they don’t
like you. Go for good conversations.
Lead with conviction...
You need to be deaf. Stick to your gut feeling
and don’t listen to naysayers.
Directive…
I am brutally honest and direct. I can be
abrasive which can be difficult for people.
You can’t affect rapid change by tiptoeing
around.
...or Diffuse
We encourage diversity of thought.
Ethnographers, designers, policy makers etc.
We can hold ambiguity longer to gain
different perspectives on the world.

15. The conditions they need to deliver

16. They need just enough power, and just enough luck
Where you are in the hierarchy makes a
huge difference. You cast a shadow. Some
things you can say as a registrar (doctor)
which you can’t say as a consultant and
vice versa.
I joined the firm just as Lehman Brothers
was collapsing and eventually had to
take redundancy when I found myself in
a dead end job.

17. Just enough acceptance, permission and support from top management
Bosses often don’t work hard
enough to identify what you really
do well, where you thrive etc. This
happens to a lot of people, who end
up annoyed.
The barriers at (company) were a
leadership problem. Their inability
to be challenged….This is what
put me off and made me leave.
I do just enough of that scaffolding
to give the management what they
need to give me permission and
trust to innovate.

18. What’s next in this research?

19. We’re creating propositions that’ll help organisations and Influencers work better
together, and working with the business community to test them
#1
Coming soon
#2
Coming soon
#3
Coming soon

20. Thank you
For more information please contact:
Adam Sweeney adam.sweeney@albion.co
Julian Thompson julian.thompson@ashridge.hult.edu
https://www.albion.co/
http://www.hult.edu/