In almost all circumstances, adopting a new solution will require some adaptation of your organisation. Anticipating and mapping out what adaptations will need to happen is critical for any adopted innovation to be a success.
This is often the area of greatest difficulty in relation to adaptation, as it will affect people’s jobs, how work is carried out, and may even challenge norms and power relationships. You need to identify which areas of your organisation and work will need to adapt to enable you to absorb and use the new solution. These can be considered across three dimensions:
- Policies: What policies might need to change, or be developed?
- Processes: What processes will need to change, or be developed?
- People and Power: What roles will need to change, or be created? Who are the ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ if the solution is successful?
For each of these three dimensions, you will need to either fill in the Adaptation Requirements Table directly, or use another tool to develop your thinking, before completing the relevant section of the table later on.