Nokia’s recent transformation is one of the most dramatic corporate makeovers in modern history. Keynote speaker and Nokia CEO Risto Siilasmaa helmed that transformation and shares his leadership story in his book Transforming Nokia: The Power of Paranoid Optimism to Lead Through Colossal Change.
Over its 150 year lifespan, the Finnish corporate giant has made many things—from paper and rubber tires to computers and mobile devices. With some key acquisitions, Nokia has changed directions yet again to emerge as an industry leader in global end-to-end network infrastructure.
Here are some insights from Siilasmaa’s playbook on how to build a company culture agile enough to survive today’s dynamic business marketplace:
Reinvent yourself.
Always have a research and development network exploring a range of new technologies that might be the next best opportunity. “Over time, Nokia’s DNA changed to include that idea of being a serial transformer,” said Siilasmaa of how Nokia is always generating new products and service avenues. He says this fundamental understanding helped build confidence that the company was capable of changing with the marketplace.
Engage in scenario planning.
“Instead of just focusing on success and what made you successful,” said Siilasmaa. “You also need to spend a reasonable amount of time and brainpower on thinking about how you could fail.” Nokia set guidelines for rigorous scenario planning exercises to help the company see what kind of threats it might face in the future and then worked towards positioning itself for managing those outcomes.
Scenario planning also helps companies see blindspots and keeps managers from becoming complacent. “Identifying a problem or opportunity and doing something about it is the essence of entrepreneurship,” said Siilasmaa.
Create the golden rules.
Generate a universal idea within the company of how it should behave. For Nokia, working through those rules helped them realize what wasn’t working and how to build new paths to reach their goals. “Suddenly we felt in control,” said Siilasmaa. “If we have five plans and you get bad news on one plan then there are still other plans to pursue.”
Allow for a cultural shift.
There should be a constant understanding of how dynamic markets have become and managers should be ready for cultural shifts. “We ended up in the position where we didn’t have a business anymore,” he said of how the market suddenly changed and Nokia lost the smartphone market share.
However, he feels employees shouldn’t be blamed for being lazy, unintelligent or unsuccessful when surprises and directional changes do happen. “No one should be afraid to give bad news to the top management,” he said. If managers embrace the idea that their business will change over time then employees will also adopt a proactive mindset for positive changes.
Act as an entrepreneur.
“If you see a problem and you think other people have the same problem then make a product,” said Siilasmaa of how exploring solutions drives innovations. He says that when a company works to address pain points in the system, it often creates a solution that will also be helpful to other companies.
