Gears of Transformation: People, Process, and Technology

The PPT connection

Back in my Industrial Engineering days, I learned a simple but powerful concept: People, Process, and Technology, are the key to any meaningful change. It makes intuitive sense. Progress used to come from individuals mastering their craft. As they improved their work, teaching others to do the same required describing the how into a Process – ways to achieve repeatable excellence. Tools and technology then came in to support and reinforce those processes, making success more effortless.

As industries become more advanced and complex, organizations develop physical and information systems to accelerate the growth. It is a journey of continuous improvement and optimization. The critical insight: It has to start with the right order—people first, then process, then technology. When these elements are aligned and congruent, the whole system works harmoniously.

Transformation projects tend to fail not because the technology’s capability, but insufficient upfront work of defining business requirements properly or missing people and process integration support through the change. As a result, we may live with large scale systems that are overly complex – we would only use a subset of their functionalities, while paying the complexity taxes in dollars and time. Or we have processes that are either unclear or too rigid for the environment we operate in – resulting in the need for workarounds.

People, Process and Technology are like gears of transformation. They need to operate in optimal speeds for the whole organization to run smoothly. Otherwise, grinding will occur, causing friction and wasted energy. The machine can continue to run, but at the risk of long-term damage or, worse, accidents. As seen in the 2023 FAA near-miss incidents: Air traffic systems (Tech) and protocols (Process) advanced, but chronic understaffing and burnout (People) created systemic risk.

The Current Reflection and Dilemma

Fast forward to now, Technology has advanced rapidly. AI can now build personalized software that can automate routine tasks. We can pull Process best practices from vast bodies of researches and playbooks (e.g. Total Quality Management, Lean, Six-sigma, Integrated Business Planning, etc.) and apply to core functions instantly, avoiding starting from scratch.

But here’s the challenge: despite these technological leaps, we have not invested at the same pace to reflect the delicate balance on our People. Our work norms and principles - how we learn, communicate, collaborate, have largely held similar patterns and evolved in reaction to shockwaves such as the establishments of global/diverse teams and remote/hybrid work.

Why? Because the accumulated investments in processes and systems over the years have been enormous. Since the commercialization of Generative AI, trillions have been or will be spent on data centers, research and development, and optimization. These investments are powerful, and the temptation is strong (because every company is doing it), but they only work when aligned with the people who use them, in support of the relevant processes.

Turning the Dials of Transformation

Picture the imaginary dials on People, Process and Technology. In pursuit of innovation and efficiency, organizations have been cranking up the Technology and Process dials. Budgets flowed into new platforms, automation, and AI. Processes were redesigned, streamlined, and optimized. Meanwhile, the People dial—investment in training, space for true team-building, and opportunities for meaningful collaboration—was too often dialed down. When the margin pressure was on, these were the first to go.

When organizations crank up the Technology and Process dials while dialing down the People dial, the gears of transformation begin to grind. We are now seeing the real-world effects of that imbalance. Even with cutting-edge tools and efficient processes, teams find themselves stuck in silos. Change initiatives stall, not because the systems are lacking, but because people aren’t fully engaged or connected. Employees report feeling more isolated, less in sync with each other, and further from the mission that is supposed to unite them.

How can we dial up our People?

To address the incongruence between people, process and technology, we can dial up our people by:

1. Make Collaboration Non-Negotiable: Don’t just talk about teamwork—bake it into how work gets done. Shift from individual heroics to shared wins by setting goals that require input and cooperation across functions. (Example: In healthcare, Mayo Clinic's model is built on mandatory collaboration. Doctors are salaried and not paid per procedure, which removes the incentive for individual heroics and fosters a team-based approach to patient care, directly linking collaboration to better outcomes.)
2. Align Communication with Action: Replace the biases to meetings and emails with clear, shared routines: written updates, transparent project boards, and regular (but concise) alignment check-ins. Make it easier for teams to know what is happening and where they fit, even as tech and process evolve. (Example: When Zoom implemented ‘Async Fridays’ (no meetings) and trained teams to use collaborative docs, productivity rose 20%.)
3. Build Feedback into the Work, Not Around It: Waiting for annual reviews to surface issues is too slow. Use short, simple feedback loops - retrospectives, “start/stop/continue” check-ins, or even quick pulse surveys - to surface friction and fix it before it festers. (Example Adobe's "Check-in" system that replaced annual reviews with ongoing conversations improved retention by 30%.)
4. Connect Training Directly to Team Needs: Forget generic workshops that cover “just in case” knowledge. Equip teams with training and resources that speak to actual, in-the-moment gaps: tools for better cross-functional communication, frameworks for shared problem-solving, playbooks for navigating new tech. (Example: AT&T's Future Ready initiative that reskilled 100,000+ employees with personalized learning paths based on evolving team requirements.)
5. Recognize and Reward What You Want More Of: If you want real collaboration and collective progress, reward it. Celebrate teams who break silos, who document their learnings, who pull others into the win. Spotlight the behaviors that drive congruence, not just individual output. (Example: Google's 'Peer Bonus' system is a prime example. Any employee can nominate a colleague for a small cash bonus for having helped them out. This explicitly rewards the collaborative behaviors—helping, sharing knowledge, breaking silos—that drive congruence, not just the easily-measured individual output.)
6. Use Simple, Shared Metrics: Measure what is changing, not just what is easy to count. Track and share concrete signals: reduced meeting load, fewer dropped balls, stronger cross-team project delivery, sustained engagement scores. (Example: HubSpot famously transitioned from tracking individual 'Marketing Qualified Leads' (MQLs) to a shared 'Customer Success' metric that both sales and marketing teams were responsible for. This forced collaboration and ensured marketing didn't just generate leads, but leads that sales could actually close and retain, reflecting the health of the entire system)

The good news? Turning up the People dial doesn’t mean you’re falling behind on the others. It means you’re finally getting the full benefit of everything you’ve already put in place. When teams are congruent - aligned in purpose, equipped to collaborate, and empowered to challenge and improve the system - technology and process improvements start delivering returns you can see and feel, not just measure. And the results will be a multiplier, ensuring all the gears of your organization turn smoothly and powerfully in unison.