Madavi has held a new Summit with the Schweppes Suntory España team. The process started a few months ago when the company selected Madavi to support and mobilise towards collective action a specific department of the company, which was going through a moment of many changes both at organisational and strategic levels, as well as, with processes and work tools. We then held our first “summit”.

“ What we are looking for is someone to help us connect these changes and unify all that energy which is being generated, and as a result Madavi seemed to be a very integrating solution”, explained Beatriz Malpartida, in an earlier interview in this blog, who is People Development Lead of Schweppes Suntory España.

“We thought it a very powerful to focus the subject of the people from an appreciative inquiry point of view, that is to say, from strengths that they have and not from the areas that they need to improve”.

Mobilizing many in one direction

As is usual in our processes, we count on each and every member of the team, and with dynamics very different to any other way of working. That is why we say, that in Madavi “we change the way in which we change”. According to the evaluation of Schweppes Suntory, “people decided what it was that they wanted to do and by supporting themselves on what was positive and on their capacity of assuming responsibility – which is very high -, all the commitments which arose, came from them. Also the fact that each person decided up to what point they wanted to get involved in the project.

Another dynamic which seemed to them “ very powerful” was that everyone had the same say in what happened.  This dynamic way of working relies on inquiry into a summit moment, in which you realize that you already have those strengths that the company needs at that moment.

«Yes you can», the collective action continues

As a result, collective action was generated with different areas of opportunities, which have converted into projects. “No one who has participated in this Project is the same than before having participated in it”. The belief that “yes you can” has been generated. “You see that something that you have done has worked and that it ha an immediate result and that you finish making it part of your daily way of work”, according to Beatriz Malpartida.

But, what is a summit? It is here that the change begins

In Madavi, we change the way in which organisations change; to do so, instead of analysing the problems, we inquire into what we call “summit moments”.

It is here that the change starts, injecting energy into the system; mobilizing many in the same direction by holding a summit.

A Summit is a collaborative event for a lot of people. When they are held, all the people necessary for success meet at the same time and the same place and create collective action aimed at an attractive image of the future.

The summits are developed in three stages:

In the first (the pre-summit) the sponsors, – a small group of people who have an agenda of change and are convinced that an appreciative process is the best way to change – mark the purpose of the process.

In the second, the Summit, all the stakeholders necessary to mobilise the system participate. During the sessions the strengths are harnessed and aligned in the form of action towards the opportunities.

In the third, the post-summit, the necessary impulse is given to help the teams have success and promote the cultural change. We know the projects, the teams, the resources and the action required. It is the moment to adjust the planning to the reality.

Madavi, the YES Company.

 

Beatriz Malpartida– Schweppes Suntory España:

What Madavi says about “Changing the way in which we change” is real.

“Creating the future together; Absolutely , YES!”. With this slogan, Schweppes Suntory España a group of employees resume the experience that they have lived with Madavi. A unique experience to create their future together. A future in which their way of working changes towards a model based on self- responsibility, collaborative leadership, the simplification of the processes and the inter-relationship between departments.

“What we did not expect was that so many things would happen in the wake of working with Madavi, in doing so from such a positive point of view and based on abundance, as they say” explains Beatriz Malpartida, People Development Lead of Schweppes Suntory España.

“Expectations have been met with regards to a new way of working: it was not only affronting concrete changes which we were pursuing, but also that the department shines much more, is more autonomous and that the results which we dared to dream about before starting the project are being achieved. “There is a before and after”.

“The experience is very potent because different dynamics to any other way of working are generated.”

Schweppes Suntory Iberia, formed by the business units of Spain and Portugal, belong to Suntory Beverage & Food Europe (SBFE), European subsidiary of the Japanese Suntory, a worldwide leader.

Their philosophy of YATTE MINAHARE (Go for it!) is the engine which impulses them to want to revolutionise the drinks sector, creating pleasing and healthy consumer experiences through their trade marks Schweppes®, La Casera®, TriNa®, Sunny Delight®, MayTea® y Joi®.

Beatriz, at what moment in the company does this experience with Madavi fit in?

When Schweppes Suntory España decided to work with Madavi, we wanted to support a particular department of the company which was going through a moment of many changes, both at organisational and strategic levels, as well as, with work tools and processes.

What we were looking for was someone to help us connect those changes and unify all the energy that was being generated and that is why Madavi seemed to us a very integrating solution.

Why Madavi?

We were looking for someone to help us with appreciative inquiry because we thought it very powerful to focus  the subject of the people from an appreciative point of view, that is to say, from their strengths and not from the areas that they need to improve.

It is that current, positive psychology, that is behind appreciative inquiry, which made us in the end come across Madavi.

What were your  expectations?

Before meeting Madavi, we were wanted a company that would help us channel all that energy, which sometimes, when there are a lot of changes, generates some initial resistance.

What about the result? How do you value their unique methodology, the summits, the experience…?

At the beginning we did not really know what we were going to do; it was very disruptive and innovative.

The experience is very powerful because it generates dynamics very different to any other way of working. People decide what they want to do and by relying so much on what is positive, on the capacity for people to assume responsibility, – which is very high -, all the commitments arise from them. Also to what point each person involved in the project wants to reach.

“The illusion and the action plans which arose from this Summit continue to be preserved through time and are increasing”

Another dynamic which has seemed very powerful to us is that everyone has an equal voice. This way of working relies on inquiring into a Summit moment in which you realise that you already have the strengths that the company needs at that moment.

From then on everything occurs in a very natural manner, a lot of pro-activity and commitment are generated by the people, which facilitates that things happen.

In effect it is a question of generating the belief that you really can do it and, what is more, “who better than you who belongs to this department, and much better than an external consultant or someone from HR…”. It is a matter of giving that responsibility to the people and then the power to take decisions and actions and thus allow them to commit to those decisions and put them into practice.

How would you define in one phrase the contribution of Madavi?

In one phrase I would say: “the power to unite individual strengths”.

What Madavi says: “change the way in which we change” is real, no one who has participated in this project is the same as before having taken part it. A belief in oneself has been created that things can be done, that you do not need to ask for permission, that you are responsible for your work. It is so powerful that we can see how they are applying it to more areas of work.

It is no longer only used in the specific sector in which we started to work but they are taking it into their daily routine, into their relationships with other departments and how they plan their future …

Therefore, it can be interpreted as a new attitude, a new way to work and live the day to day with their companions?

Yes, in the end that is what happens, you see how something that has worked and has a very immediate result finishes off by forming part of your daily work.

People in their relations with others already use part of the appreciative culture that they have learned as a result of participating in a Summit or when they have interviews or conversations that are a bit more difficult in some areas.

We have also learned how to ask for help because obviously there are things that you cannot cannel by yourself. They are small nuances that change the way you work.

And the rest of your companions do they realise that this group does things in a different way?

A very interesting phenomenon occurs and that is that the system starts to be contagious because anyone who tries it sees the potential it has. Moreover, as they way of working in a Summit is to integrate people from different systems or departments who collaborate with you it has a very disseminating effect and so reaches more people.

I think it is important to live the experience to really make a change, above all because it is very positive: That someone asks you why you do something well and how you can do it better contributes a lot and is contagious.

How are you advancing in relation to the projects or ideas that have arisen from these Summits?

We decided to work with Madavi in this department specifically because at present it is in a phase of many changes and they were reacting to them very individually without  embracing them as something bigger.

This is what Madavi has helped us with.

The projects that have arisen are very related to what the department had already done before, but we have also looked the interrelationship between those projects. That is its strength and why I speak so much of combining energies, because now no longer does that department only work on its project that it thought affected it individually, but it has also found the way of involving the person next to him in order get help and so that way also be part of the change.

Although only three months have passed we have already started to see changes. But compared to other experiences that we have had when we have managed change, what happens now is that the illusion as well as the action plans which arose from that Summit continue to be maintained through time and are growing.

In Madavi, we always work business and culture together. What do you think of that approximation?

To achieve business and culture it is necessary to have a well-founded culture and that people are impregnated with it.

In our case, they have gone hand in hand: business on the one side supported this cultural change which was going to be implied to us by Madavi and in some way that culture reinforced what the business was asking from us.

Is that connection one of the pillars of success?

It is fundamental, if not How are you going to make a cultural change if the business is not supporting it? Or how are you going to help business to reach where it wants reach if there is not a culture shared by all which is reinforcing it and that are also aligned? In this sense, Madavi has helped us interact and connect it all.

After a first Summit the team celebrated after a time a second Summit.

And now?

We have to have moments to continue giving continuity and visibility to the projects, because they are on-going. We are looking for moments in which we can show how we continue to advance, because that viability at the same time reinforces all that we have done. We have lived a very powerful mixture of learning and having fun, which at the end of the day is what we are all looking for at work.

Finishing this interview, Beatriz shared with us this evaluation: “Madavi fits in very well with our culture, with something that we have been trying to push for some time, and that is your own self-responsibility, where do you want to reach, regarding your position and your responsibility, within the company. Madavi respects and encourages you very well in how much you want to give and to what point do you want to be involved.

This experience has helped us a lot in supporting this culture in a very natural way and above all in doing it. Because sometimes in managing people we make the mistake of saying what has to be done when of course what most moves people is showing how to do it by doing it. In that Madavi has helped us a lot.

Javier Raventós, of Pepe Jeans, evaluates his experience with Madavi:

“The experience has been really positive. It has mobilized people, and above all it has given the teams the capacity to do things and to transform, as well as empowering them   and that is a potent factor.”

Someone said that large companies become so and maintain themselves at the top thanks to constant movement. That is the case of Pepe Jeans London, an international group that is a leader in its sector.

At the end of the 90´s, Javier Raventós and Carlos Ortega took control of the company through an MBO (management buyout), which was launched with the support of 3i. Today, the company manages world known trademarks such as, Hackett, Pepe Jeans, Norton and Façonnable and has important teams in Spain, London, Amsterdam, India and México.

We spoke with Javier Raventós, the General Manager of Corporate Services in Pepe Jeans

Raventós has dedicated his professional trajectory to this company. We spoke to him about the challenging moment of transformation that the company was living and the collaboration of Madavi in this process; “a very positive experience” according to his own words.

“In the last 20 years, the company has been well managed and the trademark has reached a very high level, but the speed of change especially in the sector of fashion and the evolution from an analogical world to a digital one, which has caught some of the directors a little bit old, has meant that things have to be done in a different way; listening more and more to the young; empowering collaborators; working on transversal processes … We are faced by a change which in Pepe Jeans we live like an opportunity, and not with fear. Fortunately, in order to do so we have a very strong team”.

Given this context of change, the company decided to undertake an important process of transformation, in which it is immersed at present. “That was when we contacted  Madavi. We already had a relationship with them four years ago. On that occasion it was a short project with  very clear objectives and results (improve profitability) and the experience with Madavi was a success”.

At that moment we introduced, guided by Madavi, Appreciative Inquiry, that is to say, “ we looked for the strengths of our teams to accelerate”. “ It worked very well and that is why when we had to pose the transformation project we called once again Fernando Iglesias, of Madavi”.

So once more you decided to bet on your strengths to boost change?

We have very young teams that quickly engage with the project and that is why we indeed decided on that model, which had already worked for us and which facilitates the transformation with more dynamism that others that are more reactive.

Javier Raventós admits that to tackle a project of global transformation “is very complex” for any company but in his opinion to identify the areas on which to act with the teams in a positive fashion has much more impact. “It is true that when you do it only visualizing the strengths there is always something left out, but you have covered 90% of the elements of transformation. You can cover the other 10% left out with other processes, projects and action plans.”

From the Madavi model, from its summits, many initiatives flourish; “ people are connected and make more of an effort to achieve results because it is their projects, their dynamics, their responsibility and especially  for the young who are precisely the ones who most push you.”.

According to Javier’s evaluation, these models “which are not hierarchical”, “all the energy of the teams increases and sweeps away all the potential blocks. As they are very active and positive dynamics it is very difficult that a reaction and a brake can be produced.”

Have the expectations been met?

“Yes absolutely the energy of the organization rose dramatically during the Summit which we lived with Madavi. It is a very collaborative project that is very well set out.

The experience has been very positive, even though there has been a certain amount of resistance due to internal matters.

It has mobilised people and above all it has put in the hands of the teams the capacity to do things and to transform; it has empowered them, and that is very potent. In my opinion, the best thing about this experience has been the empowering of the teams, that is to say: you can do it. You put the energy and we shall support you; you direct. That is what allows you to advance more quickly”.

The path walked with Madavi forms part of a process of change that is transforming the company and already begins to have an impact on the market, in the form of a better experience for the client.