Executive Diploma in Organisational Change participant, Adrian Dinca, explores his learnings from the programme and how he is applying them to his day-to-day work. 

I joined the Executive Diploma in Organisational Change because I was looking for a better way to lead major projects and fight my own complacency. As HR Director at Vertiv, I was part of many local and global change projects. Warwick Business School was an obvious choice for me because its MBA is highly-ranked by the Financial Times. 

The course included live study in London (The Shard), with a diverse cohort from various sectors. We met multiple times and had fun over coffee breaks and dinner, while learning from each-other. From my peers, I discovered that there is so much that the private sector can learn from the charity sector on mobilising others.

I appreciated that the course content was anchored in the latest research in change, and that our teachers helped us to ground the concepts in day-to-day practice (themselves having deep experience with various organisations).

Some of the topics I studied included:

1. How to mobilise large groups of people: I always struggled into getting engagement and having new initiatives prioritised, when people need to take care of their day-to-day work. During this part of the Diploma I learned how to make this happen, by creating a strong sense of urgency/excitement around a big opportunity, working with Guiding Coalitions and many others
2. Put strategy into context: We all use this word a lot, but what does it mean and how does it make a difference? This part of the module helped us understand companies from “the outside”. E.g. what is unique about them and what makes successful mergers and acquisitions?
3. Expanding my influence and work through others: This part of the course focused on having a better understanding of the political landscape (to ensure support for your projects), learning to use and develop your own influencing skills (and a few frameworks), but also something completely new – how to use Nudges to drive healthy behaviours.
4. Organisational storytelling: I realised in this part of the course how much I underestimated the value of true, two-way communication. Learning how to build communication plans to include listening to others and integrating their ideas, how to use metaphors and symbols and  how these improve engagement.

Looking back, I started applying the concepts in the day-to-day work since the first month of the course, with noticeable results. I can say that this is the most significant study I have done so far, as it has had a direct impact in my day-to-day performance.

Find out more about the Executive Diploma in Organisational Change or book a 1-2-1 chat with our team.