Based on 4G's ability to predict relationships and shared values/culture, along with providing a detailed understanding of people's behaviour (via Social Profiles), the practical impact of the hack comes from applying these capabilities to 5 people centric business processes:

1. Business Process 1 - Economies of Learning and Economies of Scale

2. Business Process 2 - Hire for Fit and Optimal Relationships

3. Business Process 3 - Create High Performing and Highly Engaged Teams

4. Business Process 4 - Objective Performance Management

5. Business Process 5 - Predictive Change Management

An explanation and examples of each process follows.

Business Process 1 - Economies of Learning and Economies of Scale

Training and development activities typically comprise of discreet, best of breed approaches. Each approach is tailored to a particular topic such as leadership or communication skills but these topics are often unrelated to each other, creating developmental silos and making it hard to transfer learning from one situation to another.

To combat these inefficiencies and silos, 4G uses a common theoretical foundation for all of it's training and development materials, coaching modules and accreditation resources. Given that training in Social Profiles, Social Relationships and Social Groups introduces new ideas, along with being applicable to all of the other 4G business processes outlined below means that each new learning activity builds on the previous, simultaneously creating economies of learning and economies of scale.

More broadly, there is the possibility to create a 4G learning and development syllabus with multiple levels of expertise and experience accounted for, similar to the professional qualifications offered by Six Sigma or Microsoft for example. This then creates a widely applicable and transferable skill to multiple constituents within an organisation e.g. subject matter experts, trainers, departmental heads, line managers, 'top talent' and new managers etc.

Business Process 2 - Hire for Fit and Optimal Relationships

In applying the principles of predicting relationships, it's possible to enhance existing recruitment and selection processes. By including a predictive measure of candidate-person fit, person-person fit or person-manager fit, depending on the context, an additional and previously unavailable data point can be added to the decision making process.

Diagram 5 shows this in practice. By comparing the level of fit between Candidate One on the left and Candidate Two on the right, it's clear that given the 4 green lines, Candidate Two offers the best relationships, both for themselves and the 4 other team members. Of course, this doesn't include information on people's skills, experience, how they come across at interview and other relevant factors, all of which need to be factored into a hiring decision.

Diagram 6 offers another example of using 4G in recruitment. In this case, the data from 4G makes Candidate Three a better fit than Candidate Four.

It should be noted that while the 4G data is shown visually, it is also possible to quantify this information and analyse it numerically via Relationship Friction. Relationship Friction offers a precise quantification of the different Social Relationships, aiding decision making when the diagrams aren't sufficient.

Business Process 3 - Create High Performing and Highly Engaged Teams

The use of 4G for recruitment is similar to team creation. The processes are comparable, as is the application of 4G. Diagram 7 shows 3 teams each with 4 people. The breakdown of Social Relationships is random in this example and as a result, there is a reasonably even spread of green, blue, yellow and red relationships. This is typical of the majority of teams encountered in organisations, not least due to the often ad-hoc nature of recruitment and team creation.

By using 4G as one of the inputs into team creation, it is possible to optimise and enhance the relationships in the team, along with improving performance and engagement. Diagram 8 shows the same 12 people but their team membership has incorporated elements from 4G and the corresponding improvement in relationships is clearly visible.

Business Process 4 - Objective Performance Management

Empirical research into 4G validates the fact that the 14 Social Relationships can be ordered from most to least productive. By combining this rank order of Social Relationships and linking the corresponding ratios to people's salary, it is possible to calculate the financial cost of relationships and to return quantifiable and objective measures of team performance, effectiveness and efficiency.

These calculations then offer HR a formula to link the results of various business processes (e.g. team creation, restructuring, training and development outcomes, recruitment, business development, customer service etc.) to KPI's and other quantifiable measures of performance (e.g. sales, staff engagement, group or individual performance data, the time and costs of specific objectives being achieved, task completion etc.). In addition, the use of Social Relationships provides an objective and qualitative input to complement the quantitative.

In diagram 9 and the table below, a random team of 7 is analysed using Relationship Friction. Everyone in the team is paid £50,000, making the total salary for the team £350,000. Given the 7 Social Profiles and the breakdown of the 21 Social Relationships, the cost of Relationship Friction for this team is £60,195 or 17.2% of the total team salary. In addition, the Relationship Friction Index is 864, allowing Relationship Friction data to be compared across different teams without revealing sensitive salary data.

This example of Relationship Friction shows how simple it is to present the results and how straightforward it is to understand. The second example allows a comparison with the first and allows a 'before' and 'after' scenario to be shown. In this instance, the comparison might be between two different customer service teams, but could equally compare two teams of accountants or two sales teams.

The second table and diagram 10 show the change in Relationship Friction if the team of 7 is optimised around a particular Social Group, in this case, Social Group 3. By creating a team in which everyone is a member of the same Social Group, not only does everyone experience optimal Social Relationships, but the Relationship Friction figures improve dramatically. In this case, Relationship Friction falls to £18,357 or 5.2% of the team’s combined salary. This is a difference in Relationship Friction of £41,838, or a fall of 12%. Likewise, the Relationship Friction index falls to 264.

While the examples above help illustrate the changes in the 'before' and 'after' scenarios, not every use of Relationship Friction requires the use of a team creation process.

Business Process 5 - Predictive Change Management

4G makes it possible to identify people who, in principle, are much more likely than average to pioneer change and adopt new methods and approaches ahead of others.

Identifying Change Champions and Change Sceptics

Of the 16 Social Profiles, 4 are considered 'pioneers' and 4 are 'early adopters'. For the sake of definitions, pioneers are the idea generators, while early adopters are often the first to try out a new idea and to put change into practice.

The 4 pioneers (summary descriptions of each of the Social Profiles below can be found here):

1. 1Ne
2. 2Ni
3. 3Ni
4. 4Ne

The 4 early adopters:

1. 1Ti
2. 2Fe
3. 3Te
4. 4Fi

It's also worth saying at this point that 4G also helps identify Social Profiles that are, in principle, the least likely to embrace change:

1. 1Fe
2. 2Ti
3. 3Fi
4. 4Te

In diagram 11, Leanne (2Ni), Alberto (3Ni) and Sam (3Ni) are all pioneers, while Gerald (3Fi), Tejash (3Fi) and Louise (4Te) may be more sceptical of any proposed change.

Knowing if a particular person is a 'pioneer', 'early adopter' or 'sceptic' is itself insufficient to create an army of change agents. While possible candidates can be easily identified, contextual and organisational information must also be considered if people are to 'sign up', 'be recruited', or 'conscripted', as the case may be.

Adding Context via Social Groups

Knowing someone's propensity for new ideas and change in isolation is one thing but in order for this to be useful, the context of any change needs to be factored into the equation. Part of the context consists of classic change management considerations such as the change itself, the business case, the individual’s own career and personal objectives, how long the change will last, how much it costs, what elements of value might be lost as a result of the change and so forth. All important and fundamental.

The other part of the context consists of analysing the culture and values related to the change. From a 4G perspective, Social Groups define shared values and group cultures. Diagram 12 offers an introduction to each of the 4 different Social Groups, along with providing a proxy for the Cynefin model.

Social Groups are important for two reasons. Firstly, they define ideal or optimal teams of 4 people who each share a Relationship of Action (motivation and energy), Balance (boosting strengths and minimising weaknesses) and Reflection (feedback and critical thinking). Each of the 4 groups of 4 sharing these relationships can be seen in diagram 13.

The second reason Social Groups are important is because they create a mirror for the organisation's own context and commercial values. Put another way, Social Group data acts as the cultural equivalent of an organisation's strategy and optimal business environment. Perhaps the simplest way to explain this is by linking the ideas behind market growth to those of Social Groups. As per diagram 13, each of the 4 Social Groups corresponds to a different stage of the product life cycle:

• Social Group 1: Innovators
• Social Group 2: Early Adopters
• Social Group 3: Mass Market/Early Majority
• Social Group 4: Late Adopter/Late Majority

Some Examples

By linking specific Social Profiles to Social Groups and triangulating this with an organisation's commercial and operating context, it's possible to gain deep insights into change processes and to identify people who are best placed to influence, lead or faciliate change in a given situation. In addition, this approach to change has the added advantage of working in both top-down and bottom-up environments.

1. How Culture, Values and Relationships Undermine Top-Down Change

Social Group 3 is at it's best in environments where cause and effect relationships are apparent, change is commercially justified and making a practical difference is a priority. Likewise, structure and processes are important, along with targets, data, plans and a tactful and diplomatic working style. Contrast this with Social Group 1 who excel in environments with limited or even no structure where originality, spontaneity, passion and experimentation are important. Equally, radical propositions and blue sky thinking are also highly valued by Social Group 1. Given these contrasts and their implications for culture, change and prioritisation, the information in diagram 14 should come as no surprise.

Diagram 14 shows how everyone in Social Group 3 shares green relationships, but that yellow and red lines are drawn between the people in Social Group 3 and 1. When it comes to change, it's easy to see how a top down approach from the leadership team in Social Group 3 may well create delays, resistance or scepticism from the team in Social Group 1.

The example in diagram 14 shows how top down change can often come unstuck as a result of cultural or relational factors. Culture and relationships are also good substitutes for some of the key barriers to change; commitment, passion, drive, involvement, vision, leadership and communication. In this instance the combination of Social Profiles, Social Relationships and Social Groups create a common denominator for barriers to change above.

2. Changing Structures to Support Top-Down Change

While diagram 14 illustrates how top down change initiatives can struggle when faced with contrasting cultures and challenging relationships, diagrams 15 and 16 show how these problems can be overcome.

In diagram 15, Fraser is attempting to change the way that Ajay works. Both are highly skilled and experienced but given the difficult relationship between them, Fraser's efforts are proving frustrating. In addition, Ajay finds the conflict very stressful and begins to fear that his anticipated promotion is going unlikely to happen as a result.

As 4G predicts the outcome of relationships in advance of people meeting or working together, Fraser knows that Jim will be a great intermediary, as shown in diagram 16. Jim's blue relationships with Fraser and Ajay make for much easier communications and by stepping in, both Fraser and Ajay save time and don't continue to struggle with what was a very difficult issue.

It's also worth noting that the change proposed in diagram 16 can be implemented formally or informally and can be seen either as a short term intervention lasting a few weeks to a couple of months, or may last for 6 months or more, depending on the situation. Finally, while Fraser, Jim and Ajay are all either 'pioneers' or 'early adopters', the Social Relationships that they share will be more important in this instance than their own Social Profiles.

3. Bottom Up Change and Avoiding Obstacles

Diagram 17 shows a group of 10 people who together share 45 Social Relationships. When it comes to empowering bottom up change and creating an 'army of change agents', giving people access to 4G data is one way to facilitate this. Given the complexity within the team of 10 (e.g. there are 252 different ways to create a team of 5), knowing how everyone's relationships unfold makes a huge difference in terms of enabling change and improving communication.

The following examples help facilitate any change initiative, improved paths of communication and efforts to influence members of the group:

• George could work with Kate or Fraser to influence Mark (and vise versa)
• Janet could work with Mark or Jim to influence Ajay (and vise versa)
• Hugh could work with Rehan to influence George (and vise versa)
• John could work with Hugh or Rehan to influence Fraser (and vise versa)

By giving individuals access to the information from 4G and incorporating the concepts from Hack HR 1, it's possible to empower individuals with unique information that can directly impact their approach to instigating and managing change. In addition, because 4G can be used in a scalable and consistent manner, the tool is able to support top down and bottom up initiatives in equal measure.