Hello everyone – it’s my turn this week to talk about some of the things that have been occupying my time. For my first blog I thought I’d talk about Evolve 2026 – mainly so I can say a big thank you for how curious and engaged you’ve been so far.
I know that change can be daunting – in fact one of my favourite diagrams explains it best in a single picture:
To start with we can all feel a bit overwhelmed by the scale of the challenge, uncertainty about how we will find tangible things to deliver, and how best to feel positive about the opportunities as they arise, rather than see them as threats. But over time this starts to change, as we introduce a vision, our key strategies, some L&D support and a clear delivery plan. So, my top tip is not to worry if you feel like your brain is the squiggle above – it’s totally normal! My job (with support from others) is to make that feel a simple and compelling direction towards our “north star” in 2026 starts to emerge, that you not only understand but want to be part of delivering ?
The fact that many of us are in the “squiggle” at the moment is one of the reasons I’m so impressed with how energised you’ve been in our early transformation sessions. At our dedicated Evolve 2026 day a few weeks ago, it was heartening for me to see so many people keen to hear more about the emerging plans beneath the name – in particular focusing on the four underpinning strategies that will help us get there (people, digital, customer engagement and service transformation). We had big groups at all four corners, and you asked us fantastic questions and made good challenges that got us thinking… I’ve since had lots of requests about how you can get more involved – keep them coming!
So, what next? We’ve listened to your feedback from the day, and firstly we’ve been creating a dedicated area on Molly for Evolve 2026 – this is just a starting point. We’ll add lots more information over the coming months, including how you can submit ideas, celebrate success, get involved in CI and transformation initiatives and take up learning opportunities.
Secondly, we’re going to ensure there’s a forward look of regular in-person Evolve 2026 sessions so that we can keep the conversation going and share progress. And don’t worry if you struggle to make it to these events because you are in a customer facing role, we’ll be doing on site visits too so that you will always feel in the loop.
Finally, you’ll have seen that our new Transformation Programme Manager, Mike, has now arrived and is keen to meet every team to hear about how we work now and to capture our ideas to set us off on the front foot to deliver Evolve 2026!
I hope you all have a lovely week ahead – fingers crossed for much more sunshine and no thunderstorms!
Seonaid