Revamping Citizen Development
In June 2022, I entered one of the most defining chapters of my personal and professional life, at 3M. It was a company whose legacy of innovation and resilience aligned with things I cared about and represented a place where meaningful work could happen. Joining the organization felt like the beginning of a long-term commitment because of its proposal of purpose and a people-first approach. Alongside the excitement of new beginnings, I found myself with a chance to work with brilliant colleagues to redefine how employees in Global Service Centers understood digital transformation inside the organization. That was a new opportunity to create something enduring, that mattered and could empower colleagues in ways that transcended tools and systems.
The concept of citizen development had been hovering in corporate circles for years, but it often remained inconsistently applied. My mission at 3M was to change that by running training programs, supporting Lean Six Sigma initiatives, and experimenting with automation technologies to reignite a program that was practical, inclusive, and inspiring.
The core idea of this kind of program is simple: companies give nontechnical employees the chance to create their own digital solutions using low-code and no-code tools. With the right guardrails, governance, and coaching, employees could build apps, automate workflows, and contribute meaningfully to digital transformation. The initiative was about unlocking hidden talent across the organization, empowering people to solve problems directly rather than waiting for IT departments that were often stretched beyond their capabilities and budgets.
When I joined 3M, that was a local program run on three different sites. My role focused on revamping the program in Poland and consolidating global process documentation ahead of an upcoming ISO recertification audit in Poland. At the time, governance maturity varied across locations. One of the sites had already implemented the certification and maintained structured documentation, while other locations were still evolving their practices and priorities.
This was happening in parallel with broader organizational changes. In April 2024, 3M completed the spin-off of its healthcare division, creating a new independent company, Solventum, listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The separation required both organizations to redefine operating models, reporting structures, and cost baselines across many global teams. In the first year after the spin-off, restructuring initiatives were introduced as part of that transition, including workforce reductions designed to streamline operations and generate approximately $120 million in annual savings.
These changes were part of a broader effort to establish the new company as a stand-alone public enterprise rather than a division within a larger conglomerate. What surprised me most was how quickly employees embraced the opportunity of a new program. Employees who had never written a line of code began experimenting with automation. Teams that once struggled with manual reporting discovered they could create solutions within days rather than months. What we did in Poland tapped into a deep well of curiosity, creativity, and resourcefulness that had been waiting for permission to surface. That collective spark became the foundation for something far greater than a set of digital tools, it became a movement.
Events That Sparked Transformation
Recent experiences organizing events turned out to be invaluable. I had learned the discipline of curating diverse voices, designing engaging formats, and managing logistical complexity under pressure. These lessons translated naturally into shaping events at 3M in Poland, where we showcased what citizen developers were achieving.
The events were more than internal showcases, they became celebrations of creativity and collective intelligence. Colleagues from different regions and functions presented their solutions, from automating tedious reporting tasks to streamlining supply chain workflows. The energy was palpable. By bringing together employees who rarely interacted, we created a culture of recognition and shared ownership of transformation.
I sat with the citizen developer coach and together we observed firsthand how these events did more than inspire. They created networks, and people who once felt invisible discovered they had something to contribute. Teams that had struggled with siloed mindsets began to think more horizontally. And senior leaders, often skeptical at first, began to see citizen development not as a hassle, but as a force multiplier.
Over time, the events also became learning laboratories. Participants shared mistakes openly, discussed failures alongside successes, and offered practical tips on balancing creativity with compliance. This transparency built trust, and the gatherings began to feel less like showcases and more like communities of practice. What began as isolated experiments grew into a shared narrative of empowerment, proof that transformation is strongest when it is visible, participatory, and human.
The Human Side of Transformation
Technology is often discussed in terms of platforms, APIs, and governance frameworks. But my first months at 3M reinforced that transformation is, at its core, a human story. People need to feel empowered, recognized, and trusted. They need forums where their ideas can be celebrated and amplified. They need leaders willing to sponsor initiatives that may not fit neatly into existing hierarchies.
Structurally, my scope was a local program in Poland. 3M had two other Global Service Centers in Costa Rica and the Philippines running their own programs, and we worked together, discussed common goals, and tried to reconcile different leadership approaches across the sites, where teams sometimes struggled to fully align priorities and ways of working. With an upcoming spin-off of the Health Care business announced in 2022, we tried to set aside differences and collaborate with our colleagues. The new company name was announced in 2023, and the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange followed in April 2024.
In that environment, cooperation gradually became more than an operational necessity. The approaching spin-off created a shared sense of urgency that encouraged teams to look beyond local priorities and focus on building something sustainable together. Conversations that once centered on competing interests began to shift toward collective outcomes. Aligning goals across three continents was not always easy, but the process itself became a learning experience, reinforcing the idea that transformation depends as much on trust and coordination as on strategy or technology.
The events we organized for citizen developers became symbolic, with a reminder that transformation isn't driven only by top-down, centralized strategies, but also bottom-up ideas and energy. Processes became more adaptable, controls more relevant, data more transparent, and infrastructure more responsive. But what really shifted was the collective intelligence of the organization.
The deeper truth me and my counterparts in Costa Rica and Philippines discovered was that empowerment is human infrastructure, an invisible foundation that allows creativity to flourish. You can deploy the most advanced technology stack in the world, but without cultures of trust and recognition, adoption they will stall. When employees feel ownership, even modest tools can drive breakthrough outcomes. In many ways, the human element is not an add-on to transformation, it is the multiplier.
Balancing Innovation and Organizational Reality
Even as the program gained momentum, I became more aware of the complex dynamics surrounding transformation. Innovation rarely exists in an isolated bubble. It must navigate existing structures, hierarchies, and competing priorities. While some leaders quickly embraced citizen development as a catalyst, others needed time to understand its value and adjust their perspectives.
This tension was not a setback but a reminder that transformation is as much about culture as it is about tools. Every initiative must find its place in an ecosystem shaped by people, processes, and governance. Success meant not only building apps or automating workflows, but also building bridges between business units, between levels of leadership, and between ambition and execution.
Looking back, that experience revealed important lessons about scale and sustainability. It taught me and leaders running similar programs in their Global Service Centers that every breakthrough comes with responsibility to manage perception, create trust, and continuously adapt. While programs evolve and organizations shift, the real impact lies in how people are empowered, how networks are strengthened, and how cultures of innovation become self-sustaining.
The story of citizen development at 3M GSCs was not defined by past experiences but by a journey uphill. The legacy was not from a single program, but a mindset that with the right mix of governance and trust, everyday employees can become creators of change. And in that sense, the journey was not only successful, it was transformative.
Intelligence in that context is not just about knowledge, but the ability to adapt, learn, and navigate complexity. Like climbing a tower step by step, professional and personal growth require resilience, curiosity, and the courage to embrace change. In a world where technology, people, and processes intersect, those who continuously learn, unlearn, and apply insights across contexts thrive. True intelligence is dynamic, it evolves through experience, reflection, and the persistent pursuit of meaningful transformation.