How to be a secret change agent
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The document provides guidance for how to be an effective change agent within an organization. It discusses tools for understanding company culture and resistance to change, mapping political landscapes, building trust with others, and working on personal effectiveness. The key recommendations are to model desired behaviors, create a positive culture bubble, use early adopters to spread ideas, listen to understand other perspectives, celebrate small wins, and reflect regularly on progress.
![Culture is HARD
to Change
• “What these
[business] needs
require are changes
in behavior. But
“changing culture” is
not going to produce
them. Culture … is
singularly persistent.”
– Peter Drucker 1991](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/howtobeasecretchangeagent-131029213916-phpapp02/85/How-to-be-a-secret-change-agent-9-320.jpg)
How to be a secret change agent
- 1. How To Be A Secret Agent ^ change Chris Farrell Shawn Button Agile Tour Toronto 2013
- 3. “We believe that change can be instigated and led by anyone. Lack of power is no excuse for inactivity or for anticipating failure. In healthy companies people not only lead their peers but also lead their bosses, all without the official sanction to do so”
- 4. Tools • We are going to introduce you to a lot of tools that you can use to help effect change. • We are not going to tell you what changes you should make. • For more information on these tools see the links section at the end of this presentation or come speak to us.
- 5. Agenda • Introduction (you are here) • Fill in problem worksheets • Working With Your Company • Working With Others • Working On Yourself • References
- 6. Change Agent Worksheets Think of three problems that you see in your organization on a daily basis. Examples: Ineffective practices Micromanaging boss Introducing Scrum Improving Collaboration Making people aware of quality issues • • • • •
- 8. What is Culture? Culture is “how we do things around here”
- 9. Culture is HARD to Change • “What these [business] needs require are changes in behavior. But “changing culture” is not going to produce them. Culture … is singularly persistent.” – Peter Drucker 1991
- 10. You May Not See The Effects We are more influenced by company culture then we realize "Cucumbers get more pickled than brine gets cucumbered.” – Gerry Weinberg
- 11. Create a “Bubble” of Positive Culture • Protect those under and around you from the negative influences of the larger company culture • Create adapters to the rest of the company • Teach/demonstrate to those around you this new way of working
- 12. Be aware that your culture bubble is fragile.
- 13. Make Connections Build bridges between those who've accepted the new idea and those who have not Use people who are connectors. Those who seem to have many connections with many others in the organization
- 14. Change is War? “The innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new” - Machiavelli
- 15. Change is War? (It’s just a metaphor, but a handy way of looking at it) Be strategic. Look for the highest value targets to start. There are lots of fronts. Pick one. Figure out where to put your limited time for best benefit
- 16. Battlefield Maps Make a drawing of all of the involved people IT Director VP Product Identify: Compliance Program Mgr. USM • Allies • Supporters CIO QA Manager UPO • Threats • Enemies PO SM Assess Levels of Influence: • Direct Influencers • Indirect Influencers Evolve the Map: Team As you know more As things change © 2009 BigVisible Used with permission http://www.bigvisible.com/2009/08/agile2009-battlemapping/ Config Mgmt.
- 17. Make a Battlefield Map Make a drawing of your workplace IT Director VP Product Identify: Compliance Program Mgr. USM • Allies • Supporters CIO QA Manager UPO • Threats • Enemies PO SM Assess Levels of Influence: • Direct Influencers • Indirect Influencers Evolve the Map: Team As you know more As things change © 2009 BigVisible Used with permission http://www.bigvisible.com/2009/08/agile2009-battlemapping/ Config Mgmt.
- 19. Changing Others Immediately get nervous when you hear people saying that they want to “change others.” Change has to be a collaboration between you and those changing
- 20. Understand Others’ Context There is always a reason for a person’s behaviour A resistor is often someone who is misinformed or who stands to lose with your change. Try to understand a resistor’s context. You have to figure out what drives them in order to help them see your side.
- 21. Adoption Profiles • Be aware of what type you a person you're talking to • You should focus on those types of people who will accept your message and use them to spread the change • Take advantage of the Innovators and Early Adopters
- 22. Finding Early Adopters How do you identify early adopters? Run experiments! Plant seeds and see what grows. • • • • • Study groups Lunch and learns Lean Coffees Coding Dojos Conferences Those that come are innovators or early adopters!
- 23. Change Fatigue People have different tolerances for change. They will resist your change if this tolerance is exceeded. Give them the space and time they need. Conserve your energy and combat frustration. People are better at coping with change if they have a hand in creating it.
- 24. Communication is Key Most of what you will be doing as a change agent relies on good communication skills. • Powerful questions • Learning to Listen
- 25. Powerful Questions Open-ended, provocative questions designed to invite the other person to clarity, action, and discovery. Examples: What is an example? What is possible? How do you feel about it? What is missing? • • • •
- 26. Learn to Really Listen “Listening is the willingness to change” - Dave Pasquesi (via Todd Charon) • Truly listen • Tune in to non-verbal • communication Instead of “but” try saying “yes and”
- 27. External Validation • People want assurance • • an idea has validity outside the organization. Send out links to blog posts, presentations, conferences, etc. Arrange for people to spend time with big jolt visitors.
- 30. Model the Behaviour “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do.” – Ghandi
- 31. Building Trust • In order to get people to accept your changes they need to trust you. • Two ways to build trust: o Show Vulnerability o Create Connections
- 32. Show Vulnerability • Admit when you don’t know • • • something Suppress your ego Admit your weakness and ignorance Own your mistakes This creates authenticity and builds trust.
- 33. Create Connections • Be empathetic • Take a personal interest • • in people Give genuine recognition and praise Be a Mentor
- 34. Seek help • Do not be afraid to ask for help o Boss, co-worker, outside people o Pair with others whenever possible • Get a mentor or coach
- 35. Reflection Make time for reflection. At regular intervals to evaluate what is working well and what should be done differently. This is key to improvement.
- 36. Celebrate Success Being a change agent can be very very very frustrating. Celebrate even the small things along the way, instead of being overwhelmed with all the challenges.
- 37. Personal Effectiveness Change is hard work. Here are some tools you can use to help. • Step by step • Personal kanban • Pomodoro Technique
- 38. Step-by-step Do things in small manageable increments “Great things are not done by impulse but by a series of small things brought together” – Van Gogh Helps with frustration. Helps you quickly prove to others it will work.
- 39. Personal Kanban
- 41. “Remember how powerful you are. Never forget the power of the individual to make a difference. Enroll people in that possibility, and change the world, change a community, change your family, change yourself” - Jimmy Carter
- 42. Exercise #3 Vulnerability Challenge Everyone think of a memorable story about themselves If you are comfortable take turns sharing with your group
- 43. Resources
- 44. Learn Models “All models are wrong, but some are useful” George E. P. Box - • Learn models: ADKAR, Fogg Behaviour Model, Kotter Change Model, Schneider Culture Model, BEGIN Empowerment Model, Cynefin Complexity Model, and others
- 50. How To Be A Secret Agent ^ change Chris Farrell Shawn Button Agile Tour Toronto 2013
- 51. Links Battlefield Maps: http://www.bigvisible.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/agile2009mapping-the-change-battlefield1.pdf Lean Coffee: http://limitedwipsociety.ning.com/page/lean-coffee Coding Dojos: http://codingdojo.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WhatIsCodingDojo The Pomodoro Technique: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/the-pomodoro-technique-is-it-right-for-you.html Powerful Questions: http://www.thecoaches.com/docs/resources/toolkit/pdfs/31-Powerful-Questions.pdf Active Listening: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_listening Personal Kanban: http://www.personalkanban.com/pk/personal-kanban-101