how to be a secret change agent
DESCRIPTION
Agile Tour Toronto 2013 presentation. Do you see changes that you want to make at work, but aren't empowered to make them? We present tips and tricks for working on your company, with other people and on yourself.TRANSCRIPT
How To Be A Secret Agent
Chris Farrell
Shawn Button Agile Tour Toronto 2013
change ^
“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”
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.
Agenda
• Introduction (you are here) • Fill in problem worksheets • Working With Your Company • Working With Others • Working On Yourself • References
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
Working With Your Company
What is Culture? Culture is “how we do things around here”
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
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
Create a “Bubble” of Positive Culture
• Protect those under and around you from the negative influences of the larger company culture
• Teach/demonstrate to those around you this new way of working
• Create adapters to the rest of the company
Be aware that your culture bubble is fragile.
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
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
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
Battlefield Maps
Identify:
Assess Levels of Influence:
© 2009 BigVisible Used with permission http://www.bigvisible.com/2009/08/agile2009-battlemapping/
Make a drawing of all of the involved people
Team
VP Product Compliance
QA Manager
Config Mgmt.
Program Mgr.
UPO
USM
PO SM
• Allies
• Supporters
• Threats
• Enemies
IT Director
• Direct Influencers
• Indirect Influencers
Evolve the Map:
As you know more
As things change
CIO
Make a Battlefield Map
Identify:
Assess Levels of Influence:
© 2009 BigVisible Used with permission http://www.bigvisible.com/2009/08/agile2009-battlemapping/
Make a drawing of your workplace
Team
VP Product Compliance
QA Manager
Config Mgmt.
Program Mgr.
UPO
USM
PO SM
• Allies
• Supporters
• Threats
• Enemies
IT Director
• Direct Influencers
• Indirect Influencers
Evolve the Map:
As you know more
As things change
CIO
Working With
Others
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
Understand Others’ Context There is always a reason for a person’s behaviour
Try to understand a resistor’s context. You have to figure out what drives them in order to help them see your side.
A resistor is often someone who is misinformed or who stands to lose with your change.
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
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!
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.
Communication is Key Most of what you will be doing as a change agent relies on good communication skills. • Powerful questions • Learning to Listen
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?
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”
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.
Exercise #2 Listening
Working On
Yourself
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
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
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.
Create Connections • Be empathetic • Take a personal interest
in people • Give genuine recognition
and praise • Be a Mentor
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
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.
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.
Personal Effectiveness Change is hard work. Here are some tools you can use to help. • Step by step • Personal kanban • Pomodoro
Technique
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.
Personal Kanban
The Pomodoro Technique
“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
Exercise #3 Vulnerability Challenge
Everyone think of a memorable story about themselves If you are comfortable take turns sharing with your group
Resources
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
How To Be A Secret Agent
Chris Farrell
Shawn Button Agile Tour Toronto 2013
change ^
Links Battlefield Maps: http://www.bigvisible.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/agile2009-mapping-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