More Organizational Change Patterns
I want to continue sharing the patterns from Fearless Change in this post. The following are just a sample of the patterns that I've cherry picked a bit to give you more of the flavor.
Enjoy!
| Theme – Early | |
| Pattern Name | Summary |
| Ask for Help | Since introducing change requires lots of effort, look for people and resources that can help you. Then ask! |
| Do Food | Entice participation and food always works. |
| Early Adopter | Win the support of the people with an inclination to trying and accepting new ideas. |
| Next Steps | Take the time at the end of an event about the new idea to identify what participants can do next. |
| Piggyback | When faced with several obstacles in your strategy to introduce something new, look for ways to piggyback on a practice in your organization. |
| The Right Time | Always consider the timing when asking for help or scheduling events. |
| Theme – Later | |
| Pattern Name | Summary |
| Big Jolt | To provide more visibility for the change effort, invite a high profile person into the organization to talk about the idea. |
| Dedicated Champion | Make ownership and momentum for the idea part of your (or another's) job description so you have the time. |
| Just Enough | Ease early adopters and majority into the idea. Give them an introduction and then more information / training as they need it. |
| Mentor | When a project wants to try the new idea, insure there is a mentor available to help them be successful. |
| Shoulder to Cry On | Change is hard. If you get discouraged, find a others in your situation to buoy your spirits. |
| Token | Find and distribute tokens that help represent and keep the idea alive. Distribute them everywhere. |
| Theme – Resistance | |
| Pattern Name | Summary |
| Bridge-Builder |
Pair those who've accepted the idea with those who haven't. |
| Champion Skeptic | Find a strong opinion leader who is skeptical of the idea to play the role of "official skeptic". Use their comments to improve your effort, even without winning them over. |
| Corridor Politics | Informally work on decision-makers before a vote to make sure they fully understand the consequences of the decision. |
| Fear Less | Turn resistance to the idea to your advantage. |
| Trial Run | When the organization isn't willing to commit, suggest they experiment with it for a short time and study the results. |
| Whisper in the General's Ear | Sometimes managers are hard to convince in a group setting, so try private discussion. |
There are many more change patterns, but this small set should give you a sense for the tools and ideas for making change happen.
Patterns Lead to Strategy
The pattern language leads into your overall strategy. One of the techniques that I like to use for analyzing resistance and then crafting a overall change strategy is a Force Field Analysis. In FFA you simply place your idea in the middle of a whiteboard. Then you brainstorm the forces that are driving the change. This would usually include problems that the change is intended to improve or resolve. The champions of the idea would be a driver as well.
On the other side of the idea you list all of the resistors. This would include processes, people, costs, time, virtually anything that would slow are stop the introduction of the idea. Then you rank or prioritize all of the driving and resisting forces in level of impact to the idea.
By brainstorming, listing and ranking, you start pulling together your change strategy for driving the change, with patterns serving as your tactical building blocks.
Here is a link to an FFA worksheet that you can use.
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