December 2010

Since beginning this blog in November of 2009, I have published 19 series on topics of interest to experienced change practitioners. I thought it might be helpful to post a high-level summary of each topic in this time frame, to help you find what you need. The links below will take you to the first post in each series. That post links to the second, and so on. I am planning much more for 2011—interviews, new downloads, links to my favorite books and blogs, and, of course, many more posts designed to help you raise the level of your game. Stay tuned!

1. Why Change Thinking? (2 posts)

Determine whether this blog is right for you; when all you have isn’t enough; my pledge to you

2. How Difficult Is Your Change Initiative? (5 posts, 1 download)

Asking the right questions to determine how much change is expected, the initiative’s desired results, and how crucial the project is; assessing a project’s degree of difficulty; getting help for a project in crisis

3. Sponsorship (4 posts)

The essential characteristics of a good sponsor; types of sponsor relationships; helping the sponsor be more effective; confronting a sponsor;

4. Agents (1 post, 1 download)

Characteristics of successful change agents; how agents can help sponsors; top agent challenges and how to deal with them; identifying and developing change agents

5. Resilience (4 posts)

The need to be exemplars for the people we serve; five aspects of resilience; determining your level of resilience; developing resilience in teams and organizations

6. How Sponsors & Agents Work Together (4 posts)

The key change roles; the importance of rapport; partner vs. vendor; principles for setting expectations; building relationships with sponsors; addressing relationship issues

7. The Trusted Advisor (4 posts)

The influence of a change agent; characteristics of a trusted advisor; building a trusted advisor relationship

8. Confessions of a Methodology Bigot (5 posts)

Zeal is good—to a point; methodology bigots have a pattern of behavior; pigheadedness is not a virtue; the ups and downs of the true believer; taking your medicine whether you feel sick or not

9. Patterns (5 posts)

The order beneath the confusion; using mindset and behavior patterns to your advantage; five lenses for viewing patterns of change; patterns are still emerging; pooling our efforts

10. Getting Unstuck (2 posts)

Recognizing and addressing blockages; paying attention to patterns, intervening;

11. Guest Interview: Peter de Jager (1 post)

Peter has been in the change business for a long time and offers some wonderful perspectives on our craft. Our conversation ranges from why he thinks people don’t automatically resist change, to why everybody picks on change agents.

12. Is It Art or Is It Science? (4 posts)

The logical side of change; using creativity and intuition; finding a balance between the two; expect a shifting emphasis

13. Guest Interview: Rick Maurer (1 post)

Rick is the author of several books, including Beyond the Wall of Resistance, and I have been following his work for some time. In the interview, I ask Rick for his opinion about the high (70%) failure rate of change initiatives, and he talks about the three areas he thinks contribute to the dismal statistic. Rick also discusses resistance to change, which he classifies into three types, “I don’t get it,” I don’t like it,” and “I don’t like you.”

14. Intent (4 posts)

The importance of developing a complete, concise, understandable, and compelling statement of intent; managing the intent process; recognizing symptoms of intent mismanagement; using an intent architect

15. The “WHY” of Our Work (3 posts)

Why it is so important to be in the change business; defining “changes that matter”; change facilitation as a “calling”

16. Guest Interview: Linda Ackerman Anderson (1 post)

Linda is co-founder of Being First, a change leadership and transformational change consulting and training firm, and co-author of two books: Beyond Change Management: How to Achieve Breakthrough Results through Conscious Change Leadership and The Change Leader’s Roadmap: How to Navigate Your Organization’s Transformation.

Linda gives her perspective on conscious change leadership, shares five strategic change disciplines that build lasting and masterful change capability in our organizations, and provides a thought-provoking alternative to the label “change management professional.”

17. Capacity and Demand (4 posts)

Attending to the effects of future shock: resistance, results, encroachment, and credibility; the mental, emotional, and physical energy required to change; the difference between capacity and resources; operating in The Zone; calculating change demand and measuring remaining capacity; the mechanics of the actual capacity management process and how it can be used to balance the demands of change with the capacity that remains

18. Structured Flexibility (2 posts, 1 download)

Giving people breathing room to tailor the concepts, techniques, and processes to address the unique variables in their situations; a process that allows people and organizations to adapt to shifting circumstances

19. The Nimble Organization (4 posts)

Characteristics of “constrained” vs. “nimble” organizations; use future shock to foster agility during a change initiative