Patterns
Patterns Aren’t Created, They Are Revealed
We don’t own patterns, yet we are all responsible for them.
Some of us might be fortunate enough to be the first to observe and document a pattern, but we didn’t invent it, we uncovered it. Adjusting to the unfamiliar has been part of the human experience since the beginning of time. Any change-related pattern we use was in play long before any of us started practicing this craft. And even though some of us have fashioned our own particular way of articulating transition dynamics (nomenclature, principles, guidelines, axioms) the basic patterns can’t be commandeered by any of us.
So, we can’t take credit for conceiving the patterns of change, but because we did discover them, we have a responsibility more
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©2010 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
Five Lenses for Viewing Patterns of Change (cont’d)
In my last post, I shared three of the lenses I use to observe the patterns (mindset and behaviors) that I pay attention to:
- The importance placed on matching change challenges with the appropriate commitment
- The importance placed on the intent of the change
- The importance placed on sponsors
Now, I’ll continue with the last two lenses: more
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©2010 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
Five Lenses for Viewing Patterns of Change
We’ve been talking about lenses that practitioners can use to identify patterns, and to help sponsors deal with change. I’m sure there are lenses you pay most attention to, and I encourage you to share them here. I’ll tell you about five I often rely on:
- The importance placed on matching challenge and commitment to change
- The importance placed on the intent of the change
- The importance placed on sponsors
- The importance leaders place on agents
- Leaders’ understanding of the nature of organizational change success
Each of these lenses reveals a series of mindset and behavior patterns.
Here are a few representative examples of the success mindset patterns more
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©2010 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
Use Mindset and Behavior Patterns to Your Advantage
(2) Comments
Once you understand that a specific mindset and its associated behaviors can either facilitate or impede success, you have a level of insight that can be truly invaluable to a sponsor who is less familiar with these kinds of change dynamics.
Mindsets are made up of frames of reference (the ways individuals make sense of situations) that lead to the formation of priorities (the relative importance of various options). Shared mindsets within an organization serve as the foundations of culture and ultimately lead to common patterns of behavior.
Successful change requires a specific mindset that is shared among key players as they perform their respective roles. This “success mindset” reflects the more
ChangeThinking.net
©2010 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
Patterns: Order Beneath the Confusion
(1) Comment“What we call chaos is just patterns we haven’t recognized. What we call random is just patterns we can’t decipher. What we can’t understand we call nonsense. What we can’t read we call gibberish.” ~Chuck Palahniuk
How do we make sense out of the often extremely complicated and confusing dynamics that influence the outcomes of our change initiatives? And once we understand what’s going on, how do we help our sponsors (and, of course, agents and targets) grasp what is unfolding and choose the best course of action, given the present circumstances?
We could use simplistic explanations, but those don’t describe the depth of the situation. Too often, we get lost in the convoluted intricacies of the change and offer help that is more baffling than enlightening. Instead, what we must find, more
ChangeThinking.net
©2010 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
