Guest Interview—Dean Anderson
I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with Dean Anderson, a thought leader in the field of organization transformation. I have known Dean for more than 20 years, and greatly respect his work. His unique understanding of mindset, culture, and process gives him a deep strategic perspective, but he also has a depth and strength of character that very few people in the industry offer.
Dean’s current passion is helping senior executives become more “co-creative,” and less “command and control” so they can lead and build co-creative organizations. He is currently writing a book on co-creating and personal transformation.
Dean and his wife and partner, Linda Ackerman Anderson, are two of the pioneers of change management. They co-founded Being First, a leader development and transformational change consulting firm in Durango, Colorado. Their books, Beyond Change Management and The Change Leader’s Roadmap, are key resources for practitioners.
In our first segment, Dean describes the components of transformational change, and how he helps clients identify the type of change they’re dealing with and, in the case of transformational change, commit to breakthrough results that will achieve something extraordinary. more
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©2011 Conner Partners, Inc.
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How to Make Shift Happen
In this series, we’ve been exploring the evolution of organizational paradigms. In my last post, I talked about the collapse/renewal phase, the place where either shift “happens” or it “hits the fan.” Here, I’ll pick up with an exploration of what is involved when orchestrating a new paradigm. It requires a four-part approach involving leadership, a learning environment, a new culture, and resilience.
Strong Leadership Is Imperative
Existing paradigms are typically not dissolved by consensus nor by insiders. Usually a single, determined individual or small group with the power to sanction dramatic change throughout an organization concludes that more
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©2011 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
The Intent Architect—Guardian of Outcomes
To avoid the symptoms of intent mismanagement (see my last post) and keep the intent’s line of sight in place (clarity, expression, and integrity), critically important initiatives must be supported by an intent architect.
The intent architect is responsible for helping the initiating sponsor maintain the integrity of the intent as the transformation is executed. He or she is the guardian of the desired end state. The role includes facilitating intent clarity with the leadership team, helping to communicate it to others, and interpreting it for the various individuals and groups involved in implementation, as well as for the leadership team itself. more
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©2010 Conner Partners, Inc.
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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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Ways Change Agents Can Help Sponsors
As I wrote in my last post, even sponsors with lots of experience leading difficult transitions need the help of skilled change practitioners.
Sponsors are most effective when we help them:
Have a clear definition of the change. Effective sponsors must see the desired state clearly and understand the overall intent.
Recognize and express their dissatisfaction with the present state. Successful sponsors need to be keenly aware that the organization cannot afford to fail at the change; they have to be tenacious about fully realizing the initiative’s objectives and communicate effectively to the organization. more
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©2010 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
How to Spot (and Help) a Good Sponsor
In the last two posts, we’ve examined things about sponsorship that many of us believe to be true. We’re also looking into why we sometimes stray from these axioms when we design interventions and/or interact with sponsors.
In my work, I’ve found that the most effective sponsors display a common set of characteristics. Of course, they’re expressed differently depending on the organization, the circumstances, and the personality of the sponsor, but in general, highly successful sponsors are purposeful, attentive, committed, decisive, and resolute. I’ll break these down into very specific statements and actions. more
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©2009 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
The Change Practitioner’s Role in Encouraging the Right Kind of Due Diligence (Part 4 of 5)
I hope this blog provides all its readers with a vehicle for sharing not only ideas but tools and techniques as well. At Conner Partners, we use an assessment tool to help us evaluate the overall challenge an organization is likely to encounter when implementing a particular initiative. It focuses on the three dimensions I have been writing about: more
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©2009 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
Assessing Your Initiative’s Degree of Difficulty (Part 3 of 5)
One of the ways agents can bolster their credibility with sponsors is by not coming across as eager to apply implementation assistance to every initiative that surfaces. This can be accomplished by encouraging sponsors to engage in a Degree of Difficulty assessment and discussion that we as agents help facilitate.
A change is difficult when it falls somewhere between easy and impossible. The “difficulty criteria” is clear (How much change is involved, the desired result, and how crucial it is to succeed). However, determining if a particular project is “in crisis” is not a cut-and-dried calculation. more
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©2009 Conner Partners, Inc.
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Exploring a Project’s “Degree of Difficulty” (Part 2 of 5)
(1) CommentThree key factors—How much change? What’s the desired result? How crucial is it to succeed?—help determine a change initiative’s Degree of Difficulty. Let’s look at these in detail.
DETERMINING HOW MUCH CHANGE IS EXPECTED
Projects of a continuous improvement nature (dealing with incremental change) have an important place within organizations. Without Six Sigma and other such methodologies to keep a constant vigilance on quality enhancement opportunities, organizations would never harvest the full potential from their processes and procedures.
Transformational change, on the other hand, dramatically alters the course of current actions. more
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©2009 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
Just How Difficult Is Your Change Initiative? (Part 1 of 5)
(1) CommentCredibility gaps often exist between us as change practitioners and our sponsors. Many factors contribute to these gaps, and I’ll explore several in a future post. Here, I’d like to focus on a common one: Many sponsors see us as indiscriminate when suggesting they allocate significant amounts of time and attention to implementing change initiatives. They believe we think ALL initiatives are critical and in need of our skills.
Let’s not argue about whether this indictment is justified, or whether you personally would ever create such an impression. My point is, too many sponsors hold this view about too many of us change practitioners and as a result, they see us as tactical players (have hammer, looking for nail) rather than as trusted advisors capable of determining when implementation assistance is genuinely called for. more
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©2009 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
