WHY CALLS FOR CHANGE DON’T WORK

- A challenge by @NeilDenny

Change in 2014?

First a look back at 2013

NEVER GOT

GOING/SIMPLYSTALLED

Never got going• Black hole debates that crush ideas• Deferential to existing authority or practices• Inbuilt structures ensure inertia• Committees/`Sign off’/Evidence based• Reactive devaluation• Change is not your responsibility• Overwhelm

Never got going• “Everything we need is right here.”• Ostracise innovators• Inexperience/Past failures/Non compliance• Defensiveness• Invalidate criticism – “Okay, so what is the

answer then?”• Stories and scars – institutionalised and

individual

The change simulacrum

[ ]sim-u-la-crum n Something that replaces reality with its representation

The change simulacrum

[ ]Con-fer-ence-s q.

Stalled• Ground down by the grind• The flight to health • Re-assimilation – “It’s not so different.”• The Ghettoed Innovation – “What? That? Oh,

that’s Neil’s thing.”• Premature resolution – “What it is, right…”

Stalled• Previously granted authority is withdrawn or

becomes ambiguous or illusory• We are trying to implement change at wrong

level – individual, team or organisation• Sabotage – intentional and unintentional• Obfuscation inc Recurrent objections• Failure to acknowledge interests and loss

Condemning criticism

Condemning criticism

We condone mediocrity and

make excuses for each other’s non-

compliance

While a majority of firms will vote to

proclaim standards, they will usually not

vote to enforce them

David Maister, Strategy and the Fat Smoker

Case study?

distress

t i m e

Adapted from Ronald Heifetz’ The Practice of Adaptive Leadership

distress

t i m e

X

Adapted from Ronald Heifetz’ The Practice of Adaptive Leadership

distress

t i m e

X

Adapted from Ronald Heifetz’ The Practice of Adaptive Leadership

distress

t i m e

X

Alleviate distress• Refer to authority• Quick fix – technical solution• Work avoidance including • scapegoating• minimising challenge• flight to health• proxy conflicts

Adapted from Ronald Heifetz’ The Practice of Adaptive Leadership

distress

t i m e

XMaintain productive levels of distress

Adapted from Ronald Heifetz’ The Practice of Adaptive Leadership

distress

t i m e

X

Adapted from Ronald Heifetz’ The Practice of Adaptive Leadership

distress

t i m e

X

Adapted from Ronald Heifetz’ The Practice of Adaptive Leadership

Change to survive Change to thrive

Technical Adaptive

Preserve status quo Ongoing disruption

Responsibility is deferred to others through granting of authority

Responsibility is handed back to the constituents themselves

Change as little as possible

“Move fast and break things” -Mark ZuckerbergRinse. Repeat.

Change competencies?Make difficult questions the habit

-to ask and to be asked!• Stretches tolerance for distress• Leads us into conflicted spaces• Disrupts aversion tactics• Redistributes responsibility back to

constituents

Change competencies?

• Encourage dissenting voices – “The canaries in the coalmine” (Ronald Heifetz)

• Put the freaks up front – learn to love your mavericks

• Shift from individualistic to systemic thinking• Reflective practice

3 ideas• Embrace `Not knowing’ as a fertile playground• Deliberately search out complexity and

resistance • Develop iterative change processes

OBSERVE

INTERPRETEXPERIMENT

www.theleagueofnotknowing.com

Neil doesn’t pretend to

have all the answers (or any of them necessarily)

He challenges me to be

more creative and take

greater risks with my own

vulnerabilities

t: 07815 727693e: neildenny@allLD.co.uk

Twitter @neildennywww.allLD.co.uk