How Do You Change?

I’ve been working with people who want to transition to agile. They read about it. They hear stories about. They realize the benefits if it. But they haven’t yet done the hard work of actually transitioning.

When I arrive on site, ask a few questions, meet with their management team, inevitably there’s this question: “should we go ‘all in’?” “All in” means take the organization and make the leap to agile all at once, not changing in an agile way, iteratively and incrementally, looking for feedback along the way.

I ask them this question, “When and what was the last big change you had?”

If the organization is accustomed to changing–and agile is a huge cultural change for the project teams and management–then maybe “all in” is possible. I’m not a fan of “all in” but it’s possible.

But more often, these nice people tell me they haven’t changed anything in way too long. They are unaccustomed to change. In that case, I recommend against “all in” and suggest an agile approach to transitioning to agile. Try a little something, get some feedback, evaluate it, repeat.

Many people change in chunks, just like that. They need to practice to really integrate the change. I do.

Oh, I can read about things and think I know them, but until I practice them, I don’t really know them. And the bigger the change, the more practice I need.

Most people are like me. Not all. Some people grasp brand new ideas and boom, they implement them. I can do that with recipes. I suspect because they are written down and I have practiced following new recipes.

When you think about change, think about what it will take for you to be successful. Think about the rest of your organization also.

Learn More About Successful Change with Change Artistry 2013

A Change Artist is someone whose presence improves everyone’s chance of making a positive change. Would you like to improve your change artistry skills? You have an opportunity to join Esther Derby, Don Gray, Jerry Weinberg, and me at Change Artistry 2013, September 23-27, 2013 in Albuquerque, NM.

Please join us.

Announcements and Where Johanna is Speaking

If you’ve been waiting for the print version of Hiring Geeks That Fit, your wait is almost over. The book is at the indexer, so the answer is soon, now.

I’ll be at Überconf, July 16 – 19, 2013, in Westminster, CO.

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Johanna
copyright 2013 Johanna Rothman