Following the Energy of Change
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Photo by sanpani
Ever been surprised by how quickly and easily a group adopts change? What makes it happen?
I’ve seen a team modify how they plan a sprint on my first day with them, had a team embrace adopting Scrum the third day I worked with them, and watched a group of nearly 75 people self-organize into teams after planting the idea only a few weeks earlier. The “magic” behind those rapid changes comes from two ingredients:
- People had time to think about the change. That thinking goes all the back to the moment someone considers bringing an agile coach into the organization. Thoughts of how a coach may help creates hope for change. That hope spreads—others begin thinking and dreaming about what changes may be possible. My arrival is the catalyst for change to become real
- People shape and participate in the change. I don’t walk into a new engagement with a change plan clearly mapped out. Change is created through dialogue with the people who will participate in the change. Listening to people’s ideas, treating them as partners, and giving them choice are powerful—people get enrolled in change when they are respected.
If we learn to follow people’s energy and excitement, change can be so much easier. It’s easier to be with them as they try on change, and it’s easier for them to move into something new. While it’s rarely a single leap into the new, saying that organizational change is hard hurts our chances for successful change.
There can be a dance in change—from familiar to emerging. Agile coaching is about being a good “dance partner” to provide safety to those involved in change.
Lyssa Adkins and David Darst explain Edge Theory of Change
