Change by Attraction

Power is ever present in organizations--and in change. Most change efforts rely on power over--the sorts of power that involve directives and rewards, and some times threats. But you'll get better results using power with. In this episode I'll talk about the sort of power most commonly used in organizations--and why you might not want to use them to accomplish change.
If you want to learn more, you read Raven and French's seminal paper, The Bases of Social Power.

I've lived with five different dogs in my life, and each one has taught me something valuable--including lessons about organizational change.

In this episode I'll share the story of how I imposed a change on my dog...and how her responses mirrored those I see in top down change in organizations.

How do you create an environment for great work? Where healthy self-organization happens? You notice and shape patterns. Patterns are meaningful events that repeat over time—actions and interactions, outcomes and results. That might be teams that flail and fail to deliver results. It might be conflicts that happen over and over. Or people waiting to be told what to do.
But how do you influence those patterns? Training isn’t usually enough. You have to influence the system—attending to Clarity, Conditions, and Constraints.
Download the Managing Complexity Self-Directed Assessment here: https://academy.estherderby.com/pl/2147504104

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When making a change or fixing a problem, most companies consider the outcome they want to achieve—what will be different—and how they’ll measure that. But outcomes can take a long time. In the meanwhile, how do you know things are going the way you hoped? How do you make adjustments if needed? That’s where steering signals come in. Interim measures and subtle signs that help you find the way.

I realized early in my career, that even when my job was writing code, it still involved change. The programs I wrote changed the way people did their jobs, and sometimes how they felt about their jobs.

Four pain points in organizational change:

People may not want to change. This is often called resistance.... but it can be a resource.

Nothing really changes, in spite of extensive (and expensive) training and coaching. Deep change requires looking beneath the surface to "see" underlying structures and factors that hold the pattern in place.

One size fits none, and everyone wants an exception. It isn't possible to anticipate (or accommodate) every context and every variation. One size may fit some, but may be a mess in other parts of the organization..

People rely on positional power and persuasion. Systems influence behavior, but it takes humans to change systems. In this part, we'll explore how to build a network of influencers and find support.

My most recent book: 7 Rules for Positive Productive Change: Micro Shifts, Macro Results. Available on Amazon.com or where ever books are sold.

My website: estherderby.com.