Scott Berkun, author of the Myths of Innovation gave a talk titled How Progress Happens: Leading the Human Side of Change at O'Reilly's Tools of Change conference in New York.
"Tools of Change" is a weird phrase to me. I thought of parking meters, arcades etc.
The focus on tools to make change happen is not really the secret. The secret has everything to do with the people.
American Revolution - 1976 ... there was no major technical revolution that year. They used tools that had been around for years.
(Everyone was then asked to change seats. Scott was stunned at how willing the group was.)
People resist change because
- It creates work
- It requires thinking
- We have to talk and listen to each other
- It raises questions we'd prefer to avoid
- It puts us at risk of embarrassment
Gutenberg Bible - It's held up as a triumphant moment. Truth is, he had no intention of starting a revolution. His entire goal was to make money. He created the opportunity, but the Renaissance was well underway at that point.
The tool doesn't tell you what to put in the book. A person has to do it.
What technology did Gandhi use? None. It was about people taking risk.
At work, people try to find the right thing to buy. That's the wrong place to start from.
No change is possible until someone stakes their reputation on doing something different.
The correlation is power. You should focus on the things that are possible with the power you have.
Example - Why do people stay in flood planes? It's because of their resistance to change.
(Worst possible band name - Status Quo)
Doing something because it was done before is not really a good way to live in the rational world.
The answer "it's never been done" has no bearing on the merits of the idea.
He has a list of idea killers on his blog. A great way to prepare to deliver new ideas to your company.
When things are unpleasant, you will be motivated to change.
If you want to make change happen, you need to find the people who are not happy. Those people are potential allies and there's energy for change.
Max Plank - Structure of Scientific Revolutions - Change happens when people with old ideas die not when they are convinced (paraphrase)
"Revolution", "paradigm shift" etc. are words from people who are full of crap. The people who know talk about the problem they're trying to solve.
Autocracy is a much more effective way to make immediate change happen. So if you're trying to change something at work, you need to determine how much power it will take to make the change happen.
Grass roots - origins with the Progressive party - Progressive party is now gone.
The idea of disseminating ideas is a great idea. The thing is change doesn't come until someone with power takes the idea to implement the idea.
It still depends on the choice of an individual with power to make something change.
TACTICS
How Progress Happens
- Power: What change can you mandate?
- Persuasion: Whose support can you earn?
- Intuition: what can you anticipate?
- Case Study: Chester Carlson & Xerox
Playbook for Individuals
(If you have a big idea, it's probably not a good plan to try to implement it all at once)
- Pilot (remember, your idea could suck)
- Show success (I should show this to a smart person and they might get)
- Find allies
- Ask for more resources, Stake reputation
- Report
- (coup!)
Entrepreneurship is a similar process
Playbook for Managers
- Pavlov lives (We do what we're rewarded for)
- Hire for change (Age & Philosophy)
- Accept some ideas you do not like
- Encouraging interesting failures
Only you can provide cover fire
Your job becomes not being the star, but creating an environment where the individual playbook can thrive
You have to think very carefully about your behavior as a manager to determine what you're rewarding people for.
Agenda
People make change not tools - People who are motivated and rewarded will make changes despite the tools they have
We fear change! - The sooner you figure out how to get around that in your org, the more your ideas will fly
Facts: Revolution, Power, Grass roots is only idea dissemination
Tactics: Pilot and Repeat, Cover fire
Only a manager can provide cover fire. It's the number one thing a manager can do
Q: How do you go about making up the difference between the power you have and the power you need?
A: The first word you should know is Machiavelli ... The 48 rules of power if your world is really bad, but if you have morals or a spine, you think about who your allies are.
Talk to the people with the ideas and find out whose power you can borrow ... Sometimes its about your network
A reasonable manager can accept that you have to drop something if they want you to something new.
As a good manager you should encourage push back from the people under you.
"Tools of Change" is a weird phrase to me. I thought of parking meters, arcades etc.
The focus on tools to make change happen is not really the secret. The secret has everything to do with the people.
American Revolution - 1976 ... there was no major technical revolution that year. They used tools that had been around for years.
(Everyone was then asked to change seats. Scott was stunned at how willing the group was.)
People resist change because
- It creates work
- It requires thinking
- We have to talk and listen to each other
- It raises questions we'd prefer to avoid
- It puts us at risk of embarrassment
Gutenberg Bible - It's held up as a triumphant moment. Truth is, he had no intention of starting a revolution. His entire goal was to make money. He created the opportunity, but the Renaissance was well underway at that point.
The tool doesn't tell you what to put in the book. A person has to do it.
What technology did Gandhi use? None. It was about people taking risk.
At work, people try to find the right thing to buy. That's the wrong place to start from.
No change is possible until someone stakes their reputation on doing something different.
The correlation is power. You should focus on the things that are possible with the power you have.
Example - Why do people stay in flood planes? It's because of their resistance to change.
(Worst possible band name - Status Quo)
Doing something because it was done before is not really a good way to live in the rational world.
The answer "it's never been done" has no bearing on the merits of the idea.
He has a list of idea killers on his blog. A great way to prepare to deliver new ideas to your company.
When things are unpleasant, you will be motivated to change.
If you want to make change happen, you need to find the people who are not happy. Those people are potential allies and there's energy for change.
Max Plank - Structure of Scientific Revolutions - Change happens when people with old ideas die not when they are convinced (paraphrase)
"Revolution", "paradigm shift" etc. are words from people who are full of crap. The people who know talk about the problem they're trying to solve.
Autocracy is a much more effective way to make immediate change happen. So if you're trying to change something at work, you need to determine how much power it will take to make the change happen.
Grass roots - origins with the Progressive party - Progressive party is now gone.
The idea of disseminating ideas is a great idea. The thing is change doesn't come until someone with power takes the idea to implement the idea.
It still depends on the choice of an individual with power to make something change.
TACTICS
How Progress Happens
- Power: What change can you mandate?
- Persuasion: Whose support can you earn?
- Intuition: what can you anticipate?
- Case Study: Chester Carlson & Xerox
Playbook for Individuals
(If you have a big idea, it's probably not a good plan to try to implement it all at once)
- Pilot (remember, your idea could suck)
- Show success (I should show this to a smart person and they might get)
- Find allies
- Ask for more resources, Stake reputation
- Report
- (coup!)
Entrepreneurship is a similar process
Playbook for Managers
- Pavlov lives (We do what we're rewarded for)
- Hire for change (Age & Philosophy)
- Accept some ideas you do not like
- Encouraging interesting failures
Only you can provide cover fire
Your job becomes not being the star, but creating an environment where the individual playbook can thrive
You have to think very carefully about your behavior as a manager to determine what you're rewarding people for.
Agenda
People make change not tools - People who are motivated and rewarded will make changes despite the tools they have
We fear change! - The sooner you figure out how to get around that in your org, the more your ideas will fly
Facts: Revolution, Power, Grass roots is only idea dissemination
Tactics: Pilot and Repeat, Cover fire
Only a manager can provide cover fire. It's the number one thing a manager can do
Q: How do you go about making up the difference between the power you have and the power you need?
A: The first word you should know is Machiavelli ... The 48 rules of power if your world is really bad, but if you have morals or a spine, you think about who your allies are.
Talk to the people with the ideas and find out whose power you can borrow ... Sometimes its about your network
A reasonable manager can accept that you have to drop something if they want you to something new.
As a good manager you should encourage push back from the people under you.
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