In Ecclesiastes. Solomon said, And there is nothing new under the sun.” I’m reminded of that often, when I find something novel and then find it restated somewhere else, slightly differently, later. Yet, in the midst of “nothing new,” there can be different and better. Different in the sense of new ways of combining old […]
And there is nothing new under the sun Read More »
If diverse candidates are water and your organization is piping and you find yourself with leaks (e.g., retention problems), what should you do? If you found a leak like this in your home’s plumbing, what would you do? You would try to fix the piping. You wouldn’t try to thicken the water. So, why are
Stop Trying to Fix the Water – Fix the Piping Instead Read More »
For Lukasz, Niels, Clifford, and Ray, and more, I offer this quote from “The Rickover Effect,” Traditionally, the professional man follows certain tacit or explicit rules of conduct which vary in detail vary in detail as between different professions. Basic to all of them, however, are two rules: first, the obligation to reject lay direction
Are you a professional? Read More »
It’s been an honor to participate in the Agile by Example conference in Warsaw, Poland. Thanks to Piotr Burdylo and Lukasz Szostek and more for putting on a fantastic conference. On Monday I had the great privilege to attend a dojo session offered by Niels Malotaux. Results Management and Evo Planning are topics that all
Agile by Example 2015 #abe15 Read More »
This week has been a long line of reminders of a lesson you think I would have learned by now: You really only learn something by doing something. Thinking, “I should do….” is not enough. You actually have to try to do…experience it…get lost in it…make it through. Then, you’ve learned something. I don’t know
70 % of all transformation initiatives are significantly challenged or fail altogether. One of the main reasons is that an Agile tranformation consists of two parts: process transformation and people transformation and many organizations overlook the second part.”— John Kotter, author of Leading Change This quote appeared in an email I received earlier this week
Circumnavigation for Transformation Read More »
There’s a myth in organizations that the org chart can hold the total of the work that the organization performs. It’s a persistent myth and it’s lack of truth seems to have no effect on its power. Why? My conclusion is that the myth is self-sealing, in the sense that the lack of value in
The Space Between the Boxes Read More »
One of my key learning takeaways from yesterday’s meeting with Dr. Edgar Schein is that all change agents must be disciplined enough to wait until they have permission from the other person, who Schein call the client, before you offer your recommendations. Help without permission isn’t help. It’s…abuse might be too strong a word…relationship wear…it
Permission to Recommend Read More »
1. What are you going to do? 2. Who are you going to tell you did it? 3. How can they join you and do it too? Answer those questions, act, and you just might change the world. Why not try? Thanks to Max Ebnother for the great conversation that prompted me to distill these
A Change Agent’s 3 Questions Read More »
My new role in a global company is already teaching me new lessons. Today’s important lesson is that supporting a global organization requires schedule flexibility. I was on a call this morning at 6 AM to support a group in Eastern Europe. I was on a call late tonight at 9 PM to support a group
Driving Change Globally Read More »
