This week, I read Dr Liz Wilson 's article, “When did we start calling every change a transformation?”
What stayed with me was her attention to the workarounds people create: the extra spreadsheet, the unofficial process, the person everyone knows to call when something gets stuck.
Before trying to eliminate a workaround, she wants to understand what problem it solves. That made me pause.
The plan and the lived experience
I appreciate how generously Dr Liz approaches this. People can do thoughtful work designing a change, and the combined experience can still turn out differently than they intended.
Her example of someone trying to get their job done on a Tuesday afternoon brings that home. That person experiences the technology, process, information, expectations, and decision-making all at once. They do not experience separate project workstreams.
That prompted a question for me:
Who could help us see that everyday experience before we decide what needs to change?
Last week, I wrote about the wisdom already in the room. This week, I am thinking about whose wisdom we need to invite.
Give people something real to shape
I want us to bring people from different functions and levels into these conversations while there is still something meaningful to influence.
Depending on the change, that might include customers, suppliers, or partners who experience consequences we cannot see from inside the organization.
Start by asking about a time the work went well. What made it possible? What should we preserve? Where does unnecessary effort get in the way?
Those questions give people a place to begin beyond defending the old way or endorsing the new one.
I keep returning to a belief that guides my facilitation: people have more reason to care about a future when they can recognize their contribution in it.
Make it easier to tell the truth
An invitation alone does not tell us whether people feel free to speak honestly.
I want leaders to consider how their position, or the power others perceive, might affect what gets said.
Before your next planning conversation, try giving people a few minutes to write privately. Hear from those closest to the work before offering your own interpretation. Ask what the proposed change might make harder.
Then show people what their input changed.
For HR and L&D teams, I would bring those questions into workshops, listening sessions, and leadership coaching, while decisions are still open.
Dr Liz’s article reminded me to stay curious about what people are doing and why it makes sense to them.
Before we ask people to embrace a change, we can invite them to help make it workable.
Whose experience would help you see your next change more clearly?
— Dwight Spencer Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker, ICF-ACC, and Certified xchange Guide, Helping creative leaders beat imposter syndrome and lead visibly Host, Community and Becoming For the Love of Creatives Dallas, Texas dwight.authenticcreative.coach