Change is Hard
Full disclosure, I am an 'agent of change'. A large part of my role at Chef Software Inc. is about change. Helping people to recognize when it needs to happen, when it has happened, and how to evaluate the merit of proposed change. Now that you know what I do for a living, I want you to know this as well; Change is hard. Super hard.
I have literally been around the world in the last 3 weeks and in every company that I've visited, change was on the menu. CIOs and CTO driving org change, Sys-admins driving tool change, Agile coaches and Scrum masters advocating for process change, software engineers, HR professionals and Product Owners, everyone 'driving' someone else to change. And to every person I meet I say the same thing; 'Change is hard, so don't be a $!&% about it.' Maybe a nicer, more polite way to express the sentiment is this, 'Asking someone change, even when it is in their best interest, means asking someone to accept that they are not good enough in some way.' Think about it, how much do any of us enjoy being told we are not doing enough, not enough in whatever way? Sure, we want to improve, to grow, and to learn. But we also want to be accepted, liked, respected, and loved.
It is very easy to mistake systemic problems for people problems. Very, very easy. Common cause variation is so easy to mistake for special cause that we built a temple and founded a cult around it. In the common tongue the cult is called performance management.
I have some solid advice for the would be change agents; Before you launch your next change effort, meditate on this: People are intelligent, capable, and whole. The systems in which they operate often are not. Let this be your morning reflection, your daily mantra, your mission statement, and your personal brand identity. Let the truth of it envelope you like a +10 Cloak of Empathy.
Yes, your culture probably needs to change. Yes, you should definitively get closer to your customer. Go ahead and get Agile, do the DevOps, start a Digital Innovation Lab. Do all the things that your business needs to succeed. Hell, I will come and help if you like. But please don't be a $!&% about it. Change that system, but love those people.
Happy Thanksgiving from an econo hotel somewhere in western Germany :)
Financial Operations Solutioneer, Deep Tech Strategic Sourcing and Supply Chain
7yi can origami a unicorn as well as any other replicant ...
EVP and Director of Operations
8yLove your candor!
Learning & Development Provider at O'Reilly
8yHi Jeff, thanks for sharing this article. I'd love to read a Chef writeup on developing a plan for change, you know - the step after you realize change is needed. Am I missing any? After change comes Thanksgiving, from the people and the customers who needed it! Happy Spring
Engineering leader @ Amazon Kuiper
8yHi Jeff, thanks for the reminder that even though the people are being asked to change, it is really the system which is the problem. Empathize with the people; then recruit them to attack the things that makes their job suck! I deeply appreciate your point of view. Thanks for sharing.
Founder at ShiftF5 Design
8ySo as leaders questions ? Are we doing enough to support the culture change and how do u measure this?