Changemaker Survey:
Obstacles and Help
Eugene Eric Kim
eekim@fasterthan20.com
July 22, 2013
http://fasterthan20.com/
Twitter: @fasterthan20

Motivation
At the end of 2012, I left the social change
consultancy I cofounded (Groupaya),
hoping to find ways to have a greater
impact on the world beyond consulting
while also maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
I wanted to start my exploration by listening to other
changemakers to see what potential leverage points
might emerge. This survey was my starting point for
many rich and wonderful conversations.
1

112
Respondents
77% left their name and
contact information
(I knew 46% of these respondents)
51% male / 49% female
(I derived gender from names, so this
doesn’t include anonymous responses)
I created a 10-question survey asking
changemakers about their biggest
obstacles and their biggest aids. I also
asked some demographic questions.
I distributed the survey through my
social network (via social media and
email), asking people to fill out the
survey and to share it with at least one
other person with preferences toward
people who were part of organizations
and who were not executive leaders.
After almost three months (May-July
2013), I analyzed the survey with
invaluable guidance from my friend, Amy
Luckey. I created a taxonomy for the
open-ended responses, which I revised
three times. I also sent follow-up
questions to several respondents.
2

Respondents’ age, organizational size, and job level
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
18 to 24 25 to 34 35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 Older than 64
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
Seeking
employment
Self-employed 2-10
employees
11-50
employees
51-100
employees
>100
employees
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
Age
Most respondents fell in my
age range (35-44), perhaps a
consequence of marketing
through my social network.
Organizational Size
Decent distribution across
different sized organizations. I
specifically asked respondents
to share the survey with
people in organizations.
Job Level
A large percentage of
respondents are executive
leaders, even though I asked
respondents to share with
those who weren’t.
3

“Changemakers”?
77%are part of orgs with
an explicit social
mission
66%have participated in
leadership
development
4
I define a “changemaker” as anyone who is trying to change their organizations, their
community, or the world for the better. I don’t think you need an explicit social
mission to be considered a changemaker. However, I think you are more likely to self-
identify as a “changemaker” if you do. I’d love to see this change, as I think there are
many more changemakers than those who self-identify as such.

Respondents’ estimated spending last year on
trainings, workshops, and coaching broken down by
organizational size
5
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
0 Between $1 and
$1,000
Between $1,001 and
$5,000
Between $5,001 and
$10,000
Greater than $10,000
Seeking employment
Self-employed
2-10 employees
11-50 employees
51-100 employees
>100 employees
Those investing more than
$5,000 on professional
development mostly came
from larger organizations
(>50 employees).
Those self-employed or from
smaller organizations invested more
on professional development (up to
$5,000) than those from larger
organizations.

Changemaker Obstacles
6
Ineffective
communication
Lack of
understanding
Systems perspective, leverage
points, uncertain strategy.
Lack of
resources
Money, time, and
knowledge.
Resistance to
change
Mindsets, behaviors, and
structures.
Lack of allies
Fear
Of change, of
failure, of conflict.
Managing self
Stress, self-image, self-
doubt, emotions, lack of
discipline.

Obstacles by age
7
Younger respondents find
managing themselves to be
more of an obstacle than
older respondents.
Older respondents (35 and older)
find lack of resources a bigger
obstacle than younger respondents.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Ineffective
communication
Lack of
understanding
Lack of resources Resistance to
change
Lack of allies Fear Managing self
25 to 34
35 to 44
45 to 54
55 to 64
Note the disparity of resistance to
change from the oldest respondents
(55-64) to the youngest (25-34).

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Ineffective
communication
Lack of
understanding
Lack of resources Resistance to
change
Lack of allies Fear Managing self
ELT
Senior
Manager
Other
Self
Obstacles by job level
8
Individuals and
management find lack
of resources a bigger
issue than others.
Individuals and people lower
in the food chain find lack of
understanding a bigger issue
than formal leadership.
Huge disparity of resistance to change
between individuals (low obstacle) vs
those in organizations (huge obstacle).
People lower in the food chain find
managing themselves significantly
more challenging than everyone
else, including self-employed.

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Ineffective
communication
Lack of
understanding
Lack of resources Resistance to
change
Lack of allies Fear Managing self
Yes
No
Obstacles by leadership development training
9
People with leadership
development training are
finding resistance to change
much more challenging.
On the other hand, people with
leadership development training
find managing themselves less
challenging than those without.

Changemaker Help
10
Presence & self-
awareness
Allies &
supporters
Strategy
Discipline, per
sistence, &
passion
Leadership & personal
development
Knowledge &
experience
Feedback & results

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Discipline, persistence, & passionPresence & self-awarenessKnowledge & experienceFeedback & resultsLeadership & personal developmentAllies & supporters Strategy
25 to 34
35 to 44
45 to 54
55 to 64
Help by age
11
People 55 and older cite
feedback as helpful more
than everyone else.
Younger respondents cite
knowledge and experience
more than older respondents!
The older the respondents are, the
more they cite allies as
helpful, and the less they cite
strategy.

Help by job level
12
Upper management cite
strategy as helpful more
than everyone else.
Managers and self-employed
found leadership and personal
development valuable more than
other respondents.
No idea what to say
about this disparity!
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Discipline, persistence, & passionPresence & self-awarenessKnowledge & experienceFeedback & resultsLeadership & personal developmentAllies & supporters Strategy
ELT
Senior
Manager
Other
Self

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Discipline, persistence, & passionPresence & self-awarenessKnowledge & experienceFeedback & resultsLeadership & personal developmentAllies & supporters Strategy
Yes
No
Help by leadership development training
13
People without leadership
development training cited allies
as being helpful more than those
without.
Obviously, if you haven’t had leadership
development, you’re not going to find it
valuable. What’s striking here is how
valuable people who have had it found it.

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Discipline, Persistence, & PassionPresence & Self-awarenessKnowledge & ExperienceFeedback & ResultsLeadership & Personal DevelopmentAllies & Supporters Strategy
F
M
Help by gender
14
This disparity is consistent with other studies
that show that men tend to attribute their
success to themselves, whereas women tend to
attribute their success to others.

Don’t draw too many conclusions
• Small sample size with distribution and self-
selection biases
• Wish there were more responses from people
in their 20s
• Would have liked to have tracked the regions
from which people came. Suspect heavy West
Coast (California in particular) and
metropolitan biases
15

“Fear” can be a red herring
• Lots of people used the word in response to
obstacles question. But what does it actually
mean?
• Own fear or others’?
• Fear of what?
• Need to acknowledge the emotional
response, but also dig deeper to discover the
roots of that response
16

Greater disparities in responses by
age than by gender
• The only significant gender disparities were in
citing things that helped the most
(persistence vs allies, slide 14)
• Younger respondents cited self-directed
obstacles (e.g. managing self, slide 7). Older
respondents cited external obstacles (e.g.
resources, resistance to change, slide 7)
17

Knowledge versus know-how
• Disparities in responses around knowledge by
age / job level (slides 8, 11, 12) could reflect a
shift in mindset as you get older from
knowledge (external, can be passed around
and acquired) to know-how
(internal, experiential)
18

Personal & professional development
• The ability to manage yourself (slides 6, 10)
was widely cited as helpful (when you’re
doing it well) and an obstacle (when you’re
not)
• Leadership development programs seem to
be effective at helping people manage
selves, less so at helping people deal with
others (e.g. resistance, slide 9).
19

Thank you!
To all of the people who took the time to respond to the survey
and especially to those who shared the survey with others.
Special thanks to Katie Ashmore, Alison Brody, Mary Ellen
Capak, Christine Egger, Regina Hartwig, Jelly Helm, Paul
Lamb, Kim Elisha Proctor, Angel Santuario, Sameer
Siraguri, Chuck Smith, and Brad Wilke for followup
conversations.
Thanks to Anna Castro, Marie Haller, and Rebecca Petzel for
early feedback on the survey itself. Finally, many thanks to Amy
Luckey for helping me think through and analyze the survey. 20