This presentation captures some of my current thoughts on how to promote sustainable change within an organization. This is extremely relevant for any organization undergoing an Agile or Lean transformation as the rate of change expected is generally high. If we realize that we may need to throttle the rate of change to ensure it is sustainable and also how we can create capacity to take on more change, then we're one step ahead of helping an organization undergo its transformation. Please note: this material is going into a book I am preparing and is under a different license than others I have prepared.

1. How can we promote
Sustainable Change?

2. Definitions
Sustainable :: Able to be maintained at a certain
rate or level. Synonym: Supportable
Change :: The act or instance of making or
becoming different. Synonyms: Alteration, Shift, Mutation
“Change Capacity”

3. But first…
Why should we care?
> Adaptability
> Innovation

4. Aspiration
Starting
Point
‘Aspirational’ Model courtesy of
Olaf Lewitz & Michael Sahota

5. Kaizen
Small changes to
improve existing
products and services.

6. Kaikaku
Disruptive changes to
create new products and services.

7. To-Do In Work Done
Organizational Change Capacity
WIP Limit =

8. Aspiration
Starting
Point
Promotes
Restricts

9. Status Quo
New Status Quo
disruption
amount
disruption
time
Learning Curve
A detailed depiction of the Satir Change model -
http://stevenmsmith.com/ar-satir-change-model/

10. +
=
limit to change
> disruption
amount Capacity is the WIP

11. +
net effect
time
tolerance to time-lag
defined by environment
=

12. +net effect
time balance limit vs lag

13. Aspiration
Starting
Point
Promotes
Restricts
Promotion/Restriction based on
Limits to Organizational Change
by Herbert Kaufman
& Discussions @ #CultureDC
Cross-cutting Teams
Diversity (of thoughts)
Failure Tolerance
Clear Vision
Employee Orientation
Experimentation
Transparency
New Employees

14. Aspiration
Starting
Point
Promotes
Restricts
Low Risk Tolerance
Grand Unclear Vision
Hiring to Fit
Insular Communication
Employee Indoctrination
Successes Only
Promotion/Restriction based on
Limits to Organizational Change
by Herbert Kaufman
& Discussions @ #CultureDC
Cross-cutting Teams
Diversity (of thoughts)
Failure Tolerance
Clear Vision
Employee Orientation
Experimentation
Transparency
New Employees
Specialized Silos
Group Think

15. How do we figure out how much change to pull?
1. Hypothesis use communications paths as a starting
point;
• capacity = comm paths
N ppl involved
• hierarchy comm paths = direct report lines
• team comm paths = ∑(1+…+N-1)
• can have hybrids
2. Multiplied by reinforcing loops
3. Consider like mid-size “story” (in terms of points);
every org will be different & large single changes
can out-strip capacity and need to be broken down

16. Initial Capacity = 5 paths/56 people involved ≈ 1
Pure Hierarchy

17. Initial Capacity = 11 paths/56 people involved ≈ 2
Team w/in Hierarchy

18. Initial Capacity = 23 paths/68 people involved ≈ 3
Cross-Cutting Team w/in Hierarchy

19. Team Size
3  5 7  155  7
“Is Five the Optimal Team Size?”,
infoQ, Vikras Hazrati &
Jurgen Appelo on http://noop.nl
Scrum 7 +/-2
S = ƒ({P},E)
where,
P = personalities
E = environment
5 Best for deep comm, 15 most for deep trust, 150 most for comm
≥ 1≤1 <1

20. Change
Multiplier
Hire for diversity
Display transparency in decisions
Allow experimentation
Establish clear vision ≥1
Punish failure
Decisions made w/littleno input
Hire yes people <1

21. Paul M. Boos
pmboos@yahoo.com
703-307-4322 (mobile)