As a society, we're in the age of transformation, yet we're applying old metaphors and running our transformations like software projects. Let's start to consider transformational change as a series of social movements.

1. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
Rethinking Transformation
JASON LITTLE
LEANCHANGE.ORG
@JASONLITTLE
#AGILENOVA

2. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
The Age of Transformation

3. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
Watch Out!!

4. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
Creative Destruction

5. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
Avoiding Destruction
CREATE OPERATE TRADE
http://www.innosight.com/innovation-resources/strategy-innovation/upload/creative-destruction-whips-through-corporate-america_final2015.pdf
“disrupt
yourself
before
someone
else does”
“have world-
class
operations”
“purge! Get
rid of
products or
services”

6. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
Avoiding Destruction
CREATE OPERATE TRADE
http://www.innosight.com/innovation-resources/strategy-innovation/upload/creative-destruction-whips-through-corporate-america_final2015.pdf
“disrupt
yourself
before
someone
else does”
“have world-
class
operations”
“purge! Get
rid of
products or
services”
Put Agile Here

7. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
Avoiding Destruction
CREATE OPERATE TRADE
http://www.innosight.com/innovation-resources/strategy-innovation/upload/creative-destruction-whips-through-corporate-america_final2015.pdf
“disrupt
yourself
before
someone
else does”
“have world-
class
operations”
“purge! Get
rid of
products or
services”
Put Agile Here

8. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
Let’s Go Agile!
Hire consultant
train everyone on Agile
create rollout plan
hit wall
fire consultant
hire VP of Agile
go to step 2

9. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
It takes a while…

10. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
And when it doesn’t work…
You shoulda used
kanban you fool!

11. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
How could you get there?
continuous
change, that is
feedback-driven,
not plan-driven

12. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
How could you get there?
This one’s the
best though…

13. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
oh relax…
{this slide is specifically for the people reading it
on slideshare. You wouldn’t have heard during the
presentation that I WAS KIDDING!}

14. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
How Change Happens
Influencers Doers
Inspirers
skeptics
Protesters
Passives

15. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
Social Movements
Social Ferment
Popular
Excitement
Formalization Institutionalization
https://www.ebscohost.com/uploads/imported/thisTopic-dbTopic-1248.pdf
Herbert Blumer - Movements happen through the
interactions of people exchanging their own versions of reality.

16. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
Social Movements
Emergence Coalescence Bureaucratization Decline
https://www.ebscohost.com/uploads/imported/thisTopic-dbTopic-1248.pdf
Modern take on social movements

17. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
Stages of a Movement
Emergence
Dis-satisfaction with the
status quo
little to no organization
Doers take action,
Inspirers spread
propaganda , Skeptics
and Protesters leave the
organization
Coalescence
Small successes, Doers
and Inspirers become
known as ‘agile people’,
teams start bumping up
against organizational
boundaries
Bureaucratization
Someone with power
notices, hires a VP of
Agile or centralizes Agile
to ‘get it under control’,
centralized processes get
created, Doers and
Inspirers leave the
organization.

18. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
How Movements Die
Repression
Co-
Optation
Failure
Success
Centralization of
control goes too far
Momentum of
successes is forgotten
Change agents
conform to the old
values of the
organization
The desire to ‘be more
Agile’ gets in the way
of the purpose of
‘going Agile’ in the
first place
A smattering of Agile
practices make
getting work done
easier

19. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
Rethinking Transformation
EMERGENCE | COALESCENCE | BUREAUCRATISATION | DECLINE
Visit other organizations, connect Influencers and Doers, have Inspirers spread
propaganda, invite guest speakers, look for opportunities to move to Coalescence
#NoPPT, Centralized Change Team, Pilot projects, Voluntelling people to be Agile,
‘agile mindset’ beatings, en masse training

20. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
Rethinking Transformation
EMERGENCE | COALESCENCE | BUREAUCRATISATION | DECLINE
Enlist someone with clout to bash through organizational boundaries, read my book
(kidding!), support ‘un-official’ pockets of Agile
#NoPPT, Centralized Change Team, hire VP of Agile, Standardize practices, create
‘official’ Agile COP/COE etc

21. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
Rethinking Transformation
EMERGENCE | COALESCENCE | BUREAUCRATISATION | DECLINE
Reach past organizational boundaries, consider dual operating systems, reduce
emphasis on roles (this is where the infamous culture shift starts to happen)
#NoPPT, Centralized Change Team, hire VP of Agile, Standardize practices, create
‘official’ Agile COP/COE etc
seeing a
pattern here?

22. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
Rethinking Transformation
EMERGENCE | COALESCENCE | BUREAUCRATISATION | DECLINE
YOU MIGHT HAVE WON!!! CELEBRATE!!! Start the next Movement, leave the
organization
#NoPPT, Centralized Change Team, hire VP of Agile, Standardize practices, create
‘official’ Agile COP/COE etc
seeing a
pattern here?

23. @JASONLITTLE | LEANCHANGE.ORG
But What Can I Do?
Do, Don’t Tell
Do, Don’t Complain
Tell the Kind Truth
Find out what’s important to others
Be Purposefully disruptive
Build Bridges Between People who Disagree
Yes, it can be that simple. Remember, you’re in it for the long-haul.
Your consultant’s urgency is dictated by their contract.