Filed under: - CM Resources, - Organization Change Management, - People Change Management, - Professional Development | Tags: Change Management, LinkedIn, Professional Development
Conferences are an important professional development opportunity. Most provide best practices as well as innovation tracks (and the networking is terrific). Please note this is not an endorsement―just a list. I will let you know the ones we will attend. Let’s connect if you will be there also.
Many of the conferences for 2013 are being organized and announced now. In some cases, the “call for papers” is still open.
This post is all about change management conferences in the US and Canada.
I have also started tracking Strategy and Strategy Execution conferences. That post will be published shortly.
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Filed under: - Change Execution, - Organization Change Management, - People Change Management, - Personal Reflections, - Professional Development, - Strategy Execution | Tags: Change Management, LinkedIn
“To those whom much is given, much is expected.” ―John F. Kennedy
What do we do with what we have learned? What is our “obligation”?
There is no advertising on this site. You might wonder why I give so much away. You might conclude, “Oh, it’s marketing.” Yes, it is marketing, but I could do marketing much more cheaply (time-wise) than by researching and sharing so much information on change management.
So, why?
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Filed under: - Change Execution, - CM Resources, - Organization Change Management, - People Change Management, - Professional Development | Tags: Agents, Change Management, LinkedIn, Professional Development
What competencies should leaders and agents excel at to be successful? Are you building a Community of Practice or Centre of Excellence? What’s on your list?
Below is my top-ten list for change agents―with a bonus for change targets. A previous post provided my top ten list for change leaders.
Late addition: Some might ask why there is no mention of methodologies or tools here—to which I would like to quote my friend Tamara Moore “A fool with a tool is still a fool”. Perhaps the two single most critical success factors in executing change are the quality of the sponsor and the agent. So what makes for “quality”?
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Filed under: - Change Execution, - Organization Change Management, - People Change Management, - Personal Reflections, - Professional Development, - Strategy Execution | Tags: Change Management, Changes That Matter, Consulting, LinkedIn, Management Consulting, Professional Development
I meet a lot more people these days who are interested in authenticity and making a difference. I view this trend as a move in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs closer to self-actualization (i.e., money and status are surpassed as satisfactory rewards). This won’t resonate with everyone―you Gordon Gekkos of the world just won’t get this so you can stop reading right now. However, for those interested in making a difference, we are on a mission aren’t we?
The unintended consequences of vacations
Maybe this post is a result of vacation. Vacations are always a time of personal renewal and reflection, re-setting for the year to come. This post was supposed to be about “the role of generosity in change management” but it morphed into this. As I untangled a mess of ideas around why generosity is so important in practicing change management (as in ‘generosity of spirit’ such as empathy, compassion, tolerance, patience) I started to think about why I got into this work in the first place.
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Filed under: - Change Execution, - CM Resources, - Leadership, - Organization Change Management, - People Change Management, - Professional Development, - Strategy Execution | Tags: Change Management, Leadership, LinkedIn, Professional Development
Transformational change is disruptive, non-linear, unpredictable and requires a leap that not everyone will make.
What does this require of leaders?
Below is my top-ten list for change leaders. In two weeks, the blog will list my top-ten competencies for change agents—and a bonus list for change targets.
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Filed under: - Change Execution, - Professional Development, - Project Management, - Strategy and Imperatives, - Strategy Execution | Tags: Change Management, LinkedIn, Planning, Professional Development, Projects, Strategy, Transformation
Having established, in Post 1 of this series, that strategy is “just another good idea” until it is implemented and churning out results, and that there is no single turn-key methodology for executing strategy, we then turned our attention first to the “go to” methodology: project management. In Post 2, we recognized that there are two dominant project management methodologies: The Project Management Institute’s (PMI’s) approach and PRINCE2―and we explored PMI’s approach.
Now, I am no expert in PRINCE2, so I found one to share insights with us. Even better, Richard Batchelor is an international change management consultant, trained project manager (certified in PRINCE2) and certified human resources professional. He has the street cred of many successful change implementations under his belt. Rich has kindly agreed to write an insider’s overview of PRINCE2 for us.
Filed under: - Change Execution, - Organization Change Management, - People Change Management, - Professional Development | Tags: Change Management, Consulting, LinkedIn, Management Consulting, Professional Development, Trust
To be an effective change agent one needs influence in the organization. Influence is built on many dimensions of trust―trust that the change agent is legitimately qualified and experienced to execute the scope of work, trust that the change agent has the best interests of the organization at heart, and trust in the relationship with the sponsor.
This trust is earned, one relationship at a time, and that usually takes a lot of time. In transformational change, where time is of the essence, it is essential to expedite the development of trust.
Filed under: - Change Execution, - Organization Change Management, - People Change Management, - Professional Development, - Strategy Execution | Tags: Change Management, Consulting, LinkedIn, Management Consulting, Organization Design, Organization Development
Who do you seek out when you are faced with something new? Someone who has done it before, of course. Leading and managing change is fraught with risk—nuanced, contextual, dynamic, and difficult to decipher. Judgment is acquired over time and experience. It is a rare opportunity to speak with a seasoned practitioner in change management and get his or her insights.
This is the final post in the interview series with James G. Bohn, Ph.D., Director, Global Change Management Office, Johnson Controls. For Part 1 please click here; for Part 2 click here.
8. Inspirations and Aspirations—Who inspires you? Individuals you work with? Do you mentor others? Do pro bono work? Writing? Networking?
Albert Bandura has been my inspiration for nearly 20 years. What I like about him is that his research is readable. I think in many ways it is humanistic. It has helped people in many ways. His work on looking at human freedom from a cognitive point of perspective is just amazing. It’s just fun to read and he is such an iconoclast. He is my number-one read and I’ve even got my daughter, who is a lawyer, reading him as well.
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Filed under: - Change Execution, - Organization Change Management, - People Change Management, - Professional Development, - Strategy Execution | Tags: Change Management, Consulting, LinkedIn, Management Consulting, Organization Design, Organization Development
Change Management practitioners are in the fray of turning strategy into ROI. This often feels like nailing Jell-O on the wall but seasoned practitioners have insights that the rest of us can benefit from.
This is a continuation of the interview with James G. Bohn, Ph.D., Director Global Change Management Office, Johnson Controls. For Part 1 please click here. Part 3 will be published shortly. You can subscribe to ensure that you don’t miss it.
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Filed under: - Change Execution, - Organization Change Management, - People Change Management, - Professional Development, - Strategy Execution | Tags: Change Management, Consulting, LinkedIn, Management Consulting, Organization Development, Professional Development
Who knows more about change management than practitioners in the trenches? These are professionals who are vested in helping organizations achieve the promises to the Board (the strategy, “the change”) and who have dedicated their careers to figuring out how to do this well. In this series, Insights in Change Management, we will hear the voices of these professionals.
Jim Bohn is a seasoned change management practitioner with deep experience in facilitation, diagnostics, and coaching. He currently works on innovation, development, and standardization at Johnson Controls as Director, Global Change Management Office. He has managed large-scale client transitions ranging from pharmaceuticals to industrial and technology operations. Jim’s projects have ranged from mergers and acquisitions to large-scale IT change across North America, Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, and Europe. You can find Jim on LinkedIn here and on his blog, The Impossible Art of Middle Management, here.
This interview comprises a series of questions and answers that will be published in three parts:
- Part 1—What brought you here? Includes: How did you get started? What’s your definition of change management? Where do you start?
- Part 2—Where is here for you? Includes: What do you bake into every engagement? What have you learned from failure? In SWOT analysis, what are the top three touchstones you refer to?
- Part 3—Who inspires you? Includes: What gets you up in the morning or keeps you going? What does the future of change management need? As a bonus, Jim answers the question, “What would you like to ask other practitioners?”
This is Part 1. Parts 2 and 3 will be published shortly. You can subscribe to ensure that you don’t miss them.
Here we go….
1. Your story—How did you arrive at change management? Why did you choose this discipline and why?
Around about 1980, I received a flyer from University Associates, which at that time was one of the premier change management facilitation groups in the world. I was in product design at the time and always knew I wanted to work with people and help people adjust to change. What I had witnessed was that often people would flail through change but sometimes a good leader managed to help people through, whether it was through communications or just anticipating barriers. It was logical to me and I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I read the flyer and thought, “This is me—this is what I want to do.” In 1992 I had an opportunity to attend a conference and sit down with a magnificent practitioner and I was convinced. As I was working on my PhD and that set the direction for me. I went on to focus on human motivation. That moment set my goals for literally the next 20 years of my life.
