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Organizational Change

A Whole New Solar System

Rarely do we question existing management paradigms. We just accept them as a foundation that can’t be changed or moved. Maybe it’s time to shake things up a bit.

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Change Agents Organizational Change

…But Your Kids are Going to Love it

Our role as change catalysts often involves introducing fresh thinking about how the nature of work is evolving and how people in organizations will need to evolve along with it. These ideas can sometimes feel radical to folks as we bump up against the comfort of the status quo and the gravitational pull of “this […]

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Coaching Organizational Change

The Pace of Change

When will we be done? This question, often asked within the first few days of starting a change initiative, puts those involved with catalyzing change in quite a bind. Share an ambitious or aggressive date and deep down we all know it’s not really possible. Share a date too far in the future and people […]

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Coaching Most Shared

An Exit Strategy for the Agile Coach

My entire mission as a coach can be summed up by answering one question: How fast can I make myself no longer necessary? Well, it’s not as extreme as it sounds but from the first moment I begin coaching in an organization, I’m working to foster an environment where the momentum of change and growth […]

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Culture Organizational Change Transformational Leadership

So Different…Yet Very Much the Same

I’m writing this in near total darkness during a planned power outage (called load shedding) in a time zone 7 hours ahead of my home in Chicago. Hang on battery…hang on! It’s been almost 8 weeks since I landed abroad to start an Agile coaching assignment. Admittedly, I was nervous. Would I be able to […]

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Change Agents Culture Organizational Change

What Agile Feels Like

After many conversations and observations over the past couple of years, it would seem a substantial number of organizations aren’t experiencing a meaningful improvement after a move to Agile. Sure, stories are being written, work is being done within sprints, and planning sessions are being facilitated. Perhaps a scaled framework has been introduced, full of […]

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Change Agents Organizational Change

Preparing People for Organizational Change

Organizational change will always be an endless journey and this journey will always be personal and unique. This post from a couple years ago mapped out a possible path people may navigate through an Agile change journey and just how unique this experience can be. Many organizations expect a “point a” to “point b” route […]

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Organizational Change

Help! My Company is Stuck… (Part 1)

My coaching engagements often bring me to organizations well underway with an Agile transformation or have attempted, with little impact, an Agile transformation in the past. After a short time of observation, it becomes apparent some of these organizations are stuck between the old and the new…and the strong pull of the old provides easy […]

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Change Agents

Make Your Agile Transformation Personal

If your organization has recently started a transformation journey to become Agile or if you were recently hired into an Agile organization, it’s important to acknowledge where you are personally with the change happening around you. Your personal journey through an organizational transformation or immersion into an Agile environment will be a unique experience for […]

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Change Agents Culture Organizational Change

Steps to Invigorate Your Agile Transformation

It’s been a little more than 18 months since we initially launched our Agile transformation and 9 months since we formally moved from being project-based, siloed, and process heavy to become product-focused, collaborative, and agile.  We have made incredible strides throughout our transformation and have countless success stories from our journey – however – we […]