How To Lead the **** Out of Change Ebook. A sample.

HOW TO LEAD THE **** OUT OF CHANGE

A toolkit to make ideas happen

1st Edition Created by Melissa Dutmers

IDEA CONNECT MARKET

HOW TO LEAD THE **** OUT OF CHANGE • RIVERFORK 2 / 14

ARE YOU LOOKING TO...Make ideas actually happen? Take an idea from spark through to implementation? Make a big bold change in your organization? Bring an innovative idea to the forefront and turn it into a reality?

http://riverforkconsulting.com


THIS TOOLKIT WAS MADE FOR YOU.It contains elements from a multitude of disciplines, including influence theory, ethnography, systems thinking, neuroscience, design thinking, change management, leadership, horsemanship, Buddhism, and so on. Beneath the ‘how to’ practices in this book lies an insistence on the value of interdisciplinary thinking, and the assertion that human-centered design, as a way of solving problems and leading change to realize results, should take high priority in both the structure, values, and culture of an organization.



WHY LEARN TO LEAD CHANGE?There doesn’t seem to be a shortage of ideas. What’s missing is an awareness, a consciousness, to make ideas happen. Learning to lead change is about making ideas happen–transforming ideas into actionable steps. It can help you see a path from spark to implementation. It can increase the speed and effectiveness of creating change that matters. Let’s get started.



INTRODUCTION

How to use this toolkit

PART 1: SETTING THE STAGE

The Surface Level Formula

Wait. Stop.

The Overview: Idea+Connect+Market Methodology

PART 2: IDEA SHAPING

Identify

Understand

Shape

Approve

PART 3. IDEA CONNECTION

Hear

Create + Prototype

Pilot

Plan

Part 4. Idea to Market

Implement

Monitor

Reinforce

Sustain

Final Notes

Acknowledgements

What Now

CONTENTS



INTRODUCTION

It’s clear to me that making ideas happen and leading change is the most

important skill—for organizations, governments, communities, and as

individuals. So I’m fascinated by change.

I used to think that realizing successful

change was about securing executive

sponsorship, creating a ‘burning platform’,

building a guiding coalition, and following

a structured change management process

(plus a slew of other “best practices”).

B-O-R-I-N-G corporate speak.

Yes, leading change is all that business jargon, and it’s so much more! I assure

you, this book is not yet another conventional book on change management

that regurgitates what’s already been written, and written again, and again,

and again...

This book imbues much needed creativity into a stagnant field of change

management, injects a big dose of collaboration into what it means to lead

What you must do is create generous art, gifts that change people, connect with people, lead with people, make change that matters. Seth Godin on Being Indespensable,BusinessWeekOnline


http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/2010/02/seth_godin_on_b.html


If you’re looking for conventional prose on leading change, read Kotter.

change, and infuses some serious moxie in how to make ideas happen and

lead change in the real world. This book is not a compilation of academic

theory and corporate speak and I have no intention of delivering you a huge

binder of templates and assessments that you’ll never look at again. I’m

going to deliver you a book that shows you how to take your ideas from spark

through to implementation and teach you how to think critically and use your

intuition (right brain + left brain) to connect and inspire as you go. If you’re

looking for conventional prose on leading change, read Kotter.

Leading Change by John P. Kotter is one of the most important change

management books ever. And it’s a great start. But it’s only a start.

I’m not saying that the field of change management doesn’t matter. It does.

I’m just saying that most changes require a much deeper understanding of

what it takes to connect with the people. Leading change is about assembling

and connecting, listening and designing, and interacting with a group of

people on a mission. Leading change is creating a movement.

The activities and outcomes in this process are exploratory with the intent

to uncover the best way to design an idea, to design a change, so that those

impacted or those targeted actually want to experience the solution. This is

the big difference between conventional change management thinking and

what I propose here. I don’t want to deliver you a process where a primary



deliverable is, “Create a Resistance Management and Corrective Action Plan.”

That is one of the silliest pieces of business jargon. The idea of resistance

management is that people only change when they’re scared. But fear, as

an emotion, creates tunnel vision. Tunnel vision is devastating in times of

change. Fear is the worst motivator because it makes people dig their heals

in and work harder at what they did in the past.

The foundation of this process is a fundamental belief that we can design

change, design ideas, that people understand, talk about, willingly adopt, and

even celebrate. Get the change right, get the design right, and the people will

follow.

I hope to show how leading change can be extended in new ways to impact

changes that are equal to the challenges we face. That’s my challenge. That’s

your challenge. That’s our challenge. The leaders will be those that figure it

out.

When I started writing down my How to Lead Change process, I knew I wanted to share the steps with people who wanted an unconventional perspective, a deeper look, and a fresh holistic view on how to realize successful change.



Leading change, taking ideas from spark through to implementation, is a

creative process that takes practice. I’ve come to realize that I have created

a resource for anyone who has an idea or sees a need for change to do

something about it. Any project. Any business. Any undertaking.

The material is geared towards businesses of all sizes, but it’s applicable to

non-profits, governments, ANYONE trying to transition from thinking about

an idea to actually making it happen. This book is for anyone who chooses

to lead change. The possibilities are huge.

You’re holding, in your hands —or your hard drive — a tool. A tool to lead the

**** out of change. Go forth and be remarkable. We need you.

Innovation always falls right between the BIG IDEA and the ability to put that idea into action. idea couture


http://www.ideacouture.com/slideshow/innovation-crash-course


HOW TO USE THIS TOOLKITThis process is broken into a set of phases and tools. This is so you can pick

and choose what works best for your context and situation. Use it alone or

along with other methods you use in your organization.

There is no “one best way” to move through this process. There are useful

starting points and helpful landmarks along the way, but the continuum of

leading change is best thought of as system of overlapping spaces rather

than a sequence of orderly steps. The reason for the iterative, nonlinear

nature of leading change is not that I’m encouraging you to be disorganized

or undisciplined but that leading change is fundamentally an exploratory

creative process: done right, you will make unexpected discoveries along the

way, and it would be foolish not to find out where they lead. For example,

you may choose to pilot an idea, you may come across insights that inspire

you to rethink and refine your assumptions rather than press onward in

adherence to the original plan. Consider this story and you choose how to

use this toolkit....

My horse riding coach always says to me,

“You’ve got to feel it!”



In other words, she’s telling me that not everything can be spelled out in

black and white when you’re working with horses — you’ve got to feel it!

The same holds true for leading

change. You can read volumes

of books on riding horses or

leading change and still not

have a clue. No one can teach

you how to feel it. You have to

figure it out. The good news is

that time in the saddle helps,

mistakes teach, practice works.

Hard work leads to competence.

Competence leads to self

confidence. And then you begin

to trust yourself and the light in

your eyes gets brighter and you

get really good at what you’re

doing. And so it goes, you take

on tougher challenges, bigger

change, and as a student of life, you pay attention. You practice. You observe.

You fail. You blow it. You adjust. And you go on livin’ and learnin’ and you get

more courageous every day.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/lifeontheedge/2777206696/


IN CASE WE HAVEN’T MET BEFORE

A quick introduction. You can read a longer version here, but in short, I am a writer and

entrepreneur. I’m happily married to ‘the fisherman’ and we live in a lovely

town called Fort Collins, located on the front range of the Colorado Rocky

Mountains. When I’m not online or riding my horse, Mr. Pi, I enjoy dining

in Old Town, sipping New Belgium brews, playing with our dogs, running,

admiring old barns, and well, just livin’.

Prior to founding RIVERFORK, I worked deep in the guts of the high-tech

corporate world for 15 years. I’ve also taught change management courses

for training and consulting firms, which is part of the reason I started my

company. I wanted to help people lead change in work+life — better.

My mission now is to help people design+manage+lead change in their work

& life on their own lovely, messy, courageous terms! If we haven’t connected

before, I’d love for you to join me on this journey.

Cheers!

Melissa


http://riverforkconsulting.com/about-melissa/

http://riverforkconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/Matthew_fishing.JPG


THE OVERVIEW Recall what I noted earlier about how to use this toolkit. Although the

overview picture on the following page is linear, open up your mind and

think of it as a map of helpful landmarks. Use these beacons as a compass

to see where you’re at and where you need to be. Don’t get hung up on ‘the

process.’ Sometimes you’ll revisit spots. Other times you will skip steps. Allow

yourself the freedom to make unexpected discoveries along the way. Use this

toolkit in conjunction with other tools that work for you. Fold these ideas

into your quiver of tools. Leading the **** out of change starts with a spark,

a hunch, and is broken down into three phases:

1) Idea Shaping: the idea or change that motivates a search for a

solution; the steps to get your idea in front of the right people and to

shape your story in a way that inspires decision makers to care.

2) Idea Connection: the process to establish deep, holistic

understanding of your customers; to visualize possibilities, design,

prototype, and refine solutions to match people’s needs with what is

feasible and viable.

3) Idea to Market: the path that leads from the project room to

the customers; the steps to bring your idea to reality and to lead the

change.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/ingorrr/2086560583/


IDEAIdentify

Understand

Shape

Approve

MARKETImplement

Monitor

Reinforce

Sustain

CONNECTHear

Create

Pilot

Plan

THE OVERVIEW


How To Lead the **** Out of Change Ebook. A sample.

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