The most common organization change agent's hallucination

Recently, I had this conversation one more time with one of my "partners in crime" in an ongoing education program I am involved in as a student.

I have to repeat it again and again, but I will never be tired of doing that. The best way for the change agent to reach mastery in change management is to get the experience of being fully responsible for the system under the change. For example, to manage it (as CEO or manager, depending on the nature of the system under change) or to own (co-own) it (as investor or co-investor).

That was, it is, and (no doubt) it will be the best advice I can give to my mentees.

They can disagree, they can neglect, they can deny, they can be pissed off by it, they can hate it - it doesn't matter much for me. It is the key lesson I have learned through my almost 30-year-long career in organizational change management.

It is extremely hard to reach this awareness through reading books, observations, making your own mistakes as an external change agent, reflections, etc.

Yes, there are very rare exceptions, which just confirm the main rule of thumb. You have to own or manage the organization (system) under change to fully understand the nature and dynamic of organizational change management.

Once, I asked myself: Stas, how many organization change agents do you consider to have implemented the real successful change within their client organization? They are NOT former (or existing) organizational leaders or owners (CEOs, managers, owners, investors). The answer is close to zero.

The remaining 80% of change agents are doomed to struggle with the windmills forever until their retirement (or death), causing more harm than benefits to their clients.

Sorry for the bad news to those who are within these 80%.

It is you, who now screaming here and there that Agile is dead. Sorry, you just are not fully aware of what Agile is. It is your tragedy. I am really sorry about that. But I have no appetite to hide my viewpoint on that.

If you are interested in reaching mastery in organizational transformations and you have never been in the 100% accountability shoes of a manager or owner... Have the courage to put your consulting career on pause for 1-2 years, and put yourself into a 100% business-accountable leadership role. Even if not under formal change, it makes sense. These days no organization could survive by staying persistent. LOL. You will benefit more if the organization under your accountability is under formal transformation.

It will be a game changer for your life. The most negative consequence - you will quit the organization's change management consultancy business.?

By the way, it is not necessary to completely pause your consulting career for 1-2 years. Even if you try to launch your own practice for 1-2 years and manage just yourself and your simple budget, even if you fail, it will be an eye-opening experience for you.

If you survive (as a professional, not necessarily as a businessman or investor), you then will thrive forever as a successful and unstoppable organization change agent.

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