Reimagine Transformational Change

Last quarter, the Association of Enterprise Architects and WhiteSparrow Labs kicked off a series of investigation workshops. The scope of our study was to extend our knowledge base about Transformational Change, be it in organizations where we work or communities where we live. We adopted the Socratic Learning approach to review the three key milestones and the myths surrounding them. The enhanced processes were validated by using active change programs.??

What We Learned?

Data Point #1: Business Requirements?

Current Process

• Project Charter
• Requirements from Selected People?
• Fix the Scope?
• RES/ACCT: PMO

New Process?

• Identify all Impacted Stakeholders??
• Engage them to share their Lived Experiences?
• Build Momentum?
• Refine Opportunity and Problem to Solve?
• ACC/RESP: People Managers

Data Point #2: Roadmap (line of sight to the expected outcomes)

Current Process

• Fit the Roadmap to Requirements and Constraints?
• RES/ACCT: PMO?

New Process?

• Opportunity & Innovation
• Establish a roadmap, paths and milestones, along with a backlog of requirements? ?
• Work Packages?
• Overall Program Timeline/Cost
• ACC/RESP: Arch & PMO?

Data Point #3: Agile Execution (reach milestones along roadmap paths)

Current Process

• Start Execution?
• OCM?
• RES/ACCT: PMO & Team?

New Process?

• Selected Requirements from the Backlog??
• Firm Plan
• Repeat Change Delivery
• ACC/RESP: PMO & Team

Value of the New Process??

• Managers of impacted people have the ACCOUNTABILITY and RESPONSIBILITY to engage their people and solicit their Lived Experiences surrounding the opportunity. The Architects and Project Managers can help facilitate the engagement, but they do not own it. Engagement is the first and the most critical litmus test - if impacted people are not engaged, the likelihood of your transformational change succeeding is dramatically reduced.?
• Engagement builds momentum for change, and momentum leads to innovative solutions (people do understand constraints)
• Continuous engagement makes the entire life cycle agile, not only the execution phase.
• Skills developed by teams are extendable beyond the immediate scope of change to larger organizations and communities-wide transformational change programs.?
• The feedback process from one data point to the other is by design in the improved process, not an exception (change request) as in the current process.

Challenges Ahead?

• Learning to manage programs where every activity is agile except the immediate set of backlog of requirements selected for execution
• Learning to engage all stakeholders, not just a selected few, and keep them engaged throughout the life cycle

There is still much work left to improve how we drive transformational change. This blog is an open invitation to all who ever asked:

our transformational change programs deliver results, but we can do better.?