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Change By Design |
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What are the qualities of true leadership? How do we mobilise those qualities in our teams and organisations? How is sustainable change achieved?
Change
By Design uses questions as a powerful
medium for talking about change. Made up of 60 cards and a comprehensive
booklet, this dynamic resource challenges us to think about how we
enact shared leadership in our teams, organisations and companies.
It recognises that leadership does not come automatically with a particular
position, but rather, leadership is a shared responsibility and can
be brought to the change process by anyone at any time. "This resource will offer individuals, organisations and businesses effective, inclusive and respectful ways of navigating change and decision-making." Rob Hunt, Managing Director, Bendigo Bank, Australia
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Change by Design: Designing for Change
Building Shared Leadership
Imagine this. A major change is about to take place at work. This change will have a big impact on all your team members. While all members of the team have expressed agreement about the need for the change, nevertheless, everyone has a degree of uncertainty about it. For you and most of your colleagues, the change will mean doing many things quite differently. For some of you, the feeling of uncertainty has given way to a growing sense of anxiety and fear.
Fortunately, your team has always valued transparency and shared decision-making, and even though you haven't always been able to enact these values, you have always been open with each other about what you would like to do differently next time. On several occasions you have all acknowledged your shared understanding that true leadership is not the province of a particular role, but that, in fact, leadership is what each person has a responsibility to bring to the team.
However, you all agree that this particular challenge is making these qualities of transparency and shared power very difficult to maintain. Some of you are noticing that blaming and secrecy are beginning to happen.
How might you as an active participant and facilitator introduce a way of rebuilding the sharing of leadership so that you can all skillfully and fairly navigate the change that is about to happen? How can this become an opportunity for each team member to further develop their leadership qualities and celebrate those of others? Try this. The Change by Design cards are spread out on a table. The team spends 10 minutes or so scanning the cards, perhaps even walking around the table to get a view of the question on each card. As they do so, they are looking for one card (or more) that they think is particularly relevant to the situation. Then they each take turns talking about their card and why they selected it. The group agrees to revisit one of the selected cards each day and identify three to five concrete actions they will take to put that principle into place.
It All Began With Butcher's Paper By Kevin Vallence In late 2003, the six principles of Change by Design had a rigorous test when I was invited to an island community to assist with a situation where some changes to the administration of the island had simply stalled.
I approached the task armed with the six principles, a roll of butcher's paper, some pens, and a belief that if the six principles were as soundly based as I thought then I was unlikely to do any harm and I might even shed some light on the situation. Not surprisingly, on a small island, everyone knew who I was and what I was there for. I realised this when the man at the arrival gate of the airport called me by name before he'd opened my passport and told me that the folk who were to collect me were running a few minutes late.
Over a week or so I met with all public service employees (in groups of about 25), politicians, bureaucrats and managers and anyone else who was prepared for a chat. It was a simple methodology. I explained the situation that I had been asked to report on. Everyone knew about 'the changes' and agreed that they had stalled. I displayed and explained the six principles (the order in which they appear in Change by Design originates from this experience), then I kept a record of the 90 minutes of conversation on butcher's paper. Periodically I summarised what was being said and written to confirm that my record was going to enable me to accurately recall their conversation.
The meetings weren't always easy. To be truthful, a couple of people were downright unfriendly. When I got home I discovered that there had even been a call under an assumed name and title to my work to check out my credentials.
At the end of my visit I had to appear at Parliament House to present my initial findings (a formal written report would follow a couple of weeks later). This wasn't easy either. One member of parliament was rude to the point of abusiveness. He stormed out before I'd even been introduced. Thankfully, those who stayed were willing to listen.
I was able to say with confidence that it was Principle Six, Shared Vision, that encapsulated the problems they were experiencing. In essence, each of the groups that made up the public service had differing views about the changes. As an immediate response, the government leader left the chamber and returned with a framed 'vision for the island'. He held it up as proof of his position. The island's senior bureaucrat admitted that she'd never seen it before and then explained what changes she was pursuing. 'This is all news to me,' said another bureaucrat. And on it went. Maybe it's still going on. But at least they knew that what needed to be done was to get everyone discussing the same situation.
The six principles had weathered their test very well-better than I did! Kevin Vallence has spent 40 years as a teacher in Australia, Canada, England, Laos and Cambodia. He is a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators.
Change and Relationships: Bob & Sandra's story While Change by Design is a dynamic resource for companies, communities and organisations, it can also prompt the kinds of conversations we need to have closer to home in our personal relationships. Here's a scenario to think about: A couple-let's call them Bob and Sandra-have lived at the same address for close to 30 years. In the last couple of years Bob has retired from his work. Sandra has secretly longed to move from their current home before they are too old to enjoy a 'second life'. Bob however refuses to discuss or even contemplate moving house. Each time Sandra attempts to raise the issue, Bob clams up. What can she do to at least get Bob to talk about things? Well, what Sandra did was to flick through the 60 Change by Design cards and select the two or three that simply caught her attention. The first question that seemed to resonate was 'Do I value social relationships?' This question made Sandra think that perhaps Bob was anxious about shifting away from his friends. She decided to ask Bob about this. The next question was 'Do I respect difference?' For some reason this question rang a tiny bell with Sandra. After thinking things over she came to the realisation that what she wanted most from any move was some space that was hers and hers only. Bob had his space, and maybe he was feeling anxious about losing it. It wasn't immediately clear how Sandra would raise the issue, if at all, but it gave her some insight into her own motives.
Finally, she picked up the card 'Do we understand the purpose of the change?' Clearly this was an issue for the two of them. They hadn't even managed to start a discussion let alone reach any understanding. It was obvious to Sandra that she had certain understandings-things that she'd accepted as givens even though she and Bob had not discussed them. Maybe it was important to put questions about moving on hold and instead talk about change in their lives. The last thing Sandra decided to do was to leave the Change by Design cards on the table next to where Bob sat. Was all of this manipulative? When I heard about it I thought 'no, it's not manipulative'. It would have been if Bob had been tricked into a making decision against his better judgment. But what Sandra found was that the cards assisted her by suggesting ways to open-up conversations where previously there was none. Like a lot of folk, Bob comes to decisions slowly and in his own time. He likes to ponder. Having a couple of key questions assisted the discussions enormously.
Kevin Vallence, author of Change by Design |
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Using the CardsChange by Design
Change by Design is a set of cards and booklet based on the understanding that leadership does not come automatically with a particular position or title, nor does it depend on one strong individual to be 'the leader'. In fact, this is not the way that real sustainable, ethical change is achieved. Rather, leadership is everyone's responsibility and is something that any person can contribute.
This set of 60 cards and booklet challenges us to think about how we can enact shared leadership in our groups, teams, organisations and companies. It is a great tool for keeping fairness alive in the way we think about and participate in any process of change by:
Change by Design physically embodies the proposition that shared leadership implies both individual and collective responsibilities. On one side of each card is a question for the individual. For example, 'Do I .?' This makes the point that we have personal responsibilities for developing our capacities to offer leadership.
On the reverse side of each card are the 'Do we.?' versions of the same questions. These questions prompt us to investigate how well the team is able to collectively demonstrate leadership.
Being 'seriously optimistic', Innovative Resources hopes that Change by Design will provoke rich discussion and dialogue within teams, as well as reflection by individuals, about the possibilities of treating leadership as something we all have a stake in.
The Six Principles Of Change By Design
Change by Design provides powerful insights into change by inviting individuals or groups to analyse, create and evaluate a defined change in a thoughtful, inclusive, principled and respectful manner.
Change by Design is built around six soundly based principles:
The six principles are not necessarily related sequentially or causally. However, each one affects all the others. All six will be found in any change process and will determine whether the change is successful and sustainable.
With each of the six principles there is a list of critical questions and some quotes from people who have used the resource. These quotes demonstrate the coverage and relevance of each principle. They highlight the way the principles colour how we respond to change and to shared leadership, even though we may not be aware of their existence.
How Is Change By Design Used?
There are no rules or recipes for the use of Change by Design. Others have used the activities below, and you might find one or more of them helpful. Your imagination and creativity are the key ingredients.
The ideas suggested below will generate questions, reflection, conversation and debate about how individuals and teams respond to change. Using Change by Design won't guarantee a perfect and trouble-free pathway to, or through, change. In fact the resource points out that disagreement is inevitable.
The philosophy that underpins Change by Design encourages you to view change holistically-as an entire, interconnected set of actions and processes. Such a view acknowledges the intrinsic value of all the individuals involved in and affected by a change process, and warns against relying on one authoritarian leader.
Change by Design does not provide ready-made answers to the question: 'What do we do next?' However, some of the ways in which you might use the cards include questions to prompt and assist discussion about appropriate, follow-up action.
Some activities for which the cards may be used require facilitation and some don't. None require a change or leadership 'expert'. A facilitator simply needs to have group management skills. Finally, some of the activities you may like to try can be both simple or complex depending upon the approach taken.
Situation and Change Some of the ideas outlined below ask you to identify the situation within which change is occurring. The situation can be as simple as 'my department','the faculty', 'my project team' or just 'Bill and me'. But when you're working in a group, all group members need to agree on the situation. Some of these suggested uses will also ask you to identify the change that is occurring within the situation. Agreement can be more problematic here, but, again, the change needs to be simply stated like 'to shift us to a new room', 'to introduce new administrative arrangements', 'to implement the new contract' and so on. All group members need to agree on the change that is occurring within the current situation. The same change must be the focus of the group if people's responses are going to be usefully discussed and compared.
Somes Ideas to Spark Your Imagination!
The 'Six Principles Pie Chart'
For individual use or group session with a facilitator. Allow 15 - 30 minutes.
The six principles can be used to gain a quick, visual overview of a change process:
Display the completed 'Six Principles Pie Chart(s). The following questions may prompt discussion: Do the completed pie charts have anything in common? Do they look similar? Do the charts reflect the team's core values? What do we learn, in general terms, about the change process from the completed charts? Do the charts suggest what priorities the team should have in managing the change? Using Change by Design with Other Creative ToolsInnovative Resources publishes a range of strengths-based, conversation-building tools, any of which can be used in conjunction with Change by Design. For a description of each of these tools and suggested applications please visit the Innovative Resources' website: www.innovativeresources.org
However, two of these resources can be highlighted because of their ability to value-add to conversations about shared leadership, teamwork and facilitation. They are Name the Frame and Strengths in Teams.
Name the Frame is a unique tool designed to raise awareness of the social justice implications of decisions and decision-making processes. It challenges assumptions and confronts blind spots in our thinking and attitudes.
Just as Change by Design identifies the elements of leadership that position it irrevocably as a shared and democratic responsibility, Name the Frame provides a thorough checklist of questions to ensure this shared responsibility is exercised with honesty, justice, inclusion and fairness in mind.
Name the Frame is a set of 32 cards, each of which can operate as a lens or frame through which users can critically examine decisions and decision-making processes from different vantage points. Each card contains four or five questions which focus on potential blind spots in decision-making. For example, the cards identify such varied components as respect, sustainability, race, ethnicity, age, gender, environment, language, conventions, stereotypes, labels, fatalism, consultation and dialogue, as critical components of a truly shared model of leadership.
Strengths in Teams is another 'seriously optimistic' card set from Innovative Resources. This set of 28 colourful cards with cartoon-style illustrations uses gentle humour to explore the nature of teamwork and leadership. The resource is founded on the understanding that we all contribute strengths as individuals who are part of a team. But equally, being part of a well-functioning team builds upon our strengths and offers us access to new ones.
Each Strengths in Teams card features a key word and a colourful illustration that identifies an important dimension of teamwork and leadership-for example, energy, trust, communication and vision. Teams, groups, organisations and families can use the cards as catalysts for discussion about what they are doing well and what can be improved upon.
The 28 dimensions identified in Strengths in Teams complement the eight principles of Change by Design and create engaging and novel ways of enriching our conversations about the strengths inherent in shared leadership. |
