Ask Dr. Change

Phase IV of The Change Leader’s Roadmap is the Design Phase, where you take your Design Requirements from Phase III to determine the best solution to meet the needs of the future state. This high-level overview is key to ensuring you have a four-quadrant solution that will sustain its value once implemented. Details of the Design Phase are further outlined in Episode 41 of Ask Dr. Change. It covers in-depth the process, structure and requirements of this phase. Review that to embellish this episode so that you ensure you are taking a Conscious Change Leadership approach to Design. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Phase III of The Change Leader’s Roadmap: Assess the Situation to Determine Design Requirements enables the upcoming Design work for your project to be handled in the most informative and aligned way possible. In it, you are assessing relevant (four quadrant) aspects of the organization and its culture for what already support your desired future state, what blocks it and what might need to be added brand new. It also considers best practices from other organizations who have made this type of change, and importantly, requests input from your stakeholders and end-users. One unique addition to this phase is the determination of the leaders’ boundary conditions for the solution--what are the “givens” or lines in the sand the design scenario must respect. All this helps to align the people doing the design to know what the solution needs to meet to be successful, your Design Requirements. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Phase 2 of The Change Leader’s Roadmap is designed to inform, enroll and inspire your Project Community and all stakeholders of your project in making the effort successful. It highlights that the project will require changes in people’s mindsets and behavior, which is a unique and essential expectation at project launch. This phase then develops more detailed plans for both Communications and Engagement so that your stakeholders understand and know how they will be asked to contribute during the change process. Communicating the project’s desired outcomes, case for change and change strategy ensures this understanding as well as demonstrates that the old way of operating is about to end. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

The Change Leader’s Roadmap process has nine phases. This episode presents the critical Upstream work of Phase I: Prepare to Lead the Change. It outlines the six Activities of this Phase and reviews the work of the Tasks for each Activity. While the lengthiest Phase, it sets up the project for success and demonstrates the importance of the leaders engaging in the foundational work to do so. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

This episode launches an exclusive ten-part series on The Change Leader’s Roadmap, Being First’s world-class methodology for leading change projects. This approach, referred to as the CLR, is the most comprehensive guidance system for all magnitudes and types of change. It is a thinking discipline that provides strategic and operational step-by-step actions for your project from start to sustainable results. In this episode, I’ll walk you through the entire CLR’s nine phases and outline its Activities in logical process sequence while recommending best practices for launch, design, implementation and full adoption. In the next nine episodes, I will discuss each of the CLR’s nine phases in greater depth, including its Deliverables, Activities and Change Tasks. The CLR is not just another methodology; it’s an A to Z process roadmap for project success, expanding on the traditional actions of project management and change management. With 40+ years of proven experience, it is a guidance system to leading with a Conscious Change Leadership mindset and repertoire. Understanding it will allow you to tailor its breadth to match the needs of your unique project. So, whether you're new to change leadership or a seasoned pro, tune in to this series to learn how The Change Leader's Roadmap methodology can expand your approach to change. Get ready to discover what you need to take your projects to the next level! Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Dr. Diana Whitney is a global pioneer in the field of Appreciative Inquiry, a positive revolution radically transforming leadership and organizational change. Diana will share her journey to becoming a master consultant and coach in this space and offer guidance for leaders and consultants alike for making positive change in the world. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

With 30 years’ experience, Jeff Skipper has been around the block supporting leaders and consultants alike to enhance their approach to leading disruptive change. He has authored several books and training programs, including "Dancing with Disruption" and “High-Impact Workshops for Change Leaders." In this episode, Jeff candidly shares his journey and aspirations for driving higher levels of performance and returns through transformation. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Most change efforts struggle to get early traction without clarity, leadership and alignment. The Upstream stage of change is all about getting your initiatives off the ground with sound process and governance. This episode outlines the seven requirements for launching for success, each clarifying what it takes to set up a strong start, which leads to a better and faster finish. Accomplishing this early work is an investment that leaders, project teams, and consultants will want to do for every major initiative! Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Although every major change effort has a sponsor, not many sponsors fully understand the role, how to set up the effort for success, and provide clear guidance from start to completion. When consulting to sponsors, there are ten extremely important questions that can have them thinking more strategically, engaging more fully, and providing the kind of leadership their initiatives require. Come hear about these questions and consider the implications for getting your sponsor to embrace what their efforts need from them. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

All projects address designing the solution for the future state. However, most set up a Design Team or use consultants primarily of content experts to come up with their best recommendation. However, recall: “Having the solution is not the solution”! The design process directly impacts your ability to get the solution adopted and sustained. Content expertise, while essential, is not sufficient, especially if your project is transformational. To consciously address scope and design, we need to also clarify mindset, culture and stakeholder behavior, all required for a complete picture of how the new state needs to function. The episode discusses the importance of these competencies as well as expansion of the design process to ensure the best solution is generated and can be adopted and sustained. How do you address design and is it working for you? To watch the full video version of this podcast, please visit AskDrChange.com. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Using the ten most common mistakes as an assessment of your organization’s current reality in leading change is a powerful way to identify the costliest of the mistakes. Only then can leaders and internal change support resources look at how the mistakes come to happen and options for how to reduce their negative impact or avoid them completely. This episode takes each mistake and outlines several actions you might take to reduce or mitigate them. Leaders becoming aware of the mistakes and your organization’s rating against them can serve as a springboard to remedying them and up-leveling how your organization leads change and produces desired results. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Over 45 years of observing organizations undergoing major change, we have identified ten of the most common mistakes leaders make, and often repeat, to the detriment of their desired outcomes. This episode outlines these mistakes and discusses some of the underlying causes of them. It makes the case that most organizations can benefit from objectively assessing how they lead change against these mistakes and how they might need to uplevel their approach to supporting all major initiatives to succeed. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

While leading major change efforts is happening in all organizations, the effectiveness given the multitude of ways it is led produces vastly different results. This episode outlines making change a strategic discipline, much like Finance, Human Resources and IT. Change is not going away and it deserves strategic oversight to ensure all change is done in the most effective and efficient way. This is a major paradigm shift for leaders and all in-house change resources! We present and discuss five strategic disciplines for change and how each can support the organization to dramatically uplevel its methods and oversight of all major changes. This is enterprise level change at its highest! Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Joe Rafter has spent his career achieving results in a vast array of organizations and specializing the Change Leadership. In one chapter of his career, he stood up an Enterprise Change Management function at Pacific Gas and Electric. He is an advocate for leadership and personal self-awareness, modeling effective culture, and pursing true adoption in change. As the self-proclaimed “greatest advocate for football in America”, Joe has launched one of his most meaningful transformations, the National Football Alliance. He shares his vision for this new non-profit and his transformational strategy for setting it up. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Donna Brighton brings decades of experience to the change leadership field as well as self-mastery and continuous learning. She is a founding Board Member and Past-President of the Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP) helping to shape the profession. She empowers leaders and teams to unlock their full potential, consistently driving higher levels of performance and breakthrough outcomes. Donna is filled with tips and insights about how to lead your best life and do your most impactful work. Her perspectives on leadership and change are both rich with meaning and delightful! Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In Part II of Linda’s overview of organizational energy dynamics, she builds on doing an Energy Scan to identify and assess current energy dynamics in the organization undergoing change and explores strategies to mitigate or strengthen each of the five elements of energy on behalf of realigning them to produce your desired outcomes from change. She discusses ways to influence energy sources, channels, fields, environmental forces, and patterns, plus recommends conditions to support the positive flow of people’s energy in the direction of producing aspired results. While organizational energy is a non-traditional approach to leading change, understanding it and mastering its strategies are powerful skills to have in your change leadership repertoire. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Linda shares this powerful, non-traditional approach to assessing the ability of an organization to achieve results from change---through understanding and influencing the organization’s energy dynamics. Linda describes organizational energy as the fuel to make change happen and outlines five elements of energy dynamics that exist in every organization. These elements can be identified, evaluated as for or against your change outcomes, and influenced to enable the flow of people’s energy to manifest in results. Come learn about this alternative way of seeing what is supporting or hindering your efforts to succeed at change. It’s grounded, proven and very real. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Jake Jacobs has been around the change block many times over. One of his greatest contributions in the field of Large-Scale Change Interventions is Real-Time Strategic Change. Jake shares with Linda hs history, current work focus, and advice on the next edge of the Change field for both leaders and consultants. Come meet the man and hear his insights! To watch the full video version of this podcast, please visit AskDrChange.com. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Most Change Management practitioners rightly focus a lot of energy and attention on managing their stakeholders to overcome resistance and adopt the future state. While helpful, this does not guarantee generating the amount of momentum required for a project to achieve its desired outcomes. This episode introduces how to create a critical mass of energy to support project success. By identifying and managing a project’s supporters, fence-sitters and resistors each in special ways, momentum can be generated and sustained. Linda describes the energetic dynamics and actions to create a critical mass for change, including increasing energy for the change and reducing energy against the change. Subtle, real and powerful! Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

How to ensure your transformational changes succeed? In this episode, Dr. Dean Anderson and Linda (Dr. Change), founders of this work, describe Being First’s Leading Transformational Change online program that features ten best practice strategies essential for succeeding at transformational change. They describe the essence of each strategy and the real situations that prompted the need for them, including case examples of their power in catalyzing breakthroughs in how leaders have led their transformational changes. Gleaning from five decades of experience, Dean and Linda give you the “what and the why” of each strategy and invite you to learn the pragmatics of “how” in the course. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.