As presented for the March 27, 2014 KM Solutions Showcase™ Conference: Arlington, Virginia, USA People are innately social, so why not use innately social methods to empower informal and formal knowledge management practices? Learn how to FRAME an approach to adaptive, people centered change and knowledge management. The session will include Open Space Technology (OST), a flexible, energy-led method useful for problem solving as well as learning, providing timely, KM friendly results. If you aspire to an organizational culture that values giving and shared learning, then review this OST-assisted session set of slides for insights.

1. FRAME
an Energized Approach to
Adaptive Change,
Smart Process and
Lasting Results
Deb Nystrom, REVELN Consulting
Knowlege Management Institute, Arlington, VA
Thursday, March 27, 2014
@dnrevel
@REVELNConsults
@AgileChange
@ChangeTools

2. Disciplines – Which Lense?
• Change Management,
• Project Management,
• Knowlege Management,
• Organizational Learning
• Organization Effectiveness /
Organization Development
• Group Dynamics - Groups & Teams
Facilitation
@ChangeTools

3. Views of Change Management
Mariana Tomas Flickr-cc

4. « I will adapt. »
« Many change projects fail, and the most commonly cited reason is neglect of the human dimensions of
change. This neglect often centres around a lack of insight into why people are unhappy with organisational
change, a poor appreciation of the process of change, and a limited knowledge of the tools and techniques
that are available to help. » Statement from a university 2008 Change Toolkit
REVELN.com Photo: by frankula Flickr-cc

5. Adaptive Change
• Think about a recent
“adaptive change”
you’ve made
successfully?
• How did it feel at first?
• Were the a few
emotions or many?
• What made a difference
in helping the change
succeed?
@ChangeTools

6. Adaptive vs. Technical Change
• Technical change
involves installing
solutions to
problems for which
you know the
answers.
@ChangeTools
• Adaptive change is
about addressing
problems for which you
don’t yet know the
solutions, often requiring
not only changes in
behaviors or
preferences, but also
hearts and minds, which
can result in the
transformation of the
system.
Source: Fullan (2003, 2005)
cites Heifetz and Linsky (2002)
to distinguish between
technical and adaptive change.

10. Flexibility,
Adapting to
Change
To Reach the
Real Finish
Line

11. F – Flexibility, The Real, Far Further
Finish Line
• Sustainability &
Reinforcement are
The Real Finish Line
in Change Projects
• 2014 Study: Only
44% reported that
resources were
allocated to this
effort.
• Process AND Project
Results
@ChangeTools

12. Flexibility/Adaptability to
Change
Definition
• Responds positively to and champions
change to others;
• Demonstrates an ability to incorporate
innovative practices into the workplace
to enhance effectiveness and efficiency.
ORGANIZATIONAL COMPETENCY #6 (Out of 8)
University of Michigan, Business & Finance

13. Flexibility,
Adapting to
Change
To Reach the
Real Finish
Line
John Kotter’s 8 Steps
Step 1: Increase Urgency
Step 2: Build the Guiding Team
Step 3: Get the Vision Right
Step 4: Communicate for Buy-In
Step 5: Empower Action
Step 6: Create Short-Term Wins
Step 7: Don't Let Up
Step 8: Make Change
Stick
@ChangeTools

14. Source: William Bridges – Transitions

15. Outdated
or
Classic?
Kurt
Lewin
@ChangeTools

16. Mash-Ups?
From a
Change
Toolkit:
Beginning
• when the new
way feels
comfortable,
right and the
only way
Example:
having a baby.
After a few
months in the
neutral zone of
turmoil, you
come to a
stage when you
cannot imaging
life without your
new baby.
@ChangeTools

17. Vision Resources
Action
Plan
Skills Incentives Change
Resources
Action
Plan
Skills Incentives Confusion
Vision Resources
Action
Plan
Incentives Anxiety
Vision Resources
Action
Plan
Skills No
Change
Vision
Action
Plan
Skills Incentives Frustration
Vision ResourcesSkills Incentives
False
Starts
Complex Change Model – Dr. Mary Lippitt

18. Models

19. PROSCI & ADKAR

20. Organizational Change
Change Models
S Kurt Lewin’s 3 Stage Model: Unfreeze, Change,
Refreeze
S Bridges Three Stage Model (Endings, Neutral Zone,
New Beginnings)
S DVF Model for Change
S Preferred Future, Planned Change Model
S Dr. Mary Lippitt’s Complex Change Model
S Jeffery M. Hiatt ADKAR Model (Prosci)
S Daryl Conner’s Change Curve
S John Kotter’s 8 Stages of Change
@ChangeTools

21. Organizational Change
Large Scale Change References:
S Theory U, Otto Sharmer
S The Change Handbook, Editors: Holman, Devane
S Whole Scale Change, Kathie Dannemiller,
Dannemiller-Tyson
S Managing at the Speed of Change, Daryl Conner
S Leading Change, John Kotter
@ChangeTools

24. Factors?
• Stable team
• Right number of
people
• Clear vision
• Well-defined
roles and
responsibilities
• Appropriate
rewards
• Recognition and
resources
• Strong
leadership
www.REVELN.com Photo: by Wade Brooks, Flickr

25. The single strongest predictor of
group effectiveness
Article: Adam Grant, Givers take all: The hidden dimension of
corporate culture, April 2013 (McKinsey)

26. The highest-performing teams invest extensive
time and energy in coaching, teaching and
consulting with their colleagues, fostering a
“giver” culture
Photo: by Ekaterina Sotova Flickr.jpg

29. Anti-Fragile
Some things benefit from
shocks; they thrive and
grow when exposed to
volatility, randomness,
disorder, and stressors and
love adventure, risk, and
uncertainty.
...Yet, there is no word for
the exact opposite of
fragile.
Let us call it antifragile.
Antifragile: Things that Gain
from Disorder - Taleb, Nassim
Nicholas
M i c h e l l e R o g e r s ,
2 1s t C e n t u r y M e d i a
@ChangeTools

30. “It is not the strongest of the species that survives,
nor the most intelligent ....It is the one that is the
most adaptable to change.” ~ Charles Darwin
Photo: by praline3001 Flickr

31. Photos: Sponge, by rob.knight Flickr cc
_______
Beyond
Resilience
@ChangeTools

32. Adapt to a VUCA World
• Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and
Ambiguous – Bob Johansen
• Includes “Black Swan” events –
Nassim Taleb
• “Large-scale unpredictable and
irregular events of massive
consequence.”
www.REVELN.com

33. Key paradox: “Our focus on removing or
minimizing randomness has actually had the
perverse effect of increasing fragility.”
Photo: by Tamsin Slater, Flickr

35. “It is as if the mission of modernity was to
squeeze every drop of variability and
randomness out of life— with the ironic result of
making the world a lot more
unpredictable, as if the goddesses of chance
wanted to have the last word.”
― Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

39. Model by Stephen Denning,
the former Program Director of Knowledge Management at the World Bank
His original model, Organizational Tools for Changing Minds – is posted on
“There’s No Such Thing as Leadership? Pull, Influence and ‘Open Space’ vs. Power” - REVELN.com
Vision,
Storytelling,
Persuasion,
Conversa4ons,
Role-­‐Modeling
Inspira4on
Tradi&on
Ritual
Management
Systems
Informa&on
Coercion
Threats
Fiat
Punishments
In&mida&on
Negotiation
Strategic
Planning....
Incentives
Control
Systems
Promotion.....

40. Summary Simplicity
FRAME
1. Start the Conversations, Share the Concepts AND
Research Results > Energy, Process, Project,
Sustaining Results
2. Start with Yourself: Model Individual, Group & Team
Help-Seeking & Giving
3. Build aspirational values
through connecting with other with Other Givers!
4. Hire “Givers,” Model & coach “Matchers,” and
Screen out “Takers”
Fire Hydrant Conversation, by ohhector, People by Radarsmum67, Flickr

41. Freedom is actually
a bigger game than power.
Power is about
what you can control.
Freedom is about
what you
can unleash.
~ Harriet Rubin
"Freedom" by Dee Teal - Flickr cc

42. What is Open Space
Technology?
REVELN.com & KM Solutions Showcase™
H. H. Owen’s
assumptions:
• If the boss orders it,
not much will get
done.
• The best way to get
something done is to
give it to those who
have a passion for it.

43. Open Space Technology
Principles:
1. Whoever comes are the
right people.
2. Whatever happens is
the only thing that
could have.
3. Whenever it starts is
the right time.
4. When it’s over, it’s over.
43
The Law
of Two Feet

44. What
challenged
you?
What
inspired
you?
What
surprised
you?
44
Reflection &Wrap-Up

45. Partial Biography
• Book: Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder,
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, 2012 (Has a Facebook page)
• Article: Givers Take All: The hidden dimension of
corporate culture. April 2013 | by Adam Grant , McKinsey
Quarterly
• Visit Deb’s REVELN.com TOOLS page for a newsletter
preview, links to Books & Articles including “Change and
Anti-Fragile”
REVELN.com & KM Solutions Showcase™

46. “Organizations are
webs of participation.
Change the patterns of participation,
and you change the organization . . .
At the heart of participation
is the mind and spirit of
the knowledge worker.
~ John Seely Brown
& Estee Solomon Gray
@ChangeTools

47. ...Put simply, you cannot
compel enthusiasm and commitment
from knowledge workers.
Only workers who choose to opt in
—who voluntarily make a commitment
to their colleagues
—can create a winning company.”
~ John Seely Brown & Estee Solomon Gray,
“The People Are the Company” – Fast Company
Cited in Beyond Performance Management,
by Jeremy Hope & Steve Player (2012)
Deb Nystrom REVELN.com