The only "best practice" for change management is accepting the un-certainty that comes with complex change. Here are some tips for how to create your own custom change management framework by picking practices from different tools and frameworks

1. B U I L D ING YOU R OWN
CHANGE FRAMEWORK
WWW.L E A N C H A N G E . O RG

2. ASSESSING YOUR CHANGE
RE-ORG
MERGER
MASS
LAYOFFS
BIG
BANG
AGILE
PILOT
AGILE
TEAM
PILOT
AGILE
TEAM
BUSINESS
PROCESS
TOOL
BUSINESS
PROCESS
TOOL
BIG
SIZE OF ORGANIZATION
SMALL
BUSINESS
PROCESS
TOOL
UNCERTAINTY & COMPLEXITY
LOW DISRUPTION HIGH
All changes are not equal. Change in large organizations causes more disruption
which increases un-certainty and complexity. When implementing multiple changes,
map out the relative uncertainty and complexity between changes.

3. PACE OF CHANGE AND rISK TOLERANCE
INDUSTRY PACE OF CHANGE STAKEHOLDERS
An organization in a fast-paced industry that is constantly
innovating with stakeholders that have a high tolerance for
risk can get away with less formal approaches for change.
- less planning upfront
- focus on small experiments
- more feedback-driven (reactive)
- less formal reporting and process
INDUSTRY PACE OF CHANGE STAKEHOLDERS
Implications: constant chaos, can
lead to thrashing and burnout.
An organization in a slow-paced industry that takes pride in
process and planning will naturally have conservative
stakeholders.
- focus on big up-front planning
- “best practice” thinking
- likes “industry standards”
- formal reports, process
- change team is responsible for the change, not the people
Implications: nothing actually
changes. Focus on process over
meaningful change.

4. PACE OF CHANGE AND rISK TOLERANCE
INDUSTRY PACE OF CHANGE STAKEHOLDERS
An organization in a fast-paced industry that is constantly
innovating with conservative stakeholders.
- more formal
- culture confusion
- mis-alignement between execs and staff
INDUSTRY PACE OF CHANGE STAKEHOLDERS
Implications: frustration due to
inability to keep pace with the
industry.
An organization in a slow-paced industry that takes pride in
process and planning with an action-oriented primary
stakeholder.
- too much focus on action
- rapid and frequent changes in strategy
- alienation of “voice of reason” (conservative stakeholder)
Implications: culture shock,
leadership style at odds with “the
way things work around here”

5. BLAST RADIUS
How is the current hierarchy
affected?
Who is directly, and in-directly
affected? Who has influence
over who?
What (and who!) is supporting
or holding back the change?

6. CREATING YOUR TOOLKIT
MORE CERTAINTY LESS CERTAINTY
- Stronger emphasis on feedback
- Lean coffee: less formal approach for creating awareness
and supporting people
- Agile retrospectives: using feedback from people affected
by the change as input into the next wave of planning
- Big visualizations
- More creative marketing of the change
- Stronger emphasis on planning
- Traditional communication (email, newsletters, intranet site)
- Longer feedback loops
- “Best practice” thinking
CONSERVATIVE STAKEHOLDERS LIBERAL STAKEHOLDERS
- More formal reporting (paper-based, intranet)
- Optics of using “best of breed” can be important
- More planning, less action
- Big visible walls (or portable ones given logistical
challenges)
- Executive Lean Coffee: gives staff direct access to
stakeholders
- Monthly roadshows or internal conferences
- Status and progress discussed at Big Visible Wall
TRADITIONAL TOOLS
AGILE TOOLS
CUSTOM TOOLS
ADKAR, McKinsey,
Traditional project
planning, GANNT
Blast Radius, ADKAR Charts
survey (not the
execution
framework), Impact
Mapping, Change
Agent networks
Lean Coffee,
Retrospectives, Big
Visible Information
Radiators, Daily
Standups
mix and match

7. ONE LAST THING…
When considering tactical execution options, ask yourself these questions:
How often should the change team meet?
How often should the change strategy be reviewed?
How many in-progress changes should the change team work on?
How often should progress be reported to sponsors and stakeholders?
How will we support the change agent network? (if necessary)
Those answers will help the change team:
Get into a rhythm
Effectively communicate with sponsors, stakeholders and change recipients
Get aligned about tactics
Manage the un-certainty better

8. OH, SORRY, ONE MORE THING!
The “best practice” is the one you create based on running experiments in your
organization.
Over time, you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t, given your organization’s
unique attributes.

9. lIKE WHAT YOU SEE?
"This is a key piece of work for further advancing
agile, lean and change management. It's a must read
for anyone starting a transformation" - Jamie
Longmuir, Agile Practitioner
Lean Change Management is a collection of innovative
practices for managing organizational change. It
combines ideas from Lean Startup, Agile, Neuroscience
and traditional change management to create a
feedback-driven approach to change that can be
adapted to any organization.
Get the Book

10. WWW.L EANCHANGE.ORG