How to be a great change agent

How to be a great change agent
Helen Bevan
Chief Transformation Officer
@HelenBevan
#SHCR
#CANsurgery
and staying in it:

“New truths begin as heresies”
(Huxley, defending Darwin’s theory of natural selection)
Source of image:
installation by the
artist Adam Katz
www.thisiscolossal.com
Via @NeilPerkin

@HelenBevan #SCHR #CANsurgery
Starts on the fringe
(at the edge)
Starts with the activists
Gary Hamel
always

SEISMIC SHIFTS
Change from the edge

Leading change in a new era
Dominant approach Emerging direction

Leading change in a new era
Dominant approach Emerging direction
Most health and
care transformation
efforts are driven
from this side

John Kotter, the most influential thought leader
globally, recognises new approaches are needed
FROM

John Kotter: “Accelerate!”
• We won’t create big change
through hierarchy on its own
• We need hierarchy AND network
• Many change agents, not just a
few, with many acts of leadership
• At least 50% buy-in required
• Changing our mindset
• From “have to” to “want to”
TO

From “have to” to “want to”
Source of image s:www.slideshare.net/mexicanwave/champions-trolls-10-years-
of-the-cipd-online-community

The Network Secrets of Great Change Agents
Julie Battilana &Tiziana Casciaro
1. As a change agent, my centrality in the informal
network is more important than my position in
the formal hierarchy
2. If you want to create small scale change, work
through a cohesive network
If you want to create big change, create
bridge networks between disconnected groups

is the new normal!
“By questioning existing ideas, by
opening new fields for action,
change agents actually help
organisations survive and adapt
to the 21st Century.”
Céline Schillinger
Image by neilperkin.typepad.com

What happens to
heretics/radicals/rebels/mavericks
in organisations?
Source of image: findingmyself.net

Ostracism is experienced in the brain as
deeply as physical pain

What is a rebel?
•The principal champion of a change initiative, cause
or action
•Rebels don’t wait for permission to lead, innovate,
strategise
•They are responsible; they do what is right
•They name things that others don’t
see yet
•They point to new horizons
•Without rebels, the storyline never
changes
Source : @PeterVan http://t.co/6CQtA4wUv1

We need boatrockers!
• Rock the boat but manage to
stay in it
• Walk the fine line between
difference and fit, inside and
outside
• Able to challenge the status
quo when we see that there
could be a better way
• Conform AND rebel
• Capable of working with others
to create success NOT a
destructive troublemaker
Source: Debra Meyerson

Source : Lois Kelly www.rebelsatwork.com
There’s a big difference between a rebel
and a troublemaker
Rebel

Reflection
• What are your insights around “rebels” and
“troublemakers”?
• What moves people from being “rebel” to
“troublemaker”?
• How do we protect against this?

"There’s only one
corner of the
universe you can
be certain of
improving, and
that’s your own
self."
Aldous Huxley
Source of image: timcoffeyart.wordpress.com

1. able to join forces with others to create action
2. able to achieve small wins which create a sense
of hope, possibility and confidence
3. More likely to view obstacles as challenges to
overcome
4. strong sense of “self-efficacy”
 belief that I am personally able to create the change
Four things we know about successful
boat rockers
Source: adapted from Debra E Meyerson
CHANGE
me
BEGINS WITH

Self-efficacy
There is a positive, significant
relationship between the
self-efficacy beliefs of a
change agent and her/his
ability to facilitate change
and get good outcomes
Source of image:www.h3daily.com

Source: @NHSChangeDay

Source: @NHSChangeDay
What is the issue here?
“permission” ?
(externally generated)
or
Self efficacy ?
(internally generated)

What’s the difference between
self efficacy
and
self esteem,
self belief,
self-confidence?

Building self-efficacy: some tactics
1. Create change one small step at a time
2. Reframe your thinking:
• failed attempts are learning opportunities
• uncertainty becomes curiousity
3. Make change routine rather than an exceptional
activity
4. Get social support
5. Learn from the best

@HelenBevan #SCHR #CANsurgeryImage copyright: http://13c4.wordpress.com/2007/02/24/50-reasons-not-to-change/

http://www.slideshare.net/AndreaWaltz/gfn-
slidesharegfnhandling-rejectionpositively

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/AndreaWaltz/gfn-slidesharegfnhandling-rejectionpositively

@HelenBevan #SCHR #CANsurgerySource: http://www.slideshare.net/AndreaWaltz/gfn-slidesharegfnhandling-rejectionpositively

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/AndreaWaltz/gfn-slidesharegfnhandling-rejectionpositively
Make it a personal
PERFORMANCE target.

Research from the Sales industry:
How many NOs should we be seeking to get?
• 2% of sales are made on the first contact
• 3% of sales are made on the second contact
• 5% of sales are made on the third contact
• 10% of sales are made on the fourth contact
• 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth
contact
Source: http://www.slideshare.net/bryandaly/go-for-no

“Papers that are more likely to contend against
the status quo are more likely to find an opponent
in the review system—and thus be rejected —but
those papers are also more likely to have an
impact on people across the system, earning them
more citations when finally published”
V. Calcagno et al., “Flows of research manuscripts among
scientific journals reveal hidden submission patterns,”
Science, doi:10.1126/science.1227833, 2012.
—

A disruptive
case study:
Probably the biggest day of collective action for
improvement in the history of the NHS
Creating a mass movement of people working together in
and with the NHS demonstrating the difference they can
make, by one simple act for sustainable improvement

Anyone can make a change to improve health and care.
NHS Change Day supports these people by celebrating
and sharing their actions, so that they can then inspire
others.
Change Day supports innovative campaigns and ideas
by building connections and communities of support.
On Wednesday 11 March we’ll celebrate
these changes for the better on
NHS Change Day.
How does it work?

http://www.theedge.nhsiq.nhs.uk/school/
Module 1:
Being a health and care radical:
Change starts with me
Supported by

Many people have shared
their stories to inspire others
#100daysofchange

Many people have shared their stories to
inspire others.
The children’s asthma service in
Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale,
which is part of Pennine Care NHS
Foundation Trust, consists of two
Paediatric Asthma Nurse
Specialists who work within a
Children’s Community Team.
They started a Facebook page to
deliver asthma advice and gentle
reminders for young people and
their parents.
http://changeday.nhs.uk/story34

Doctors and nurses who work with older
people at University Hospital Leicester
wore continence pads for a day to see
how it feels for their patients.
They wore the pad for eleven hours and
along with the continence specialist
nurses did ‘use’ it to know exactly how
their patients feel.
Continence pads for a day

In 2014, Countess of Chester Hospital
decided to make a very simple change in
its paint work to become Dementia
friendly, after advice from their painter
and decorator Rob McWhinnie.
It costs no more to paint in dementia
friendly colours. Rob McWhinnie told us
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter
what colour I use to paint with, the price
is still the same.”
http://changeday.nhs.uk/story69
Dementia-friendly paint

“Tomorrow’s
management systems
will need to value
diversity, dissent and
divergence as highly as
conformance, consensus
and cohesion.”
Gary Hamel
Source of image: www.fastcompany.com

As you create your roadmap for the
future, make sure you are part of the
steamroller, not part of the road
Saavik Wilcox-Hamilton
Source of quote: http://slidesha.re/1B6jrZw
“
“

1. Follow on Twitter
@HelenBevan
@NHSIQ
2. Subscribe to
3. Register for The School for Health and Care Radicals:
www.theedge.nhsiq.nhs.uk/school
4. Stay tuned for a forthcoming announcement about
Change Day in BC #ChangeDayBC
TheEdge.nhsiq.nhs.uk
Four ways to connect!
@School4Radicals
@TheEdgeNHS

References and links
Baron A (2014) Preparing for a changing world: the power of relationships
Battilano J, Casciaro T (2013) The network secrets of the great change agents
Harvard Business Review, July-August
Bevan H, Plsek P, Winstanley (2011) Leading Large Scale Change - Part 1, A
Practical Guide
Bevan H (2011) Leading Large Scale Change - Part 2, The Postscript
Bevan H, Fairman S (2014) The new era of thinking and practice in change and
transformation, NHS Improving Quality
Change Agents Worldwide (2013) Moving forward with social collaboration
SlideShare
Diaz-Uda A, Medina C, Schill E (2013) Diversity’s new frontier
Fuda P (2012) 15 qualities of a transformational change agent
Grant, M (2014) Humanize: How people centric organisations succeed in a social
world http://prezi.com/usju20i0nzhd/humanize-how-people-centric-
organizations-succeed-in-a-social-world/
Hamel G (2014)Why bureaucracy must die
Jarche, H (2013) Rebels on the edges

Jarche H (2014) Moving to the edges
Kotter J (2014) Accelerate! Harvard Business Review Press
Merchant N (2013) eleven rules for creating value in the social era
Llopis G (2014) Every leader must be a change agent or face extinction
Meyerson D (2001) Tempered Radicals: how people use differences to inspire change
at work Harvard
Meyerson D (2008) Rocking the boat: how to effect change without making trouble
Harvard BP
Perkins N (2014) Bats and pizzas (agility and organisational change)
Schillinger C (2014) Top-Down is a Serious Disease. But It Can Be Treated
School for health and Care radicals (2014) www.changeday.nhs.uk/healthcareradicals
Shinners C (2014) New Mindsets for the Workplace Web
Stoddard J (2014)The future of leadership
Williams B (2014) Working Out Loud: When You Do That… I Do This
Weber Shandwick (2014) Employees rising: seizing the opportunity in employee
activism
Verjans S (2013) How social media changes the way we work together
References and links

How to be a great change agent

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