W.H.Bender Quote 62 - Always strive to be a Hospitality Service professional
Creative Change Agent
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Becoming a Creative Change Agent:
A Job Description for Staying One Step Ahead of Process
Improvement Effort
Al Bennett
Software Engineering Manager,
SEPG Chairperson
SEI Authorized Lead Assessor
ITT Aerospace/Communications Division
100 Kingsland Road
Clifton, NJ 07014
(973) 284-2816
abennett@acdnj.itt.com
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Champions for Change
The Advocate “I am convinced we need to change. I will find ways to
convince others, especially senior management?
The President “I must transform the organization to survive. This will result
in improved performance”
The Official Designated Change Agent “I want to see this transformation
process work really well and make his a great place for every one to work.
I will learn a lot.”
Management “We all want to see improvements. We are all ready doing the
best we know how. We need to find a better way.”
The Activist “This place sure needs some changes. I’m not going to sit
around and wait for someone else to make the first move.”
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• Introduce ITT Industries A/CD
• Describe 8 stages of successful
improvement effort
• Skills needed for the change agent
• Techniques for creative thinking
• Creating a new culture
Agenda
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ITT Industries Aerospace/Communications
• Space Borne Payloads
• Wireless Communications
• Network Solutions
• Embedded Real Time Software
• Approximately 100 Software Engineers, NJ
45 Software Engineers, IN
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8 Stages - John P. Kotter Leading Change
1 Establishing a sense of urgency
2 Creating a guiding coalition
3 Developing a vision and strategy
4 Communicating the change vision
5 Empowering for broad based action
6 Generating short term wins
7 Consolidating gains and producing more
change
8 Anchoring the new approaches in the culture
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Stage # Theme for organizational change
• Summary statement
• What ITT A/CD did - discussion of lessons
learned
• Change Agent Skills - what are the skills
needed to be successful
• Creative Keys - Techniques to unlock
creativity
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Stage 1 Create a Sense of Urgency
• Identify the business market realities,
competition, major opportunities
• ITT - need to fix the place, process maturity,
cycle time, and rework became metrics
• Change Agent Skills - Communication,
integrity, knowledge, identify cost of doing
nothing
• Creative Keys - competition, exaggeration,
stress, deadlines, 20 questions,seek wild
unusual ideas
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Stage 2 Combine Forces
• Assemble a group with sufficient power to
lead the improvement effort, get them to work
as a team
• ITT – Extended SEPG
• Change Agent – Team leadership,
delegation, trust
• Creative Keys- Choosing Sides, Rhyme Time,
brainstorming, looking for synergy, Look for
metaphor, turn negative into positive
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Stage 3 Collaborate on the vision
• Create a vision to direct the organization to
common goals, and develop a strategy to
meet those goals
• ITT – Vision , objectives, goals and strategy,
5 strategic teams, Action Plan
• Change Agent – dreaming, analytical
thinking, persistence
• Creative Keys - taking a nap, dreaming,
thinking of what might be, improvisation
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Stage 4 Communicate the change vision
• Continuously communicate, using various
means, SEPG models new behavior
• ITT – new role for functional area managers –
process owners
• Change Agent – Walk the talk, Write the
right, Sing the …., Dance …., Act …..,Direct
• Creative Keys – Do something different,
Diversify the environment
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Stage 5 Commission the Marching Army
• Empower the organization, change structures
and systems
• ITT – process documentation, measurement
plan, value of defect data, Training Plan
• Change Agent - dragon slayer, confrontation,
risk taking, Director, Commander, Coach
• Creative Keys – Follow the Leader, Simon
Says, slaying dragons and sacred cows
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Stage 6 Commending Success
• Generate short term wins, the value of the
pilot project
• ITT – show case the successful projects, ROI
• Change Agent - Data Collection, Prospecting
for profound knowledge in the process,
Communication upward and downward,
planning for success
• Creative Keys – Papers on the refrigerator,
Celebrate, Pizza
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Stage 7 Consolidating and Continuing
• Using success to gain credibility and change
more systems and structures
• ITT – bring process improvement to other
disciplines , locations
• Change Agent – Mentoring, training hiring
promoting and developing other change
agents,
• Creative Keys - Simon Says, Red Rover,
Take a Nature Walk
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Stage 8 Cementing the Change in the
Culture
• Creating the culture for continuous process
improvement
• ITT – Cycle Time Reduction reflected in new
projects, Best Practices Symposium
• Change Agent – Courage to change people ,
Communicating connections between new
behavior and organization’s success, life long
learning,
• Creative Keys – Connect the dots, “Mother
May I”, Rewards and promotions, Break
Rooms
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Wanted Creative Change Agent
Actual descriptions from want ads
Able to move org forward Innovative Questions everything
Aggressive Intuitive Radical
Assertive Jester Re engineering
Black Belt Judgement Redefine your role
Bring change Kid’s play Reputation
“Can Do” Attitude Kindness Resolve issues
Coaching Skills Know how to have fun Risk Taker
Communication Skills Knowledge of CMM Set Strategic Direction
Creative individual Leadership Skills Statistician
Deploy improvements Management Skills Six Sigma Methods
Determination Managerial Courage Teacher
Direction Setter Measurement Expert Team Builder
Dissatisfaction w Status Quo Motivator Team Leader
Dreamer Negotiate with management Team leader
Energetic Optimistic Team Player
Enthusiastic Organized
Evangelist Out of the box thinking Unorthodox
Fun loving Overcome resistance Unusual approach
History of bringing change
to organization Patience Value based management
Imagination Persistence Value-added
Initiative Positive Motivator Visionary
Program Manager Zealous
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Transform your problem
S C A M P E R
• Substitute
– swap out parts, materials, ingredients, segments
• Combine
– Blend, ingredients, ideas, approaches
• Adapt
– Borrow an idea from a competitor
• Magnify or Minimize
– smaller, larger, stronger, weaker
• Put to other uses
– How many uses of baking soda
• Eliminating
– remove steps, parts, materials to create something new
• Reverse or Rearrange
– look at your resources or problem from another angle
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Creative Change Agent
Process/Skills/Tools Matrix
Change Step ITT Example Creative Change
Agent Role/Style
Job Skills Diversity Creative Suggestions Change My….
Crisis,
Create a Sense of
Urgency
“Fix the Place”
No Fun
Conscience
Whistle blower
Cheerleader
Communications,
Diverse Media
Play Bring Value Model
New Behavior Roast
the Organization
Change my
perspective
Combine Forces,
Create a powerful
Change Coalition
Functional Managers
become change
agents
Coach
Catalyst
Connector
Delegation, get best
from others,
Synergy
People Fun, Humor, Turn
negative into positive
What everyone else
doesn’t Share Credit
“What a Great Idea”
Change my approach
Create a Vision
Clear picture of the
future
Clear Goal: Reduce
Cycle Time by
eliminating Waste,
World Class
Coach
Facilitator
Visionary
Dreamer
Keep the end in view,
Action Planning
Physical Improv – agreement
Visualize problem
solved
Imagine
Change my
prospective
Communicate
Change Vision
Newsletters
Coffee Talks
Quarterly Reports
Cheerleader Artist Evangelist Educator Performing Arts
Music
Holiday Pageant
“Do something
Different”
Diversify the
environment
Change my Leisure
Commission
Empowered Army
Rework data
collection
Strategy Teams
Compliance Charts
Captain
Crusader, Warrior
Risk-taker
Courage Risk taker
Patience
Think Win-Win
Spiritual Slay Dragon – myths
at work “We do not
have to fear ______
anymore”
Change my friends
Commend Success
Plan for short term
wins
Quarterly Metrics,
Rework to Process
Improvement
Certify
Builder
Cantaloupe- Grower
Celebrate
Credibility
Reading Journal, Reward
Success, Share the
credit,
Transform it
Change environment
Consolidate Wins
and Produce More
Do not sit on success
further improvement
needed
Conductor
Choreographer
Innovator
Explorer
Persistence
Prospector
Technology Think like … “How
would nature solve
this problem?
Change my values
Cement Change in
Culture
Create a climate for
Change
Cycle time reduction
reflected in bids,
Best Practices
Symposium
Conscience
Cheerleader Catalyst
Coach
Passion for Quality
Promote those who
“Personify” new
values
Travel Do things differently
Break rooms
Rewards
Change my job
description,
Change what the org
values
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Al Bennett
Software Engineering Manager,
SEPG Chairperson
SEI Authorized Lead Assessor
ITT Aerospace/Communications Division
100 Kingsland Road
Clifton, NJ 07014
(973) 284-2816
abennett@acdnj.itt.com
Comments?
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Resources
• Enlightened Leadership Ed Oakley and Doug Krug
• Leading Change John Kotter
• 6 Thinking Hats Edward DeBono
• The Change Agents Handbook David W. Hutton
• Managing Martians Donna Shirley
• ASTD Trainer’s Sourcebook Creativity and Innovation
Eliane Biech
• Whack On The Side Of The Head Roger Von Oech
• A kick In The Seat Of The Pants Roger Von Oech
• Why Didn’t I Think of That Roger L. Firestien
• Leading On The Creative Edge Roger L. Firestien
• Aha 10 Ways To Free Your Creative Spirit Jordan
Ayan
• What A Great Idea Charles Thompson
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White Hat: Neutral and objective, concerned with facts and figures
Red Hat: the emotional view
Black Hat: careful and cautious
Yellow Hat: sunny and positive
Green Hat: fertile growth, creativity, new ideas
Blue Hat: cool, the color of the sky, above everything else, organizing,process
Ed De Bono’s 6 Thinking Hats
Editor's Notes
This area the change agent must get the change advocate the sponsor to present the vision. Reach level 3 by 2003. Many times. Say it , write it, present it in variuos forms. My sponsor reiterated his goal, fix the place. The goal was not a number, maturity level it was improvement. Measurable improvement. Continuos improvement.
What are the various ways to communicate the vision? Department Meetings,
Newsletter, Web pages, Email, bathroom walls.
John Norquist, the mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has made a career overturning the conventional political thinking. For ten years he has been forging a new way to run his city - faster, cheaper, better. He wants to build a better quality of life not just raise a lot of money. In fact he is not interested in getting more federal funds. “The goal is the success of the people of Milwaukee”, he says, “not the growth of government The idea is for people to thrive. We organize our efforts to add value to people’s lives.” Success, Norquist says, should be measured by outcomes. City spending has been reduced by 20% and the city payroll has been cut by 10%. Unemployment has dropped to about 4.5%, property values have increased by 7.5% and crime is at its lowest level since the mid 1980s.
Noquist has asked city managers to answer the question what is the purpose of this organization? The answer is simple to add value to the lives of Milwaukee’s citizens. For the police department a three page mission statement was replaced by “to reduce crime and improve the quality of life”
By encouraging competition and choice for city services the school voucher system he believes stimulates quality and creativity. Source: fast company issue 20 page 158.
There is tremendous value of artistic expression. Find ways to express your creative spirit, be involved in amateur theater, dance, music, art, reading.
Any artists, actors, artisans, anthropologists, archeologists?
The Arts help do the following:
Liberate the child in you.
Learn to see things differently
Explore your fantasies, daydreams and visions
Define your own style
Relax and eliminate stress
Clear away problems that interfere with our creativity
Acknowledge the importance of process, not product
Source: “Aha 10 ways To Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas” Jordan Ayan
Keeping things in perspective is important for the change agent. Humor and fun are important for relieving stress and for bringing creative ides to the work place. Many have recognized that many new, fresh ideas are generated when a fun or humorous environment is created. There are many ways to transform your organization. Poke fun at your company or product. Write a parody of a regular meeting or the company newsletter. Have a fun room, or a toy box in your office. Where a funny tie, wacky earrings.
What are the institutions and practices that the organization holds dear for no other reason than that is the way we have always done it? It takes many in the organization to change their ways and provide the momentum for lasting change.
The ITT VP enlisted the aid of the functional managers and told them they were empowered to identify and change what ever was necessary to accomplish the goals, reduced cycle time and improve the quality of work.
Here the change agent needs to feel empowered or have enough courage to take on some very well established and entrenched practices. When others are venturing outside their scope of authority to influence other groups they need the encouragement and support of their advisors,advocates, sponsors.
Judge Michael Matrone is described as a Change Agent in A Black Robe. By thinking outside of the box, he gets off the bench, and tries to prevent problems before they end up in his courtroom. 15 Years ago as a young assistant district attorney in the state of Florida he wanted to be called to the scene of any fatal accident so he could build a stronger case. When a drunk driver ran over a 14 year old crossing the highway, what he saw changed him. Ten years later when he became a judge he was determined to use his office to make change. He actually will conduct his courtroom and sentence drunk drivers in high school auditoriums. He sentences a second offending drunk driver and then addresses the students about thinking and having courage to make good decisions. Source: Fast Company Issue 20 Page 72
The creative process relies upon diversity of information and ideas. Expect to consider hundreds of ideas to find one really good one. Involve many people from various backgrounds and read a diversity of materials. Expect serendipity and synchronicity to play a part in identifying ideas from various sources. Buckminster Fuller, author, architect, engineering and creator of the Geodesic Dome would purchase and read whatever magazine was in the upper right hand corner of the newsstand.
Next time you are looking for a solution. Take an hour off to browse freely through a bookstore. Flip through whatever come to mind and freely make connections between what you read and the creative challenge you are facing.
If the organization does not produce some measurable success from the change initiative it can quickly lose steam. Celebrating the successes can help to energize the organization. We often celebrate winning a contract we need to celebrate and showcase the successful implementations of our changes.
Each quarter the ITT Industries parent would have an overview of each divisions performance. The metrics of reduced rework and cycle time became a regular presentation.
Can not over emphasize the value of data. The metric of percentage rework and more recently the in-process inspections provides a power means to showcase success and failures. The methods of Taguchi and Design of Experiments has provided a great number of success stories.
We have been benchmarking our success with other organizations inside and out of the ITT Industries.
The change agent needs to have patience and persistence. Patience because change will be gradual. Many small changes are needed for the changes to become lasting and pervasive. Persistence because thee will be much resistance and a tendency to fall back into old habits.
Passion, Patience, Persistence, Perspective and Pizza
All along it has been the intention of the VP to bring the change initiative to all of the engineering disciplines. The other disciplines such as Mechanical, Electrical, Systems Engineering have developed a maturity model and each quarter perform a self-assessment. The changes needed can not be accomplished by a few individuals. Every two weeks senior management reviews the improvement plans and status of the engineering groups. There are currently improvements planned and tracked for systems engineering, use of Robust Design Methods, Universal Tools, Software and Product Design.
This is the reminder that we need to revitalize the effort. Keep the organizations long term goals in view.
Connect with creative people.
Find a mentor
Knock down roadblocks between yourself and other people.
network are keys to finding new ideas.
As the engineering process becomes stable, change must be encouraged but controlled. Kotter emphasizes life long learning and the learning organization. The Change Agent recognizes himself/herself as a learner. We want the organization to work within defined control limits but we want to be able to bring about dramatic changes which are going to give the organization competitive advantage. The CMM provides the Technology Change Process key process area.
Chris Turner works for a company identified as a Fast Company. She has the role of ‘chief change agent’. Her business card simply reads “Learning Person” “It’s ;like citizen of the world,” she says. “Ultimately my hope is that people in all parts of XBS will see themselves as Learning Persons.” She provides nine tips for change agents.
1- Be open to data at the start.
2- Network like crazy
3- Document your own learning
4-Take senior management along
5- No fear
6- Be a learning person yourself
7- Laugh when it hurts
8-Know the business before you try to change anything
9- Finish what you start
Source: www.fastcompany.com/online/05/changetips.html
Being successful can cause the change agent to rest on past accomplishments. On the other hand, the change agent can see a bigger picture such as learn how to bring the change to the organization and appoint a number of change agent for the next initiative.
Watts Humprey - changing the software culture
need to change the behavior of the organization
explain the new value system’
demonstrate benefits of new value system
Experience consequences of new behavior
Change the values of the organization
people first
quality
technology
The creative Change Agent goes beyond fixing something to creating something new, novel , valuable to the organization. “We wouldn’t think of doing it any other way”
I want each of you to identify the one most important change that is needed in your organization. Is it need for a training plan, an improvement plan, an SEPG group, senior management involvement, documented policy, a documented process, an organization change. On Friday when you return to work what will you do to make that change happen. Step one create the crisis, the business need to change now or identify the cost of not making the change, describe what the change will look like, enlist others, make it happen and showcase the success. If you do not have the tools to make it happen, learn how, or invent the tools. That is what creativity is. Inventing the means to accomplish what absolutely must be done.
Keys - explore new idea
open to different perspectives and possibilities
understand differences
choosing, connecting ideas
evaluating
Defer judgment
strive for quantity
seek unusual or wild idea
combine and build ideas