"Transformation" is a metaphor filled with ambiguity, vagueness and confusion. It sure sounds good, but it's not concrete enough. "Renovation" is a better metaphor for thinking about organizational change because it paints a clear picture about the expected disruption and difficulty that lies ahead.

1. ORGANIZAT I O N A L
RENOVATION
JASON LITTLE
WWW.L E A N C H A N G E . O RG
@JASONLITTLE

2. THE CASE AGAINST “TRANSFORMATION”
ASSUMES STATIC CURRENT AND FUTURE STATE
FORCES ORGANIZATIONS INTO DYSFUNCTIONAL THINKING
LEADS TO ENDLESS “STRATEGY” DEBATES
LEADS TO FOCUS ON CREATING “THE PLAN”
“TRANSFORMATION” MEANS EVERYTHING NEEDS TO CHANGE

3. BUT IT FEELS SOOO GOOD!
OUR BRAINS LIKE CERTAINTY…EVEN THE ILLUSION OF CERTAINTY!
“CERTAINTY ON THE OTHER HAND
FEELS REWARDING, AND WE TEND
TO STEER TOWARD IT, EVEN WHEN
IT MIGHT BE BETTER FOR US TO
REMAIN UNCERTAIN.”
DAVID ROCK
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-work/200910/hunger-certainty

4. BUT TRANSFORMATION DOESN’T BRING CERTAINTY!
OF COURSE NOT, BUT THE IDEA OF TRANSFORMATION DOES!
THE MIRACLE QUESTION:
IMAGINE A FUTURE STATE WHERE THE PROBLEM DOESN’T EXIST
THE WORD“TRANSFORMATION” PUTS OUR BRAINS INTO SOLUTION-FOCUSED THINKING MODE
“SOLUTION-FOCUSED BRIEF THERAPY”
http://www.solutionfocused.net/solutionfocusedtherapy.html

5. IT REALLY DOES FEEL GOOOOOD!
THINKING POSITIVELY ABOUT THE FUTURE HELPS
US COPE WITH ALL THE PROBLEMS WE THINK
“TRANSFORMATION” WILL SOLVE!
OUR BRAINS ENJOY THE RUSH AND THE
OPPORTUNITY TO STEP OUT OF THE CURRENT
REALITY AND INTO FOCUSING ON THE FUTURE
STATE.

6. HERE’S THE PROBLEM, THOUGH
HOW WE THINK HOW WE ACT
- WE NEED TRANSFORMATION!
- WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR
MINDSET!
- WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR
CULTURE!
- WE SHOULD JUST CHANGE
THAT PROCESS
- SHOW ME THE PLAN!
- THAT’LL NEVER WORK HERE
- SORRY, NO TIME TO LEARN
- BOB IS RESISTING CHANGE!
- WE CAN’T CHANGE THAT
PROCESS
- MANAGEMENT WILL NEVER GO
FOR IT
INCOMPATIBLE!

7. WHY RENOVATION?
WHILE WE’RE “TRANSFORMING” TO OUR NEW
STATE, CAN WE STILL COOK DINNER?
NO, BUT WE COULD RUN AN EXPERIMENT IN
ISOLATION AND “TOLERATE” THE RENOVATION

8. MANAGING DEPENDANCIES
ISOLATION IS A GOOD IDEA, BUT SOMETIMES
OTHER PARTS OF THE ORGANIZATION WILL BE
AFFECTED.
HOW CAN YOU MINIMIZE THE DISRUPTION TO THE REST OF THE ORGANIZATION?

9. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FIND A MESS?
“IF YOU WANT TRULY TO
UNDERSTAND SOMETHING,
TRY TO CHANGE IT.”
KURT LEWIN
BUT SOMETIMES YOU FIND A MESS ONCE YOU’VE STARTED WORKING
…AND YOU COULDN’T HAVE PREDICTED THAT.

10. HOW TO MAKE THE SWITCH
DO
- DECIDE WHAT WORK TO STOP
- DECIDE WHAT NOT TO CHANGE
- ALIGN THE TEAMS AND DEPARTMENTS INDIRECTLY AFFECTED
- START SOONER, AND ORGANICALLY
DON’T
- TRY AND RUN “BUSINESS AS USUAL” AND IGNORE THE DISRUPTION
- BUILD A CENTRALIZED CHANGE TEAM
- PLAN, BUDGET AND SCHEDULE THE PROJECT
- PLAY BY THE ORGANIZATIONAL RULES

11. ORGANIZATIONAL RENOVATION CANVAS
WHAT ARE WE RENOVATING?
WHAT ARE WE NOT GOING TO CHANGE?
WHO’S AFFECTED AND HOW?
DIRECTLY INDIRECTLY SEVERITY

12. AN EXAMPLE
WHAT ARE WE RENOVATING?
SELF-SERVICE WEB PRODUCT (KITCHEN)
WHAT ARE WE NOT GOING TO CHANGE?
TEAMS/PROCESSES OUTSIDE THE TEAM (NO
STRUCTURAL CHANGES)
WHO’S AFFECTED AND HOW?
WEB TEAM 1
WEB TEAM 2
SEVERITY
OPERATIONS
DIRECTLY INDIRECTLY CUSTOMER
SUPPORT
MARKETING
SALES

13. DETAILS
SELF-SERVICE WEB PRODUCT (KITCHEN)
TEAMS/PROCESSES OUTSIDE THE TEAM (NO
STRUCTURAL CHANGES)
WEB TEAM 1
WEB TEAM 2
MARKETING
SALES
OPERATIONS
CUSTOMER
SUPPORT
TEAM STRUCTURE, PROCESSES, TRAINING
TEAM STRUCTURE, PROCESSES, TRAINING
WILL NEED TO ATTEND BI-WEEKLY DEMOS
WILL NEED TO ATTEND BI-WEEKLY DEMOS
WILL NEED INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT NEW WEB TEAM RELEASE PROCESS
WILL NEED TO FEED WORK DIRECTLY INTO THE TEAM VIA BI-WEEKLY PLANNING

14. THE METAPHOR MATTERS
ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION IS MORE LIKE A HOME
RENOVATION. EVERYTHING’S DISRUPTED FOR A WHILE. IT’S A
MESS. BITS OF THE STRUCTURE ARE UNUSABLE. BUT WE PUT
UP WITH IT, BECAUSE WE KNOW WE’RE GOING TO GET A
BETTER PLACE TO LIVE.
SUE JOHNSTON - IT’S UNDERSTOOD
RENOVATE YOUR ORGANIZATION,
ONE EXPERIMENT AT A TIME

15. GET MORE IDEAS LIKE THIS IN MY BOOK
"Managers all over the world need to read Jason’s
book.” - Jurgen Appelo, Creative Networker and creator
of Management 3.0
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

16. LEARN MORE ABOUT ORGANIZATIONAL RENOVATION
vote for our session at Agile and
Beyond 2015
http://confengine.com/agile-and-beyond-2015/proposal/827/think-renovation-not-transformation

17. WWW.L EANCHANGE.ORG