Speed up behavior change by going “all-in”
I am an Agile Coach. In my chosen profession, change is the norm. To keep up with our dynamic times, I coach my clients to learn to change. My clients must move from traditional to modern product development behaviors. These modern behaviors favor a growth mindset over a fixed mindset.
To stay relevant as a coach, I have to keep up with evolving Agile techniques. Often, I also have to craft new ones to apply to the context of the companies I coach. Like my clients, sitting still is not an option. A fixed mindset leads to stagnation.
My experiences have taught me some things about change. The biggest thing I have learned is people do not embrace change with open arms. This is especially true when it comes to large, sweeping changes.
When faced with big changes, there is a fair amount of trepidation on the probability of success. This is not unfounded. The amount of change introduced into a system determines the level of resulting chaos. This is the premise of the Satir Change Model1.
Fearing the impending chaos, managers and teams often rebuke large changes to avoid risking failure. In predictive, output-driven organizations, failure is not an option. So, these organizations approach change with caution. They allow change in small increments or prevent it altogether.
This is unfortunate. Staying in the status quo adds more risk than the risk of change. Changing is imperative to stay relevant today. While incremental change seems safe, significant changes are best served by an “all-in” approach.
Let’s dive deeper into both incremental and sweeping change and the place for each.
Incremental Change Is Safe But Slow
Incremental change is a place of comfort. Boundaries don’t get stretched. The pace of change is steady. Anxiety is low. This is a tempting path for those in a low safety environment.
An incremental approach meets people where they are. Incremental change goes something like this:
- Start with the existing process
- Inspect for waste
- Select an incremental improvement
- Adapt to improve
- Repeat as needed
A measured approach such as this has a time and a place. But it is inadequate when faced with a significant shift in behavior. Incremental change from an existing process takes too much time to make measurable impact.
Great patience is also required. Often, the lack of meaningful, early results will cause a shift back into old behaviors.
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
—Albert Einstein
Old behaviors tend to hold on. When introducing one, small change amidst the existing behavior, it can’t compete with the old behaviors. After all, the old behaviors are the norm. The new, incremental change is but a drop in the pond. It is tempting to approach the new behavior using old patterns. The change does not stand a chance.
Change Big for Big Results Fast
Humans are resilient and have a thirst for adventure. We rise to the occasion when faced with a challenge.
I could illustrate this by discussing inspiring well-known human explorations and inventions. But let me instead give you an example from my Agile coaching.
A team I recently coached wanted to improve the time it took to deliver product features to their customer. It was taking on average 6 months to deliver a working feature. They were working on many product features in parallel. When they faced an obstacle, they would start a new feature. Obstacles would sit unresolved. Each team member was working alone on their own feature. They were working as a collection of individuals rather than a team. As a result, value throughput was sluggish.
They decided to try Swarming, which is a drastic change in the way they were working. In this technique, the team only allows one feature to be in process at a time. All team members collaborate on the chosen feature. They stop and remove obstacles immediately when encountered. The focus is on delivering the feature as fast as possible.
Within two weeks of trying this new pattern, they accomplished an amazing feat. The team delivered a feature in two weeks that used to take six months in the old way.
From an intellectual perspective, before they tried Swarming, nobody thought it would work. They chose to try a drastic change to a completely new way of working. Now, their behavior has generated impressive results fast. Their belief changed. The old way of working is no longer considered.
They don’t even call it “Swarming” any more. It is now how they work. It is the new normal.
“It is easier to act your way into a new way of thinking, than to think your way into a new way of acting.”
—Jerry Sternin
These results seem unbelievable in such as short period of time. The team could have chosen an incremental approach to the change by compromising the pattern or only trying parts of it. Instead, they went “all-in” with the change. It was a no-holds barred approach, and they rose to the challenge.
What seemed risky at first has resulted in risk reduction, happy customers, happy team members, increased collaboration, higher quality, and rapid knowledge sharing. And it happened faster than anyone thought possible.
When faced with a big change, follow the lead of this team. Don’t try to adjust your existing process in an incremental way. Rather, start with a blank page. Throw out the old behavior and start fresh. Try the new behavior with no compromise. Practice it daily. Don’t overthink it as your old way of thinking will hold you back. Just try it.
There Is a Place for Both Methods
I am not advocating that there is no place for incremental change. It has its place once a new behavior has taken root. Let’s me explain.
When trying to shed an old behavior that is holding you back, choose to make a sweeping change. Start with a blank slate. Focus on learning the new behavior, unencumbered from the past.
Lean on a coach and a mentor to help you learn the new technique. Then, learn the technique without compromise. You must resist the urge to alter it until you have mastered it and formed a new habit.
Once you have mastered the new technique, iterative change becomes viable for refining the new behavior. Gather variations to the technique and try them out. You may even craft innovative solutions for your specific needs. This incremental tweaking makes sense once you have incorporated a significant change in behavior.
Change is hard. But if you approach change with vigor, an open mind, and the right support, results will happen fast. Anything is possible, so try something new today.
And don’t be afraid to go “all-in.”
Related Posts
- Reboot Your Scrum Retrospective
- Don’t Forget the Customer of Your Change Initiative
- Speeding Up Your Agile Transformation
- Let’s Put the “Continuous” in Continuous Improvement
- A Closer Look at Transparency
- Can Coaching and Self-organizing Behavior Co-exist?
- Is Your Agile Coach Out of Touch?
- Customizing Agile Coaching to a Team’s Context:
References
- The Satir Model: Family Therapy and Beyond, Satir, Virginia, et. al., Science and Behavior Books, 1991
Todd Lankford unlocks Lean Leverage in organizations to cultivate powerful, engaged product teams who maximize outcomes and impact.
His articles share his experiences and learnings along the way. Join the mailing list to get them in your inbox.