This past month, Kyle B. Stone published an interesting book entitled The Change Agent’s Field Guide: Mastering the Intersections of Change Management and Continuous Improvement, which helps anyone involved in leading continuous improvement within an organization better understand when to apply the change management techniques necessary to achieve successful outcomes. Many continuous improvement efforts fail because those leading changes do not recognize when to pause and evaluate critical intersections needing change management tools. This book provides clear guidance on when to pause, what to do, and how to navigate these intersections successfully.
When I spoke with Kyle this month, I asked him, "Why is there a disconnect between change management and continuous improvement?” Here is his detailed answer:
My premise on why continuous improvement efforts sometimes “stick” and other times do not is that many leaders of these efforts fail to understand the importance of change management and the critical intersections between people and process improvement. My desire with this book is to offer a guide for leaders of continuous improvement and how to anticipate, manage, and measure change while engaging in continuous improvement. There are seven intersections that I describe that help close the disconnect between change management and continuous improvement.
- Develop systems thinking skills
- Triage Change
- Make a plan
- Manage the handoffs
- Communication
- Counselor
- Political engagements and interactions
Managing these critical intersections is key to successful outcomes for planned or unplanned change initiatives. My intent is not to address all the various types of externally managed continuous improvement methodologies since most externally managed “accreditations” are based on alignment with standards generally designed to drive continuous improvement within the organization. The goal of this book is to provide a foundation of knowledge in both change management and typical continuous improvement methods so leaders of change can navigate the nuances and triage the challenges typically encountered whenever you are asking people to change the way they perform their work, which is a common outcome of most continuous improvement efforts.
Following the foundation-building chapters, examples of how to identify and manage the intersections between those affected by change and the continuous improvement efforts are provided, assisting the leaders with anticipating and addressing critical junctures. Ignoring these intersections and plowing forward is a common failure during many continuous improvement efforts, often resulting in a lack of engagement, resistance, and sometimes sabotage.
What do you think of Kyle's perspective on the relationship between continuous improvement initiatives and change management? For those who have led Lean and continuous improvement efforts in your organization, how was change management addressed? Did it improve buy-in and understanding among colleagues?
