How Progess Happens

Presented by Scott Berkun (Berkun Consulting). Talking about change is easy - making change happen in most organizations is ridiculously hard. But there are things we can learn from the history of technology, political revolution and change, and there is a playbook we can reuse to help us avoid easy mistakes and seemingly popular, but actually self-defeating approaches.

* american revolution example: no new tools to bring about change

* there is no change possible until someone stakes their reputation on doing something different.

* You can not make change without power

• Change creates work
• It requires thinking
• we have to talk and listen to each other
• it raises questions we'd prefer to avoid
• it puts us at risk of embarrassment/death

Maslow and heirarchies of needs

Traditions protect against change

Idea Killers (see more at Scott's blog)

• we've tried that before
• we've never done that before
• that's not how we do things here
• how can you justify the costs
• how will this become profitable
• our existing custumers will not like this

suggested reading: Structure of Scientific Revolutions: Thomas Kuhn

-paradigm shift-

Revolution is a bad word
people who are clear about the change they want state what the problem is that they are trying to solve

Power
committees prevent change because they average out decision making = mediocrity

Tactics

1. Power
2. Persuasion: whose support can you earn
3. Intuition: What can you anticipate

Case Study Chester Carlson & XEROX

Playbook for Indivduals:

• Pilot
• show Succcess
• find allies
• ask for more resources(stake reputation)
• repeat
• coup

Entrepreneurship is a similiar process

Playbook for managers

• Palov lives (we do what we're rewarded for
• Hire for change (Age & Psychology)
• Accept some ideas you do not like
• Encourage interesting failures
• Only you can provide cover fire

Question: How do you get the power you need to create the change you want:

unethical book: 48 laws of power

ideally find your allies.