The Change Agent
Our consultants are former leaders. They have firsthand experience leading, delivering, and getting things done. However, they are also great coaches, because coaching is an important part of leadership, and coaching is needed to help managers to reflect and improve their skills.
In order to help leaders, it is also important to know the theory. The theory of leadership provides an important framework for understanding leadership situations.
One very useful model of leadership is Path-Goal Theory, which proposes four modes of leadership, each appropriate for different situations: directive, achievement-oriented, participative, and supportive. The transformational leadership model goes further, describing key leadership traits that are important in different situations. Knowing these models is extremely helpful for discussing tangible situations and considering what to do.
To coach someone in leadership, you need to have leadership experience, and you also need to know the theory of leadership.
So far we have talked about the behavioral side of leadership — the “human side”. But if you focus only on behavior, then you are a silo, because you only know that aspect of things. In an effective and agile organization, everyone who participates in a value stream needs to have a basic working understanding of every part of that value stream. That way they are able to participate in effective discussions about tradeoffs across different areas.
Having a basic understanding of the many aspects of an issue helps you to synthesize the different aspects of the issue. To do that, you have to have a global view—a “systems” view. You don’t have to be able to perform the work of each area, but you need to know enough to have conversations about tradeoffs that span multiple parts of the value stream.
For example, for digital systems a common tradeoff is between building more features and reducing technical debt. If you have a business stakeholder who has no understanding of what technical debt is, they will be resistant to hearing about it. But if they have seen it firsthand, and have tangible memories of it, they will be more interested, and they will be able to have conversations about whether to invest more in new features or to fix some of the technical debt. A coach who does not understand technical debt cannot explain it, and therefore cannot persuade a business stakeholder to take an interest in technical debt.
Again, you don’t have to know every area in depth: but you have to have seen it firsthand. When I explain technical debt to business people, I use an example they can relate to: spreadsheets. I say, “Imagine you have a 100 sheet spreadsheet, with lots of interlinking between sheets, and over time it has become kind of a mess. Now imagine that someone wants you to add a new set of formulas in some new sheets that reference other sheets. Do you feel confident, or do you think it is time to clean up the other sheets?”
Once they hear that analogy, they get it. They have seen it. People need tangible memories about ideas. Only then can they use those ideas. And I am only able to think of and explain the spreadsheet analogy because I have firsthand experience with spreadsheets and also with software technical debt.
What Is Needed
A change agent is someone who:
Has knowledge of leadership theory and practice.
Has knowledge of leading and facilitating collaboration about complex issues, taking note that collaboration is more than face-to-face discussion.
Has knowledge of “flow” methods from operations research, Lean, and DevOps.
Has had accountability for the delivery of complex solutions.
Takes an interest in all issues that affect solution development and delivery, rather that only a subset.
Shares accountability for improvement in the way that solutions are developed and delivered by an assigned set of teams.
Has experience negotiating with managerial stakeholders at all levels of an organization.
Change Agent:
Have firsthand experience leading, delivering, and getting things done.
Has knowledge of leadership theory and practice.
Has knowledge of leading and facilitating collaboration about complex issues, taking note that collaboration is more than face-to-face discussion.
Has knowledge of “flow” methods from operations research, Lean, and DevOps.
Has had accountability for the delivery of complex solutions.
Takes an interest in all issues that affect solution development and delivery, rather that only a subset.
Shares accountability for improvement in the way that solutions are developed and delivered by an assigned set of teams.
Has experience negotiating with managerial stakeholders at all levels of an organization.