Synopses & Reviews
63 New and Updated Patterns for Driving and Sustaining Change
“The hard part of change is enlisting the support of other people. Whether a top manager interested in improving your organization’s results or a lone developer promoting a better way of working, this book will give you tools and ideas to help accomplish your goal.”
–George Dinwiddie, independent coach and consultant, iDIA Computing, LLC
“Keep the patterns in this book and Fearless Change handy. … These patterns transformed me from an ineffective ‘voice in the wilderness’ to a valued collaborator.”
–Lisa Crispin, co-author (with Janet Gregory) of Agile Testing and More Agile Testing
In their classic work, Fearless Change, Mary Lynn Manns and Linda Rising interviewed successful leaders of change, identified 48 patterns for implementing change in teams of all sizes, and demonstrated how to use these techniques effectively. Now, in More Fearless Change the authors reflect on all they’ve learned about their original patterns in the past decade, and introduce 15 powerful, new techniques–all extensively validated by change leaders worldwide. Manns and Rising teach strategies that appeal to each individual’s logic (head), feelings (heart), and desire to contribute (hands)–the best way to motivate real change and sustain it for the long haul.
Learn how to
- Focus on the best things you can achieve with limited resources
- Strategize to build flexible plans and go after low-hanging fruit
- Get help from the right people in the right ways
- Establish emotional connections that inspire motivation and imagination
- Create an “elevator pitch” that keeps everyone focused on what truly matters
- Build bridges, work with skeptics, soften resistance, and open minds
- Uncover easier paths towards change, and build on what already works
- Sustain momentum, provide time for reflection, and celebrate small successes
More Fearless Change reflects a profound understanding of how real change happens: not instantaneously in response to top-down plans and demands, but iteratively, through small steps that teach from experience. Best of all, as thousands of change agents have already discovered, its patterns are easy to use–and they work.
Review
Praise for More Fearless Change
“The hard part of change is enlisting the support of other people. Whether a top manager interested in improving your organization’s results or a lone developer promoting a better way of working, this book will give you tools and ideas to help accomplish your goal. Best of all, they’re presented in small, digestible bits.”
–George Dinwiddie, independent coach and consultant, iDIA Computing, LLC
“More Fearless Change is a great book. Through real experiences and concise analysis, Linda and Mary Lynn identify patterns that will help change leaders quantify the situations they often face. From there, they provide practical advice for dealing with and overcoming them. I found every pattern in More Fearless Change took me back to a specific place and time where I struggled to find the right approach to articulate my ‘great’ new idea and connect with the people around me. I went from conference talks and challenging questions from skeptics to meetings with colleagues where I failed to convey practical new solutions, or to quiet times on my own where I was downright frustrated with my progress. Linda and Mary Lynn have patterns for each that helped me think through to practical, positive solutions and prepare for the future. For a topic as challenging as organization change, it’s rare to find a collection of patterns that are as powerful as those you’ll find in More Fearless Change.”
–Neil Johnson, principal hardware consultant, XtremeEDA
“More secret sauce for positive organizational change! Mary Lynn and Linda make it sound so easy, but using their building blocks, it actually is. With books like these, change agents won’t run out of steam while resistors will run out of excuses.”
–Jochen (Joe) Krebs, author of Going Lean, Agile coach, trainer, speaker, and incrementor
“Keep the patterns in this book and Fearless Change handy. Whenever you are frustrated by an intractable problem, choose a pattern to try. If you still don’t get the desired results, try another. Others will join in your efforts, and you’ll feel the satisfaction as small successes start to add up. These patterns transformed me from an ineffective ‘voice in the wilderness’ to a valued collaborator.”
–Lisa Crispin, co-author (with Janet Gregory) of Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams (Addison-Wesley, 2009) and More Agile Testing (Addison-Wesley, 2015)
“Fearless Change and now More Fearless Change are required reading for my doctoral students. As they explore emerging issues and are learning new concepts and ideas, my students have been able to make significant changes to their professional workplace using these patterns for introducing new ideas. We look forward to Even More Fearless Change.”
–Fred Grossman, professor and director of doctoral study in computing, Pace University, New York
“This book, More Fearless Change, is creative work. I use these patterns with my students to take innovation into practice, and also with my collaborators working in industries to promote organizational change. This book is a significant read for people in academia and in the workplace.”
–Takashi Iba, associate professor, Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, Japan
Synopsis
63 New and Updated Patterns for Driving and Sustaining Change
"The hard part of change is enlisting the support of other people. Whether a top manager interested in improving your organization's results or a lone developer promoting a better way of working, this book will give you tools and ideas to help accomplish your goal."
-George Dinwiddie, independent coach and consultant, iDIA Computing, LLC
"Keep the patterns in this book and Fearless Change handy. ... These patterns transformed me from an ineffective 'voice in the wilderness' to a valued collaborator."
-Lisa Crispin, co-author (with Janet Gregory) of Agile Testing
and More Agile Testing
In their classic work,
Fearless Change, Mary Lynn Manns and Linda Rising interviewed successful leaders of change, identified 48 patterns for implementing change in teams of all sizes, and demonstrated how to use these techniques effectively. Now, in
More Fearless Change the authors reflect on all they've learned about their original patterns in the past decade, and introduce 15 powerful, new techniques-all extensively validated by change leaders worldwide. Manns and Rising teach strategies that appeal to each individual's logic (head), feelings (heart), and desire to contribute (hands)-the best way to motivate real change and sustain it for the long haul.
Learn how to
- Focus on the best things you can achieve with limited resources
- Strategize to build flexible plans and go after low-hanging fruit
- Get help from the right people in the right ways
- Establish emotional connections that inspire motivation and imagination
- Create an "elevator pitch" that keeps everyone focused on what truly matters
- Build bridges, work with skeptics, soften resistance, and open minds
- Uncover easier paths towards change, and build on what already works
- Sustain momentum, provide time for reflection, and celebrate small successes
More Fearless Change reflects a profound understanding of how real change happens: not instantaneously in response to top-down plans and demands, but
iteratively, through small steps that teach from experience. Best of all, as thousands of change agents have already discovered, its patterns are easy to use-and they work.
Synopsis
Change is brutally tough to initiate, and even harder to sustain. But without change, software organizations fail. With this book as a guide, you can succeed at making change work in your development team or organization.
Taking a proven patterns approach, world-renowned experts Mary Lynn Manns and Linda Rising capture the problems that recur most often in changing software organizations, and present proven solutions for each. They organize these solutions into 63 powerfully useful patterns for implementing change in organizations of all sizes, with clear explanations of each pattern and specific guidance on applying it in organizations or teams of all sizes.
Drawing on the experiences of hundreds of change agents, Manns and Rising address every stage of the change process: knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. They help you understand the forces in your organization that promote and restrict change, and help you drive participation and buy-in, from start to finish. You'll learn how to plant seeds of change, make proposed changes seem less threatening, sustain momentum, overcome adversity, and celebrate success.
For change to succeed, you need three things: your belief in a new idea, your determination to act on your belief, and knowledge about how to successfully introduce your idea. If you supply the first two, More Fearless Change will provide the third.
About the Author
Mary Lynn Manns is a management professor at University of North Carolina–Asheville, where she was recently awarded Distinguished Professor of Social Relations for her work in change leadership. She has a Ph.D. from De Montfort University in Leicester, United Kingdom, where her thesis focused on the introduction of patterns into organizations. She has continued her work with numerous presentations at a variety of conferences and in organizations that include Microsoft, amazon.com, Avon, and Proctor & Gamble. Her publications include Fearless Change: Patterns for Introducing New Ideas, co-authored with Linda Rising. At her university, she guides students of all ages in learning the tools (patterns) for leading change and competing as social entrepreneurs. In 2013, Mary Lynn was the commencement speaker who transformed the typical model of speeches by encouraging the graduates to take the first steps toward changing the world as they got off their seats to dance. In her spare time, Mary Lynn helps individuals make personal change by leading “Zumba for People with Two Left Feet” workouts.
Linda Rising is an independent consultant based in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee (just east of Nashville). She has a Ph.D. from Arizona State University in the field of object-based design metrics and a background that includes university teaching and industry work in telecommunications, avionics, and tactical weapons systems. An internationally known presenter on topics related to patterns, retrospectives, the change process, and how your brain works, Linda is the author of a number of publications and four books: Design Patterns in Communications; The Pattern Almanac 2000; A Patterns Handbook; and, co-authored with Mary Lynn Manns, Fearless Change: Patterns for Introducing New Ideas. Linda has been an amateur recorder player for more than 50 years. She and her husband, Karl Rehmer, are part of three performing groups. They also enjoy bike riding, even when the hills in Tennessee are pretty steep. They also serve as board members for Habitat for Humanity of Wilson County. Find more information about Linda at lindarising.org.
Table of Contents
Foreword xiii
Acknowledgments xv
About the Authors xvii
Part I: Overview
Chapter 1: Introduction 3
Some Insights since Our First Book 6
The New Patterns 11
Chapter 2: Strategize 13
Know Yourself 13
Evolving Vision 14
Concrete Action Plan 15
Low-Hanging Fruit 16
Where to Go Next 16
Chapter 3: Share Information and Seek Help 17
Elevator Pitch 18
Town Hall Meeting 18
Go-To Person 18
Future Commitment 19
Where to Go Next 19
Chapter 4: Inspire Others 21
Emotional Connection 22
Accentuate the Positive 22
Imagine That 22
More Patterns to Inspire 23
Where to Go Next 23
Chapter 5: Target Resistance 25
Pick Your Battles 25
Wake-up Call 26
Myth Buster 26
Easier Path 27
More Patterns and Some Final Thoughts 28
Part II: Stories in Leading Change
Enterprise Architecture 31
Community Initiative 35
Part III: The Patterns
New Patterns 41
Accentuate the Positive 42
Concrete Action Plan 47
Easier Path 51
Elevator Pitch 55
Emotional Connection 60
Evolving Vision 66
Future Commitment 69
Go-To Person 73
Imagine That 77
Know Yourself 81
Low-Hanging Fruit 86
Myth Buster 90
Pick Your Battles 93
Town Hall Meeting 98
Wake-up Call 102
The Original Patterns 107
Ask for Help 109
Baby Steps 113
Big Jolt 118
Bridge Builder 121
Brown Bag 124
Champion Skeptic 127
Connector 132
Corporate Angel 136
Corridor Politics 139
Dedicated Champion 144
Do Food 147
e-Forum 150
Early Adopter 153
Early Majority 156
Evangelist 159
External Validation 164
Fear Less 167
Group Identity 173
Guru on Your Side 177
Guru Review 180
Hometown Story 183
Innovator 186
Involve Everyone 189
Just Do It 194
Just Enough 198
Local Sponsor 201
Location, Location, Location 204
Mentor 208
Next Steps 212
Persistent PR 215
Personal Touch 218
Piggyback 222
Plant the Seeds 226
The Right Time 229
Royal Audience 232
Shoulder to Cry On 235
Sincere Appreciation 238
Small Successes 244
Smell of Success 247
Stay in Touch 249
Study Group 252
Sustained Momentum 255
Tailor Made 259
Test the Waters 262
Time for Reflection 265
Token 269
Trial Run 272
Whisper in the General’s Ear 275
External Pattern References 279
Appendix: Quick Guide to the Patterns 281
Notes 289
Index 297