If you’re just joining our Book Club series, you’ll want to start here.
Welcome back.
Let’s check out Chapter 5. Early Wins.
This was new to me when I read the book for the first time. But such an important topic.
Whether it's something you've known for years or it's new to you too, this is a great chapter. Key concepts, clever models and some questions to help you apply what you've learned.
Here’s what stood out for me this week:
Waves of Change
Wasn’t this an interesting bit of research? (p. 100 - 102). 3 waves in those first ~2 years. Valuable graphic to visualize your change efforts. And it illustrates a key concept - link your early wins to your future change efforts. There's also a simple process on page 101 to help you get started. Learning, designing....
Save your big ambitions for the second wave. If you've seen leaders go after structural change right out of the gate, you'll know it doesn't always end well. This model shows a better way.
Early Wins
Let's start with the goal of early wins. It's more than rolling up your sleeves and fixing problems. Here are some goals to focus on:
Build credibility and relationships.
Go for low-hanging fruit that helps advance your second wave change effort.
And focus on just a few changes...... which align with your boss's priorities.
The STARS model is back and applied to readiness for change on p. 104.
On p. 110, the book discusses elevating change agents. I’m cautious on this. It can take time to learn who are the best and brightest on your team. If you're wrong, it’s tough to demote someone or take away their authority. That can unleash a whole new set of problems to solve. When possible, take your time on this.
The FOGLAMP checklist is a good little tool (Table 5-3 on p. 111).
Predictable problems section (p. 114) is worth a read. And the question set (p.114-115) is a useful tool. You may have seen change efforts that don’t appear to take this into consideration. It’s like they haven’t bothered to do the work. Not the impression you want to give.
Changing Behaviour
Such an important topic. Changing behaviour is tough. Be a minimalist here. What’s the least you can do to reach your goal?
Personal Credibility (p.106)
I'd say this book overstates the important of first impressions. People are going to judge you right away. But opinions are fluid those first months.
As for developing your credibility - this section seems more complicated than necessary.
Here's a short exercise to start building your credibility today:
Think about a leader you respect. Someone you've worked with so you've seen them in action.
They've built credibility, right? What do they actually do? How do they interact, lead meetings, communicate, etc. Think about a typical day or two. Make a short list of their actions.
What can you borrow and adapt? It needs to fit your personality, so be selective.
Try one thing. Then another. Keep what works and toss the rest.
And that's you building your credibility.
You may need to do this with a couple of leaders to find the right combination of their actions and your strengths.
Elena
Another good case study. There's a lot to like here. Here’s a few takeaways, although more about teams than early wins:
People leave: Some people will never be happy so they'll need to leave. Others will need to see you’re serious before they get on board. This is a great example of how to handle it.
Elena also provided an opportunity for her best unit leader. It seems obvious to reward the best and address the worst, but leaders often struggle with this.
Weekly feedback, support (consultant) and implementing her team’s recommendations. Great combination for leading teams.
Pilot project: As start-ups say: Try, fail, learn, scale. Make mistakes with minimal impact before you start swinging for the fences.
What were your takeaways?
Chapter Questions
Questions 1, 4, 5, 6 will help you apply the key concepts to your transition.
Since I'm cautious on behaviour changes for early wins, I hope you won't need Q2.
Conclusion
Great topic. A smart model. Helpful tools. Key concepts to focus your efforts. And the chapter questions help you apply the concepts to your transition.
That’s it for Chapter 5…… next week Chapter 6
