In Part 1, I wrote about how change agents need to focus not only on models, tools and processes, but also on change that matters.
I’m sure Matt is much happier in his new organization and that’s an example of change that matters. Who knows, maybe Matt has helped someone in his new organization realize there are new ways of working that can make people happier.
Once again, this series of posts is inspired by Daryl Conner’s talk from The Art and Science of Change where he said change agents need to love what they do and sometimes the soul of the change agent is important in order to feel your way through change while helping a client.
Daryl talked about the difference between realization of change that he refers to as line of sight. These are benefits from transformational change you can see. These are tangible things and these are things people want and need to see in order to build their confidence that they’re capable of changing.
Where the soul of a change agent comes into play is that you aren’t always going to be able to form hypothesis’ about changes and realize the benefits of these changes that you thought you would. There will be a delay or maybe you won’t see tangible benefits at all. Sometimes you’re left with a feeling that things are better now than they used to be.
Check out this short video about the importance of the soul of the change agent.