How do you build change capability? Such a good question!

This is something that I tackled a few years ago in my first book Conversations of Change.  I stipulated that for an organisation, a leader, an individual to be capable of change there needed to be:

  • An organising structure for change management – this might be a governance model, a centre of excellence, or a centralised portfolio or internal consultancy.
  • Change management as a central construct in the learning and development systems (induction, internal courses, mentoring)
  • Change management as a central construct in the human resources systems (recruiting, performance management, and recognition)
  • Change as a cultural imprint within the leadership – lived values of innovation, agility, and of course, people
  • Common supporting toolkits, frameworks, processes and templates that enable people to carry out successful change
  • A multi-level framework that distinguishes between levels of capability (first order skills, second order and so forth, think Quinn’s master and novice distinction)

Here’s how we help companies build change capability using that framework. Or is it a ‘frahmwork’?!

An organising structure for change management – this might be a governance model, a centre of excellence, or a centralised portfolio or internal consultancy

We offer Change Management Office in a Box 

This builds change capability at an enterprise level by supporting change practice leads in setting up, or further growing, the change management office in their organisations. In turn, this improves enterprise change maturity. This program comprises learning clips and an enduring toolkit to set you up for success. It removed the guesswork by saving you hours of work and aligning your approach to industry best practice.

Change management as a central construct in the learning and development systems (induction, internal courses, mentoring)

It will come as little surprise that all our courses build change management capability and we use a variety of learning approaches to anchor contemporary change knowledge, skills and ability at all levels. Our clients and students tell us that our courses and the way we teach transform their leadership and change approaches, along with building confidence tackling highly disruptive times.

Change management as a central construct in the human resources systems (recruiting, performance management, and recognition)

Training is never enough, it is only one intervention. That’s why we offer Sustain the Change which helps you align your functions with your desired level of change capability.  We’ve found that embedding and sustaining change can take as much work in design as the initial lead up to and launch of go-live or installation of the new ways of working.That’s why we have created a unique Do It Yourself Tool Kit to help you embed change and agility. This kit will save you weeks of work and help make the change stick!

You can roll out the elements at your pace with timeframes to align with your organisation’s objectives. There’s also the ability to customise with your brand colours and fonts. The content is repeatable and scalable to ensure you achieve ROI on your change efforts.

Change as a cultural imprint within the leadership – lived values of innovation, agility, and of course, people

To support a culture of change maturity we focus on the Agile Mindset as the foundation of the way leadership thinks. Our 66 min online micro-credential is also offered as part of Change is Everybody’s Business.

Common supporting toolkits, frameworks, processes and templates that enable people to carry out successful change

When you purchase Change Management Office in a Box or the Agile Change Manager Certificate Program you get full sets of tools and templates you can plug and play right into your change practice. This creates a common language and consistency of approach.

A multi-level framework that distinguishes between levels of capability (first order skills, second order and so forth, think Quinn’s master and novice distinction)

One size doesn’t fit all, and there’s no point in overcooking the capability development.

We work with you to identify the level of capability for which audience (leaders, managers, all employees, change team) (6) and then offer specific courses.

Agile Mindset – foundation training for everyone

Agile Change Manager Certificate – for change and project practitioners

Agile Change Leader Certificate – for leaders

Leadership Disrupted – for leaders

Change is Everybody’s Business – line managers

But what’s the secret sauce of building change capability?

Promise not to tell?

Well… we’ve found the following design principles to be super effective:

1.  Make it safe to learn

2. Scaffold the knowledge

3. Enable immediate application

4. Encourage reflection and iteration

5. Make it real!