Change management

When it comes to changing behavior, a lesson I think I’ve learned is that arguments rarely change people’s behavior. Habits run deep, and are easy to fall back on when we’re under pressure. If I wanted people to change how they use feature flags, these are some tools I’d reach for:

• Get agreements. “That sounds like a good idea” is a far cry from “I will change my behavior in $WAY by $DATE”. Asking for specific commitments and doing the work to hold people accountable for them is the bare minimum to expect someone to change their behavior.
• Offer to help. Look for PRs where a squad is implementing a feature in the old way, hop in, and ask if you can pair on the new way. Not knowing how to do something is the easiest excuse for me to ignore it. Be present, and don’t give people that excuse.
• Highlight what’s working. Once a person or squad starts implementing things in the new way, give them a shout out. This isn’t just so that they feel good (but that helps so they keep doing it) but is also a great reminder to everyone else of what they should be doing.
• Keep selling until the deal is done. Until everyone is doing things the new way, keep reminding them. Drafting and sharing this document 2 months ago was great work, but if you didn’t mention it since then, can you blame folks for forgetting about it?
• Automate it: not always an option, but I’m always a fan of linters when the new behavior can be enforced programatically.
• Measure it: and, crucially, make a case for why the metric matters. This helps make the case and motivates progress as measurements improve. (But of course, moving measurements isn’t the point, they’re only a tool.)

The Lippitt-Knoster Model

https://sergiocaredda.eu/organisation/tools/models-the-lippitt-knoster-model-for-managing-complex-change/amp/#The_Lippitt-Knoster_Model_for_Managing_Complex_Change

Systems Change

• Russell Ackoff - Systems-Based Improvement, Pt 4 - YouTube

An important point by Mariah Driver, head of DEI at Webflow, on how systems change works:

Don’t burn yourself out trying to change systems or minds over which you have little control or power. It’s important to advocate for change, but equally as important to recognize when that system isn’t ready or willing to change. Focus your energy on finding one that is.

…

Whenever you gain influence and power over a process (hiring) or system (product design), ask how you can alter it’s design it to be more equitable and inclusive — and codify those changes.

Ex: remove the years of experience requirement from your org’s recruiting process

It reminds me of the Gall’s Law from Systemantics:

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works. The inverse proposition also appears to be true: A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be made to work.

And wu wei in Taoism in that when you go against the way of things you’re likely to exhaust yourself, but when you can nudge things already moving (or ready to move) in the direction you want to see them go, you can make a big change with little effort.

More on Change by attraction vs. imposed standardization: https://jchyip.medium.com/guiding-principle-cross-pollination-over-imposed-standards-a2375d0e8de6

Further Reading

• Nobody Ever Gets Credit for Fixing Problems That Never Happened: Creating and Sustaining Process Improvement