Sitting by the pool in Orlando with Brian Dusablon during Ecosystem 2014, he turned to me and said
Wendy – you should write about Guerrilla Change Management!
I have in the past. But it has been awhile (like 2007 awhile….)
And I was hearing a lot of noise at the conference about requiring resources and lots of money for real change to occur.
Screw that. Why be that helpless?
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Benefits I’ve seen using Guerrilla Change Management (Wendy-style)
– A network. I find people are awesome about providing help – especially if you thank them a lot and give them public credit when your project works.
– Rapid Skill Acquisition. I hoard “tools”. Applications, ideas, information, skills. The more tools I have in my tool kit – the better I am able to find the “right” solution for a situation.
– Faster “project” turnover – because 9 times out of 10 the proof-of-concept is good enough. The client is happy and you look like a genius. Don’t forget to thank the folks who help you.
– More leverage when asking for money / resources. It’s much easier to ask for money when you have something that sorta kinda works but can obviously use said resources.
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When performing Guerrilla Change Management, you need to make the following assumptions:
+ I have no money
+ I am the only human resource available
Activity 1: Go talk to people.
– People who are impacted by the problem you have identified and are trying to solve. NOT their managers – the actual people.
– People who are smarter than you who have tried to tackle the problem
– People who are good sounding boards whether they are affiliated with the problem or not.
– Thank each person profusely and give them lots of credit when the thing works.
– If you find yourself asking permission to do the thing you are setting out to do – you are doing it wrong.
Activity 2: Scavenge for materials
– What “free stuff” is lying around your environment? A site-wide webinar system? A site license for a development tool? Free stuff on the internet?
+ As soon as you start asking for money or another person’s time to do something- you are doing it wrong.
+ “No” is a perfectly appropriate answer. Thank the resource-holder and look elsewhere. No one has a monopoly on tools. And no whining about your “rotten luck”.
+ If the money / time is freely given – you have just gotten a bonus! Thank that person profusely and give them lots of credit when the thing works.
Activity 3: Figure out how to use the materials you scavenged
– Independent online help of any ilk is the best approach.
+ Unless you have a really good relationship with the expert in that tool – As soon as you start asking for another person’s time – you are doing it wrong.
+ If the time is freely given – you have just gotten a bonus! Thank the person profusely and give them lots of credit when the thing works.
– If the tool is too complicated and sends you running to ask for formal training – go find another tool that does something similar. No one has a monopoly on tools.
Activity 4: Take what you have found and go solve the problem
Activity 5: Repeat Activity 1 (Go talk to people) with the thing you created to solve the problem. Get feedback.
– Thank the people profusely and give them lots of credit when the thing works.
Activity 6: Repeat activities 4 and 5 until either
– the problem is solved (often the jury-rigged solution you just created is good enough)
– you got the information you needed from your proof-of-concept and now have leverage to go ask for money / resources / people
– you realize you have completely mis-identified the problem and need to chuck everything and start over (this is not a bad thing – just a learning thing)
The folks I work with seem to like this approach.
Hope this helps.
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