I'm often asked which tool or artefact to start with when it comes to kicking off a change initiative. Well, it's not about the canvas, it's about the conversation! Here's a story of how a couple of people used LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY™ to start the alignment process around a change initiative.
“It’s not about the canvas, it’s about the conversation”
It’s remarkable how we tend to focus on applying a technique, or using a tool while putting less emphasis on creating a shared understanding of change through well-facilitated dialogue. I’m often asked by clients which tool or artefact they should start with. Should they create a Strategic Change Canvas? Should they start with a Force-field Analysis? Should they…<use this tool or approach> ? In all cases, and you’ll probably guess this, it depends on what it is you’re trying to accomplish! Beneath all of these tools is a common principle:
Visualize your conversation.
I tend to use sticky notes and white board diagrams, and recently used a simple diagram to help a leadership team in an organization understand what their decision of ‘going Agile’ meant to the organization, to the leadership team and the teams directly impacted by the change. I recently sat down with Stelio Verzera and Michele Luconi who are part of Cocoon Projects about their recently experience ‘creating a change canvas’ by using LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY™ to explore the change. While this picture won't make sense to you, it's the outcome of the exercise and below that is the video interview where Stelio and Michele describe how they did it.
Start the conversation