I experienced a profound difference in how I change things after reading this article on short meetings. It wasn’t so much to do with better use of meeting time but more so with my approach to exploring ideas and seeking consensus for change.
Instead of waiting for a meeting to share an idea with everyone, I experimented with lightly socialising ideas on a 1-2-1 basis. The conversations were much easier and creative when we met as a group to make a decision that led to some form of change. I became a big fan of nemawashi and have used it ever since.
What have you tried that helps you and others change? What challenges do you face when it comes to implementing change? Is there something you’ve seen or read about that you want to try but haven’t yet done so?
Now could be a good time to give them a go and write about the experience.
This month I challenge you to write about:
Implementing Change
How to get involved
Write a blog on the above topic any time in August, by the 31st
It can be as long or as short as you want it to be
Share a link to the blog on this thread
Receive lots of support, encouragement, and love from the community
It’s likely you’ll get a shout out from the Ministry of Testing Twitter account
If you want to get reminders to submit your blog, RSVP below
Thank you - it gave me stuff to think about. I read an interesting tweet from Allen Holub related to status quo bias. One reaction to a suggested change is to ask for evidence that the change will work. The person asking for this evidence for the change won’t usually supply evidence for why the status quo works or is better than the suggestion. So, asking for evidence isn’t actually the beginning of a decision making process, it’s raising objections in disguise.
Too often people see continuing with the status quo as a risk-free, blame-free etc. option. But things like climate change show us that sometimes continuing with the status quo can be an active vote for a worse option.
Blockquote
Asking for evidence isn’t actually the beginning of a decision making process, it’s raising objections in disguise.
yeah I see what you mean, and it can be particularly hard to have evidence that something WILL work, you kinda have to implement something then after a while provide evidence that something DID work
It’s worth stressing: a) this is Allen Holub’s insight rather than mine, b) asking for evidence is sometimes actually objection - but at other times it’s genuine caution.
I started working on a draft for this topic about two weeks ago, but, this moth has bee crazy busy so it took me more than usual to finish the blog post. Here it is:
Congrats, @acraske for creating and sharing such a thorough article on implementing change for quality engineering.
As you’ve indicated you’re open to feedback to improve, I hope the following helps:
I think a follow-up article with your real-life experiences in relation to each section would be super engaging. Like, what things did you try that worked? And what did you try that didn’t work as expected? What surprised you? What exciting and/or painful moments would you be willing to share so others can relate to your stories? What concrete examples could you share that someone could apply to their context, even though they might have a completely different context?
Let me know if you’d like clarification on any of my feedback.
This is great, Aaron. Thanks for sharing! I particularly like how you’ve captured a three line syntax for establishing context prior to considering large changes.
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