The hard thing about change agency
Hey!
Welcome back to another week of musings. I hope you had a restorative weekend, I spent the weekend watching sunsets and seeing the day end earlier and earlier as time goes by and we go into fall.
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Things I discovered in the past week
- I've been looking into starting a vinyl collection, and I thought of getting this AT-LP60XBT-USB, which seemed like a good starting turntable. If you have any recommendations, let me know.
- I recently listened to a podcast episode about Rust and C++. It was an insightful conversation. If you have the time, give it a go.
This week, I talked with a director about change agents and how they shape organizations in different situations, especially when there are no strong top-down mandates.
I've written about change agents in the past. While I still think that change agency is all about people and teams, there's the difficult side of change agency, which I hadn't previously discussed with many people. Also, it's implicit that the change agent will deal with it as part of its work.
You standout
By definition, the change agent is trying to change the status quo, and just by existing means, you're different from the rest.
In practice, this means that you might be flooded with messages about what you're trying to change, either neutral or negative. It also means that you'll be at the top of the minds of people with questions, needs for support, etc. You'll need to set up strong documentation and information so people can be routed to the appropriate channels and solutions without overwhelming yourself.
Personalization of change
You will also run into another problem: you're the "face" of either the problem, the solution, or any annoyances that would come from change.
Sometimes, you might be met with indifference from people who have seen attempts in the past that didn't work and think they can just out-wait you. Other times, people will say stuff like, "Oscar said we need to do X," or "Oscar prohibited we do Y." There should always be a way to detach yourself, such as drafting a document that explains the reasoning and is approved by a group of people, preferably by leadership.
Indifference
As I mentioned in my other newsletter issue, you need to meet people where they are, but sometimes, they don't want to be met anywhere.
This makes sense because we're trying to disrupt their existing mental model or change how they work. They might be burned out, tired, angry, or all of the above. Sometimes, meeting people where they are might mean doing the old and new things for some time to ease them into the new way of working.
Never enough
As with any project, you might feel you're doing enough to cover all cases, but there are always "unknown unknowns" that only become apparent as you execute the project.
Change agents need to be nimble and think on their feet to adjust and rectify. Other times, people will remind you how you missed "this" or "that," which might be critical for them. In practice, you cannot make everyone happy, and that's ok. When these situations arise, you're in sync with leadership so they can also cover for you and tell a story of why it's happening that way.
I always remind myself that all I had to start was caring about a topic, and I'm human, so it's valid for me to have gaps in knowledge. It's important to bring other people into the project to close these gaps. Still, sometimes, decisions fall into me, and I prioritize progress over perfection, which will always have trade-offs.
People will compete for your attention.
If you're seen as a change agent, people will try to come to you with problems that require a champion or requests for help moving something forward.
Not everyone wants to be a change agent, and that's okay, but sometimes people want a change agent to help solve problems. In a company, especially when it's large enough, everything needs fixing. We could deliver faster, with fewer bugs, more flexibility, etc. This can be draining, especially if you're an introvert.
Remember to take care
I remind myself to take care of myself with journaling; I'm not consistent enough on this, though. But the main idea is that anytime I feel overwhelmed, I just write until I do a complete brain dump, either into my notes app, journaling app, or a notebook.
Self-care goes a long way, so take that time off with no regrets.
This was fun, let's do it again
While it might sound like a sad post, I feel that the positives far outweigh the negative aspects.
Whenever we finish a large project, I feel energized to pick the next thing. Over time, seeing people understand the value has also been a great incentive to improve things. While not everything can be fixed by you or the organization, it's nice to have improvements and a culture that embraces change as part of progress.
Your turn!
Have you ever tried to change culture at work, or any change in general? How did it go? Do you have any tips and tricks to share? Let me know by replying to this email!
Happy coding!
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