The hottest Change Management Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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TBM 362: How (And Why) We Help

The Beautiful Mess • 370 implied HN points • 14 Jun 25
💼 Business Consulting Change Management Leadership Organizational Behavior Workplace culture
  1. Consulting can either follow a set plan or focus on helping people discover their own solutions. It's important to understand the difference and choose the right approach.
  2. It's normal to feel torn between sticking to the usual ways of doing things and wanting to create real change. Recognizing this struggle is the first step to addressing it.
  3. Being aware of how we show up in our work is crucial. It helps us connect better with others and can lead to more meaningful change.

Why Your Data Infrastructure Migration Project Will Fail (And How to Succeed)

SeattleDataGuy’s Newsletter • 376 implied HN points • 12 Feb 25
🕹 Technology Data Engineering Infrastructure Software Development Project management Change Management
  1. Having a clear plan is crucial for successful data migration projects. You need to know what to move and in what order to avoid chaos.
  2. Ownership of the migration process is important. There should be a clear leader or team responsible to keep everything on track.
  3. Testing data after migration is a must. Just moving the data doesn't guarantee that it works the same way, so check for any discrepancies.

TBM 358: The Genius of SVPG

The Beautiful Mess • 1190 implied HN points • 16 May 25
💼 Business Change Management Leadership Organizational development Product Management Corporate strategy
  1. The SVPG approach to change is effective because it gives leaders a way to improve their product practices without losing face. It helps them take action while feeling confident in their leadership.
  2. For change agents within a company, who you are and how you say things really matters. Sometimes, your message might not be heard because of who you are, so timing and framing are important.
  3. Making big changes in an organization is tough and messy. Real change often requires removing hidden barriers and understanding that success doesn't just come from having a good plan; it's about navigating complex situations.

Rolling out developer productivity metrics

Engineering Enablement • 7 implied HN points • 19 Feb 25
🕹 Technology Developer Tools Productivity Change Management Leadership Metrics
  1. Communicate openly with leaders about new productivity metrics to avoid surprises. It's important to have conversations, not just send emails, to build trust.
  2. Be clear about what the metrics cover to reduce fear. Focus on process-related data, and explain how it helps teams improve.
  3. Invest time in change management, as it’s crucial for success. Engage key players early, ask for their input, and keep everyone informed through various channels.
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The Leverage Points in Engineering Ecosystems

peoplefirstengineering • 50 implied HN points • 18 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Systems Thinking Software Engineering Complexity Theory Change Management Organizational Design
  1. Complex systems, like software teams, are made up of many parts that interact with each other and change over time. Understanding these interactions can help improve how we manage and work within these systems.
  2. Donella Meadows' framework shows that not all changes in a system will have the same impact. Some changes, like adjusting goals or encouraging new mindsets, can lead to much bigger improvements than simply tweaking numbers or rules.
  3. To create a successful and adaptable environment, it's important to give teams the freedom to self-organize, share information openly, and align their goals with the overall mission of the organization.

TBM 319: Surfing Inertia and Pendulum Swings

The Beautiful Mess • 158 implied HN points • 03 Nov 24
💼 Business Organizational Behavior Leadership Agility Change Management Strategy
  1. Companies struggle with finding the right balance between team independence and overall coordination. Too much focus on one can harm the other.
  2. Inertia can make it hard for companies to adapt, leading to bigger problems in the future if they're not addressed. Leaders should recognize this and take action.
  3. Being open to change and adjusting how teams work can help organizations respond better to challenges. Setting the right incentives also supports a flexible mindset.

TBM 226: Stuck In The Valley of "Doing OK"

The Beautiful Mess • 1190 implied HN points • 15 Jun 23
💼 Business Company performance Organizational dynamics Change Management Innovation Leadership
  1. Being stuck in a state of 'doing ok' is dangerous for a company.
  2. Companies can be in a 'doing ok' basin where they neither thrive nor fail, leading to eventual decline.
  3. To disrupt the 'doing ok' situation in a company, try seeding new behaviors, increasing connectivity, and introducing disturbances.

Engineering Management: Dealing with the Broken Window effect, understanding Resistance and Objections to Quality

🔮 Crafting Tech Teams • 79 implied HN points • 14 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Engineering Management Technical Debt Change Management Resistance
  1. The bar for quality is defined by influential leaders and can evolve over time based on business needs.
  2. Stakeholders may request changes to either increase or decrease quality based on signals like bugs, morale, and process burden.
  3. Resistance should be considered when changes to quality are ignored to avoid negative impacts.

Firefighting

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 99 implied HN points • 26 Jul 23
💼 Business Management Change Management Strategy Leadership
  1. Teams should be designed to adapt quickly to change rather than stay rigid. This means creating temporary project teams that can be evaluated and disbanded if they're no longer needed.
  2. Instead of focusing on strict, clear KPIs, organizations should promote flexibility. This allows teams more freedom to make the right choices based on changing situations.
  3. Employees should be encouraged to take on roles that allow for continual change. This mindset helps everyone prepare for shifts in their jobs and the organization as a whole.

Chegg, ChatGPT, and the changing nature of change

Platforms, AI, and the Economics of BigTech • 8 implied HN points • 19 Nov 24
💼 Business Economics Technology Disruption Change Management Market Trends
  1. Chegg's struggle shows how modern businesses face not just ordinary problems but bigger changes that redefine the whole market. They can lose ground quickly when something new, like AI, gives customers a better option.
  2. Companies need to think differently about competition today. It's not just about beating the businesses they know, but also about new solutions that take away their customers.
  3. When change happens quickly, businesses should look for ways to make that change permanent. This means creating new systems or services that keep customers even after the initial change fades.

JC content update - autumn 2023

The Jolly Contrarian • 39 implied HN points • 24 Sep 23
💼 Business Finance Regulations Change Management
  1. The Jolly Contrarian website operates as a 'pull' resource where users obtain content they want, instead of being bombarded with content they may not need.
  2. Emissions allowance trading is a unique and transgressive product challenging traditional financial boundaries, susceptible to government decrees, and with interesting documentation quirks.
  3. Understanding repackaging and secured MTNs involves complexities like limited recourse and security roles, needing a thorough study of documentation and anatomy.

LL #39 | Thriving in Complexity

The Leadership Lab • 59 implied HN points • 02 Oct 22
💼 Business Leadership Complexity Decision-making Change Management Entrepreneurship
  1. Navigating complexity requires a multivariate approach, as simple stories and the need to be right can be traps. Success in complex situations demands attention to various key variables simultaneously.
  2. The Cynefin framework helps in understanding different environments and guides appropriate actions based on the level of predictability in each environment. It is crucial to align strategies with the complexity of the situation at hand.
  3. Effective leadership involves asking different questions, considering multiple perspectives, and seeing in systems. These habits aid in better addressing complexity and making informed decisions.

Episode 32: Better Built By Burkhard

burkhardstubert • 79 implied HN points • 15 Dec 22
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Software Development Change Management Continuous Delivery Team Dynamics
  1. Continuous Delivery can greatly improve software development efficiency. It reduces the time for building and testing, leading to faster and more reliable integrations.
  2. Organizations should focus on both technical and social aspects to optimize their performance. The way teams are structured influences how the software is developed, so it's key to align team setups with software architecture.
  3. Successful change in organizations is best achieved by starting with willing participants. Using principles like attraction and scarcity can help create interested teams who want to improve rather than forcing everyone to follow new practices.

Liminal Thinking

QUALITY BOSS • 2 HN points • 16 Jul 24
📖 Philosophy Belief systems Personal Growth Psychology Change Management Self-help
  1. Changing your beliefs can change your life. By shifting how you think, you can create a new reality for yourself.
  2. Liminal thinking encourages you to look at the patterns in your life. Identify negative cycles and imagine ways to turn them into positive experiences.
  3. Understanding that beliefs shape our identity is key. If we challenge and reshape our beliefs, we can change how we see ourselves and improve our lives.

The Pivotal Thing

CTOrly • 19 implied HN points • 25 Aug 22
💼 Business Product Management Leadership Planning Problem Solving Change Management
  1. Guard against unnecessary, preventable volatility in planning and focus on the quality of the problem rather than constantly changing solutions.
  2. Detangle desired outcomes from specific features in planning to enable pivoting on how to achieve goals while maintaining the constancy of overall objectives.
  3. Leaders should balance adapting to changes when necessary without causing unnecessary chaos by crying wolf with constant changes.

#15: Maintenance by design

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 119 implied HN points • 12 Feb 20
💼 Business Organizational Design Systems Thinking Strategic Planning Change Management
  1. Maintenance isn't just about fixing broken things. It can also mean improving what already exists and ensuring everything runs smoothly.
  2. Design systems to be flexible and aware of changes in their environment. This helps them adapt quickly without breaking down.
  3. Having a diverse setup, like different types of wheat in a field, makes systems more stable and less fragile. They can adjust better to unexpected challenges.

How to Drive Meaningful Change - Handling objections to your proposal

Joseph Gefroh • 2 HN points • 04 Mar 24
💼 Business Leadership Strategy Change Management Communication
  1. Be prepared to handle objections and various responses when proposing a change - it's unlikely to always be met with full acceptance and applause.
  2. Understand the categorization of responses to objections: disagreement on outcome, disagreement on mechanism, and agreement and alignment, each requiring a different approach to address.
  3. Dealing with objections involves strategies like asking for specific reasons, painting a clear picture, comparing with other problems addressed, and being aware of personal relationship issues or power dynamics.

Jack Welch's Theory of Leadership: A Model for Failure in the 21st Century

The Geek Way • 1 HN point • 01 Apr 24
💼 Business Leadership Corporate culture Management Success Change Management
  1. Encouraging vulnerability in the workplace can lead to malingering, which can harm cooperation within a team.
  2. Model 1 leadership norms, like taking charge and minimizing losing, may not be suitable for running a modern company that requires adaptation to change.
  3. Defensiveness in Model 1 leadership can hinder innovation and prevent companies from thriving in a rapidly changing business landscape.

#12: True diversity

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 19 implied HN points • 22 Jan 20
💼 Business Diversity Innovation Organizational Human Resources Change Management
  1. True diversity is about having a rich mix of different types of information and perspectives. It's not just about meeting certain quotas based on traditional categories like race or gender.
  2. Organizations need to adapt to constant change, and diversity helps them innovate. The more diverse the team, the more ideas and solutions they have to deal with unexpected challenges.
  3. To promote true diversity, companies should create flexible roles, encourage employees to define what makes them unique, and train staff to understand the value of difference. This approach makes a company stronger and more innovative.

Issue #10: Pay Bonus? To Drive AI Copilot Adoption? Sure!

OSS.fund Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 22 May 25
💼 Business AI Strategy Incentives Productivity Training Change Management
  1. Offering bonuses can increase the use of AI tools like Copilot in businesses. When people are paid to use these tools, it often leads to better results.
  2. Different roles in a company may require different incentive strategies to promote AI usage. For example, software engineers might benefit from bonuses, while some roles might not need them yet.
  3. Creating a fun and engaging training environment helps employees learn to use AI tools effectively. Simple activities can keep teams motivated and increase their usage.

Essential steps for optimizing a product catalog database

Database Engineering by Sort • 0 implied HN points • 14 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Database Management Data Analysis Collaboration Workflow Optimization Change Management
  1. Managing a product catalog database is challenging due to constantly changing data and unique attributes for each product
  2. Description tools like Sort enable database teams to provide important details like table names, hints for querying, and change logs
  3. Collaborate effectively on database improvements using features like inviting contributors, using data explorer to pinpoint errors, creating issues for fixes, and utilizing change requests in Sort

How to Drive Meaningful Change - Crafting your proposal

Joseph Gefroh • 0 implied HN points • 03 Mar 24
💼 Business Leadership Strategy Change Management Organizational Culture Communication
  1. When driving meaningful change, it's crucial to formulate your idea and gain approval from various stakeholders within an organization.
  2. Thorough research is essential before proposing any idea to ensure credibility and avoid unknown unknowns that might lead to rejection.
  3. Crafting a compelling narrative is just as important as presenting facts; having a structured story helps decision-makers understand the problem, solution, and value of the proposal.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Certo Modo • 0 implied HN points • 16 Jun 23
💼 Business Collaboration Leadership Communication Change Management
  1. Valuable work in tech is often a collaborative effort involving different teams and perspectives.
  2. To foster cross-functional collaboration, communicate the big picture clearly through mechanisms like RFCs and understand and align with the incentives of others.
  3. Breaking down silos, enabling effective communication, and celebrating contributions are key to successful collaboration between diverse teams.

Rebirth and Reincarnation: Escaping the corporate death spiral

Musings on Markets • 0 implied HN points • 28 Sep 13
💼 Business Corporate strategy Change Management Investment Analysis Market Trends
  1. Companies need to realize when their old methods don't work anymore. It's important for them to accept change and be willing to let go of past practices.
  2. A strong leader or 'change agent' is crucial for any corporate transformation. This person helps push for new ideas and can come from inside or outside the company.
  3. Having a clear plan for change is essential. Companies need to provide new direction and focus, along with actions that support their new goals.