Effective Practices of Internal Change Agents

Learn the right strategy, apply it, win the game. The right strategies depend on which game you’re playing, what you want to achieve, what you’re willing to do, what you have to work with, who’s with you, etc. etc. In other words, the strategy has to fit your circumstances, some strategies work in certain conditions, fail in others.

Still, there appear to be eight strategies that are consistently used by successful internal change agents to introduce innovations, reforms or change. These are:

8. Pick innovations that are technically sound and politically feasible;

7. Develop a clear idea of the outcome that you want to see in place;

6. Work with a team;

5. Evaluate your progress often, and make necessary adjustments;

4. Address both technical and political challenges;

3. Communicate deliberately;

2. Document your journey (and learn from it); and

1. Constantly enhance your capacity to introduce innovations.

Practices that build capability for reform include digging in for the long haul, continuing to learn, continuing to improve one’s “operating system”, nurturing relationships and networks, building resourcefulness and reflecting in action.

One might think, “I only want to make this one thing happen, I don’t plan to push for any more innovations after this.” In that case, just think about the eight Effective Practices, see if any of these will hep you with your innovation.

I’m willing to bet, though, that as you push for your one improvement, you will think of other improvements. And when you succeed, you’re bound to think about what else you can do - because there’s always a better way. Then you might want to consider building your personal capacity for carrying out innovations.

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