The 20th itSMF Czech conference had as its theme “The Power of Change”. 30 different speakers tackled this subject, each from their own perspective. One thread that emerged for me was that of our personal experience of change. We all know some theory, and though there are recurring themes the public launch of ITIL® (Version 5) during the conference emphasised that the world of theory continues to evolve. But how has it impacted us as individuals ?
One of my favourite sayings is “the difference between theory and practice is greater in practice than it is in theory”. It felt to me speakers were grappling with that conundrum. That the best way of making sense of what was being said was to apply it to your own journey. This stood out particularly when the key messages from the conference were pulled out. It could have just been a list of bullet points. Instead it was presented as a closely observed train of thought, telling the story of how conference themes had had relevance in the day to day challenges the presenter had faced over his career.
What messages stood out for me ? And how do they apply in my workplace ?
A project approach isn’t always best : How are project outcomes from complex interdependencies going to be drawn out to achieve the desired metamorphosis ? This resonates for me with challenges our management team are wrestling with around a current transformation initiative.
Practical guidance without context is difficult : this is one I can echo – we try to provide principles for people to use but what we really want is to help people apply them to their specific challenges as we know they don’t always get what the principles are on about ... if they read them in the first place.
Communicate more than you think you need to : when you have a complex stakeholder map, getting out of your castle and communicating can be a real challenge. However, there's more to it than randomly blasting out comms messages, which. The comms need to be the right comms. See the next point.
Cognitive overload is widely experienced and significantly degrades decision making quality : the number of things changing at the same time and the number of different hats worn by individuals is making it a trial to absorb information and make the judgement required. Presenting information clearly and making it easy to find the right information requires thought.
Alongside cognitive overload there are also general challenges around people accepting lower quality decisions. This is a society-wide challenge. The readiness with which people swallow an internet story without verifying it is a good example, and could be seen as a joke if the consequences were not so far reaching. While we don’t want to strive for unnecessary perfection “minimum viable products” do need to be viable.
To be able to sustain your pace you need a rhythm : this links closely to cognitive overload. We’ve always had a tendency to try to cram too many initiatives into the hopper, and how we balance strategic priorities is a current challenge we are working with. Like a good soldier, to keep going on long marches you need a marching rhythm. If you don't manage this you may end up needing someone as a stand in for you.
You need a sense of vision along with all the associated things like senior leadership buy-in : I have a specific initiative where this is exactly the point where it is at, trying to sell the idea of what good could look like. And in this I need a sense of the extent to which people want to embrace the range of possibilities. It's no good just waiting for the light, which might just as well be waiting for the dark. I need to bring that spark of enlightenment.
Be on the lookout for the signals that indicate you need to change : we have various pieces of work having priorities juggled. Which are the signals that should carry most weight ? Like a country doctor assessing the health of his neighbours whose health he is so familiar with, are we in tune enough and measuring the right things to pick up what matters. Or in my context, the impact of the status quo on people who depend upon it isn’t necessarily clear. Will deferring change be tolerable ? If not, how do we escalate that knowledge ?
In amongst this were some quotable sayings. The ones I found particularly pertinent were
- Pain is unavoidable. Suffering is not necessary
- It takes 9 months to have a baby no matter how many people you put on the job
- People change when they feel hope, not pressure
- Everyone would like to live in České Budějovice ... except me
All of this was valuable for me, but there was something that I found of greater value. For me the real theme of the conference wasn’t The Power of Change. It was The Power of Connection.
- I met people I work with virtually but had never met in person.
- I had meaningful conversation with people I have not talked with for years
- I met people I’ve never met before from at least 4 different countries and covered ground that would have taken ages to cover if we had only met virtually. This is particularly valuable for me in my role as itSMF International Chair
- I admired the competence of the Czech chapter in running an excellent conference, and understood more about the culture they are working in and the ethos that they promote locally.
To put it another way, the power of change is understood better through stories, and stories help to build the sort of personal connection that enables better communication. And effective communication increases the chance of change being successful.
Finally, in honour of our fine Czech hosts and the Czech literature of which they are justly proud, this summary of the conference includes 11 references to works of Czech literature. 10 are references to the title of the work and one is a quote from one of the 10.
Can you spot them ?
Scroll down for the answers !
Franz Kafka
The Trial (novel)
The Castle (Novel)
Metamorphosis (Short Story)
The County Doctor (Short Story)
The Judgement (Short Story)
Ivan Klima
Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light (Novel)
Jaroslav Hašek
The Good Soldier Svejk (Novel)
Milan Kundera
The Joke (Novel)
Bohumil Hrabal
Closely Observed Trains (Novel, and film)
Jara Cimrman
The Stand-In (Play)
České Budějovice (quote from The Stand-In)