Is This Initiative Legitimate Or Not? The ChangeCraft™ process calls for Sr. Sponsors to grant blanket authority for each Change Team to create its own "license" that shows how its initiative is legitimate. Because our approach to transforming a company gives Change Agents and Change Teams great freedom to take action, there must be some limits to keep the change process in bounds and focused on legitimate results. Anyone in the company has a right to check a Change Team's license and even to challenge the license. The teams have an obligation to take these challenges seriously and to respond appropriately to anyone who challenges. Only Sr. Sponsors have the authority to tear up, or revoke, a Change Team's license. Test the legitimacy of an initiative you have in mind by checking it against the criteria required for a Change Initiative in your organization. The Change Agent is responsible for making sure the initiative s/he releases to the Change Team meets the criteria of the organization. And the team must keep the initiative in bounds during implementation. Everyone associated with an initiative must be able to honestly defend its legitimacy Volunteers in all roles of transformation are taught to understand the criteria for legitimacy. The Champion has an opportunity to stop a Change Agent before s/he recruits the team by challenging the legitimacy of the initiative. Champions and Team Coaches only continue their involvement with teams working on legitimate Change Initiatives. If the Champion or Team Coach believes the team's initiative no longer meets the criteria for legitimacy, s/he has an ethical obligation to challenge the team. If the team does not agree and if it does not alter its course, the Champion or Team Coach must immediately resign from the team. Because a Change Team can only work if it has BOTH a
Champion and a Team Coach, people in these roles serve as a balance to keep transformation
activities legitimate. Champions and Team Coaches who have resigned because the initiative
has strayed out of bounds are likely to inform their colleagues about the resignation.
Other Champions and Team Coaches are less likely to work with the team unless the team
brings the initiative back in bounds. Written by Heidi Jeanne Hess and Veronica Boaz (Doug Wesley contributed, James Lloyd edited) Check Point (Please complete and submit the Form below) When
you are finished Updated: July 5, 1998 |
