7 Rules for Positive, Productive Change

Introduction

PEOPLE HIRE ME BECAUSE THEY WANT DIFFERENT OUTCOMES and different relationships in their workplaces. My work almost always involves change at some level—individual, team, organization. I’ve worked with dozens of groups to understand underlying patterns and shift them toward something better.

My interest is primarily in complex changes in complex environments, working with people and systems to move toward a better outcome. I tackle problems for which there is no one obvious solution (or the seemingly obvious solution will not improve matters).

These are problems in the complex domain of the Cynefin Framework (Snowden and Boone 2007). Cynefin identifies five domains: obvious (until 2014 referred to as simple), where best practices ...