Changing Software Development: Learning to Become Agile

10.6. Time to Go

Teams need consistency and people value steady leadership during times of change. However, eventually there will come a time when you'll want to consider whether your initiatives are better continued without your involvement. The true test of a change initiative is whether it survives when the original driving force is no longer present.

When you've successfully led a major change, there may well come a time when you want to look for new challenges yourself. Creating change within an organization won't only change the organization – it will also change you. Achieving your goal and completing the changes that you envisaged may be satisfying, but it might also leave you wanting more. And successfully completing a major change initiative will most likely open up new career options.

You may start a change initiative with a goal in mind. When that goal is achieved, you may be happy with the result and simply want to sit back and enjoy the outcome. However, true change is never done because learning continues – so reaching your goal may simply be a sign that a new wave of change is required. Having piloted the previous change, you might be the ideal person to repeat the process, or it may be better for the new change to be led by a new person.

Even if your goal isn't met, there are times when you may want to consider leaving a project or organization. Sometimes changing leaders can re-invigorate a change initiative and actually create more learning and change. There ...