Capstone Journey
My capstone project is a pilot effort to share a human-centric method for leading change, but it is less a project about change management than a story about my servant-leadership journey. Ten years ago, I thought of change management as a set of tools that could be used to push people through the change process. In the past two years, through the teachings in the Organizational Leadership program, I have come to understand change management models and methods as tools to support and sustain people through the change process. Listening, empathy, and growth of people are now at the center of my thinking about change management.
2013-14
Physician Standard Work
With a physician partner, I developed an engagement plan based on the Prochaska/Norcross/DiClemente model of change, with an emphasis on creating activities to nudge people through the stages of change. Though this was a very effective early effort that resulted in an invitation to present the work at the November 2014 Healthcare Performance Improvement (HPI) annual conference, my mindset was focused on the project outcomes, not people's experience. Click the picture for a snapshot of the engagement plan.
2023
Operating Room Renaming
Earlier this year, I worked with a team to rename 10 operating rooms, which involved dozens of systems and impacted hundreds of people. We had the same need to meet a project deadline as with MD standard work, but this time, activities were designed with the question, "what will people need?" at each phase. That meant patience and FAQs in the beginning; phone lists and maps in middle; and on-site support during and post go-live. This approach felt better to me, the project team, and to those affected by the change. We also had only five reported issues, four resolved within 15 minutes, and the fifth within 72 hours. Zero safety incidents, and zero complaints about the name changes.
Adapted from Prochaska, Norcross, & DiClemente, 1994, Changing for Good.
Image sourced from: https://www.cleverism.com/understanding-kubler-ross-change-curve/
2023
Change involves loss
Not a project, but a pivotal conversation with a friend who had been homeless for many years. He has had stable housing for a year, but is experiencing sadness, anxiety, and difficulty sleeping. Having just read literature about the Kübler-Ross change curve, I asked him, "Have you thought about what you lost?" It turns out, he had lost several things: community, busy days seeking services, and a sense of pride in surviving tough situations. He does not want to be homeless again, but acknowledging that even a positive change can trigger grief was cathartic for him and a lesson for me. Who's losing what?
2023
Bringing it Together
This is my master's capstone project, a milestone in my leadership development journey. In this pilot, I share my synthesized approach to change management with people's experience at the center. Pilot participants engage in one hour of learning, a 30-minute private consultation (with the option of more, if desired), receive a reflection tool to practice with, and participate in a post-project feedback session. Click the image to learn more.
2024 and beyond
What's next
Phase 1 of the pilot is just starting, but I am already getting preliminary feedback that this thinking is helpful on an individual leader level, that it has them thinking about how people are experiencing change personally.
​
I have been thinking about how the personal experience models (Prochaska, et al., Kubler-Ross) repeat themselves within the phases of structural approaches like ADKAR. Click on the image for a draft of my preliminary thinking on an approach for phase 2 of my pilot.