The Eight Constants of Change – An Interview with Stacy Aaron

stacy_aaron2In this edition of the Guerrilla Project Management podcast, I interview Stacy Aaron co-author of two books on organizational change: The Change Management Pocket Guide published in 2005 and The Eight Constants of Change published in 2008.

These books are popular with many Fortune 500 companies such as, American Express, Bayer Corporation, FedEx, UPS, Johnson & Johnson, NBC Universal, Aetna, and Oracle.

Stacy is a Partner with Change Guides, a training and consulting company specializing in organizational change. Change Guides is based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They have worked with family run and global companies. 2009 was their most successful year and they’ve recently expanded into Australia.

The Interview

Listen now:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Right click here to download the MP3

In this interview, I asked Stacy the following questions on the big ideas in The Eight Constants of Change:

1 – It Takes a Village

Question:  Project Managers lead change initiatives every day, yet we tend to focus on the technical aspect of a change and neglect to plan for the effort and time it takes people to adjust to the change. What are some the consequences project managers and initiatives face when we don’t account for individual change process.

2 – An Object at Rest Tends to Stay at Rest

Question: What are some of the dangerous ways that people manifest resistance to change that tend to derail initiatives?

Question: what’s the mindset change leaders need to adopt or develop to cope with the resistance?

Question: What is the Commitment curve?

Question: How do you make sure you protect yourself so you don’t become a casualty of change gone badly?

3 – Old Trees Have Deep Roots

Question: What are some of the ways to diagnose resistance to change that is based on old baggage from past change initiatives?

4 – Get to the Heart of It

Question: How do successful change leaders get people to build deep emotional connection to the need for change?

5 – Beware the Paparazzi

Question: What are some of the mistakes that have you observed leaders make that undermine their credibility when leading change?

Question: How do change leaders make sure they invest they efforts in the right change that benefits the organization rather than someone’s personal agenda?

6 – You Can Say That Again

Questions: What are some of the communication mistakes that you have observes successful change leaders avoid?

7 – If They Build It, They Will Come

Question: What are some the effective ways that change leaders can get their people to want to own the change effort?

8 – You’re Not in Kansas Anymore

Question: when project managers complete a change initiative, they more on to next project and it becomes the responsibility of the rest of the organization to support and reinforce the change. What can project manages do to make sure the change stick?

About Stacy Aaron:

Stacy has been an organizational change consultant since the mid-90s when she worked for Deloitte Consulting Group. She has a marketing degree from Miami University and an MBA from The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

She has taught Marketing at Miami University and Management and Organizational Behavior at Wilmington College.

In addition, she and her partner, Kate Nelson, are syndicated writers for the Business Journals sold throughout the United States.

Stacy is a Partner with Change Guides, a firm that helps organizations get people Ready, Willing, and Able to work in new ways. Change Guides equips their clients with the understanding, tools and techniques to help their people to think and act in the ways that will support organizational changes. Their success stems from their ability to offer a full spectrum of products and services in organizational change.

Contact Information:

As always, if you have any comments, questions, concerns, or rants, – or you just want to say hi – please feel free to leave a comment below. To your project success!

book_eight_constants

book_pocket_guide

Listen now:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Right click here to download the MP3

5 Responses to The Eight Constants of Change – An Interview with Stacy Aaron
  1. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Marla Zwinggi, Samad Aidane PMP. Samad Aidane PMP said: Interview with Stacy Aaron (@SA_ChangeGuide) on the Eight Constants of Change http://bit.ly/cEe57u #pmot #pmp #pmi #pm #projectmanagement […]

  2. prvadovas
    August 5, 2010 | 6:54 am

    These are interesting questions, i have probably missed the answeres to them. In my not so rich experince as PM i needed to integrate client tracking tool so that team members will need to update the status of each client online. This project management tool helped to monitor the status and export reports. It took few month till everyone agreed to work with it. A lot of resistence.. People do not like changes. Today for each new project I am using project management tool right from the beginning of the project and not entering it during the project.
    http://www.clarizen.com/ProjectManagement.aspx?source=SEO&medium=comments&campaignID=Organic

    • samad_aidane
      October 17, 2010 | 12:25 am

      Prvadovas,

      Thank you for your comments. Indeed change is hard. It takes a lot of persistence to work thru conflict inherent in leading change. Unfortunately, there is not adequate training for those who lead change. Somehow they are expected to just know what to do.

  3. Jeremy Wessels
    September 21, 2010 | 3:52 am

    Excellent excellent excellent! These podcasts have really enlightened my understanding of change management and project management in general. Thank you so much for your brilliant work, time and effort in sharing your knowledge and passion for being a better project manager.

    • samad_aidane
      September 21, 2010 | 11:04 am

      Thank you Jeremy for your kind words.

The Eight Constants of Change – An Interview with Stacy Aaron

stacy_aaron2In this edition of the Guerrilla Project Management podcast, I interview Stacy Aaron co-author of two books on organizational change: The Change Management Pocket Guide published in 2005 and The Eight Constants of Change published in 2008.

These books are popular with many Fortune 500 companies such as, American Express, Bayer Corporation, FedEx, UPS, Johnson & Johnson, NBC Universal, Aetna, and Oracle.

Stacy is a Partner with Change Guides, a training and consulting company specializing in organizational change. Change Guides is based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They have worked with family run and global companies. 2009 was their most successful year and they’ve recently expanded into Australia.

The Interview

Listen now:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Right click here to download the MP3

In this interview, I asked Stacy the following questions on the big ideas in The Eight Constants of Change:

1 – It Takes a Village

Question:  Project Managers lead change initiatives every day, yet we tend to focus on the technical aspect of a change and neglect to plan for the effort and time it takes people to adjust to the change. What are some the consequences project managers and initiatives face when we don’t account for individual change process.

2 – An Object at Rest Tends to Stay at Rest

Question: What are some of the dangerous ways that people manifest resistance to change that tend to derail initiatives?

Question: what’s the mindset change leaders need to adopt or develop to cope with the resistance?

Question: What is the Commitment curve?

Question: How do you make sure you protect yourself so you don’t become a casualty of change gone badly?

3 – Old Trees Have Deep Roots

Question: What are some of the ways to diagnose resistance to change that is based on old baggage from past change initiatives?

4 – Get to the Heart of It

Question: How do successful change leaders get people to build deep emotional connection to the need for change?

5 – Beware the Paparazzi

Question: What are some of the mistakes that have you observed leaders make that undermine their credibility when leading change?

Question: How do change leaders make sure they invest they efforts in the right change that benefits the organization rather than someone’s personal agenda?

6 – You Can Say That Again

Questions: What are some of the communication mistakes that you have observes successful change leaders avoid?

7 – If They Build It, They Will Come

Question: What are some the effective ways that change leaders can get their people to want to own the change effort?

8 – You’re Not in Kansas Anymore

Question: when project managers complete a change initiative, they more on to next project and it becomes the responsibility of the rest of the organization to support and reinforce the change. What can project manages do to make sure the change stick?

About Stacy Aaron:

Stacy has been an organizational change consultant since the mid-90s when she worked for Deloitte Consulting Group. She has a marketing degree from Miami University and an MBA from The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

She has taught Marketing at Miami University and Management and Organizational Behavior at Wilmington College.

In addition, she and her partner, Kate Nelson, are syndicated writers for the Business Journals sold throughout the United States.

Stacy is a Partner with Change Guides, a firm that helps organizations get people Ready, Willing, and Able to work in new ways. Change Guides equips their clients with the understanding, tools and techniques to help their people to think and act in the ways that will support organizational changes. Their success stems from their ability to offer a full spectrum of products and services in organizational change.

Contact Information:

As always, if you have any comments, questions, concerns, or rants, – or you just want to say hi – please feel free to leave a comment below. To your project success!

book_eight_constants

book_pocket_guide

Listen now:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Right click here to download the MP3

5 Responses to The Eight Constants of Change – An Interview with Stacy Aaron
  1. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Marla Zwinggi, Samad Aidane PMP. Samad Aidane PMP said: Interview with Stacy Aaron (@SA_ChangeGuide) on the Eight Constants of Change http://bit.ly/cEe57u #pmot #pmp #pmi #pm #projectmanagement […]

  2. prvadovas
    August 5, 2010 | 6:54 am

    These are interesting questions, i have probably missed the answeres to them. In my not so rich experince as PM i needed to integrate client tracking tool so that team members will need to update the status of each client online. This project management tool helped to monitor the status and export reports. It took few month till everyone agreed to work with it. A lot of resistence.. People do not like changes. Today for each new project I am using project management tool right from the beginning of the project and not entering it during the project.
    http://www.clarizen.com/ProjectManagement.aspx?source=SEO&medium=comments&campaignID=Organic

    • samad_aidane
      October 17, 2010 | 12:25 am

      Prvadovas,

      Thank you for your comments. Indeed change is hard. It takes a lot of persistence to work thru conflict inherent in leading change. Unfortunately, there is not adequate training for those who lead change. Somehow they are expected to just know what to do.

  3. Jeremy Wessels
    September 21, 2010 | 3:52 am

    Excellent excellent excellent! These podcasts have really enlightened my understanding of change management and project management in general. Thank you so much for your brilliant work, time and effort in sharing your knowledge and passion for being a better project manager.

    • samad_aidane
      September 21, 2010 | 11:04 am

      Thank you Jeremy for your kind words.

The Eight Constants of Change – An Interview with Stacy Aaron

stacy_aaron2In this edition of the Guerrilla Project Management podcast, I interview Stacy Aaron co-author of two books on organizational change: The Change Management Pocket Guide published in 2005 and The Eight Constants of Change published in 2008.

These books are popular with many Fortune 500 companies such as, American Express, Bayer Corporation, FedEx, UPS, Johnson & Johnson, NBC Universal, Aetna, and Oracle.

Stacy is a Partner with Change Guides, a training and consulting company specializing in organizational change. Change Guides is based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They have worked with family run and global companies. 2009 was their most successful year and they’ve recently expanded into Australia.

The Interview

Listen now:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Right click here to download the MP3

In this interview, I asked Stacy the following questions on the big ideas in The Eight Constants of Change:

1 – It Takes a Village

Question:  Project Managers lead change initiatives every day, yet we tend to focus on the technical aspect of a change and neglect to plan for the effort and time it takes people to adjust to the change. What are some the consequences project managers and initiatives face when we don’t account for individual change process.

2 – An Object at Rest Tends to Stay at Rest

Question: What are some of the dangerous ways that people manifest resistance to change that tend to derail initiatives?

Question: what’s the mindset change leaders need to adopt or develop to cope with the resistance?

Question: What is the Commitment curve?

Question: How do you make sure you protect yourself so you don’t become a casualty of change gone badly?

3 – Old Trees Have Deep Roots

Question: What are some of the ways to diagnose resistance to change that is based on old baggage from past change initiatives?

4 – Get to the Heart of It

Question: How do successful change leaders get people to build deep emotional connection to the need for change?

5 – Beware the Paparazzi

Question: What are some of the mistakes that have you observed leaders make that undermine their credibility when leading change?

Question: How do change leaders make sure they invest they efforts in the right change that benefits the organization rather than someone’s personal agenda?

6 – You Can Say That Again

Questions: What are some of the communication mistakes that you have observes successful change leaders avoid?

7 – If They Build It, They Will Come

Question: What are some the effective ways that change leaders can get their people to want to own the change effort?

8 – You’re Not in Kansas Anymore

Question: when project managers complete a change initiative, they more on to next project and it becomes the responsibility of the rest of the organization to support and reinforce the change. What can project manages do to make sure the change stick?

About Stacy Aaron:

Stacy has been an organizational change consultant since the mid-90s when she worked for Deloitte Consulting Group. She has a marketing degree from Miami University and an MBA from The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

She has taught Marketing at Miami University and Management and Organizational Behavior at Wilmington College.

In addition, she and her partner, Kate Nelson, are syndicated writers for the Business Journals sold throughout the United States.

Stacy is a Partner with Change Guides, a firm that helps organizations get people Ready, Willing, and Able to work in new ways. Change Guides equips their clients with the understanding, tools and techniques to help their people to think and act in the ways that will support organizational changes. Their success stems from their ability to offer a full spectrum of products and services in organizational change.

Contact Information:

As always, if you have any comments, questions, concerns, or rants, – or you just want to say hi – please feel free to leave a comment below. To your project success!

book_eight_constants

book_pocket_guide

Listen now:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Right click here to download the MP3

5 Responses to The Eight Constants of Change – An Interview with Stacy Aaron
  1. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Marla Zwinggi, Samad Aidane PMP. Samad Aidane PMP said: Interview with Stacy Aaron (@SA_ChangeGuide) on the Eight Constants of Change http://bit.ly/cEe57u #pmot #pmp #pmi #pm #projectmanagement […]

  2. prvadovas
    August 5, 2010 | 6:54 am

    These are interesting questions, i have probably missed the answeres to them. In my not so rich experince as PM i needed to integrate client tracking tool so that team members will need to update the status of each client online. This project management tool helped to monitor the status and export reports. It took few month till everyone agreed to work with it. A lot of resistence.. People do not like changes. Today for each new project I am using project management tool right from the beginning of the project and not entering it during the project.
    http://www.clarizen.com/ProjectManagement.aspx?source=SEO&medium=comments&campaignID=Organic

    • samad_aidane
      October 17, 2010 | 12:25 am

      Prvadovas,

      Thank you for your comments. Indeed change is hard. It takes a lot of persistence to work thru conflict inherent in leading change. Unfortunately, there is not adequate training for those who lead change. Somehow they are expected to just know what to do.

  3. Jeremy Wessels
    September 21, 2010 | 3:52 am

    Excellent excellent excellent! These podcasts have really enlightened my understanding of change management and project management in general. Thank you so much for your brilliant work, time and effort in sharing your knowledge and passion for being a better project manager.

    • samad_aidane
      September 21, 2010 | 11:04 am

      Thank you Jeremy for your kind words.