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Lean Change Management: PRÁCTICAS INNOVADORAS PARA EL MANEJO DEL CAMBIO ORGANIZACIONAL

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This book will help you implement successful change and bypass change resistance by co-creating change. The book will do that through examples of how innovative practices can dramatically improve the success of change programs. These practices combine ideas from the Agile, Lean Startup, change management, organizational development and psychology communities. This book will change how you think about change.

In this book we will cover:

Why does change resistance emerge and what you should NOT do about it. And of course, how to harness that human reaction to the benefit of all involved in the change process.

Step-by-step descriptions of how we combined ideas from many change methods and frameworks to develop a customized change management process that was right for The Commission.

How you can customize your own change program just like we did at The Commission.

How you can involve the people affected in the change in the design of that change. Directly contributing to the success of the change program.



A newly appointed CIO had shaken the place up with some big changes, including a transition away from traditional management practices and towards Agile practices.

How to implement these modern approaches to management in a very traditional organization? A new approach to change was needed. Lean Change Management was needed.

This book describes how myself and team of change agents helped The Commission transform from an old-school public sector to a modern Agile organization. Was it easy? Of course not. But it was possible because of the innovative practices for Change Management that I describe in this book.

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2013

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1101 people want to read

About the author

Jason Little

48 books34 followers
Jason began his career as a web developer when Cold Fusion roamed the earth. Over the following years, he moved into management, Agile Coaching and consulting. The bumps and bruises collected along the way brought him to the realization that helping organizations adopt Agile practices was less about the practices, and all about change.

In 2008 he attended an experiential learning conference about how people experience change and since then, he’s been writing, and speaking, all over the world about helping organizations discover more effective practices for managing organizational change. He is the author of Lean Change Management and an international speaker who has spoken all over the world from Canada, the US, Finland, Germany, Australia, Belgium and more.

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5 stars
151 (32%)
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204 (43%)
3 stars
84 (18%)
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25 (5%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
Profile Image for Richard Newton.
Author 27 books593 followers
July 16, 2018
Interesting, but a book I read with mixed feelings, hence the balanced 3 star review.

To start with the good, I liked a number of things about this book. Basically, I like the core advice - it's practical and pragmatic. I like some of the ways the author combines good modern practice in change management with some older techniques - like ADKAR, Kotter's 8-step model, and the McKinsey 7s framework. I liked this not because I am fixated with those techniques, but because I liked the way the author pragmatically picks the bits that work and says how to apply them usefully. Also, and this does influence the feeling the book leaves you with, the author comes across as a good guy who would be a great asset in a transformation.

However, there were a few bits I liked less. The title implies the book is a fully formulated and proven set of practices. In reality, it is essentially a case study from one transformation project for "The Commission". I like case studies, but like to know that's what I'm paying for when I buy a book. Secondly, like many books on agile change it does not get into those painful situations where there are no winners - such as when an organisation decides/needs to shut a whole facility or remove itself from a geography and everyone is going to be made redundant. No amount of engagement and involvement makes this sort of change popular or enjoyable. Finally, and I admit this is just a personal taste, I found the writing style a tiny bit annoying - too many exclamation marks and italic font. However, my reading taste is almost certainly different from yours.

So, if you are looking for a great case study which could introduce you to some really interesting practices then this will be a good resource. Less good if you are looking for something broader.
Profile Image for Sebastian Gebski.
1,189 reviews1,341 followers
March 22, 2015
I really have a problem with rating this book.

It's really well written, concise & fluff-free - what is more, I do agree with 100% of what has been stated by author, but I can't really help the feeling that this book didn't help me to improve in any way, didn't give me "more ammo" to pursuit introducing changes, didn't teach me "any new trick". I wouldn't call it wasting time, but I've expected a bit more.

What did I like most?
* author is not afraid to admit that there were things that did not go that smooth - and he's not reluctant to describe them
* there are many examples - majority of them are related to just one case ("The Commission"), but I didn't have a problem with that
* author is very, very clear about non-merithorical effects of change: this part is really important IMHO

To summarize: very solid read on a very important topic.
1 review3 followers
October 10, 2014
DISCLOSURE: I helped Jason shape this book by reviewing it and editing some parts before publication.

I have worked as an Agile Coach for several years. The key challenge for me in working with large or mid-sized organizations was: how do I manage the change, that I know needs to happen. How to start it? How to involve people? How to keep it going, despite the inevitable decrease in interest as the novelty wears out? and the key question: How to I deal with change resistance? or change fatigue?

When I started reviewing Jason's book I was pumped! He has many tips on how to answer the questions that were puzzling me all this time.

I also liked very much the practical, story telling approach that Jason uses in his book as he tells the story of The Commission - the organization where he learned and formalized what he now calls "Lean Change Management". In the book he covers concrete techniques and tools that he used in his approach to change, but he also gives tips and insights on how those tools and techniques could apply to other organizations.

After reading this book in depth, it is my recommendation that if you are an Agile Coach or Lean Coach, you should read this book. It will give you the knowledge, insights and tools you need to start learning how change can be managed. Or as Jason says: co-created with the people affected by the change.

A must read for people working with organizational change.
40 reviews
May 25, 2021
Basically, LCM is a new term coined for the good old organizational development practice of supporting change - “Systemische Schleife”: Designing interventions on the base of how we perceive the current state, then learning from the results as we progress. In comparison with this body of systemic knowledge, LCM seems a bit naive sometimes (e. g. the idea of classifying culture hacks by colors, or the proudly stated “imagine - by sending out the survey you are starting the change!”) This said, a “change manager” might have a less humble attitude to the system (and probably more skin in the game, too).
The book is however a concise summary of useful practices and and there are a few useful tools (most of them borrowed from agile, like Kanban boards and retrospectives). What I found most interesting were the anecdotes from his real life example.
Profile Image for Oleksii.
9 reviews
October 8, 2017
The book looks like a case study of agile introduction in an organization Jason was working for.
It's well written and has a huge amount of references to other materials that can help with the general and practical knowledge in Change management.
4 reviews
Read
December 17, 2022
Me encanto porque me enseño como experimentar con los hallazgos, primero indagar para luego desarrollar una estrategia o mercado para ese consumo y solo si después desarrolkar la solución a través de PDCA, o su ciclo de Construir, Medir y Aprender.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Mark.
14 reviews4 followers
July 4, 2015
Like Sebatian, I didn't find much new except some interesting variations in the business model canvas and a description of the Kinsey change model.

But that's the point. If you understand agile, you will find resistance to change and you can use that to design experiments with your resistors AND supporters. You can then use the results to find what works best for the organization overall and not just early adopters.

I really like this book and would recommend it to any who are are concerned about their organization and the changes they feel are needed. You have to inspect and adapt for change to be successful and the author helps you develop an approach that will work for your organization
Profile Image for Gerard Chiva.
65 reviews11 followers
December 3, 2014
Organizational change is not a linear process, so an experimental feedback-driven approach will work much better than predictive or plan-driven models.

This book is very practical, easy-read, combined with real stories, and what I liked most, the absence of dogmatism. A lean approach to change management: take what works and get rid of what doesn't.

I'm so happy I contributed to the crowd-funding campaign! The result couldn't have been better.

Must read for change agents, consultants, agile coaches and executives.
4 reviews1 follower
December 11, 2015
I just attended Jason's Lean change Toronto two-day course. His book is compilation of various change methods - Kotter, McKinsey, ADKAR tied together his Lean canvas approach. There are elements of the ideas which I found interesting to absorb and a few that I don't relate to and would ignore. It is another small increment in my change journey.
Profile Image for Erwin Verweij.
Author 5 books3 followers
September 19, 2016
A very good book with practical tips and tricks for implementing change. Every Agile coach should have this one in his pocket. Great ideas for canvas formats but also how change works within small and especially large companies.
Profile Image for Paul.
35 reviews4 followers
November 24, 2016
Cheeky little read, gives a brief overview of various change tools, good as a gentle intro but then getting into more heavy weight source material. Would be good choice for a work book club
Profile Image for Piotr.
178 reviews
November 3, 2017
Disappointing. This should be a short series of blog articles or a 1h presentation on a conference - not a book.

Mentioned ‘frameworks’ and ideas are explained very briefly, in most cases the reader is directed to a link in references to read more. Often the anecdote supporting the description does not explain very well how to use the tool and how is it helpful. Another thing is that often the idea behind those ‘frameworks’ can be conveyed in a 30 seconds speech (and referenced Wikipedia articles don’t offer much more details) - is a ‘framework’ not too big a word for something so simple? Having a collection of shortly described practices, where the reader is supposed to read more in referenced articles to get the real understanding does not - in my opinion - make a book. It is just a long overview article, interrupted with anecdotes, printed in a book format. Anecdotes come almost exclusively from a single company. The added value - higher-level observations and conclusions from the author - comes too sparsely. I was sometimes surprised and ‘enlightened’ by the book, but the ratio of inspiring content to the overall content is too low.

The book does not look like a mature publication. In the introduction, the same sentence is repeated after two pages (“stock up your toolkit (...) decide which tool to pull”). References location makes it hard to jump to the section, and their format forces reader to type the URL - often there is not enough information (author, date, journal) to google the article. One link was dead.
Profile Image for Jacques Britz.
1 review
May 31, 2020
This simple to read and understand book serves as an introduction to lean change management. The author focuses mainly on a single project and gives an oversight of the tools and techniques that worked well and not so well during the transformation. The underlying theme of the book rests firmly on the shoulders of the agile manifesto and fundamental change management aspects.

If you have never read anything about agile or change management, you will probably get a lot of useful content from this book. If you have a good understanding of the basic agile principles, then this will merely serve as a refresher on some of the topics that we tend to forget as time goes by.

The author references a few good books that I have added to my Amazon wishlist and look forward to reading them.

Change management is a broad topic, and very few books succeed in discussing all relevant aspects without confusing the reader about the importance and relevance of different approaches. Unfortunately, there are certain parts in this book that came across as not wholly coherent.

Overall the read was not particularly interesting, and I had to work hard at finding some of the nuggets discussed in this book. The one aspect that stands out from the book is that change is hard, and you should never underestimate the different effects it has on people in your organization.
Profile Image for Ollivier Jacq.
1 review1 follower
November 12, 2019
I’m a startup founder and hands-on manager, turned Agile leader (still learning). And I try to learn as much as I can. During the last years I’ve tried and learn about many methods, frameworks, models… These days, I was looking to go back to the essence of Agile, to have a more open-minded vision to address digital, agile or cultural transformations, and I found the LeanChange book. Lean Change combine Agile, Lean Thinking and help you create your own change model, or at least explain you should not focus on only one method or framework. It’s not a good idea not to follow any change process, but as Jason Little said in his book: “Trying to apply a structured change process in one of the causes of change failures”. Highly recommended book for change agent, agile coaches and anyone interested in Lean, Agile.
Profile Image for Reynaldo Luevano.
1 review
July 10, 2020
Great Book the begin of a journey

I have to confess that the first time that I read this book I found many new things to think about implementing Changes but It was difficult to me taking it to practice (currently I am working as an Agile Coach). After completing I started attending webinars and reading articles and all the materials in the website (leanchange.org) that cleared my doubts. This is not a one time read book, you always have to revisit.

Now I have applied different techniques and models (ie) ADKAR and of course and it is working for me to better understand and approach Change Management.

To all new Readers that are looking for a recipe to change Management, I have to confess that this books is the begin of a Journey and then you have to continue reading and practicing, that is the only way "Apply, Inspect and Adapt"
Profile Image for Mario Sailer.
111 reviews13 followers
September 2, 2023
I read the German edition of this book, which was recomended by a smal but highly regarded german agild consulting company. So my expectations where rather high. Maybe thats one cause of my disappointment.

What I liked: It was an eays read, especially if you have already some experience wiht agile transformations.

What was ok for me: It describes more or less a clasical change initiative augmente by some agile practises (canvases, lean coffee, etc.).

What could be better: Not to mention practices and methods in which the autor has no experience (e. g. ADKAR) and provide more detailed information and references for the other practices and methods. Also provide more information form the real world projects.

As somebody who wants to understand why some methods and practises are useful and otheres are not, I found the book rather superficial. For somebody new to the topic it might be useful. For myself reading the book was no good time investet.
Profile Image for Robert Bogue.
Author 20 books20 followers
Read
February 4, 2021
Agile software development becomes lean development and lean startups, and sometimes the folks who grew up in software development transition into organizational change. They bring with them ideas from software development and information technology in general to attempt to make organizational change easier. That’s what Lean Change Management: Innovative Practices for Managing Organizational Change is. It’s a guide to organizational change management from someone who grew up in software development and agile approaches.

Read more
Profile Image for Toby.
13 reviews10 followers
February 21, 2017
Very simple and easy to read guide on Lean Change Management. This book is literally like an autobiography of my life. At times i felt it was a little too simplistic and could of gone into more detail. In particular, the psychology of change and coaching models. I liked the section about Canvases and i'll certainly plan to use some of them. Only took about 2hrs to read so a nice way to dip your toes in and go exploring some of the topics such as ADKAR, Lean Coffee, Management 3.0 in other sources.
Profile Image for Sophia is Reading Today.
173 reviews3 followers
September 28, 2022
Only halfway through the library book but have to buy it so I can underline most of it. Asked my Agile Coach husband to recommend the best book on Change Management and this was his pick. I've only done baby change management things but all of everything he is saying is familiar and I'm keen to try the next steps as I help implement changes in my current job. Also big pluses - short chapters and pacey writing. Having the attention span of a goldfish, I find this much more appetising than doing a Six Sigma course.
Profile Image for Henrik Berglund Berglund.
29 reviews7 followers
August 1, 2017
The book reads very much like a case study of a time Jasons was introducing agile in an organization. Perhaps one pf his first tinmes doing this?

The practices and approach described in this book are all good. I was expecting more from the title though and came out disappointed by lack of depth and of ideas I had not seen before.

I do love a case study over theory though and the read was easy and quick!
12 reviews
September 19, 2022
As a change agent, I find the book interesting. The author reminded me some important "agile change principles" such as "don't develop change ideas with doors closed", "experiment because orgs are always in continuous change" etc. His writing made me feel like I was having a conversation with another agile enthusiast during the coffee break of an agile conference.

I would appreciate more stories about engaging the top management.
1 review
October 19, 2023
interesante, pero podría ser mas específico

Muy interesante enfoque y aproximación al cambio. Da una buena visión general para cambiar cómo se hacen este tipo de proyectos

En algunos lienzos la explicación es un poco breve o general, por lo que no la considero tan auto explicativa. Hace falta otros recursos adicionales probablemente para tener buen acceso a ese entendimiento
14 reviews
March 31, 2018
Very nicely written book, providing a helicopter view on the field of lean change management. However, given the fact that the author does not go in detail (making it easier to read) results in a summary of general insights. These were not new to me, such that the book overall is pleasant but not bringing new knowledge (at least not for me).
Profile Image for Brando Maco.
1 review
June 2, 2020
It was an excellent book that allowed me to have a new perspective on how to manage change in organizations, in an agile way. One of the key points for change management is defining hypotheses and validating them through experiments. The book contains several tools that help speed up change in organizations. Definitely, the book is a great contribution to my professional development.
Profile Image for Dayiris.
85 reviews3 followers
November 13, 2022
Este libro lo leímos en nuestro club de lectura. La verdad hay muchas herramientas y prácticas que podemos extraer para implementar en nuestra organizaciones como agentes de cambio. Me hubiese gustado más claridad en el título, exponiendo que se trataba de un caso de estudio. Además me hubiese gustado leer sobre Lean Change Management con referencia a más casos de éxito, no solo uno.
3 reviews
May 3, 2023
Clear, practical and inspirational

Jason shares a toolkit essentially. This book provides some insight to take down some myths about "managing" organizationak change providing a conceptual and practical framework. Last, but not least, the narrative design is great in tone, pace and style.
Recommended.
Profile Image for Carlos.
56 reviews8 followers
February 23, 2018
Concise, practical and context located. I've found it a great approach to manage change in a nor pushed way, a guide for change agents with a lot of advice and without dogma.

A must if you have to manage some kind of complex change in an organizational environment. A great field companion.
Profile Image for Abe Massry.
2 reviews
May 7, 2018
The book was written excellently. The writer told a story, used descriptive language and kept me engaged despite the subject matter. I cannot stress enough how excellent a job the writer did at describing this subject. The subject matter was not for me.
Profile Image for Lorenzo Armenta Fonseca.
1 review15 followers
August 8, 2018
This book by Jason Little proposes very good innovative and agile practices for change management in an organization through various techniques and tools that can be easily used to implement changes efficiently and dynamically through continuous experimentation.
23 reviews
August 13, 2018
Brooklyn wanted two things.
Her own bakery.
And Nate Riley.

Opening her own business was the easy part.
Trying to forget about Nate when he disappeared was the hard part.

Now, years later, she's running her bakery while engaged to the ideal man.

Then the unimaginable
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews

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