Change Team Roles
Role 3: diagnostic advisor
Sorts through issues and goals to gain clarity and direction.
the change agent as diagnostic advisor
The foremost task in the initial stages of a change process is sorting out what the real problem is. Just as in medicine we rely on expertise of a trained professional, supported by tests of all kinds, so it is in any complex problem case. Finding out what is wrong can be a full-time job in many situations, and many clients will be happy to have expert outside help on this, along with whatever tools this change agent can bring with them, such as employee questionnaires and quantitative analytics covering critical inputs, throughputs, and outputs.
Being an Effective Diagnostic Advisor
The most basic question any change agent might ask is: “What are these people trying to do?”
In other words…
- What are their goals?
- Are there many goals?
- Is there agreement on goals?
- Is there an order to the goals?
- What is most important?
- What is most immediate or urgent?
- Is there a relationship among goals?
But we know gaining clarity isn’t that simple. The articulated “goals” may not be the real goals, and the goals of some may not be the goals of others. The diagnostic advisor change agent helps a system sort through this morass to gain clarity and thus move forward, knowing better what direction to be headed in.
Filling the DIAGNOSTIC ADVISOR Role on the Change Team
Here are questions to ask as you consider how to fill the Diagnostic Advisor role on the change team:
- Who can identify the specifics of the concern, redefined as a problem to be solved?
- Are there differences of opinion among crucial stakeholders of what the “real problem” really is?
- Can an effort be made to poll or sample the opinion of members at different levels as to what the real problem is or dimensions of the problem?
- Who has the analytical mindset to delve into this?
- Can the problem be broken down into aspects that are “immediate” vs “short term” vs “long term”?
The Diagnostic Advisor change agent must be able to think about the system in many different ways because there are many different ways to think about what a system really is. Does this deep analysis sound like your strength?
If not you, who could fill this role for you?
Change Team Roles
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The Change Agent's Guide identifies 7 role types, each loosely associated with a stage in the change cycle.
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