THE CHANGE AGENT'S GUIDE

Guiding the process of choosing among solutions

One of the biggest mistakes change agents make is jumping to a solution without thinking through how it would apply in practice, how it might need to be adapted to fit the special circumstances of the system, and what its various consequences might be in the short and long term.

It may well be that you have already settled on a particular solution that you are going to try, no matter what, or that your client or sponsor has done so. That is OK. Indeed, it is the typical circumstance that most change agents will find themselves in, at least on the first round. Being focused on particular solutions is the normal state of affairs. It may even have been pre-ordained or dictated by the search process as the “one obvious choice,” or the one way it is most logical to go. If so, the Try stage is just a walk-through. Keep in mind, however, that if you run into trouble later on, you may have to come back and invest a little more time and thought in what should actually be done to bring about a successful change effort.

Turning Knowledge into Action

With a problem and a lot of relevant information, the client needs to be able to derive some implications and settle upon a potential solution. This is the most creative and interesting task in the process of change, but it is a task that most change agents know little about. Some will leave the client system at this point, assuming that clients know what is best for them and know how to pick out the best solution once they have a good diagnosis. This is not a safe assumption. Very few people are skilled at generating solution ideas and choosing among them, even when they have a clear idea of what they need.

The Try stage is therefore intended to help any client system generate solutions and make the right choices. While we map out a structured sequence to follow, keep in mind that choosing the solution cannot easily be separated from diagnosis and resource acquisition activities. That said, we suggest both a sequence for this process and the ways to adapt when the process is not linear.

Exploring TRY Topics

With a well-defined problem and an assemblage of relevant resources, the system is in a good position to choose a solution or a set of possible solutions.

The Change Agent's Guide explores Stage 5: TRY through these sub-steps:

Stage 5.1: Assembling and ordering the relevant findings

Stage 5.2: Deriving implications from the knowledge base

Stage 5.3: Generating a range of solution ideas

Stage 5.4: Testing feasibilities

Stage 5.5: Adapting

Stage 5.6: Acting

To explore these topics, read The Change Agent's Guide.

Graphic: open book with change cycle on left page and TRY flowchart on right page

TRY Summary

The Try stage maps out a sequence of steps but also acknowledges that, at each step in the selection process, you may have need for additional diagnostic information and additional resources of various kinds.

You may even have to cycle back and revisit this selection process even if you have previously been through it. For example, when you meet unexpected resistance in the client system during a trial, you may have to do more work on adaptation, or you may even have to select another innovation.

There is no one sure path to the “right” solution, and there is no one solution which is “right” for a given problem. There are usually many possible solutions and many possible paths. The processes should therefore be viewed as one potential route among many.

Our object in presenting the suggested sequence in the Try stage is to give the change agent an approach that might help the client assess options, then select, test and, finally, commit to an innovation.

Whenever you have the opportunity, you should plan a pilot test of an innovation before making a final decision on selection. Limited tryouts on several innovations can give additional data to help in making rational choices. Above all, the trial demonstrates the degree of relevance and suitability to the problem at hand.