Leading large scale change

Sometimes, change is just ‘bigger’ – maybe you’re leading a huge number of people and teams, or reaching across boundaries. Maybe the unknowns outnumber the knowns. Maybe you’re aiming for something especially ambitious, or seeking to make deep changes. Or, most challenging – all of these!

Large scale change is not the same as running a project. It’s not just a matter of size – it is qualitatively different. You are going to encounter more ‘volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity’ that any project plan could possibly handle. You’re going to depend on the commitment and togetherness of people who don’t work for you and may never even meet you. It’s not just a large challenge, it’s a different kind of challenge.

The good news is we’ve learned a lot over recent years about how to spot when you need to take a different approach, and what exactly should be in that approach. Drawing on the evidence from successful large scale social movements, and proven frameworks from the NHS, I’ll help you see things differently and plan more effectively.

This theme brings insights from perspectives including:

• complexity theory
• the Cynefin framework
• US military communications and command innovations
• the Change Model for Health and Care
• the NHS Large Scale Change framework