Fill In The Blanks: A Change Practitioner's Story
Reports from The Resistance Journal Entry #331
A Fill-In-The-Blanks Debrief, by a Change Practitioner Who Survived
TL;DR: A fill-in-the-blanks story for every practitioner who has ever rolled off a project and needed a moment. Fill in the blanks. Read the story. Feel seen.
Instructions: Fill in the word list below WITHOUT reading the story first. Then transfer your answers to the matching numbered blanks. Share at your next community of practice meeting. Or just email it to your closest change peep. They'll appreciate the humor.
WORD LIST
1. Your name ________________
2. Corporate buzzword (transformation / evolution / acceleration / excellence) ________________
3. Vague verb (align / elevate / modernize / reimagine) ________________
4. Number between 6 and 24 (months the project was already underway when you arrived) ________________
5. Number between 2 and 8 (weeks until go-live when you arrived) ________________
6. Thing that is not change management (communications / training / vibes / morale) ________________
7. Dollar amount (what you quoted) ________________
8. Smaller dollar amount (what they approved) ________________
9. Name of person who is not the sponsor but acts like they are ________________
10. Excuse (any excuse — you have a collection) ________________
11. Name of actual sponsor you will meet exactly once ________________
12. Positive adjective (committed / energized / bought-in / passionate) ________________
13. Name of VP everyone knows is a problem ________________
14. Adjective describing #13 (cautious / skeptical / misaligned / a lot) ________________
15. Important thing you were not funded to do (impact assessment / readiness survey / resistance plan / stakeholder analysis) ________________
16. Gentler name for #15 that survived the budget review ________________
17. Number of slides in the communication deck they asked you to simplify ________________
18. Number of slides it became after everyone gave feedback ________________
19. Name of person who gave the most confusing feedback ________________
20. Thing leadership cut from training (the practice scenarios / the Q &A time / the second session / all of it) ________________
21. Reason given for cutting #20 (not enough time / too expensive / people can figure it out / we trust them) ________________
22. Number of days after go-live the first crisis happened ________________
23. Person blamed for the crisis (the system / the users / the training / you) ________________
24. Thing that was supposed to exist after you left but doesn't (a sustainability plan / a change champion network / an internal CM owner / institutional memory) ________________
25. Emotion you felt on your last day (relief / grief / pride / numbness / all of the above) ________________
26. Vague timeframe (soon / once things settle / before the next wave / TBD) ________________
27. Positive thing you will tell yourself before the next project ________________
THE STORY
(Fill in your answers. Read slowly. You earned this.)
PLUS / MINUS / DELTA
A Project After-Action Review By 1, Change Practitioner. Written from the parking lot, engine running.
PROPOSAL
My name is 1 and I was hired to help with the 2.
The 2 was a 2 initiative to 3 the entire organization. It had been underway for 4 months. Nobody had thought to involve change management yet, because the project team believed that what they needed was not change management, but 6.
They were incorrect.
They had a budget of $7 for change management. After conversations I can only describe as 14 , this became $8.
Plus: I got the project. Minus: I got the project.
KICKOFF
The executive sponsor was 11. 11 could not attend the kickoff because 10. In his place was 9 , who said 11 was 12 and I would meet him 26.
I met 11 once. He seemed 12. He had clearly not read the proposal.
There was also 13. 13 was described to me as 14. I wrote in my notebook: do not let 13 near the communication plan. 13 ended up on the communication plan approval committee.
Plus: The kickoff had good snacks. Minus: The kickoff had no charter, no decision rights, and no**11**. Delta: Next time, ask to see the charter before accepting the snacks.
ASSESSMENT
I proposed a 15. Leadership said a 15 was not in scope. We compromised. I did a 16 , which was the same thing with a friendlier name and forty percent less funding.
The 16 found seventeen areas of significant risk.
I presented eleven of them. 9 said this felt 14. I presented seven. 9 said could we maybe do three. I presented three and called them opportunities.
Everyone felt much better.
Plus: The**16** was genuinely good work. Minus: It is currently on page four of a SharePoint site nobody visits. Delta: Next time, laminate it.
PLANNING
I built the communication plan. It had 17 slides. After 19 gave feedback, it had 18 slides, two new approval chains, and a section that contradicted the section before it in ways I was not allowed to fix.
13 reviewed it and said it was 14.
13 always said everything was 14. It was the only adjective 13 owned.
I also built a training plan. The training plan included 20. Leadership removed 20 because 21. I explained why 20 mattered. Leadership nodded. 20 stayed removed.
Plus: The communication plan was approved. Minus: It took**4** weeks, three executive reviews, and one conversation I would describe as spiritual. Delta: Next time, start with fewer slides and more prayer.
EXECUTION
I sent the communications. Some people read them. Most people did not. One person replied to all with a question that was answered in the communication they had not read. I answered it anyway. With a smile. Because that is what we do.
I delivered the training. It was good training. I know it was good training because 9 told me it was good training right before asking if we could shorten it by half because 21.
We shortened it by half.
13 did not attend the training. 13 sent a delegate. The delegate had not been briefed. The delegate had questions. I answered them. With a smile. Because that is still what we do.
Plus: People showed up. Minus: Showing up and being ready are different things, and only one of them showed up. Delta: Next time, define "trained" before the training starts.
GO-LIVE
Go-live was on a 16. This was not the original go-live date. The original go-live date had moved 4 times. I had updated the change plan each time without additional budget because 21.
For approximately 5 hours, everything was fine.
Then it was not fine.
22 days after go-live, the first crisis arrived. It was caused by 23. Everyone agreed it was caused by 23. This was not entirely accurate, but it was the version of events that required the least uncomfortable conversation, so it stood.
I drafted a response communication. It was approved in record time. Crises, I have learned, have a wonderful effect on approval speed.
Plus: We went live. Minus: Several things went live with us that we were not expecting. Delta: Next time, the definition of "ready" goes in the charter, in writing, in a large font.
HYPERCARE
Hypercare lasted 5 weeks. During this time I answered 17 questions that were in the training materials, attended 18 meetings that could have been emails, and watched 13 take credit for three things he had previously described as 14.
11 sent a note to the team congratulating everyone on a successful launch. It was a very nice note. He spelled my name wrong.
I also discovered during Hypercare that 24 , which I had flagged as essential in the 16 , the planning phase, the execution phase, and a strongly worded email in week seven, did not exist. It had never been built. There was no owner. There was no plan to find an owner. 9 said they would sort it out 26.
Plus: The users were resilient. People always are. Minus: They had to be, because we did not give them**24**. Delta: Next time,24 is non-negotiable or I am non-attending.
ROLL-OFF
On my last day, I handed over a transition document that nobody requested. I sent a final note to 9 , who replied with a thumbs-up emoji. I received a LinkedIn recommendation from 11 that described me as a consummate professional who elevated our**6** efforts and did not mention change management once.
I sat in my car.
I felt 25.
Both things were true.
I thought about 13 , who had been 14 about everything and was now, according to 9 , leading the sustainment effort internally. I thought about the 15 that became a 16 that became a SharePoint page. I thought about 20 , cut in planning, mourned at go-live, eulogized in Hypercare.
I thought: I will do this differently next time.
I will ask harder questions in the proposal phase. I will not accept $8 when the work requires $7. I will put 24 in the contract. I will meet 11 before I start, not after I finish.
I will tell myself 27.
And then someone will send an email that says nothing too formal, just some 6 , and I will say yes, because this work matters, and because I am apparently constitutionally incapable of walking away from a project that needs me.
Plus: I am good at this. Minus: They rarely know what they hired. Delta: Keep going anyway.
The Resistance salutes every practitioner who has ever written a transition document nobody requested.
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