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How to Use This Book

KEY MESSAGES
Welcome to the Change Caf, where you are in charge
of the conversation.
We introduce your conversation companions, Axel
and Alan.
There are four big questions you need to consider as you
approach the process of change.
Just imagine that you are sitting in a nice caf with us, Axel and
Alan. The three of us have come together to talk about change. You
are focused on some change process that youre involved in, and
youd like to create some real, tangible results. We assume that in our
conversation, or series of conversations, we would reflect together
with you on a wide range of topicstopics that are, from our own
experience, crucial to the process of facilitating change.
We believe that you will get the most out of this little book if you
can keep that scenario in mind. Into our caf conversation we will
bring some experience based on years of helping people to design,
build, and run complex change processes in companies, communities,
and large organizations, such as government agencies. Were focused
on spreading the concept and practice of sustainability, so it can

6 | PARACHUTING CATS INTO BORNEO

become the guiding framework for decision makers and executives

and will influence economic systems at the organizational, national,
and international level. But what we have learned along the way is
applicable to any change process where you, as a change agent, are
trying to improve your corner of the world in some way.
As change agents ourselves, we are not limited to the topic of
sustainability. Weve worked on driving or facilitating change in many
other ways, from helping leaders clarify their visions, to improving
the efficiency of administrative systems. But sustainabilitylongterm, systemic health that takes the needs of both people and nature
into accountis our passion, and helping to promote sustainability
is a responsibility weve chosen. Its a heart issue for us.
The more we put our own time and energy into this issue, the
more we realize that we have probably picked one of the toughest
change topics you can imagine. Why is sustainability so difficult?
Because achieving it requires altering some very deeply embedded human habits, concepts, and attitudes. (We will explore this
later.) Our focus on change for sustainability has thus exposed
us to more than our fair share of challenges, in areas ranging from
government policy to corporate management and from educational practice to community organizing and more. Weve also
been fortunate to work with change agents and change programs
in dozens of countries around the world, on a very wide range
of topicsinside and outside sustainability, but almost always
connected to some change of internal cultureand also involving many differences in culture and worldview. We have helped
orchestrate change-making efforts for a wide range of clients: from
UN programs to US Army bases; from start-up companies with
25 people to multi-national corporations with billions in revenue;
from plans to green Egypts economic sectors to helping WWF
create strategy for the blue (marine) economy. Along the way,
weve been taught and mentored by some remarkable people and
learned a lot through the endeavors with our clients, and we want
to pass on some of the things weve learned.

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We feel that our passion and sense of responsibility to promote

sustainability doesnt limit us in our ability to be a good companion
for you, in thinking about your change initiatives, regardless of the
topic that you personally are focused on. Working on sustainability
is tough, but it has also been very rewarding, partly because it has
exposed us to such a broad range of specific subjects, situations, and
organizational contexts. We both enjoy working with many different kinds of people, and sustainabilitywhich requires a great deal
of collaboration, across boundaries of all kindshas been an ideal
topic from that perspective alone.
This is a good place for you to stop for a moment and reflect
on your own situation. Think about the specific change project that
youre facingor if you dont have a specific project right now, the
general types of change you would like to make happen in this world.
Lets begin to adjust this conversation and apply it to your needs.
From our own experience weve learned a few things about
change that we think are important. Some might seem more helpful
to you than others, at least at this particular moment. If so, focus on
those for now, and come back to the others when you have a new
challenge that requires a different approach. We believe everything
included in our book can be useful to you, but you are the one who
decides what elements are most relevant to you, right now.
We have tried to keep this little book brief and crisp. But as in
a good and helpful conversation in a caf, you need to know how
much time you have to spend with us now, and what your questions
are. If you, in addition, can be on the lookout for something that is
a little surprising or unexpected, then you are in the right state of
mind for reading this book.
Let us give you a short overview about some of the questions we
consider important, or even crucial, for a successful change process:
What basic beliefs do we have, as change agents, about the
process of changing systems? How do these assumptions and
beliefs structure our perception of reality, the underlying logic

8 | PARACHUTING CATS INTO BORNEO

we use to explain our specific approach, the choices we make

about processes and tools we select, and last but not least, our
relationship with the system we work with? How flexible are
we, in terms of being able to challenge our own assumptions?
Remember what Abraham Maslow, one of the founders of
humanistic psychology, once said: I suppose it is tempting, if
the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it
were a nail.
What method (or methods) do we have for supporting a system
to move from state A to state B? We, for example, often use
the VISIS Method. VISIS stands for Vision, Indicators, Systems,
Innovation, Strategy. We start with a clear vision of where we
want to be when the change process is successfully complete.
Then we look at reality, using formal, measurable indicators about
the status quo of the system (when they are available), as well
as informal indicators (such as how people report their feelings
or general impressions). We want to understand what parts of
the system are trending toward or away from the intended state.
Next we look for systemic interconnections between different
indicators, to understand how things work and to find the spots
where we can make the most successful interventions. At those
spots we take quite some time to help people come up with real
innovations, specific changes that have the power to shift the
system. These innovations then need an equally systemic strategy, to go from good ideas to realistic steps forward. Thats our
(usual) method. Do you have a method (or methods) that you
usually apply? What is it?
What is our relationship to the system? Research into different
change initiatives indicates that one of the biggest success factors
is the quality of relationship between the change agent and the
system itselfthe people, the stakeholders, and the patterns that
need to be changed. Most of the time, change means moving to
an unknown and unfamiliar new state. The current state, even
when its not satisfying, at least provides a sense of secure famil-

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iarity. People have managed to adjust to it and have found their

routines to cope with difficulties or things they dont like. To be
willing to leave this behind and move into the unknown, you
need to trust your guide. So as a change agent you need to know
how to actively create the conditions for that trust. (Please dont
misunderstand us here. We dont mean that you need to create a
cozy feeling of liking and being liked. We will dig more into this
question of trust later.)
How can we increase the capacity of the system not just to change
but to improve performance? The new state will not necessarily
be better just because its not old. In fact, the more fundamental
differences you can see between the old and the new, the more
you need to make sure that the individuals and groups youre
working with are striving to be at their best. That means you, as
a change agent, need to know how to coach people toward their
best performance. This certainly applies to the members of your
change team, but it might also apply to the stakeholders you
are working with (who need to learn new skills quickly) or even
to the CEO of the organization (who needs to energize and
inspire the whole company). Successful change and outstanding
performance go hand in hand.
How we view change, how we structure our work, how we personally relate to the system, and how we support high performance:
these are the fundamental questions that we encourage people to
consider, whenever they want to make positive change happen.
Of course, these are not the only questions to ask. Consider your
own experience as either a change leader or a participant in a change
process. What other questions are important? What else do you
believe about change?