Manifested
Competencies

Understanding one's own mental models and working towards understanding the mental models of others is paramount to my project.   We all come to the table with a variety of preconceived notions from our experiences, education, culture, et. and these all influence the way we think and respond. Being cognizant of these mental models is paramount to navigating through change, especially when trying to mitigate risks and focusing on growth or true sustained change.   

Knowing where the team is going, creating a sense of purpose, and fostering a sense of community and space is how a shared vision became competency.   Often when navigating through change, from my previous experience, there is someone at the helm of the ship directing others.   Creating a shared vision allows everyone to have a valued interest in the outcome and process of change.   This competency is intertwined with other competencies, and they often run together, especially mental models, appreciative inquiry, and the dialogical method.  

Empowerment is a phrase often used in my organization, but for my project I am using the term slightly differently. Empowerment outlines the role we can play in making a change. We all have the authority to make recommendations, alter processes, and to be active change agents. It comes down to having the power to change and that everyone can make the decision to change and adapt. 

Appreciative Inquiry focuses on the positive, taking a negative or obstacle and identifying the opposite or desired state. This is the foundation of the project, examining a current process and identifying what COULD be. By positive framing, the desired state helps to create the shared vision of what the change plan is trying to achieve. It is easy to focus on the negative or what is not working, but more difficult to create the desired state, and appreciative inquiry provides a basis for this.  

Navigating through change requires input and collaboration of many individuals to ensure a change initiative is institutionalized in an organization. Through completing a SATA analysis, the distinct roles in the organization can be established. Soliciting feedback and input from targets, sponsors, and advocates helps ensure that change is being properly addressed at many diverse levels in the organization. Collaboration also helps to mitigate potential risks and pitfalls that a change initiative might occur. Often when navigating through change, you might not fully be aware of the impacts of change in totality, and through collaboration you can explore the potential impacts with many different individuals. Collaboration with targets also ensures that the change is desirable and relevant.    

I purposefully left dialogue to the last competency, as it is a component of all the other competencies. When navigating through change it is paramount to have plentiful dialogue. Not only with the change agents, but with everyone potentially involved with or impacted by the change initiative. None of the competencies can occur without inciting meaningful dialogue. I added this competency to the beginning of my training, to coincide with my project, because it must be discussed from the change initiative's infancy or the change nor the competencies will manifest. I found that talking about the importance of dialogue at the beginning helped to create the foundation of what we are trying to do.