Change 2012

One-Page Change Plan

A change initiative on one A3-inspired page: why, who's affected, what we'll try, and how we'll know.

What it is

Little took the A3's discipline and pointed it at organizational change: the reason for the change, who it touches, the experiments you'll run, and the signals you'll watch, all on one page the whole change team can stand around. It replaces the 40-slide change deck nobody reads.

Reach for it when

• A reorganization is announced by deck and understood by nobody
• A change team plans in quarters while the organization reacts in weeks
• Leadership wants "a change plan" and you have one afternoon

Running it

1. Write the reason for change in the affected people's words, not leadership's.
2. List who is affected and how much. Be specific; "everyone" is a dodge.
3. Frame the next moves as experiments with review dates, not milestones with deadlines.
4. Post it where the affected teams work. A change plan they can read is the first intervention.