Organisations need and want to accelerate their rate of change. This requires a change of direction both in doing and in thinking.

How do effective change accelerators think? Here are 10 proposals for fresh thoughts on change in organisations:

1. Change happens all the time. It is our task to identify positive change and amplify it. (Gregory Bateson) – We direct our attention towards natural agility, the constant fluctuations of processes and interactions, the emergence of new ideas and the wellspring of creativity residing in people.
2. Every case is different. – We are prepared to have a fresh look at each situation without putting on previous experiences or old models.
3. Self-organisation and emergence can be expected. – We expect the unexpected and embrace it as our ally.
4. Keep things as simple as possible, but not any simpler. (Albert Einstein) – We aim to counter complexity with simple rules, use everyday-language wherever possible and take the most direct route that suggests itself, self-correcting when needed.
5. Small-scale interactions have an impact on large-scale processes. - We encourage organisational members at all levels to make small local adaptations in their areas of influence to fit with the organisation’s preferred future.
6. The organisation is made up of a web of conversations. – We know that every conversation matters and carries the potential to effect change.
7. Organisations have been invented, therefore they can be re-invented. - This can happen in any corner. Nothing need be a given when drawing up new organisational designs and processes.
8. Everyone has agency. – We aim to give people a voice. We create inclusive process designs and listen and respond to people as a resource.
9. Most people have good intentions. – We take people at their word when they describe their preferred future and treat them as if they were already there.
10. Transformations require a vision of a preferred future and a sequence of small adaptive steps. – We encourage people describe what they want for their way of work, conduct experiments, learn from them, and quickly adapt as they proceed.

Becoming an effective change accelerator requires training your mental muscle. What are your most useful thoughts on change in organisations?