The Ultimate Change Capability Matrix
The expectations of change agents are higher than ever. We set out to revisit the traditional Change Capability Matrix, factoring the skills, attitudes and capabilities that change agents need in today’s uncertain and demanding environment.
Themes
This Matrix goes beyond the traditional expectations of a change agent, and sets out the capabilities that many of us use daily to be successful.
We include capabilities that touch on sense making, trust, emotional capacity, strategic acumen, authenticity, and energy management, as well as tough conversations, conflict management and storytelling.
Business Acumen: Understanding the needs and vision of the business and sources of value.
Human Centric Solutions: Designing easy to adopt changes, taking human biases and culture into account.
External Radar: Change does not happen in isolation, take the context into account.
Strategic Execution: Taking a vision, designing the change and creating a strategy for execution.
Capacity for change: Managing the portfolio for change, creating the capacity and measuring the readiness for change.
Data and Insights: Turning assessment data into actionable insights, ensuring rigor.
Sensemaking: Quickly read situations, gain insights and incorporate into your change strategy and interventions.
Skilled Communication: Beyond the traditional methods, being a skilled and flexible storyteller.
Relationship Building: Creating emotional connection, empathy, coaching others and creating a supportive and inclusive culture.
Trust: Change happens at the speed of trust, we need to practice building it, and quickly.
Influence Others: Understand perspective, create compelling arguments.
Decision Making: Offering alternatives, critical thinking, evaluating risks and the use of effective rituals.
Be Inspiring: Creating followership, collective action, and inspiring others.
Resistance: Assessing, embracing, and managing.
Self: Adaptability, humility, positive perception, and resilience.
Role Model: Walking the talk, how we show up.
Levels
Based on our previous Superpowers we have expanded each capability into four levels from baseline through to mastery:
Baseline: At this level you are just starting out, you may have a sense of what is needed, but it is limited by your experience
Developing: Having gained some experience you have a better sense of what good looks like and have been practicing it in your changes
Experienced: You have practiced your craft in many different change environments, often complex, and explore a much wider set of techniques.
Mastery: You are at the top of your game, able to navigate complex, confusing, and difficult situations, creating environments for change to thrive.
There is a natural progression between the layers through experience and taking on more challenging and complex projects
How to use the Matrix
We love using a Capability Matrix in three different ways
To assess your own capabilities, or those in your team
To measure the capability levels in your team, and build their development plans
To write a role profile for a change agent to support a specific change
Assessing your own capabilities
Work your way through each capability. What examples do you have of where you have demonstrated that level?
What capabilities would you like to improve?
To build development plans
If you have a team of change agents, use the capability matrix to determine the expectation level from junior thought to senior.
When you review performance, review the capabilities and look for evidence of how the capability has been demonstrated
If you are a change agent, look for any gaps between where you are and where you need, or want to be.
To write a role profile
Work through each of the capabilities, what level will your change will need to be successful.
Summarise these into a role profile for a change agent.
