MVC’s and Strategy Boards are the focus for Chapter 5.  Here’s a preview of the chapter!

A Minimum Viable Change (MVC) is the smallest and least disruptive change you can introduce to prove your hypothesis.  Keep in mind that what you consider to be a ‘minimum viable change’ can be perceived as a massive change to the person who is directly affected by the change.  What’s minimal to me can be massive to someone else.    In this chapter I’ll describe why that’s the case and get into the “art” side of change and how that affects your MVC.

Starting with a Strategy Board helps you avoid spiralling in chaos!

There are 3 major components of this strategy board:

1. Purpose: Frame your transformation in short, mid and long-term objectives. Keep in mind Kotter’s advice to find short-term wins that will motivate people and keep them engaged during the transformation. Include measurements, both leading and lagging, with your objectives.
2. Needed Changes: This is where the Force Field Analysis comes into play. In order to achieve your objectives, list what needs to change, where the support is and where the resistance could come from. You can annotate the Strategy Board to map goals to changes as well.
3. MVCs: These are the MVCs that will support your Needed Changes.