Thoughts From the Boss – September 6, 2018

ROAD CLOSED

In the face of disruption, how agile are you to change? I ask because a funny thing happened a few weeks ago. On August 13th, we experienced an unusual rainstorm. A big cloud parked itself over our area and dumped over seven inches of rain in less than two hours. The gentle babbling creek in our backyard quickly transformed to gushing river rapids with enough force to buckle the asphalt and wash out the bridge on our road.

We’re fine, thanks, though the township closed the road at the bridge, so we now have only one way in-and-out of our neighborhood for a few months. To inform those who used to pass through our street, there is now a big “ROAD CLOSED” sign at the end of the street.

Here’s what fascinates me: the number of people who ignore the ROAD CLOSED sign. Perhaps the road isn’t really closed? They get to the barrier at the bridge (unable to continue), turn around, and whiz back down our quiet little residential street. Literally, it’s happening as I write this.

In the face of a ROAD CLOSED sign, why do we ignore the sign? Why do we expect that everything will be the same as it was before? Why are we genuinely surprised when, indeed, the road is closed?

This got me thinking about Change Management. In the face of multi-million-dollar enterprise systems that utilities are integrating, is it surprising how hard it is for people to change their behaviors? What incentive can we give them to shift to new processes? How do we encourage our colleagues to step out of their comfort zones to adopt new ways of doing business?

Which is what the upcoming Change Management conference is all about. If your utility is struggling with (or preparing for) a big system integration, leadership change, merger/acquisition that requires big changes, consider this conference your 2-day business retreat to learn actionable strategies, gain lessons from other utilities, and make valuable connections.

Excited to Share This Week’s Updates:

First

What can a Utility’s Women’s Resource Group do to empower women in their organization? With virtually no budget? Jessica Albietz, Principal Program Manager of PG&E joined our agenda for ADVANCE: The Power Conference for Women in Utilities. She will share details on their Women’s Network’s Leadership Program, #MentorHer gender equality campaign, and how they promote employee engagement on this topic.

Next

Are you Agile? As more utilities adopt the concept of agile, they recognize the need to respond quickly and easily to new opportunities in a world of complex and continuous change. Editor-in-Chief of Change Management Review, Theresa Moulton, presents a Deep Dive on Agile Change Management at the Process Excellence for Utilities conference, September 19-20, 2018 in Palm Springs. Join us to learn how Agile Change Management is a best practice for planning and implementing change projects. Concrete tools help deliver projects successfully and realize benefits earlier on in the process. By emphasizing and encouraging collaborative practices, Agile Change Management empowers change practitioners, like you, to build trust, influence and motivate others, and create a road-map that outlines all the processes, activities and information needed to manage any type of change initiative. Learn how in Palm Springs.

Break a Leg

When we tell our speakers to “Break a leg,” we don’t expect them to take us literally. Jim Lally of National Grid was slated to speak at this month’s Change Management for Utilities, but after breaking his leg on a summer hike, he’s taking a rain-check and will join our agenda next March 2019 in St. Pete Beach, Florida. In the meantime, you’ll meet AEP, Entergy, Vistra Energy, APS, Sempra Utilities, Golden State Water, and more to learn, share, and grow in Palm Springs. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to impact your change projects.

The Future

Budgeting for 2019? Make sure you schedule in the best benchmarking, case study learning, and engaging networking for utilities. Put these in your calendar, your budget, share with your friends and colleagues, and let us know if you’re interested to speak or have topic ideas:

Change Management for Utilities, March 4-5, 2019 in St. Pete Beach, Florida

Process Excellence for Utilities, March 6-7, 2019 in St. Pete Beach, Florida

Social Media for Utilities, May 6-7, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

ADVANCE: The Power Conference for Women in Utilities, May 20-21, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at PECO’s Energy Hall!

Like what you see? Let us know if you like this new format. Have a week of great connections!

Cheers,

Ashley