The order and pace of change affect whether people can deliver an ambitious plan.
01 · The picture
The order and pace of change affect whether people can deliver an ambitious plan.
Follow the decisions
01Dependencies
02First moves
03Capacity check
04Next phase
02 · The idea
How I understand it.
A change programme competes for people's attention, skills and trust. List the changes being proposed, the dependencies between them and the capacity required to carry them out. Some steps create the conditions for later ones: a new reporting process may need clear responsibilities, training and reliable information first. Choose an initial sequence and explain what each stage is intended to achieve. Look for evidence that people understand the changes and can work with them. Review results, unintended effects and the remaining workload before accelerating. A successful first phase can still leave unresolved problems. Treat pace as a leadership decision that responds to evidence, urgency and organisational capacity. The relevant question is what the organisation can absorb and execute while continuing to serve customers.
03 · A fictional example
Put it into a business.
A distributor plans a new ordering system, territory changes and revised sales incentives. It first clarifies account ownership and cleans customer records. A small team pilots the ordering system before wider rollout. Incentives change after the new process becomes usable. Leaders review service disruption and staff feedback at each stage, adjusting the sequence when operational dependencies become clearer.
04 · Bring it into the room
Which planned change needs another capability or decision in place before it can succeed?
One decisionOne next actionOne way to check
Where this note comes from
An original explanation drawn from my saved learning material. The worked example is fictional.
Harvard OPM · Unit 2Course reading or session material
Module Overview - Leadership (Groysberg)
Session faculty: Boris Groysberg
PDF page 4; CMHC in Motion discussion questions on sequencing, pace and human capital
These notes collect my interpretations and applications. The schools and authors retain their original teaching materials.