CopenhagenContext 2016

Navigating power relations and introducing change in organizations can be really difficult. It’s because power relations can be hard to detect, and because “people hate change”. But power and change are related to each other. So sometimes we say we feel “powerful” if we’ve managed to change something, and, occasionally, we say we are “powerless” when we’ve failed to achieve our goals. What do we really mean? Making an effort to understand what power is like and how it operates can be essential for someone interested in how systems work, and who wants to be great at driving change. Thinking deeply about power, looking at how it’s manifested and building on Foucault’s ideas about power has helped me build a toolbox. The ideas in the toolbox help me understand, ask questions about, analyze and address the complexity of power and make it tangible instead of abstract. It seems to me that having thought about the inner workings of power has made me more powerful and insightful. On top of that, I’ve learned lessons about trying to make changes in how testing is perceived or change how it’s done. I’ve learned about change patterns that help me develop tactics for implementing change. But after all, I’ve found that understanding power is a strong foundation to leading change in the organizations. In this talk I want to: • invite you to reflect on power and change: let’s make “power” tangible and personal, and analyze the context around change you want to drive • help you ask useful questions when analyzing power relations in your organization so they wouldn’t trip you up • share change patterns that have worked for me and explain why they have worked through concepts of power