The other day I met a friend of mine who is a bona-fide change agent in her company.
It reminded me of my first change effort as an employee of AT&T Bells Labs. A group of us decided to stop complaining that things should change and do something about it.
We started the “Gang of X” and started meeting, discussing the new Division we wanted to create. It was all quite exciting, and got even more so when we published something like a manifesto for change, outlining the change we wanted to see.
At the time it seemed quite risky, but we were wrong. It really wasn’t.
In time, all the changes we outlined came to pass but not before I left the company to start my own firm. In time, the organization was dissolved when AT&T split into Lucent and AT&T, and the division’s staff was scattered in to the wind.
But the Gang of X was a life-changing event that I don’t regret, even after I got pissed when the changes weren’t happening fast enough.
It helped to lead my to the profession I now have, in which I get to work with change agents of all kinds who share one thing in common — a desire to make a difference.