As a Technical Lead and Systems Engineer for the Department of Defense (DoD), I took a one year career broadening assignment to be an external change agent at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) with the task of leading a change management effort within the Engineering organization. For years, the organization faced the challenge of providing timely engineering support given the highly competitive science environment, multiple competing priorities, and its evolving workforce. At the end of my assignment (12 months), the organization identified new ways of doing work that resulted in incremental engineering support, increased reuse of information, and more timely recognition of the workforce. To accomplish this change, I used an Agile and Design Thinking toolkit that created excitement for change in the organization while delivering high value solutions.
During my talk I will share how I applied Agile and Design Thinking to:
• Learn the organization and culture,
• Overcome skepticism and build trust,
• Make the change process fun for the organization,
• Break organizational silos,
• Maintain the momentum for change, and
• Create a joint vision of a path for change.
I will share what worked and did not, the results achieved, and what I was able to bring back to DoD when my assignment ended. The following individuals will benefit from this session: Systems Engineers, Managers, Executives, Program Managers, Project Directors, Organizational Change Agents, and anyone interested in learning how agile and design thinking can be used to drive organizational change.
