I get asked how Self unLimited (expressed in the book I wrote) fits with the work I do in (organisational) Change Management. So I thought I’d write my answer down, as I reflect anew about this topic.

The concept of Self unLimited came about because of changes I wanted to see and lead in my patch of an organisation: my personal workscape, and the workscape of the teams I led. There is much rhetoric of organisations wanting employees who are more engaged, more innovative, more agile, more entrepreneurial, having a growth mindset, having an enablement mindset, <insert description of choice> …

All of these speak to human agency. By ‘agency’, I refer to an entity’s ability to make decisions and take actions for self in a given context. In my experience, and from my observations, the basic nature of many organisations is not organically conducive to an individual exercising personal agency over how they experience work. It seems to me, it’s another instance where the more powerful entity (the one with more perceived agency) controls the narrative and the reality.

Often the desire to bring about these type of capability changes in individuals is described as cultural work. And this is true to some extent. However, I believe the culture of a group to be the sum of all the agency that each individual in the group exercises. Not their potential agency, but the actual agency exercised.

Many individuals are out-of-practice, or have insufficient levels, of practicing agency. They may be agents of their life in their home/domestic sphere, but put on a different persona when they enter the workplace. I venture this is because they enter a context that is more parental relationship in nature, than peer-to-peer adult in nature. Even the most benevolent organisation can still be operating as if they have the agency of parents, which by nature of the parental relationship, attributes the type of agency typically attributed to children to the employees of the organisation.

Being Self unLimited is an exercise in agency. Taking the reins of your workscape, and most importantly over the things you can control and influence.

Control and influence. These are a big deal in organisational change. It’s often the lack of control or influence that causes stress and negative resistance (Yes, not all resistance is bad). When working with individuals about a change that has or will happen in an organisation, and they tell me about how terrible it was, I ask – what choices did they have/what action could they take? They often start to tell me, “None”, then maybe admit, “Well I could have resigned and left, but I needed the money”. The decision Not-to-Resign is an act of agency. It may not be recognised as such, because it meant staying somewhere where they were unhappy. When I ask, about “At what point does money not matter and you would just resign?” They can often come up with an answer. This highlights that there is criteria against which they would exercise different agency. Simply bringing a person’s agency to their attention can be a turning point.

In Organisational Change Management, there is often the advice that we – the leaders, managers and architects of change – need to attend to WIIFM – ‘What’s in it for me’. I disagree. If a person in power is defining what is value to me who is the target or recipient of change, then they have assumed agency on my behalf – and we are back in parental territory again. It’s up to each individual (we are talking about adults here) to decide what is value or beneficial to them. This isn’t to say that those leading a change initiative should not consider how the planned changes can be of value to all stakeholders. Simply don’t assume that because one person says “It’s valuable” – makes it so. Value – like beauty – is in the eye of the beholder. The decision about what is value or beneficial is also an exercise in agency.

If somebody assumes (and continues to assume) agency in my life, then I’m likely to stop exercising agency for myself. I’ll let them shape the future, and it’s likely to be in their interests, not mine. Are we surprised then about the state of things like change fatigue? Maybe that’s simply a statement about the energy used up in struggling at some level with the loss of agency. To exercise agency is an exercise in power. Not just to be in power, but to be fuelled with power – what looks like motivation.

There is a range of agency available to an individual. I previously wrote about different types of change and how they tend to attract or stimulate particular types of human agency.

Being Self unLimited is an exercise in agency for change in a workscape context that is Initiated by self. Many individuals have only experienced change in a workscape context that is Imposed, so they have tended to utilise or experience the related agency that comes with Imposed change. This is not good for their self, nor the long term viability of the organisation. If an organisation wants to have people-with-characteristics as listed above, there is a more fundamental need to enable the type of underlying agency, that such capability is fueled by.

Self unLimited is also a framework for an individual to Initiating changes they would find beneficial or valuable in their Own Workscape. Not just the workscape of the current organisation where they work, but for the broader workscape of the future organisations or roles they inhabit. Maybe the organisation where you work, isn’t making or leading the kind of change you would like to see in the workplace. Then Self unLimited is a possibility for you to initiate change you want – “Be the change you want to see in the world” said Ghandi. You don’t have to disenfranchise yourself by waiting for management to be enlightened, motivated or resourced to make change. There is evidence that a common reason people leave a job is Motivation/Unhappy with their boss, and what they have done/not done to make suitable workplace conditions (Do a web search on ‘reasons why people leave job’ and it’s usually in the top 2-3 reasons). What an excellent situation for an individual to nudge the power dynamic and equalise in their favour – they, a person of one, can make changes that make a difference.

By-the-way: Self unLimited has no opinion about whether a person should resign or stay in an organisation – that’s for each person to decide. Something to consider – sometimes ‘The grass is always greener … where you water it.’  To (figuratively) water the grass beneath your feet, is an act of agency.

Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.
~ Sun Tzu

Some critics might say that I’m pushing the responsibility for organisational change down to individuals when there are a systemic things that need to be handled at the whole of organisation level. I don’t disagree with the value of whole-of-organisation-lead-by-management approaches. What I get concerned about is – what should the individuals who would like to see or participate in positive change do, while they wait for an organisation to get its act together and attend to such changes? To tell people that the Organisation will take care of things and they don’t need to take action, is another exercise in dismissing and devaluing individual agency. Big impact can come from small changes – we all know the viral potential of a small thing impacting a big thing.

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For the individual reading this article: You don’t have to implement all the suggested practices in Self unLimited to make a difference in your workscape. I advise to focus on the Reign Responsibility: Decide what is important to you about work, and apply control or influence to make these a reality you can accept. Your responses and choices are what create or relieve stress in your life. You got this!

For the change practitioner reading this article: Consider Self unLimited a valuable addition to your toolkit. There may be particular individuals in an organisation where you are working, who are feeling disenfranchised about the current change, or change in general. Self unLimited could be the mindset nudge that looses their perceived shackles, triggers liberation and releases energy. And such individual change can only be good for the organisational entity, surely!

Helen Palmer is Founder and Principal Change Agent at Questo. Like Winnie the Pooh, she ‘sits and thinks’ … and imagines how people can make a better life for others and themselves. She likes to share those thoughts with the possibility that they inspire and initiate meaningful change.