{"id":279,"date":"2025-08-26T11:14:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T15:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/institute-x.org\/blog\/?p=279"},"modified":"2025-08-26T11:14:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T15:14:15","slug":"be-a-transformation-shepherd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/institute-x.org\/blog\/2025\/08\/be-a-transformation-shepherd\/","title":{"rendered":"Be a transformation shepherd"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My wife\u2019s love of animals occasionally takes us to a sheepdog trial. This is a competition for shepherds and their border collies entailing the herding and moving of sheep through a course, splitting the large group, then penning the smaller of the two new groups. It always strikes me as eerily similar to transformation and change in large organizations. Don\u2019t let the comparison of people to dogs and sheep put you off: hang in with me for a thousand words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Shepherd<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A sheepdog trial is a transformation or change in microcosm<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

     In an organizational transformation or change\u2014a strategic renewal or evolution or innovation\u2026, there is an objective. That objective is known in advance. At the sheepdog trial the goal is successfully penning some sheep, admittedly somewhat different than making a large scale operational change. But still a precise objective known ahead of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Were there not obstacles en route<\/em> to that goal, there would be no art or cause to whine about difficulty of achieving the objective. On the trial course, the pattern to follow requires sheep be pushed hundreds of yards several times, navigating gates through which they must go. Again, not exactly the same as learning new techniques, processes, (tech) tools, etc. Yet, in principle, the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     In both cases those responsible for achieving the goal have a plan in advance. The shepherd and dog know the course and required path. Leaders of a transformation have a strategy and some number of specific plans: communication, engagement, training, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     On the trial field there are three core participants: the shepherd, the dog, and the herd of sheep. This is not different than in a transformational change, where there ought to be a leader, a team to implement the change (including a change manager), and the people (impacted \u201cstakeholders\u201d) being moved to the goal. In the organizational situation there are likely: several<\/em> senior leaders responsible for some aspect of the transformation; teams<\/em> developing or reengineering \u201csolutions\u201d\u2019; a host of experts executing on communications, engagement, etc. Probably there are many more than 20 individuals being moved from start to finish. Yet, again, in principle the important parts are there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Insights for Transformation and Change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

     Presumably you see the consistency and continuity within this simple microcosm. From it we can take several things important to a solid perspective on organizational transformation and change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. A successful trial (i.e., transformation) requires a leader and implementors.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The shepherd is the leader and the dog is the change manager (representing implementors generally). Both are essential and have an important but different job to do. They must work together. Individually, they will fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Border collies are very smart and dedicated, yet require frequent direction and constraint from the shepherd.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The dog (i.e., team) performing the work of the change vary in skill level but we have to assume that, like the collie, they are trained, intuitively ready, and able to execute to some degree. But even when<\/em> the dog is exceptional, that is no substitute for the leader on the field<\/em>. The dog is NEVER the leader on the field. It is the shepherd who clearly instructs and directs the dog, including having it stand down or reverse course though it may not want to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If, one day, a collie should succeed to being the shepherd, it is no longer the dog\u2014another is required. At which point the original dog must cede tactical control to the new dog and take full responsibility for the overall objective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. The shepherd must be in charge and direct the dog, but must trust that the dog\u2014closer to those being moved\u2014has tactical insight for any given element.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The shepherd (change leader) is in control and calls the shots. The leader must make strong decisions, establish a firm direction, and communicate clearly and confidently. Only then can the dog (change manager) execute effectively. It\u2019s not enough for a good dog\/change manager to do the \u201cright\u201d things without the leader present and guiding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. The dog (change manager or team) does the work, repeating it as often as necessary.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The dog cedes control to and trusts the shepherd. It then does A LOT of running around: wide, back and forth, close, at a distance\u2026 redoing things because sheep either instantly forget what\u2019s going on to stop and graze or they get ideas about independence and freedom. Either way, the dog\u2019s job is not a set of tasks on a list to be done then move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. There are no bad dogs. Responsibility and accountability for change failure belongs strictly to the shepherd (leader), full stop.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Presuming the leader understands and has accounted for the skill and capability of the dog (team) executing on his\/her behalf, there is no excuse. The leader must choose to be involved in any success or, conversely, not involved in the eventual failure. Either way, it\u2019s on him\/her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Finally, and most importantly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Success comes NOT from a strategy or plan; it comes from responding and adjusting tactically to the sheep at hand and the peculiarities of the day.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been implied several times, but important to say clearly and directly. Maybe \u201cPlan beats no plan,\u201d but only when tactical execution is a wash. A critical learning from the trial field is that every day, every herd is a new adventure to be dealt with on its own terms. Because the plan is simple and well understood in advance, success is in the active tactical execution of leader, project manager, change manager, and other team members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dog may be amazing but success lays with the leader<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is completely possible that a dog may be insufficiently trained or experienced, which would have a negative effect. But the most significant problems arise from leadership issues. If leaders are absent or vacillate, leaving the dog without direction, the likelihood of success drops precipitously. When somebody has the bright idea of making the dog the “leader,” it sounds good but thoroughly mixes up and defeats the dynamic. The dog \u201cleader\u201d cannot marshal the transformation\/change re-adjusting plan\/strategy to optimal advantage. Only the shepherd leader can do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

     The simple fact, represented at a sheepdog trial, is that every transformation\/change must have an active and engaged leader calling the shots, and a very active team\u2014including change manager\u2014applying their skills. These roles are independent. As a leader, collapse them or disengage from the dynamic at your peril.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

     Institute X <\/a>is a transformation leadership consultancy and leader coaching firm. One of its online presences is The Change Playbook<\/a>. Check out the abundance of pragmatic guidance for making change happen. Subscribe to be notified of new, fresh content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My wife\u2019s love of animals occasionally takes us to a sheepdog trial. This is a competition for shepherds and their border collies entailing the herding and moving of sheep through a course, splitting the large group, then penning the smaller of the two new groups. It always strikes me as eerily similar to transformation and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,9,97],"tags":[67,98,99,113,112,5],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-government","category-leadership","tag-change","tag-change-leadership","tag-leadership","tag-sheepdog","tag-shepherd","tag-transformation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/institute-x.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/institute-x.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/institute-x.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/institute-x.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/institute-x.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/institute-x.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":288,"href":"https:\/\/institute-x.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions\/288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/institute-x.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/institute-x.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/institute-x.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}