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MANAGING CSS IN A STATE OF FLUX JAMES COLEMAN // BE RESPONSIVE // FEBRUARY 2016

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NOT SPECIFIC TO CSS • This deck isn’t specific to css • Applies to little and big changes

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HAVE A VALID REASON WHY WE NEEDED CHANGE • Excludes changing for no reason other than personal interest. • We needed to solve: • Global state • Sass Errors and abusing sass features • Modularity

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CHANGE CAN BE HARD • Affects others in your team, not just you • A lot to think about for everyone • Fear of a worse future • Fear of the unexpected • Fear that new is hard • Uncertainty

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BE A LEADER • If you want change you have to lead change • You might not be able to solve it yourself, so you need to lead your team to a solution • Because you’re ‘senior’ doesn’t mean you’re a leader.

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8 STEPS TO LEAD CHANGE DR JOHN KOTTER, BIG WIG AT HARVARD • Dr Kotter is Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School • 8 Steps are from ‘Leading Change’, 1995. • http://www.amazon.com/Leading-Change- With-Preface-Author/dp/1422186431

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1. Create a Sense of Urgency • You need people talking about the change, not just you. • Motivate a sense Use motivation to create urgency • Take a step back - how does this change positively affect the team • How does this change affect the bottom line - why do you need to get there ASAP

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2. Build a Guiding Coalition • Get others on your side • A Coalition should be a mini team of leaders • It’s okay to share leadership responsibility • Ask your coalition for explicit commitment to the cause • Ensure you have a mix of employees - designers, developers, managers.

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3. Form a Strategic Vision and Initiatives • Determine what values are essential to your change. Make them known. • Why does this change help the teams future • Where do you see the team as a result of this change - why are they in a better spot?

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4. Enlist a Volunteer Army • Different to rallying a coalition • As people start helping and getting behind the change - make their movements clear to others in the team • Use the momentum generated to guide the rest of the team

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5. Enable Action by Removing Barriers • You need to remove barriers for others in your team • Includes organisational barriers (‘this team isn’t allowed to change tech’) and red tape • Technological barriers (‘I don’t know command line and i dont have any way to use a preprocessor’)

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6. Generate Short-Term Wins • Highlight early success • Set small, achievable goals • Set individual goals for those who are struggling with adopting any part of the process.

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7. Sustain Acceleration • Never declare victory too early; if the result has been achieved, strive to make it better. • Persist with the change • Quick wins are only the beginning

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8. Institute Change • Make change a part of your culture • Make successful changes a talking point • Recognise your entire teams effort • Continue the success past the initial change

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WHAT IF NOBODY CARES? • Understand why: • You’re not selling the idea well enough • The idea is terrible • It’s a solution to a problem no one else has

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BE HONEST • Honesty to your entire team is important • Use your judgement to arming when you’re wrong • Use your honesty at the right time to instil confidence in your team • Never use honesty to compromise confidence

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LEARN • Take every opportunity to learn; learn from those you’re leading • Learn how your team responds to leadership • It’s okay to ask questions of yourself or your solution • Don’t act like you know everything; don’t be a jerk!

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WE ALL WANT THE SAME THING • At the end of the day, you’re all in the same boat, staying afloat.

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FAILURE IS OKAY • Small or big failures are okay • Admitting you failed is okay; it shouldn’t get you fired • We have failed a lot - so has everyone else • Sometimes failing is fast, sometimes slow.

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TAKE RESPONSIBILITY • If you know something has gone wrong, take responsibility - even if it’s not your fault • Make change a smooth process • Make co-workers confident you will stick your neck out for them, they will hopefully do the same when the time comes

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Failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent. Ulysses S. Grant • U S. Grant was an important dude in America • Even if someone fails at a task you set, at something you want, it’s an error of judgement not of intent • The intent was the same as yours, just the implementation failed

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WE’VE MADE MISTAKES • In order to advance, we had to take changes • Had to realise when something was wrong • Our solutions still aren’t perfect • We still make mistakes • Change doesn’t exclude failure of mistakes

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BUT WE’RE PRETTY HAPPY • As a team, we’re comfortable and generally happy • As an individual, I’m happy because the team has coped with change

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MANAGING CSS IN A STATE OF FLUX JAMES COLEMAN // BE RESPONSIVE // FEBRUARY 2016