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DE sign:
(Deconstructing in-order to find new meanings)

A blogging space about my personal interests; was made during training in Stockholm #Young Leaders Visitors Program #Ylvp08 it developed into a social bookmarking blog.

I studied #Architecture; interested in #Design #Art #Education #Urban Design #Digital-media #social-media #Inhabited-Environments #Contemporary-Cultures #experimentation #networking #sustainability & more =)


Please Enjoy, feedback recommended.

p.s. sharing is usually out of interest not Blind praise.
This is neither sacred nor political.

Saturday, April 9

Wednesday, April 6

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Tuesday, March 15

29 Things Young Designers need to know...

Too bad there's not a handbook for making the shift from design student to design professional. To make that transition easier, Doug Bartow, principal of id29, and his colleagues share 29 things they think all new designers need to know. The list appeared in the January 2011 issue of HOW along with a limited edition poster designed by id29


Interacting with students and young designers has always been a fulfilling endeavor for all the working professionals at id29, one that has kept alive the notion that design education is a lifelong experience. Fostering design thinking through mentoring relationships at the local level is particularly exciting, as we get to see the designers we’ve helped nurture go on to fabulous careers in a variety of creative fields.

We regularly invite design students to tour our studio (in Troy, NY), and we participate in local student portfolio reviews and exhibitions; our involvement is a team effort.

Many of the questions and concerns young designers share today are the same we had as graduating students looking to make our mark in the professional world, with only a résumé and portfolio of student projects to get our collective feet in the door. There’s nothing different in the design industry today that makes getting—and nailing—that initial interview or client pitch any easier.

Throughout the years, I’ve collected these questions and have tried answering many of them as an ongoing personal project. Here are 29 of my thoughts on how to approach and interact with our culture as a young designer, in no particular order.


1. SWEAT THE DETAILS
You are a professional communicator; act like one. Carefully edit everything you publish: résumés, social media, e-mail, blog posts, letters, text messages, everything. Get a copy of “
The Chicago Manual of Style” and keep it handy. Most potential employers and clients don’t appreciate text shorthand, so don’t use it. They won’t be ROTFL, and you will end up SOL.


2. PLAY NICE

People you work with and for will make your blood boil from time to time. Whenever possible, be a pro and take the high road. Avoid burning bridges, as people change jobs more often than they did a generation ago. Your paths may cross again in a much different situation, and having a good working history together will make rehiring you easy. Apply this to your online persona as well. Anonymous jabs are petty—be better than that.


3. DON’T FEAR TYPE; BECOME ITS MASTER
Often, being a good typographer means not making the simple mistakes. To accomplish this, you’ll need a working knowledge of classical typography. Go get one. “
The Elements of Typographic Style” by Robert Bringhurst, “Thinking With Type” by Ellen Lupton and “Grid Systems in Graphic Design” by Josef Müller-Brockmann are cover-to-cover must-reads. Repeat after me: “Free fonts from the internet are crap, I will not use them.” Keep saying that




4. DEFINE YOUR AUDIENCE
Who are you speaking to and what is the objective? If you can’t definitively answer both of these questions about a project you’re about to start working on, go back to the drawing board. Graphic design is simply a plan that visually articulates a message. Make sure you have the message and its intended viewer sorted out before you start making. Communicate with purpose—don’t just make eye candy.


5. BE YOURSELF

Be confident in yourself as an author, designer, photographer, creative. Don’t work in a particular personal style. Rather, develop a personal approach to your creative work.
Your commissioned work should never be about you, but it can certainly reveal your hand as the designer. As your work becomes more well-known, you will get hired for exactly that. For your personal work, don’t be afraid to tell your story. No one else is going to do it for you.


6. LEARN TO SAY ‘NO’
Some of your best design business decisions will ultimately be saying “no” to clients or projects. Unfortunately, it usually takes a few disasters to gain the experience to know when to walk away from an impending train wreck.

Carefully measure the upsides of any project—creative control of your design work, long-term relationship-building and gross billing—versus the potential downsides—the devaluation of the creative process, being treated like a “vendor” and ongoing scope creep (where the volume of what you’re expected to deliver keeps expanding, while the schedule and budget don’t). 


7. COLLECT AND SHARE EVERYTHING

Find and save relevant and interesting things and pass them along to your friends, co-workers, followers and clients. Use the web and social media to share your own photos and work, as well as the work of others you find engaging. Be funny, serious, irreverent, businesslike, self-promotional, curatorial, whatever—just be yourself. For everyday inspiration, surround your workplace with the design ephemera you collect (see No. 5).


8. BE A DESIGN AUTHOR
Develop ideas. Write them down, edit them, share them and elicit a response. Poof! You’re a design author. Read design blogs and participate in the discussions. Have an opinion. If you find yourself spending hours a week contributing to other designers’ blogs, consider starting your own. The cost and effort for startup are minimal, and the opportunities are diverse.



9. BUILD YOUR BOOK
One piece of advice I give young designers looking to fill out their portfolios is to find the best local arts organization with the worst visual brand identity or website and make a trade. They get some great design work, and you get creative control and real-world projects in your book that other potential clients will recognize.


10. CLEAN UP YOUR ACT
Manage your online profiles carefully and be sure to keep all your listings accurate, consistent and (mostly) professional. You can count on co-workers, potential employers and clients to Google you, so make sure what they find won’t be too incriminating and sink your chances for that new job or project. Employers read social media posts, too—especially ones that include their proper names—so use common sense.



11. RESEARCH (AND DESTROY)
You’ll never know as much about your clients’ businesses as they do, but part of our job as designers is to try. Learn as much as you possibly can at the inception of a project about your client’s business space, their goals, their competition and their history. Dedicate a half- or full-day download session, ask a lot of questions, and then shut up and listen.



12. OBSERVE TRENDS (THEN AVOID THEM)
Keep current on the state of our industry by reading books, magazines and blogs, and attending conferences. RSS feeds will allow you to quickly skim design- and culture-related content. Avoid design annuals as a source of inspiration, as they’re a record of what’s already been done. Study the work of others to understand it, not to duplicate it.



13. DEFEND YOURSELF
One of the biggest benefits of a formal design education is the lessons learned in the crit room defending your work in front of your instructor and peers. If you can articulate your ideas and design process in that hostile environment, learning to do the same in client meetings usually comes easy (see No. 21).



14. THE PAPER MATTERS
Contrary to what you might read on the blogosphere, print is not dead. The beauty and tactility of a well-printed piece on quality paper cannot be appreciated or replicated on a screen, tablet or mobile device. Paper manufacturers, merchants and printers are doing a terrific job helping designers make sustainable paper choices to minimize the impact on our environment. Become well-versed with the Forest Stewardship Council certification program, and use this knowledge to choose your papers wisely. Clients are demanding it (
see No. 28).


15. CONTENT IS STILL KING
Technically, Elvis is still the king, but for the sake of this argument, let’s put an emphasis on the message, and consider design as a plan for delivering it. The most effective and memorable visual communication almost always has the right mix of form and content, regardless of medium. Good design can engage a viewer, but interesting content will keep them reading, and thinking, past the headline.


16. REJECT PERSONAL STYLE
Picasso had his Blue and Rose Periods, Georgia O’Keeffe obsessed over flowers and animal bones. The difference between them and you? They were artists solving their own personal communication problems. We are designers, primarily tasked with solving the communication problems of others. Using one singular style or direction for multiple clients or projects will rarely be successful and, in retrospect, will look one-dimensional (
see No. 11).


17. SAY NO TO SPEC WORK
Speculative work, or spec work, is a request by a potential client for uncompensated creative and design work at the inception of a project. Avoid this like the plague—it’s a devaluation of the entire design process and marginalizes our efforts as a whole. 
AIGA.org has great resources for dealing with spec work, including a sample letter that you can personalize and send to clients explaining why their request is unappreciated (see No. 19).


18. BECOME INDISPENSABLE
What are you really good at? Contrast that to the skill sets that could help you advance at the workplace. Could your studio benefit from having an in-house photographer, web programmer, video editor or screen printer? Follow your bliss and get the additional training you need to expand your talents and, ultimately, your role at work. Now, does the studio come to a grinding halt when you’re home sick for a day? Congrats. You’re indispensable.


19. JOIN AIGA
Founded in 1914 in New York City, 
AIGA is the professional association for design, representing more than 21,000 professionals, educators and students with 65 local chapters (find a chapter near you) and 200+ student groups. AIGA supports our efforts at the chapter and national levels through the exchange of design ideas and information, research, innovative programming and as a source of inspiration. If you’re missing that sense of design community you had in school now that you’re in the professional world, AIGA will help reconnect you for life.


20. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
Build personal relationships with everyone you work with, not just your clients. Get to know your delivery people, paper merchants, printer reps, local politicians and business leaders. Attend Chamber of Commerce events, network and meet people. Get on people’s radar screens—they will be impressed with your well-designed business cards that prominently feature your website address. 



21. SEEK CRITICISM, ACCEPT PRAISE
As a designer, listening to your ideas being questioned and your hard work being ripped apart isn’t usually very pleasant. However painful, though, constructive criticism of your design work is the most effective way to grow as a visual communicator. Remember this when you leave the crit rooms of design school for the boardrooms of the corporate world. Build a network of friends, co-workers and mentors you can use to collect feedback on your work. Online sites (heavy with anonymous commentary) are not an acceptable substitute for this discourse.



22. NEVER COMPROMISE
Once you’ve built strong relationships with everyone you work with (
see No. 20), strategically use them to get what you want. Convince your clients to use the offset printers or web developers you know that value design and will actively work with you on the final quality of your project. We work too hard as designers to accept compromise at any stage of a job, especially when it can usually be avoided with proactive planning. Timelines that detail every step of a project and outline responsibilities for everyone involved are required to accomplish this.


23. KNOW YOUR HISTORY
Learn as much as you possibly can about the history of graphic design—its movements, terminology and important figures. Understanding design’s cultural past will help you design in the present and future. Study typefaces and their designers, and share with your clients the significance and history of the particular typefaces you’ve chosen for their projects. In addition to being a go-to design resource, this knowledge will help position you as a trusted adviser moving forward.


24. VALUE YOUR WORK
A common mistake designers make early in their careers is undervaluing their work in the marketplace. The best design jobs aren’t always awarded to the low bidder—even a client with the smallest budget often values work experience and compatibility over price. Set an hourly rate for your services, and take a close look at the number of hours a job will take to accomplish, including revisions. Your estimate is simply your rate multiplied by the hours. Make sure you have a firm understanding of the entire scope of work you’re providing an estimate for. Trade? Sure, but don’t make a habit of it—this is your livelihood, not a hobby.


25. MAKE MISTAKES

Take a measured break from your comfort zone and experiment with an approach you’ve never tried before. Force yourself to take chances with form: Use a different technique or medium with text and image to create work you’re unfamiliar and uncomfortable with. Save and display your best piece as a reminder to think differently.


26. KEEP A SKETCHBOOK

You don’t need to be prolific at drawing to benefit from keeping a small book in your bag or back pocket. Ideas tend to arrive at the strangest times, and being able to record them on the spot will help you remember them later. When you fill a book, date, number and shelve it. Soon your bookcase will be a library of your best thoughts and ideas.


27. REMEMBER THAT YOUR MAC IS A TOOL
Twenty years ago, many people in our industry were sure that desktop publishing would mark the end of professional graphic design as we knew it. They confused the convenience of new technology with the skill and passion required to design with it. Take a good look at your design methodology and the role technology plays in your work. Can you select “Shut Down” and still be an effective visual communicator? Practice that.


28. RESPECT THE ENVIRONMENT
Make the everyday effort to create a positive environmental impact by integrating sustainable alternatives in your work. Start small by identifying the things you can do in your studio to save energy and resources, and build from there. Present a digital slideshow rather than traditional color output spray-mounted to mat board. Get creative with your consumables by investing in reusable kitchenware and cloth towels in place of disposable plastic and paper products. Consider adopting the 
Designer’s Accord—a global collection of designers, educators and businesspeople working together to impact the environment through positive social change.


29. TEACH OTHERS

Regardless of your experience, get involved with mentoring younger designers—or students who may be interested in design as a potential career path. It doesn’t require developing a curriculum to get involved. 
Find a local AIGA chapter, design program or arts center and volunteer some of your time. Participate in local student portfolio reviews, and share your knowledge and expertise with aspiring designers. You’ll find the experience rewarding for everyone involved.




Read more: 
HOW Design - 29 Things That All Young Designers Need to Know http://howdesign.com/article/29things4#ixzz1Gfq2eRFz
For great design products, visit our online store! 
MyDesignShop.com

How Visible Is Arabic Lit on the International Scene?


How Visible Is Arabic Lit on the International Scene?
By Yasmina Jraissati
As a literary agent specialized in representing Arabic literature for world translation rights, I am often asked how visible Arabic literature is on the international scene. This question most of the time translates into: “how many copies do books translated from the Arabic sell?”
Last time I checked, Salwa El Naimi’s novel Burhan el aassal (Proof of the honey) sold 80,000 copies in Italy*. This record-breaking figure is rarely heard of for Arabic literature in translation. Sales numbers commonly range from 500 to 2,000 copies in markets like France, despite the fact that French readers are historically well inclined towards this literature. Comparatively, in 2009, the 30th ranked best seller sold 201,000 copies** in France.
The number of copies sold is, however, not the only indicator of Arabic literature’s visibility. Considerations should also include the number or Arabic titles acquired, the number of houses that acquire them, and the number of countries in which they are acquired. In France, in 2009, translated literature represented 14.3% of the production. Most translated languages are: English (62%), followed by Japanese (8.3%), German (6.2%), Italian (4.3%), Spanish (4.0%), Scandinavian languages (1.8%), Russian (1.3%) and Dutch (0.9%, equivalent to 83 titles)**. In comparison, the number of Arabic titles translated per year can generously be estimated to a maximum of 20. Moreover, translations into French are mostly due to a single specialized house: Sindbad, currently directed by Farouk Mardambey, publishes approximately 10 titles a year.
Italy is today undoubtedly the most receptive market, with a growing number of houses acquiring rights to Arabic literature (at least five houses, small and large, have each acquired at least one Arabic title in the year 2008-2009*).
Surprisingly, given their geographic and cultural distance, Dutch and Scandinavian publishers are among the most attentive, especially if one compares them to culturally closer Spain, where good translators from the Arabic seem to be cruelly lacking. This tendency can however be explained by the fact that 34%*** of the Dutch production consists in translations.
In Germany, the activity continues although at a much slower pace, not to mention that the German market is characterized by a number of very small houses dedicated to Arabic literature, though unfortunately often ill-distributed.
Finally, the Anglo-American market remains the most difficult one to penetrate. English editions cover the entire Commonwealth. They are the most sought after and competition is tough; especially considering that only 3 to 4%*** of the English language production consists of translations. In each of the countries mentioned above, publishers willing to receive a reading copy of an Arabic novel amounts to an average of five, in the UK and US markets, interlocutors are even more rare.
We could conclude from the above data that Arabic literature is present on the main territories, but its presence is faint. Given the importance of the Arabic language in the world (320 million estimated speakers), the fact that this literature is still considered as marginal is unsettling. International publishers may be curious about this literature, but they rarely go as far as acquiring rights. This makes you wonder whether it is the quality of the Arabic literature that is at stake, or if there are external reasons to its marginalization.
One should bear in mind that ultimately, the presence of Arabic literature on the international scene depends on a single editor or two. And when each editor’s desk is flooded with books coming from all around the world, how can an Arabic book be set apart?
Publishers usually do not know, let alone master, the Arabic language, and they need external readers to get an approximate idea of a book’s content. Often, they do not have readers of Arabic with whom they regularly work. In this case, they will need to find them, learn to trust their taste, and give them the time to know their editorial lines.
Finally, the Arab market is completely opaque and publishers have little means to evaluate a book: Who is the author and what is the importance of an author in the Arab cultural landscape? What is the extent of his impact on the local press? How many copies has a book sold in its market of origin? How does it compare to other sales? How original or literary is its content and language compared to other books?
Hence, an international publisher ready to consider a particular Arabic title for translation is, most of the time, a publisher who wants to diversify his catalogue by adding Arabic Literature to it. Although this openness should be applauded as much as it creates new opportunities for Arabic literature, it results in a double-edged dynamic.
The Arab world is both familiar and unknown to the international editorial scene. Compared to other regions in the West, the Arab world is known through past colonial ties, intense media coverage and immigrated populations — or by One Thousand and One Arabian Nights.
Otherwise knowledgeable editors and readers have deeply rooted preconceptions that shape their expectations. On one hand, one wants to be astonished by a literature removed from easy clichés; on the other, one tends to be reassured by the confirmation of his or her prejudices. Arabs are, mostly in Europe, too well known to be surprising, and, when they do surprise, it is rarely as one might have wished they would.
Conversely, the local Arab scene is extremely sensitive to the international visibility of its authors. In Lebanon, readers measure an author’s quality by the number of contracts he has signed abroad. The more a book is translated, the more the volume of its sales grow in its country of origin. This mirror game takes unexpected turns as numerous Arab authors, hungry for acknowledgment, have chosen to address the international market directly, often offering a literature tailored to satisfy Western publishers’ appetites. In doing so, they give some reality to what originally was only an Orientalist fantasy.
Hence, except some determining external factors that are not impossible, though difficult, to overcome, the question of the degree at which Arabic literature is visible unavoidably brings us back to our local production, to the means devised to make it known and exist, as well as their impact on its quality. The absence of information in the Arab world prevents the establishment of quality standards, and our narcissism results in our literature being measured according to criteria that are essentially alien.
Is Arabic literature visible in the world? Sure. The question is rather what, exactly, is seen.
* Personnal communication
** Ministry of Culture and Communication, Reading and Book Services. 2010. Economie du livre : le secteur du livre : chiffres-clés 2008-2009, Paris
*** Heilbron, Johan. 2010. Structure and Dynamics of the World System of Translation, UNESCO, International Symposium ‘Translation and Cultural Mediation’, February 22-23, 2010, Paris.

Sunday, March 13

ACADIA 2011 > April

The ACADIA 2011 Annual Conference will explore integrative trajectories and areas of overlap that have emerged through computation between design, its allied disciplines of engineering and construction, and other fields, such as computer science, material science, mathematics and biology. The conference will highlight experimental projects in which methods, processes, and techniques are discovered, appropriated, adapted, and altered from elsewhere, and digitally pursued.

The aim of the conference is to project a fundamentally different attitude towards collaboration, one that needs not be limited to the professions and disciplines comprising the building industry. It will do so by featuring the work of designers and researchers who engage design as a broadly integrative endeavor by fluidly navigating across different disciplinary territories, and who deploy algorithmic thinking, biomimicry, computation, digital fabrication, material exploration, and/or performance analyses to discover and create processes, techniques, and products that are qualitatively new. Some take scientific and engineering ideas as starting points of the design investigation. Others are embracing mathematics and geometry as a rich source of ideas for articulating form, pattern, surface and structure in architecture. Many are increasingly looking for inspiration in nature to discover new materials and new material behaviors, which can enable an architecture that can respond dynamically to changing environmental conditions. They all rely on computational techniques for design explorations.

The conference will project integrative design as an emerging trajectory for architecture as it enters a post-digital phase and as it embraces ideas, concepts, processes, techniques, and technologies from elsewhere (just like before only more so).

Full papers can be submitted by April 1 even without the previous abstract submission.

Leadership & Change

Leadership & Change

Posted on March 11th, 2011 by admin in InnovationLeadership
By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
Leadership & Change
First the bad news: If you’re not willing to embrace change you’re not ready to lead. Put simply, leadership is not a static endeavor. In fact, leadership demands fluidity, which requires the willingness to recognize the need for change, and finally the ability to lead change. Now the good news: As much as some people want to create complexity around the topic of leading change for personal gain, the reality is that creating, managing and leading change is really quite simple.  To prove my point, I’ll not only explain the entire change life-cycle in three short paragraphs, but I’ll do it in simple terms that anyone can understand. As a bonus I’ll also give you 10 items to assess in evaluating whether the change you’re considering is value added, or just change for the sake of change…
An Overview on the Importance of Change:
While there is little debate that the successful implementation of change can create an extreme competitive advantage, it is not well understood that the lack of doing so can send a company (or an individual’s career) into a death spiral. Companies that seek out and embrace change are healthy, growing, and dynamic organizations, while companies that fear change are stagnant entities on their way to a slow and painful death. 
Agility, innovation, disruption, fluidity, decisiveness, commitment, and above all else a bias toward action will lead to the creation of change. It is the implementation of change which results in evolving, growing and thriving companies. Much has been written about the importance of change, but there is very little information in circulation about how to actually create it. 
While most executives and entrepreneurs have come to accept the concept of change management as a legitimate business practice, and change leadership as a legitimate executive priority in theory, I have found very few organizations that have effectively integrated change as a core discipline and focus area in reality.  As promised, and without further ado, the change life-cycle in three easy steps: 
1. Identifying the Need for Change: The need for change exists in every organization. Other than irrational change solely for the sake of change, every corporation must change to survive. If your entity doesn’t innovate and change in accordance with market driven needs and demands it will fail…it’s just that simple. The most complex area surrounding change is focusing your efforts in the right areas, for the right reasons, and at the right times. The ambiguity and risk can be taken out of the change agenda by simply focusing on three areas: 1) your current customers…what needs to change to better serve your customers? 2) potential customers…what needs to change to profitably create new customers? and; 3) your talent and resources…what changes need to occur to better leverage existing talent and resources? 
2. Leading Change: You cannot effectively lead change without understanding the landscape of change. There are four typical responses to change: The Victim…those that view change as a personal attack on their persona, their role, their job, or their area of responsibility. They view everything at an atomic level based upon how they perceive change will directly and indirectly impact them. The Neutral Bystander…This group is neither for nor against change. They will not directly or vocally oppose change, nor will they proactively get behind change. The Neutral Bystander will just go with the flow not wanting to make any waves, and thus hoping to perpetually fly under the radar. The Critic…The Critic opposes any and all change. Keep in mind that not all critics are overt in their resistance. Many critics remain in stealth mode trying to derail change behind the scenes by using their influence on others. Whether overt or covert, you must identify critics of change early in the process if you hope to succeed. The Advocate…The Advocate not only embraces change, they will evangelize the change initiative. Like The Critics, it is important to identify The Advocates early in the process to not only build the power base for change, but to give momentum and enthusiasm to the change initiative. Once you’ve identified these change constituencies you must involve all of them, message properly to each of them, and don’t let up. With the proper messaging and involvement even adversaries can be converted into allies.
3. Managing Change: Managing change requires that key players have control over 4 critical elements: 1) Vision Alignment…those that understand and agree with your vision must be leveraged in the change process. Those that disagree must be converted or have their influence neutralized; 2) Responsibility…your change agents must have a sufficient level of responsibility to achieve the necessary results; 3) Accountability…your change agents must be accountable for reaching their objectives, and; 4) Authority…if the first three items are in place, yet your change agents have not been given the needed authority to get the job done the first three items won’t mean much…you must set your change agents up for success and not failure by giving them the proper tools, talent, resources, responsibility and authority necessary for finishing the race.
There you have it; the 3 pillars of change in three short paragraphs. Now that you understand change, here’s are the 10 points that need validating prior to launching a change initiative:
  1. Alignment and Buy-in: The change being considered should be in alignment with the overall values, vision and mission of the enterprise. Senior leadership must champion any new initiative. If someone at the C-suite level is against the new initiative it will likely die a slow and painful death.
  2. Advantage:  If the initiative doesn’t provide a unique competitive advantage it should at least bring you closer to an even playing field.
  3. Value Add: Any new project should preferably add value to existing initiatives, and if not, it should show a significant enough return on investment to justify the dilutive effect of not keeping the main thing the main thing.
  4. Due Diligence: Just because an idea sounds good doesn’t mean it is. You should endeavor to validate proof of concept based upon detailed, credible research. Do your homework – put the change initiative through a rigorous set of risk/reward and cost/benefit analyses. Forget this step and you won’t be able to find a rock big enough to hide under.
  5. Ease of Use:  Whether the new initiative is intended for your organization, vendors, suppliers, partners or customers it must be simple and easy. Usability drives adoptability, and therefore it pays to keep things simple. Don’t make the mistake of confusing complexity with sophistication.
  6. Identify the Risks: Nothing is without risk, and when you think something is without risk that is when you’re most likely to end-up in trouble. All initiatives should include detailed risk management provisions that contain sound contingency and exit planning.
  7. Measurement: Any change initiative should be based upon solid business logic that drives corresponding financial engineering and modeling. Be careful of high level, pie-in-the-sky projections. The change being adopted must be measurable. Deliverables, benchmarks, deadlines, and success metrics must be incorporated into the plan.
  8. The Project: Many companies treat change as some ethereal form of management hocus pocus that will occur by osmosis. A change initiative must be treated as a project. It must be detailed and deliverable on a schedule. The initiative should have a beginning, middle and end.
  9. Accountability: Any new initiative should contain accountability provisions. Every task should be assigned and managed according to a plan and in the light of day.
  10. Actionable: A successful initiative cannot remain in a strategic planning state. It must be actionable through focused tactical implementation. If the change initiative being contemplated is good enough to get through the other 9 steps, then it’s good enough to execute.
Has this been useful? Have I left anything out, or got anything wrong? Sound-off in the comments below…

http://www.n2growth.com/blog/leadership-change/