As a developer, analyst, and designer I have seen the rise of patterns that recognize common behaviors and advance learning of the craft. I was therefore curious about this book; Fearless Change, Patterns for Introducing New Ideas by Mary Lynn Manns and Linda Rising. Then after meeting Linda at a recent conference I was hooked and bought the book.

The authors immediately begin talking about a pattern language that focuses on the Change Agent, the Culture and the People of the organization in which change in being introduced. The pattern names themselves allow us to speak and be understood in this language. For instance:

As an Evangelist I want to introduce iterative development by proceeding Step By Step to Test the Waters while taking Time for Reflection and focusing on Small Successes.

Without knowing the particulars of these patterns we still have a good sense of what course we want to take. The actual pattern definitions then speak to the actions and motivations we should consider as we move forward.

This is a very insightful book I would highly recommend to anyone wanting to understand how to successfully introduce and adopt organizational changes.