Swarm of Change has been described by John J. Oliver OBE as "a fascinating parable and a long-term primer" for change. Following publication, experienced Lean practitioners, including Carl Klemm MBE, former President of Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd, also recognised the book's practical value.
Form a Swarm is the practical companion manual to Swarm of Change.
It provides a practical way for people to read, discuss, observe and apply the ideas from Swarm of Change, helping turn shared learning into practical action.
Anyway you choose to share Swarm of Change, this manual provides session guidance, practical activities, discussion prompts and reflection exercises that help people observe work, think differently and build sustainable improvement capability together.
Designed for Formation Leads rather than improvement experts, it can be used by leaders, coaches, consultants, educators or anyone wanting to introduce continuous improvement in a way that is practical, engaging and owned by the people doing the work.
Whether supporting a small team, an organisation or a client, Form a Swarm helps create the conversations, observations and actions that allow improvement capability to grow naturally over time.
Why a Book and a Manual?
After 40 years in manufacturing and more than 25 years helping organisations improve, I came to believe there had to be a better way of introducing continuous improvement.
Books such as The Goal, The Gold Mine, Our Iceberg Is Melting and That's Not How We Do It Here! have helped countless people think differently about improvement and change. Yet none provide a practical way for ordinary people to begin introducing continuous improvement together within an established organisation, with real problems, real people and real resistance.
Swarm of Change was written to help people see change differently.
Form a Swarm was written to help people begin.
Together they provide a practical way to introduce continuous improvement without the jargon, the theory or the complexity that so often gets in the way.
Was any of this planned?
Not really.
Just a spider diagram scribbled on paper nine years ago. Looking back, that original idea would have been dull, dull, dull.
Swarm of Change?
It all started with one image... bouncer bees guarding the entrance to a hive.
You decide.
Since publication, something unexpected has happened. People have emerged as Swarm of Change Advocates. Not because they were asked to, but because they care about how change happens and want others to discover it too.
Anyway... Begin.
