WE are the Change Samurai!

I am not "the Change Samurai".
Together as agents of change, WE are "the Change Samurai".

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How to become a Change Samurai

The noble warriors of feudal Japan continue to fascinate admirers the world over. But just because their era has passed doesn't mean you can't still become a samurai today…a Change Samurai! It takes commitment and may alienate the status quo…but, the path of change demands no less. If you want to be normal (the cycle on a washing machine) then please continue with your normal life. If you want to be a Change Samurai, then commit yourself to the Change Samurai code.

1. Find a cause, or challenge to swear fealty to. A Change Samurai is nothing without a passion to serve: some greater entity to which you may dedicate your life.

2. Learn the characteristics of Change and the use of various frameworks. Educate yourself in case studies and cultural adaptions. Understand the use of interventions and the strict tenets guiding when and where they may be applied.

3. Devote yourself to the seven virtues of bushido: gi (rectitude), yu (courage), jin (benevolence), rei (respect), shin (honesty), meiyo (honour), and chugi (loyalty). Strive to embody these virtues in all that you do to direct positive change.

4. Swear fealty to your passion for change. Convey your responsibilities with honour as a symbol of your rank. Your model for change is called a katana (it is the largest of the Samurai swords) and the interventions that you implement are wakizashi (the smallest sword).

5. Be true to your customer in all things. Strive to do right by them and serve the tenets of honour through your duty to them. This does not mean blindly following their instructions, however. If you disagree with your customer, strive to persuade them of your point of view with every means available, but be prepared to respect their final decision should your efforts fail.

6. Be a thought leader in the change profession.  Become respected as a compassionate teacher of change to the young change samurai. Coach those who are struggling to understand the concepts of change.

7. Treat others with courtesy and respect. Answer force in kind, but do not seek conflict where it can be avoided.

8. Contemplate your actions before reaching a decision. When you have determined a course, do not hesitate, but follow through with conviction and certainty.

9. Prepare yourself for your own change. It may come in battle or at the behest of your customer, but when it comes, you must meet it head-on. Meditate a little each day on the subject and accept the certainty of its eventual arrival.
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Code of the Change Manager - Modern Day Samurai

The new Samurai are corporate change agents that understand that the new profession of change is already changing itself.  It is unfortunate that as the profession grows the old guard change professionals are creating bureaucracy's and complex models that are not aligned with the needs of the future global market. In the new change World, complicated situations do not require complicated solutions. It is the work of Professor Richard Wiseman and the Heath brothers who are making change exciting and encouraging people to be radical change evangelists and Change Samurai rather than just change managers!

The organisational change manager does not wear armour or wield a sharp sword edge upon an unprepared enemy.

Aligned with the code of the Samurai is a new code for the Change Samurai.

The Change Samurai is not one who goes to war or kills people, but one who is dedicated to the creation of a more vivid disruptive peace to create positive change.

The Change Samurai honours the traditional samurai virtues:  loyalty, integrity, dignity, courtesy, courage, prudence, and benevolence.

The Change Samurai seeks to prevent negativity of every type or, should negativity occur, to transform it into harmony.

The Change Samurai takes full responsibility for his or her actions.

The Change Samurai pursues self-mastery through will, patience, and diligent practice.

The Change Samurai respects and values the human individual and the entire web of life on this planet.  To serve others is of the highest good.  To freely give and accept nourishment from life is the warrior's challenge.

The Change Samurai seeks the inner freedom that comes from the study of people, culture, and the wisdom of the ages.

The Change Samurai reveres the spiritual realm that lies beyond appetites and appearances.

The Change Samurai aims to achieve control and act with abandon.

The Change Samurai is willing to take calculated risks to realise his or her potential and further the common good.

The Change Samurai realises that being a warrior doesn't mean winning or even succeeding.  It does mean putting your career on the line.  It means risking and failing and risking again, as long as you live.

The Change Samurai cherishes life and thus conducts his or her affairs in such a manner as to be prepared at every moment.

Who said being a Change Samurai was easy...but do you want to be the best? Can you risk being different?

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The Change Samurai

The Samurai were the most feared and respected warriors of their day. Rising to power in 12th century Japan and remaining there until 1868. The word samurai means 'to serve'. The Samurai lived by a very strict code of values later to be known as Bushido, translated as 'the way of the warrior'. This code emphasised bravery, honour and personal loyalty.

To be a 'Change Samurai' is to embrace change as a way of life. Not to enforce change for the sake of change, but rather, to champion change as a positive force to take action in the small things that defines the root of the result in the big things whether it be at personal or corporate level.