“KCS is not something we do in addition to solving problems.
KCS is the way we solve problems.”
Implementing KCS as the way we solve problems requires considerable change for many organizations. Treating your KCS implementation as a change management initiative will improve its acceptance and adoption.
At a recent KCS in Action we were very fortunate to have Alina Weber, a Change Architect, educate us on change management and why it is critical for successful KCS adoption. She shared many change management tools for people to leverage. One example is her guidance on how to create a framework for change management:

Kendall Brenneise, Sr. Manager of Digital Services at F5, shared some ditches they ran into when initially deploying KCS, and the positive outcomes they experienced by course correcting with change management practices.
Hindsight is always 20/20… but I do think we would have cut our rollout time for KCS in half and people getting to their successful ability had we used change management strategy in partnership with our KCS strategy.
Kendall Brenneise, F5
This KCS in Action webinar was packed with a wealth of information! We encourage you to access the PDF of the slides, the chat transcript and view the recording.
Recording
Resources Shared
- Slides presented by Alina (pdf)
- Change Management Resources at Prosci
- Upcoming Public Events
- KCS Training
- If you are interested in presenting at a future KCS in Action or being part of a Practitioner Panel on a topic, contact Arnfinn
- Get notified about future events by signing up for the mailing list
Chat Highlights
Kendall Brenneise | F5: Good morning everyone!
Jason O’Donnell: Great to see the KendallBot managing chat! We’re in for a great session!
Christina Roosen: Greetings to the LEGENDARY KendallBot! 🤖
Kendall Brenneise | F5: Principles, coaches, business acumen, experience, outcomes….hmmm I’m noticing a lot complimentary points between KCS and Change Management!
- PPPP
- PCT
- ADKAR
- Awareness
- Desire
- Knowledge
- Ability
- Reinforcement
Jason O’Donnell: Here’s something for after Alina’s presentation. Take some time later today to check this out: One of my favorite examples of great change management, by generating /demand and desire/ for transformative change, is in this snippet from Simon Sinek’s larger presentation
John Coles – Cocoa Beach, FL: We ended up developing a “KCS for Managers” training, which helps fill the gap in creating awareness and education around KCS — at their level. (How it benefits the Managers, and what do Managers need to do to increase Adoption and optimize performance).
Stanislava Spasova: Do you think that a creation of a Change Expert role for a Team, that started recently to adopt the KCS will be more helpful for the adaptation of such a project, in addition to the KCS Manager role?
Kendall Brenneise | F5: Absolutely. If we could go back in time to prior to our KCS kick off, I would have invested heavily in change management [CM] in ideally two ways
- Bring in/hire CM expertise
- Invest in getting our KCS (or any other strategic initiates) program Managers trained on CM
Hindsight is always 20/20… but I do think we would have cut our rollout time for KCS in half and people getting to their successful ability had we used Change Management strategy in partnership with our KCS strategy
Arnfinn Austefjord, Consortium, Boulder CO: Our Managing in a Digital Economy self-paced course has helped companies with helping mangers drive change
Alex Bonilla: Punishment avoidance will only get a person to do enough not to get in trouble. Plus, I don’t know if we have the authority to remove someone from their role for not following KCS.
Jason O’Donnell: Shifting the base model from “working to avoid a markdown” to “working to achieve a goal” is a critical piece to transition to a more positive mindset in the program, I agree, Alex!
Kendall Brenneise | F5: “leaders are not infallible.” Love that call out not to mention it emphasizes a willingness to make mistakes, learn, be coached, etc.
Libby Healy | Waters Corp | Remote (Maine, USA): Within the Tech world right now I am hearing more KCS Managers talking about “managing my KCS program through change.” Large scale org restructuring or layoffs can scatter coaches and knowledge workers and create new business area alignments that need to be taken alllll the way back to step 1 of “what is KCS” even for mature programs. I would love to talk to anyone who has managed a program through these changes.
Kendall Brenneise | F5: Happy to chat on this one Libby! Feel free to reach out on LinkedIn and we can connect.
Laina Stapleton: When we have a ton of changes happening all at once, from different sides/areas, and it seems like no one is recognizing the connections between the changes and managing them as a whole, is there anything we can do or say to help those in charge work together?
“Change managers will keep change saturation from happening.”
Alina Weber, as captured by Kendall Brenneise in the chat
Jill Chan: thank you 🙂
Sue van Gelder – Consultant – Charlotte: Thank you, Alina!
Jason O’Donnell: Great discussion, Alina!!
Christina Roosen | Akamai | California: Great presentation and such a generous offer of time Alina! Thank you.
Francine Wild: Thank you!
Marjorie Etter: thanks for this great info
Brian Gregory – Jack Henry – Mooresville, NC: Thank you Alina and Kendall!
Regi Adams: Well done. Thank you!
hannah hitchens: Thank you 🙂
Liz Tatum: Thank you!
Sylvia Potocnik: Thank you!
Matt Seaman: Thank You!
Marianne Simpson: Thank you Alina and Kendall!
Travis Myers: Thanks All!
Jenna Hoffman: Thank you Alina and Kendall!! 😊
andersrs: Thank you Alina and Kendall