Navigating Change Management in IT, with Meridith Fix

Show Notes

In this episode of the IT Matters podcast, host Keith Hawkey delves into the complexities of change management with Meridith Fix, the former CIO of Lendlease. Meridith shares her extensive experience and unique perspectives on how organizations can successfully navigate technology changes from a human-centric approach.

Conversation Highlights:
[00:00] Introducing our guest, Meridith
[03:34] Building the foundations for a technology change
[06:32] Navigating organizational changes
[09:46] Cultivating continued learning
[15:35] Understanding communication styles
[24:59] Generative AI and change management
[27:43] Meridith's message to IT leaders

Notable Quotes:
"People resist change out of fear, out of fear and distrust because our brains are wired to keep us safe. We have this sort of natural inclination to lean towards the status quo to prioritize the present." Meridith Fix [04:58]

"One of my favorite quotes of all time is 'Be the change you want to see in the world.' I think that's what I would encourage IT leaders to be, really any leader." Meridith Fix [28:12]

Connect With Meridith Fix
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meridithfix/

The IT Matters Podcast is about IT matters and matters pertaining to IT. It is produced by Opkalla, a technology advisory firm that helps their clients navigate the confusion in the technology marketplace and choose the solution that is right for their business.

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Welcome to the Opkalla IT Matters Podcast, where we discuss the important matters within IT as well as the importance of IT across different industries and responsibilities.

About Opkalla:
Opkalla helps their clients navigate the confusion in the technology marketplace and choose the technology solutions that are right for their business. They work alongside IT teams to design, procure, implement and support the most complex IT solutions without an agenda or technology bias. Opkalla was founded around the belief that IT professionals deserve better, and is guided by their core values: trust, transparency and speed. For more information, visit https://opkalla.com/ or follow them on LinkedIn. 

Narrator: Welcome to the IT
Matters podcast, where we

explore why it matters and
matters pertaining to it.

Keith Hawkey: Welcome, everyone,
to the IT Matters podcast, where

we crack into the minds of the
brightest IT leaders and discuss

the challenges we're facing. As
we stay sharp and guide our

organizations to a brighter
digital future. I'm your host,

Keith Hawkey, technology advisor
for Opkalla. And today, we are

discussing change management
with the former CIO of

LendLease, a real estate company
to help design develop and build

and fund cities from scratch.

LendLease, won the 2021 Fast
companies top innovative lists,

and 2021 GRESB award as a sector
leader. Meridith is now

consulting organizations on how
to manage technology change from

a human perspective, and is a
wealth of knowledge for those

organizations that are making
the right investment, but might

need a little help with adoption
and policy building and getting

maximizing those investments
that we make from a human

perspective. Meridith, welcome
to the IT Matters podcast.

Meridith Fix: Thank you, Keith,
thanks for having me. I'm happy

to be here.

Keith Hawkey: Happy to have you.

So Meredith, can you tell us a
little bit about yourself? How

did you end up where you are
today? Tell us a little bit

about your your career path and
and how you got here.

Meredith Fix: I have a 25 year
career in IT, I started when I

was 12. I worked for the same
company, a lot of that time

started as a systems engineer
and then worked my way up to the

regional CIO role. You know, in
those 25 years, I've worked

across a lot of the more
traditional IT disciplines. But

definitely my role as CIO was my
favorite. People are my passion.

I love working with people. It's
really what got me into

technology in the first place.

And over the course of my
career, I found myself working

on several large transformation
initiatives and numerous little

individual projects. And
technology is the easy part,

it's the people part that's the
hard part. And that's because

we're all different. I tell my
daughters, we're like

snowflakes. Each and every one
of us is unique and different.

So I love working with people
with a dash of technology. And

that's me.

Keith Hawkey: People are the
difficult part of this equation.

I tell you, some technology
leaders agree some might

disagree and say that the bugs
and the errors and everything

that comes with technology is
difficult. But I tell you what,

with how rapidly the environment
changes in the second quarter of

2024. It sure seems like
adoption is painful. What's

interesting is I work with
technology leaders across the

country. And there are some
different perspectives on where

your employee base is, is based
out of. I know that if you're

maybe a little bit more focused
on the West Coast change is a

little easier. A lot of our
technology companies originate

out of Silicon Valley. Where
we're based out of in the

southeast, change is a much
harder equation to solve. What

are some of the insights that
you've learned of your career to

start building the foundations
for a technology change earlier

on because as as we've discussed
before, starting when you're

deploying a technology doesn't
always go as planned.

Meredith Fix: I think what
companies need to shift from and

this is not just CIOs, but it's
the entire executive leadership

team. And we have to stop
looking at change management as

a specific transformation
initiative or a project, we have

to start looking at how we can
within our organizations

cultivate a culture that can
sustain continuous change.

That's a lot of Cs there, but
cultivating cultures that can

sustain continuous change. What
I'd like to do is just take a

minute and show you this diagram
here that I've referred to a

lot. And it really looks at the
rate of innovation, compared to

our ability as humans to adapt.

Right. So as you can see,
there's a pretty big gap here.

And I think the challenge for
organizations for the C suite is

to figure out how to close that
gap. And I think that's a

really, really important thing
to understand and talk about,

and really why why does this gap
exist? And this gap exists

people resist change out of
fear, out of fear and distrust.

Because our brains are wired to
keep us safe. We have this sort

of natural inclination to lean
towards the status quo to

prioritize the present. And so I
think one of the things that

companies on the West Coast,
technology companies, one of the

ways that maybe they're
different, is because they

understand the importance of
creating psychologically safe

cultures. I mean, you see that
in the Agile Manifesto from

years and years ago, which
software companies have kind of

taken to heart. I think that's
part of why you see that that

difference. And I think, you
know, what's important for all

companies, regardless of whether
they're a technology or not, is

to take some lessons from that
and to figure out how they can

create that safe environment and
organizations for people because

that will help them to navigate
change.

Keith Hawkey: What do you think,
causes IT organizations to have

a less have a less safe
environment? What are you what

are the precursors that that
bring about, well, it's not just

the IT organizations, it's the
organization as a whole, that

are less safe that resists
change. What are some of the

problems that you've seen
through your career, and now

that you're, you're consulting
organizations, in this respect.

Meredith Fix: So I was actually
just talking about this morning,

the client that I'm working for
now, currently gelled one, one

of the things that the original
owner was really keen to do was

to make sure that even during
downtimes, they didn't lay

people off, right, they looked
at what an individual brought to

the table and just figured
there's got to be something else

in the company that this person
can do for us. So we'll, you

know, reassign that person and
let them keep their job and

continue adding value to the
organization. And I think, you

know, over time, companies have
adopted a different approach,

they've had to, so I think
anytime company, a company goes

through a round of layoffs, and
then more layoffs, and then more

layoffs, things like that
contribute to sort of

instability that people feel.

That just in and of itself, is
going to make the culture feel a

little bit more unsafe. It's not
to say that companies shouldn't

do that, right, they have to do
that in some situations. But it

contributes to that instability.

One of the things that we did at
my former company, before I

left, we made a decision to
outsource a lot of our IT

operations and support to a
managed service. And that

impacted about 50% of the IT
roles in the organization

globally, about 50% of their
roles were made redundant. But

then the bulk of the 50% that
remained had new roles. So they

took on more, they did things
differently. So essentially,

everyone in the IT organization
had to change. And what I

learned through that, is that
three things, these three

fundamentals that I believe
about people. People want to do

the right thing. They want to do
the best job they can. They do

the best they can with the tools
they have, with the information

they have, and they want to feel
valued or appreciated for what

they're doing. And I think you
know, if you can do those things

for your people, that will help
you to overcome that instability

that people feel with the way
the world works today with

frequent layoffs in large
organizations.

Keith Hawkey: Yeah, that sounds
like a pretty cataclysmic

change. And you probably, you
had the the the rest of your IT

organization that had to retool,
rescale, reorient their

priorities. Some of them may
have felt as if, I'm sure some

of them actually appreciated
some of the redundant tasks not

being on their plate, and so
they can spend more time

aligning with the business,
developing applications that

solve business problems, some
may have taken it as a shock and

wondered if the MSPs presents
grow are they next. So

definitely, bringing that to the
organization that's ready for

change is an important precursor
before implementing an MSP. The

tech industry is known for its
fast paced, dynamic nature. How

can IT leaders create a culture
of continuous learning and

development to help employees
keep up with evolving

technologies and skills?

Meredith Fix: I'm one that, I
guess a couple of things in that

space. I think you technology
people need skills beyond just

the technology. Right? You know,
we're talking about soft skills

a lot. But I think any kind of
learning that a person does,

whether they're in tech or some
other industry, contributes to

the overall like whole person
and what they bring to the

table. So as a leader, I
encourage people to do all kinds

of things, you know, take the
tech class, if that's what you

want. But let's make sure that
we sort of schedule that, such

that when you come out of the
class, you can actually use what

you've learned, right. But also,
I encourage the team to do what

I call passion projects. And I
didn't invent that term. I've

seen it, you know, in other
places, but like, find something

that you're passionate about,
and go do that, whether that's

volunteer at a local
organization, like we have

Apparo here in Charlotte that
works with nonprofits on their

IT strategies and solutions. So
go do something in the volunteer

space or, you know, join a
softball league, and bring your

your teammates along with you.

So really, anything that you're
doing, where you're learning

something new, I think brings
valuable skills back to the

table, I think we have to get
away from just looking at

technology skills for our IT
organization for our people. To

me, that's very important. And
then I guess the other thing I

just want to say in that space
is focusing on your strengths,

like we all have strengths. And
that's what makes us unique and

different. And that's kind of
our you know, gift to the world.

So I'm a big proponent of
focusing on your strengths,

because most likely, those
strengths are something that's

easy for you to do, you're
really good at it, and you enjoy

doing it. And so if you can get
all that, you know, together

that's really going to help your
employees learn and want to keep

learning but also feel like
really engaged and want to

contribute to the overall team.

So that's, I'm a big proponent
of that learning in all areas.

Keith Hawkey: So the EQ or
emotional acumen can can play as

a significant role in the
overall mood and happiness of

the organization itself. I mean,
you've spent a lot of time over

your career hiring and looking
for the best talent on the

market to to add to your
initiatives and overall

strategy. You mentioned that the
hard skills are important, but

the emotional intelligence is
also a key factor when you're

looking for an addition to the
team. What are some of the ways

that you've been able to draw
out hints and clues that this

person would either be a great
fit for your team or not a great

fit for your team from that more
of an emotional intelligence

perspective, for more of the
soft skills perspective.

Meredith Fix: One of the things
that I'm a big proponent of and

I invested a lot of time in as a
CIO was getting to know the

unique strengths of each of the
members of my team. And whenever

there was a new position, what I
would look to do is hire someone

that had complementary skills.

So if I had 10 direct reports,
and seven of them were great at

oral presentation skills being
up in the front of a room, if

I've got an an open role, I
might look for someone that

might not be as skilled, that's
as important for me, I might

need someone who loves like
written communication, who loves

to review business requirements,
documents, that kind of thing.

So whether it's a technical
skill like that, or, you know,

some particular thing that I'm
looking for, to balance out the

group, like someone who loves to
organize team events. As I'm

interviewing candidates for that
role, I'm always looking for

complementary skills. So it
would vary, you know, between,

depending on what the makeup of
the team is at that particular

point in time, but I'm one of
the things that I like to do is

to get people talking. I'm a
pretty strong introvert, so the

more I can get you to talk, the
better. I'm also very

inquisitive by nature. So I just
went ask a lot of questions, and

then have the candidate talking
a lot. And that, you know, would

give me a really good idea as to
how the person communicated, how

they responded to questions
like, were they really listening

and responding to my question or
just saying what they thought

they needed to say. So that's
what I did during the interview

process. I'd look for
complementary skills, soft

skills, and the more technical
skills, and then get people

talking during the interview.

And then I guess the final thing
I would add is that we would

often do a team interview so I
don't want to just rely on my

intuition when I'm interviewing
someone, but the we would invite

others to participate in the
interview process as well.

Trying to do the same thing I
get the person talking so you

can figure out as much as you
can about the individual.

Keith Hawkey: Did you ever
connect with some of your team

members that were in the
interview and everyone had very

different opinions? Or did for
the most part, you guys see the

same things.

Meredith Fix: 80-20 rule. 80% of
us would probably feel the same

way it would either be a thumbs
up or thumbs down or eh, not

sure. So most of us would at
least have the thumbs up or down

the same. You know, when you get
to that point, you just, you got

to make a call. That's why
you're the leader. And you don't

always make the right ones. But
you do try.

Keith Hawkey: That reminds me of
a, so my company Opkalla uses

the Predictive Index for, it's
effectively a personality test.

And some of their their people
were at our office yesterday,

and they were discussing the
four quadrants of how we

communicate. And there, there
are times that you're

communicating in the way that
you do and it doesn't resonate

at all with those that don't
communicate this way. You know,

the four quadrants are, there's
more visionary, there's an

analytical, someone that more
focused on methodology, and then

more of that emotional
connection type. I wonder if in

some of these interviews, you
had employees, that team members

that had these different traits,
people that came into the

interview and connected with
those traits resonate with them

more and are more impactful than
the other ones. Yeah, visionary

comes in and is explaining the
vision, but most of your team is

more of that methodology,
analytical side, they can be a

great fit, but they just haven't
been able to connect on those

aspects of communication. Yeah.

Have you had any experience with
judging personalities of your

team and people you might be
interviewing?

Meredith Fix: Yeah, and I guess
it goes back again, to what is

it that we're looking for, like,
what are what are the skills,

what are the things that we as a
team needed? So if we needed a

dose of visionary, then that's
what we would be looking for.

That's what we would be
appreciating. If we needed a

dose of analytical, they know go
through this step, and then this

one, and then this one, and they
do it slow and do it

methodically, we would know we
didn't have that on our team, or

we had too much of that on our
team. So that didn't really play

in to our decisions. Like it
didn't get us in a position

where we were in conflict. We
also did a lot, I think, prior

to even like posting the role,
like we talked a lot about,

well, what is it that we're
looking for in this particular

role? What do we need to augment
our team so that we together are

a stronger leadership team. So
we did a lot of prep work before

then as well. And you know, by
doing that prep work, and having

those conversations ahead of
time, that probably helped us to

be more aligned. After we
interviewed the candidate, when

we were actually making that
decision. Sort of begin with the

end in mind, kind of thinking.

Keith Hawkey: That reminds me of
another aim that you have

Meridith, which is employee
reviews. Switching gears here,

employee employee reviews can be
a challenging process for anyone

in IT leadership. What are some
of the common pain points that

you've encountered in conducting
employee reviews and every IT

leader that I work with, yeah,
that that is one of the most

painstaking activities that they
have to do. And it is it is

cookie cutter, it's, you know,
they have to check the box in a

lot of ways, it's very time
consuming. And really, rather

than a point in time you're
reviewing your employees

throughout the year. What are
some pain points that you've

encountered in doing reviews?

And do you think there's any
ways to innovate in this area?

Meredith Fix: Yeah, so I
recently read a study that

Gartner did, and and in that
study, the study revealed that

77% of employees are either not
engaged or are actively

disengaged, right. So that means
only 23% of employees are

engaged, and 95% of employees
are unhappy with a traditional

performance review process. And
I can absolutely attest to the

vibe that I was in that 95%
category, both as a manager and

an employee. I mean, I like I
said at the beginning, I love

people I love learning about
people. I love helping people

build on their strengths. But I
cannot, I hated performance

reviews. And I think you know
when you and I were talking I

said yeah, I'm so thankful I
don't have to do those anymore.

Or at least I don't have to do
them right now. The bee in my

bonnet that I really get, like
the worst thing for me is this

forced bell shaped curve, or
call it calibration, call it

whatever you want to but it's
this idea that proliferates and

performance management processes
that you know people fit into

this bell shaped curve. And I
just feel like that is

detrimental to creating the kind
of environment that we talked

about, you know. If if people
really want to do their best,

and they're trying their best,
and they're doing the best they

can with the tools they have,
and they want to feel

appreciated for doing that, you
know, that bell shaped curve

does not do that. In fact, I
feel like it does the opposite.

And as you know, a manager, I
really felt boxed in and I want

to share with people what I love
about what they're doing so that

they can do more of it. But I've
got to figure out, like, where

do they fit in this bell shaped
curve, it's just extremely,

extremely painful. And in terms
of like, well, what can be done

about that? Are companies still
doing that? I think, you know,

leadership teams are hearing
that 95% of people are not happy

with this kind of process. And
so you're starting to see with

some of the more forward looking
innovative companies that they

are looking at different ways of
managing performance in their

organization. Deloitte, GE,
Adobe, those are a couple of

good companies to look at. And
they've been a multi year

journeys to move away from
these, like annual performance

reviews to, you know, processes
that help encourage the

continuous coaching and
feedback, and focusing more on

personal growth and development,
rather than some specific goals

written on a piece of paper once
a year. So I think, you know,

companies are opening their
eyes, and they're starting to

look at things, you know, a
little bit differently, but

it's, you know, it's gonna take
some time for sure, so most of

us have to still operate in
this, like, you know,

traditional type of performance
management system. So I just

would encourage people to like,
you know, keep the faith, change

is coming. And just focus on
that, like continuous coaching

and helping you know, your, your
team, your people to grow

personally, and you know have
that open dialogue, and then

don't ever, the worst thing is
like going into a performance

review and surprising an
employee. That's like walking

into a boardroom and not knowing
the answer before you walk in,

right? Like, there should be no
surprises, if you're giving your

people continuous feedback
throughout the year, if you're

really truly doing that. Even
though it's an annual stinky

process, there shouldn't be any
surprises.

Keith Hawkey: Have you ever had
a member of your team that you

felt you could get more out of,
that had potential, but it was

obviously they were stuck in a
rut. There was something going

on whether it was professional
or personal in their lives, that

they weren't focused and, and
dedicated in the way that you

would like to see them and they
ultimately have the potential to

to be. Have you ever had a team
member that you experienced that

was like this? And, you know,
what are some of the ways that

an IT leader can target an
employee like this and get the

most out of them, you know, help
them kind of reinvent themselves

at the company.

Meredith Fix: I think it all
starts with like this, this

culture of psychological safety
and employees trusting you as a

leader, right? If you have that
trust, if you create a culture

that is safe for people to share
what's on their minds, and what

they're feeling? Then it is
easy, easy in air quotes, to sit

down with an employee and have
that conversation, you know,

just say, May I share some some
feedback with you? And then

just, you know, have the open
conversation to say, look, you

know, I see so much potential in
you, what can we do so that

everybody else can see that too?

And, you know, talk through,
like, what's not working

currently, what is working? And
then figure out, like, how do we

get them more of what is
working? How do we help them

build on their strengths, so
that they can show to everybody

else? That untapped potential
that I see. That's how I've

handled that in the past. And it
tends to work pretty well.

Because again, people want to be
seen and heard for who they are,

they want to feel like their
efforts are appreciated. And

even if it's not going in the
right direction, they still

have, you know, value and skills
that they can contribute to the

team, and I think the other
thing is the leader has to look

in the mirror and say, hey, if
this employee is doing the best

they can with the tools they
have then maybe I'm not giving

them the right tools. I think
there's some responsibility on

both sides there.

Keith Hawkey: I couldn't agree
more. There's there's often the

case where you have more of a
boss mentality. And they think

that anyone under under them
fall in line. And if they're not

falling in line, something is
wrong with them. Certainly the

better leaders through time are
the ones that are able to level

with their team, sit in their,
walk a day in their shoes, and

understand what they're going
through and be accessible. Yeah,

it is a rapidly changing
technology environment and you

know 2024 with artificial
artificial intelligence,

impacting multiple sectors
impacting a lot of what we have

spoken about today. Where do you
see some of the generative AI

impacting change management,
employee reviews? Where do you

see that landing in some of the
areas that you have expertise

on?

Meredith Fix: We talk about
change and why people resist

change. And a lot of that is
fear based, right? There's a lot

of fear right now about AI, and
you know, what it's going to do?

Whose job is it going to take?

And so I think, you know,
education is key there, like,

what is it? And what is it not?

If you look at an an individual
organization or an industry,

there will be some spot places
where yes, you might start to

invest, but it's going to take
some time before, AI is truly

enterprise ready for most
organizations, right? You're

more innovative technology
oriented ones, they're going to

be way down the road faster. But
the bulk of people don't work in

those organizations, right. You
know, they work for a

construction company, or a
hospital or, you know, a school

system. And so I think we used
to have the same manage that

fact, like, what what are the
facts? And let's start with the

facts. And let's talk about what
what's really happening, like,

what's the potential? How do we
think that's going to impact you

or your role, and then sort of
start to plan for that. I think,

you know, the more we can do to
allay people's concerns and

fears about AI, actually, the
more people will embrace it, and

the farther we'll be able to
take it. And the more benefit,

we'll see from it. Have you
dabbled with any of the ChatGPT

or Bard functions?

A little bit. Yeah, a little
bit.

Keith Hawkey: What have you
found it useful one and not

useful for?

Meredith Fix: For me, it's
useful to like, get an idea to

get started. And even before
ChatGPT, if I needed to, like

sit down and start a research
project, or write a paper or,

you know, an important
communication or presentation, I

would sit down, I would Google
just to get inspired. Right. So

I've used, you know, those tools
to help me get inspired. But

what I inevitably find is, they
don't write like, I write, so it

doesn't feel authentic and real.

So and I inevitably end up
writing it, in my words, in my

way, so that, you know, as a
communicator, I come across as

real and authentically me. But I
do use it for inspiration. And I

think, you know, the same will
be true for a long time to come

until I have my own personal
ChatGPT, which maybe is around

the corner. I don't know.

Keith Hawkey: We're coming close
to the end of the podcast. And

one thing that I always like to
ask guests is, is if you could

display on a billboard all
across the world, and only IT

leaders could see it, a message,
what message would you have for

what an IT leader? What's
missing? What is missing from IT

leadership that you think needs
to be said?

Meredith Fix: Well, one of my
favorite quotes of all time is

"Be the change you want to see
in the world". And so I think

that's what I would encourage IT
leaders to be, really any

leader, but definitely IT
leaders. Because if you want to

get your executive team to
change, if you want to get your

employees or your customers to
change to adopt some new

technology that you're bringing
to the table, you've got to lead

by example. And you've got to
walk the walk yourself. And

that's how you'll get your
employee base behind you. And

that's how you bring your
executive team along. And that's

ultimately, you know, by having
all of those people sort of on

that journey with you, that's
how you ultimately deliver the

best thing to your customer. So,
"Be the change you want to see

in the world", I think is for me
anyway, words to live by.

Keith Hawkey: Be the change you
want to see. Well said,

Meredith. Where can our
listeners find you if they have

any any follow up and want to
engage? How, what is the best

way to reach you?

Meredith Fix: So I am on
LinkedIn, probably the best way.

Go on to LinkedIn and search
Meridith Fix and there you'll

find me. That's probably the
best way to get me. I'm

constantly checking.

Keith Hawkey: We'll make sure to
include your LinkedIn profile on

the show notes. Thank you so
much for joining the podcast.

It's been a pleasure.

Meredith Fix: Thank you. I have
enjoyed speaking with you. And

hopefully your listeners will
get a little nugget or two out

of our conversation.

Keith Hawkey: Or three or four.

Meredith Fix: That would be even
better.

Keith Hawkey: Thanks, Meredith.

Thank you, everyone. We'll catch
you next time.

Meredith Fix: All right.

Narrator: Thanks for listening.

The IT Matters podcast is
produced by Opkalla, an IT

advisory firm that helps
businesses navigate the vast and

complex IT marketplace. Learn
more about Opkalla at

opkalla.com.