I’ve worked companies who wanted to do something new without letting go of their old ways. For example, they want to adopt Agile practices and still have highly detailed predictive plans. They want to build products iteratively and yet have their requirements detailed at the start of a project.

The source of these paradoxes is in the mindsets of the people. With the old way, people know what to expect, including what doesn’t work well. People feel anxious because they’re not sure what to expect with the new methods.

Listen for phrases like, “That’s not the way we’ve always done it,” or “We couldn’t possibly do that.” Then help people feel safe enough to be with the uncertainty of something new.

You’ve got this.