Themes: Trust; Leadership & Management
Episode Topic & Tensions: Overcoming Resistance to Change
Summary
Senior IT leader Roy Boven shares a candid story with co-host Mark Jørgensen Chaudhry about tackling process bloat: a mandate to cut 80% of internal procedures without losing what mattered. Using a “TV manual” analogy, Roy explains why the real constraint wasn’t technology – it was human resistance, fear of transparency, and misaligned incentives. The episode explores how to co-create minimum viable compliance that satisfies regulators while restoring clarity, trust, and speed.
What You’ll Hear
- Why “more policy” often means less compliance in practice
- The “TV manual” test for usability and value
- Transparency vs. fear: dashboards, metrics, and watermelon reporting
- Story points, comparability, and unintended behaviors in agile contexts
- Designing minimum viable compliance: keep the essentials, remove the rest
- The people side of change: ambivalence, incentives, and trust-building
- A facilitation move that works: the “Kick Roy” session to surface frustrations
- Outcome: documentation reduced by ~80%, clarity and ownership increased
Gifts & Key Takeaways (Give Away)
- Lead with honesty: State the non-negotiable goal and your constraints.
- Create a safe venting space (“Kick Roy”): Let people voice frustrations before co-creating solutions.
- Co-create minimum viable compliance: Map what regulators actually require; remove internal add-ons that add little value.
- Make it measurable: For every page you add, remove one; track total pages/templates and review quarterly.
- Align incentives: Explain how transparency helps teams – not just management.
Roy Boven – Guest Bio / Key Facts
- Senior IT leader with 25+ years across quality assurance (QA), software testing, governance, and AI-driven improvement.
- Shaped enterprise test frameworks and strategy (ISTQB-informed, adapted to business reality).
- Led large-scale compliance simplification and work-management governance (incl. SAFe environments).
- Bridges business and technology; aligns diverse stakeholders with a calm, pragmatic style.
- Advocates “minimum viable compliance”: keep what matters, remove the rest.
Connect with Roy
LinkedIn: Roy Boven
