The Changemaker's Skills Maturity Matrix

As we've been growing the team at Black Glass (we're still/always looking for great people to join us!), I started to feel the need to create a branch of the original SMM that focused on our work.

Goals

• Think through what's required of people who aim to make change within a business. Changemakers are sometimes consultants. Sometimes they're internal folks. Sometimes they're people with Org/Industrial Psych degrees. Sometimes (way more often than some would expect) they're Information Architects who became UX people who became Service Design people who, as they stared deeper into the abyss, decided to do something about it. How do we do it? How do we get better at it?
• Think about what I personally need to work on next.
• Help me be a better partner to my colleagues as they develop.
• Help people who want to get into this field find their way in from the adjacencies. A ton of the skills on the original SMM are applicable here. True heads will recognize Research and Counsel are lightly edited or directly lifted, respectively, from the original. Presentation has shifted here to Facilitation. Making (old) and Content (new) are pretty similar – with the adjustment mostly focusing on the spreadability and usage of the stuff you make, rather than just being able to move pixels tastefully (and fast). I have a little bit of a dream of making a bunch of these SMMs and hosting them in a single place for all of us to see where our skills overlap and where they don't, but that's a separate post.
• Make some shareable content so more people know who I am, because I'm writing a book. There, I said it! Hopefully out next year on Matt Holt Books/Benbella.

Anyway, here it is, with colors from Flexoki:

And just like the original, here's a short description of the skills.

1/ Research

The ability to uncover and synthesize critical information about organizational dynamics and industry trends. You can’t rely on gut feeling alone. Whether via academic journals, 1:1 interviews, or just a slightly more culturally in-tune morning commute, changemakers must be information sponges. You surface insights that spark innovation and fuel transformation.

2/ Corporate Strategy:

The capacity to develop and implement strategies that steer an organization’s growth. It’s about connecting the dots, creating a clear path forward, and ensuring that change initiatives align with the broader strategic agenda (ideally one you’ve had a hand in shaping).

3/ Organizational Design:

Expertise in designing teams and processes to drive adaptability and performance. Whether restructuring hierarchies, forming new teams, or changing how groups make decisions, changemakers know that structures shape behavior. And they’re ready to reimagine the operating model when necessary.

4/ Content:

The ability to create and manage materials that drive engagement, clarify processes, and support strategic goals. Every function in a business ultimately produces content – templates, presentations, videos, etc. – shapes how ideas are communicated and change is implemented. Changemakers must excel (lol) at crafting content that educates, influences, and moves organizations forward.

5/ Business Functions:

Understanding the inner workings of business functions and how they interact. You need to speak every department’s language. To drive change, you must know which levers to pull, and which ones might break if you pull too hard.

6/ Learning & Development:

The ability to inspire growth, resilience, and continuous learning while guiding others through change. Whether coaching, mentoring, or cheerleading, changemakers understand that driving change starts with empowering people.

7/ Change Movements:

Mobilizing people and resources to drive sustained transformation. Great ideas are only the first step. This skill is about overcoming resistance, maintaining momentum, and turning initiatives into movements that take on a life of their own. Note: knowing about things like ADKAR (the WWWWWH of change, let's say) is different than, and a contributor to, the Change Movements skill. Maybe it's a precursor, but I'm specifically not interested in calling this a Change Management skill. FWIW.

8/ Facilitation:

Guiding groups through complex discussions and decision-making. Priorities and perspectives will always compete. Facilitation is the ability to create space for productive dialogue, to help groups through their stickiest moments, and helping folks embody the change (as contrasted with simply thinking about, or considering a mindset shift). Things like conflict management live here, too.

9/ Counsel:

The ability to provide senior-level advice across all business areas. The highest level of this skill involves fostering long-term partnerships with clients (and let's be real – even if you're on an internal team, you have clients), helping them navigate change over time and becoming an integral advisor beyond any single engagement.

As before, each of these skills can be a business unto itself. We always thought that the best thing we could do was to strive for Level 7 across all of the skills; over-indexing on something and becoming known for one thing globally would be bad business (and bad for our brains, hearts, etc.).

Anyway.

• Send me your thoughts/reactions. I'd love to hear them. Did you know there is a comment field on the site? Try it?
• Let me know if you want to talk about this live. My schedule is less packed than you might think.
• Let me know if you want to work with me on my dream project of getting multiple SMMs into one (beautiful, interactive, intentional, e.g. something that isn't just Google Docs) place.