For Employees

The author suggests nine things an employee should do to survive the change:

Try to understand the objectives of the effort. Knowing the goal helps anticipate the maneuvers and plan your involvement accordingly.
Brace for confusion. Any major change creates a lot of confusion and uncertainty, and it cannot be helped - learn to cope.
Adopt the language. Begin to look at your work from a SS point of view (particularly SIPOC) to understand how you will be used in the SS world.
Prepare for training. The training involved ranges from a week to a month or longer, so be prepared to be distracted by it. Most importantly, don't avoid it.
Avoid paranoia - A major change breeds panic: when the future is unclear, people expect the worst. That can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Be adaptable - SS will bring major changes. Those who can't or won't adapt to them will not survive. Most importantly, roll with it rather than becoming defensive.
Be proactive - Rather than waiting for change to come to you, seek out opportunities to make changes proactively.
Be patient - While it's good to be (or appear) eager for change, there is a roll-out plan that will be followed. Wait your turn.
Take a long-term perspective. There will be turbulence in the short-run, but in the long run, this will get better. We promise.

The author identifies five skills (really, qualities of character) to develop:

Broad perspective. Expertise in a specific field is good, but SS relies on people who can look at a process in the big-picture sense, rather than just their own piece of it.
Data Orientation. SS is data-driven, and it's important to be able to distinguish opinion from fact, and make data-based decisions.
Open-Mindedness. It's especially important to break free of standing assumptions and older paradigms and take a fresh perspective on each problem.
Collaborative Spirit. In departmental silos, people become entrenched and defensive. SS will require them to come out of the trenches and work together.
Embrace Change. Whether you like it or not, change is coming, and it will be constant. Learn to and take it.