Water the Bamboo: Thriving with Change (session)

Water the Bamboo: Thriving with Change (session)

Greg Bell

As impressed as I was by the keynote, I clearly had to attend the session immediately after...

Change is constant. You’re either in the middle of change, just went through change, or just about to go through change. Today will be a “high level” look at how to deal with change.

Session Overview

I.                    Getting the Most Out of Today’s Session

II.                  Three Types of Change

III.                Stages of Change

IV.                Leadership Model

V.                  Performance Model

VI.                Getting Key Team Members on Board with the Change

VII.              Personal Action Plan

I have to say, when I saw this session overview, I thought it was an incredibly aggressive set of items to cover. I was right. Mr. Bell had time to “touch” on each element, but not go into much depth. I understand the background of much of what he was saying from my own exploration/studies of management, inspiration, and building on strengths. Where possible, I have inserted my back-up info to further develop the point Mr. Bell was making. For most of the people in the audience, however, I think his presentation lacked the depth and explanation that would have made the information truly useful.

[Editor’s note: I have tried to differentiate where my background information supplements Mr. Bell’s salient point with the lead in of “Editor’s note” and the information in brackets, as with this sentence.]

How can you get the most out of today’s session?

[Exercise – Write something down – share with the person next to you; this helps to “cement” in your mind what you’re aiming to learn so you’ll know it when you hear it.]

Everyone is trying to get “there” – but what happens when you get “there?” Your “there” is now HERE. All you have is “here.” Be present. Luck has very little to do with how much you “get” out of the time, situations, and experiences you have. Being present, being focused, does.

A good strategy will get you all the luck you want. Picky eaters? Tell them dinner will be at 6pm, then don’t feed them until 7:30pm. They’ll be HUNGRY and will eat whatever you put in front of them. Pool players? Step away from the table – so you can see the big picture.

In our lives, our best friend is a great listener. They are “there” for us. They are present. We have it all backwards – we teach our children how to talk, but not how to listen. If you listen better, participate more, and are more present, you will GET MORE.

Ok, what if the question isn’t about the session, but about LIFE? How can you get the most out of LIFE? Just do this thing (whatever the answer you wrote) every day, and your life will improve. You will have higher quality.

Three Types of Change

Crisis – it happens suddenly: health, job changes, death in the family, etc.

Evolutionary – gradual change but it is transformative (cell phone to email to tweeting); baby to child to high school graduate; college freshman to Bachelor’s recipient

Visionary – this is the “down the road” goal. Understand what you care about. If you can’t herd ALL the cats, herd the RIGHT ones. Go deeper with fewer.

80/20 rule

• 20% of your clients will provide 80% of your business. Every CPSM learns this as part of their studies for the certification. But it is an incredibly powerful rule. It shows up everywhere.
• 20% of your clients cause 80% of your problems. [LOL!]
• 20% of your employees do 80% of the work.

Handle your business with this in mind – focus on the 20% that is productive, relevant, and helpful.

You only have so much time, money, and energy. You have to put these towards what is important. However, we are all kind and all helpers. And you say “yes” a lot. Learn to say “no” with a smile on your face. Shed away the stuff that isn’t working so you can focus. Our biggest danger is to become overwhelmed.

Three Questions To Facilitate Meaningful Change

(in your organization, your life, your firm, your family…)

1)      What should you stop doing? (no sacred cows)

2)      What should you continue doing?

3)      What should you start?

Look at your “to do” list and ask the first question (what should you stop doing). Remove one thing. Don’t ever put it back on your list. Now, you can move forward. [Editor’s note: That one thing was like a millstone around your professional/personal neck. If you are never going to do it, and yet you are looking at it every day on your list, you can never get around it or beyond it to what your true purpose is.]

The “truths” about managing change:

1)      Most people resist change because they feel more secure with the familiar. True/False – TRUE Try folding your arms the other way. It works, but it isn’t familiar. It doesn’t mean that it is wrong, it is just not familiar. You have to keep doing it. Think about getting the team to be in the same “groove” and not in “the rut.” About 90% of people have the same thoughts today that they had yesterday. If that is true, no wonder nothing has changed. Change the thoughts, and change will come.

2)      Stakeholders are less likely to resist change if they understand the reasons for the change. True/False – TRUE   It helps with buy-in. You have to explain things. People expect to be included. [Editor’s note: You do not take the “mess,” the behind-the scenes struggle to the dining room, however. You share the INFORMATION around the discussion. WHAT are you discussing? And what are the concerns? Not the politics, but the content of the discussion/change.]

3)      Too much information about the upcoming change will make people more resistant to the change. – FALSE. People are intelligent. They can handle the information. They can’t handle the “unknown.” [Editor’s note: And in the absence of any information, they will make stuff up. And what they make up will be ten times worse than what the reality is. Do you want them making stuff up? Or do you want them to have the truth?]

4)      Stakeholders experience and process change differently.  TRUE – if they weren’t at the retreat, they aren’t at the same place you are in their processing. Give them time (and opportunity, safety, means) to process the information about the change. [Editor’s note: You must also give them forums to ask questions, venues to find camaraderie and share their concerns about the change, and means to celebrate when milestones in implementing the change are reached.]

5)      The most difficult part of introducing change is dealing with the technical part. FALSE – it’s all people problems. [Editor’s note: Making the systems changes, or technological changes, or process changes is easy – tomorrow, you just do it in the new way. Sustaining that change over time is about the people, and how they continue to implement the new way every day, consistently.]

Stages of Change

In implementing change, understand that each individual will go through five phases. Some will move quickly through them. Some will stall out on one for a long time. And some will move back and forth through the stages as they experience their reactions to the various pieces of the change.

The five stages are:

1. Commitment or Acceptance – make a conscious choice to DO this thing
2. Pain and Discomfort – what if we got encouragement during the stage all the time, like we did when learning to walk?
3. Power – woo-hoo, you did it! A little euphoria.
4. Harmony – the change is no long different or change. It is habit.
5. What’s Next? – ready for the next challenge

[Exercise – reflect on a process/event in your life where you have gone through all 5 stages of change. Not something you’re going through right now, but you’ve completed it. A job change, marriage, moving, college, whatever. Think about each stage, what you were feeling and how you dealt with it. How did you get from one stage to the next?  Then share with the person next to you. Look at the similarities; not so much about the similarities of the facts (although this might happen), but about the processes used to get through each stage. What do you notice?]

Notice What is Similar About How We Experience Change

1. It is gratifying to have the conversation.
2. You are able to encourage someone who is also in the process of change.
3. There are lessons to be learned/shared.
4. 1+1=2 --- but Greg asked “what is the 1?” If you put one healthy female rabbit together with one healthy male rabbit, you could end up with a lot of rabbits. So, yeah, it isn’t the math answer. But it is the significance of the “one.” Moving through change means handling everyone’s interpretation of the effects of change on the “one thing” that has the most importance to that each individual. [Editor’s Note: There’s an old chemistry joke that goes “2+2=5 when dealing with sufficiently large quantities of 2.” Our reaction to changing one thing that a lot to us is FAR greater than our reaction to changing something about which we care nothing. Same change, different “weight”.]
5. When you embrace the change, it makes you stronger.
6. Commitment is empowering.
7.  Put both feet in, and I guarantee there will be pain and discomfort. Even if you WANT the change, it will be painful. And in the most pain, you have to ask for help/encouragement, etc. That’s when you and your team need the most assistance.
8. The beginning of the project is like a rocket. But once the momentum is going, it takes less energy. And then towards the end, you need another burst of energy to finish it.
9. You can totally identify with what the other person went through.
10. Everyone goes through a very similar process, regardless of what the change element was.
11. Teachable – just having these five steps to identify what is happening is comforting. Teaching it to others will help you learn it better, and will help your team move through it better. That is leadership.

Duties of the Leader

There are three key legs of the stool for a good leader to manage change.

1. A true leader starts with him/her- self. Think of the word “guru.” GURU; g-u-r-u.  (Gee, you are you.)  The best leader is confident with themselves and believed in their abilities and what they have to offer. [Editor’s note: They are genuine, sincere, and “who they are.” There is nothing slick or false about them. A leader that is all flash, smoke, and mirrors will… eventually… be figured out by their team, and left.]
2. A true leader then thinks of the team. Honesty without compassion is abuse. Be kind, be generous. Take care of these people. Help people when they are not doing well. [Editor’s note: A good leader surrounds him/herself with the people who fill his/her holes. The team works because they are all complimentary – they are not all the SAME. Caring for the individuals of the team, where they are strong AND where they are struggling, is taking care of the whole team.]
3. Organization – what is working well; lead it, help it along. A true leader understands that the health of the organization means health of the individual. And the only way to have an impact on that health, is to be engaged.

When the leader launches the change, it starts with managing the expectations.

Someone once said “Expectations are resentment in waiting.”

If you get clear about your expectations up front, there’s room to maneuver. A true leader will be clear about what is expected in terms of behavior, results, and the steps/processes. They will also be clear about the five stages of change, and that they understand – they expect – everyone will move through those stages as PART of the change.

So what leadership model works well for managing/implementing change?

Leadership Model

High EXPECTATIONS Low	Critic	Bamboo Farmer
	Disengaged	Enabler
	Low                                                                                            High SUPPORT

• If you have very high expectations, but not providing the team with the support they need, you’re a CRITIC.
• If you have low expectations and low support, that’s DISENGAGED.
• High support/low expectations – ENABLER. You end up doing everything for others. Sometimes we need to let folks struggle for them to get stronger.
• High expectations, high support – BAMBOO FARMER. No one gets up in the morning and says “I want to screw things up.” Ha!! You’re there because of what the company offers, what the message is, and where that message meshes with your values. But you are likely also there because you want to make a difference. This leader-type supports that level of growth.

Leading Change

• What is your strategy for communicating and setting expectations for a change?
• You can’t just stand in front of a group and say “This is what we’re going to do” and plow on. Sometimes you need to have conversations before the group conversation…
• What is your strategy for understanding how your team needs and wants to be supported?
• Customize your action plan for the individuals, team, and organization. No one plan will “fit all”.

Performance Model (of the people who will implementing the change, and the most affected by it)

High SKILL Low	Leaning on the Fence	Farming
	Sleeping	Watering Weeds
	Low                                                                                      High WILL

• High skill, low will – leaning on the fence; they can totally do it, but they just don’t
• Low will, low skill – sleeping
• High will, low skill – Watering Weeds – running in the hamster wheel
• High skill, high will – Farming

All 4 of these folks need something different

• Sleepers – let them sleep. “Coach” them out – help them find their passion… elsewhere.
• Leaning on the Fence – take the fence away; turn it in to an electric fence… Nah. This is the most dangerous group when implementing change. They have skill! They can sabotage, convince others to ignore the change, or leave your organization to work against you with a competitor. What you need to do is help them believe the change was their idea. Coach them off the fence. Talk to them FIRST. Get them on board behind the scenes, so they will help advocate for the change when you present it to the larger group.
• Watering Weeds – they need direction and training. If the “Fencers” have come off the fence, they can train the weed-waterers. And the Weed Waterers can infuse everyone with their enthusiasm. I mean, they are enthusiastically watering weeds! They DOING something. Just redirect them.
• Farmers – they need support, and a break. So when the fencers and weed waterers come along, the farmers can (gratefully) take a break. They will recharge, reassess, and come back stronger.

Don’t BOX IN your team. Once you define them, you confine them. Help them escape whatever “low achieving” box they are in to reach their full potential – to become Farmers. [Editor’s note: Even Farmers slip into other boxes from time to time. Don’t assume your star performers are ready to be star performers ALL THE TIME, just because they have been all the time previously. Be sure to check in, give them time to get away, and give them the recognition they want, and the support they need.]

And you need all of these different types. It is like the TV show “So you want to be a millionaire” – the buddy never knows the answer, because he knows what you know. You hang out together! You know the same stuff! Ask the audience?? They know. That’s how diversity works.

Ask the person in your team/organization you KNOW doesn’t know the answer to your most difficult issue. You will be amazed by what you will learn from them. They KNOW… something… different that you.

Getting the team on board

[Editor’s note: By this time, we were running out of time in the session, and he referred us to the handouts he had prepared. I’ve copied the info below. We did not discuss these.]

1. Chart your team with respect to change on the Performance Model chart
2. Explore the values, needs, and interests of each team memver with respect to the change.
3. Outline the change communication strategy (watering) for each team member. (Remember the 5 stages of change – each individual will experience this differently; tailor the strategy to each person.)
1. Consider the message from the receiver’s standpoint
2. Develop a timeline and sequence for connecting with team members
3. Build in time for people to process their reactions
4. Anticipate resistance and prepare responses
5. Don’t assume that “resistance” means a person is NOT being a team player. They are doing what you’ve (hopefully) taught them – asking questions, processing, and finding their own way.

Personal Action Plan

[Editor’s note: Again, we did not discuss this, but it’s an implementation tool that is self explanatory.]

We tend to move to our comfort zone (where we are) when faced with change. To improve the situation, we must focus on the empowerment zone (where we want to go).

• What do you need to do to move to your empowerment zone?
• What opportunities do you see for leading and managing change?
• What can you implement right away?

Goal	Action	Start
Example: Retain what I learned today	Share three new concepts or “aha” moments with a colleague	Today
1.

Questions from the Audience

How do you use this to managing up?

Mr. Bell’s advice: Have three mentor relationships.

1)      Have somebody in your company above you who can shepherd your career. They are dying to help, and will see pathways that you can’t because you do not yet have their big-picture, whole-company perspective.

2)      Find a peer not in your company that you can dialogue with. They will see things you don’t, because they aren’t in your space, but they are in your shoes. They relate and understand exactly the TYPE of situations you have. [Editor’s note: They can help you get unstuck, since they are not in the water cooler conversations and don’t work with the “players” involved. Their career/work health is not tied to yours. This is a healthy and helpful arrangement for both of you.]

3)      Find a protégée, someone you can teach/have a meaningful give-and-take relationship. You will learn SO much from them. [Editor’s note: And their fresh perspective will help you see pathways you had forgotten/ignored, and innovations for change(s) that will make both of your work lives better.]

How do you deal with others’ reactions to your change?

Take care of your “three feet” around you. Make it as nice, pleasant, and peaceful as you can make it. Just keep doing what you do. You don’t have to defend it or explain it. Remember, they’re going through the five stages as part of their reaction to your change. You can’t push them through to acceptance. It will take as long as it takes for them. Focus on what you need to do to keep making progress on your change, and they will… eventually… come around. [Editor’s note: Or not… they may drop away. And that may be exactly what is needed for both of you to progress through change.]

Bill Cosby: The day I realized I didn’t have to please everyone was the best day of my life.

I’m not quite there… but I do embrace the concepts of the Serenity Prayer by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr:

"Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference."

Here, bamboo. Have a little water.