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:
- Commitment or
Acceptance – make a conscious choice to DO this thing
- Pain and Discomfort
– what if we got encouragement during the stage all the time, like we did
when learning to walk?
- Power – woo-hoo,
you did it! A little euphoria.
- Harmony – the
change is no long different or change. It is habit.
- 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
- It is gratifying to have
the conversation.
- You are able to encourage
someone who is also in the process of change.
- There are lessons to be
learned/shared.
- 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”.]
- When you embrace the
change, it makes you stronger.
- Commitment is empowering.
- 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.
- 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.
- You can totally identify
with what the other person went through.
- Everyone goes through a
very similar process, regardless of what the change element was.
- 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.
- 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.]
- 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.]
- 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.]
- Chart your team with
respect to change on the Performance Model chart
- Explore the values,
needs, and interests of each team memver with respect to the change.
- 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.)
- Consider the message
from the receiver’s standpoint
- Develop a timeline and
sequence for connecting with team members
- Build in time for
people to process their reactions
- Anticipate resistance
and prepare responses
- 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.
