Archive for the 'Changeology of CHAOS' Category

Leading through Fear…and ending up on the other side

Published
by
gay
on September 30, 2008
in Changeologist, Changeology 101, Changeology for Organizational Performance, Changeology of CHAOS and Changeology of leadership
. 0 Comments

The article below talks about today, the economic crisis and how paralyzing fear can be.

Leadership is facing fear and moving through it. It is my hope this article will provide a little reminder nothing is worse than fear itself.

 

THE LEADER'S EDGE © 2008 by Dave Timmons  -  September 2008

THE SECOND LIST: Leading Through FEAR in Today’s Workplace.

Some of you know the current economic crisis will end. Markets will rebound
and your 401K and home values will rise again. At some point, the
proliferation of negative media will subside and instead of talking about
bailouts, foreclosures, meltdowns, and layoffs, we’ll once again have strong
markets, home values, productivity, and growth. Until then, every Leader
has to have a strategy to deal with FEAR.

Fear grips people in different ways. It is the main meal of
procrastination. Fear is also the best friend of indecision. And Fear is
the leading cause of stunting personal growth and productivity. As a
leader, this is challenging because you not only have to deal with your own
fears during tough times, but those you influence. What are they thinking
and feeling? Have you asked what scares them? How do you lead them through
this?

I’m convinced our ability to find and instill new courage in the face of
today’s fears, is the key difference between mediocre leaders and great
leaders. In fact, these are precisely the times when many great leaders are
made. One definition of Courage I like is this: “The ability to control
one’s fear, so as to face danger, pain, and trouble willingly.” Therefore,
to give you something practical to try in an effort to control your fear,
here is my three-step process that should activate new courage and move you
forward:

1. NAME YOUR FEAR. When faced with a fear, get very specific and articulate
what you are REALLY afraid of. Then, write it out. The power of saying it
and writing it will actually diminish your fear’s power.

2. SHARE YOUR FEAR. Find a trusted friend or loved one with which you can
share your fear. Discuss why you feel you are afraid. This will give you an
instant support and encouragement partner to help you move forward. It also
gets your fear out in the open and creates some momentum to find a solution
to control it.

3. MAKE TWO LISTS. You’ve already started making the FIRST list. This is
called the Worst Possible Outcome list. For some reason when faced with
fear, we immediately start imagining the very worst outcomes that COULD
happen. It’s OK to make this list because we do have to PREPARE for the
worst. But when we FOCUS on the worst, we feed our fears and they get
larger and more paralyzing. The key to moving forward is to make THE SECOND
LIST.

THE SECOND LIST is your Best Possible Outcome list. What are the very best
outcomes that could happen by facing and overcoming your fear? Seriously,
there is always a Best Possible Outcome list that can be made. For
instance, if losing your job is a major fear and you’ve already taken steps
one and two above, your Best Possible Outcome list might look like this:

a. No change. You keep your job.
b. You keep your job and get a promotion
c. You learn to prepare a great resume’ for future opportunities
d. You count your blessings for what you have and who you are
e. If you lose your job, a better job is looking for you
f. New people will come into your life to help you
g. You get to spend quality time with loved ones while in transition to a
better job
h. Believe “This too shall pass” and when it does, you’ll be better and
stronger mentally, physically, emotionally, and financially.

This is not just positive thinking but a conscious decision to change your
focus to something that will move you forward instead. Without THE SECOND
LIST, your only option is to focus on your Worst Possible Outcome list,
which feeds your fear and stops you from controlling it and moving forward.

Try this. Share this. And let’s not just get THROUGH these tough times,
let’s get FROM these tough times! DT

Need a Leadership program on Fear and Courage? Dave Timmons is a Leadership
Artist who helps people acquire and inspire breakthrough results through
the Art of Six String Leadership. To book Dave, call 813-948-6709. For
permission to reprint this article, please write to Dave@DaveTimmons.com
and place ARTICLE REPRINT in the subject line. Thank You!

Keen Awareness is One Concept of “Change Capacity”

Published
by
gay
on March 20, 2008
in Changeologists Recommends, Changeology 101, Changeology : Hospice/Healthcare, Changeology for Organizational Performance, Changeology of CHAOS, Changeology of Organizational Learning, Changeology of Systems and Changeology of leadership
. 0 Comments

THE DISTANCE IS NOTHING; IT IS ONLY THE FIRST STEP THAT IS DIFFICULT

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

                                                                                                                                                             Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

The first step is ALWAYS the hardest. However, we know that in time and with practice the unknown becomes known, our comfort zone expands and we begin to create some degree of normalization after the event of the first step. 

Think about the “first step” an infant takes. Think about the overall magnitude that motion, forward movement, and the ability to move toward something they want has on the rest of their lives. The first step for an infant is risky, unsteady, and scary…BUT they keep trying until they finally were able to put one foot in front of the other, typically while others cheer on. How proud they are of taking the risk, trying over and over again until they do it. Is it perfect? NO, not by a long shot. 

The first step doesn’t need to be perfect… it just needs to be a first step attached to the willingness to keep getting back up to try again. 

I briefly discussed “Change Capacity” several weeks ago. Prior to understanding change and how it may “function” in an organization or even in our personal lives, the first step was to EMBRACE the concept change is not stoppable. It is occurring in some way and in some fashion every second of everyday. However, the change we refer to most in organizations is change that either immediately or over time and space has some impact on persons and organizations.    

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines change as both a verb and a noun. The verb form is defined as “to make different in some particular” or “to replace with another.” The noun form is defined as “the act, process, or result of changing,” a “transformation,” or “substitution.” Often we use the word to signify what is “different.” Webster goes on to say, “Change implies making either an essential difference often amounting to a loss of original identity or a substitution of one thing for another.” It is this “loss of essential identity” that seems to be of most importance in human systems  ( Schwandt, 2006). 

It is this potential loss that members in organizations must deal with. Often change leads to new roles, different organizational models, and altered power relations that can result in differences in motivation, performance and possibly conflict. “The word ‘change’ produces emotional reactions. It is not a neutral word. To many people it is threatening” (Cartwright, 1951). Just the word “change” in organizations can have immediate effects on people’s lives and organizational effectiveness. 

One concept in an organization’s “Change Capacity” is the concept of first identifying the potential loss or change in an organization’s self-concept (An organization is not necessarily the total whole of the business but can be a department, team, smaller organization or group embedded within the whole). The perceived loss and the reaction to it can be called a “weak signal” (Weick, 2008). This means if “weak signals” go unnoticed the reactions may create undesired actions or accumulated undesired actions. If an organization is prepared to identify “weak signals” more aggressively leading to identifying employee’s perceived losses prior to a change effort, it can increase its capacity for greater change success implementation by planning, communicating  and by increasing intentional awareness to the subject matter. 

A great exercise for any manager to do at the time of planning a change, prior to announcing a change or implementing a change, no matter how small, is to ask, “How MAY this affect individuals, and the whole?” “How does this change impact the organization’s  current  self-concept and its future self-concept?”   It is important to be aware of the perceived current organizational state and the perceived future state (Dooley, 1997) of organizational members. Many times we make changes without asking ourselves these types of questions. Remember, some of the greatest impact from a change is from small incremental or continuous reactions to change that lead to more change having greater impact. 

The hazard we face in management is we “devalue” that even a small change can have great impact. With the right preparation, keen awareness as to potential perceptions and actual reactions to the change an organization’s “Change Capacity” can be increased leading to greater organizational success in implementing the desired change.

This is one small intervention to increase Organizational “Change Capacity” it is in the implementation of doing it well that becomes significant. In the near future, I will discuss further the concept or “Organizational State” (Dooley, 1997) mentioned above.

Until the next time… 

Practice putting your feet in front of the other and eventually that first step will happen… even if you fall, the “getting up” becomes much easier with Practice. 

gay rogers

Change Capacity

Published
by
gay
on February 14, 2008
in Changeologists Recommends, Changeology 101, Changeology : Hospice/Healthcare, Changeology for Organizational Performance, Changeology of CHAOS and Changeology of leadership
. 0 Comments

Our tag line states “increasing your capacity for change.”  Well… what is that suppose to mean?  And, why would I want to do that?

Thanks for asking….  Increasing an organization’s capacity for change requires several elements for maximum success. For organizations to reach its maximum capacity it is best when all of these elements are playing nice in the sandbox. In fact, it is critical. I will not discuss today the full list of critical factors for success but will start with the first and most important one. This first foundational element is: embracing the idea that change is not an option for optimal organizational  performance.       (It is also needed for individual success.)

Most of us know this…however, even today, organizations/individuals still don’t want to accept it and embrace it. We (Organizations) say all the right words and think we have embraced change,  but when it comes to stepping up to the plate we are hesitate to swing the bat.  Why?

Most of the time organizations :

1.  do not possess the energy it takes to do, see and agree to what is needed

2.  do not have a full commitment to doing “what it takes”

 3. do not have an understanding of the importance of the change

4.  are comfortable in the status quo

5.  do not have the total capabilities to implement change initiatives to gain peak effectiveness 

This is not a criticism…it is just the facts;  at least some of the time, if not all of the time, it affects every organization.

The most important question before committing to a change effort, whether small or large within your organization is:  Are we ready… no really ready? and all that question means.    Do we know or have an idea of the impact this change will have internally and externally? Consider the “butterfly effect” when answering the last question, that is… the significance of small events and their potential for great impact.    Are we willing to “DO WHAT IT TAKES?”  

Let me leave you with a challenge before you answer the above questions… Are you aware of your own internal voice and are you being truthful as you ponder and answer these questions?

The First Critical Step in ALL change initiatives is to EMBRACE IT… and we can’t do that if we first don’t ask ourselves the tough questions (or have someone else ask us) with the willingness to take off our mask and face truth as it stares you coldly in the face.

Once you have taken off the mask and faced the truth about yourself and the organization then you are ready to start embracing change and all the questions we discussed.

Later I will discuss the points made earlier as to why organizations don’t always want to swing the bat when stepping up to the plate. Until later…

May this day,  be your best ever.

gay,  the “changeologists”