Pay Attention to the Spirit of Change

We business types seem to enjoy--and gravitate towards--discussions about Change. And it's almost always in the context of managing it, leading it, overcoming resistance to it...as if Change is somehow different than life.

It isn't. It is life.

Which means that how we approach our lives and what comes our way will influence how we approach things that are new and different at work. How we choose to respond to changes will determine our sense of success and  contentment, regardless of what comes our way.

It is, in fact, a spiritual issue. The world view that you possess will determine how you lead or respond to changes, and whether you will lift people up or cut them down in a display of anger or negativity.

I've been involved in leading or assisting  "change" efforts at numerous Fortune 500 firms. Some quite successful, most actually mediocre, a few downright ugly. So it's something that I've thought about often and quite deeply. Here are some conclusions I've reached:

1. Once you announce that you are undertaking a large-scale "Change", you've set the conditions for adversarial relationships. The human condition doesn't necessarily want change; it wants control.

 Therefore,

2. You have set in motion a struggle for control. Self-control, control of the situation, control of other people...

3. If you want to do something new or different, tell people you want to do something new or different. Tell them exactly what it is, why it is (reality), and how it will improve the business/workplace situation (hope). Then be prepared to "be there"--even more than usual--to support the effort.

Change models, for the most part, evolved from Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' work "On Death and Dying." She did a magnificent job explaining the emotional cycle that people experience who are facing or dealing with death. In my experience, the model does, indeed, hold up in any situation involving changes. And it is for that very reason that the issue is always a spiritual one. People who are dying need to reconcile not only what is happening to them now, but what has happened in their entire lives--as well as resolving any unanswered questions regarding eternity.

Those of us facing changes at work do the same thing: we attempt to reconcile what is happening, what our career in the organization has been about, and what the unknown future will hold.

For that reason, I believe it's important for organization dwellers at all levels to have an understanding of the model. Everyone involved can then know how to respond in an uplifting or supportive manner when they recognize someone else experiencing a particular step along the way. (That also means painting reality for those who are stuck on Fantasy Island).

That said, my own experiences show this: Making "Change" the overarching theme in communication, training, and managing is a big mistake. It's not what you are about and it will drain the energy from the specific, meaningful improvements you have to make.

What to Do

If you truly believe in what you need to do, then do it. But first check out the spirit with which you are about to deal with the people who have to make it happen. What is it? Really?

If you are on the receiving end, is your response any different than to any other change in your life?

Whether  you are leading or following, the spirit with which you evaluate and participate will impact the accuracy and wisdom of your choices.  And those choices will determine business effectiveness and personal contentment in the days and weeks ahead.

It is a choice. And your choices are the only thing over which you have control. Be careful of the spirit with which you exercise them.

_____________________________

For a thoughtful read that may change your views about leadership, check Jim Stroup's series .

Want to change how people are talking about you? Really. One of my favorites from Duct Tape Marketing & Seth Godin.

And when it comes to changing Employee Engagement, there's no better resource than my friend David Zinger at Employee Engagement Zingers.

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Change, Transitions, and You

"Things do not change; we change." Henry David Thoreau

You've read the self-help books and sites that talk about the "comfort zone" and how you need to step out of it. Like much advice, it's a bit too simplistic. It's a one-liner that doesn't account for personal style and disposition.

My real issue is with the sweeping statement that "change" requires a lot of effort and mental energy.

It All Depends: What's Your Preference?

When you boil it down psychologically, there are two types of people:  those who score high on Openness and those who score low on Openness in the Big Five Personality Measures. Those who score low generally seek and love routine. They go to bed at 10:00, wake up at 6:30,  do grocery shopping on Fridays and balance the checkbook on Sunday.

Just as some could never imagine moving from  their hometown or giving up a steady job, others can't function that way. They are naturally curious, seek out new experiences, prefer complexity, and  "step out of their comfort zone" frequently. They don't need tips on how to expand their comfort zone. It's fun. What they often need is focus.

Regardless of which group you fall into, expanding your comfort zone just for the sake of expanding your comfort zone is a waste of time. If you catch yourself in the "I must change" zone, ask yourself:

• What am I trying to accomplish?

• How will I know if I've succeeded?

Do Something

Think about what you really want and what you need to do to get it. The start doing things that are related to it. If you are a "list" person, make a list. If not, just start doing. Some things will be easier to accomplish than others, but that's the point. It takes all of us some period of time to get over the mental barrier of expanding boundaries. If they are emotional, it may be a little longer.

It all gets easier eventually. The difference is that some people cross that bridge in 30 seconds and others hit a brick wall that seems eternal.

When I wrote my first blog post I waited three hours to press the "publish" button. Now it's what I do almost every day and I miss it when I don't.

Whatever you want to do, it will involve--by definition--change. Regardless of which category you fall into, do something.

It's called "living."

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Speaker Tip: Take A Pause for The Cause

"Logical pauses serve our brains, psychological pauses serve our feelings."--Stanislavski

Watch a really good stand-up comedian. You see pauses between jokes. Sometimes even a pause between syllables.

Sometimes they do it to allow the audience a chance to catch a breath or to create interest about what's coming next.

Why?

Because good comedians are masters of change.

Night after night they move a new group of people from one intellectual and psychological state of being to another.They knew the flow of human dynamics.

The Importance of The Pause

Psychological pauses build tension and heighten curiosity.

Logical pauses between words and sentences give an audience the time needed to piece together the key elements of the joke or series of rapid one-liners. When it all comes together, you've got a room filled with laughter.

Make "The Pause" an intentional part of your presentation, meeting, or change initiative.

Psychological: When you pause to create a "curious" state of mind, the tension makes people want to listen. That gives you the opening to help them learn.

Logical: Change initiatives mean new information and new experiences. Periodic, intentional pauses allow everyone time to make sense of what's happening and create new context.

Where can you insert intentional pauses in order to become a really good "Stand-Up" leader and speaker?

photo source: Wikipedia

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5 Tips For Making Changes and Transitions

Decisions get made. It's time to start.

The Goal is clear. There is a picture of what the end should look like.

Now we just have to "do it."

Some don't make it...

.. .individually or organizationally.

Given that there are entire industries built around "doing it"--continuous improvement, change management, life coaching-- there must be some trick to that whole in between area. If you are involved in any kind of a change, here are 5 tips that you can take to the bank. (Ignoring them may put you in the collection agency).

1. Language matters.

"We're going to make a transition from___to____" impacts the brain a lot better than "We're going to change."

(Honestly, I don't want to change--do you? But I don't have any problem making a transition).

2. Friendships matter.

Be willing to talk and be willing to listen. When things change at home or in your family, you have coffee and conversation with friends. Why? It's cathartic. And you don't feel alone. Changes at work are no different.

3. Grace matters.

Transitions and change imply, by definition, that people are trying something for the first time. When your little child tried out her first steps and fell after the third one, you didn't offer a performance appraisal. You hugged her, made a big fuss, took a video, and called the grandparents.

Offer the same to adults who are trying something for the first time. Truth be told, they are feeling like kids at that moment.

Note: I'd avoid the hug and the video; it's your call on whether to phone the grandparents.

4. Accountability matters.

This isn't opposed to numbers 2 or 3. Accountability is an act of deep friendship. Friends don't let friends drive drunk. They also don't let friends do things--or avoid doing things--that are hurting their careers.

5. Small wins matter.

Make an example of anyone or any result that approximates the longer term ideal. Do it often.

If you wait until everyone gets it perfect, there won't be a celebration. There may not be a reason for it.

That's why continuous improvement is called continuous improvement.

What Are Your Best Tips?

I know the readers here are involved in changes of all types. Help someone else today with your favorite transitional tips and suggestions and we'll add them to the mix! (With attribution, of course. See #5).

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Did You Know? I'll Bet Not.

If you ever had the sense that information technology is progressing faster than we are, this terrific video is a must-watch:

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When People Want "It" Now!

When "Change the Right Thing" Meets "Please, Just Do Something!"

Have you ever been involved with any of these in your organization?

• Merger/Acquisition
• Severely declining financial performance
• Arrival of new CEO

Armchair experts love to talk about employee resistance to change.

But what about the case where employees know something different has to happen in their organization and are getting anxious and weary from waiting? They've reached a point where the anticipation is a little too much to take and begin to wonder what the CEO is actually doing.

Is their CEO oblivious to the organizational dynamics?

In my consulting life I haven't met a CEO yet who didn't understand what people were probably thinking and feeling. So let's explore some of the valid reasons why the above scenario can happen.

Before laying out how this situation comes to pass, here is a graphic to help keep us focused:

There Are No Victims or Villains

There are simply people trying to get what they need.

The CEO

What do you and I do with a new situation?

The same as the CEO.

We gather information, ask advice, evaluate the information, check our resources, look at the options, and evaluate the risks and benefits of each. We also evaluate how each option will impact each of our constituencies.

In the case of the CEO, those constituencies may include stockholders, directors, customers, employees,  vendors, local and national governments, regulators...a mind-boggling array of interest groups that have to be satisfied financially, legally, and personally.

In the case of mergers, acquisitions, and turnarounds, there may be negotiations taking place that cannot be discussed due to confidentiality agreements and, in the U.S., related SEC regulations.

The result: You may have a CEO who knows everything there is to know about what, how, and when to communicate--but is not allowed to do so under penalty of law. Most people don't realize that CEO's often carry the burden of silence when they would like nothing more than to sit down with their people and explain what is unfolding.

The Employees

The world abhors a vacuum. Employees want to fill that vacuum by getting direction and information.  When they don't, the first thing most wonder about is the "leadership:"

Why aren't they doing something?

Why aren't they saying something?

Should I even stick around or is it time to shop my resume?

What to do?

This is one of those situations where history and corporate culture can help carry the day or lose it. CEO's and organizations with a strong track record of trust and integrity will find that they've earned a longer time line for ambiguity than those who haven't paid attention to issues of corporate and personal character.

If you find yourself in this situation as an employee, here are some suggestions:

1. Don't start off by assuming that silence means the worst. If you are used to a high degree of communication, it probably does mean that something is taking place behind the scenes. But it doesn't mean that it's bad. If you start thinking negatively it will drive you crazy...and won't do a thing to help the situation.

2. Do ask questions, such as "Is there a legitimate reason why communications and information have decreased?" CEO's that I know will answer that question in a way that sends the correct message but does not violate any agreements or laws. However, don't expect to get any information. And don't keep probing.

3. At a time when the inclination may be to slack off on performance, do just the opposite:  be a star. If there is a merger or acquisition and headcount is an issue, make sure your head is seen as firmly attached to the rest of you. It could increase your chances of remaining that way.

You may not have control over what's happening in your organization but you do have control over how you choose to respond. If your company has a solid history of dealing honestly with people, chances are that isn't going to change now.

And often, effective leadership means thoughtfully, quietly, and methodically affirming the right thing to do on behalf of hundreds or thousands of people. That may just require a little more time than usual.

What's your experience?

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Fear of Success and Lasting Change: Part 2

When you think about the common factor in every roadblock in your life, here's what you discover: you were there when it took place.

My experience has been that people do realize this and are then faced with a choice:

a. to stay mired in self-defeating "See, I'm not really any good" thinking; or,

b. to commit the same act of forgiveness for themselves that they give to others. 

"Forgiveness" isn't a term you hear very often in business articles. But business is conducted by people--people like you and me who are very human and who are subject to the immutable laws of nature regardless of title or position.

Closure Is Really An Opening

When you consciously forgive yourself it leads to a sense of completion. This lets you move ahead and not feel compelled to repeat self-defeating acts over and over again.

But you need to understand why you held onto these for so long. There are (often insidious) payoffs for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and failing to change.

Here are some some foundational questions that can help you understand what you are really holding on to:

• What am I afraid of losing if I succeed?

• Who do I think I'm punishing by doing this?

• What emotion am I not willing to release? (For many it's anger).

• What guarantee am I holding out for?

• By doing/not doing this, what do I get to avoid?

• How does this make me seem better or less than ____________(name of person)?

•Am I using self-pity to manipulate someone or some situation?

The big question: What do I hope to get out of pretending to be powerless to change?

Once you do the work you already know you need to do: pinpoint your fears and understand why you he hold onto them--you can commit the act of forgiving yourself and move ahead.

Bonus: A big part of your situation is that you are trying to "go it alone." Sit down with a trusted friend or associate and tell them what's going on. The like-minded experiences they share will not only amaze you; you'll discover that you are a member of a very large club.

Membership has its rewards.

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Fear of Success and Lasting Change: Part 1

Apparently fear of failure takes a back seat to fear of success in the search engines. After two years, I'm still getting regular traffic to an article I wrote in July, 2007 titled Fear of Success vs. Fear of Failure. When I say 'regular' traffic I mean every day. Really.

Getting what you really want in  your career and your life requires lasting change and a sustained vision of the future. This picture serves not just as an ongoing source of motivation to get there, it helps you identify and move through the obstacles that have held you back up to this point.

We Get The Failure Thing...But Fear of Success?

However, that vision quickly conjures up obstacles that include fear of failure and doubts about your own worthiness for success. If you're like most people, that also involves fear of actually achieving the very things you want.

Fear of success is a very unique issue that arises when you are genuinely creating change and moving forward in your life. The reason 'fear of success' is real is because the future is real and what we imagine for our future has an enormous influence on us.

The Problem?

We're pretty clueless how to deal with fear of success because it's in the future and, heck, how do we concretely live and deal in the future? If you think about your business you can see just how steeped western culture is in fixing the past. (How much time does your team spend fixing things instead of creating opportunity?) It's almost as if we drive through life focused on the rear-view mirror.

Creating and sustaining success involves some very personal "work." Fact is, the more you leave the task undone, the more your fears will control you. And the longer you put off taking small actions now, the bigger the dilemma becomes.

What Gets In The Way?

One of the real fears about making a personal change is that success will lead to loneliness. We know what our lives are like now and we have a sense that how we live has brought us friendships and love. In their most honest moments, many people have admitted that they fear success because they are afraid that being bold enough to create the life they want will make them different and, therefore,  unlovable.

Some fears are very real. When you change, the relationships around you will be forced to change. Some friends will encourage and applaud you while others are so grounded in jealousy they'll find ways to belittle you for moving forward. (You'll find out who your friends really are).

Here's what more than one of my psychologist friends has shared: "The deepest fear is that when we step up and succeed, we have to face the fact that we've always had the power to change and we could have changed a year or five years ago." Change comes from choices and we have always had that ability to choose.

But that's not all...

Whether you are reading this at work or on the beach, there are changes you want to make. So we won't leave you hanging with the problem. Stop back tomorrow for Part II when we look at the specific questions you can ask yourself to get the kind of forward motion you want in your career and your life.

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Language Matters: 5 Tips To Make Things Happen

Decisions get made. It's time to start.

The Goal is clear. There is a picture of what the end should look like.

Now we just have to "do it."

Some don't make it...

.. .individually or organizationally.

Given that there are entire industries built around "doing it"--continuous improvement, change management, life coaching-- there must be some trick to that whole in between area. If you are involved in any kind of a change, here are 5 tips that you can take to the bank. (Ignoring them may put you in the collection agency).

1. Language matters.

"We're going to make a transition from___to____" impacts the brain a lot better than "We're going to change."

(Honestly, I don't want to change--do you? But I don't have any problem making a transition).

2. Friendships matter.

Be willing to talk and be willing to listen. When things change at home or in your family, you have coffee and conversation with friends. Why? It's cathartic. And you don't feel alone. Changes at work are no different.

3. Grace matters.

Transitions and change imply, by definition, that people are trying something for the first time. When your little child tried out her first steps and fell after the third one, you didn't offer a performance appraisal. You hugged her, made a big fuss, took a video, and called the grandparents.

Offer the same to adults who are trying something for the first time. Truth be told, they are feeling like kids at that moment.

Note: I'd avoid the hug and the video; it's your call on whether to phone the grandparents.

4. Accountability matters.

This isn't opposed to numbers 2 or 3. Accountability is an act of deep friendship. Friends don't let friends drive drunk. They also don't let friends do things--or avoid doing things--that are hurting their careers.

5. Small wins matter.

Make an example of anyone or any result that approximates the longer term ideal. Do it often.

If you wait until everyone gets it perfect, there won't be a celebration. There may not be a reason for it.

That's why continuous improvement is called continuous improvement.

What Are Your Best Tips?

I know the readers here are involved in decisions and actions of all types. Weigh in with your favorite transitional tips and suggestions and we'll add them to the mix! (With attribution, of course. See #5).

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Change: People Can Handle The Truth

"Virtue cannot separate itself from reality without becoming a principle of evil."
Albert Camus

"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

We all struggle at times when it comes to delivering difficult news. Organizational changes usually fit into that category.

So it's easy to start rationalizing the truth by rationalizing that people won't be able to deal with it. "If I just schmooze a bit here and leave off a nasty detail there, it will be easier on everyone."

No. What we really mean is, "It will be easier on me."

What People Want When Change Starts

1. An accurate picture of reality.

2. A sense of hope based in the proposed new reality.

3. The whole truth about 1 and 2.

Change is really about adults making effective decisions. Decisions to commit, decisions to opt out, decisions to wait a bit, decisions about what might be best for their careers and their families...

None of those is possible without knowing the truth of the situation and why the impending changes make the future hopeful.

Making a Change? Ponder This

It's not just what you say but how you say it.

Psychology Today's  Allison Kornet explains: (bold face indicates my emphasis)

While studying how language patterns are associated with improvements in physical health, James W. Pennebaker, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Southern Methodist University, also began to explore whether a person's choice of words was a sign of deception. Examining data gathered from a text analysis program, Pennebaker and SMU colleague Diane Berry, Ph.D., determined that there are certain language patterns that predict when someone is being less than honest. For example, liars tend to use fewer first person words like I or my in both speech and writing. They are also less apt to use emotional words, such as hurt or angry, cognitive words, like understand or realize, and so-called exclusive words, such as but or without, that distinguish between what is and isn't in a category.

And in a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Bella DePaulo, Ph.D. and Deborah A. Kashy, Ph.D., of Texas A&M University, report that frequent liars tend to be manipulative and Machiavellian, not to mention overly concerned with the impression they make on others.

In DePaulo's studies, participants (liars) described conversations in which they lied as less intimate and pleasant than truthful encounters, suggesting that people are not entirely at ease with their deceptions. That may explain why falsehoods are more likely to be told over the telephone, which provides more anonymity than a face-to-face conversation.

Lessons for Change Leaders

1. Even if you're telling the whole truth, your credibility may be diminished if you don't communicate in person. Why? Because the lack of face-to-face intimacy conveys an implicit undercurrent of deception. The listeners may not even realize it, but they know at some level that more truths get told in person than via another medium.

2. Tell people what you think and feel by using "I" and "my" vs. "Acme Widgetworks". People care how you see the reality--in detail--of the situation; and, specifically why you are hopeful about the future.

3. Changes prompt an entire range of emotions in everyone involved. That means you, too. An absence of honest emotional language sends the message that you actually don't care. People don't want a canned business speech. They want you. That means hearing the impact the changes are having and why, again, you are hopeful about the future in light of the current reality.

People can handle the truth. What they don't handle well is finding out later that they only heard part of the truth.

If you're tempted to put a little icing on the message, remember that Marie Antoinette thought it was a good idea to "let them eat cake." She didn't end up heads above her constituents.

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Can You Pass The Cicero Persuasion Test?

"If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings, and speak my words."
– Roman Statesman (and attorney) Cicero

A little more than 2,000 years ago, Cicero latched onto the importance of connecting at both the mental and emotional level with an audience. Rather than simply speaking to an audience of 1 or 1,000, he figured out that he had to actually connect with them.

Thinking Their Thoughts

Are you able to see the world from the perspective of your customer/audience vs. that of a salesperson or manager?  When it comes to being persuasive, think about this:

Communicating with people in a way that embraces their own point of view is the key to winning their hearts and minds. A focus designed solely to change their point of view results in discomfort, suspicion, and even antagonism. We're all fairly willing to make changes; but we prefer to do it as a result of making decisions that are as consistent as possible with who we are--not who the speaker is.

Feeling Their Feelings

What are the deep-seated feelings that drive your listeners? Is it a fear of loss or a hope for gain? Are they driven to play it safe or are they looking to stretch and live on the edge a bit ? Whether you're a speaker, a manager, or a classroom instructor, the answer to those is the pathway to connecting.

Speaking Their Words

This hits at the heart of the issue from a relational standpoint.

Are you talking down or speaking over their heads? Regardless of skill level, are you speaking with clarity or tossing in professional jargon  designed to  make you appear more knowledgeable and sophisticated than you really are?

People need to understand what you have to say in order to care about it--and you. And, they need to care before they'll decide to allocate the energy to act on your ideas.

Do You Really Wanna?

I don't want to dwell on the obvious. I know that you know that you have to relate to people in ways that will make them want to follow your lead, whether it's a management suggestion or a speaking point.

The million dollar question to ask yourself is:  Are you really willing to connect with these people?

If the answer is yes, go for  it.

If the answer is no, move on. Maybe what you think you have to say is better offered in an informational memo or email--or not at all.  You can’t stand before a group and fake your commitment to a decision or a cause.  And even if you can (you weasel), you’ll be "found out" during the implementation when your actions bely your words. 

It just occurred to me that herein lies a good  "go/no go" test for each of us before we attempt to persuade people to accept something new, whether it's a product, a service, or a management idea.

Ask Yourself: Am I willing to spend the time and energy to...

• Think Their Thoughts?

• Feel What They Feel?

• Speak the Way They Speak?

• Connect With Them Because I am Committed To Them?

Hmm. I like this. What do you think?

_________________________________

I decided that Guy Kawasaki and the gang at Alltop are primo examples of the Cicero Factor. As I began signing up for my own Alltop page of favorites, I realized that Guy had built this by involving himself in all four of the key points above. If you haven't yet checked out and used Alltop, visit the site and follow Guy's tweets at http://twitter.com/guykawasaki; you'll see what I mean. Now, if I could just do an @Cicero I know he'd feel good about all of this.

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Hopeful Realism: The Vision People Want Now

Right now, organizations everywhere are doing the "turtle" thing: pulling their heads and wallets into their shells. Downsizing, limited spending, extended vendor payments, and lean operations are the modus operandi today.

Most employees really do understand this. But they want to know something else:

What are your intentions for the future?

The human condition can accept survival mode, but it needs to know that some kind of growth will follow. Think of it this way:

Survivability: We've got to get through today so there is a tomorrow.

Sustainability: What will we be doing when tomorrow comes?

This is where the notion of leadership emerges. If you are doing business by managing the checkbook, you are managing. If you are able to do that and describe possibilities for the future, you are providing leadership as well.

Fuzzy is Just Fine

Organizations are concerned that people will become discouraged and leave because of a total focus on survival. I'm not seeing  that. Instead, I'm hearing people say, "I get it and am willing to do my part; but if I don't hear anyone start talking about the future I will start looking around."

Given the dynamics in the world economy, you may not have a clear picture of the future. Trust me on this one: that's OK. Your people want to know that you are, in fact, thinking about the future; that you believe there is a future;  and, that you are willing to discuss the various scenarios you think are possible.

No matter how nebulous, start talking about the future now. Your folks need it and you need them.

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Optimism: A Much Different Take

How Important Is Optimism?  generated an entirely different thought from a reader who contributed the following via email:

"Optimism can certainly be useful and definitely has its place, but, in the sense that it's being presented here, I feel 'optimism' is really a euphemism for 'coping mechanism,' and thus 'survival.'  People all have their way of coping and dealing with life. Some are perceived as pessimists (I personally feel that many realists are mislabeled as pessimists), who might be 'worst case scenario' thinkers, only to be pleasantly surprised when things turn out better. Then there are those who adhere to the "I think, therefore I am" school of thought - think positively, and it will happen. Neither mindset is better or worse than the other. But both are ways of coping and, essentially ways of 'getting by' in life.
 
And I definitely beg to differ with the statistic that 75% of Americans consider themselves to be optimists. I think that right there represents a good portion of the population who is just poor at accurate self-assessment.  There is a difference between wanting something to get better -- which a pessimist is equally capable of doing, vs. thinking or believing that it actually will. This is the distinction people are failing to recognize, and were they able to make this separation, I think that 75% would be much lower."

It's true that if one's self-assessment were inaccurate the figure would probably be different. However, that doesn't change the fact that 75% consider themselves to be optimists (no matter how misinformed they might be!).

What I like most about this thoughtful reply is the writer's differentiation when it comes to "wanting" vs. "believing."

Who would have thought that optimism would lead to a spirited, analytical conversation?

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How Age Impacts Your View of Life

We're living in a literal and figurative season where people are often waxing nostalgic over the "good old days." Holiday gatherings yield family stories that make one wish that somehow we could be back at Grandma's house again because it was, apparently, so wonderful. World financial markets prompt the same kinds of recollections of the past as well as--for some--grandly optimistic outlooks for a "new" kind future.

You may be either nodding or shaking your head in agreement or disagreement. Exactly.

"Looking at the world through rose-colored glasses" is a saying that we hear often. Many people look at things optimistically, regardless of the circumstances. However,  according to a psychological study our views on past and future happiness change according to where we are in our lives.

Dr. Margie Lachman and colleagues found that younger and middle-aged people tend to underestimate their past happiness and to overestimate their future happiness - probably because to do so helps motivate them to strive for a better life. This data came from a survey of over 3000 American adults conducted twice and spaced nine years apart.

Age Changes Outlook

Older people (aged over 65) were more accurate in recalling their past and future life satisfaction.  This probably reflected the need to accept their life as it had been lived, combined with their greater understanding of the human capacity to adjust emotionally to whatever life throws our way. Indeed, in line with the predictions of the older participants, most people's life satisfaction, in this study and others, actually changes very little through the years (in Western democracies, at least).

Lachman's study team also looked at how adaptive it was for people to have either rose-tinted or darkly clouded views of their past and future. The results showed that at whatever age, it is beneficial to have a more realistic view of the past and future. Those participants who more accurately perceived their past and future happiness tended to suffer less depression and enjoy better health.

"The young have an illusion of continued improvement, seeing the past as worse than it really was and the future as better than it turns out to be," the researchers said. "This illusion is consistent with their motivational orientation toward continued growth and gains."

Workplace Application

While the future belongs to the young, the absence of older workers could be a recipe for unrealistic decision-making. Adding reality and experience to idealism and energy doesn't equal "resistance to change;"it adds a much-needed dimension to decisions and execution that may provide a real pathway to move ideas and products forward.

During the past few years we've seen the headlines for Talent Wars, Saving Institutional Knowledge and Learning, and Diversity. My experience so far with recent layoffs has been that workers nearing retirement are being offered packages to accelerate their decisions. I understand the legal and financial benefits of such a strategy to the corporations involved. Howver, when the corporate sun starts shining brightly again, I wonder if the decision-making maturity and collective knowledge of these newly "retired" workers will be irreplaceable and actually prompt a lengthening of the recovery process. 

Then, who ya gonna call: Ghostbusters?

______________________________________________

For more on the research cited here:

Margie E. Lachman, Christina Röcke, Christopher Rosnick, Carol D. Ryff (2008). Realism and Illusion in Americans' Temporal Views of Their Life Satisfaction: Age Differences in Reconstructing the Past and Anticipating the Future Psychological Science, 19 (9), 889-897 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02173.x

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Introducing Something New At Work? Think About This.

It's your idea.

You've thought about it--most likely for a long time. You've weighed the risks and benefits. You've visualized what things would look like if your new idea/project/improvement is implemented. You've even thought about at least some of the details. But most of all. . .

You are convinced of it's worth and you feel good about it. "Hey, I'm pumped up! Why aren't other people feeling the love?"

Look, when you introduce your new thing, you are at the end of your process. Everyone else is at the beginning. They can't get to where you are without you laying out your full process--including your own apprehensions.

Isn't that what you need in order to commit to someone else's idea?

Six Steps That Will Help With Acceptance:

1. Tell people what you want to accomplish.
2. Tell them what led you to believe it's important to them and to you.
3. Tell them your own struggles along the way.
4. Tell them how long you've been thinking about it.
5. Tell them you are committed to it.
6. Tell them your plan for helping them be able to do "it."

Then give people a reasonable amount of time to think about it, question it, be uncomfortable with the newness of it, begin to accept it, and then be involved with how it will be  implemented.

How long will it take?

Depending upon the magnitude of the idea or project, the time line for building critical mass of acceptance and action will vary. Your relational behavior--physical presence, clarity, direction, ability to listen, and encouragement--will help determine  your success.

Remember: It's your idea.

Do what it takes to help make it theirs. Well, that sounds manipulative. I hate manipulative.  Let's look at it this way: It's your idea. But ownership by others comes through being allowed to use one's own ideas for the implementation. After all, the people involved know best how their operations work.  So let other people develop and mold the "how to." Then provide a reasonable amount of time along with your support.

The outcome: you stand a great chance of other people making your idea even better in the process. Everybody gets a chance at creating something new.

Big win for all concerned.

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Working With Groups: When Someone Enters or Leaves

When only one person leaves or enters a group, the dynamics--and group effectiveness--change.

Why?

Groups--no matter how large or small--are about equilibrium. That equilibrium comes from a balance of power. Over time, we all learn where we "fit" in a group given the topic, our role, and how things operate. When someone comes or goes, our sense of influence changes. That's because new relationships and alliances begin to form in order to establish a new balance of power.

Did You Say Power?

That's exactly what I said. If you think groups aren't about power, try taking power away from someone.

Regardless of what you would like to think, everyone in every group has a need when it comes to power and influence. Some people want a lot, some a little, and some want to just blend in with the wallpaper and disappear. That's why every time a new person enters a group or a regular member leaves, the balance of power needs to be re-established.

The important point: Armed with this knowledge you can do it intentionally. This accomplishes two things:

• The unspoken (but known to each) is brought into the open and legitimized.

What's the best way to neutralize a potentially tense issue? Call it for what it is, make it perfectly acceptable, and have a process to move through it.

• Everyone will breath a sigh of relief--even if it's a silent one. Once the unspoken tension is reduced, people are more relaxed and able to help create the new group.

Here's How To Do It

1. Stop action.

2. Read the paragraphs above to the group.

3. Re-visit why the group exists, make any necessary modifications, and ask for agreement from each person.

4. Clarify each person's role. Whether someone leaves or someone new arrives, there has to be a change in responsibilities and how things will get done. If you talk about it now, you won't have to resolve the inevitable conflict about it later.

Groups and organizations are systems. Systems work the same way as our bodies (human systems). If you pinch one place, you'll get a referent "ouch" someplace else.

The next time membership is about to change in your group, go through the four steps above. You'll minimize the ouches and get back to equilibrium and productivity because you've taken good care of the system.

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Introducing Something New: Part II

Yesterday I noted that Resistance refers to the assumption that many people will balk at doing the "new" thing because it is different.

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

I've been involved in initiating and running "change" projects for nearly 30 years. Some have been really successful and others have failed miserably. So it's been important to dissect each one in order to learn what each type had in common.

There were a number of factors. But the key difference I've observed in each has to to do with the attitude of the leader and the leader's team toward the employee population as a whole. When the leadership saw the organization as a willing partner they behaved accordingly. When they viewed them as a bloc of resistance that would have to be overcome, they also behaved accordingly. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy and the results were pretty much determined at the outset. If you are going to start a successful change initiative:

1. Use the "vision thing" for context but keep it brief.

2. Lay out the specifics so that people know what success looks like.

3. Avoid the resistance model espoused by so many well-meaning firms. While the psychological underpinnings may be real, the accompanying navel-gazing and chin-stroking can lead to an "us" and "them" approach that will only lead to divisiveness when your goal is unity.

What to think about instead of "Resistance"

Here are some factoids that I hope will set the stage for "what to do":

1. You are enthusiastic because you like change. That may be true--as long as it's the change that you want the way that you want it. Everyone else feels the same way when it comes to their lives. Waxing poetic about the joys of change using textbook biz-speak isn't going to score a lot of points.

2. All people carry around an implicit mental employment contract. When you first join any organization you learn how things operate. In fact, you joined because things operated in a way that matched enough of your values and needs to make 'signing up' an attractive proposition. When it seems as if certain fundamentals are about to change--and you don't know why--the unspoken contract kicks in. "I didn't join for this." "How is this going to affect my ability to do my job well?" "Will I even be able to do the new thing?" "If I can't, what will happen?"

3. In times of uncertainty people look for clear, firm direction that spells out "what" and "when." This shows that the new thing has been thought through and is more than a dream.

4. In the midst of any kind of change we all want some sense of control. That's why it's critical to engage people, across the board, in the "how."

Think about that for a moment: There are a lot of people who do what you do. But "how" you do it is unique. It's also what gives you a sense of satisfaction and control. Million dollar advice: When you start hearing "How will we do that?" you're on your way to success. Once people start discussing "how" they will do something, it's a signal that the "what" has been accepted.

5. It takes everyone a different amount of time to reach understanding and acceptance of new ways of doing things. You can't wait until the last person shouts, "I've got it!" to move ahead. You also can't move ahead until you have a critical mass of "I've got it!"s.

Note: If you are ready to start something new, you have been thinking about it for quite a while. You've wrestled with the pros and cons. You've visualized success and failure. You've gone through the entire range of intellectual and emotional activity.

• You have arrived and are ready to begin.

• Everyone else is where you were when you were on the airplane thinking "Wow, what if we...?"

6. Be seen and be seen often. Talk about the new thing, talk about it often, and talk about it in person. Your physical presence shows leadership, support, and personal involvement; your absence turns the initiative into "one more program."

Readiness, Resistance, What They Did and What You Should Do

In yesterday's post I talked about the Utility that conducted the Readiness survey that sparked unnecessary speculation and angst. I promised that today I'd tell how it was handled and how you can get it right the first time.

The Rest of the Utility Story

• As soon as the executives realized the impact of the survey, they organized small group meetings of everyone in the company.

• At the meetings they explained what they hoped to do, why they were doing it, and what the proposed "changes" would be.

• We then turned the meetings into the equivalent of marketing focus groups and problem-solving sessions (many of the people were engineers, long-time employees, and well-versed in the company's operations). After laying out the information and the intended goals (changes), we then asked a series of open-ended questions that turned the sessions into "How can we make this happen?" discussions.

• The CEO or one of his direct reports was at every meeting and sat at the table as a participant.

What we learned from that (which now seems obvious) is today's tip:

How to Start Your Change Initiative

Readiness

1. Be very clear about what you want to have happen. Be clear about when you want it to happen. Deadlines  produce action.

2. Explain why it's important to the organization and the people in it.
    a. What will be better?
    b. What could be worse if things don't change?
    c. How do you know a and b are true?

3. Jack Nicholson's "You want the truth? You can't handle the truth" was a great movie line.

    Your organization needs the truth in order to provide truthful solutions. People deserve nothing less.

3. Schedule small group meetings to discuss the what, when, and how.

4. Be seen, be involved.

5. Set a deadline for the themes of the small group meetings to be synthesized, presented, and discussed.

6. Listen.

7. If you listen and watch, you'll know what--and how much-- to do next.

8. Keep your data-gathering face-to-face. Surveys produce numbers that are easy to graph. In the absence of context and direction they also produce anxiety and rumors. Even if you have the best survey in the world you still won't know what is behind the numbers unless you talk with the people anyway. Save yourself time and go for the real deal.

I am not opposed to surveys and questionnaires; they can be very effective and I use them in some form at the outset of almost every kind of consulting engagement as a starting point for discussion. I am opposed to using them as the sole data source to kick-off a major change. That viewpoint is based on numerous real-life engagements.

9. Openly acknowledge the validity of people's fears as well as any of your own. The first step in neutralizing a negative is to bring it out into the open. When something is seen clearly it becomes easier to deal with. The unseen takes on a subversive life of its own and everyone knows its there, even if it isn't verbalized.

10. Always--always--communicate more rather than less.

What have been your experiences introducing something new?

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Introducing Something New: Part I

Readiness and Resistance

Every systematic approach to making large-scale change usually talks about these two factors.

Readiness refers to whether or not the people who will be involved are prepared for the changes that are coming.

Resistance refers to the assumption that many people will balk at doing the "new" thing because it is different.

I'm no longer sure that the word "change" has any real impact. Everyone knows that life is filled with changes. Many of the programmed approaches have been designed in a way that creates an "us and them" dynamic, not unlike "employee" engagement. In other words: "I want something different than I'm getting now so you have to change." (That approach is content for a future article).

Making changes for the better, whether at work or in your personal life, both have some common elements. Here are some real-life, practical tips accompanied by some semi-deep thoughts:

If you, as a leader, have done a thorough job of explaining your organization's situation and why it is critical to do specific things differently, you will enable readiness and reduce resistance before it even starts.

Why? Because the human condition demands a reason for doing something differently. Until you answer the "Why?" question satisfactorily, forget about trying to get to the "What." (See, I just did it).

Readiness is all about understanding and acceptance. Yes, both of those. You can understand something intellectually but you need a certain amount of acceptance to want to act on your understanding.

What to do: When a change is needed, start talking about the situation and what you think needs to happen differently. Engage other people in the discussion. Tell them what you think ought to happen. Ask them what they think could be done. Tell managers to talk with their people about the situation.

Why? (See, I am trying to model this thing). When the decision to make the change finally happens, it's not a surprise. Save surprises for a significant birthday.

How not to "survey for readiness"

One of my Utility clients hired a firm that specialized in Change Management to come in and honcho the process. The system made sense on paper. It made no sense when it was applied. The first step in the process was a company-wide, pencil and paper assessment of individuals' "readiness for change." Yeah, think about this. A gazillion people answered questions--with obvious organizational and psychological underpinnings--about how they "felt" about changes. But they didn't know of any impending changes. Well, not until they were asked to do the questionnaire and asked themselves the "why?" question.

Then the results were tabulated  and "fed back" to the top levels of management. (The entire employee population knew their managers were at a meeting looking at whatever it was that they had generated in the survey. So,they began developing a "resistant" attitude before anything ever happened.)

I watched as a profile of readiness and resistance was displayed on the PowerPoint slides. Then came the somewhat unbelievable: the presenter noted that everyone not sitting in the room would be referred to as a Target for change. It was suddenly an "us" and "them" situation. "We" will be known as the change agents--"they" will be our targets.

Resistance is all about not having enough information to decide that making a change would be in one's best interest.

As you've already guessed, the "Readiness" exercise created "Resistance" that wasn't there to begin with.

BTW: If you are trying to do something differently at a personal level--but struggling--try your own, candid, readiness/resistance diagnostic.

Stop back for the inside scoop on how this was dealt with and how it can be done more effectively the first time around.

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Talent: The Ever-Changing "Unique You"

You are a moving target needing to pause and catch up with yourself.

Not the navel-gazing kind of pause but the "Where Am I Now?" kind.

Thanks to Beth Robinson I realized that The Intersection That Is Uniquely You is dynamic.

Beth writes:

I agree with your point that all three must be considered and there are two ways that I might alter your diagram based on my experience...

A more dynamic background. The "uniquely you" spot moves. Interests change. Skills develop. Different ways to use talents are identified. And it will keep moving.

More than one question mark option in the pop-out box. The "uniquely you" spot is an area not a point. There are often multiple potential points that can fit in that area and some are reachable by more transactional paths and some require the transformational paths that you mentioned in your last post.

It helps to have a gifted chemist/artist/writer as a reader and contributor. Talk about talents!

The Original

The Dynamic You

Over the course of a lifetime, what you bring to your life and work is dynamic. As Beth points out, talents and interests change and grow; you may become more closely aligned with your values and priorities; and the "uniquely you" transforms as a result.

Individuals: This is a good reason to stop and self-assess periodically. Is your career in sync with your development? Are you developing talents and skills that could be better-used and more highly rewarded?

Note: We often discount the very things that make us valuable contributors. Why? Because when we are using a great deal of our natural talent it often doesn't "feel" as if we are working "hard." As a result, we undersell the value of what we bring.

Employers: The change-dynamic is the very reason that ongoing feedback and developmental discussions are critical.  People achieve increasing mastery within their talents and skills by virtue of how they use them and learn from them each day. You want to know how that's going, the best way to support it on behalf of the organization, and how you can channel that growth into bigger things for the company and the individual.

Need some incentive?

A  2008 survey by Right Management of mid-level and senior leaders showed the top reasons employees are leaving their jobs include: 30% for lack of new internal opportunities, 25% due to poor leadership, 22% because of poor relationships with their boss and 21% because they felt their efforts were not valued.

This is quite straightforward:

• People grow and develop, they want to keep doing so, and they want it to be acknowledged and recognized in some meaningful way by employers.

• Employers want people who get better at what they do, can then take on new challenges, and ultimately make a difference on behalf of the company.

Doesn't that sound like a good reason to sit down and have a talk?

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Talents: When Changes Make You Go "Huh?"

It's a win for everyone when you find the kind of organization in which your talents can flourish.

But we live in a working-world filled with changes:

1. A CEO may decide it's more profitable to become a manufacturing-focused company than a sales & marketing-driven organization.

2. Mergers and acquisitions create new cultures. New cultures lead to new values and priorities.

3. Customers change their technology, causing your company to change it's tech service response.

4. Downsizing. Fewer people, more responsibilities for those remaining.

What Happened to the Talent?

I've watched each of the above grow into a crisis of confidence for employees and employers:

• Mysteriously, you don't feel as talented and capable as before.

• At the same time, the organization is wondering where it's talented people went.

Fact: no one suddenly got stupid!

Second fact: Something else will now need to change.

You or Them?

When you were hired it was a good fit because of how business was conducted. Now it doesn't seem that way. Here are some considerations when companies and employees find themselves in a talent mismatch as a result of changes:

1. Companies: Take time to assess the breadth of talent that exists in your employee base. You may not have been using the range of talents that individuals possess because you (naturally) hired on a given set of criteria.

Real-life example: In the past few years I've had the opportunity to assess three executives who were on the "We've changed, their role isn't needed, I guess they have to go even though they've been really effective" list. In two of the three cases a broader assessment showed that they were gifted in areas that hadn't been tapped before. Those two remain with their organizations in new roles and are contributing meaningfully and productively.

2. Individuals. Maybe it isn't such a good fit.The faster you figure out the reality of the situation the faster you can make a decision to stay or look elsewhere.

Bonus tip: The longer you hang out in a mismatch the more you will question your adequacy. So, knock it off! You are talented and you've been performing in a talented way. The situation changed, not you. Get yourself into another winning situation before you conclude that the problem is you.

A Final Thought

Our educational and career counseling entities need to become very deliberate in painting an accurate picture  of "careers."

My take is that the approach is still, "What will you do when you grow up?", the assumption being that one will "become something" and "do it at a company" for a lifetime. The reality is that a person needs to find out their range of talents and prepare for a series of long-term projects in multiple places vs. lifetime employment.

Building awareness of talents, project orientation, and transitions would go a long way in offering genuine help in accurately preparing young people for the future.

What do you think?

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