A funny lesson for leaders and followers

A funny lesson for leaders and followers

This is a funny video of a janitor who creates crazy paths in the snow and the people coming to work follow the path that is laid rather than the route that they know.

http://www.wimp.com/janitorrevenge/

Whilst on the face if it this is simply a funny video it does show that with a few exceptions most people will follow the path that is laid for them rather than either use their initiative or blaze a path of their own.

What is also interesting is the number of people who follow the path for some considerable distance before having a moment of doubt and doubling-back the way they came. This is interesting since their choice seems to reset to the beginning rather than forge a new better path.

There seems to be a lot of human psychology in this and possibly a few lessons for leaders and followers

1. The majority of people will follow your path if it is laid well and there is no apparent alternative

2. Very few people will challenge a path that is laid for them, and fewer still will attempt to forge a new or alternative path.

3. The automatic reaction to a challenge appears to be reset back to the beginning (reverse the change) rather than take personal corrective action and forge a new path.

A big idea 100 year Red Earth Day 4 August 2014

A big idea 100 year Red Earth Day 4 August 2014

To all Earth citizens whose county had some involvement in World War 1. An invitation to participate.

4 August 2014 will see 100 years since the start of WW1. We should all commemorate this event which saw some 9,720,450 soldiers million loose their lives, 8,865,650 civillians perished and 19,769102 million wounded. That is a total of 37,355,202 people directly affected. This does not include all those wives who lost husbands, children who lost fathers or families who lost loved ones, or who had to deal with horrific wounds and consequences in the aftermath.

This was supposed to be the War to end all Wars. We need to remember. We can show this by participating worldwide, together and easily.

People

Light a red light and show it at your window from 8.pm to midnight on the 4 August 2014.

Business and building owners

Light your building or windows in red

State buildings and Monuments

Light in red

With everyone involved this would be a truly massive sign that we recognise and remember the sacrifices of the past with the hopes that this scale of waste will never happen again.

With your direct involvement this becomes a World Wide Tribute created by you. While this is a project of some magnitude, we enjoy available technology, with the World Wide Web allowing speedy and global information, possibly a first to combine this with an active people-power artwork.

I am seeking assistance in the areas of Social Media, website skills, translation of key texts and administration. Should anyone be interested in discussing their involvement please feel free to contact me on

I would be grateful for your participation and spreading the message.

07797 756 657

the_ideas_source@hotmail.com

www.mikeetienne.com

Facebook 100 years Red RED EARTH DAY

Mike Etienne © 2013

The need for good communication during change is obvious, but it can be tricky to implement. Here are some simple ideas

Know your audience

Think about your audience when planning the medium and language to use. There is so much to choose from: Newsletters; Emails; Websites; FaceBook; Twitter; IntraNet; Meetings; Presentations; Briefings; Workshops

Think how differently BBC One, Channel 5, The Sun or the Times might convey the same story to different audiences. You might need to use several methods and repeated reinforcement (words as well as actions) before all the people get the same message.

Do your research

Understand their hopes and fears, motivations and distractions and make sure you take these into account. I always like to ask myself if my team can answer YES to the following questions before I start my communication. If the answers are NO then I have some basic work to do before I can mobilise further change.

1. I know what is expected of me at work.
2. I have the materials to do my job well.
3. I have the opportunity to do what I do best everyday
4. In the past 7 days I have received recognition or praise for good work
5. Someone at work encourages my development
6. At work, my opinions count

Have a planned, step-by-step approach

Have a campaign plan which summaries who will say what to whom, when, how and why. Having a campaign calendar helps space out and build upon messages, allowing them to sink-in. It also allows you to target different audiences at different times according to their needs.

When communication fails people often ask “who knew what, when”. The secret to a successful campaign calendar is to plan this ahead, rather than wish you had after the fact.

Be consistent in your “key messages”

Plan your “key messages” like Frequently Asked Questions FAQs, so that they are clear, consistent, concise and repeatable. I often plan messages at three levels of detail suitable for any audience.

For any particular subject I may be able to offer….

1 paragraph (20 words), a sound-bite, which offers a succinct message

1 page (200 words), a summary, which offers a brief explanation

1 report (2000 words), detail, which considers all the elements

Tim Rogers

Founder ciChange

timhjrogers@ciChange.org

www.ciChange.org

ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/

Results of the Change Factor Survey which may change your view on change

Results of the Change Factor Survey (from Roger Kastner)

One of the key points of the Why Change Management Projects Succeed presentation is that no single list of success factors will guarantee repeatable success—instead, the inherent value in the Change Success Checklist is the ability to modify the list based on the objectives of the initiative, the expectations of the stakeholders, and the needs of the target audience.

Even though I’m about to share the results of this particular survey, there is no guarantee that this list of factors will produce successful change for your next change project.

Here are the results of the Change Factor Survey:

Question 1: Please select what you believe are the top 5 factors that contribute to successful change initiatives.

Success Factor	Responses	%
Active & Engaged Sponsorship: committed, consistent, and positively supporting and impacting progress	145	71.8%
Change Leadership: the ability of the sponsor and leaders to effectively lead the target audience through and reinforce the change	95	47.0%
Employee Engagement: engaging a representative group of the target audience to help develop and implement the solution	90	44.6%
Clear Business Objectives: vision for the change tied to ROI and tangible, measureable goals	90	44.6%
Change Communications: frequent and open communications about the change	80	39.6%
Stakeholder Engagement: engaging and leveraging the leaders who lead people through the change	76	37.6%
Clearly Identified “What’s in it for me” (WIIFM): articulating the reasons why the change is beneficial to the individual	52	25.7%
Change Dialogue with Manager: open dialogue between manager and employee about the change, the impacts the employee can expect, the support the employee will receive, and any potential areas of resistance the employee might experience	50	24.8%
Dedicated and Skilled Change Managers: experienced and talented change managers who can coach and support the sponsor and leaders, and know how to adjust plans when necessary	47	23.3%
Influencer Engagement: identification and deployment of key well-networked individuals to positively influence others to embrace and adopt the change	40	19.8%
Reinforcement: the activities that support and measure active engagement with the change after the moment of impact	38	18.8%
Project Management: utilizing PM best practices and approaches to set, manage, and deliver on expectations of the change effort’s scope, schedule, and budget	37	18.3%
Resistance Management: identifying and creating activities to address the areas of resistance to the change	31	15.4%
Positive Environment: able to take on challenges with positive outlook and planning for success rather than looking for failure	29	14.4%
Active Governance Structure: design a model for how teams will operate to ensure effective teamwork and problem resolution among leaders	28	13.9%
Project to Organization Vision Alignment: project vision aligns well with mission and purpose of the organization	25	12.4%
Stakeholder Expectations: identified expectations of all stakeholders for project interactions and outcomes	17	8.4%
Minimize Scope & Requirements: minimizing the amount of change and/or the amount of change transition to only require the minimum amount of change necessary to achieve outcomes	17	8.4%
Formal Change Methodology: adhering to a formal process such as ADKAR, LaMarsh, Kotter, etc.	16	7.9%
Organizational Change Track Record: proven successful organizational change has occurred previously and has been sustainable	7	3.5%

Question 2: Which of the following best describes your role?

Role	Responses	%
Change Management Professional—Consultant	134	66.7%
Change Management Professional—Internal/Employee	44	21.9%
Manager/Director of CM Function	15	7.5%
Stakeholder of CM Function (no change management responsibilities)	8	4.0%

Question 3: How many change initiatives have you lead or had some degree of responsibility for the successful implementation of change?

Number of Initiatives	Responses	%
0	2	1.0%
1-4	45	22.3%
5-9	66	32.7%
10+	89	44.1%

Definitely some unexpected responses in the ranking of the Change Success Factors. In fact, two of the bottom three are on my Change Success Checklist. Yet with over 70% of respondents having significant experience with change, definitely some experience amongst the crowd.

Change: cheer-leaders, managers and players

Change cheer-leaders, managers and players

When you seek buy-in from your staff are you recruiting cheer-leaders, players or managers? What can change leaders do to switch people from being spectators and supporters to players and managers?

A while ago I was invited to attend a Managers Away-Day at which a firm discussed some of the changes that were happening in their industry, as well as the economy and the business.

I noted that whilst there were  re-assurances about jobs being safe staff were interested in “Where is the money is coming from?” since this seemed to them to be the key safeguard and what will deliver the vision and mission for the firm, and enable it to keep its promises.

Most managers when talking about their role in managing change, talked about managing business-as-usual as well as being inspiration, assurance and champion for the future plans. This was good, but I noted that these are essentially “cheer-leader” roles to “support the change”. A good team needs cheer-leaders. It also needs managers/coaches and players and I didn’t get the impression that lots of people were volunteering to “drive and make the change”.

I think safeguards and re-assurances link well with cheer-leader roles that support change. I think new opportunities link well with manager/coach and players drive and make the change. 

It is all well and good for “cheer-leaders” to point to a safety net for people to jump into, but I suspect that sometimes you need a burning building and some coaching to persuade you to jump! Maybe this is why much inspiration change mostly happens when people have hit rock bottom and have nothing top loose.

The problem is that not being at rock bottom means that things are “satisfactory”. They are not great, but they are good enough. I see this all the time in clubs, societies and committees where everyone gathers to agree what needs to be done but few actually volunteer to be the people to do it.

I know very little about football, but I know enough to see 30,000 people support and only 11 on the pitch and 1 or 2 in the dug-out. There is lots of cheering, but for all the noise that they make it boils down to just a few who command extra-ordinary salaries because they are the people to do it.

In business “success has many fathers but failure is an orphan”. So what can change leaders do to switch people from being spectators and supporters to players and managers?

1. Provide opportunities for people to play, to have a go at implementing initiatives, projects and small changes. Let them get the scars, cuts and bruises which mark them out as players rather than onlookers.
2. Provide coaching and guidance to help people learn quickly and safely and feel confident and comfortable. The scars, cuts and bruises can be good, but we must not damage our people or put them at risk.
3. Provide opportunities for these players to reflect on theirs and other people’s efforts to get a feel for “team management” and an understanding of some of the issues that may not be obvious from the grandstand, but are real on the pitch.
4. Provide the rewards and accolades which might inspire people to make the switch. This need not be cash rewards, but more in terms of recognition and respect because beyond a basic level of remuneration this is what inspires and drives most people.

Tim Rogers

Founder ciChange
timrogers@ciChange.org
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CI-Change-4301853
ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/

FREE Startup Owner's Manual

I was recently asked to comment on The Startup Owner's Manual http://www.inc.com/steve-blank/the-startup-owners-manual-excerpts-introduction.html

I replied...I don't have a copy, but think it is a good idea. However inevitably for anyone who has been around a bit some of the ideas will be obvious. An alternative might be some of the FREE material you can download about business start-up and marketing. These vary in quality, but they are FREE.

http://www.jerseybusiness.je/get-going
http://www.mindtools.com/index.html
http://www.businessballs.com/freebusinessplansandmarketingtemplates.htm

It then occurred to me that perhaps the above list may be useful to others and that I might 'crowd-source' (get others to send me) recommended links and websites to compile a FREE Startup Owner's Manual

If you would like to contribute please email me timhjrogers@gmail.com

Trust

Trust is ....

Limited Rules
Clear Boundaries
Transparent Relationships
Open Communications
No Hidden Agendas
No Surprises

Why solving problems is not the same as delivering goals!

Why solving problems is not the same as delivering goals!

My broadband at home is going very S L O W and I’ve phoned my provider to ask them to address this. I offered them the results from an internet speed test and they were perplexed.

Their salesman’s approach is to sell me faster broadband. I explain that if the current system & speed doesn’t work, then spending more only makes the “not working” more expensive: Instead of not getting 4MB I am not getting 8MB (not really helpful!). Eventually I talk to an engineer. We discuss possibilities and configurations on the phone, but with no conclusion.

Eventually the problem is passed to the telecoms provider who at  circa £50/hour turn-up to the house and check every component from the point where the broadband enters the house to the display on my laptop. We identify the problem and agree a solution.

During the visit I explain that I’m trying to Skype my daughter at University and the connection is so poor that it makes communication really difficult. Immediately the telecoms engineer identifies with the situation, explains their experience and offers some helpful advice.

When I retold this to a friend I said ”You know if someone said we’ll sort everything out so that you can talk to your daughter at University I would gladly have given them £400 just to get it done” Instead the process took months, being bounced from one possibility to another but none of them helping me achieve what I want.

My friend replied “That’s the difference between solving problems and delivering goals” People get focussed on offering their solution that they ignore the customer goal. The salesman sells more broadband as his solution to my needs. The engineer offered diagnostic advice as his solution to my needs. The telecoms provider, however turns-up at my house and systematically checks everything, including what my goal is. Eureka my needs are met.

Managing projects and change.

I’ve reflected on this and realise that on some projects we spend huge amounts of time offering silo based solutions that don’t look at the end-goal.  We also spend an extra-ordinary amount of time thinking of all the problems and potentials for failure that we have little time left to consider innovative or alternative routes for success.

I have an MBA and have often complained that I can tell you one thousand reasons how and why projects and businesses fail. I’ve spend years looking at failure and their causes. But this isn’t the same as being an entrepreneur. Knowing the causes of failure doesn’t guarantee success. Ironically I have some sympathy with Lord Sugar who will often discount a candidate if they have an academic qualification because an over reliance upon a structured thinking can blind people to the end-goal and innovative or alternative routes for success.

Tim Rogers
Founder ciChange
timrogers@ciChange.org
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CI-Change-4301853
ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/

What is the Role of a Leader in Business with Respect to "value" and "values"?

In response to businesslife.co Discussion Forum

What is the Role of a Leader in Business with Respect to "value" and "values"?

http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&discussionID=269912322&gid=2850558&trk=eml-anet_dig-b_nd-pst_ttle-cn&fromEmail=&ut=37nKlp6VSmt5U1

Businesses can only create value by understanding the difference between what a client wants and needs. If a business doesn’t deliver then it’s not creating value but wasting time, money or effort. If it simply delivers the minimum to satisfy that may be enough, but it isn’t added value. However by understanding and anticipating the requirements of time, cost, quality, risk and relationship a business can add value by offering exactly the right combination of these factors to a customer who will be impressed both by the outcome and the thinking that will have gone into it, which shows that the business has really understood the customer and thus added value.

The challenge of speaking of values is that they are either so vague that anyone could subscribe to them without really understanding what they mean or very specific which could be divisive to people of different age, culture, religion or education.

For example we might all agree a value like ‘integrity’ but this can result in many different behaviours in different circumstances. If we become more specific and say “100% of the time we speak the full truth”  we risk being unpopular when asked opinions: ‘does this look good on me?’

Values are the code of affiliation; they seek to establish common ground in the group, team, tribe, class or party. However they are not fixed and just as we can be simultaneous members of different social groups, so too can we modify our values according to context. People tend to like and follow other people who are similar (espouse similar values) to them.

The role of a Business Leader is to understand customers sufficient to deliver value and understand people sufficient for them to identify in him or her their values and as such see the Business Leader as a valued member of their group, team, tribe, class or party.

Tim HJ Rogers

Curator TEDxStHelier

Web: www.TEDxStHelier.com

Email: Tim@TEDxStHelier

Mob: 07797762051

           

Components of Change – Competence OR Learning by Doing – Lessons from a Brain Surgeon

Components of Change – Competence  OR Learning by Doing – Lessons from a Brain Surgeon

Summary: There is a lot to be said for action learning, or learning by doing. Confucius said I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. However this should not become a cheap alternative to a professional approach based on  ‘.. we will work it out as we go along..’ Red Adair said “If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.”

As more businesses embark on change and seek to engage their staff they will seek to combine the two and utilise to staff to effect the change. There is a logic to this, and change without staff engagement will not work. However the assumption that the existing staff can deliver effective change without tools, training, support and guidance is misplaced.  Furthermore the idea that this might save, time, money or improve morale is misguided.

Old habits die hard and whilst staff may wear new badges, speak the new lingo, and ostensibly support change the underlying processes and behaviours seldom change because they are habitual, engrained and familiar. Indeed most change reverts back to the old ways (possibly with new labels) within 9 months. This is true of fitness campaigns, weight loss or business change which all take time, and money and often fail to deliver the desired results.

Aside from the fact that change from within is a bit like turkey’s voting for Christmas, if your current people, process or technology needs to change then it is unlikely that the existing people, process or technology is able to change without some intervention.

                                         

Leaders often make the mistake of thinking vision, mission and values are enough to transform people, process or technology. However that’s not how we educate in our schools or train our surgeons, or teach drivers, so why do people believe it should work in our organisations.

Action Learning or Learning by Doing needs to be coached, supported, and guided. It needs to nurture confidence and create competence. Courses or Consultants cannot on their own deliver organisational change, but neither can in-house staff. What is required is a managed approach which like driving lessons provides the tools and tuition, but also some hands-on experience for the people to master the process and technology.

The right balance is essential since without it the organisation may simply waste time, money and morale.

About the Author

Tim HJ Rogers is a project and change leader with a strong background in Business (Finance, Government & Commerce) and Sport (Triathlon & Rowing)  See http://www.timhjrogers.com/

Contact

TimHJRogers@cichange.org See also http://www.cichange.org

ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/

You don’t fatten a pig by weighing it

You don’t fatten a pig by weighing it

This is such a great truism which was brought to mind recently when I attended a meeting about branding and image. There appeared to be an idea that with the right branding and imagery the organization can improve its customer focus.  

The two are related, but the former doesn’t lead to the latter!

What struck me was that the meeting didn’t include any customer representation and focused solely on how the organization described and presented itself rather than the actual process of engaging customers.

A long time ago someone explained to be the difference between the following phrases.

Can I help you? – This is a ‘closed’ question.  If asked this a customer can have only one logical response YES or NO. These YES/NO questions are the classic staple of automated call centers everywhere and perhaps the least favorite of customers.

How can I help you? – This is an ‘open’ question and invites a response. It is engaging and flexible and perhaps a favorite since it is gives access to endless possibilities and is about YOU the customer.

I’m here to help – This is a ‘job description’. It could be applied to anything from nursing to engineering.

When organizations say they are customer focused do they mean the customer influences the origination (what is does, how it does it) or is it about the organization convincing the customer with the right branding and image that they really care?

There is a difference: The first is about listening to change the organization to suit the customer. The other is about influencing the customer to choose the organization.

Beware! Asking How can I help you? is likely to create expectation and obligation. If you are truly customer focused this is where you can outperform your competition who are less flexible. However if, like an automated call center, you only have limited options you may be setting yourself and your customer for disappointment: Computer says NO!

Tim Rogers

Founder ciChange

timrogers@ciChange.org

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CI-Change-4301853

ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/