Is Mindfulness Pseudoscience?

Is Mindfulness Pseudoscience?


I have recently completed an 8 week programme of mindfulness for entrepreneurs. I found it enlightening and personally valuable. But I am interested in the science behind mindfulness.

Does mindfulness work for me like a placebo, or maybe it just gives me a period of calm and reflection. Or does it (as some suggest) have scientific basis and result in changes to the brain?

Below are a few links that I have found.

VIDEO

LINKS

http://www.mindful.org/the-science-of-mindfulness/
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/what-does-mindfulness-meditation-do-to-your-brain/
https://www.headspace.com/science
http://evp.harvard.edu/book/where-can-i-find-evidence-based-research-mindfulness

MINDFULNESS FOR ENTREPRENEURS

The 8 week programme of mindfulness for entrepreneurs was part of a PHD study and the outcome from this will be available in 2016. If anyone is interested in this please contact

Dr Agostinis CTT dr.agostinisdclinpsy@cttinternational.com
Glenda.Rivoallan@highlands.ac.uk


THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of ciChange.org and curator for TEDxStHelier.Com . He has a passion for learning and has been a Tutor/Mentor for the Chartered Management Institute. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

CONTACT

If you are interested in ciChange as a sponsor, speaker or supporter please don’t hesitate to get in contact.

Tim HJ Rogers
Founder ciChange
Twitter: @ciChange
Mobile: +447797762051
http://www. ciChange .org

Adapting to a new environment

One of the first lessons of change is understanding what isn't going to change. It is the solid foundation on which progress is built


TimHJRogers
Consult, CoCreate, Deliver.
www.AdaptConsultingGroup.com
Mob +447797762051
Twitter @timhjrogers

What can business teach us?

What can business teach us?




I was at a networking event and chatting to some people involved in start-ups. They were interested in my experience in the Commonwealth Games and as newly appointed Performance Director for Jersey Rowing Club.

I suggested that the worn-out stories about how sporting effort, focus, goals, commitment can be transferred into business are defunct. They were surprised. In truth it is a very odd bunch that want to push themselves to physical and emotional limits and the idea that these experiences can be applied to business is false.

Here is a real story, with false names…

Colin was moving on from his job and was looking for a successor. He realised that Karen was bright, talented and well placed to do the work. Colin suggested that he’d show Karen all the tasks and let her have a go, so that when the promotion opportunity came she would be ideally placed. To his surprise Karen declined the offer, saying “I’m not paid enough to do that”.

For Colin this was a surprise because as an athlete he always assumed that the hard-work, training and preparation would come before any potential reward. Karen however was more cautious of making a commitment that may not result in a reward.

End of Story

The similarities between Sport and Business are in the people, not the nature of the organisation. Highly motivated people in sport or charity are likely to be highly motivated people in business. It’s not the sport or charity that makes them this way, but the nature and nurture of their experience.

What is more interesting, and not new, is what business can teach Sport. Sir Clive Woodward’s book Winning! is the bible for this and I recommend it to anyone.

I have been appointed ‘Performance Director’ for Jersey Rowing. (See link below) I am interested in what local business leaders can teach a bunch of athletes who are starting to get their heads around the idea of winning the Coastal Rowing World Championships within 5 years.

What do you have to offer?

LINK
http://jrcperformance.blogspot.com/


CONTACT

I am a keen coffee collaborator. You could post a reply, but if you’re in Jersey why not accept an invitation for coffee to discuss.

Tim HJ Rogers
Consult Co-Create Deliver
Mob 447797762051
Web TimHJRogers.com
Twitter @timhjrogers

Some audios about Mindfulness

I have been on an 8 week course on Mindfulness and found these audios very interesting. I have shared this for others who may have similar interests.

http://themindfulnesssummit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/20100405-Jack_Kornfield-SR-healing-1.mp3

http://themindfulnesssummit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/20101129-Jack_Kornfield-SR-lovingkindness.mp3

http://themindfulnesssummit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/A-Few-Mins-of-Mindfulness.mp3

http://themindfulnesssummit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Dr-Dan-Seigel-The-Science-of-Mindfulness.mp3

http://themindfulnesssummit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Dr-Rick-Hanson-The-Science-of-Mindfulness.mp3

http://themindfulnesssummit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Jon-Kabbat-Zinn-The-Science-of-Mindfulness.mp3

http://themindfulnesssummit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Kelly-McGonigal-The-Science-of-Mindfulness.mp3

http://themindfulnesssummit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/MarkWilliams-MindfulnessMeditations-06-20minSitting.mp3

http://themindfulnesssummit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Tara-Brach-The-Science-of-Mindfulness.mp3

http://themindfulnesssummit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/mindfulnessofbodyandbreath.mp3

Understanding your need for Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness and Fairness.

At the Leadership Jersey Conference Jeremy Cross talked about the SCARF model

This model helps us understand people's needs (hopes and fears) in relation to leadership and change.

The self assessment test is here...http://www.scarfsolutions.com/selfassessment.aspx


Knowing your preferences within the SCARF model can help you:

Understand your own reactions and those of others
Better regulate your emotions
Better communicate your needs to others
Make choices more suited to your own preferences

STATUS

If status is your biggest driver, you are naturally competitive. You love winning but hate coming second. It might be having the highest sales record, or the owning the latest technology or throwing the most exuberant party that drives you. It could be beating your personal best. Whatever it is, being top is key.

If status rates high in your life, you might need to watch your natural competitive spirit. You might find yourself continuing the argument simply for the sake of winning. Or you might easily be bored if the challenge is missing. You might need to remember to ‘just be.’

You are however motivated by a good contest so look for ways to bring this into your working and personal life. Competition is the norm in sales environments, the legal profession, and sporting clubs. Focus on areas where you have natural ability and can continue to improve.


CERTAINTY

If certainty is your biggest driver, you like things planned well in advance and you don’t like last minute changes. You have a natural affinity with systems and processes. You are a list person and often find yourself the organizer in social and work situations.

With certainty as your biggest driver, be aware that you may naturally limit yourself from doing new (and therefore uncertain) things, even those that could be good for you, like learning new tasks or travelling. You may also react very strongly when people leave things to the last minute or constantly change their mind. Remember they are not doing this just to annoy you!

To feel more reward and less threat with certainty as your key driver involves asking questions to make sure you are clear on expectations. Don’t wait for others to come to you.

AUTONOMY

When autonomy is important, you like being in the driver’s seat. You like calling the shots and don’t like being told what to do or how to do it.

Be aware that you may say no to things simply because they are not your idea. You may also need to remember to give other people the opportunity to choose from time to time!

If autonomy is your biggest driver, find ways to create more choice, even if you have to stick within defined parameters. Ask for where you can have clear autonomy so you can exercise this. And watch out for tasks where you have to follow other people's orders precisely.

RELATEDNESS

If relatedness is your biggest driver, you find it easy to remember things about other people. You always make the effort socially and hate it when others don’t. You find it easy to connect with others and love doing things that make others feel important and special.

When relatedness is your biggest driver, be aware that you may expect more from your friends and colleagues that they can give. You may find yourself easily offended when people don’t respond to invitations or get back to you with answers.

To increase reward and reduce threat around relatedness look for opportunities to connect with others who are important to you. This could be joining a sporting team, organizing an interest group, or phoning family at a certain time each week. Watch out for long terms situations that isolate you from others – such as working on your own.

FAIRNESS

If fairness is your biggest driver, you are happy if beaten by a better player but hate someone who cheats the system. People who jump the queue really get under your skin, but you’ll sign up to a roster that ensures everyone contributes equally.

When fairness is important to you, you might find yourself always speaking up for others when sometimes it’s okay just to let things slide. Fairness tends to dominate all areas of our lives, so in your relationships make room for other feelings such as simply caring for others.

To create more reward and less threat around the domain of fairness, look for ways to get involved. Knowing how decisions are made, or having a say in the process will help. This might be through a career in HR, social justice or policy creation, or getting simply joining in at a community level.

THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of ciChange.org and curator for TEDxStHelier.Com . Roles have included Programme Manager for the incorporation of Ports and Jersey, and Jersey Post, as well as Operations Change and Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower . He has a passion for learning and has been a Tutor/Mentor for the Chartered Management Institute. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

CONTACT

@timhjrogers
Tim@TEDxStHelier.com
447797762051

Wanted Generation-Z partners to tell me how the world really works.

One of the things that makes me most proud running TEDxStHelier is the opportunity to share new ideas and novel thinking and also to give people a voice. You’ll see that this year (2015) TEDxStHelier featured a lot of conversation about education from teachers, pupils and business leaders.

2015TEDxStHelier Videos on-Line at https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tedxsthelier


I attended Leadership Perspectives: Small Island, Big Opportunities @leadershipjsy #leadershipjsy15

I was impressed by Max Bourcier @MaxBourcier, who, like the fantastic students who spoke at TEDx was full of passion, ideas and enthusiasm.

A number of business leaders said wouldn’t it be great to have that type of thinking to invigorate our organisation and challenge our thinking.

My idea is GenZ-Consulting.

To be fair my idea is simply a name, because to truly embrace the concept what I need to do is engage the Generation-Z people and their tutors, teachers, mentors and inspiration and to work with them to co-create something that can benefit business, offer bi-directional mentoring and perhaps do something novel, interesting, informative and worthwhile.

“Problems cannot be solved with the same mind set that created them.” ― Albert Einstein.

So it is madness for a Baby Boomer (me) to talk about Generation-Z things, but I do think there may be mileage and mutual benefit working together. If you are interested in this idea and particularly if you are under the age of 20 please contact me.

CONTACT

@timhjrogers
Tim@TEDxStHelier.com
007797762051


THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of ciChange.org and curator for TEDxStHelier.Com . Roles have included Programme Manager for the incorporation of Ports and Jersey, and Jersey Post, as well as Operations Change and Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower . He has a passion for learning and has been a Tutor/Mentor for the Chartered Management Institute. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

You send the invites, I’ll bring the cake and we’ll have a party!

Lord Sugar in The Apprentice will often ridicule anyone with professional qualifications and if you have an MBA then you are a prime target.

Interestingly most entrepreneurs don’t appear to have MBAs. Maybe that’s because statistically there are more entrepreneurs than MBAs. Or maybe a lack of qualifications, a little naivety and a being nearer to poverty are exactly the circumstances that drive people into being an entrepreneur.

It is interesting to compare this to the delivery of projects. You may have some enterprising people coming up with new products, services or ventures and some bright people advising on the governance and implementation.

The former are internal entrepreneurs, or as James Caan once suggested intra-preneurs. The latter are the programme and project managers. The challenge for the latter is the same for the MBAs which is not to dissect and analyse every critical component, but instead create the environment and context for success.

I have seen programme and project managers monitor meticulously what is on-time, on-budget, to-specification and log the start date, end date, budget and other KPIs only to find that they are plotting a trajectory for doom. The information may provide light on what is happening, but the difference between project management and project leadership is doing something about it.

Project leadership demands being more enterprising, working with or in some cases being the intra-preneurs and taking responsibility beyond the time, budget and scope and being more focussed on the new products, services or ventures.

The success of a project is not that it was on-time, on-budget, to-specification. That is a management measure of success. The success surely must be that the new products, services or ventures achieved their aims for their intended audience.

Delivery of anything to a target is fraught with problems if the success factor is an output and not an outcome. For example delivery of a chocolate cake (£25) by 10:00am on 17 October is important part of a Birthday Party, but the completion of the task is not sufficient to guarantee a fantastic, fun and memorable occasion for all the participants.

One of the quoted challenges of LEAN (making things more efficient, effective [and cheaper] ) is that too often it results in a chocolate cake (£20) by 9:30am on 16 October without due regard to context. This is very often the case in divisional organisations or silo situations where each component might be great in isolation but somehow the outputs don’t come together as planned when it comes to outcome.

Plotting failure can be precise, achieving success is altogether vaguer. The issue is one of certainty. Managers like working with certainty. Leaders are most valued when you are dealing with uncertainty.

The public sector, as a function of their stewardship of public finances, will tend toward management of risk, of outputs, of money in their endeavours to deliver a cake. The private sector ostensibly appears less focussed on the cake and more on the party. Moreover a greater proportion of their resources will be deployed on the party, than the management of it.

But businesses fail. Even those of Richard Brandson and Lord Sugar, whereas government cannot fail. If government departments went broke as often as ventures on our high street people might go hungry, homeless or start a revolution.

Is there room therefore for greater public / private partnership with government setting the time, budget and scope and business providing the cake and party?

Answers please.

TEDX AND CICHANGE AT TECH FAIR 6 -7 NOVEMBER 2015

TEDx and ciChange will be at the Tech Fair 6 -7 November 2015

Part of the Tech Fair will be about start-ups, innovation and new ideas . The intention is to run an informal [un]conference style discussion with some flip charts and a white board so that the whole thing is organic and interactive.

Tim Rogers (Curator) will explain what TED Talks and TEDx are about, and give an insight to set-up of TEDxStHelier (speakers, sponsors, supporters, set-up) , and the opportunities for Jersey in 2016 as a result of being invited to the TED Global conference in Geneva in December 2016.

However this isn’t all about TEDx, but is about getting started; having an idea and making it happen.

The idea of an [un]conference is that there is no fixed agenda but instead a collection of ideas and anyone who comes to participate can contribute and steer the discussion. We hope to have participation from Chamber of Commerce, Jersey Business, Digital Jersey and extend an open invitation to anyone interested in start-ups.

We hope to have some of the local TEDxStHelier speakers also attend, so that they can share their ideas, what has motivated them, and what they have gone on to achieve having “gone global” via TEDx.

Exact timing for the [un]conference part of the Tech Fair is to be agreed - ironic because the idea is to be unstructured and without rules! However if you don’t know where and when you’ll not be able to participate. More information to follow, but come along, bring your ideas and challenges, questions and experience and let’s see what we can do together.
More Information at Tech Fair http://www.techfair.org.je/


ABOUT TEDX

TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event.
You can find out about TED Talks here http://www.youtube.com/user/TEDxTalks


ABOUT TEDXSTHELIER

We’ve run TEDxStHelier 2014, TEDxStHelier 2015 and are now planning TEDxStHelier 2016TEDxStHelier Videos on-Line at https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tedxsthelier


CONTACT

If you are interested in being involved in TEDxStHelier in 2016 please contact tim@tedxsthelier.com.

Tim HJ Rogers
Curator TEDxStHelier
Email: Tim@TEDxStHelier.com
Mob: 07797762051
Twitter: @TEDxStHelier
Instagram: TEDxStHelier Website: http://www.TEDxStHelier.Com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TEDxStHelier?ref=hl
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/grp/home?gid=5135958

Overcoming Procrastination to achieve change and reform

WHAT IS PROCRASTINATION

Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder. (Mason Cooley)

I have previously written about Procrastination in a blog “Procrastination is like a credit card: it's a lot of fun until you get the bill.” (See link below) so I was very interested when I found this formula for Procrastination.

PROCRASTINATION FORMULA

Procrastination is a function of our self-confidence (do we feel we can do this) and value of completing (the pay-off). If both are high we are less likely to procrastinate.

However on the down-side procrastination is a function of our distractibility (oh look at that other shiny thing) and the time to completing. These are likely to drag us toward quick-wins (often low impact and short-term) and distract us from what is big, challenging and important, and more demanding of our time.

Furthermore the delay in gratification is also likely to create procrastination.

So if you are confident and likely to get big thanks, soon after you have done the task you are likely to do it. If the opposite is true you are unlikely to progress. Additionally if there are other tasks, priorities and demands to distract you, your short on time, and you’re not likely to be thanked any time soon your are likely to procrastinate.

PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM

I note Reform to make States more efficient is “painfully slow” (See link below)

I wonder if some of what neuroscience tells us about procrastination can be applied to help organisational change?

Procrastination = ([time to complete task] x [distractibility] x [delay]) / ([self-confidence] x [task value] )

WHAT MUST WE DO

Improve people’s competence, capacity, capability to do the task(s).
Make the rewards fit the challenge, sufficient that the pay-off motivates action.
Remove the clutter of other tasks or demands that distract from what is truly important.
Make the thanks and recognition significant enough for commitment and self esteem.
Phase the challenge so that milestones are not a marathon distance away in terms of time or effort.

REFERENCES

Procrastination is like a credit card: it's a lot of fun until you get the bill
http://projectspeoplechange.blogspot.com/2015/09/procrastination-is-like-credit-card-its.html


Reform to make States more efficient is “painfully slow” - report
http://www.bailiwickexpress.com/jsy/news/reform-make-states-more-efficient-painfully-slow-report/


I am currently reading, and strongly recommend The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload Hardcover – 19 Aug 2014 by Daniel J Levitin
http://www.amazon.es/The-Organized-Mind-Thinking-Information/dp/052595418X


THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of ciChange.org and curator for TEDxStHelier.Com . Roles have included Programme Manager for the incorporation of Ports and Jersey, and Jersey Post, as well as Operations Change and Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower . He has a passion for learning and has been a Tutor/Mentor for the Chartered Management Institute. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

Tim HJ Rogers
PRINCE2 - MBA (Consultancy) - APMG Change Practitioner
Http://www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051 Curator TEDxStHelier (http://www. TEDxStHelier.com)
Founder ciChange (http://www. ciChange.org)

Multitasking is BAD – stop it now!

You may think you can do many things at once, but in fact what you are actually doing it switching between one task and another very quickly. What’s bad about this?

Well for one thing some complex tasks require getting up to speed and each time you go off task the process of warming-up to the problem need to recommence. That is a waste of time. The other problem is that each time you switch it consumes energy in the switch-process, which could have otherwise been put to completing the task.

As a project and programme manager I have often said it is better to do 1 thing 100% than 100 things each at 1%. A 1% improvement is just dissipating your effort and will hardly be discernable compared to something that gets your full commitment.

Reality is somewhere in between prioritising maybe 5 key tasks, or 5 projects and then dividing your time logically. I know some who advocate a day each week dedicated to one project and for that day they are exclusive about their focus.

You can do similar things by carving up your day and dedicating certain times for emails, meetings, thinking, sport etc. This logical, locational and time separation improves performance of all those tasks.

This isn’t just good time management, there is good neuroscience evidence that this works. Indeed if you have a separate PC and a separate office for each project you are likely to perform better on each task. This is because a million years of evolution means the brain is good at linking memory with location: where was that water, where was that tiger, where were those fruits. If you can have a separate location for each thing or theme then you can improve your recall and capacity around that theme.

This is obvious when you think about it: you don’t find all the books of the library all in one bucket, but nearly laid out in a way that makes it faster and easier to see themes and draw knowledge.

What may be less obvious is that students who study in a room, get far better results if they then take their exams in the same room! Location gives us context, and builds associations and patterns which help thinking in that context.

Neuroscience also tells us that if we multi-task we are likely to get our mental filing wrong and misplace thoughts and feelings in the wrong categories. Specifically if the “wrong” area of the brain is activated then the experience is logged there instead of where it should be; with the result being faulty, flawed or false memory. A study showed that doing homework whilst watching TV caused information to be stored as “procedures and skills” not “facts and ideas”.

The other issue is the energy costs of decision making and task switching. The brain consumes lots of glucose in this process and if bombarded with choices, decision and task switching the capacity to make good decisions pretty much nose-dives.

Interestingly the issue is not one of complexity: small decisions take the same mental energy as big decisions. So if you can get your staff, supporters, your secretary or others to take the easy decisions you can save your energy for the big issues. Highly successful people surround themselves with good people so that they can minimise the decisions they have to take, and maximise the time of which they can think about them.

My advice would be don’t multi-task, but instead separate out people, places and tasks to offer yourself more breadth of space and time for your thinking.

SOURCE

I am currently reading, and strongly recommend The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload Hardcover – 19 Aug 2014 by Daniel J Levitin (see link below)http://www.amazon.es/The-Organized-Mind-Thinking-Information/dp/052595418X


THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of ciChange.org and curator for TEDxStHelier.Com . Roles have included Programme Manager for the incorporation of Ports and Jersey, and Jersey Post, as well as Operations Change and Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower . He has a passion for learning and has been a Tutor/Mentor for the Chartered Management Institute. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

Tim HJ Rogers
PRINCE2 - MBA (Consultancy) - APMG Change Practitioner
Http://www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051 Curator TEDxStHelier (http://www. TEDxStHelier.com)
Founder ciChange (http://www. ciChange.org)

Lessons from Mindfulness - so far so good.

I have volunteered for a research study Mindfulness for entrepreneurs course for 8 weeks from the 3rd October with Dr Alessio Agostinis. My life is pretty hectic: I do circa 16-20 hours a week training for triathlons, rowing, canoeing etc. I have a challenging job (which I love) and a lot of interests, including ciChange and TEDx. I read non-fiction, mostly about business, teams and psychology and have number of roles with various clubs and associations. I’m not good at stretching, relaxing, meditation or anything like that, so Mindfulness will be a challenge!

My motivation is partly because I read about business, teams and psychology and neuroscience does talk a lot about the mind, mindfulness, focus and day-dreaming, as well as sleep, relaxation and other related matters as being essential for high performance (see link 1 below).

Week 1 was a bit of a fail. My flights from Mallorca was late and when I got home very late I found the house has been flooded and the ceilings collapsed. I’d missed the inaugural session and the day was not one of tranquillity. Nonetheless I am resilient and despite a lack of food and sleep I bashed my way around the marathon course the next day before returning to sort out the chaos.

Week 2 I found that circa 50% of the people had missed the first week. Maybe there is something about entrepreneurs? I won’t go into too much detail of the course or the attendees since it is a research study and I am mindful of confidentiality and privacy.

I was really interested in feedback from one of the exercises. Some were “zoned out”, some almost asleep, others had day-dreams whilst a few appeared to stay on-task and be mindful of their bodies and the sensory activity around them. I found myself analysing the whole process: what was being said, how, why and the consequential reactions. It is interesting the mix of people who can relax and those that whose minds list, calculate, predict and judge continuously. The idea of not thinking and just “being” is very hard for me. A bit like not thinking of a BLUE ELEPHANT, the more you try the harder it is.

What I am better at is crowding out thinking by doing. I love climbing, cycling and canoeing and my sports generally consume me to the point that I am only thinking of what I am doing and not full of thoughts about work or projects. But I’m not sure that this is the same thing. Mindfulness does appear to be about bodies and the sensory activity and climbing for example demands that focus.

I am also interested in the pros and cons of day-dreaming. Mindfulness appears to be about internal focus, not mental rehearsals of things to do, people to see, problems to solve. And yet both sleep and day-dreaming are essential tools to mental house-keeping and key to memory and creative thinking. In these modes I am not blank, my day-dreaming and sleep are explorations and discoveries. They are novel, new, weird and sometimes insightful.

This week I have some skills to practice and a diary to maintain. I have to admit staying still for 25 minutes is very, very hard. I am finding it better to be mindful of myself when I am doing something so I’ve taken to doing some stretching exercises after my rowing sessions. This kills two birds with one stone: reducing the pain and tension of very tough training and allowing me to focus on myself without the distraction of work, projects, people or problems. I’m not entirely sure that Mindfulness embraces this type of multi-tasking, but it’s the best that I can do at this stage of my learning.

LINKS
http://www.amazon.es/The-Organized-Mind-Thinking-Information/dp/052595418X


THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of ciChange.org and curator for TEDxStHelier.Com . Roles have included Programme Manager for the incorporation of Ports and Jersey, and Jersey Post, as well as Operations Change and Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower . He has a passion for learning and has been a Tutor/Mentor for the Chartered Management Institute. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

Tim HJ Rogers
PRINCE2 - MBA (Consultancy) - APMG Change Practitioner
Http://www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051 Curator TEDxStHelier (http://www. TEDxStHelier.com)
Founder ciChange (http://www. ciChange.org)

The merits (or otherwise) of breadth or depth of thinking

FOCUS IS EVERYTHING – OR IS IT?

General business thinking is that focus is essential to success. Focus on what is important; focus on customers; focus on quality; focus on profitability. You cannot be successful without focus, but apparently that focus has to be on everything! In a small Island like Jersey is specialism the key to success, or with a limited talent pool is broader skill set more useful to achieving success?

NEUROSCIENCE AND BEING ORGANISED

I am currently reading, and strongly recommend The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload Hardcover – 19 Aug 2014 by Daniel J Levitin (see link below)

Overwhelmed by demands on your time? Baffled by the sheer volume of data? You're not alone: modern society is in a state of information overload. The Organized Mind investigates this phenomenon and the effect it has on us, analysing how and why our brains are struggling to keep up with the demands of the digital age.

I won’t try to summarise the whole book, but would like to pick on theme with resonates with me. As a project and change manager I have always been a “jack of all trades” rather than a master of one. Instead I try and achieve success by understanding enough about a problem and the inter-relationship of issues sufficient to know who I need to include in the problem solving and solution delivery.

I often carry a notebook and pen and always make notes of people, ideas, events which may be useful. Comparing the human brain to a computer this is what Daniel J Levitin suggests is my off-line or external memory and useful for accurate research and recall, which is nigh on impossible to hold in mind all the time.

We can only remember a certain amount at any one stage, which is why we forget keys, birthdays, or the exact the wording of the first paragraph. Instead we generalise, blur, forget unless the issue is so significant, urgent or important that it trumps everything else. In those circumstances there a winner (the thing that comes to mind) and a loser (the other things that are crowded out).

Often when we recall we bring back to mind the emotions and bias, rather than the facts, creating imperfect or modified recollections.

THE WOOD FOR THE TREES

The problem with being too specialist is that the fixation on one issue may create focus on symptoms rather than causes, or fixation with the task (process) rather than the outcome (result). Moreover the deeper we analyse something the more we rely upon our experience, beliefs, bias and expectations to guide our interpretation.

Daniel J Levitin makes the good point that many of our best ideas are when we day-dream allowing the mind to wander and make new and novel connections. I recollect during my MBA a CEO in saying that they would intentionally mix teams of different disciplines to create random sparks, and different perspectives which may be the catalysts for new products and services. If nothing sparks within 6 months, they rotate again, constantly creating change on the edge of chaos with a view to encouraging creativity and innovation.

The problem with specialism is that “If the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem you come across becomes a nail”

So often in project and change management the issue presented is a smokescreen for a problem that is something else altogether. If you try to solve the apparent problem it’s like “trying to nail jelly to the wall” the solution simply evades you, despite your efforts.

In these circumstances understanding the mind of the people, and how they have rationalised and categorised the issues as they see them is key. Simply applying your logic, values, experience and will provoke conflict because although you may be looking at the same thing each of you may attached a completely different meaning, feeling and experience to it.

UNDERSTANDING THE INDEX

Simply starring at the place where you think the keys should have been placed will not make them materialise! Instead you need to put yourself in the shoes of the person arriving home late, in the dark as they open the door and the phone is ringing. They put down the shopping, stop the dog escaping and scramble for a pen and paper to note an important message.

Under those circumstances we are overloaded and our mind may remember the message, but at the expense of where we actually put the keys. TV Dramas like The Mentalist and Sherlock Holmes, as well as hypnotists and psychotherapists promote this type of mental replay as a means to understanding and unravelling problems that aren’t solved by pointing at the empty key rack and saying “it should be there!”

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS?

Being on holiday and riding my bike I have covered many miles of Mediterranean roads, in warm sunshine and cool breeze. Being switched-off from work allow the mind to wander and offers a different perspective on things. Reading and reflection offers new insights for the challenges that are held in my notebooks.

Perhaps a key to success is to spring clean our mental filing system, allowing us to examine old ideas in a new light and re-categorise them. And perhaps the best time to do that is when your critical focus is switched-off.

The point is that simply thinking harder, with more focus, may not be the solution. We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. (Albert Einstein)

If a long bike-ride is not the thing for you, then maybe go for a run, or just sleep on it.

LINKS
http://www.amazon.es/The-Organized-Mind-Thinking-Information/dp/052595418X



THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of www.ciChange.org and curator for www.TEDxStHelier.Com . He was Programme Manager for the incorporation of Jersey Harbours and Jersey Airport, and previously Operations Change and Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest, and Project Manager for the incorporation of Jersey Post. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower with a passion for teaching and learning and is a Tutor/Mentor on the Chartered Management Institute courses. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

Tim HJ Rogers
PRINCE2 - MBA (Consultancy) - APMG Change Practitioner
Http://www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051 Curator TEDxStHelier (http://www. TEDxStHelier.com)
Founder ciChange (http://www. ciChange.org)

What could possibly go wrong?

Some thoughts on commercial risk management. How hard can it be?

WHAT ARE THE FACTORS?

I used to work with a very large bank, in Offshore Real Estate and they had excellent systems to guide assessment of commercial risk. By look-up of company, sector, location, you could find out all the risk factors for example of ABC Company Limited, Fitness Industry and London. Or XYZ Developments Ltd, Student Flats, Bristol. This was a hugely useful tool for credit risk assessment, and risk pricing. This provided an overall context prior to looking at any specific proposal.

Of course these weren’t the only factors: we also looked to the leadership, and management experience as well as what “skin in the game” they had. Track record and commitment are critical factors since all risk is about trust.

This was all before we looked at the investment risk of a specific proposal. Link 1 - The Four Risk Factors for Investment is a useful guide. Many of the factors considered in Offshore Real Estate lending are outlined in Link 2, however this is primarily focused on Real Estate and not necessarily relevant to other industries. Link 3 is a little more generic and may be valuable for other types of investment.

From the above we can see that risk assessment is hugely complex, looking at the context (industry and location), looking at the company and people (will they do this successfully) and the proposal (is this a good deal)

WHAT APPROACH TO TAKE?

From the above, and supporting link it is apparent that you might look at many, many factors. The risk therefore is analysis paralysis and being so deep in detail that you fail to take a balanced approach proportionate to the risk and reward.

My instinct would be to table a list of headings for a stakeholders meeting and get the people at the sharp end of the deal to prioritise which merit discussion and evaluation. The challenge therefore becomes to identify the key stakeholders for the entire deal life-cycle through concept, delivery and operation to exit.

DEAL LIFE-CYCLE AND STAKEHOLDER INTERESTS

As a project manager I know that great ideas can fail at the drawing board, in the implementation or in their operation. Sometimes failure at the end is due to an error at the beginning. For this reason I would commend careful consideration of all the stakeholders at all the stages.

Consideration of all stages is particularly important it you are in something of a Dragon’s Den scenario. External investment can take many forms from friends, family, banks and businesses to equity partners. Each will have an entry and exit point, and demand different rewards for different types of participation.

Some may take satisfaction that they helped you start-up, others may demand their “pound of flesh” whilst those with a longer term or participative role could have very different interests in the short, medium or long term.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion there is no right way to manage project and/or commercial risks. It really depends on what you are trying to achieve (the outcome) and how you are trying to achieve it (the process).

Good governance and methodologies can help the process, but they are no guarantee and a project perfectly executed will be a success: Perfect delivery of a sailing boat will still be a failure if the objective was to transport cars. I often cite the case of Euro-Tunnel which is without doubt a fantastic engineering achievement, but in terms of financial return to its investors it was a disaster!

So as it so after the case, the answer is “It depends…….”

If any reader has a recommended check-list or guidance I would welcome feedback.

LINKS
http://www.cpexecutive.com/newsletters/capitalmarkets-newsletter/netleasecolumn/the-four-risk-factors-for-investments-2/1004034275.html
http://www.principalcef.com/risk-factors.php
http://www.investopedia.com/exam-guide/finra-series-6/evaluation-customers/types-investment-risks.asp


THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of www.ciChange.org and curator for www.TEDxStHelier.Com . Past roles have included Programme Manager for the commercialization of Ports of Jersey, Operations Change & Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest, and Project Manager for the Incorporation of Jersey Post. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower with a passion for teaching and learning and is a Tutor/Mentor on the Chartered Management Institute courses. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

Tim HJ Rogers
PRINCE2 - MBA (Consultancy) - APMG Change Practitioner
www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051
Curator TEDxStHelier www.TEDxStHelier.com
Founder ciChange www.ciChange.org

Do people or systems effect change?

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (1903) "Maxims for Revolutionists" Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 - 1950)

SYSTEMS OR GROUP APPROACH TO CHANGE

It’s fair to say that people effect change: but it is also reasonable to suggest that people are conditioned, constrained or motivated by the systems that surround them. People are (in part) a product of their schools, their parents, their friends, their education, their laws, values and beliefs as well as their job and other experiences.

SYSTEMS THAT EFFECT CHANGE

I am reading “Changing Organizational Culture - Cultural change work in progress” and highly recommend it (See source below). In the early chapters there is some text about Open Systems and it got me thinking: what are the systems that effect change in an organisation?

In an organisation the systems that effect change (or not) might include…
• The management systems – how people are talked to, directed, tasked, managed (score 1-5)
• The HR systems – how people are recognised, rewarded, supported (score 1-5)
• The leadership systems – how people are communicated with, motivated, engaged (score 1-5)
• The finance systems – how performance is monitored, measured and reported (score 1-5)
• There may be many others, depending on the organisation and the external context

If these systems are like interconnecting cogs then success comes from them working together, rather than in opposition or at conflicting speeds.

Another perspective suggests three mutually dependent systems…
• the technological (production)
• political (allocation of power and resources)
• cultural (normative glue)
An organization is effective to the extent that there is alignment within and across the sub-systems

What is interesting about this as a model is that no amount of “team building” or “task forces” are likely to deliver change, or overcome resistance to change if the creative talent and commitment of that band of brothers (and sisters) is constrained by the “systems”. The answer is, of course, to change the systems. However that may not be suitable, feasible or acceptable depending on the metaphor for change.

If the intent is fix and maintain, then that suggests no change to the systems
If the intent is build and development, then that suggests only tweaks at best
If the intent is liberate and re-create then there appears to be scope to challenge and change

The problem is that evolutionary, incremental or “safe” change favours the first two whereas the “liberate and re-create” approach may be perceived as high risk, revolutionary and de-stabilising.

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?

I think it is useful to look at the 7S model and the Cultural Web, noting that systems are both “hard” and “soft”, as well as “formal” and “informal” and generally run alongside each other often in parallel.

I think successful change comes from changing the system(s), rather than the people.

I think rather than empower people to “go out there and deliver change” it might be better to identify the systems that need changing and focus efforts on those. This is because the former approach is likely to pander to personal interests and politics, whereas the latter sets the agenda and the intended outcomes, without being too restrictive of the creative process.

The reason I think this (until I change my mind!) is that any approach which suggests “go out there and deliver change” will either create paralysis (Oh gosh what should I do?) or quick wins (Here is an easy success, with my name on it!). You don’t generally get people prepared to tackle the “elephant in the room”, the big, difficult issue that we all recognise as the barrier to change, but never speak its name.

I think leadership is about tackling the difficult stuff, and creative challenge should be focussed on changing the systems rather than the people, because if the systems are right then the environment will encourage and support the right behaviours.

This has to be better than appointing an A-Team who seek to deliver change in the face of, and in spite of difficult systems. Whereas the efforts of the A-Team may be heroic, and possibly inspirational they are unlikely to be embraced by the vast majority who inevitably “go with the flow” of the systems.

LINKS

7s Model https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_91.htm


Cultural Webhttps://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_90.htm


SOURCE

Changing Organizational Culture - Cultural change work in progress
Mats Alvesson and Stefan Sveningsson
First published 2008 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
ISBN 0-203-93596-9 Master e-book ISBN

THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of www.ciChange.org and curator for www.TEDxStHelier.Com . Past roles have included Operations Change & Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest, and Project Manager for the Incorporation of Jersey Post. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower with a passion for teaching and learning and is a Tutor/Mentor on the Chartered Management Institute courses. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

Tim HJ Rogers
PRINCE2 - MBA (Consultancy) - APMG Change Practitioner
www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051
Curator TEDxStHelier www.TEDxStHelier.com
Founder ciChange www.ciChange.org

Your staff are more important than your customers: because your staff are your customers!

IS THE CUSTOMER KING?

I’m all for customer focus, but there are some interesting things to know about customers. They can be irrational, demanding and unprofitable. If 100% of your attention is on your customers then you’ll be run ragged and perhaps miss important attention on your people, products and services.

WHY ARE STAFF MORE IMPORTANT?

In any business your staff are what gets the customer excited, interested, engaged and buying. Even as a sole trader the product does not sell itself: you have to be there! If you start your business from your laptop, or with friends around the kitchen table it all begins with the passion and vision of the people who will craft, develop and market the products and services.

“If you look after your staff, they’ll look after your customers. It’s that simple.” Sir Richard Branson

THE ROLE OF LEADERSHIP

In a recent article in Jersey’s Connect Magazine (Link 1) Luke Smith of Purpose.je challenges “Do you have a job or a business?” (Link 2) I think this is an excellent article and recommend everyone to read it.

I believe it adds weight to the argument that success is from leadership (“doing the right things”) rather than management (“doing things right”) and my logical extension is that this means creating the right environment for success rather than shouldering the impossible burden of satisfying every whim of each customer.

Success in this context is a business of people, products and services which can grow and thrive based on the principles and processes you have co-created, rather than demand increased effort from you for each additional customer.

The former approach will allow you time for holidays and retirement, or at the very least time for reflection whereas the latter may lead to burn-out and an early grave.

CO-CREATE YOUR FUTURE

Staff are better educated and informed, like never before. Tap into their expertise and whilst you may provide the canvas, let them bring the paint.

The role of leadership is to create the right environment: this does not mean wrapping up in cotton wool. Let them get the scars, cuts and bruises of experience and the satisfaction of success and they will continue to pour their talents into your products, and delight your shared customers.

Your legacy should be that the customers, products and your reputation should outlast your leadership, because it lives on in the values and behaviours of your staff.

LINKS
http://www.bailiwickexpress.com/jsy/connect/
http://epublishbyus.com/ebook/ebook?id=10042108#/94



THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of www.ciChange.org and curator for www.TEDxStHelier.Com . Past roles have included Programme Manager for the commercialization of Ports of Jersey, Operations Change & Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest, and Project Manager for the Incorporation of Jersey Post. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower with a passion for teaching and learning and is a Tutor/Mentor on the Chartered Management Institute courses. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

Tim HJ Rogers
PRINCE2 - MBA (Consultancy) - APMG Change Practitioner
www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051
Curator TEDxStHelier www.TEDxStHelier.com
Founder ciChange www.ciChange.org

Procrastination is like a credit card: it's a lot of fun until you get the bill.

I have a bias for action: to get things done. When I was younger I used to get really frustrated when the boss failed to do anything about the issues that I brought to his attention. With experience and increasing wisdom I now appreciate that sometimes doing nothing, is exactly the right thing to do. However, only sometimes!


A TALE OF TWO DAUGHTERS

I have two daughters, both very bright and clever and both destined for greatness by virtue of their drive, determination and hard work. However one will plan things well in advance and the other will be a whirlwind of activity at the last minute. I cannot fathom how siblings can be so different!

MY APPROACH

I generally am aware of things in the long and medium term and think about them. I start planning a few months or weeks ahead, depending on the activity, but generally make the final decision quite late. I like to keep my options open!

For big competition events like rowing or triathlon the training plan may be devised months in advance, but the actual weekly sessions vary according to weather and circumstance and the event on the day is when I make final choices bases on bike options, shoe options, clothing options etc.

My approach in projects and change is much the same. Have a good idea of the big picture, be firm but flexible about the method of getting there, and keep options open for opportunities or to accommodate last minute changes.

I seldom use precise Gantt charts because I am more interested in the outcome (product, deliverable or decision) than the process and may switch between a variety of means to get there according to circumstance (people and events). I feel being too focussed on the charts, graphs, and project periphery can distract from what you are actually trying to achieve.

However at the same time I like to focus on clear goals, milestones, performance rather than procrastinate indecisively, with no discernible output or outcome for my efforts.

ONLY FOOLS RUSH IN

It may be true that only fools rush in, but to never venture is to miss out on learning, opportunity and innovation and by starting early there is plenty of time to add or amend your approach according to circumstance (people and events).

Leaving things really late means an issue becomes a drama and a drama becomes a crisis and by then your options and opportunities have expired and what may have been a great opportunity to co-create change, and help communication, collaboration and co-ordination has now passed and you find yourself with an ultimatum.

This is not good.

WHY DO PEOPLE PROCRASTINATE

There is an old “Yes Minister” saying that success comes from avoiding answering a question until the issue is no longer relevant.

I fear procrastination is not because people don’t know the answer, but because they don’t want to take responsibility for the task, the decision, the output or the outcome. I can see that this may create a sense of stability (nothing rocks the boat) but I worry that it creates stagnation.

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION

For my daughters I hope that the ability to focus and plan does not crowd out the opportunity to be spontaneous, creative and have fun. For the other I wish that having an eye toward their goal, ambition, or dreams will persuade them to set themselves some milestones to mark the progress toward what-ever makes them happy.

THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of www.ciChange.org and curator for www.TEDxStHelier.Com . Past roles have included Programme Manager for the commercialization of Ports of Jersey, Operations Change & Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest, and Project Manager for the Incorporation of Jersey Post. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower with a passion for teaching and learning and is a Tutor/Mentor on the Chartered Management Institute courses. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

Tim HJ Rogers
PRINCE2 - MBA (Consultancy) - APMG Change Practitioner
www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051
Curator TEDxStHelier www.TEDxStHelier.com
Founder ciChange www.ciChange.org

Who should we insist wear Health Tech?

WEARABLE HEALTH TECH

Earlier this year ciChange hosted and promoted #inov8healthjsy and working with Jersey Business and Digital Jersey run a breakfast briefing, lunch networking and evening panel discussion on Health Tech and future opportunities.

I am really interested in this as someone who is a curator for TEDx (Technology Education and Design) I clearly have an interest in these matters. I am also a keen sports person so am interested in health and as an ex-programmer with a technology and change background I am fascinated by this new frontier, and the implications for corporates and individuals. See link 1 below.

MY OWN EXPERIENCE WITH WEARABLE HEALTH TECH

I recently have upgraded my Garmin to track my performance when I swim, bike and run and have always found it useful to monitor and measure both effort and recovery. I also maintain a training log and am aware of the impact of over-training on my mood and physical wellbeing. This of course makes sense for any athlete in training, so I suppose I am used to the merits of wearables.

I have recently also bought a FitBit which offers monitoring of food, water, activity and sleep amongst many other things. It will even connect me with friends to promote healthy competition. I recognise this is a more user-friendly and publically beneficial tool than the Garmin. Currently I find the greatest value in the FitBit is in monitoring my sleep (often over-looked as a vital component of a healthy life-style)

The former does improve the way I train, but the latter has had a more subtle but potentially more significant impact on my lifestyle. The future will be interesting.

SOME BROADER IMPLICATIONS

I heard on Radio 4 (but sadly cannot remember the programme / podcast) someone suggesting that not only will insurance companies be interested in wearable tech but also businesses may be curious to know if people are fit for the tasks ahead.

There are some insurance companies that already fit gadgets to the car to assess your driving, and we already have breathalysers to assess whether we should be behind the wheel. It can only be a matter of time before these judgements on our abilities are applied to professions.

With doctors and nurses working long hours and under incredible stress perhaps a good place to start would be the medical profession.

JERSEY IOD ANNUAL DEBATE

The Jersey IoD Annual Debate, which ordinarily attracts an audience of over 500 people, takes place on Thursday 17 September 2015 at the RJA&HS from 4.45pm – 9.45pm and is open to all islanders. Places cost £80 per person, including a supper, whilst a table of 12 can also be booked via the IoD Jersey Branch Officer on 610799 or jedirector@localdial.com. Further information is available at www.iod.je, the IoD Group on LinkedIn and by following @iodjersey on Twitter. See link 2 below.

LINKS
http://projectspeoplechange.blogspot.com/2015/08/inov8healthjsy-tedx-and-iod-conclude.html
http://www.iod.je/News.aspx?id=iod-annual-debate-2015#sthash.CKrT5Fzd.dpbs


The Author

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of www.ciChange.org and curator for www.TEDxStHelier.Com . He is Programme Manager for the commercialization of Jersey Harbours and Jersey Airport, and previously Operations Change and Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest, and Project Manager for the Incorporation of Jersey Post. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower with a passion for teaching and learning and is a Tutor/Mentor on the Chartered Management Institute courses. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

Tim HJ Rogers
PRINCE2 - MBA (Consultancy) - APMG Change Practitioner
www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051
Curator TEDxStHelier www.TEDxStHelier.com
Founder ciChange www.ciChange.org

Managing committees and shepherding cats

I have a love of sport and over the years have been involved in swim, bike, run, triathlon, climbing, rowing , canoeing and climbing. I have also been involved in the Island Games and the Commonwealth Games. Over an extended period and in different roles I have quite a bit of experience working with clubs and I can tell you: It can be hard!

Unlike businesses where they may be some functional or hierarchical organisation which suggests some rules of protocol, clubs can be a free-for-all based on personality and charisma, either positively or negatively.

Businesses will generally choose the product and customer base, which they collectively feel will best fit the business and the employees are expected to fall into line or leave. It is important to talk with staff, and union representation can be a good thing, but let’s be clear businesses are not true democracies!

The problem with a club is that your “employees” and your “customers” are one and the same, couple that with a pretty flat structure, and management is a non-going and tiring negotiation. People are passionate. Probably a lot more passionate about their sport, club or society than they are about their job. Sport is also a great social leveller so the best at swim, bike, run, triathlon, climbing, rowing, canoeing and climbing isn’t likely to be the best doctor, lawyer, accountant or other professional. This is an organisation where everyone thinks they are the CEO, and at the next AGM could well be the next CEO!

How do you cope?

I have previously blogged about Change Management in Clubs and Community (See link 1 below)

In that blog I offered a number of good examples of successful Change Management in Clubs and Community. The themes were broadly around my ideas including the following.

1. Having a vision, goal, mission or other lofty ambition is a good thing around which to rally people. Their focus becomes the thing to achieve rather than the people, personalities, cliques or cult.

2. Making change visible, tangible and real, is important so that it isn’t just words spoken or a directive written but something that touches people. This can be branding, logos, social media, notice boards, videos. There are all sorts of ways that you can change the environment and social perceptions to make clear that something different is happening.

3. Start making life easier. Improve the admin, streamline the processes, make communication and feedback easier. One of the problems of “selling” is that people push harder and this simply encourages people to resist harder. Often success comes from making it easy to buy, making the task easy to do, making the conversation easier to have. If everything is easier people will perceive it is better and they are more likely to endorse the people, processes and technology which go with that.

4. Reach out and recruit allies. It is important to recognise that it is unlikely that you’ll get someone who if 100% negative about your change to be 100% positive about your proposals. But maybe the people who are 60:40 might tip to 40:60. The idea is to create a tipping point, not to convince 100% of all the people. Careful curatorship and stakeholder management can help, particularly where you can create alignment between individuals ambitions and goals of the organisation: for example a “youth team” a “masters trophy” or something similar.

5. Give people a role and a reputation to live up to. The devil makes plans for people with idle hands and keeping agitators busy doing stuff for the benefit of the club is likely to be a better employment of their energy and generate some kudos for them if they are the “organiser for the XYZ event”.

6. People who are great “people people” should be made captain of this, team leader for that, person-in-charge of the other. These will be the orators and communicators of your vision and values. Others may be better directed to tasks (well away from the potential of creating a mutiny) and they can work independently on “special projects”.

Satisfaction is the enemy of progress

The challenge of the above is that what do you do after you have steered the ship away from the rocks and there is no imperative, no urgent action required, nothing to galvanise and focus the troops?

I have seem a club virtually disintegrate through lack of momentum or passion. The club still exists like a shabby corner shop surviving in the shadows of supermarkets and on-line retail. They have faded trophies, nostalgic membership and know full well that once their tenure is over the doors will close for the last time.

In these circumstances you are likely to have a power struggle or identity crisis. The questions will be “Where do we go from here?” and the response is likely to be “Do we need to go anywhere?”. It’s like being at a crash scene in a desert, are you better staying put, or striding out?

As a leader in these situations do you split the group or stay together. If you split the group, are you the one who stays put, or ventures out?

I have to admit I have a bias for action. This is not necessarily a good thing!

When it comes to shepherding cats, I’m likely to start walking and see who follows. If they choose not to then that is their prerogative and not my responsibility. My duty has to be to the ones that do follow, because if they are following I am their leader.

LINKS
http://projectspeoplechange.blogspot.com/2013/05/change-management-in-clubs-and-community.html



THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of www.ciChange.org and curator for www.TEDxStHelier.Com . He is Programme Manager for the commercialization of Jersey Harbours and Jersey Airport, and previously Operations Change and Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest, and Project Manager for the Incorporation of Jersey Post. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower with a passion for teaching and learning and is a Tutor/Mentor on the Chartered Management Institute courses. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

Tim HJ Rogers
PRINCE2 - MBA (Consultancy) - APMG Change Practitioner
www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051
Curator TEDxStHelier www.TEDxStHelier.com
Founder ciChange www.ciChange.org

Public sector reform: Net saving £4.2m subject to States funding £3m

Public sector reform: Net saving £4.2m subject to States funding £3m


CONTEXT

The states of Jersey are seeking to address a funding “black hole” c £130m in part by a series of HR initiatives (£70m) including the following…
• Pay restraint
• Vacancy/attrition management
• VR (Voluntary Release)
• CR
• Service redesign – Lean /eGov /mergers
• Outsourcing
• Regulation
• Stop doing

The purpose of the Voluntary Release Programme initiated 1st June 2015 was to enable:
• employees to apply to leave employment on a voluntary basis
• organisational change and efficiency savings to be made

The Programme was open to all permanent employees of the SoJ across all Pay Groups with a minimum of 2 years service.

PROGESS SO FAR

A total of 329 expressions of interest were received, 129 applications were submitted to the VR panel and 104 have been approved.

The Council of Ministers has approved funding of £2 million in 2015 which has been made available to fund the release packages for 52 of the approved applications. The packages for the remaining 52 employees have been confirmed subject to States Assembly approval of funding later this year and in 2016.

52 – released in 2015 £ 2m
52 – subject to States funding £ 3m
10 – pending
Net annual recurring saving £ 4.2m

Until SoJ has redesigned its services it can’t rule out the possibility of further voluntary release programmes and compulsory redundancies, but it will continue the dual approach of careful vacancy management and using natural staff turnover rate of around 6% to minimise the need for redundancies.

REFLECTIONS

Whilst I commend the States for achieving the net annual recurring saving £ 4.2m I am perplexed why the approach has been to first shed staff and then later pursue service redesign.

Would it not have been better to start with service review and decide what services must, should, could be provided by the States and which might be better outsourced, left to private entities or simply discontinued.

Once there is clarity on service provision and priorities then service redesign can commence (looking at people, process and technology) and once that is complete you can look at the resources required (or no longer required).

The danger of having lost staff without having rationalised the work-load is that there are now less people to do the same amount of work without any clarity on whether that work is necessary. Furthermore this approach has lost some of the spare capacity, experience and expertise that might have been useful in the service review and service redesign phases.

I am not being critical of the staff reduction, but I do believe the same outcome could have been achieved with far greater savings had the approach been different. For staff to be leaving a more efficient and effective department surely has to be better than leaving one potentially in crisis.

Moreover the opportunities to push work into the private sector may have had the double-benefit of streamlining the public sector and creating growth and opportunity in the private sector.

That is not to say that this cannot now be achieved, but I think it will be harder without a “big picture” view of service provision and priorities and the resources to effect the change. It seems to me to be better to disband the team after the work is done, not before.

NEXT STEPS AND EXPECTATIONS

Losing 104 staff from an organisation of circa 7000 is only a start. It is nonetheless and important start, albeit that apparently the actual cost of doing this hadn’t been anticipated and has faltered “subject to States funding £ 3m”

I believe the real challenges and opportunities will come from the following.

• Service redesign – Lean /eGov /mergers
• Outsourcing
• Stop doing

I look forward with anticipation the financial targets and Five Year Plan for these initiatives which will deliver a more efficient, effective, streamline public sector.

THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of www.ciChange.org and curator for www.TEDxStHelier.Com . He is Programme Manager for the commercialization of Jersey Harbours and Jersey Airport, and previously Operations Change and Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest, and Project Manager for the Incorporation of Jersey Post. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower with a passion for teaching and learning and is a Tutor/Mentor on the Chartered Management Institute courses. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

Tim HJ Rogers
PRINCE2 - MBA (Consultancy) - APMG Change Practitioner
www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051
Curator TEDxStHelier www.TEDxStHelier.com
Founder ciChange www.ciChange.org

When neither teaching nor preaching works, how do you get people to change?

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. Confucius


REVERSING THE ROLES

I used to teach on the Chartered Management Institute Programme for NVQ4 and NVQ5. I would often spend time explaining how to write an assignment, how to do Harvard referencing, and how to ensure that they met the marking criteria and achieved their qualifications. I had varying degrees of success.

One day I decided to give the students an assignment for them to mark. It was a dummy one, but they didn’t know that. What I also gave them was the marking criteria and a stop-watch and explained that a tutor, examiner or assessor might have limited time to mark 50 assignments. I put them in my shoes and asked then to mark and return the assignment.

This proved interesting. First may people said they found it really difficult to match the marking criteria to what was written in the assignment. Others said that the assignment was poorly structured and that made it difficult to discern the key points (and marks). Remarkably there was not much variance in standards: what was a “fail” was recognised as such by everyone.

In the debrief they were quick to criticise the style, structure, content, punctuation, referencing and all the other criteria which cumulatively effect the mood and scoring of a tutor, examiner or assessor.

They go it! After they experienced what it was like to be on the receiving end they had an epiphany, and from that point forward my job became easier and their marks got better!

DO NOT TEACH OR PREACH

It is really difficult not to intervene when you see a situation you know you could “rescue”.

I am reminded of a story about Dave Brailsford….

“I am comfortable in a room getting a group of people together to thrash things around so we know where we’re going. The greatest danger for me is that I am a bit of an orchestra conductor. If I think the violinist isn’t quite in tune, the worst thing I can do is grab the violin and say ‘this is how you do it’, play a little tune which probably isn’t any better and hand it back. I’m not going to make things better and that person is going to feel totally undermined. When I see something not working, I find it very hard not to dive in. So when I was at the races, I found I got caught in the 24 hours that you are in and it just keeps rolling along. You want to get out of it and start looking at the medium term but unless you stop and come up for air you’re almost trapped.”

I have found that it is better to create interest, curiosity and a willingness to learn than it is to teach. This means my approach is more inquisitive, challenging, questioning than directive and my thoughts are laid bare for people to offer feedback or criticism.

This is often made easier as a consultant or interim because my legacy (and future work) is dependent upon the knowledge and experience I give freely, not the ideas that I selfishly keep to myself.

BEING A MENTOR OR FACILITATOR

If you are not a teacher, but you are enthusiastic about learning and development (yours as well as other peoples) you are probably a mentor or facilitator.

I recollect once being asked to “answer any questions and be a sounding board, but don’t do anything”

I found the role of being a facilitator challenging and rewarding. It was challenging because I was keen to offer my ideas, my experience, my solutions but realised that I must not do this. I found it rewarding because being a guide for their ideas, their experience and their solutions both broadened my understanding and upon reflection, told me why my ideas would not have worked.

With an increasingly knowledgeable, professional and educated workforce it is important to commitment, co-operation, collaboration and communication co-create the future. Pre-packed plans may be accepted or rejected depending on elements of trust and resistance to change, but it is my experience that people are always more willing when they are the architects of their future.

Suggestions, feedback and alternative views are very welcome.

LINKS

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/inside-the-mind-of-dave-brailsford-2615#4mJZ7cOyRzORcACo.99


THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of www.ciChange.org and curator for www.TEDxStHelier.Com . He is Programme Manager for the commercialization of Jersey Harbours and Jersey Airport, and previously Operations Change and Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest, and Project Manager for the Incorporation of Jersey Post. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower with a passion for teaching and learning and is a Tutor/Mentor on the Chartered Management Institute courses. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

Tim HJ Rogers
PRINCE2 - MBA (Consultancy) - APMG Change Practitioner
www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051
Curator TEDxStHelier www.TEDxStHelier.com
Founder ciChange www.ciChange.org

From Anarchy to Order – how IT decision-making could change

Below is text from a blog by Neil Wells, February 2013 (At that time he was Director of Information Services). I have re-posted (unedited) because I think it is excellent.

How do large and diverse organisations ensure that their information technology (IT) supports their performance goals? How can they ensure that the decisions they take regarding IT give the best value possible, and help the organisation to both grow and remain flexible? In many organisations, while senior executives try to address these questions, other parts of the business are simultaneously making decisions that profoundly influence the value of IT on the firm.

IT governance

IT governance is a process of aligning IT actions with performance goals, and assigning accountability for those actions and their outcomes. To be effective, IT governance must be actively designed, not the result of isolated tactical actions implemented to address that moment’s challenge. But how can this be achieved, particularly within the States of Jersey?

The MIT Model

We can perhaps learn from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Model. It categorises both IT decisions, and the groups, which take them.

The MIT Model identifies five categories of IT decision:

1.IT Principles: high-level statements about how IT is used in the business
2.IT Architecture: decisions about the organisation of data, applications and infrastructure to provide standardisation and integration
3.IT Infrastructure: decisions about the elements that provide the foundation for an organisation’s IT capability
4.Business Application Needs: decisions about the business need for purchased / internally-developed systems and applications
5.IT Investment and Prioritisation: decisions about which initiatives to fund, and how much to invest in IT


The MIT Model also identifies six types of decision-making structure. They are progressively decreasing in their degree of centralised IT governance:

1.Business Monarchy: the top business executives make the decision
2.IT Monarchy: the IT specialists make the decision
3.Federal: the decision is made by a combination of corporate centre and business units, with or without IT involvement
4.IT Duopoly: the IT specialists and one other group (eg business unit leaders) make the decision
5.Feudal: business units make independent decisions
6.Anarchy: decisions are made by isolated individuals or small groups, independent of their department or the organisation

Applying the MIT Model

After detailed research, the MIT study came to the conclusion that only three configurations of these decisions and decision-makers actually worked effectively for corporate IT governance.

Configuration 1 – A division of expertise respecting both technology and business specialisms

1.IT Principles: IT Duopoly - IT executives with individual business unit leaders make high-level policy
2.IT Architecture: IT Monarchy - IT executives decide on standardisation / integration
3.IT Infrastructure: IT Monarchy - IT executives decide on the infrastructure
4.Business Application Needs – Federal - business unit leaders decide together
5.IT Investments and Prioritisation: IT Duopoly – IT executives and business leaders decide on funding allocation

This model lets IT professionals get on with running the infrastructure (and be held to account for performance, naturally), while decisions on principles, business applications and investments are localised to departments / subsidiaries, advised by the IT senior executives. The result is that the corporate centre, and not IT, determines both the business needs and the diversity of business systems.

Configuration 2 – Respect specialisms, but control the overall costs

This is very similar to Configuration 1, except for Business Application Needs and IT Investments & Prioritisation:

1.IT Principles: IT Duopoly - IT executives with individual business unit leaders make high-level policy
2.IT Architecture: IT Monarchy - IT executives decide on standardisation / integration
3.IT Infrastructure: IT Monarchy - IT executives decide on the infrastructure
4.Business Application Needs: IT Duopoly – IT executives and business unit leaders decide
5.IT Investments and Prioritisation: Business Monarchy – corporate executives or business committees allocate funds

In this model, the overall IT investment portfolio is set by the business centre who will test the business case and value for money before approving any IT spend. However each business unit or department has more flexibility in its choice of applications.

Configuration 3 – Business decides together

1.IT Principles: Business Monarchy
2.IT Architecture: Business Monarchy
3.IT Infrastructure: Business Monarchy
4.Business Application Needs: Federal
5.IT Investments and Prioritisation: Business Monarchy

Under this system, IT delivers the IT, but corporate executives make all the decisions. This configuration relies on a high degree of understanding of IT in the business leaders in order to work.

What about the States of Jersey?

MIT found only these three models to be effective, so we should adopt one of them. The question is which one?

The States is a relatively small, geographically compact, but hugely diverse organisation with technically complex IT needs. This would quickly rule out Configuration 3 - the States does not work that way.

The most effective States of Jersey Configuration would resemble Configuration 2. IT Architecture and IT Infrastructure strategies would be decided by the States’ IS executives, who are accountable for performance, resilience and value for money. IS policies, business application needs, and IT investments would be decided and tailored by / for departmental leaders with IS executives.
Currently we mainly have departmentally-based IT decisions being taken and deployed. These fix tactical / critical imperatives at the expense of strategic synergies.

Moving towards Configuration 2 would involve a reform programme encouraging IT governance, but with two short-term caveats:

1.Business Application Needs decisions should be taken by a combination of corporate centre and business units in conjunction with IT executives and departmental leaders (a combination of the Federal and IT Duopoly approaches)
2.IT Investments decisions should be taken by corporate executives and department committees alongside IS executives and departmental leaders (the same combination, but with a greater emphasis on IT Duopoly)

The MIT research provides hard evidence for the importance of governance in all IT-related decisions. It is essential, therefore, that the appropriate configuration is adopted so that all the appropriate groups are properly consulted before important IT decisions are made.

THE AUTHOR

Neil Wells (Director of Information Services)
February 2013

Original Source

http://www.gov.je/Government/Departments/ChiefMinisters/ChiefMinistersSections/InformationServices/Pages/FutureInformationServices.aspx#anchor-0

Big change or small change? The more things change the more they stay the same?

Another saying also rings true: Those who do not study history are condemned to repeat it. Whether in government, business or personal matters, we all know of examples of people who, if they had only stopped to reflect for more than a moment, would have avoided making a mistake. If only…


Catching up with old friends

I recently caught up with some friends whom I have not seen for a while. Both work for the same organisation but one suggested that everything had changed since they last saw me and the other that nothing much had changed.

It struck me that there constants and change around us all the time and our perceptions are based on what we choose to focus upon. As someone passionate about outdoor pursuits I appreciate that the sun, moon, and tide are constant whereas the currents, wind and weather are always changing. This is clearly a factor of whether you focus on the big picture or the small detail.

When embarking on a change programme what you choose to focus upon determines people’s perceptions. If they are worried about change perhaps focus then on the constants that they can rely upon like a lighthouse guiding you in turbulent seas. If they are impatient about change then maybe confidence can be built from incremental steps.

The challenge of leadership is choosing the right narrative which will appeal, galvanise and through a sense of community and shared purpose direct effort.

Big change or small change

I am reminded that Dave Brailsford [Performance Director for Team Sky (Great Britain’s professional cycling team),] believed in a concept that he referred to as the “aggregation of marginal gains.” He explained it as “the 1 percent margin for improvement in everything you do.” His belief was that if you improved every area related to cycling by just 1 percent, then those small gains would add up to remarkable improvement. (See link below)

There is no doubt that we are creatures of nature and nurture and that changes in the environment have a cumulative effect on our perceptions, our behaviours and potentially our values and sense of self.

Roberts Dilts's Neuro-Logical Levels (See link below) suggests that the environment affects us, just as much as we effect the environment. If we are in a nice place (environment) with kind people (behaviour) and feel able (capability) and valued (beliefs) we feel good about ourselves (identity) and potentially feel fulfilled (spiritual).

Approaching from the opposite direction also holds true, if they feel confident, competent, able and valued people will be able to change the environment around them; either by charisma or practically by making physical changes. This is what people seek to achieve when we talk about “empowerment” but this often fails if the components are not aligned.

The above suggests then that the impact of small changes should not be underestimated. However is it better to do 100 things at 1% or 1 thing at 100% or maybe find a sweet spot somewhere in the middle? Conventional thinking says success comes from focussing on what is important, what makes the biggest impact.

This suggest that the grand gesture, the iconic project, the land-mark or milestone should be the focus of attention.

What is the best approach?

So should changes be evolutionary, from within through coaching, support, training, guidance and using incremental initiatives to effect change? Or should changes be revolutionary and fundamentally challenge assumptions and re-direct attentions?

Key factors

1. The circumstances of the organisation will make a big difference. If you’re heading for a crash something radical and rapid may be called for. If all that is required is a small change in course then better to maintain momentum and commitment with small adjustments.
2. The perceptions, experience and expectations of the people will be a key factor: if the people aren’t right and you have little time then a revolution and recruitment may yield faster and better results than a development programme. If your raw material is good the development will reward you with continuity, loyalty and commitment.
3. The impact on key stakeholders including customers, suppliers, investors etc., may be a critical factor. Their perceptions of the products, services, people and leadership will provide the context and potentially the imperative for change.
4. The style and ambition of the leader will have a huge effect. Whether they are there as a fixer for the investors seeking to build a leadership legacy or delivery commercial impact.

Perhaps surprisingly I have put the leader last, albeit that leadership has the biggest impact. This is because I believe that circumstances dictate the choice of leader. History tells us that when circumstances change then new leadership generally follows.

Suggestions, feedback and alternative views are very welcome.

Links

http://jamesclear.com/marginal-gains
http://www.communicatingexcellence.com/wp-content/uploads/neurologicallevels.pdf

The Author

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of www.ciChange.org and curator for www.TEDxStHelier.Com . He is Programme Manager for the commercialization of Jersey Harbours and Jersey Airport, and previously Operations Change and Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest, and Project Manager for the Incorporation of Jersey Post. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower with a passion for teaching and learning and is a Tutor/Mentor on the Chartered Management Institute courses. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

Tim HJ Rogers
PRINCE2 - MBA (Consultancy) - APMG Change Practitioner
www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051
Curator TEDxStHelier www.TEDxStHelier.com
Founder ciChange www.ciChange.org