What can happen when you leave the tap on?

I find myself in a common place, I know it is common because of the amount of clichés to describe it. For example:  “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink”.

So often I hear people dissatisfied with their lot, the way things are around here, the way things should be different. If only were we more like them over there, those ideas were tried, we did something different.

The problem with this quest for leadership: For someone else to effect the changes on our behalf, and to our specification is that we seem unable to articulate what we want or recognise it when it is there.

For example: Russell Brand ranting that he doesn’t like the political system and that nobody should vote. Too late it seems to dawn on him that the way to change a political system is to vote for a different one. Far from helping his followers the self-nominated guru of change disenfranchised them and left them in the wilderness whilst the others take the spoils.

Sharing knowledge is hard, because you should neither preach nor teach but simply make available the possibilities. This is because you can only teach according to the others’ willingness, capacity, capability or desire to learn.  The same is true of any rehab, it cannot start until the candidate really , really wants it to start. That is usually at rock bottom.

Are enough people at rock bottom to start a revolution or even evolution?  I don’t think Russell Brand is at rock bottom. He seems to be doing OK.

Knowledge is a bit like water, it is all around us but it is pretty difficult to consume it without a glass which gives it meaning: it becomes a drink, rather than something to float upon, bathe in or surf along.

Running events like ciChange and TEDxStHelier I’ve realised that I’ve left the tap on. There is so much knowledge and opportunity there for everyone, but I haven’t provided any cups or glasses to explain how this might quench their thirst.

The last ciChange event attracted over 200 people, the  next TEDxStHelier will have an audience limited to 100 (TED Talks and the TEDx franchise is strictly controlled) I can fly in speakers from all over the world, setting stages and film crews, provide a show, a fair, food and drink. I am be the impresario but it is rather like pushing string, it only really goes anywhere if someone at the other end is pulling.

So rather than do a Russell Brand and tell you to rebel against the system by staying at home and doing nothing I’m going to tell you that we have a broad and eclectic range of speakers from arts, science, technology and business who may be able to transform your world with their insights.

We have a Tech Fair, where you can look at that world from a Drone’s view or Virtual Reality and you can talk with the thought leaders, entrepreneurs and theorists, as well as the practical people making it happen.

Please bring your own cup, bowl, glass, bath, surf board or boat. I’m not going to tell you what this should mean for you. I’m providing the water it’s up to you what you do with it. I’m not a leader, I am not Russell Brand, I’m simply the guy that turned that tap on.

USEFUK LINKS

Come to TEDxStHelier 6 June 2015 http://www.tedxsthelier.com/

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

Http://www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051

Curator TEDxStHelier (http://www. TEDxStHelier.com)

Founder ciChange (http://www. ciChange.org)

Is it worth dying for?

HAVING A SENSE OF PURPOSE AND A TEST OF RESOLVE

I am going to suggest some really negative thinking, but it’s because it is only when under pressure do we see our true selves and reveal to ourselves our hidden values, limits, bias and assumptions that we simply never bump up  against when we are in our comfort zone.

We have all experienced depression; whether that it has been you, or you comforting someone else it pretty much certain that you will have heard something along the lines of “….not worth living for…” or something similar.

Simply saying “yeah sure it is” really doesn’t help much.  You say it because it helps you and stops you falling into their pit of despair, but it doesn’t really help them (even though you want it to) because they are not listening to you. They are listening to the internal dialogue in their head.

So how do you change the self talk?

Well there are some Chinese torture and prisoner techniques which involved getting prisoners to write pro-Chinese propaganda. The interesting thing is that when you write something the voices in your head provide the narration. When the voices in year head say something you start to believe it. So ironically getting US  to write pro-Chinese propaganda, actually started to brainwash then into believing it, not because the Chinese persuaded them it was true, but because the words flowed through their eyes, their brain, their hands and their pen. The words belonged to them!

OK, so brainwashing is interesting but possibly not the best intervention for someone feeling depression. However I liked the challenge “if life isn’t worth living for, have a go at writing a list of what is worth dying for” This but of reverse psychology breaks the emotional spiral by injecting some analytical thinking and it is interesting because it appears that like the “stall warning” on a plane, people sensing where this might lead pull back out of the dive.

It’s the opposite of “count your blessings” but potentially effective because most of us are critical thinkers, and it’s easier to engage black thinking when you are feeling down than to bounce around wearing a yellow hat of sunshine.

The point is that when you have an idea of what is worth dying for, you have a purpose. When you have clarity on that purpose, and you dedicate yourself to it, you have a pretty good reason to live. If it is something all-consuming and valuable to you and you are dedicated to it, your life will be rich in meaning and value.

This leads me to my second hypothesis. All too often I hear crap like “I’d to anything to be …..” [faster, fitter, thinner, successful, rich, happy] Add what ever you like here. This is a future promise, about a future condition over which you have no experience and nothing at stake (it’s in the future!)

This is bullshit.

A much more realistic test of someone’s resolve is “What are you prepared to give up….” [friends, family, alcohol, chocolate, reputation, money, health] Add what ever you like here. This is a real test of choice, hard choices. Real choices. This is concrete because these are things you know and value, you have experience and something is at stake.

I know someone’s resolve when they answer this.

It doesn’t guarantee success, but resolve is a critical starting point for change. Without it change will falter at the first temptation or distraction.

If you are a psychotherapist , psychologist or psychiatrist (ie qualified to give an opinion on this ) I would be very interested in your views. If you are a witch doctor, or homeopath your views will be interesting too, but they are less likely to change my mind.

 USEFUK LINKS

http://atroche.org/post/61633164818/how-china-brainwashed-american-pows-using-a

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/106/6/912/

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
Http://www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051
Curator TEDxStHelier (http://www. TEDxStHelier.com)
Founder ciChange (http://www. ciChange.org)

PEOPLE AND EVENTS, KNOWLEDGE, LEADERSHIP AND CHOICE

A WEEK OF IDEAS:

It has been a fab week meeting and listening to 3 world class speakers on leadership, change and management: Jim Lawless, Mike King and Julian Stodd  (see links below) and I look forward to following @jimlawless @julianstodd @MikeKingLT on twitter.

Learning however is not about listening and accepting what you’ve heard, but instead about thinking, reflecting and applying this to your world. Below are some thoughts arising from their ideas and where they overlap and conflict with each-other causing interesting ripples  of logic which, to me, seem worth reflecting upon.

THE IMPACT OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS

The Leadership Trust taster talked about the impact we have on people and events, and vice versa the impact people and events have upon us as well as the impact we have upon ourselves.  I highly recommend their course.

THE VALUE OF KNOWLEDGE

I did however challenge whether the impact of knowledge  was potentially more important than the impact of other things, since knowledge can profoundly affect your attitude, behaviours and feelings towards self, people and events.

Ironically the Leadership Trust event involved a team challenge, where some additional information (added knowledge) made a profound difference to the event and behaviours. Moreover since the course is about imparting knowledge (of self and others) and the value of the course is how we use that I think this is a critical factor.

However I am a knowledge junkie, a facts and figures guy. A analyse and think way too much and so whilst I’ve made a logical case for the pursuit of knowledge I realise those with differing personality profiles and cultural experiences will disagree.

Meeting Julian Stodd  within 24 hours of the Leadership Trust course proved timey and rewarding.

KNOWLEDGE IS NOT POWER

In his book (which I highly recommend, see link below) he started by talking about the importance of knowledge. This made me happy. He then continued marching on making the point that knowledge isn’t really that important since the sum of all human knowledge the world has ever known is about 3 clicks away on Google. 

My world wobbled a bit. All those courses I’ve done, all those books I’ve read, all the people that I have met and talked with; all the knowledge that I have acquired and stored is more readily available to you via Google Search. I am redundant. We all are.

However the title of Julian’s book gives a hint to the solution:  The Social Leadership Handbook.

SOCIAL LEADERSHIP IS CONTEXT AND TIMING

Knowledge has no value unless it is shared, and will not be accepted unless it has meaning.  Einstein would be a forgotten person if he never told anyone that E=MC2 (squared!), or taken the opportunity to explain the significance of this to us all.

This makes sense to me. As Founder for ciChange and Curator for TEDxStHelier, both of which are about sharing knowledge, new ideas, new thinking and challenging people, leaders and community to harness the opportunities I absolutely “get-it”.

You see knowledge without application is pointless, despite my predilection for gathering it. The application of knowledge is only likely to happen in when it adds meaning to the context. When you are struggling with a problem (person, event or self) the right knowledge made available at the right time, in the right way is like the well placed wrench when you find a loose bolt.

The challenge for leaders is not necessarily to equip everyone with a complete toolkit but instead the well timed availability of exactly the right tool at just the time when it starts to dawn on people that this might be useful.

THE ROLE OF A LEADER

I was delighted to find that Julian is a paddler and emailed him as follows…

Good to see you. Let me know if you want a paddle, but feel free to hook-up with these guys if you prefer {I included some links}  Don’t feel you have to take any option, happy to just give you the choice.

In that moment I realised something. In writing “..Don’t feel you have to take any option, happy to just give you the choice…” I considered that perhaps this is the role of leadership. It isn’t command and control, and it isn’t motivate and empower, it is give people knowledge (information that has value and meaning) then simply offer them the choice.

                                                

The ones that exercise that choice are your followers and the ones that don’t are still very nice people. I’d suggest any effort in trying to command and control, or motivate and empower maybe wasted on the latter group.

 USEFUK LINKS

Jim Lawless has presented to JT and many of the top States’ people
http://www.jimlawless.com/

Mike King and The Leadership Trust has launched their new programme in Jersey
http://leadership.org.uk/leading-with-impact/

Julian Stodd  is presenting at Prosperity 24.7 - Leadership in the Social Age
https://julianstodd.wordpress.com/

https://julianstodd.wordpress.com/2014/09/10/the-social-leadership-handbook-launching-today/

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

Http://www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051

Curator TEDxStHelier (http://www. TEDxStHelier.com)

Founder ciChange (http://www. ciChange.org)

Changing our view on Leadership and Followership

I have recently attended a course on Leadership. I am sure a significant majority of managers have recently done the same.

To put that into context within 48 hours the following high-profile Leadership and Change Management people have done presentations in Jersey

Jim Lawless has presented to JT and many of the top States’ people
http://www.jimlawless.com/

Mike King and The Leadership Trust has launched their new programme in Jersey
http://leadership.org.uk/leading-with-impact/

Julian Stodd  is presenting at Prosperity 24.7 - Leadership in the Social Age
https://julianstodd.wordpress.com/

Some thoughts…

I won’t talk about the content of the course I did (with The Leadership Trust) nor will I try to profess its value and that I might be a better leader (title), or able to show leadership (behaviour) as a result.

Instead I want to share some thoughts about Leadership and learning, which may be either timely (or ill-timed) depending on your view of the surreptitious orchestration of Leadership and Change Management people.

I am a cynic on the subject of Leadership since I recoil at charismatic (personality driven) leadership which can be narcissistic and generally only acceptable in a time of crisis or war. I am more of a disciple of humble leadership which is about collaboration, co-operation and teamwork.

I strongly believe this to be the case given the pace of change, technology, education and the increasing emphasis on trust. Let me explain this further.

Perhaps 100 years ago technology could be comprehended and education was such that some people are the thinkers (upper class) and others are the doers (working class). Management (middle class) is straight forward and somewhat based on industrial thinking.

Nowadays however people do not really comprehended technology: how many of you could build the car that you drive, or programme the computer that you use? Instead we trust that someone else has done their job, and simply work on ours. We don’t second guess the pilot, driver, and scientist.

However ironically education means we aren’t split into the educated elite and work-force there is increasing democracy and opinion on management and leadership. We all have an opinion on our boss, the leader, the prime minister or the football manager or coach.

So we live in a world where we have education, democracy and opinion without comprehension or capacity to cope with a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world of fast paced changes.

The importance of Trust

In my opinion the only way to cope with this is through careful and thoughtful allocation of trust. I am fascinated by the teamwork in a Formula 1 pit stop. There is no panic, everyone has a role, they are all professional and none interfere with each-other during execution of the task. There may be lots of dialogue, introspection in the design and practice but once agreed the plan is executed with precision.

Who do we choose to trust and follow? You might surmise from the Formula 1 comment above that my choices are based on knowledge, experience and action, but I fully accept that others might use based on looks, personality or charisma or many other criteria based on culture, education and their preferences and biases.

I learned a couple of things about myself

I look at an “open field” of opportunity and think I wonder what can be done over there? I know others look at a product or service and wonder where or with whom can they develop their ideas.

I avoid looking at titles, badges and names and look at behaviours and skills. So when people meet I’ll note what they “do” (or how they might be a useful resource) rather than who they “are”. I hadn’t realised that for example when introducing myself I will tell people what I do, but nothing about who I am.

In the leadership task we were given this became apparent when the team I was working in were fixated on the “problem” and learning the factors, patters, etc., whereas the other team were more interested in the “people”.

In the debrief the team working on the problem said they didn’t feel personally pressured (under scrutiny) whereas the other team did feel anxious. The outcome was that Team A failed to complete the task in time, and Team B didn’t, but importantly since it was meant to be an overall challenge we collectively failed.

There was subtle animosity / friction between Team A and Team B for the competition and collective failure, which got me thinking: Would it have been best for both teams to succeed, but second-best for both teams to fail?

What are your attitudes to challenges, winning or losing?

Let’s think about the possible outcomes

A wins, B wins
A wins, B loses
A loses, B wins
A loses, B loses


Some questions…

In what order of preference would you put these results if they were teams or departments working in the same organisation?

Would your preference change if you knew which team you were on, or the personalities on Team A and Team B?

Would your preference change depending on the nature of the task: 1) Life critical task where someone might die 2) Tasks where there is no “fail” only different levels of success 3) Tasks with no discernible value our outcome for the participants

The implications…

I think exploring your own answers (and reasons) may be revelatory to you in understanding your own views of leadership and followership.  This is important because there can be no leadership without followership.

I believe success comes from being able to do both equally well, hence my emphasis on humble leadership, collaboration, cooperation and communication.

I welcome feedback