Engine For Change

Deeds, not words.” – George Washington’s motto

This week I had the odd occasion to listen to a George Washington impersonator give a keynote address.  In full character, the impersonator shared his (George Washington’s) motto, “Deeds, not words.”

Fewer words could not sum up driving change as those three words do.

When other books or blogs tell you to “walk the talk”, replace that often-said-but-rarely-enacted phrase with a mental picture of George Washington standing tall in front of you, calling you forward with “Deeds, not words.”

Have you ever played the game Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon?

In the game one player names an actor.  The other player has to walk through a sequence of movies from the first actor to another then another to eventually reach a movie with Kevin Bacon in it.

Over at The Oracle of Bacon you can just type in the first actor’s name and have the shortest sequence between that actor and Kevin Bacon revealed to you.

I typed in Hayden Christensen (aka Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in the new Star Wars trilogy) and it told me that he was in New York, I Love You with Andy Garcia, who was in The Air I Breathe with Kevin Bacon.  Pretty neat.  I never would have guessed those connections.

Click over to The Oracle and type in a few of your favorite actors.   How many steps did it take to reach Kevin Bacon?

Now that we’re done with our fun, you are probably wondering, “How does The Oracle of Bacon relate to driving change?”

Thanks for asking.

When we driving change, we admit that we must know people enough to gain their willingness to go with us through our change.  I’ve found that a power-multiplier in gaining people’s willingness is in knowing how people relate to one another, both within and across organizations.  Hence the title of this post, “All in the family.”  You’ll benefit from knowing how the people you are dealing with fit together, what roles and responsibilities they have, and whether they live to those responsibilities or vary wildly from expectations.

Now that you know the value of the relational knowledge, a good trick when you are starting a change is to brainstorm who or what groups of people will be affected by your change.  Who will you have to partner with to reach your goal?

Next, draw a diagram of how those people relate.  Are they actually related (e.g., his brother is the head of accounting) or organizationally related (e.g., the director of marketing sits on the safety committee with the operations director)?  Can you use those connections to bring people into your change?

Next time your change is bogged down behind an obstacle and you are searching for any way over, under or around it, consider drawing out the relationships and looking for the shortest routes between you and the people you need to meet.   Chances are you’ll find a connection you’ve never thought about before and will be past that obstacle before you know it.

They are Kevin Bacon.

You are the actor.

Now act.

Why not try?

We have a tradition at work called the Donut Offense.  You receive a Donut Offense from your peers whenever a list of good or bad things happens to you.  The list includes: have a baby, get your picture in the paper, win an award, forget your badge at home.  Once you receive a Donut Offense, much like receiving a speeding ticket, you are required to pay your fine.  You can guess what the fine is for a Donut Offense. Yep. It’s donuts for your entire work group.

The history of the Donut Offense is long and storied in our workplace with some groups publishing elaborate lists of offenses and posting them prominently in their work areas. Others stick to the simple list similar to the offenses above.   Either way, the Donut Offense is everywhere and no one knows when it started or why.

What troubles me about this tradition is the way it influences individuals to either shy away from success or face punishment.

Last week for example, an award presentation was haunted with Donut Offenses hurled at the award winner, the coworker who nominated her for the award and the bystanders in the room who might–just might–be in the pictures in the work newspaper.  What should have been a joyous occasion unblemished by threats was filled with symbolic tickets against the winner, coworker and group happiness.  No one likes a cop writing tickets at a party.

My attempts at unraveling the Donut Offense’s power over the organization always leads me to the experiment with the monkeys, the fire hose and the banana. It is a fabulous experiment highlighting how quickly groups can take on and perpetuate destructive behaviors.

The experiment goes roughly like this:

• Put five monkeys in a cage.
• Add a ladder and a banana at the top of the ladder.
• When one monkey goes for the banana, spray all the monkeys with a fire hose.
• Repeat as necessary, watching the monkeys learn to yank down any monkey who even tries to go for the banana.  Soon you won’t have to use the fire hose to keep the monkeys away from the banana.  They will keep each other from reaching the prize.
• Slowly swap one monkey out for a new monkey who has never seen the fire hose, but learns through mimicking the others to pull down any monkey that goes for the banana.
• Repeat the swap until all five original monkeys are gone and no monkey in the cage has ever seen the fire hose.  They will continue to pull at any monkey who tries for the banana.

Maybe you don’t have the Donut Offense at your organization, but I bet you have some tradition that is equally as destructive to joy.

Has that tradition stopped you from celebrating a success, from sharing your joy or telling your story to others?

Stop being a scared monkey.  The fire hose is gone.  It’s time to go for the banana.

Why not try?

Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.” – Karen Kaiser Clark