Engine For Change

The first duty of a wise advocate is to convince his opponents that he understands their arguments and sympathizes with their feelings.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Today I disregarded my opponents and spent the day with my allies. For 11 hours we discussed change management, Dave Snowden’s Cynefin Framework and my motivation perspective coordinate system. Plus, we told a lot of great stories about this time and that where we enjoyed ourselves, failed miserably, succeeded triumphantly and learned a lot about driving change in complex organizations.

We rattled off book after book that each of us had read and was encouraging the others to read.  I haven’t totaled up all the titles, but I think my reading list is now full for the next several months, if not several years.

Cherish your allies and study your opponents.  Both will make you a more wise advocate tomorrow than you are today; and everyone could use more wisdom these days.

Have a fabulous week driving change!

I slumped in my chair, closed my eyes and sighed under my breath, “Ugh!”

What else can you say when you watch a truly urgent plea for transformation closely followed by a detailed paper directing the recipients to perform typical incremental improvement behavior?

What can you do when a valiant call for new, purposeful action is weighed down under words urging you to wait until the teleconference, or next meeting, or some later date to report your thoughts (not your actions, your plans, your true passion…nope, just your thoughts)?

You could hire Kotter International.  According to Dr. John Kotter, quoted in a recent Business Wire article,

All around us, change is accelerating, but our ability to lead change hasn’t kept pace. Managers are trained to make incremental, programmatic improvements. They aren’t trained to lead large-scale change. Kotter International is about leading large-scale change, not just managing it.”

When you know where to look, you’ll start to find too many examples in your daily life where people plea for transformation and demand incremental change.

The church council knows it has an aging population and a negative bank account, but its congregation is happy to wait another month to consider all options before acting.  Transformation meets an incremental monster.

The volunteer group’s strategic planning session paints a lofty vision of their impact on their community, then they bicker over how to structure their strategic planning meeting minutes, never starting the strategic change.  Transformation eaten by the incremental monster.

The organization that has a true need to transform from one century to the century beyond next, bogs down early in wishes to discuss the group’s thoughts in incremental meetings with elaborate action approval processes (never written down of course).  Transformation dead before it even meets the incremental monster.

Perhaps I’m venting to much..what was my point again?  Oh, yes.

For someone passionate about driving change, a world in need of transformation but plagued with incremental action can be maddening, but there are at least five ways out of the incremental monster’s lair.

1.  Refuse to be incremental.  Someone once told me he was fiercely committed to always being rigidly flexible in the service of his goals.  Take his advice and be rigidly flexible regarding your transformation.  You’ll be driving change: acknowledging the concerns of those you pass, but not stopping to convince them to come with you.  You’ll just keep going.  Someday they’ll join along.  Sure, they’ll make faster progress because you’ve blazed the trail for them to follow, but you’re not in competition with them; you’re in pursuit of your transformation.

2.  Offer the transformation option.  If you’re not the one in charge (and no matter the organization, you’re rarely the one in charge), try offering transformation to the powers in control.  And, offer transformation with your promise to work hard along side them on the transformation.  Offer your service to the congregation, to the volunteer board, to the bureaucratic organization. You’ll be putting yourself out there, but it’ll be worth it, even if they don’t accept your offer.  Why? Because after you make the suggestion of transformation they can’t honestly say they didn’t know transformation was an option. And if they try to crush you after you willingly offered to be a servant to their transformation then you know exactly the type of people you are working with (and I’d recommend for your sanity you try to work elsewhere).  See. Either way you learned something essential to driving your change.

3.  Let others choose the transformation for themselves.  You’re likely right in the transformation you’re suggesting.  Being right doesn’t matter.  Unless you truly have the power to compel people’s passions and minds into your service (and I doubt you do even with the best of power structures), if you force them along with you you’re going to kill in them exactly what you need alive to make your transformation successful.  When they’re journeying with you, they’ll need to be thinking, breathing, feeling members of your transformation.  Indentured servants and beaten serfs rarely produce the genius required to keep a transformation moving.

4.  Give them hope in the transformation.  People fear the unknown (how cliche’ but true) and they’ll worry the journey to the transformation will be rough.  Why not just admit to them it will be?  “Yep.  This will probably be the hardest thing you ever do.  And, because it’s the hardest, it will likely be the most fulfilling.”  Pick your point on the horizon, your transformation.  Tell them you’re setting your course that way, ready for what the road brings you, confident you’ll get there in due time and you’d love for them to join you. Say that and mean it. Then, set out and see what happens.  Give them some hope both for the end and for the journey and you’ll be surprised who joins you.

5.  Measure something new.  If you work for transformation and all the signs (the metrics, the dollar figures, the graphs, the charts, the meeting and the status symbols) remain the same as the old route, you’re not helping anyone.   Keeping the old is the incremental change trap.  Break free by admitting up front that you’ll have to leave some of those signs behind.  When we travel cross country in the U.S. we can be sure that the sign that says California will shift to one that says Nebraska then Illinois then New York, but all the signs are in English.  The words are different, but the language the same.  Do the same thing with the numbers, the figures, the praised and rewarded facts.  Bring enough of the old, but tailor it first for the new.

Maybe I’m rambling after a long weekend away and a busy day catching up.  Maybe I’m making sense.  The point of the five steps is to give you confidence that there are some quick, specific ways of acting that will help you in turning a plea for transformation into actual transformation instead of a pit of incremental monster mud.

To recap:

1. Refuse to be incremental.

2. Offer transformation.

3. Let them choose.

4. Give them hope.

5. Change the measures.

Or, you can skip my ramblings and hire Kotter International. Either way, keep driving change.

When I’m sitting around a table after work with my friends sometimes it’s fun to go around the table and tell our “the only one” stories about how one of us has been the only one who’s done something, knows something or has seen something at work.  A few of my favorites to tell are:

• Years ago a young officer claimed that I was likely the only person to ever bring a purse into the engine room of the USS Asheville (SSN 758).  He declared this to me in a rather shocked and bothered tone.  (In my defense, a purse seemed a perfectly ogical place for me to carry my pen and paper.  Am I right ladies?)
• You could maybe tell from my first story that I work in a shipyard.  Yesterday I painted my nails while standing just inside the turnstiles to that same shipyard.  By the end of the day I started to wonder if I may be the only person to have ever stopped there to paint their nails.  An entirely non-scientific poll of my friends suggests my assumption may be right. [If you’re wondering what would ever possess me to paint my nails on my way into work, well…I’m very busy at home and I’m nothing if not efficient with my time.  My walk to my office Is the perfect nail drying time.  I can’t let that time go to waste.)

These “only one” stories are fun after hours, but when you’re driving change in your organization you can’t afford for long to be the only one who has done something, knows something or has seen something.  Why? Because your change doesn’t depend on whether you can do it, know it or see it.

You have to get others to do it, know it and see it too. To get them there, I bet you’ll need to use stories.

You’ll need to create some “we were all…” stories.

How?

I can’t answer that question in a general sense, but I can point you to some good folks who’ll help you formulate how to tell the right stories.  Check out Chip and Dan Heath’s Made to Stick.

Just last week I used the lessons they taught me to transform an executive’s title change from a dull, administrative choice into a story that people have been telling all week. The story I overheard was, “We were all in the meeting and on a card sitting on the table was his title, but his old title was crossed out with thick black marker.  Now it says…”

Who’s telling stories about your change?

Don’t be the only one.

A 24-hour clock has the numbers 13 through 24 written inside the typical clock dial to allow someone to rapidly read PM times as their 24-time equivalents, e.g., 1 pm is 1300 and 10 pm is 2200.

A few weeks ago I noticed a 24-hour clock just like this one on a conference room wall.  I noticed the clock and thought, “How interesting!”

Why did I have such an excited response to a clock?

Because the clock is an example of driving change.

Let me elaborate.

If I calculate how often a reference to time comes up in meetings in the conference room per week, and reduce that by the times that are between midnight and noon (and therefore the same in both systems) I can’t get more than a few dozen to a few hundred repetitions of this problem each week.  Add on to that the clock saves human mind processing time of mere seconds per occurrence and we’re looking at calculated “savings” from installing the clock as too small to count and certainly too small to report.

Yet, someone felt compelled to put up this clock and took all the actions to get it in place.

I find that fascinating.

The problem isn’t flashy and exciting; it’s localized and small.

The problem doesn’t have a big monetary justification; it matters to whom it matters to.

If someone had waited for “management buy-in” of the solution how long would they have waited; instead they just installed the clock.

Not every change takes a long time, impacts a lot of people, or changes the world; and that’s okay.

Driving small change–even if only to remove a small snag that makes a small difference for a small group of people–matters too.

End note: Just a few days ago, I was discussing the times for a conference and I naturally defaulted to using military times for the start and end times (e.g., 0800 to 1530).  I could tell from the pause in the conference center employee’s voice that she was unfamiliar with military time. I translated the times to 8 am to 3:30 pm.  When I finished giving her the times she said, “Thanks for translating that for me.”  With all the military folks she deals with, maybe I should tell her about getting one of these clocks.

Seth Godin’s post “Seized of the matter,” referring to how the U.N. Security Council has a method to seize and hold issues that they refuse then to allow the full body to debate, got me thinking about a few of my pet peeve statements that can slow down or stop change.

1. “When did we decide that?”  The implication is that you all agreed that you would all agree before any action was taken.  This is usually used on the most minor of issues that if you would have brought them before the whole group would have been met with the statement, “Why are you wasting our time with this?”  If you can’t win either way, might as well decide and let them ask this question after the change has already flown by in front of them.

2.  “When did you tell me that?” or its worse cousin, “You never told me that.’ which really means “I don’t know if you told me or not, but I know you didn’t make me care enough to listen!”  When dealing with a group change effort, documentation is your friend.  Take notes in meetings and type the notes into minutes.  The minutes will help you and everyone else remember what they’d rather forget.  Send out e-mails after the meetings recapping Agreements or Decision and Remaining Actions.  They still probably won’t listen and they’ll still try to pull “You didn’t make me care enough!” but you’ll have the electronically captured memories on your side.  Slowing down to point them toward the minutes is a lot quicker to recover from than slowing down to have the conversation, “Remember on Tuesday the 12th when we decided…”

3.  “Who told you to do that?”  I’ve already covered that one in a blog post.  Just answer, “I did.” (as diplomatically as you can) and keep on going.

What’s the point of all this?

When you’re dealing with a group change, no matter how much you discuss deciding, document deciding and ask permission people will always ask these three questions, and more.

These stopper questions are just a muddy field in front of your fast car.

Don’t let them drag you into the mud.

Steer clear of the mud and keep driving change.

I bet you’ve met someone like Bill before.

Bill works hard every day, is above average in his work output and is a pleasure to work with.  Bill is waiting patiently for his boss to offer him a big promotion.  Bill hasn’t applied for any new jobs, hasn’t mentioned his interest in the promotion to his boss, and is not known to many people outside his immediate work group.  Bill is known as a patient guy.  He knows the promotion will come someday if he just waits patiently.

Ugh! Poor Bill.  Someone has misled him all these years.  I’d be surprised if he ever gets that promotion with the way he’s going about getting it.

Bill’s story leads me to our quote of the week:

Patience is the art of waiting.  It is not necessarily the art of waiting patiently.” – Peter Kreeft

I find joy in this quote, joy because it lends shades of color to the blog tag line, “Stop waiting.  Start driving the change you want.”  And, it helps Bill understand what he must do to get his promotion.

When I wrote, “Stop waiting,” I had in my head the picture of you hearing, “Stop waiting!” then awakening, leaping to your feet, and putting your shoulder to the boulders in front of you, the boulders that stand between you and the change you want.

Yet, I expected you would know that I meant for you to keep at the boulders, day after day, even if (and especially if) they seem immovable.  I expected you to know I was encouraging you to be patient for your outcome and at the same time impatient in your actions today.

But, how could you know that was what I expected?  I didn’t clearly say.  Let’s try to make the situation clear by returning to our friend, Bill.

Do this: Be patient for your destination.  You will arrive in time and it’ll be worth the wait.

Bill may have all the knowledge, skills and abilities to deserve that promotion and excel in the new role. Bill should set his sights on that promotion and know that someday it will be his.

While also doing this: Act impatiently along your journey.  Those who wait patiently rarely ever reach their destination.

Bill must act impatiently today.  By the end of the day, he could tell his boss he is interested in the next promotion.  By the end of the week, Bill could ask what training, experiences or results he’d need to be considered for the promotion.  By the end of the month, Bill could network with other colleagues, to increase his name recognition with the promotions board members.  Bill could do a lot of things and Bill should do something, today, this week and this month to get noticed and draw others to his side in his journey for a promotion.  If Bill does nothing but wait patiently, then he’s likely to get nothing in the end.

Don’t be Bill.

Be patient for the destination and wildly impatient along the journey.

Stop waiting. Start driving the change you want.

Why not start today?

Should you follow the advice at this blog–at any blog–or in any Harvard Business Review article or from any management coach? How can you tell which advice to act on and which to toss aside?

When you’re giving advice, are you giving people something they can use or are you seemingly just talking to hear yourself talk?

In Flawed Advice and the Management Trap, Chris Argyris describes how a manger–or anyone really–can test advice prior to acting.

I’ve used Argyris’ tests  to filter the advice I’ve received and to improve the advice I give others.  I’ve saved time by using Argyris’ tests.

Up at my desk I’ve posted a short cheat sheet of Argyris’ tests.  The posted questions keep the tests fresh in my mind.  I couldn’t read Argyris once and immediately implement his advice to perfection.  I had to practice (and I still am).  Practice applying these tests and you’ll only get better at driving change.

Argyris’ Tests of Good Advice

1. Is the advice valid?

• If implemented correctly it leads to the consequences that it predicts will occur.
• Its effectiveness persists so long as no unforeseen conditions interfere.
• It can be implemented and tested in the world of everyday practice.

2. Is the advice actionable?

• It specifies the detailed, concrete behaviors required to achieve the intended consdequences.
• It must be crafted in the form of designs that contain causal statements.
• People must have, or be able to be taught, the concepts and skills required to implement the causal statements.
• The context in which it is to be implemented does not prevent its implementation.

3. Is the advice helpful?

• It specifies intended outcomes or objectives to be produced.
• It specifies the sequence of actions required to produce them.
• It specifies the actions required to monitor and test for any errors or mismatches.
• It specifies the actions required to correct such errors or mismatches.

Once you’re great at driving change, I bet people watching you will say you’re:

• setting an example,
• being a good listener, but not compromising on your values,
• continually teaching other people, and
• helping people pull away from their current practice and beliefs and move into the new philosophy without a feeling of guilt about the past.

W. Edwards Deming defined someone with these characteristics as a person transformed; a person who had achieved a place in a system of profound knowledge.

Captain Ralph Soule wrote up an excellent excerpt of Deming’s system description, cutting together vital definitions to make the abstract concepts hang together in one post.

If you don’t know Deming, read Soule’s post before continuing or the rest of this post likely won’t make as much sense as it could. (more…)

If you want to succeed a driving change, practice drawing pictures.  Specifically, practice drawing pictures of either what the future looks like or what the journey to the future looks like.

Why?

Because people think in pictures.  If you can draw a picture in their minds that they can put themselves in, look around and feel at home, then you gotten them to a place where they can comfortably take action to join you in that vision.

Without the picture they are like a person in a dark, unfamiliar room, tripping over everything as they fumble for the lights.  Give them the light; give them the pictures.  Whether in words or drawings, they must have the picture.

Today I spent the day trying to figure out how to show the strategic vision of complex system in easy to understand words and drawings (notice I didn’t say simple–simple often has a bad connotation).  By the end of the day I got to a picture that while imperfect will stand in for a blank piece of paper and will get others talking about how the picture doesn’t match what they see in their heads.  That’s the conversation I want to happen.  Their comments will change the picture from mine to ours and in the end it must be our picture for the change to succeed.

Over the years, three things have helped me draw better and better pictures quicker and quicker, allowing me to drive change faster and faster.  These three things may not work perfectly for you, but they certainly won’t hurt you:

1. Start with the ultimate one-day experience: Edward Tufte’s one-day Presenting Data and Information course.

Tufte will teach you the essentials.   You won’t be the same when you leave at the end of the day, because you’ll have rules to measure what excellent visual displays of information look like and you’ll have a challenge–in the form of Tufte’s motivation and the books he sends home with you–to seek excellence because you can, not because you must.  [Key: Tufte is driving change in his students and I love him for that.]  If you can’t get to his one day course, check out his site, edwardtufte.com, or his books at your local library.

2.  Read Dan Roam’s Back of the Napkin, a challenge to and method for drawing pictures to gain understanding quickly.

The pixel count of your drawing doesn’t matter if you don’t get your thought across.   But how do you guarantee you can regularly, quickly get your thoughts across?  Well, wherever you are, you’ll rarely be at a loss for the back of a napkin to store your thoughts on.  So, by Roam keeping your tools simple–yet powerful–he gives you needed agility.  Agility is key when you must win someone to your change far away from your computer and polished publicity materials.

3.  Practice.  Practice. Practice.  The more you draw pictures–in meetings, in conversations, with words, with actual drawings–the better you’ll get.  When someone says, “I think I understand what you’re showing me,” and can take action based on your picture–and it’s action toward the outcomes you want–then you’ll know you’re succeeding.

Drive change, in vivid pictures.  All it takes is practice.  Why not try?

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.” – Albert Einstein

As an implementer, an engineer, someone who turns ideas into practical applications, I enjoy this quote.

I enjoy the quote because within it I hear a challenge to do more than absorb information.

I hear a challenge to apply my knowledge, to seek the learning that comes with trying–and yes, sometimes failing–at something new.  [For a lesson in failure: See my post about my first attempt at a Guiding Coalition.]

There is no formal education in driving change.  This blog is a map to help you on your journey.

Don’t confuse this blog with your destination.

It’s time to move past the education.

It’s time to use the map.

It’s time to learn, try, fail and succeed.

It’s time to drive change.

Are you ready?