Resistance can be good. Make Change Work!

May 5, 2012 2 Comments

It is too easy to appreciate the cooperative, positive people in the room.  It is just as easy to be irritated by the nay-sayers, the resistors.  If that is your modus operand you are likely missing some very valuable information and cues.

Did you know that change, according to your brain, is perceived as ‘error’?  Something is not right here… this is not how it used to be.  And, did you also know that know that the part of your brain that perceives ‘error’ is perilously close to the part of your brain that perceives PAIN!  Change can be pain.  Just as people have different levels of tolerance for pain, they also have different levels of tolerance for change.  But, there are things that leaders can do to make the change easier (and more effective) for everyone involved.

Read “Decoding Resistance to Change” by Jeffrey D. Ford and Laurie W. Ford for a great introduction to understanding the responses, from positive cheerleading to outright resistance to change.

Leaders how make change happen:

  • acknowledge that change is a process
  • prepare others
  • support the change process
    • Acknowledge that change is a process:  Change can happen overnight, but acceptance of change is a process.  The most effective leaders understand that all things being equal there is a ‘bell curve’ of responses to change that looks something like this:  there are early adopters and late adopters at each extreme end of the spectrum.  Both of those groups probably comprise about 15% of the population each.  That leaves the 70% in the middle!  The middle group is definitely along a spectrum from what change experts call ‘late majority’ versus ‘early majority’.  That is the first thing any leader must acknowledge — no matter how big or small the change, no matter what you do or don’t do, the ‘majority’ will take some time to adjust to the change.  Each person will go through stages of change that will look and feel different.  Awareness of the reaction to the change and what it means for the stickiness of your change is critical.  Acknowledge it is a process.  Recognize the stages.  And, know how to respond during each stage.

    Prepare others:  Often leaders have had significant time to consider the change.  There have been ‘board room’ discussions of the imperative of the change.  Leaders understand the risks of changing and the risks of maintaining the status quo.  Then, a plan is created and it is time to share the change and the plan with the rest of the organization.  Too often we dive right into the change we need and how we are going to accomplish the change without consideration of the audience.  The majority of the organization is hearing about the change for the very first time.  They will need time to understand, process, reflect, and make up their own mind.  The most important thing a leader can do in introducing the change is to have first considered the pain of changing and the pain of not changing from the perspective of the individual in the audience!  It is your job as the leader to have thought through the discussion from others’ perspective and to create a compelling vision of why the change is good for the organization and the individual.  And, even with that compelling vision, remember — for the majority, change is a process.

    Support the change:  When it is time to implement the change you will need to keep your eyes on the process and where people are in the stages of change.  Are they still in denial or resisting?  Are they open, but not quite ready to dive-in head-first?  Are they exploring or are they fully committed.  Depending on where individuals are in the process, your response and actions must be custom.  For those still in denial or resisting (i.e., the late majority), you have to continue to communicate the ‘why’; allow time for processing; ask questions; acknowledge fears and risks; and share concrete solutions.  You might have to plan ‘baby steps’.  Whatever you do, don’t minimize the value of resistors — they could provide you with exactly the information you need to nudge the rest of the organization even further!  For those in the stage of openness or commitment (the early majority), involve them in the process; provide a lot of training and information; enlist them as positive change leaders.  And, remember change is a process.

    Filed under Change Management, Leadership, Neuroleadership, Organizational change Tagged with , , , ,

    The curse and blessing of great hard-wiring

    February 10, 2012 Leave a comment

    The brain has tons and tons of space for hard-wired knowledge, routines, and experiences.  Relatively speaking, the brain does not have much space for working memory or active problem-solving.  According to David Rock your working memory (pre-frontal cortex) is the size of a square foot cube, then your brain’s capacity for hard-wiring is the size of the milky-way.

    It would stand to reason that the more experiences you have, the more hard-wiring you have.  The more practice you have applying what you know in real situations, the more hard-wired responses you have.  This is great, right?  It creates the ‘automaticity of expertise’.  The more experiences we have, the more we have to draw on when we encounter the same or similar situations without even thinking about it.  And, if you don’t have to think about how to respond, there is more space left in the working memory to solve a new problem.

    Therein lies the blessing of a great capacity for hard-wiring.  Without it we would never be able to function.

    But there is a dark-side.  (Of course there is.)

    Once you have a situation hard-wired, it is very easy to recall that routine and respond as you always have.  Therein lies the curse of a great capacity for hard-wiring.  It is much more difficult, if not impossible, to ‘un-hard-wire’ something in the brain.  It is even difficult to force your brain to think about that hard-wired situation in any way other than the way that is hard-wired.

    It takes a conscious effort to see something in a brand new way.  I have heard of Vuja De… the opposite of Deja Vu… Deja Vu is experiencing something and having the feeling you have already been there.  Vuja De is just the opposite – it is having already been somewhere and being able to experience it as if you have never been there before  (George Carlin via William Taylor).

    That requires some serious, conscious effort.  How can we get a leader to experience Vuja De rather than lean solely on the old hard-wired experiences?

    Questions are the answer.  Use questions that ask about their thinking.  Use questions that challenge assumptions and that can lead to new wiring.  A simple question like ‘are there other things that might explain this?’ can lead a leader down a new path.

    Clearly we can’t live without hard-wiring.  The same could be said about new-wiring – who wants to live without it?

    Filed under brain-based coaching, coaching, Insight, Leadership, Neuroleadership Tagged with , , ,

    Just ask a question, any question!

    February 6, 2012 Leave a comment

    Last week I had the opportunity to experience a full-day of training on ‘facilitation with the brain in mind’ with David Rock of the Neuroleadership Group.    My entire team and many colleagues shared a day of introductory training that started with an introduction to the brain science behind relating, communicating, teaching, and leading.  It was a great refresher for me.

    For the bulk of the afternoon we focused on what David calls the “Dance of Insight”, which is a framework for quality conversations that take a coachee or direct report from ‘impasse to insight’.  The approach just makes sense and I have witnessed, on several occasions now, the positive impact the approach can have in a conversation.  If you are interested in more detail I recommend the book “Quiet Leadership” by Rock.

    What struck me last week was an extension of what I have learned in previous classes and have read in many books and articles. I am convinced of the power of a QUESTION rather than a directive, advice-giving, answer-providing approach to coaching.  But what I realized last week occurred to me in the middle of a practice opportunity.  As I struggled to find ‘just the perfect question’ I realized that all I really needed to do was ASK ANY QUESTION.  If I am convinced that the answer or insight is inside the person with whom I am conversing, then all I really need to do is find A QUESTION that helps them continue their own train of thought.  I don’t need the perfect question, the clever ask that will take them straight to insight…

    I have bought into the value of letting go of being the great ‘advice-giver’.  It seems now that I also need to give up pride of being the ‘most amazing question-asker’.

    Filed under coaching, Insight, Leadership, Leadership Development, Neuroleadership Tagged with , , ,

    Whose job is it anyway?

    December 6, 2011 Leave a comment

    In my previous posts I have mentioned the Neuroleadership Group and what I am learning through their Results Coaching approach.  What I have learned so far has made me change my approach by 180-degrees.

    We all have lots of opportunities to influence others, no matter what our role — parent, peer, partner, coach, manager, friend.  I don’t know about you, but my modus operandi historically, has been to be very free with my advice when people ask.. and sometimes even when they don’t ask.  I like being a problem-solver.  I like being sought out for advice and I like giving it!  (There may or may not be a little ego in there, she types while wearing a smirk!)  But, it is also a tough job, taking on the responsibility of being the problem-solver, advice-giver.

    What I am learning and practicing lately are models and tools for helping people move themselves from their defined Point A to Point B.

    There are two critical points in that last sentence.  The first important point is that A and B (starting point and goal point) are both defined by the ‘coachee’.  The second very important point is that I am NOT moving the person from their starting point to their goal, they are moving themselves!  It is not my job to move them, nor is it even possible.  My only “job” is to ask questions that make the ‘coachee’ think about their own thinking, and determine the best steps to get them from point A to point B.

    There is actually liberation in my new ‘job’ in the process.  I no longer feel the pressure of getting the right answer, giving the right advice, thinking of all the new solutions.  Instead, my job is simply to ask questions that help the person find the solution for themselves.

    I don’t know why I am still so amazed by the process and how it works, but I am.  Just asking someone to think about their own thinking works – the coachee has insights (new connections in the brain).  The solutions are in there, they just need to be teased out.

    Here are few links to books and resources…

    Filed under coaching, Insight, Leadership, Neuroleadership, Results Coaching Tagged with , , , , ,

    I need some new networks… in my brain, that is.

    December 3, 2011 Leave a comment

    There is definitely something brewing in my brain; I can sense networks that are not related yet being activated and trying to find the connections.  And, I can almost identify new networks that I need to build in order to make those connections happen.

    Let me explain.  I have an educational background that is steeped in psychology,  counseling and learning.  I have learned hundreds of theories, models, and techniques for working with people.  I am so energized by the path my education and work has taken me.

    In June I got on a new path toward becoming a certified coach.  The program I chose for my initial certification is based on the work by David Rock of the NeuroLeadership Group.  I am learning more about the brain and how to facilitate a ‘quality conversation’ (see David’s book Quiet Leadership).  I am learning models and tools for helping people move themselves from their defined Point A to Point B.

    There are several new concepts or areas that have been coming up over and over for me since began this journey and this is where things are brewing in my brain.  Before 2-years ago I had never heard about the fields or concepts of  ”Positive Psychology”, “Appreciative Inquiry”, and “Mindfulness”.  In the past two years these fields and concepts keep coming up over and over.  I think I have found my next path of study for the ‘middle’ part of life!

     

     

    Filed under Neuroleadership Tagged with , , , , , ,

    To be simple is complex

    August 14, 2011 1 Comment

    I know more, therefore I say more.  I wrote 100 pages about a topic, which shows my mastery of that topic.  I have many slides with many details about my topic, so I must know much about that topic.

    I remember the first time I had a hint that these statements might not be true.  My Advisor in graduate school shed the light for me.  I had just handed in what I thought was a brilliant first draft of my research paper.  I had read a ton.  I really got it.  I made many connections for myself and I thought I had synthesized the research very well.  I was proud of that first draft, sure that it was going to come back with little feedback and a note that said ‘move on, fabulous start’.  Not quite.

    My Advisor met with me and told me it was a good start.  (What?  A good start?) What he explained to me has stuck with me for 20-years.  He explained the difference between a good summary of what I had read and a valuable summary that the average person could read and understand.  He explained to me that this very smart-sounding summary was the easy part.  He wanted me to take the next and more difficult step – to summarize, synthesize, AND to make the prose something that my mother could read and enjoy.  (And, by the way, my Mom is a wicked-smart woman.)

    I didn’t understand.  I thought I was going after the advanced degree to become an expert in area of interest.  I thought I was going to grad school to join an elite group of people who could write all kinds of things that only others ‘in the group’ would be interested in.  But, as he spoke to me, I started to understand.  It made sense. And, it WAS the more difficult task.  Much more difficult.

    Fast-forward 20-years.  I have submitted the first draft of a presentation at work.  There is great information on those slides – all 29 of them!  You guessed it- the same feedback came my way.  Eileen, exactly what is the core message? What are the (maximum) three key points you want the audience to walk away with?  What do you want people to actually remember at the end of your slide presentation? 

    Guess what – if our short term memory can hold only a limited number of ideas at once, then not too many of my 29 slides will be remembered.  Every good nugget of information or insight will be competing for brain space such that not one of them will be remembered.  And if I have not facilitated a connection in the brain, nothing will be remembered.

    It’s about the brain.  It’s about the brain and how much information it can hold at once (in working memory).  And it’s about the connections that have to made in the brain to increase the likelihood things will be remembered.

    So, I have developed a new habit.  I won’t claim to have mastered the habit, but I ‘get it’ now.  Once I have worked through my first draft of anything I am now committed to reworking it one more time.  My first pass is typically from my perspective.  That is, what information and message do I want to convey?  What key points do I want to make?  What is the ‘why’ behind my message?  Notice the ‘I’ and ‘my’ in the description of that first pass.

    My second pass MUST be from the perspective of the audience.  From what perspective will the audience hear the message?  How will my message create value for the audience?  To what can I connect this message that will make sense to my audience?  What are the 1-3 key messages I want to convey?

    That second pass, from the perspective of the audience, is what makes the message meaningful to the audience rather than simply a way to feed my own ego.

    “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.”  Albert Einstein

    Filed under Insight, Neuroleadership, Reflection Tagged with , , , ,

    It is a luxury to focus!

    August 7, 2011 2 Comments

    Remember when there was 1 TV in the house, the family gathered around watching one show from start to finish?  Remember when there was one phone in the house and it was probably in the kitchen?  Okay, admittedly those might be realities that are too distant for most of you to remember, but it is a fun exercise to name all of the technology developments that have occurred in your life time, no matter when you were born.  The pace of technology advancement is exciting and impressive.  I love being an ‘early majority’ adopter myself.

    So, forgive me while I lament one of the biggest problems I see in our techno-capability.  From my living room chair today I can… write this message, post it to my LinkedIn and Twitter, take a picture of myself with my phone, post that picture to my Facebook page and send an MMS to my Mom.  I can do all of this while watching TV, engaging in a text-conversation with my teenager, and playing “Words with Friends” to take a mental break.  Oh yeah, and my husband is talking to me about the last Red Sox game.

    I imagine this one is not a difficult scenario for any of you to picture, right?  Some call it multi-tasking.  But, I wonder.  Although many of these very unrelated tasks is not highly taxing on my brain, the question is am I doing any of the tasks with ‘all’ of me?  Clearly not.  When is the last time you focused one thing at a time?  When is the last time you participated on a conference call without your email open and working?  When is the last time you were (slightly) offended by someone you were talking with who proceeded to respond to an incoming text message?

    I am as guilty as the rest, but I am on a mission now, starting with myself.  I am currently participating in a 13-week series of conference call-based training sessions; the facilitators asked us prior to session #1 to totally focus on the call — turn off computers, cell phones, free ourselves of all distractions to focus on one thing — the learning experience.  I was not sure I could do it, but decided to try.

    Of course, at first, I was panicked about what I might miss during the 90-minute sessions.  I was afraid I would miss that very critical email, urgent text message, or entertaining Facebook post.  But, I had committed.

    And now I am clearly seeing the benefits!

    Not only am I learning more than I ever would if I was being my typical ‘multi-tasking’ self, but I was surprised to feel the difference.  I cannot believe what a relief it is to have the ‘quiet’ that I need to focus on the learning.  My mind is literally more quiet as I listen. My stress level goes down.  I can feel it.  It is a luxury to focus.  It is a luxury to pay attention to one thing and one thiing only.

    I highly recommend it!  I am on a mission to use my technology to the fullest, but at the same time to protect the brain space I need to do all things well, one task at a time.

    Filed under Insight, Neuroleadership, Reflection Tagged with , , , , ,

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