Choosing to Change

I find it humorous when business leaders ask me to help their employees accept change: "Make them more resilient to change!" The image that pops to mind is shaking employees by the shoulders and screaming into their faces, "ACCEPT THIS CHANGE! BE RESILIENT TO THIS CHANGE. MANAGEMENT DID THIS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!"

Aha! There is the rub. Acceptance to change will certainly go astray if management decides to make the change without involving the employees. When asked, managers explain that the employees don't know how to change the operation. Only the managers and supervisors have the needed information to make changes. Really?

When the change impacts the work of the employee, who knows that work better? The manager or the employee? I once worked with a process improvement team at a Steel Mill. Management was stunned when the line workers could report on what was working, not working and more importantly how they could make it better.

There is some truth to employees not having information just as managers don't have ALL the information needed to make change. Depending upon where the change is to occur and what outcomes are desired; indeed designing the change may require putting a lot of heads together. Anyone who has some part in the process has some intelligence on how to improve it. I've seen manufacturing line workers in the room with engineers and marketing and sales people working together to identify product improvements and enhancements. It is pretty amazing what turns out...certainly a better process, improved product but more importantly excitement, commitment and alignment. That is what change is all about.

Choosing to change is emotional. Why do we then just treat it as an intelligent act...and act of thought and of telling people what the change is?

To Type of Not to Type

Intrigued by my having "typed" my dog as an ENFP, a couple of friends shared their thoughts and photos. Charlie, a black lab is described as an ESFJ: He takes in his world through his nose and is very focused on his objectives whether it is fetching the ball or trying to steal a sandwich from a human.

Layne, a yellow lab is typed as an ENFJ: This picture is him wondering where everyone else is and why aren't they having as much fun as he is…..add a ball to this equation and watch out….

You may think we are nuts to play this little game with MBTI but we are just practicing our craft...and having a little fun. We care about our animals and are curious about their behavior. But as practitioners, our curiosity about human behavior cannot be satisfied by whimsy. We have studied and are trained in theories and tools to ensure that when we work with people and teams, we are not making capricious or harmful judgments about why people behave the way they do.

It is human nature to judge people, their personalities and their behavior. Indeed, human beings are curious, social perceivers and it starts very early in life....in the sandbox or even earlier. As social perceivers we develop the skill to judge people and label them using our own individual theories and tools which may actually cause harm to ourselves and to others.

We see it in life every day, at work, at school, on TV. Consider the recent experience of the judges on "Britain's Got Talent" who classified Susan Boyle by her appearance as an old woman with no talent. Until she opened her mouth to sing. We cannot be dooped by our social perceptions because they can lead us astray and leave us lonely and isolated. Have you been misjudged? misperceived? Have you done so to others and missed some hidden treasures as a result?

Rowing on the River

For years now I have worked with different business teams to support their development. The concepts of "teamwork" are pretty standard yet there are thousands of books and articles, each one espousing the best list of ingredients that make for the most successful and productive team. Things like having a common goal, diverse skills and good communication are always on that list. If achieving high performance as a team were so easy, there wouldn't be so many books about it and a good chunk of consultant business would dry up. So why is it so hard?

As a result of a recent experience rowing in an 8 seat crew shell, clearly what gets in the way of team success even after all the right ingredients are in play, is the individual. In simple terms our egos and our minds get in the way of team success. In the business world, we have been trained to look out for ourselves; after all, annual performance appraisal is about rewarding individual performance. Our success is based largely on how well we as individuals think, analyze and communicate. Winning is very individualized.

Put eight high performing and very successful business people who have never rowed before into the same boat and it is a marvel to behold. You can't charm your way to winning or over complicate the strategy to win. The physically strongest person may turn out to be your weakest link. You can try to put your individual force behind your oar but one person's brute force will not win the race. If eight people row at their individual best...well the boat goes nowhere and you have 8 individuals who are exhausted and frustrated.

I found that I needed to let go of my own ego... including that need to be the best thinker, the best rower. Once I recognized that proving my strength was pointless and that I needed to be one not only with the person in front of me but also with the oar, I could feel the boat moving smoothly through the water. It was not about me - it was about the team.

My team won the race that day. We lived up to our common goal: to win...as one. We felt the "sweet spot" of the rowing experience; knowing that is was easier to row once you let go.

What will it take to get teams at work to hit their "sweet spot?"

My Dog is an ENFP

Indeed, I am a Myers Briggs junkie. After being certified, I found it not only a useful tool when working with client groups but it also helped me in my personal relationships. My "ENTJ" is nicely complimented by my spouse's "INTP" and vice versa. Our intellectual bantering is not something we take personally but rather enjoy - now that we know how intuitive thinkers think. It is the "judging/perceiving" that we most need from each other. I have a master list of my lists where my spouse is not encumbered by the need to check things off a list. On the other hand, the openness to all possibilities is disciplined when it is important to reach closure. Of course there is so much more to understanding and appreciating the uniqueness of personality and preferences. There are other tools that are advantageous for individuals and teams to use. But I still like the MBTI as a foundational tool to understanding why we interact the way we do.

As for my dog...the fun loving golden retriever that he is, I am convinced is an ENFP - if you can type a dog. It is fun to watch him flit from bush to bush, to be "in the moment" or in the "second" as it were, and forget what his original objective was...oh yes, the ball....the squirrel...or was it the stick, the scent on the wind...or the sound of my car turning the corner before pulling into my driveway. With all lack of abandon and pure joy and unconditional love, my dog leaps to attention to great me and welcome me home. "Dear God, help me to be the person that my dog thinks that I am.

Tea Anyone?

Today is tax deadline day in the US. Paying taxes is part of the privilege of living here. It's like homeowner fees or condo fees. You turn this money over to some people who for the most part you select to manage how that money is used. In my neighborhood, I can see the outcomes very tangibly. My streets are cleaned regularly, the public spaces are attended to, the playgrounds are complete with fun and safe equipment, even street light bulbs are replaced when they burn out (oh maybe this takes a couple of months but they still get replaced).

So when you look at how your money is managed at the national level....you have to wonder, how are we doing? Do you trust how your money is being managed? being applied? Do you trust the people who for the most part you selected to manage this money?

Does Culture Change Who We Are?

Is it possible to remain true to who you are when you work or live in an environment that is different from you? Do we naturally adapt or adopt as a way to survive? Most of us believe that we do indeed adapt in order to survive. Is there a point of no return? That is, can you stay so long in that place and not become one with the existing culture? By staying too long do you lose yourself...Does who you are disappear to be replaced by a clone? How long is too long?

Sleep is a beautiful thing...

I can't remember the last time I slept straight through the night. Lately I find that I wake up and my mind is actually finishing a sentence - inane as it may be. Sometimes I emerge from the fog of sleep solving a problem that I didn't know that I had. Thankfully or woefully, when I am fully awake, I have forgotten the specifics of either the conversation or the problem solving. What keeps the mind going? What is the mind anyway? Afterall, we cannot see the mind. We see the brain where we think the mind is centralized or is it. I only know that when when I think a lot (my mind is working - albeit not well), I feel it in my head.

Where is our heart in all this psychobabble? What do you think?

On being appreciated.....

That first day of work is filled with mixed emotions. There is the fundamental euphoria: "I got the job, yeah!" And of course the relief that a paycheck will soon follow. There is the hope that you will like the place, the people and of course, your boss. After all, you have heard time and again that "people don't leave organizations, they leave bosses." There is the fear...."Will they like me?" "Will I do good work?" "Will I be successful?"

Whether you are 20 something or 50 something, the need to be appreciated crosses generations. Even the crustiest of workers who has 30 years under their belt craves to be recognized....how do you think they got to be "crusty?" Hardened by the disappointments of not hearing they are appreciated.

What do you think? Do we as human beings fundamentally need to hear fairly regularly that we are recognized for who we are and what we do?