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Stolen: Change Management. Reward offered. So What? Post 1
| "Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with the important matters." — Albert Einstein How often have you seen “3 phases,” “5 steps,” “8 guidelines,” or a “curve” where no source material is referenced? How is it possible that blog posts, articles, and methodologies that describe and prescribe change management offer no citations? The transitions that human beings make through change?both as individuals and in groups?are complex. This has been studied by psychologists for decades. Over the years, extensive research has been conducted and there is science behind the principles that have emerged and been distilled. Is it conceivable that any author (outside of a handful or so of luminaries) could possibly have the first-hand research and practical experience to produce legitimate, original work—solo? “Oh,” you say, “I often see Kurt Lewin, Dr. Kübler-Ross, and maybe even Edgar Schein referenced.” And? Right, not many others?particularly not when it comes to methodology. Confounding. Impossible. Rubbish. This series will examine why we all should care and what we can do about it. “Broken windows” In the first “Freakonomics” book [1], Levitt and Dubner talked about “the broken window theory”: “The broken window theory argues that minor nuisances, if left unchecked, turn into major nuisances: that is, if someone breaks a window and sees it isn’t fixed immediately, he gets the signal that it’s all right to break the rest of the windows and set the building on fire too.” They go on to talk about this principle as one of the innovations that the New York City police force used to drive down the incredibly high crime rate in the 1990s. They began cracking down on all sorts of minor nuisances like “jumping a subway turnstile, panhandling too aggressively,” etc. One of the outcomes: “New Yorkers loved this crackdown…that choking off these small crimes was like choking off the criminal element’s oxygen supply.” This kind of activity is a virtuous circle?it reduces the criminal element while amplifying the sense of community. We face a “crime” challenge of our own. By most accounts, the failure rate of change is still incredibly high, in the range of 50-70% by most accounts. Either we are a part of the problem or we are a part of the solution. What are our “broken windows”? Surely a dearth of discipline around professional ethics generally is something that, as a community, we should be concerned about? Let’s start with plagiarism - Malicious marketing It seems benign enough right? No one really gets hurt when someone “borrows” a phrase here or an idea there. Well, go with me for a bit. First, perhaps you think you know what plagiarism is?I thought I did. However, turns out there’s a bit more too it. Plagiarism also extends to ideas. And, it seems to me, that this is pretty important when it comes to ideas regarding how to help people transition change. Plagiarism.org (www.plagiarism.org) is an organization dedicated to “help people all over the world prevent plagiarism and restore integrity to written work.” They use a definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
I particularly appreciated the clarity in this section on “But can words and ideas really be stolen?”: “According to U.S. law, the answer is yes. The expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property, and is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions. Almost all forms of expression fall under copyright protection as long as they are recorded in some way (such as a book or a computer file).” Academic institutions take this very seriously and most of us were well trained in that context. And yet, in the wild world of the internet strange things are happening. I often see original intellectual property (published in widely renowned textbooks and mainstream popular business books) re-mixed and mashed together with other ideas without citation or even acknowledgement. I’m sure you see it too. Where the rubber hits the road?commercial application It is bad enough when intellectual property (IP) is plagiarized for the purpose of making another party seem smarter than they are. However, misrepresenting it for commercial purposes is even more problematic?it directly impacts organizations, our profession, and the practitioner. You can buy change management in a variety of forms: books, training, coaching, and consulting. All are expensive up front, but the real risk is in the cost of sub-optimal execution. There are a very small number of commercial change management methodologies and all are proprietary (refer to Change Management Methodology [Strategy Execution Methodologies. Post 4)]). There are also a large number of practitioners and small-to-medium-sized enterprises that have developed their own approaches from training/education and their own experiences. Many of these are adequate for developmental or transitional change. However, their applicability to transformational change relies entirely on the capability of the practitioner. There are only a few practitioners who are senior enough and seasoned enough to pull this off. If you are executing transformational and strategic change you really want to be dealing with a “commercial grade” methodology that has been thoroughly “road tested” and you want to be talking to thought leaders in that firm. Every organization is different and every transformational change is different. A degree of customization is always required. It is critical to work with the originators of the methodology. Originators evolved their methodology over multiple implementations to correct, add, and refine. They did this consciously, deliberately and carefully with full knowledge of the effects of previous iterations and appreciation of the risks, dependencies, and variables. What does it look like when great IP is stolen and represented as legitimate? It may be impossible for anyone to tell except the parties involved. However, surely it is fair to say that only the originator and their properly trained people will be competent at execution of the methodology, and certainly only they should be entrusted to modify it. 1. Impact on organizations What are the risks of an individual or firm retaining an imitation (methodology and/or practitioner)? Here are a few thoughts:
You can imagine that in a situation where the strategy is a business imperative, where speed and effectiveness are important, these outcomes are intolerable. In situations where the change is taking place in a hostile environment (perhaps in a union environment where trust has been very low) this could precipitate the death knell for the organization. 2. Impact on our profession All of this goes in the direction of producing poor work:
The credibility of the change management profession overall is denigrated. 3. Impact on the practitioner Every practitioner, at every step in his or her own professional development journey, brings value to the table. Overreaching one’s current capability comes with a price—a price for the practitioner and a price for the customer. Every incident of IP theft both exposes and erodes the integrity of the perpetrator. Experienced practitioners know the source and see through the deception immediately. Rather than being impressed, we become distrustful of that individual. Even business leaders are becoming informed enough to know who the dozen or so original thought leaders in this space are. Omitting citations is the most obvious infraction—it exposes the perpetrator as naïve at best, perhaps a liar, or, at worst, a fraud prepared to do almost anything to make a buck. A word on procurement This all presents a very difficult challenge for organizations sourcing change management and strategy execution approaches (training, coaching, methodology, and/or consulting). There are huge variations between independents and consulting firms. The best advice is to retain someone who really knows the change management profession to guide your RFI or RFP and do your own homework. Ask lots of questions about tenure in the field, speaking engagements, publishing, case experience, etc. Tenure in the field will tell you quite a bit. Unless they have been practicing since the 1970s, they are “standing on the shoulders of those who went before”?ask them who (and if applicable, if they have licenses to use that IP). Bigger than us Most of us have gravitated to change management to “do good.” Our work directly affects people in the organization?by extension it affects their jobs, their families, their community. We spend a lot of time translating that into compelling justifications to the organization. They usually go like this:
However, this job also comes with a responsibility. If we fail or fall short, we have not only reduced the effectiveness of the new strategy, we are shorting the organization’s profits and, playing this out, potentially costing jobs that impact the community. This is bigger than just “us” and our usual obsessions about sponsorship and resistance. It is about delivering the value proposition—not just about helping the people directly affected by the change but also about securing the competitiveness of that organization and its place in the ecosystems of that community and the economy. This level of responsibility demands that we bring forward the very best of our profession. It requires that we are sober about our work?jobs and livelihoods depend on it. Plagiarism and stolen IP denigrate our profession. This impacts all of us. What are you going to do about it? The next three posts in this series will look at:
Resources: [1] “Freakonomics: A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything,” Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., NY, 2005. [1] “Freakonomics: A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything,” Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., NY, 2005. |
Posted on: December 06, 2012 09:07 AM
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Stuck: 10 questions to break a mindset. A strange conversation with a stranger. Post 2
| “Let him that would move the world first move himself."?Socrates As I was driving home, with the strange conversation about “stretch” (refer to Post 1) resonating in my mind and the strangely delicious flavor of the German Chocolate Cake flavored coffee waking up my taste buds, I started to think about “stretch” and it’s evil twin sister “stuck”. Why don’t we try the new things that we keep thinking about? As my mind wandered over the new things that I often consider, I could already hear the reactions: What if it doesn’t work? What if it’s a waste of money? What if you fail? What if others see you fail? Wow, I realized: It didn’t take long to squash the stretch. It’s not the first time those mindsets have raised their ugly heads. I have been stuck on these things a long time. I thought maybe it was time to push a little harder. I figure there are some common questions to be asked. I hope these are reasonable and useful questions for you as well. Of course, I have a few specific "new things I often consider" in mind (e.g., donating blood, organizing a trip to Paris, and yoga). Don’t judge?yours will be different and that’s okay. I react differently to the questions depending on the particular "thing," but they usually fall into a few obvious categories. As noted below, each reaction is either a negative (don’t do it) or positive (do it). I also discovered that some reactions are "louder" for me than others. This is interesting and they are big clues. My “loud” reactions are shown as [UPPER CASE]. I don’t have reactions to all the questions and I figure that’s okay too. So think about something you have considered doing, something that would be a stretch, that would put you outside your comfort zone, and consider the following questions: 1. What if I don’t have all the information? What if I get part way and don’t know what to do next? - I will be vulnerable + I will figure it out
2. What if I can't do it? What if I fail [FAIL] or quit [QUIT]? - I will be dissatisfied with my incompetence - I will have to face some hard truths - I may have to give up a dream - I will disappoint others - I won’t know when to quit + I'll know that and I can decide to move on or prepare for a second attempt + I'll be that much better prepared for a second attempt + I will be liberated from thinking about that as a dilemma again + I can create a new dream
3. What if others see me fail? - I will be embarrassed - Their opinion of me may fall + They might admire my courage
4. What if I never try? - I won’t have the rewards of succeeding - I'll never know if it was worth it - I’ll never experience the victory of overcoming that challenge - I’ll set a poor example for my children - I might regret not trying + I’ll never fail or quit [QUIT] + I’ll not be embarrassed
5. What will I gain just by trying?
6. What will I gain by succeeding?
7. What if I never do (accomplish) it?
8. What would I gain by failing?
9. What if I do it and it wasn’t worth it? - I will have wasted [WASTE] precious time and money - I will have missed other opportunities + I will know that and I can move on
10. If I knew I could do it, would I? This is the killer question for me. If the answer to this is “yes,” then all of the others fall into place.
Uncomfortable This is an incomplete list of course and, as such, it is exemplary. It’s uncomfortable to face such questions. Many times there are emotions behind the resistance. I am reading “More Time to Think: A Way of Being in the World” (1), which I strongly recommend to you, and I am sure these posts are influenced by Nancy Kline’s amazing work. You’ll have to take my word on it that I read the following sections after writing the questions and reactions above:
No wonder we get very comfortable in the status quo—being “stuck” is comfortable in many ways. We know what that scenario is like—we have learned how to control elements of that world. “Stretch” represents the unknown. We become vulnerable. There is ambiguity and the outcomes can be unpredictable. In fact, if considering these questions is not uncomfortable then maybe you are not pushing hard enough. Did you come up with more questions? Please share in the comments section. Creating safe options Maybe it is a defense mechanism to consider risk in terms of right/wrong, good/bad. That sets up the negatives as so huge that it makes good sense to hesitate, even to decline. When we break the questions down we can calibrate better and sometimes “ah has” can emerge. As Kline goes on to say, “…we need to build Incisive Questions to remove the fear and replace it with sound, sensible, scintillating thinking.” Sounds good. All of this can open us up to taking one step forward (e.g., finding out the process for donating blood, or perhaps trying one yoga class). Individual courage and persistence I know that trying to reason with mindsets is like fishing?just when you feel a nibble on the hook and a little weight, that tricky fish slips away. And, just like fishing, you really have to go where the fish are and keep at it. On the larger field of organizational change Much of the time these are the questions that play in the background of change, like elevator music that we hear but don’t really listen to. What if we tuned in to these struggles that people face when we change their jobs (by asking them to learn new skills or think about their priorities differently while we are concurrently doing a work force reduction)? In other words,where there is much more at risk than considering a yoga class?would we be more compassionate, more supportive? References
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Posted on: November 15, 2012 10:46 AM
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A strange conversation with a stranger. Post 1 “Stretch”
| All change is personal. We can only help others change if we can change ourselves. This is a true story. I was in line at HomeSense late yesterday afternoon and I could tell that the man in front of me wanted to start a conversation. I was savoring my comfort zone, thinking about the hazelnut coffee I would pick up from my favorite coffee shop on the way home, and the meal we were making for dinner. He was persistent. It was a long line. After a couple of minutes, I accidently made eye contact with him. He looked like many of the CFOs I have worked with. It occurred to me to wonder why he was at HomeSense on a Sunday afternoon. I sighed inside—this was going to feel like work. “The last thing I need right now is more stuff,” he said. “Mmhmm,” I said, being polite, thinking about the “stuff” I was carrying that I really didn’t “need.” “When I move out I can buy all the crazy stuff I want,” he said. (There is nothing like a little personal information to drive up the intimacy/discomfort bar.) I was getting curious, even while inertia was hard at work. “They have lots of crazy stuff here,” I said, meeting him part-way, half-heartedly hoping the line would move. But here’s the problem: I am a pretty empathetic person. I know lots of people who could have, would have, just tuned him out. Instead, I said, “You know, I looked at the art today and they have some pretty creative stuff—copies probably—but not bad.” His head did the Scooby-Doo (you know—head-tilt to the side). I thought I knew what his response was going to be but he completely surprised me. “You could re-paint those canvases,” he said. “You know, parts of them, and make them your own, and sign your own name.” He looked into the distance clearly thinking about painting over the art, changing it, making it his own, signing his name. After the surprise wore in, he got me thinking. “I suppose so. I did see one that was almost what I was looking for.” It was sky over a beach, but the beach in the forefront was just too orange. The sky was great—good fluffy clouds with many rich blues graduated into waves rolling onto an orange beach. Sure, if the beach was whiter, maybe taupe, that would be so much better. I have some taupe paint at home. Wait. What was I thinking? “Painting is not my thing,” I said. My husband disagrees (yes, I admit—he’s a big fan). When we met, 30 years ago, I painted water colors. I still have them, (carried them through three countries). I painted for fun, of course—mostly illustrations that were more expressive than creative. I painted often then, but not so much since. Strangely, my mum, at seventy-five, has started painting. The man in line had been looking at me the whole time I worked through this in my head. The line moved. He looked back over his shoulder. “Everybody’s got to stretch sometimes,” he said (and the pun on “stretch” canvas wasn’t lost on me either). The line moved on and it was over. On the way home, I stopped at drive-thru coffee shop. The power was out. As the manager unboarded the drive-through window I realized I was not going to get my favorite coffee. “No power,” he smiled and shrugged. “Darn,” I said, “I was looking forward to that coffee.” “I’ll give you a coffee for free. It’s still hot.” he said. “I can’t open my cash register.” “Great!” Without thinking, I said. “Hazelnut please.” “Sorry, we only have German coffee cake flavor.” I laughed, and he did the Scooby Doo. “That will be great. I have never tried German Coffee Cake coffee.” Okay, I got the message: stretch more. Postscript: One of the things that makes this epiphany weird is that for weeks I have been writing, and re-writing, a blog series to be entitled “Stolen: Change Management. Reward offered.” It is about people taking thought leadership in change management, re-painting parts of it and signing their own names. This is happening in the change management space at record levels. How often to you see direct or indirect allusions to “8 steps” (John Kotter) or a “commitment curve” (Daryl Conner) or other key words and phrases without citation? At some point, re-painting is stealing. It might look like “standing on the shoulders of someone who came before,” but when the identity of the original artist (or thought leader) is painted over, it is theft?plain and simple. We are all a bit de-sensitized to plagiarism in spite of the risk to our profession. It’s not that I am a snob about original art, or thought leadership. Rather, I am selfish. The problem is this: Why should thought leaders share new work when the commercial value is stolen within six months of being published? There are many other problems with stealing thought leadership. More on this coming. |
Posted on: November 11, 2012 11:03 PM
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Change Management Conferences 2013
| Conferences are an important professional development opportunity. Most provide best practices as well as innovation tracks (and the networking is terrific). Please note this is not an endorsement?just a list. I will let you know the ones we will attend. Let’s connect if you will be there also. Many of the conferences for 2013 are being organized and announced now. In some cases, the “call for papers” is still open. This post is all about change management conferences in the US and Canada. I have also started tracking Strategy and Strategy Execution conferences. That post will be published shortly. Drum roll, please. Here is the list for 2013: April
May
June
Do you know of a conference that I missed? Please add it in the comments section or email me at [email protected]and I will update the list. |
Posted on: October 13, 2012 11:25 AM
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The power of change management. Pay it forward.
Categories:
Change Management
Categories: Change Management
| “To those whom much is given, much is expected.” ?John F. Kennedy What do we do with what we have learned? What is our “obligation”? There is no advertising on the Change Whisperer website (www.gailseverini.com). You might wonder why I give so much away. You might conclude, “Oh, it’s marketing.” Yes, it is marketing, but I could do marketing much more cheaply (time-wise) than by researching and sharing so much information on change management. So, why? 1. Bigger than us I believe that change management, deployed judiciously, is the most powerful and important capability of our lifetime. We live in an era where each of us copes with, modifies to, and has the opportunity to step up to, tremendous amounts of change. The degree to which we are good at this affects our well-being, our personal lives, our families, our businesses, and our economies?our quality of life as communities. That is big. “Change management” is not just an organizational tool to be leveraged for ROI?it provides insights in ways of living in this dynamic world that can make people’s lives better. Change management can clear up confusion and ambiguity; it can restore some levels of personal control; it can engage people in their lives. 2. The Pac-Man diet What does your knowledge of change management do for you? Are you hungry for more answers? For more clarity around what works and what doesn’t? For answers about what to do in “situation X” to be more effective? Sometimes we operate like Pac-Man (play the Google game here http://www.google.com/pacman/)?we gobble up as much learning as we can get, race around deploying our tools, but then run into a challenge we can’t solve and have to start again somewhere else. This can be incredibly unsatisfying. Sound familiar? What is the next level of play? The answer is not to run faster. I believe the answer is giving back. Let me explain. 3. The incongruity that stares us in the face—gluttony in the face of famine Many of us grew up in the age of extended educations. We believe in the power of learning. For some of us it is an embedded value. We eat and eat and eat at the buffet of intellectual curiosity and continuous improvement. We become fat and arrogant. Many of the best practitioners I know are PhDs?they have both broad and deep knowledge. We all read every new book on the subject, take additional courses, debate approaches on cases. In some ways, we are painting the kitchen in the Titanic because, while we talk and read and digest, many organizations are operating at high-school levels of understanding in change management. This is not intended to be pejorative to those organizations or their leaders. Many of them have been extraordinarily successful. They have not needed change management. Their leaders may have a cursory understanding, and it may even appear in their position descriptions, but they are not living it at any depth nor practicing with any rigor. When they face real change (think J.C. Penney, Nokia, Time Warner), they are unprepared. They are starving for an understanding of what they face but don’t even realize it. Because of this, they often address strategy without incorporating an appropriate execution approach. We think our challenge is trying to ‘sell’ a solution to extraordinary leaders who don’t know they have a problem. I know this pain. Most of you know it also. We face it every day. But we cannot surrender. Maybe we need to think about it differently. Perhaps the most important struggle we face is not learning, but coaching. If we meet leaders where they are?with mutual respect and compassion?we stand a chance of working together to make a difference. Many elements have to align to make this successful (as discussed elsewhere in this blog). Most importantly, we have to establish peer-level respect with leaders based on the value we bring to the table and we have to create an awareness of the problem. The well-being of our organizations, our communities, and our economies benefit by our resilience and tenacity. I have heard many practitioners say, “It’s hard to be a prophet in your own land”. I understand the challenges that internal practitioners face, not the least of which is the entry point that position in the organization chart stipulates (more about this in an upcoming post). Outside of engagements, the best way I know to systemically address this famine is to share the knowledge we have, to teach as many others as possible and to acknowledge the obligation that this knowledge brings to pay it forward. Building awareness and capability will contribute in many ways. I hope you will join me in this work. A note about the toxic middle ground Marketing and self-promotion are fine?there are places in the market where this is expected and appropriate. Just be up front about it. Part of the challenge with sharing is that it is marketing. There is no getting around that fact. Regardless of the intent, spreading the word inevitably spreads the reputation of the sharer. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but can be tricky because it is based more on perception than intention. The reality is that whenever the specter of self-promotion is perceived it damages credibility. If sharing becomes marketing, or looks like marketing in sheep’s clothing, then trust is eroded. I have been challenged both by my own ego (by being preachy sometimes and by emphasizing our material) and by others who react when they see even a company name and it triggers their reaction. It’s an ongoing challenge to find the right balance. The acid test I use is this: Is the information a value-add? In other words, does it clarify, augment, or expand the subject? If it does, then I consider it legitimate. I made a personal commitment when I started this blog in 2010 to present information from every source. This means that I reference and quote competitors. When the purpose is to share the best information, it comes from everywhere. I believe in the approaches we have chosen so it is natural for me to reference those. The only balance I can add is not only to reference our work, but also to add value by sharing additional information that is useful to readers. It is important to stay out of the toxic middle ground?sharing must be pruned of gratuitous self-promotion. It must be as objective and complete as possible. How do we promote change management? Try to remember what it has been like on your own learning journey. Consider how you responded to change before you had this depth of understanding. I was often confused, either stymied by the ambiguity or spinning in circles. An understanding of the nature of change and how we humans transition gave me a map, gave me language to discuss it and make sense of it. We can share this?everyone we know can benefit from these insights in both their personal and professional lives. Here are some things that I do with clients and in my communities. I’d love to hear yours. With clients:
In communities:
Having said all of that, let’s not lose our sense of humor and humility. This is a long road and we will need it. Some time ago while driving with my youngest son, 10 years old at the time, we were talking about his haircut. He was considering a new style. What he said, so matter of factly, almost made me pull over: “Mom, I don’t like change. I know you do change so, no offense, but I don’t like change.” I don’t know whether I was more surprised that he was self-aware and articulate enough to know that he did not like change, or that he knew what I do for a living. It reminded me that no matter how much influence we think we might have, embracing change is a personal journey?our only real role can be to help others understand it. And that is powerful enough for me. Are you in? |
Posted on: September 22, 2012 04:30 PM
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