Change – Page 5 – Simon Terry

Hack The Organisation: 6 Personal changes

Posted on 10/10/201306/02/2017 by simongterry in Change, Leadership

The best way to change the future of work is to change how we interact.

The Responsive Organisation Manifesto recognizes that there are fundamental changes afoot in the nature of work and calls for action to make our organisations more purposeful, responsive, more engaging, more empowering, more networked, more mobile and more community oriented. Groups like Change Agents Worldwide are working to help organisations with services and solutions to navigate these big changes.

Hacking Organisations is Hard

There’s lots of enthusiasm for big change. Big change is hard. There is a lot yet to be worked out. The decision making processes take time. Experiments are required. Not all of us feel we have the power to make big change.

There are things we each can do now. In our control. Today.

Hack Yourself First

Organisations are made up of individuals. The pattern of interactions of those people determine purpose, processes, decisions, use of resources & ultimately culture. Changing these interactions is more important than changing roles, hierarchy and many of the other formal organisation trappings. There are too many companies that changed their hierarchy and found things still work the same way as ever.

We can each have an impact on the future of work by changing our own behaviours first. If we change our own interactions that contributes to change. View each new interaction as an experiment. Is it worthwhile enough to inspire others to copy it?

Six Personal Behaviour Hacks for a More Responsive Organisation

Here are some simple triggers of our common organizational life where we can adopt new responsive habits

Discuss Purpose Upfront: Purpose is a critical aspect of intrinsic motivation and engagement. So why don’t we discuss it more? What’s the trigger for a purpose conversation: starting something new. Get connection to purpose clear at the start.
Work Out Loud: I recently outlined a simple way to start working out loud by trying three new habits: Describe, Interact and Recognise. Give these new habits a go and discover the power of networks.
Experiment.: Decision making is the engine of real power in organisations. Far too much is decided on the instincts of hierarchies. Next time you have a trigger of being asked for a decision, adopt a new habit of inviting those asking for a decision to conduct an experiment instead. If you need a decision from up the hierarchy, what experiment can you run to prove your case instead?
Allocate Accountabilities for Outcomes, not Tasks: Next time you face the trigger of needing a job to be done, allocate the entire accountability for the outcome to a team or to an individual. If you are being given a task, ask for accountability for the whole outcome. Let accountability surprise you as to how best the outcome be achieved.
Coach: Dan Pontefract recently highlighted coaching was a requirement of connected leaders. Start to ask, assist and build capability when you feel the trigger of a need to direct or answer. If you aren’t being coached to success, ask for it.
Measure Outcomes: Measuring performance is not about task completion. Measure outcomes achieved for the individual, organisation, customers and community. Measure impact and value created. Give people the greatest flexibility to deliver the right outcome for themselves, customers and the community. Next time you are coaching someone or being coached, frame the conversation in these terms.

These small changes can have a significant impact on the responsiveness of your work and your leadership. You might even inspire a movement of others to copy you.

These actions alone are not enough. What other hacks or changes can we make? Please post your thoughts in the comments

The few & the many

Posted on 25/08/201306/02/2017 by simongterry in Change, Leadership

Large corporations are challenged sustaining & retaining change agents. A handful of change agents can make an enormous difference to any organisation. Change agents are at the heart of the ability to innovate, to adapt and to remain externally focused. Change agents are often the gateway for new partners, explore the edges and conduit for new ideas into organisations because of their willingness to consider the new, to experiment and to get stuff done.

The ideal model is that leaders everywhere have the capability and the authority to drive change. Like many ideal models, this oft stated ambition is harder to find in practice. This difficulty is no excuse for not trying. However, many corporates deliberately, or unwittingly, adopt a 21st century demarcation between traditional managers who keep the wheels of business as usual turning and their contingent of change agents who transform the business.

The best outcome for corporates is to have a spread of change agents across their business. That way each function and division can be exposed to change. For major initiatives, change agents from different silos can collaborate to bring the business together in key initiatives. Sadly, this model is often the most dangerous for the change agents. Change agents must operate in the midst of large groups of more traditionally oriented managers, dependent on a tolerance for diversity and ongoing support for their efforts and occasional failures. As one change agent put it to me, this model means that they have to deliver 110% of the contribution of a traditional manager in the organisation & then deliver change just to make their position safe. The slightest slip creates an opportunity for backlash.

Commonly change agents will exist in clusters drawn to other similar individuals who are interested in new ideas and making change happen. Some change agents explicitly recruit and develop teams who support their change agenda. While this model can provide a safe haven to nurture change and change leaders, it creates a risk that the entire cluster can be lost at once with a change of leadership or a mass defection. Increasing fragility is not a sustainable solution.

So what can be done to foster the growth of change agents across an organisation? Here are 6 actions to help.

Know who they are, what they are working on and show interest. Who are your ‘go to’ people if it is new, difficult or demanding? A simple cup of coffee or a phone call can do wonders in retaining and encouraging people to push for change. Clearly, if you run talent processes you can be more deliberate in investing in their development and careers.
Value project work as much as line management. Change agents will be drawn to projects, but if it is a ghetto you will lose their impact in the rest of the business.
Encourage diversity of individuals, allow diverse management styles and make openness to the new & different a key value in your organisation. Remember not all change agents are charismatic leaders and many will be far from traditional homes in edgy technology, creative or strategic business opportunities. The effective styles are as diverse as human nature. Some of the most effective individuals may be working in surprising parts of the organisation.
Network your change agents so that they do not feel isolated, can share lessons, can collaborate and even use their collective power. Encourage change agents to share their skills and develop teams of others who can drive change. An enterprise social network will help if your culture allows it. Also encourage your change agents to network externally and to learn from others.
Ensure your performance management systems reward people for driving change and do not fatally punish a single setback. Peer measurement and forced rank systems can exaggerate the impact of setbacks & can be vulnerable to politics if not well managed. If you only value delivery of business as usual results in performance and find comparisons to change agents hard, your change agents will get the message quickly.
Foster a culture of working aloud & sharing of ideas. Working aloud provides protection for change agents. More importantly, it enables the change agents to role model their behaviours to inspire others across the organisation to embrace & lead change.

A little investment in change agents goes a long way. Too many organisations have missed their opportunity. They are the ones left wondering why change is suddenly so hard.

Posted on 05/07/201306/02/2017 by simongterry in Change, Uncategorized

It was not because it was proposed to establish a new nation, but because it was proposed to establish a nation on new principles, that July 4, 1776, has come to be regarded as one of the greatest days in history. Great ideas do not burst upon the world unannounced. They are reached by a gradual development over a length of time usually proportionate to their importance. This is especially true of the principles laid down in the Declaration of Independence. Three very definite propositions were set out in its preamble regarding the nature of mankind and therefore of government. These were the doctrine that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that therefore the source of the just powers of government must be derived from the consent of the governed.

– Pres. Calvin Coolidge speaking on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence

http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/speech-on-the-occasion-of-the-one-hundred-and-fiftieth-anniversary-of-the-declaration-of-independence/

Corporate power is changing fast

Posted on 27/06/201317/08/2016 by simongterry in Change, Leadership

Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets – Dr Paul Batalden

Moises Naim has written a book, The End of Power , in which he highlights that three trends are weakening traditional political power relationships in a range of political domains from sovereign states to other organisations:
– more: more people, information, resources, activity, etc
– mobility: unprecedented mobility
– mentality: new mindsets and expectations driven from new values and expectations

These three factors are also likely to drive dramatic power relationship changes inside corporations in coming years. Corporate politics is just human politics writ small. More than ever employees, customers, suppliers and communities are leveraging these three trends to challenge hierarchical models of power that trace back to the founding of modern corporate structures.

Social media internally and externally connects more and more people and supplies an escalating volume of information. The edicts of senior managers no longer stand alone. Consumers, partners and employees may well be better connected and have more information on what’s going on than the executive decision maker.

The Internet has accelerated the ability of customers and employees to be more mobile and to engage in new relationships with a corporation. Alternatives are now much more easily found and individuals have greater power to make their own choices or even solutions to needs. Voice is an increasing option where once the dissatisfied had only exit to choose.

These trends will only accelerate the already shifting values and expectations in employee careers and consumer purchase decisions. The employee and consumer expectations of a two-way & values-based relationship is likely to increase. Organisations and leaders will find themselves more accountable for their own rhetoric.

Leaders need to recognize these changes and begin to adapt to new models of leadership. Many leaders bemoan the limits of their status and hierarchical power today. The traditional ability to order technical change is simply less effective in complex adaptive situations. The trends that Moises Naim identifies are only likely to increase the number challenges corporate leaders face that exhibit these characteristics. We all need to start learning new ways now of adjusting to new leadership styles that are more two-way, more adaptive and based more in the strength of authority, not role. The rewards of these new models will come in purpose, engagement and the ability of enabled employees, consumers and partners to innovate.

The leaders who adapt first to these changes will hold distinct advantages over those who cling to traditional models of leadership. Which would you rather have a begrudging captive or a loyal follower?

Posted on 27/06/201317/08/2016 by simongterry in Change, Leadership, Strategy

Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets – Dr Paul Batalden

Speak up

Posted on 23/06/201317/08/2016 by simongterry in Change, Innovation

So is ignorance an impediment to progress or a precondition for it? In a recent New Yorker article Malcolm Gladwell discusses Albert O. Hirschman’s work on how creativity can be driven from our efforts to recover from ignorance

Many entrepreneurs strike us as remarkably naive. They dared to act whether others saw only risk.

Hirschman wrote the book Exit, Voice & Loyalty, that I read in a long ago economics degree. I would recommend Hirschman’s book to anyone as it is short, an easy read and amazingly insightful as is discusses the choices of consumers, community and employees to agree, exit or speak up.

That book was a revelation to me because it helped me to clarify that there was a powerful path between acceptance and refusal. There is another path between buying or selling. You don’t have to choose only to stay or exit. You can also speak up for change. Usually it is only when people speak up that the system is able to understand the meaning of the otherwise silent & often missed exits.

Reading Exit Voice and Loyalty led me to the opinion that it is usually better to make your first choice to find some way to speak up or make change happen from within the system. There are only so many opportunities for exit or acquiescence. At some point, we all need to shape things in our world. We can all do this more.

Speaking up gives others the chance to respond to your needs or concerns. Speaking up defines the unnoticed issues. Speaking up is not without risk and conflict. In many cases, it demands the creativity or the naïveté of the entrepreneur to safely make your point and generate change.

In an age of technology to enable collaboration and social interaction, we all need to accept that more connected consumers, communities and employees have many more means to express their views. As voice moves from rare to common, these stakeholders will increasingly prefer voice to slipping quietly away.

We should hope that voice is the growing preference too. After all, losing the support of others is a form of feedback, but not particularly useful feedback.

Speak up and encourage others to speak up too.

Dent the Universe? You have

Posted on 04/06/201317/08/2016 by simongterry in Change, Leadership

What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning. – Wener Heisenberg

I meet a lot of enthusiastic people who have ambitions to change some part of their world. They want to put ‘a dent the universe’. The energy and passion that comes from people who embrace change and a desire to make things better is extraordinary. I would happily spend all day listening to these people describe their passions for a better world.

But just talking about passion doesn’t make change. Right?

Many of the people think they are stuck at the first hurdle. They want to create change but they question whether they have the capability, whether they have the opportunity or influence and what it will mean for life and careers. Most of all they grapple with the issue of ‘why me?’.

In almost every case, I find the person has missed a key point. It has to be them. They have already made a dent in the universe. They had started driving the changes that they want. The force of their passion, values and the capabilities that bring them to this change have already pushed them over the line into becoming a change agent. What has started to happen is that they are now holding themselves back and holding back the change that they want to see.

Like the quantum physicist whose observations change the measurement, the fact that these aspiring change agents are asking the question about how to have an impact means they are already:
– All are involved in some kind of learning or awareness building activities on the issues
– Some are already influential role models to the communities that need to change
– All have seen the problem because they have some capability to contribute to a solution
– In many cases, they have missed that things have got better with the actions that they have already taken
– Usually people are so concerned with their personal doubts that they can’t see any of these things.

These conversations are some of the richest I have. The challenge is simple – releasing someone from constraints that they have put on themselves, showing them the impact has begun and helping them start to drive even more change.

Whether or not Mahatma Gandhi actually said ‘Be the change you want to be in the world’ there is enormous power in that idea. Most people focus on that phrase as meaning ‘Become the change…’. Too often that ignores that ‘Be’ could mean that they already are the change. It might just be a question of living up to their potential.

So what kind of change agent are you? Something prompted you to read this post. What is your potential?

Posted on 04/06/201317/08/2016 by simongterry in Change, Leadership

People will forget what you said,
People will forget what you did,
But people will never forget how you made them feel. – Maya Angelou

Purpose endures disruption. Discuss.

Posted on 02/06/201317/08/2016 by simongterry in Change, Future of Work, Innovation

We know what we are, but not what we may be. – William Shakespeare

In a time of disruptive change, an organisation needs a strong common purpose to unite & guide its people.

Purpose is a product of the community in your organisation. It is the set of beliefs that keep your community together, reflecting your values, impact on others and hopes for the future.

A strong purpose is one that grows out of that community within your organisation. We are talking about deeply personal values and beliefs. This is the realm of pull, not push. People will have selected and remained with your organisation because of purpose. A purpose cannot be imposed without pushing people away from your organisation.

Purpose endures.

Your product, your business model, your competitive position and your returns may all change. Just look at the changes you face:

Every organisation faces continued change in Who does things. Tasks move. People come and go each day.
How you do things changes equally fast. That is the point of continuous improvement. We want this continuous betterment of our work.
When big disruptive change occurs, organisations need to change What they do too. If you haven’t moved from buggy whip manufacturer to delivering remote mobile acceleration control services, you might just have been left behind.

What keeps your organisation together and focused when everything might need to change really fast?

A purpose that is shared by the community of your organisation is a centre of focus and consistency. Importantly, the purpose is something consistently worth the investment of your people’s time, passion and effort over time. Purpose is the core around which your organisation must build its agility to survive. Purpose is the reason for which your organisation must survive and why it must prosper. The more things change the more you will come back to your purpose to choose what to do next.

Discovering purpose

Start an ongoing conversation in your organisation around your purpose. Seek to discover the beliefs that are shared and guide your organisation into the future. Build a consensus and educate those who are new. Social tools are fantastic ways to share and deepen this conversation.

Ask purposeful questions of each other. What is the purpose of strategies, changes and major initiatives? When is your organisation at its best? What beliefs and ideas bring out the best in your people?

The conversations are more powerful when they are not be dictated from the top of the organisation. The best conversations on purpose will be those that surface the beliefs of those who deliver impact to customers every day, who make decisions in the middle of the organisation or potentially by asking your customers to reflect on your purpose. Discuss these points of view. You will find that these conversations contribute to trust by building common ground.

Be prepared to be surprised, but most of all be prepared to find a new focus to the why at the heart of your organisation. Clarity of shared purpose will speed the agility of your people. After all, your purpose is why you are and the best guide to what you may be next.