How
do you react when you hear colleagues using some of the excuses listed in the
50 Reasons Not to Change graphic? At work, I interact, work with and
problem-solve with many teams in manufacturing, engineering, quality and
supply chain. Sometimes, in continuous process
improvement events (kaizen) I hear responses and feedback "we have always
done it this way", "that's a stupid idea and won't work" and
"we looked at doing it this way before and it didn't work". What are
these phrases? They are paradigms (ways of thinking) and mental models,
patterns and examples (Barker, 1993). There are many
great mechanics who are legends at building airplanes but unfortunately for
some their wealth and breadth of knowledge, skills, abilities and experience
can work against them. My reaction is that they are not receptive open to
change and new ideas. And maybe being a little stubborn too. However, once I
convince them to at least try the idea starts the ball rolling forward. And
once they see their ideas being implemented changes their attitude. (50 Reasons Not to
Change!, 2011)
Do
you ever use any of these excuses yourself? Unfortunately, yes I am human and sometimes
get caught in the paradigm web. It is important to keep an open mind and
attitude to change along with critical thinking. And awareness and focus are a
big part of it too. It's easy (too easy) to become paralyzed by the fear of failure,
ridicule from others and making mistakes. Keep the focus on the idea, process and
vision.
How can you overcome the thinking that creates those responses to
change efforts? How do these "paradigm"
situations get addressed? Always have a team charter and guiding operating
principles to provide focus, direction and flow. Paradigms are harder to deal
with because critical thinking skills are required. The hard part is removing
the old paradigms and replacing them with new ones. Always be open to change
and new ideas. Joel Barker, futurist, author and lecturer, states that
the role of leadership is to find, recognize, and secure the future. He states
that paradigms effect the quality of leadership. We can learn from the past,
the present is too slim in which to act, it is with the future we must plan and
prepare. We all know the rules for success in our business or professions, yet
we also know that these rules—paradigms—can change at any time. Managers must
allow and be willing to hear from their employees who step outside the box to
solve a problem. Managers must
facilitate and encourage cross talk means with people of diverse backgrounds,
diverse opinions and sit together and talk. Especially people from different
paradigm can be particularly good at helping get past another person's
paradigm. By listening to all those
screwy, crazy and weird ideas, managers gain a special leverage for creativity
and innovation because many screwy ideas may produce one good idea.
Always be open and receptive, no one says you have to adopt the idea. Managers
are in a unique position because they hear all the ideas, can make connections
and can make things happen. (Barker, 1993)
Do
you agree with Seth Godin’s concept that change is driven by tribes? Yes, change
is driven by tribes. A tribe is a group of people connected to a leader and connected
to a shared idea or passion. Tribes usually have small and humble beginnings but
can grow into strong and powerful forces. Tribes can be used to break free of the
status quo and promoting operational excellence to enhance current standards. It
is important to grow a cohesive close-knit tribe with "chemistry" by focusing
on creating intimate fans instead of a large mass audience tribe. People want to
join tribes because they want to connect with people, ideas and passion. Leaders
of tribes challenge the status quo, build a culture and connect people. If leadership
is the ability to create change your tribe believes in, and the market demands change,
then the market demands leaders. Managers manage by using the authority the factory
gives them. You listen to your manager or lose your job. A manager can't make change
because that's no his job. His job is to complete tasks for the factory. Leaders,
on the other hand, don't follow structure or official blessings. They use passion,
ideas and people to lead, change the status quo and make things happen. Most organizations
are waiting for someone like me to lead them. (Seth Godin: The tribes we lead, TED - 2009) (Godin, 2008)
What
can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career? I will make
a choice. I can choose to lead or not. I can choose to have faith or not. I can
choose to contribute to the tribe or not. And there are thousands of reasons (or
excuses) why I, of all people, aren't the right one to lead? Why I don't have the
resources or the authority or the genes or the momentum to lead? Yes, probably so.
So what? I still get to make the choice. I will be under huge pressure to reconsider
my choice, to compromise, to thumb it down, to give up or quit. Of course I can.
It's the world's job to get me to be quiet and follow. The status quo is the status
quo for a reason. I choose
to be a leader of a tribe at work and make change happen with ideas, passion and
people. Actually, I am already leading several tribes and making things happen in
employee involvement (EI) and engagement activities.
References
Barker, Joel A. (1993). Paradigms: Business of Discovering the
Future. New York City: HarperCollins.
Godin, Seth (2008). Tribes. New York, New York:
Penguin Group.
Seth Godin: The tribes we lead (TED - 2009). Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead
50 Reasons Not to Change! (2011). Retrieved
from
https://prezi.com/z2v2cvo4t9tc/50-reasons-not-to-change/
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