3000 Yr. Old Change Management Advice

I've been through a lot of change lately. 18 months ago I was on the verge of moving from Calgary to Kuwait. Entering some new territory vocationally. But unexpectedly repatriated to Canada last August. So, I am thinking about "change" more than I usually do. Even though I am back on "home ground", there is new territory to define and pursue.

Have been slogging my way reading the first few books of the Bible's Old Testament. These were people 'on the move' and used to regular change. Found some interesting insights to share with you from one particular point in their history...

Israel for most of its history was a collection of nomadic tribes. Change happened constantly when you were moving and taking up new territory. Here are some lessons their leader Moses gave before they were to take over lands and cities on their march to possessing the territory their God had promised to them:

1. When you go to war (face a new change), and see that it is far bigger than your capacity, don’t be afraid.

In Israel’s case they could believe that because their God said He was going ahead of them and preparing the way. I recognize God may not be part of your thinking & planning. If God isn’t a part of your plans, then what is the confidence you are taking with you that this change is going to work? You have to start with confidence. No confidence, no guts in the face of the challenges change will throw at you. No guts, no glory.

2. If you are not fully prepared to engage the change and all it entails, then don’t.

Army captains were to say to their warriors that if any of them had commitments to take care of first (like: they just got married or were still building a house), then they were to go take care of those commitments first before entering the fight. What might you as the leader need to take care of first in order to fully engage the change you are entering? This advice also suggests that leaders need to identify the ones who are ready to move forward, and leave others to continue to complete their current commitments. Some should not go with you – it’s just not the right time for them. In fact, some should be left behind to develop and be ready for a later phase of the change.

3. Finally, in the pursuit of new territory, don’t destroy what’s needed to feed you in the long run.

Moses’ advice to warriors when they were besieging a city was to not cut down every tree in the area in order to build the ramparts. “Leave the fruit trees” he said, "otherwise what’s going to feed you when you’ve captured the city and settle down?" How often have you seen a person tear down the past in pursuit of the future, or belittle the existing structure/organization as a justification for breaking new ground? They leave the ground barren, empty of 'trees', devoid of currently existing resources that could have helped them make their new future into reality.

In pursuit of the new, sometimes we still need the old to feed us, support us and sometimes even finance us!

It’s easy to view the organization or situation we are currently in (and want to change) as a hairball that stifles us. We want freedom. Gordon Mackenzie’s book “Orbiting the Giant Hairball” is an insightful & creative look at how to manage the relationship between the “hairball” of our current organizational context, and the creative change that typically can only be born outside of it.

(For those interested in reading the full account of Moses’ advice, refer to the Bible, the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 20)

Wishing you a successful and prosperous 2011

Harv Matchullis - back from Kuwait and settled in Canada. Still ever the nomad...

The Mere Exposure Effect

During our transition back to Canada, someone lent us their bright red Chevy Avalanche truck. “Suddenly” I started seeing that there was a LOT of Avalanches on the road, especially red ones! Have you noticed that when you’ve made a major purchase, you begin to see that many other people have bought the same thing as you?

Advertisers know all about this. So should you, the leader.

It’s called the ‘mere exposure effect’, the tendency to express a liking for, and/or an attraction to things merely because of a familiarity with them. Our perception becomes selective for the things we already know and like. Think about it – were there really more trucks out there just like mine, or was my attention more focused on them because I was now more attuned to the Red Avalanche?

For the nomadic leader, the mere exposure effect holds both value and danger. Here are 2 examples:

1. You have tapped into a successful strategy. As the execution rolls out, you begin to notice elements of your strategy in other successful organizations.

• The benefit: Not only do you feel a confirmation that others see the same benefits to the strategy (or elements of it), but you now have more ‘windows’ through which you can see how others are putting their strategy in play. There are more opportunities to compare notes and perhaps improve your strategy.

• The caution: You stop looking inside your organization to see if the strategy is really working because you are focused on comparisons and seeing who else is in your camp. The strategies may have similarities, but are your organizations the same? The mere exposure effect can lull you into failure to acknowledge your organizational uniqueness and the attention that is required to maintain and leverage it. The mere exposure effect causes you to become selective in your perception of reality. Your attention is inadvertently directed to certain ideas, emphases and strategies because they bear a similarity to what you are already exposed to. However the result is you may miss the value of ideas that are outside the frame of your current thinking.

2. Key players in your organization are producing a lot for you. There are certain characteristics you see emerge as a pattern in these people.

• The benefit: You are identifying the base factors for success. This will help you build a profile of the kind of person that will help bring more of that success to your organization.

• The caution: I see two cautions here. First, you can create an imbalance by hiring too many people who will bring you ‘success’ (however you define it) but neglect to see the constellation of other skills and abilities required to support these star players. Secondly, changing environments will mean skills sets need to be constantly honed. To ‘see’ what makes for success today may not be as successful in even a few months if the landscape shifts. The mere exposure effect can create myopia in hiring and/or training.

Nomadic leaders who have to stay abreast of ever-changing landscapes can use the mere exposure effect to their advantage by making a conscious choice to become familiar with things outside their normal context. The result is an ability ‘see’ more of the ideas, strategies or other key elements to which you were exposed. Then you will be able to tap into it for your advantage as an organization. Some ideas:

• Go see or read about a completely different industry. Talk to their leaders and practitioners.

• Get involved in some learning experiences that are outside the core of what you are involved with.

• Read about the success you have not yet achieved.

• Go SEE the success you seek.

• If you are in the C-Suite – take a walk on the proverbial ‘shop floor’. See what you have not seen for a while.

The mere exposure effect can become a useful learning strategy for a leader to see new opportunities for his/her organization. Then, by slowly introducing the rest of your organization to a great idea, you can use the mere exposure effect to bring about the change you seek.

Harv Matchullis
harvey@visiontracks.ca
www.visiontracks.ca

Storms on the Horizon

No matter where you live in the world, storms exist. They also have very different natures. I come from Canada and am used to snowstorms. Imagine my wonder at the sight of my first sandstorm in Kuwait...

Here’s the leadership point... the kinds of storms you will face on your leadership excursion vary as do weather patterns around the world. Our storms are rarely repeated. Have any of these “weather patterns” affected your leadership life?

· A vision that is getting swallowed up in a fog of daily reality

· Employees rising up in a storm of anger, protest, resistance

· Economic turmoil

· The ‘perfect storm’ of multiple challenges that threatens to take down your leadership or organization

· Being frozen out of influence and realizing you are being sidelined

· A weather front from your personal life rolls in to affect your leadership

· ...

There’s a disturbance on my horizon. I started out here in Kuwait with a clear plan and confidence. But a storm started to brew, and things happened that I did not anticipate. Tried to wrestle it down, find a solution, and make mid-course corrections. In the end (actually I am not yet at the end), tough decisions had to be made that were right, but not easy.

How do you handle the storms? As I write this, I am still in a life & leadership challenge, so the things I am writing about are current. The following steps are helping me; some are still in-process. Some I take by faith that they will lead me to clear skies. So, as many blogs go, this is a personal journal of what I have come to know over the years can help me ride out the storms and emerge into clear weather.

So, as the weather gets bad around your leadership, or your life as a leader, here are some process considerations to help navigate the storm successfully...

Reflect

The default for many leaders is “dive in and solve this”. You are much wiser to step back and simply start reflecting. Reflecting is at its simplest: “taking a look”. Don’t bother analyzing yet. Take a snapshot of the storm. You can do this by asking some simple questions like:

· What is actually happening right now?

· Who else is affected by this?

· How might others be viewing this? (How can I get their opinion?)

· To what extent am I committed to successfully getting through this?

Process

At this stage it’s time to ask: “So, what does this mean?”

You can do this yourself, but I strongly advise against that! Most of us in reality are like a horse with the blinders on. We see only so far and usually in a particular direction. Involving others helps us get a 360 view of not only our situation, but also our thinking about the context.

Indulge me and let’s do some thinking about our thinking. The prefrontal cortex is where our executive functions are located. The basic activity of this brain region is considered to be orchestration of thoughts and actions in accordance with internal goals. This area of the brain takes up about only 7% of our brain, but it consumes a high amount of physical energy. That’s why learning takes so much work! It's like the RAM in your computer... fussy and an energy drain! So, what our brain does is ‘hardwire’ everything it can, sending it to the "Hard Disk" so that it can be retrieved later with a minimum amount of effort. Our brains are wired so that we default to the ways in which we have thought in the past. It takes less energy to access that information, so we usually tend to ‘go there’. That’s what I refer to as ‘default thinking’; it’s the first thing we think about because our brain can access that thought (or pattern of thinking) without taking up so much energy.

But, think about this – in a storm, can we always rely on old patterns of thinking and behaviour to serve us well? This is where your friends and peers come in to help you ‘think’ from a different angle. You may find a new perspective that will help you face your storm. You may need help to learn a new way of not only seeing something, but of thinking about it.

And, if you have a major decision to make, you want the best of your brain on your side, not just ‘what comes to mind’.

Wait

Before a decision, it’s a good thing to create space between the issue and your need to make a decision. Walk away from it for a while.

Have you ever noticed how often an “AHA” moment occurs at some point after you have been hard at work thinking through a problem? There’s brain science behind that phenomenon too, but I won’t go into that here. (see the book reference below)

Decide

You do have to make a decision. They say that ‘not to decide is to decide’. That’s a half-truth. Not to decide is to:

· perpetuate the current chaos, which will control you if you decide not to control it

· live with lack of clarity and conviction, which will undermine your self-confidence

· create a destructive pattern in your thinking

Rarely, if ever, do we have all the facts in front of us when it is decision-time. We each make our decisions based on our own sets of criteria, which usually are a mix of the logical and intuitive ‘gut’ or ‘heart’.

For a fascinating read on how our brains work in decision making, I highly recommend John Lehrer's book "The Decisive Moment".

Act

Execute. Jesus once said: "Let your yes be yes and your no be no" - in other words, be integral once you have committed yourself and carry through on it.

I have made a decision. It’s time to execute. I still will have some of the storm to get through as a result of that decision. But the one thing a decision does is set your course for the next phase of your leadership. You now know where you are going.

Press on!

Harv Matchullis – June, 2010

The Things You Carry

The exotic camel caravan.

A fortunate few have seen it in real life. Most of us depend on National Geographic specials. Nomadic desert peoples learned what the essentials were for living and ensured those were packed on camels or other animals and replenished when necessary.

As your leadership navigates the landscape of an ever-changing world, you are much like those nomadic peoples. You have to think carefully about what you take with you on the trip. So, what are the things you carry on your leadership sojourn?


1. We Carry Our Past

Tim O’Brien’s’ book: “The Things They Carried”, set in wartime Vietnam chronicles a number of characters and the physical, emotional and psychological things they carried into battle. A fascinating read, based in real life war experience but crafted as fiction. This story reminded me that we all carry things INTO our leadership & vocations that originate in our past and affect our lives today. Our culture typically uses the word “baggage” to describe this concept. We tend to apply the term negatively, however not all baggage is negative. But baggage has influence.

When is the last time you opened the “backpack” of things you carry? Have you ever taken the time to think about your past and how it influences your leadership? Our history has an influence on our future and we should pay attention to it. In some cases you are carrying things that make your leadership great or unique. In other cases, you may have heavy rocks in that backpack that need to be removed because they are hampering your effectiveness.

How has your leadership effectiveness and character been shaped by things such as:

• Family of origin
• Socio-cultural context
• Significant people, places and events in your formative years
• Things people have spoken into your life that have inspired or deflated you

Do not discount these influences on your life. Celebrate the things that have made you unique and strong. Address the issues that have left you with a limp. You can do this in a number of ways:

• Take a personal retreat to reflect on your life
• Go through a “life mapping” exercise. This is NOT goal setting. These are retreats or documents that guide you to systematically walk through your life from infancy to the present, identifying the key people, places, events and circumstances you have experienced and the lessons/impact they bring. You build your life story. Those who go through these exercises are often awakened to the patterns and lessons from their histories that have shaped their lives. A significant by-product is greater clarity on your life direction. If you want further information, email me at: info@visiontracks.ca
• Employ the services of a life coach. Coaches work with your agenda, so if you ask a coach to help you understand your past and how it connects to your future, they will work with that. Feel free to visit my website for information on coaching: www.visiontracks.ca


2. We Carry Too Many Things Alone

It’s far too easy to keep carrying character qualities or skills that don’t work. If you are largely a loner in leadership, you won’t see these things. You may look at yourself in the proverbial mirror and think “I’m OK”, but isolated self reflection does not provide a fully accurate picture of who you are.

The rise of the 360 review is an excellent way to gain more balanced feedback. However typically these instruments relate primarily to work-related skills and qualities. I challenge you to go deeper and create a circle of peers who can give you feedback at a deeper level. Let’s face it; it is a rare work context that will care about these kinds of issues:

• Personal character development
• The quality of your relationships with family, friends
• The things you think about that impact your leadership effectiveness

Think about inviting 3 or 4 others whom you trust to be your circle of confidants. Invite them into a relationship where you will challenge each other to not only be great leaders in your chosen fields, but also great men/women of character. Character is the foundation for success.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
-John Wooden-

I was a loner for many years. A nomadic leader, I was largely self-sufficient as I worked my way through Canada, Indonesia, Cambodia and then back to Canada. Over the years I had many great acquaintances and colleagues. Lots of shop-talk and camaraderie. But the deeper issues of character development were left unexposed. I carried them alone. At one point I was challenged to stop the independence streak and include others at a deeper level. Once I chose to open this area of my life up to further scrutiny, my quality of life improved both on the professional and relational fronts.

Who’s got your back? Who will fight for you? Who cares for you as a person, not just as a leader?


3. We Carry Old TechnologyAt a time when I was feeling somewhat over-satisfied with myself, I was challenged by John Maxwell with his statement: “Are you in danger of becoming a ‘mundane man’”? I was. Looking in the mirror I thought I had all that was needed for the rest of my life. If I kept on that track, I’d forever be feeding the future from my past – and at some point I’d find myself in a deficit position, unable to rise to new opportunities and challenges. I would end up, well, MUNDANE. His challenge was to become a lifelong learner.

The nomadic leader is continually packing and repacking – taking what is essential for the trip, looking ahead at the coming conditions and preparing appropriately. Lifelong learning not only adds to your repertoire of things to carry, but also helps you to know what things to jettison. Not every skill or knowledge-ware you possess has applicability in all situations.

If you learn nothing today, you'll have nothing to give tomorrow. Stay sharp.

Regularly check your leadership supplies. The things you carry today will influence the measure to which you are prepared for tomorrow.

Harvey Matchullis

What’s your Superpower?

An acquaintance in Kuwait asked me that question. She’s actually writing a book on the link between superheroes and our own personal experience, so she tried out the question. I thought a moment and described my superpower as “seeing around the corner”. Like many leaders, I exist for the future. Whether in my personal life or my work, I feel the need to see beyond.



Then she followed up with; “What superpower are you developing?” That took a moment to think through, but I soon nailed it – “the power of now”. You see, I have caught myself often looking so far ahead that I miss today. I evaluate today by whether it has any reference or relevance to tomorrow and end up missing the power (and the joy) that exists today.

It’s a ‘curse’ of the nomadic leader – looking down the road for the next oasis, the next opportunity, the next customer, the next phase of development. Yet this is also a necessary superpower. It’s critical for the survival and impact of an organization or business. Stay too long in one place and you and your organizations’ vitality may be at stake.

What are some of the consequences of NOT using the superpower of “seeing around the corner”?

• Loss of ability to look around at the skies, the weather & climate to see where the best pasture is. You may lose the skills of discerning and evaluating the conditions around you in order to find opportunities. Keep exercising this skill, because as I have learned about the languages I have acquired in the past: “If you don’t use it, you lose it”.
• Inertia. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs describes one of the foundational needs of humans as safety/security. When we find it, it’s hard to give up. Any of you involved in change management know the power of this need! Once settled in, people are difficult to move. Yet the lifeblood and effectiveness of many organizations requires their leaders to know when and why to pull up stakes (& disturb security) so that they can reach their full potential and impact.

But what of the superpower: “the power of now”? There are consequences to spending too much energy and time focused on what’s next:

• People get weary of a leader who never settles down. It feels to employees that just as they get comfortable with a system, a skill or an approach, things change.
• It drains your organization of valuable energy. If leadership & employee energy is too often focused on change, or the ever-present prospect of change, energy for actually delivering your core purpose is diverted.
• You begin to think that the future is the current reality! It isn’t, and it will take a lot of ‘today’ people to pull you out of the clouds to consider the details needed to get to the future.
• You miss the immediate needs of your most valuable resource –the people who will eventually get you to your preferred future. Yes, people want a leader to see ahead, but they also want their leader to turn around and notice them. I recall an incident with an international team I worked with, where the leader was leading us (with all our luggage) through the streets of Hong Kong en route to a new hotel. We were walking. He walked so fast, without looking back to see whether his team was with him, that eventually they became strung out over about 5 city blocks! Every once in a while STOP, turn around, forget the future.
• The joy of just living in today is lost. If everything is evaluated on its relevance to the future, the simple joy of today is diminished. For many of your followers, today IS more important than tomorrow. It’s where and how they live. Therefore as a leader, enter into TODAY and see value in it.

So, to those of you with the overdeveloped superpower of seeing around the corner, remember this:

Today is the only foundation you have for tomorrow.

Earthquakes and Expectations

A brief departure from my regular blog topics on nomadic leadership - but on second though, perhaps not! While wandering the landscape of leadership, you will be sure to encounter crisis...

Any leader has to live with shifting expectations of followers, clients and stakeholders. Right now I wonder how the various leaders of the aid efforts in Haiti feel? In the initial days of the crisis, all eyes are on the crisis itself. Concern runs deep. Focus is on the people who are most affected. But then "someone" has to mobilize and deploy the resources needed to address the situation. Here is where leadership has to take the reins and the responsibility. In these kinds of situations, the decisions over how to help in a crisis are often themselves made in a context of crisis. Not all the information is at hand. Resources are not always fully in place. Yet action is needed. There is no perfect process, but the leader has to step up to the plate.

And here is where it gets interesting. Every time we watch the international response to massive disasters like this, it only takes a few days for criticism to pour in over the leadership of the effort to deploy aid. It's either not fast enough, or it's too slow, or not the right kind of help at the right time.

Funny how we all can lead so effectively from the chair in front of the TV.

Leading in a crisis is fraught with the competing expectations of multiple stakeholders in the process. What can you, in that situation, do to provide strong leadership?

Slow down

Panic generates speed. The human fight or flight response is a naturally occuring defense mechanism. It becomes our default response when we are faced with danger. It also is seen in group response to issues. Look at the world reaction to the financial crisis of Sept 2008.(This is also associated with another sociological phenomena: the 'mob mentality'). Good leaders calm their own panic by deliberately slowing down their thinking, resisting the panic-reaction. Your brain is a stage and if there are too many actors on it, internal chaos ensues. Remove some of the actors. Clear your mental space of the clutter that comes with crisis so that you can order your thoughts when others' thoughts are in disarray.

Friends of mine in another business recently shared with me that leaders have been conditioned for forward motion and for advance; to always keep the wind in our sails. The idea of slowing down and coasting is perceived as sure defeat in a competitive, forward motion world. Yet there is a time when 'coasting' is actually a good thing. In fact, all of life is based on a principle of 'oscillation' - periods of growth combined with rest. Take a walk, get away with your team, physically move away from your current environment so you can center your thoughts.

Gain clarity

Gain clarity on 2 fronts:

1. The Facts. This is not just a matter of getting the facts, but then of accepting them. It does you and your employees/followers no good to deny what is going on. The people you lead are not naive. They can see the same landscape as you. You may know more of the details, you may be able to see farther, but you are not the only one 'in the know'.

2. The Future. This may be one of the best times for you to gain clarity on your personal and corporate purpose. Why?

◦ Purpose is both an anchor and a beacon. It holds us down in a storm and it directs us to the future. So, a crisis is a gut-check time. Is your personal purpose and your corporate purpose in sufficient alignment for you to lead with integrity? Are you anchored so as not to panic yet able to see the future with hope and confidence? You will lead with more confidence and competence when this alignment is in place.

◦ Retaining the energy, focus and effort of employees/followers in uncertain times depends more than you think on their connection with the long term vision and purpose of the organization. People decide on how much of themselves they will give to their work depending on the level to which they feel they are connected to something they believe in. A Harris Interactive poll quoted by Steven Covey in his book "The 8th Habit" indicated only 37% of workers have a clear understanding of the purpose of their organization. What do you think that does to productivity and effectiveness? A disconnect like this when crisis hits only further diminishes the very energy you need from your people to make it through a tough time! They are more likely to stay with you if they know you have both an anchor and a beacon. In uncertain times clarity on purpose creates certainty, (which translates to loyalty)and hope (which leads to forward energy).

Communicate

“Communicate deeply but quickly. In times of crisis people's fears matter to an organization even more than they should during “normal” times. If everybody in an organization believes they are on a sinking boat, they will disengage - thus increasing the vulnerability and accelerating the downward spiral of the organization.”(Holger Nauheimer, 2008, The Change Management Newsletter: http://www.change-management-toolbook.com). Nauheimer also declares that truly transformational leaders will walk the talk in front of their people, demonstrating what it means to wrestle with reality, make tough decisions and communicate them wisely. Your actions will inspire them to make wise decisions too. Have regular, short meetings with different groups within your organization. Tell them what you are doing to address issues. Get feedback on how your actions to address uncertainty are working. Encourage honesty and transparency so that you can hear their opinions and ideas. This process though 'labour-intensive', will increase confidence and loyalty within your teams. You might want to consider using an external facilitator to help with communications. During times of crises or uncertainty, people tend be guided by their assumptions. It is difficult internally to challenge those perspectives. An external, strictly impartial facilitator can help to map out different assumptions and guide teams to productive outcomes.

Conclusion:

Concerning the advance of human discovery throughout history, Daniel Boorstin in his book The Discoverers concluded that “the greatest barrier to discovery is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge”. A leader's current ignorance of the strategies needed to navigate uncertainty or crisis is not the final factor determining success or failure. Believing you already know what there is to know is the greatest danger because it blocks you from the learning needed to create new solutions for new conditions.

Earthquakes will stir up a pot of competing expectations. People will always criticize your decisions. Lead anyway. The people IN THE CRISIS matter more than the people "calling the play from the couch".

Ready for Risk?

Welcome to 2010. Last year was a year of risk for me. It's a regular part of any nomadic leader's journey. You cannot keep seeking and changing without coming face to face with challenges to your (or your organizations') status quo. At that point you face RISK.

Speaking of RISK: My question for anyone for whom risk is part of the equation on their current journey, is not so much are you willing to take the risk, but are you ready? Many are willing...you hear them boldly talk about their plans & dreams. That's great. But are they READY? Readiness means you have gone beyond the talk and are now giving energy to seriously count the cost. Here's something that can help you move to the READINESS stage:

TO RISK OR NOT TO RISK?
4 Simple Questions to Help Assess Any Risk
From the book: TAKE THE RISK by Ben Carson, MD

These questions help you consider the various possibilities in a reasonable, logical manner before making an uncertain or risky decision.

1. What is the worst thing that could happen if I went ahead with this decision?



2. What is the best thing that could happen if I went ahead?



3. What’s the worst thing that could happen if I don’t go ahead with this decision?



4. What’s the best thing that could happen if I don’t go ahead?


In answering the questions, think of these additional key-words for acquiring the knowledge and wisdom necessary to make your decision:

Who? – Who would be most affected by any decision made? Revisit the 4 questions not only from your point of view, but from theirs too.

What? – What do you need to know in order to more clearly make this decision? Get informational support and people support/advice. Ultimately, however, this decision is yours to make and not dependent on others' viewpoints.

Where? – Where are you going (does this fit your goals and values)? Where are you now (your skills, abilities, knowledge, thinking, attitudes)? Where will you start (your preparation)?

When? - Often the timing of these questions affects the conclusion. Times change. So do circumstances. Does this fit into life now? What about in two years?

How? - What’s the plan for each of the scenarios? Is the ‘how’ a workable, realistic strategy?

Why? - Why is one of the most important questions to ask – what are your motives, your personal values around this risk?

If you are contemplating something new this year, I leave you with a quote that I heard many years ago (author unknown) that has served me well whenever I have a dream of changing something running through my head...

If not you, then who? If not now, then when?