The 2 sides of change : an Elephant story …

Do you know Dan Heath's book : Switch, How to Change Things When Change Is Hard ?

The core idea of this excellent book is that there are two sides to the way human beings think about any issue.

There’s the rational, analytical, problemsolving side of our brains, which may think, “I need to eat less.” But there’s an emotional side that’s addicted to impulse or comfortable routines, and that side wants a cookie.

At work, the rational side may say that the company needs to go in a different direction. But the emotional side is comfortable with the old ways of thinking and selling, and it has great anxiety about whether the company can change successfully.

Dan Heath’s favorite metaphor for this dynamic comes from the psychologist Jonathan Haidt 1, who talks about a human riding atop an elephant. The Rider represents our analytical, planning side. The Rider decides, “I need to go somewhere, here’s the direction I want to go,” and sets off. But it’s the Elephant, the emotional side, that’s providing the power. The Rider can try to lead the Elephant, but in any direct contest of wills the Elephant is going to win—it has a six-ton advantage.

So part of achieving change, in either our lives or in organizations, is aligning both sides of the brain by pointing out the direction for the Rider but also motivating the Elephant to undertake the journey. Of course, the Path the Elephant walks down matters too. High-ranking executives can shape that Path, that environment, and make the journey easier even when the Elephant is less motivated.2

So, dear Readers, let’s take care of the Elephant too…Lets make our people think : “We’re the kind of people who can successfully make this change.”

1. The Happiness Hypothesis: Putting Ancient Wisdom to the Test of Modern Science,

London: William Heinemann, 2006
2. In Switch, the words Rider, Elephant, and Path represent characters in the mental play

that the book describes.

Source :The Emotional side of Change, Mac Kinsey Quarterly

The boss of the bosses # 1

If you are lucky as I am, then you have your CEO supporting your transformation journey... and this is a big hit ! Research and experiences show that four key functions collectively define a successful role for the CEO in a transformation:

1. Making the transformation meaningful. People will go to extraordinary lengths for causes they believe in, and a powerful transformation story will create and reinforce their commitment. The ultimate impact of the story depends on the CEO’s willingness to make the transformation personal, to engage others openly, and to spotlight successes as they emerge.

2. Role-modeling desired mind-sets and behavior. Successful CEOs typically embark on their own personal transformation journey. Their actions encourage employees to support and practice the new types of behavior.

3. Building a strong and committed top team. To harness the transformative power of the top team, CEOs must make tough decisions about who has the ability and motivation to make the journey.

4. Relentlessly pursuing impact. There is no substitute for CEOs rolling up their sleeves and getting personally involved when significant financial and symbolic value is at stake.

Everyone has a role to play in a performance transformation. The role of CEOs is unique in that they stand at the top of the pyramid and all the other members of the organization take cues from them. CEOs who give only lip service to a transformation will find everyone else doing the same. Those who fail to model the desired mind-sets and behavior or who opt out of vital initiatives risk seeing the transformation lose focus. Only the boss of all bosses can ensure that the right people spend the right amount of time driving the necessary changes.

Source : Mc Kinsey Quaterly

SAY NO TO NO

Dear Readers,
It has been a while since I did not post anything...To be honest, I was busy fighting a big ennemy of mine : Negativity.
Here is a thought that keeps me inspired in those difficult days when you have to face some adversity..

Isn’t it high time someone got negative about negativity ?

Yes it is.

Look around. The worls is full of things, that, according to nay-sayers, should never have happened.
“Impossible”
“Impractical"
“No”

And yet “yes”.

Yes, continents have been found.

Yes, men have played golf on the moon.

Yes, genetic save lives.

Yes, Yes, Yes.

What does it take to turn no into yes ?

Curiosity. An open mind. A willingness to take risks.
And, when the problem seems most insoluble, when the challenge is hardest, when everyone else is shaking their heads, to say: let’s go.

Inspired from the excellent text : www.shell.com/realenergy

Photo Flickr Gerry Visco

Using Consultants in Change Programm

Consultant have been working with companies since the early post World war II era, when McKinsey and Boston Group Consulting Group began offering strategic planning advice to corporate executives...

Considering today's pressure on cost, it is important to understand how consultants can help you and how you an make the most of their services. 

Here is the help a consultant can bring you for your change initiative:

1. Diagnostic : a team of junior consutants gathers information both inside and outside the organisation with the goal of :
• determining where the company stands in terms of some measure of organisation performance
• the company problem's and the root causes with respect to that performance measure
2. Capabilities assesment : the capabilities of the companies human and physical resources are assessed
3. Strategy developement : working with management, the consulting team developes a strategy for reaching the desire level of performance.Depending on the situation, that strategy mai include various doses of employee training , process reengineering, organizational restructuring, and even some new information technologies.
4. Implementation : consultant team provide training and work with employees team to plan the change programm and operationalize the strategy.

As you move throught agenda, consultants should gradually assume background roles. Thus, the best appraoch to using consultants is bound to be heavily situational. If the goal is restructuring, change consultants can and should play a major role. They have very specialized knowledge and experience for these rare events. But if the change involves changing how people work, put your own people in change and use consultants as facilitators.


Sources : Surviving Change, Harvard Business press

Employees See Death When You Change Their Routines

Dear Readers,

Today I would like to share this excellent article written by James R. Bailey and Jonathan Raelin*... a bit pushy but very interesting ...Let's see your reactions..

You may have had this experience: You alter an employee's routine or change the way he's evaluated, and you get a reaction that's far bigger and more negative than anything you expected.

What did you do wrong? Probably nothing except underestimate his fear of death.

Sounds strange, but a fascinating field of research known as terror management theory has shed light on the connection between people's reactions to change and their awareness of the big change that awaits us all.

The basic idea is that people go to great lengths to repress awareness of mortality. Studies show that we create three existential buffers to protect us from this knowledge: Consistency allows us to see the world as orderly, predictable, familiar, and safe. Standards of justice allow us to establish and enforce a code of what's good and fair. Culture imbues us with the sense that we have contributed to, and are participating in, a larger and enduring system of beliefs.
Anything that threatens these buffers exposes us to the looming reality of death. Change an employee's routine, and you've undermined the consistency barrier. Tell a salesperson he'll no longer be evaluated on the basis of revenue and now must hit certain cross-selling and teamwork targets, and you've attacked his standard of justice. Alter the company's mission, and you've pierced the culture buffer by requiring him to reconstruct his worldview.
Faced with any of these changes, an employee is likely to feel deeply threatened. The more people feel threatened, the more they dig in — or try to escape. One of us (Bailey) took the latter route when the university where he was working as a young professor merged its separate business schools. Faced with the prospect of new colleagues, new students, new campuses — and, most distressing, new promotion committees — he left the job within months.
Fortunately, there's a lot leaders can do to ease employees' unconscious fear of death. Be consistent — make sure employees are informed about, and trained in, new operational procedures well in advance of any change, allowing them to acclimate. If there are to be changes in performance measurement, painstakingly explain the shifts to illustrate their implications. If there's to be a rethinking of culture, create a detailed and nuanced justification for why beliefs and values need to change — culture shift is less threatening if it's honestly framed as a needed adaptation. And leaders should acknowledge that change equals loss. Otherwise they'll appear clueless.


Change is necessary, but so is an understanding of how it invades people's critical bulwarks against the awareness of mortality. We can't stave off death forever, but good leadership can temper the debilitating effects of being reminded of it at work.

*James R. Bailey is the Ave Tucker Professor of Leadership and chair of the Department of Management at the School of Business, George Washington University. Jonathan Raelin is an assistant professor at the University of Bath in the UK.

Image : Flirk from Stefan, Jean Le squelette

Engaging Employees

Successful implementation is greatly facilitated when the people carrying out the change are engaged in the process and buy in to the strategy and tactics.

Ideally, this should involve:

• Acceptance

• Understanding

• Willing participation

• Enthusiasm

Achieving this requires two-way communication: not just top-down dissemination of instructions and information, but also soliciting and listening to workforce questions, concerns, and suggestions. Attention should also be paid to building motivation and incentives into the change process, such as recognition and reward programs and links to compensation.
Finally, critical to the success of any change initiative is follow-up during and after implementation to evaluate the new processes and modify them if they are not having the intended impact on departments or individuals.

Employee Engagement Tools : Be open, and invite employee participation and communication.

1. Communicate (in multiple directions):
• Convey strategic goals, rationale, and overall direction of change.
• Communicate constantly about what is different and how it affects people
• Communicate about links to corporate culture and other systems.
• Solicit feedback.
• Use multiple communication methods: Web sites, newsletters, focus groups, town hall meetings, information centers, and the like.

2. Think globally:
• Conduct surveys and interviews to determine employee views and needs.
• Obtain early input about impact on employees and their roles and functions.

3. Act locally:
• Facilitate effectiveness of local leaders and build trust within units.
• Create employee-driven teams.
• Reorganize work assignments effectively and equitably.

4. Provide motivation and incentives:
• Link implementation to objectives, compensation, HR practices.
• Establish recognition and reward systems.
• Empower employees in the change process.

5. Follow-up:

• Conduct surveys to assess successes, hurdles, and employee engagement. 

• Respond to employee suggestions and concerns.

Source: The conference Board

Image Flickr

Tips for identifying Change Agents...

After we spoke about change resister, it is fair enough to discover Change Agent ...

1. Find out who people listen to. Change agents lead with the power of their ideas. But be warned : these may not be employees with formal authority to lead.
2. Be alert to people who think 'otherwise'. Change Agent are not satisfayed with things 'as they are'.
3. Take a close look at new employees who have come from outside the circle of traditional competitors. They may not be infected with the same mindset as everyone else.
4. Look for people with unsual training or experience. Chance are she sees the world through a different lens.