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LIVING LIGHTS ON!
MANAGING CHANGE Managing change involves transforming old ways of thinking and behaving into new ways of learning and growing. With many individuals and many organizations, there is a belief system that mistakes are a problem. However, it is not mistakes that are the problem. It is the judgmental and critical responses to mistakes that create resistance and make lasting change problematic. Leaders and cutting -edge companies seek and use mistakes strategically to reach new heights. Therefore, a key factor in change management involves moving the culture away from judgment and criticism, toward solution focused practices that gather the intelligence offered through surfacing the mistakes, and thus enhancing individual and team learning. This article describes a practice called a “whoops review” which is very effective for managing change and transforming the culture. Mistakes are an opportunity to learn and change in a new and powerful way. Everyone acknowledges that learning comes as much from their mistakes (what didn’t work) as from their successes (what did work). However, people are reluctant to reveal their failures – especially at the office and certainly not in front of everyone at a meeting. The fact that people are reluctant to talk about their mistakes is a mistake in itself, because it means the whole team risks losing vital pieces of intelligence contained within each mistake. Even worse, it invites the likelihood of other people making the same mistake in the future. We frequently hear from our clients a commentary that goes something like this: “Why is this situation occurring over and over again? Am I missing a lesson here? How can I turn this into an opportunity for growth and learning for me and the team?” This quality of questioning is much more productive than “What’s wrong here?” So, let’s look at a workplace practice that starts by asking the higher quality question, elicits answers interactively, and intentionally invites mistakes into the communication process. It’s fun, enlivening, and brings an aspect of fun into the workplace. Using this method of experiential learning, leaders and teams report that they have more fun while being more effective, especially during times of accelerated change. Including Mistakes in Meetings – Intentionally! Following is an easy-to-use format for inserting a “whoops review” as an opening to your existing meetings. Prior to instituting this practice, make sure that each person is ready to share an experience without judgment. A good guideline is to be descriptive only - stating what occurred but not why. The statement each person gives should relate to personal performance only and therefore, always be in an “I” statement – never a “you” statement. Open the meeting with each person checking in by stating one thing that he or she did over the last week that worked (contributed to a successful outcome or increased their overall performance). Then the same person states one thing that he or she did in the last week that didn’t work (something that could have been done differently or that could have been more effective). And then conclude with an expression of gratitude. Extra guidelines are below:
There can be a tendency to concentrate on “what did work,” and to minimize “what didn’t work.” Naturally, what didn’t work is the most difficult for everyone to answer, and signifies the most resistance to change. To understand this resistance to reveal what didn’t work, look at the culture which equates a mistake with something being wrong. In a culture that operates from a “what’s wrong here?” focus, a report about what didn’t work will produce a negative outcome, and invite withdrawal, justification, and passing the blame. In positive change management strategy, the focus is on curiosity, discovery, and team learning. When the “whoops review” is practiced regularly – adhering to the guidelines for the non-judgmental, solution-focused process described above – resistance to change is transformed into team learning about what you and others can do differently and more effectively in the future. It invites the fun and co-creativeness that best describes purposeful change management. Live every day with your lights on! For more information, check out our website, or call us at 877-335-9333 Refer a friend to Lights On Living! Click Here
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