This document summarizes a training presentation on leading change given by Bret L. Simmons, Ph.D. to Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital on October 31, 2013. The presentation covered two main topics: 1. The Progress Principle - Daily progress doing meaningful work can positively impact inner work life and motivation. Both small wins and setbacks significantly affect emotions and performance. Leaders should focus on clear goals, autonomy, resources, time, support, and learning from mistakes. 2. Switch - To drive behavior change, leaders must direct the rational decision-maker (the Rider) and motivate the emotional responder (the Elephant). This involves setting a clear destination, making the desired behavior specific and easy

1. Leading Change
Bret L. Simmons, Ph.D.
www.bretlsimmons.com
Training for
Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital
October 31, 2013

2. www.bretlsimmons.com
http://www.slideshare.net/BretLSimmons
(775) 336-9576

3. Agenda
• 1 pm. Session 1: Leadership and The
Progress Principle
• 2:15 pm. Break
• 2:30 pm. Session 2: Switch
• 3:45 pm. Wrap-up

4. Why does this hospital matter?

5. Primary Sources

6. Exercise 1
How do you recognize
good leadership?

7. Leadership is..
Influence
Real Change
Shared Purpose
Relationship

8. Trustworthy,
Interdependent Partners

9. Trust
Willingness to be
vulnerable to others in
risky situations

10. Trustworthy
• Ability
• Integrity
• Benevolent Intentions

11. Person
+
Environment (system)
=
Behavior

12. Behavior at Work
Person
System
Behavior
Personality
Attitudes
Values
Perceptions
Emotions
Motivation
Policies
Procedures
Equipment
Hiring
Training
Staffing
Rewards
Performance
Evaluation
Supervision
Daily Events
Helping
Civility
Tardiness
Absenteeism
Turnover
Participation
Preparation
Performance

13. Inner Work Life Effect:
“People do better work when they are happy, have
positive views of the organization and its people, and
are motivated primarily by the work itself.” (p, 47)

14. Inner Work Life System
Workday
Events
Perceptions/thoughts
(Sensemaking about
workday events)
• The organization
• Managers, self, team
• The work
• Sense of
accomplishment
Emotions/feelings
(Reactions to
workday events)
• Positive emotions
• Negative emotions
• Overall mood
Individual
Performance
Motivation/drive
(Desire to do the work)
• What do to
• How to do it
• When to do it
• Whether to do it
Amiable, T & Kramer, S. (2011). The Progress Principle

15. Daily progress doing
meaningful work

16. Team Leaders /
Immediate Supervisors

17. Whatever your level in the organization … you bear
some responsibility for the inner work lives of the
people around you (p. 181)

18. Even seemingly
mundane events – such
as small wins and minor
setbacks – can
significantly effect
inner work life

19. Daily
Events
1
The Progress Principle
Events signifying progress
• Small wins
• Breakthroughs
• Forward movement
• Goal completion
2
The Catalyst Factor
Events supporting the work
• Setting clear goals
• Allowing autonomy
• Providing resources
• Providing sufficient time
• Helping with the work
• Learning from problems
and successes
• Allowing ideas to flow
3
Positive
Inner
Work Life
The Nourishment Factor
Events supporting the person
• Respect
• Encouragement
• Emotional support
• Affiliation
Amiable, T & Kramer, S. (2011).
The Progress Principle

20. The power of setbacks to diminish happiness is
more than twice as strong as the power of progress
to boost happiness. The power of setbacks to
increase frustration is more than three times as
strong as the power of progress to decrease
frustration. (p. 92)

21. Meaning Killers
• Dismiss someone’s ideas
• Make employees doubt the work
they do is important
• Assign people to work for which
they are overqualified
• Keep people from assuming full
ownership of their work

22. Inhibitors
• Unclear goals
• Micro-management
• Lack of resources (e.g. information, equipment,
funding, personnel, training)
• Time pressure
• Punishment (vs. learning) from problems or
mistakes
• Shut down open discussion
• Increased workload + decreased control

23. Toxins
• Disrespect
• Discouragement
• Emotional neglect
• Antagonism

24. Exercise 2
What are the catalysts and
inhibitors in your work
environment?
List at least three of each

25. Break!
Session 2 starts at 2:30 pm

26. Session 2

27. For anything to change, someone has to
start acting differently. Can you get
people to start behaving differently? (p.4)

28. If you want to be effective
at helping others change
their behavior, then build
a reputation for
proactively changing your
own behavior

29. Change Metaphor

30. Rider - Rational
– Deliberates,
analyzes, looks into
the future
– Provides planning
and direction
Elephant – Emotional
– Feels pain and
pleasure
– Provides the energy

31. Direct the Rider
Follow the bright spots:
Investigate and clone the successes

32. Destination
postcards:
Shows the Rider
where you are
headed and the
Elephant why the
journey is
worthwhile
Change is easier
when you know where
you are going and why
it is worth it

33. Script the critical moves
Be specific about the behavior you want to change

34. Direct the Rider
• What looks like resistance is
often a lack of clarity
• Clarity dissolves resistance

35. Motivate the Elephant
Find the feeling
Motivation comes from
confidence. The
Elephant has to believe
that it’s capable of
conquering the change

36. Shrink the change:
Break down the change until
it no longer spooks the
Elephant
Sense of progress is critical

37. Make change a matter of identity, not consequences
Who am I? What kind of situation is this? What
would someone like me do in this situation?

38. Grow your people
Encourage a growth
mindset by praising
effort rather than skill

39. Growth Mindset
• Talent is NOT fixed unless you
believe that it is. Treat talent as
something almost everyone
can earn, not that just a few
people own.
• Everyone can learn to work
smarter
39

40. Motivate the
Elephant
Change is hard because people
wear themselves out. What looks
like laziness is often exhaustion

41. Shape the Path
Tweak the environment. When the situation
changes, behavior changes

42. Build Habits
Supportive habits that are easy to embrace
and advance the new behavior

43. Action Triggers: Decisions you make to
execute a certain action when you encounter
a certain situation

44. Checklists help educate
people about what is best
by showing then the right
way to do something

45. Rally the Herd
Behavior is contagious; help it
spread

46. Shape the path
What looks like a people problem is
often a situation problem. When
you shape the path, you make the
change more likely, no matter
what’s happening with the Rider
and the Elephant

47. The law of
crappy systems
trumps the law
of crappy
people
47

48. Exercise 3
Identify a change that is happening
right now at work. Think elephant,
rider, path: Why do people embrace
that change? Why do others resist
that change?

49. Questions?