The document discusses the challenges of leading organizational change, emphasizing the need for adaptive leadership that addresses complex human issues rather than applying technical solutions. It highlights strategies for effective communication, fostering a supportive environment, and understanding the organization's culture and dynamics to facilitate change. The importance of mindset, empathy, and curiosity in overcoming resistance and building new habits is also emphasized throughout.

1. @rebelsatwork | @Lois Kelly | @milouness Oct. 2, 2015
Necessary But Not Sufficient:
Ideas for Leading Change

2. Poll #1
2

3. 3
Poll #2

4. 4
Poll #3

5. Mindset Communicating Habits
5

6. Source: MP Bumsted, Biocultural Science & Management 6

7. Urgency and good solutions
are necessary but not sufficient.
7

8. Assumption
s
Fears
Love way it wasCertaintyDiscomfort
Why is change so hard?
Time
That which we’re afraid or unable to admit
8

9. The real resistance is often hidden.
Make sure you get the problem right.
9

10. “The single biggest failure of leadership
is to treat adaptive challenges like technical problems.”
Heifetz and Linsky, Cambridge Leadership Associates10

11. ADAPTIVE CHANGE:
stretching into
a new way of being.
TECHNICAL CHANGE:
receiving and
using helpful
new information.
vs.
11

12. Issue Technical solution to
complex, human issue
Student learning Standardized tests
Motivated workplace Employee surveys
Adapt more quickly to
industry changes
Learning platforms
Necessary but
not sufficient
12

13. • If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.
• If you’re not part of the problem, you can’t be part of the solution.
13

14. Make a MAP – or Xray -- to
help uncover your
organization’s own hidden
IMMUNE SYSTEM – its
powerful resistance to
change.
http://mindsatwork.com/
14

15. Make a MAP – or Xray -- to
help uncover your
organization’s own hidden
IMMUNE SYSTEM – its
powerful resistance to
change.
Get bigger
clients
I micro- manage my
team.
I’m involved in all
client decisions.
I don’t have time to
meet with larger
clients.
I am committed to
not getting bigger
clients because my
team might make a
mistake without
me.
I don’t trust my
team.
15

16. What problem are you trying to solve?16

17. ..and what do people need to be able to do that?
17

18. 1. We apply technical solutions to adaptive/people challenges.
2. We get the problem wrong.
3. Our “immunity” system prevents us from seeing real resistance to change.
18

19. 19
Poll #4

20. Opening mindsets
• Avoid creating threats
• Know the org
• Consider thinking styles
• Understand your group
• What’s behind objections
• Foster optimism, grit
• Turn to wonder
20

21. Avoid creating threats
21

22. Status How do I stack up
relative to others?
Avoid making people look bad.
Acknowledge achievements.
Certainty Am I able to envision
my future?
Give people as much information as
possible about changes, as soon as
possible.
Autonomy Am I in control of my
own life?
Give people choices. The more control
they feel they have, the less threatened
they feel.
Relatedness Is this person friend or
foe?
Develop good social connections. The
more people can relate to you, the less
they’ll resist your ideas.
Fairness Am I being treated as
well as other people?
When we feel decisions are being made
fairly we’re more receptive to them.
SCARF Neuroleadership Model: David Rock, Quiet Leadership
22

23. Understand the organization
What does the organization
really care about in its gut?
Look for aspirations, anxieties, beliefs
How do new ideas get
approved?
Look at someone who has succeeded.
What does she/he do?
23
EMOTIONAL
HOOK
HOW
THINGS
WORK

24. WHAT IS THE THINKING STYLE?
Self-esteem from Validated thinking Goals achieved Celebrated ideas
Known for Minimizing risk Getting things done Coming up with
new approaches
Needs Information, data to
understand
meaning of things
Rules, structure to
guide processes and
organize things
Options, flexibility
to imagine new
outcomes
Driven to Know Organize Change
Lives Cautiously Practically Spontaneously
Works best with Data Processes Ideas
Guided by Rationality Practicality Intuition
Past Thinking Present Thinking Future Thinking
Source: MindTime 24

25. 25

26. What’s the dominant style in your
organization?
What might that mean to how you introduce
new approaches?
26

27. Understand your
colleagues
• Cohesive?
• Tenured?
• Afraid?
• External Pressures?
27

28. Objection Meaning Response
There are no
resources
It’s not a priority Explore importance,
acknowledge
How will THIS affect
THAT in future?
Desire for certainty What is known. What
can be learned.
Discomfort of
unknowables
Where’s the ROI? How will we know it’s
working?
Create measures
Let’s develop some
consensus on this
Uncertain of its merits
SCARF issues?
What would it take for
you to see value?
What’s the most common objection in your organization?
28

29. SCARF* Neuro-psychological threats:
Implications to social media adoption, execution
THREAT Military culture External environment
STATUS Hierarchy: per the General Democratization: who cares
CERTAINTY Compliance: predict outcome Responsiveness: some
knowns, many unknowables
AUTONOMY Control: use our own channels There is no control
RELATEDNES
S
Culture: this is how we work Not how we connect
FAIRNESS If they knew all the facts… Need to reveal more, get
comfortable with discomfort
*Dr. David Rock, Your Brain at Work (Harper Business, 2009)
29

30. 30

31. I wonder why…I wonder what we might..
31

32. WHAT HOW
Avoid creating threats SCARF Model
Know the organization Hooks and levers
Consider thinking styles Past, Present, Future
Understand your colleagues What is normative?
What’s behind objections Questions to uncover real
issues
Foster optimism, grit Stories we tell ourselves
Be more empathetic Turn to wonder
MINDSET SUMMARY
32

33. 33
Poll #5

34. Communicating
• Connect to what’s familiar
• 3 essential messages
• Be real: address challenges
• Create worst practice list
• Go for 10%
• Tailor: buy-in or follow through
• Be specific
34

35. 35
Connect to what’s understood
It’s a new magazine that combines
the best of Rolling Stone and
Harvard Business Review….
It’s an executive car service with
wings…
It’s the love child of Sharepoint and
Facebook…
It’s like a conversation over coffee
and texting
Framing your idea

36. WHAT
Key in on what’s at stake.
Show how the idea relates to what
people want.
SO WHAT
Paint a picture of what could be.
Make the status quo unappealing, and
the future enticing.
NOW WHAT
Show how the idea can work.
People support ideas they think can
work.
36
3 essential messages

37. “I think you should be more specific here in Step 2.”
37

38. Be real.
Show it can likely work.
But share the doubts.
• What’s needed to succeed?
• What might impede progress?
• What preparation is needed?
• How will you evaluate
progress?
• What can team stop doing or
do less of?
• What might not work?
38

39. Create
“worst practices”
list
People pay attention to, learn from, and use negative
information far more than positive information.
Downside information is also more memorable and gives more
weight in decision making.
“Bad is Stronger Than Good” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 99, Baumeister,
Bratslavsky, Fikenauer, Vohs
39

40. How well do you know
mistakes have others
made in introducing
ideas similar to yours?
40

41. When just 10% of the population
holds an unshakeable belief, their
beliefs will always be accepted by
the majority.
10%
tipping point
Network research scientists,
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
http://news.rpi.edu/luwakkey/2902
Aim for 10% initial adoption

42. complacent resistant
Yeah, whatever.
These people
are so stupid..
42

43. complacent disruptive
Yeah, whatever.
These people
are so stupid..
Open
minded
I wonder if.
43

44. Find your creative wild pack.
The 10% superpower.
Who and where
is your 10%?
44

45. Ban the rhetoric and blah blah.
Talk like a human.
Make ideas easy and inviting.
“If you can’t explain it simply, you
don’t understand it well enough.”
Albert Einstein
45

46. HBX CORe is an online program that allows college students and early career
professionals to learn the fundamentals of business on a highly engaging and
interactive platform designed by Harvard Business School (HBS) faculty. HBX CORe
consists of three critical business topics: Business Analytics, Economics for Managers,
and Financial Accounting.
The partnership with HBX affirms our commitment to student success, providing
rigorous and flexible offerings that our students can fit into their busy lives. CORe is
taught by faculty from the world’s premier business school and our collaboration with
HBX is a testament to the caliber of our Extension School students and their
capabilities. We continue our efforts to work closely with other Harvard Schools and
academic departments to bring our students the high quality learning opportunities
that make our degrees strong.
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47. 47

48. We fall in love with talking tactics…
and forget to connect ideas to strategy, beliefs, aspirations
48

49. Are you trying to get buy-
in or follow through?
Buy-in: make steps as flexible as
practicable. Emphasize flexibility
when announcing program. Ask to
commit to change at a time in
future vs. now.
Follow through: detail structured
order of what needs to happen.
Explain how program will proceed
in straightforward, uncomplicated
way.
The Small Big: Small Changes that
Spark Big Influence,
Martin, Goldstein, Cialdini, 2014
49

50. Persuading people to make behavioral changes:
BE SPECIFIC 1. Ask people to do commit to specific actions.
2. Ask people to form specific plan for when ,
where and how they will go about doing what
they’re committing to.
3. Give specific deadlines: 13 days vs. two weeks,
3:19 on Thursday vs. by Thursday.
4. Provide explicit thanks.
5. Indicate % of people in other organizations or in
same region who have committed.
6. Give people two choices; point out what would
be lost if they don’t choose your preferred
choice.
50

51. Specific BOOM request: Employees rallying employees
WHAT
• Can you publish the letter to the CEO on the communities you’re a member
of, at this exact time? We need to create a ‘Boom’ effect by posting on many
channels at the same time.
HOW
• If you’re a community manager, use the “Announcement” feature. If you’re
just a member, post a message. Do not hesitate to post on SharePoint as well.
• Feel free to be creative to share the message widely J You can post the
letter alone or with a comment, as a text (easy to read) or an attachment.
• Speak with your friends who might want to post too (or like and comment).
WITH
• PS: Here are some materials: 1) Letter in English, 2) Letter in Spanish 3) A
picture (feel free to use it or not, or use another picture. Posts with pictures
have better reading rates) and 4) the original text for copy-paste.

52. 52

53. WHAT HOW
Frame your idea Connect to what’s familiar
3 essential messages What, so what, now what
Show it can work Be real: admit challenges
Prove you know risks Create worst practices list
Enlist support from core group Go for 10%
Tailor for intent Buy-in or follow through?
Improve commitment Be specific
COMMUNICATING SUMMARY
53

54. 54
Poll #6

55. New habits
• New questions
• DIT vs. DIY
• Work out loud
• Howl out Fridays
• Listening to empower
• Follow curiosity
• Show up as you
55

56. • We can’t do that because….
• We can do that IF
New Questions
How might we?
I wonder if…
56

57. Swim down together!
DIT vs. DIY

58. Work Out Loud:
Narrate how it’s going, ask questions, get new perspectives
58

59. 59

60. Build people’s capacity to solve problems and find ideas
by listening in new ways.
60

61. What’s the difference between listening to solve someone’s problem,
and listening to help someone find their own answers?
61

62. What’s the best possible outcome for you?
What’s in the way of that?
What’s a good next step?
How committed are you to changing this on a scale of 1 – 10?
Do you want to explore a few ideas for how to move this forward?
What are some different ways we could tackle this?
62

63. Developing an attitude/culture of
gratitude is one of the simplest ways to
improve satisfaction with life and work.
63

64. Forget about the notion of passion, and give your attention to your
curiosity. Passion burns hot and fast, which means it can come and go.
Curiosity is so accessible and available, every single day.
Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear 64

65. You are enough..
Discomfort is necessary.
Vulnerability is the birthplace of
creativity.
Brene Brown
Share your real life stories
http://www.nakedhearted.com/writewhatsreal/
65

66. WHAT HOW
Possibilities vs. problems New questions
DIT vs. DIY Work Out Loud
Gratitude for what’s working Howl out Fridays
Build problem solving capacity Listening to empower
Where to focus Follow curiosity
Show up as you Accept vulnerability, discomfort
NEW HABITS SUMMARY
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67. 67
Poll #7

68. Advice for leaders
• Status quo
• Support
• Space
• Structure
• Spiral of Silence
68

69. 69

70. Imagining and leading change may be the most
important professional competency you can practice.70

71. Newsletter, resources, posts:
RebelsAtWork.com
facebook.com/RebelsatWork
@RebelsatWork
@LoisKelly
@milouness
Find this presentation at:
slideshare.net/Foghound
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