7 Ways to Make Big Change
Quick and Permanent
Big change can be disruptive yet beneficial and often
necessary. Change expert Robert "Jake" Jacobs shares his tips on how
to create real and lasting change.
Some leaders thrive on constant
change; others abhor it. In either case, the people most affected are the
employees who have to adapt.
I have
always been a huge fan of Robert "Jake" Jacobs's work on the subject
of fast and lasting change. His system, "Real
Time Strategic Change," has helped companies big and small to make real
and lasting positive change.
For
example, Real Time Strategic Change has been used by:
·
AT&T to become competitive
after deregulation.
·
The Home Depot to help the
front line become customer friendly.
·
TJ Maxx to support their
growth strategy of rapid expansion into Europe.
·
Stanley Black & Decker
executives to become a real team and break down silos.
Jacobs
runs powerful seminars: He once facilitated a three-day 1,000-person meeting on
the floor of the New Orleans Superdome for Mobil's Gulf of Mexico business
unit. Imagine 125 table groups of 8 people, all focused on generating
ideas and commitments to save their business. Due to Jacob's work they created
a $250 million turnaround to the bottom line in only 18 months.
Jacobs,
who runs a free webinar about making change, explains
that the principle of "Real Time" is about accelerating results with
sustainable change. Shrinking the time between planning and implementation
means that you have to begin living your future today while at the same time
planning for it.
This
means that Real Time Strategic Change acts as a turbo-charger for work you
already have underway and with models and tools that you are already using. It
supplements what you are doing and how you are doing it instead of requiring
you to starting from scratch, as many change approaches require. Change is more
easily implemented and is more likely to stick when you can work with
tools you already have. Make any part of your preferred future real today and you've just done good Real Time
Strategic Change work.
If you
need fast and lasting change to help your team, here are seven tips
from Jacobs.
1. Start anywhere, be willing to go everywhere.
Change
work is about energy. Find it. Follow it. Leverage it for the greater good. Many change approaches require you to move through a
series of pre-determined steps. Jacobs says begin where people want to do the
work. He once ran a problem-solving meeting of 80 people in a company of 10,000
that had just undergone layoffs. This was hardly a starting point for corporate
transformation. Most consultants would politely decline and look for a more
promising project. But Jacobs readily agreed. The CEO was amazed at how
productive 80 people were who had just survived traumatic circumstances.
2. Listen to the "troublemakers."
On the
surface,energy seems positive or negative. So-called resisters are seen as
bringing bad juju to the work. In Jacobs' other book You Don't Have To Do It Alone: How To Involve Others to Get
Things Done, he
argues that troublemaking is in the eye of the beholder. Contrarians often seem
to be throwing up roadblocks to the important work. But these problem people,
Jacobs maintains, see things others don't. Think of them as protecting you from
your blind spots. Instead of shutting down those who aren't getting on
board, Jacobs suggests asking, "Could you say more?" You might be
surprised what you uncover.
3. Engage people's heads, hands and hearts.
Jacobs
sees people as whole beings with complex sets of needs, wants, hopes and fears.
The work is about engaging all of these aspects of a person. Organizations and
the people in them have limitless potential. The key is figuring out how people
can work better together to achieve
common goals. This is simple to say but much harder to pull off consistently as
a way of doing business. People yearn to be part of something larger than
themselves. Create opportunities for people to contribute in meaningful ways
and to make positive contributions to the greater good.
4. Pay attention to both leadership and followership.
Change
experts focused largely on leaders in the past. Now, the focus is
shifting tofollowership. Change requires individuals
to provide leadership for the effort to succeed; Some come from the
traditional hierarchy, while others are informal influencers in the
organization. Both types need to be to set up for success by developing the new
skills, knowledge and experiences needed to lead in the preferred future.
Followership
plays an equally important role. Formal leaders can become the best
followers as others in the organization take on leadership roles. Who is
leading and who is following is sometimes tough to discern. What's important is
progress toward your preferred future by whatever means are necessary--and by
whatever leadership and followership can be provided.
5. Always be results-driven.
Real Time
Strategic Change is about getting real work done well, and embedding better
ways of doing business in daily activity, all in the name of achieving agreed
purpose and results. Often people live in an incremental world. Why they are
engaged in a change effort and the needed deliverables can become fuzzy as work
progresses. With Jacobs' Real Time Strategic Change process these needed
results remain a "north star," guiding
decisions and
actions throughout the effort.
6. Work on many fronts at once.
Creating
fast and lasting change is not a linear process. In a best-case scenario a step
1, step 2, step 3 approach gets you incremental change. Worst case? People
think you're following a cookbook instead of leading your organization. Don't
assume Jacobs is not a fan of structure; he finds it helpful. I love
his quote, " Structure gives you something to deviate from." When
implementing the Real Time Strategic Change process, you look for any opportunities to advance down the field. More channels of work
mean better odds for success. When working on many fronts at once, a team's
progress, your own learning to lead in changing times, and embedding even just
one new way of doing business in your organization are all worthy goals. Go
after all of those and more to create fast and lasting change.
7. Bet that people care about winning.
Every win
gives you the time money, energy and political capital to
achieve your next round of investments. When you begin a change effort people
often talk about "low hanging fruit." Early wins are not always the
easiest wins. They're the wins that matter the most that you need to achieve
quickly. These deliverables increase the "believability index" for
people. What results will grab people's attention? Be strategic. Make the
changes relevant to your organization
http://www.inc.com/-daum/7-ways-to-make-big-change-quick-and-permanent.html?cid=em01014week27d
No comments:
Post a Comment