Wendy Mack » Influence

A Change Case Study: Part 3

Wendy Mack — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:00:23 +0000

In previous posts in this series, I explored a phenomenon I call the Change Gap. The Change Gap illustrates the divide that is always present when one leader or group implements a change that affects others.

The only way to close the change gap is through communication. Specifically, my advice for leaders is:

1.   Expect and anticipate a cynical interpretation.

This piece of advice is somewhat counter-intuitive. When we are about to roll out a new approach or initiative, most of us look for all of the reasons why people will love the idea. In reality, there will always be a significant portion of the population who is cynical and skeptical. Sometimes this is because of their personality traits. More often, cynicism is a result of having been “burned before” by changes that ended up hurting rather than helping.

When we ignore the inevitable cynicism and communicate only the positive aspects of a change, we inadvertently come across as “spin doctors”. We also tend to skip over the complex issues we’ve probably struggled with. The result is that our ideas seem like another fad of the week.

To address the skepticism, first and foremost, change leaders need to:

2.   Take the time and care to communicate the reasons for a change.

While this second piece of advice sounds obvious, it is usually not done well. Change leaders tend to jump to implementation and skip the explanation.

One good technique is to allocate equal time and space to describing and reinforcing the “why’s” along with the “what’s” of a change. In other words, a 2-hour training about a change should devote 1 hour to the reasons for the change and 1 hour to the details of implementation. A reinforcement poster that reminds people about a new rule should also include explicit text about the ultimate reason for the rule, or the desired outcome.

The final piece of advice I’d like to address here for closing the change gap is to:

3.   Ask people about their reactions to the change.

All too often, change leaders get caught up in being cheerleaders for an idea or initiative. We look for signs that people are excited and onboard and we tend to run right over concerns and questions. The only way to close the change gap fully is to understand how people perceive and feel about the change. This requires that we stop and ask explicit questions such as:

•   What concerns do you have?
•   What doesn’t feel right about this?
•   Is there anything about this that will hard to do?

While extremely counter-intuitive, these questions help us gauge how other people are reacting to the change and provide us an invaluable opportunity to share and reinforce the reasons for the change.

Summary

I started this series with two contrasting interpretations about the same idea – a 10/5 rule. I hope that this series of posts has illustrated the fact that there will always be a Change Gap and that the only way to close the gap is deliberate and careful attention to two-way communication.

A Change Case Study: Part 2

Wendy Mack — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:00:49 +0000

In yesterday’s post I wrote about a technique that one hospital used to help shift their culture. The technique was called the 10/5 rule and it encouraged employees to make eye contact with one another when approaching within 10 feet and say hello at 5 feet. I wrote about what made this an effective approach and what we could learn from this successful example.

Earlier this week, I was reading book about energy in the workplace when I came across this paragraph:

“A local hospital recently undermined its staff’s mutual connections by implementing what is called the ‘5-feet 10-feet rule.’ . . . One unintended consequence of this rule is likely to be that people will regard the smiles they receive as mandatory and therefore false.”

Wait a minute! Does this mean the very idea I was just lauding is actually backfiring? Does that mean it’s a great example or a terrible idea?

In reality, I think this is a beautiful illustration of a phenomenon I call the change gap. The change gap is the term I use to describe the vast divide in understanding that occurs between the people who come up with an idea and the people who are ultimately affected by that same idea.

In the case of the 10/5 rule, chances are that some people (those working on changing the hospital’s cultures) saw the concept as being a helpful vital behavior – one that would encourage employees to connect, relate to one another, and eventually build relationships. Other people in the organization may have first learned about this rule as being “yet another mandate” from the top of the organizations. It’s no surprise that some people may interpret the mandate through a cynical lens and feel that it requires them to “be fake just to keep management happy.”

This presents an important lesson about change: there is always a change gap. The only way to close the gap is to communicate.

In Part 3 of this series, I’ll explore techniques for closing the change gap.

A Change Case Study: Part 1

Wendy Mack — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:40:39 +0000

A few weeks ago a friend of mine told that his hospital had implemented a great idea that really seemed to be working. Curious, I asked for the details. It turns out that this particular hospital had become siloed. Departments weren’t working together and employees in different departments rarely spoke to one another. In this particular case, patients and their family members were even picking up on the issue. Across the board, people reported feeling that the vibe in the hospital was cold and unfriendly.

Leaders at the hospital responded by engaging employees in all departments and all levels of people in a “friendliness campaign.” They put into place a “10/5 rule” which encouraged every employee to look up and make eye contact when they got within 10 feet of another person and to say “hello” or “what’s up” or “hey” when they got within 5 feet of another person. The other essential element of this rule was that employees were encouraged to hold one another accountable for following it. In other words, if someone were to brush by you in the hall without the eye contact or greeting, you might (smile) and say, “Hey . . . 10/5 rule!”

My friend told me that the 10/5 rule has become deeply embedded in his hospital’s culture. He acknowledged that it can sometimes be annoying to be “called on it” when he forgets to say hello, but that overall the rule has helped people to create a friendlier environment.

To me, the 10/5 rule illustrates a number of important points about change and influence.

First of all, the hospital utilized a key principal from the authors of the book, Influencer. The Influencer authors (there are five of them so I won’t list them here) found that in successful change efforts, leaders identify vital behaviors. Vital behaviors are the few key actions that lead to other changes. In this example, the vital behavior was looking up and acknowledging one another. While this one action didn’t change the culture, it did create a cascade of other changes.

Second, the 10/5 rule is an example of a principal we now call “stickiness.” Author Malcolm Gladwell used the term sticky in his book The Tipping Point. Researchers (and brothers) Chip and Dan Heath then picked up on the term in the title of their book, Made to Stick. The Heath brothers argue that an idea needs to be “sticky” enough for people to first understand it and then communicate it to others in order to spread. The 10/5 rule is sticky because it is simple and concrete.

So, the 10/5 rule appears to be a great example of a successful change effort.

But wait; there is a twist to this story! Come back tomorrow for Part 2.

Leading Change When You Are Not in Charge

Wendy Mack — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:40:46 +0000

You have a great idea for increasing sales, improving service, or saving your company money. But you aren’t the boss and others aren’t interested in your idea. What can you do?

Scott Eblin, author of The Next Level, recently wrote about the lessons we can learn from Subway franchise owner Stuart Frankel – the creator of the Five Dollar Foot Long. While the concept has been a huge success for Subway, getting the company to accept and implement the idea wasn’t easy for Frankel.

According to Eblin, lessons we can learn from Frankel include:

Run some small experiments off the radar screen.
Collect compelling data.
Recruit some early champions.
Show them, don’t just tell them.
Stick with it.

Read Scott Eblin’s post: Five Change Leadership Lessons from the Five Dollar Foot Long.

For more on the topic, also check out Robert Rosen’s new book, The Catalyst.

Video: Make Behavior Change Fun

Wendy Mack — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:46:02 +0000

Another great way to influence people’s behavior – make it fun!

Click here to view the embedded video.

In addition to the fun factor, I think this video illustrates another powerful point. People are curious. In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath demonstrate how powerful it can be to start a talk or a class by using a question or a mystery:

For our idea to endure, we must generate interest and curiosity. How do you keep students engaged during the forty eighth history class of the year? We can engage people’s curiosity over a long period of time by systematically “opening gaps” in their knowledge — and then filling those gaps.

Today’s takeaway: Are you leveraging fun and curiosity to interest people in your change effort?

Video: Changing Behaviors

Wendy Mack — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:00:47 +0000

As Myron Radio and I discuss in our book, Change at the Core, most organizational change ultimately comes down to changes in people’s behavior. Yet this aspect often proves to be the most mystifying part of any change. We know that command and control results in short-term compliance, if it works at all. Memos certainly don’t work. Neither does begging, pleading, or other forms of incentives.

Fortunately, there is great research available from Joseph Grenny and his Influencer co-authors. They found that successful influencers utilize at least four sources of influence when getting people to change their behavior. Two powerful sources are peer pressure (aka social motivation) and practice. Others include personal motivation, social ability (mutual accountability) and structural motivation (rewards).

For a fun introduction to the concepts from Influencer, check out the video below.

Strategies for Dealing with a Bad Boss

Wendy Mack — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:08:52 +0000

Are you dealing with a absentee boss, a tantrum thrower, or a control freak? Good news, there are two brand new books out that can help you manage up more effectively!

Working for You Isn’t Working for Me, The Ultimate Guide to Managing Your Boss by Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster
Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant by Lynn Taylor

Read about both books and get some quick tips from Wallace Immen’s career column in TheGlobeandMail.com.

Two oldies but goodies on the topic are the Managing Conflict with Your Boss from the Center for Creative Leadership and my all-time favorite, Dealing with People You Can’t Stand by Dr. Rick Brinkman and Dr. Rick Kirschner.

You might also want to check out my February post on Dealing with Big Egos in the Office.

Giving Feedback to the Boss

Wendy Mack — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:29:59 +0000

HR professionals are often called upon to deliver tough messages – one of the toughest being talking to a senior executive about the negative impact of his or her behavior. What do you do when you are asked to deliver difficult feedback to the boss?

Here are two good articles from Workforce.com on the subject:

Goldmith’s Advice for Influencing Decision Makers

Wendy Mack — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:42:37 +0000

Is managing up and influencing decision makers one of your key challenges? Executive coach and best-selling author Marshall Goldsmith provided some great advice in a recent Harvard Business Blog. His suggestions include:

When presenting ideas to upper management, realize that it is your responsibility to sell — not their responsibility to buy.
Focus on contribution to the larger good — not just the achievement of your objectives.
Present a realistic cost-benefit analysis of your ideas — don’t just sell benefits.

Check out his post: How to Influence Decision Makers.

For more on the topic, download my article on Gaining Executive Support.

Gaining C-Suite Access

Wendy Mack — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:39:14 +0000

A month or so ago I posted an article about gaining executive support. I thought I’d pass along another great resource on the topic. Meredith Kimbell’s January newsletter focused on the challenge of Gaining C-Suite Access. Her advice includes:

Stop getting, start giving.
Stop being interesting, start being interested.
Stop bragging, start checking.

Click here to read Meredith’s newsletter.