March 2008 Message from the President

The Biggest Mistakes in Managing Change and Key Learnings to be Had! - Part 2

The potential of the work force really is the company’s greatest asset.”                                       — Carol Kinsey Gorman

Recognizing the value and needs of your work force is a key element to any organizations success as it guides itself through change   This month I would like to continue to share with you the remainder of key points from an article I recently read by Carol Kinsey Gorman, Ph.D., “The Biggest Mistakes in Managing Change.” The focus of her message is that when dealing with change we need to ensure we pay due diligence to the human element and the requirements to address employees’ needs effectively.. 

Mistake #3
Treating transformation as an event, rather then a mental, physical and emotional process. 

Lesson Learned
Large scale organizational change usually triggers emotional reactions – denial, negativity, choice, tentative acceptance, commitment. Leadership can either facilitate this emotional process or ignore it – at the peril of the transformation effort. 

Mistake #4
Being less then candid…the more we sugar-coated the truth, the wider the trust gap grew between management and the work force.

Lesson Learned
Communicate openly and honestly. Today’s employees are demanding it…You need a proactive, even aggressive sharing of everything – the opportunities, the risks, the mistakes, the potentials, the failures – and then inviting people in to work on these challenges together.

Mistake #5
Not appropriately “setting the stage” for change. Little reason or rationale for what the organization was trying to accomplish and how this change fits into the corporate culture.

Lesson Learned
To prepare employees for success, we must give them pertinent information about demographic, global, economic, technological, competitive and industry trends. People need to know the vision, goals and strategies of the company.

Mistake #6
Underestimating human potential. And when we underestimate potential, we waste it. This was our worst mistake.

Lesson Learned
Trust in the innate intelligence, capability and creativity of your employees – and people will astound you…Companies squandered immense amounts of human potential on mindless repetitive tasks and meaningless paper work. Today, in the post-industrial information age no company can afford to waste human capital…Every talent, every idea, every skill is needed urgently if companies are to survive.

Call To Action
Regardless of where we find ourselves within the systems we live and work, what we do in some shape, form, or manner has impact on everyone we come in contact with. If you have any “best practices” you would like to share on how your organization is enhancing and sustaining performance improvement as a result of effectively managing change please share - by email or in person, at an upcoming event.

Resources:

“The Biggest Mistakes in Managing Change – Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D.
#506 from Innovative Leader Volume 9, Number 12.

February 2008 Message from the President

The Biggest Mistakes in Managing Change and Key Learnings to be Had! - Part 1

The only constant is change, continuing change, inevitable change that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.                                                                — Isaac Asimov

When looking to improve performance in an organization whether it be individual or organizational, change is generally required. I recently had an opportunity to observe a couple of different scenarios where change and acceptance of change was a key factor in an organization moving forward. It was interesting to observe where the change in one organization was progressive and prepared for the bumps in the roads ahead while another organization encountered resistance and numerous avoidable challenges.  The incidents reminded me of an article I read by Carol Kinsey Gorman, Ph.D., “The Biggest Mistakes in Managing Change” and this month I would like to share with you some of her key points.

Mistake #1
Not Understanding the importance of people. 60-75 percent of all restructuring failed not because of strategy but because of the human dimension.

Lesson Learned
Organizations don’t change. People do—or they don’t. If staff don’t trust leadership, don’t share the organization’s vision, don’t buy into the reason for change, and aren’t included in the planning – there will be no successful planning – regardless how brilliant the strategy.

Mistake #2
Not appreciating that people throughout the organization have different reaction to change.

Lesson Learned
There are five factors that determine which individuals deal successfully with change.

1. Confidence. Confident people are self-motivated, have high self esteem and are willing to take risks.
2. Challenge. With any change, the danger of possible reversals coexists with incredible opportunities for personal and professional success. Leaders need employees to be excited by the opportunities in change.
3. Coping. Some people are naturally more flexible and better at coping with and adapting to a complex, fast paced reality then others. What leaders need from employees is the ability to commit to a course of action and, at the same time stay flexible enough to quickly alter behaviour and attitude.
4. Counterbalance. Those who are most resilient not only have a job—they have a life. Employees with counterbalance have a life that includes both life that includes both work and recreation, they handle stress better and are more effective on the job.
5. Creativity. Creative employees solicit diverse opinions that generate new thoughts, and they value any business experience that exposes them to new knowledge and skills. Typically they question rules and regulations and contribute ideas beyond the limits of their job descriptions – to other functions, to other departments and to the organization as a whole.

Leaders in organizations have a responsibility to recognize challenges to change.  They need to embrace the challenges they encounter as a learning opportunity and seek out a preventive solution to future challenges.

Call To Action

Regardless of where we find ourselves within the systems we live and work, what we do in some shape, form, or manner has impact on everyone we come in contact with. If you have any “best practices” you would like to share on how your organization is enhancing and sustaining performance improvement as a result of effectively managing change please share - by email or in person, at an upcoming event.

Stay tune for next month’s message and the remaining challenges and learning when managing change.

Resources:

“The Biggest Mistakes in Managing Change – Carol Kinsey Gorman, Ph.D.
#506 from Innovative Leader Volume 9, Number 12.

January 2008 Message from the President
 

Maintaining Balance

It is amazing that another year has gone so quickly. I would like, on behalf of the Executive Team, to wish the I.S.P.I. Vancouver Chapter membership all the best for the New Year. As we start 2008, we look to you to assist the Executive Team in continuing to make this a Chapter where engagement, sharing of best practices and commitment to performance improvement is the essence of what our Chapter has to offer to existing and potential members.

There are many parts of an equation that impact our learning and our performance whether it is at work or at home. Each factor in the equation is much like an ingredient in a recipe where measurement and balance is required in order for a quality finished product to be achieved. Achieving performance improvement is much like achieving satisfaction in our life’s ambitions, we need a balance so as to ensure there is time to acquire, apply and act on the learnings provided.

Sustaining performance improvement has its challenges then it comes to theory and its application to transformational learning. There are gaps along the learning journey that sometimes prevents measurement and an inability to see if learning is being transferred from theory into learned behaviour. It is through the communication of the vision, the mentoring of employees, networking of an organization and listening to the feedback regarding participant’s experiences that will ensure the sustainability of leadership and learning.

Anderson and Ackerman-Anderson (2001) state, “Successful transformation requires a deeper dialogue among the people in the organization than is typical; it demands greater introspection into the very fabric of who the people of the organization are, what they stand for and how they contribute to the larger organization they serve”. Without the inclusion of dialogue and communication there is an imbalance in the learning process and there is great potential that transfer and sustainability of learning will not occur. .

Balancing the application of the theory with project tasks is a major undertaking that causes much concern and stress for learners. Participants find it challenging to apply theory and assess whether a transformation of the learning has occurred or is occurring post the initial learning phase. When there is no time to assess if learning has occurred, an imbalance causes challenges in the transfer of the learning provided and therefore negatively impacts the sustainability of the learning and improvement in performance.

Incorporating periodic checkpoints along the stages of learning provides participants with a voice in the development of the learning process. Their assessment and feedback result in a better balance between theory learning and theory application. Balancing both people focus and content focus is key to the success of the transfer and sustainability of any learning. Participants require clear goals, an opportunity to demonstrate the learning and provide feedback. This enables them to better understand the implications of the processes and responsibilities and determine whether transfer of learning has occurred and is sustainable.

In closing, I’d like to thank the executive team for their hard work and dedication over the last year. We have had a great 2007 due to their commitment and tireless devotion to the I.S.P.I. Vancouver Chapter. We are going into 2008 with a stellar line-up of speakers each month and with your support making this the best year yet. We look forward to seeing you at future meetings and having you as part of our Community of Practice for Performance Improvement.

Happy New Year and may your 2008 learning journey provide you with balance and success in all that you strive to achieve!

Michael Doody
President-Vancouver Chapter
International Society for Performance Improvement
mcdoody@shaw.ca
Tel: 778-230-9315

"leadership with integrity on a journey that is the destination"

Anderson and Ackerman-Anderson (2001)

December 2007 Message from the President

"When one teaches, two learn".  Robert Heinlein

Leadership and Sustaining Performance Improvement
Hargreaves and Fink (2006) state that a central task of leadership is to organize mentorship, provide mentoring and find mentoring for oneself…but if there are enough values in common and enough differences to make it interesting, a good mentoring relationship is an excellent way to prosper from the past. (p. 248)

Leadership is about building relationships. Learning will not be sustained if the leader does not model the theory being taught and the values being demonstrated. Mentoring offers a venue for leaders to share their experience and help create the leaders of tomorrow through engagement and nurturing of future leaders. There are people who want to mentor those who could benefit from their expertise and experience. They feel their experience could be of value to new managers. They also feel that structure and commitment to the mentoring process benefits participants of learning.

Mentoring
Fullan (2005) believes that sustaining learning can best be achieved when developing relationships and fostering knowledge building. The findings revealed that the attendees of the focus sessions are in agreement with Wheatley (2005) and Fullan (2005) when expressing a desire to reach out to others in the organization and share their experiences and learnings with them. If we are to develop organizations of greater and enduring capacity, we have to turn to the people of our organizations” (p. 72). The leadership literature tells us that the sustainability of learning requires that the long lever of leadership be far reaching into all levels of the organization.

Another aspect of mentoring is ensuring that there is a right fit between participants. Selecting the right person to mentor and matching them with the right person to be a mentor takes time and most importantly each person has to want that role. Sustainability of learning is more likely to happen with a person whom you trust, respect and know rather then someone whom you fear, or with whom you haven’t formed any relationship. Jeffrey Gandz (2006) says, “Mentoring requires the establishment of a trusting relationship – the mentor will be seen as someone genuinely wanting to help the less experienced person while he or she, in turn will be genuinely seeking advice and assistance”.

Opportunities
Sharing experience, tacit knowledge and corporate memory provides learners with an opportunity to re-visit, re-new and sustain the learnings obtained from mentors. The benefit in the sustainability of learning, employee retention and overall satisfaction is to create a sense of community and an opportunity to learn from each other. The goal is to bring into being a culture of “paying it forward” with information that can be transformed and sustained as knowledge. The ultimate result will be the assembly of a learning system where a ripple effect is felt throughout the organization whenever an engagement of learning occurs.

Call To Action
Regardless of where we find ourselves within the systems we live and work, what we do in some shape, form, or manner has impact on everyone we come in contact with. If you have any “best practices” you would like to share on how your organization is enhancing and sustaining performance improvement as a result of mentoring please share - by email or in person, at an upcoming event.

Cheers and have a great month

Michael Doody
President
Vancouver Chapter—International Society for Performance Improvement
mcdoody@shaw.ca
Tel: 778-230-9315
"leadership with integrity on a journey that is the destination" 

November 2007 Message from the President

Sustaining Performance Improvement

Networking plays a critical role in the success of the sustainability of learning. Organizations who are looking for continual performance improvement from their employees need to be aware of the importance of networking for learners and their desire to feel inclusive in the learning community in which they reside. Networking relationships are important and participants in the community identify the need for networking opportunities as a means to share and sustain learnings within a learning community. The inclusion of networking can have favourable impact on performance improvement and sustaining learning in an organization.

Organizations who promote a sense of community throughout its culture have employees who feel they are a part of a company that appreciates them and listens to them. A desire to share knowledge and to listen to others is an integral part of the learning infrastructure. Margaret Wheatley when discussing creating and sustaining change in learners declares that a support that allows for the 1) naming, 2) connecting, 3) nourishing and 4) illuminating of the community is required. Creating a formal networking system enables employees to connect and capture tacit knowledge that may otherwise not be shared. A formal networking community benefits an organization where the employees are engaged, enabled and empowered to share tacit and explicit knowledge.

Networking

Networks can be advantageous to an organization when offering a means in which learners can support one another and enhance the community in which they participate. Findings reveal that the spirit of a community is vibrant and eager when networking enables a learning community to reach its maximum potential. Each individual is like a point of light waiting to be connected so as to pass its energy on to the next point of light and with each connection the light becomes brighter and larger. Networks can be advantageous to an organization when offering a means in which learners can support one another and enhance the community in which they participate.

Opportunities

Kouzes and Posner profess, “In many ways, what goes around comes around; leaders get back what they give. That’s why setting an example is so important”. Sometimes before one can venture out into the world of networking one must first be coached and mentored by someone who can help them prepare. Networks provide an opportunity for participants to have more of a voice in learning, feel like they are part of the solution and part of the team by sharing their insights and learnings. 

Call To Action

The lack of formal networking creates a disconnected learning community where knowledge exchange is stifled and/or lost due to learning in silos. There is a need for organizations to provide venues for leaders to share their expertise and learnings with others who in turn are also willing to share their passion, energy and knowledge with others

Raising leaders’ awareness of existing networking communities and provide developmental sessions to establish a network of mentors for new and seasoned leaders. Leaders need to think of themselves as being an integral part of a system where each individual within the system is connected to each other.

Regardless of where we find ourselves within the system we live and work, what we do in some shape, form, or manner has impact on everyone. If you have any “best practices” you would like to share on how your organization is enhancing and sustain as a result of networking, please do so —by email or in person, at an upcoming event.

Cheers and have a great month

Michael Doody
President
Vancouver Chapter—International Society for Performance Improvement
mcdoody@shaw.ca
Tel: 778-230-9315
"leadership with integrity on a journey that is the destination" 

October 2007 Message from the President

Sustainability of Organizational Learnings

A study I recently completed indicated that the fundamentals required for sustaining the transfer of knowledge are communication, mentoring, networking  and follow-up. This month I would like to share with you information on the topic of communication and the value it plays in the sustainability of transferred learnings in an organization. The focus of the study was primarily leadership learning, however the findings are universally applicable to any learning and any organization.  

Communication
Communication is an integral component to the sustainability of transferred learnings. Izzo & Withers (2001) says, the “…survey revealed that employees in the United States rate two-way communication…as highly important to job satisfaction... And yet fewer than 35 percent frequently share opinions with top management. This discrepancy points to shortcomings in corporate commitment to communication over rank and/or to a need for more and better leadership training. (p. 126)

Effectively transforming acquisition of information into the transformation of knowledge requires communication to exist and has great value for sustaining learning in an organization. Any acquired knowledge would be sustained through re-enforcement of shared experiences and best practices. Mistakes could be potentially avoided through this shared awareness and any tacit learning acquired could be captured.
 

Opportunities

Findings show that to sustain learning there must be open honest communication and an opportunity to provide feedback. Communication as a tool in assessing the value of any training program is critical. Employees want to know that what they are doing has value and meaning.

Senge et al. (1999) say, "people will not invest themselves in initiatives they don’t see as leading to meaningful practical consequences” (p. 52). 

Wenger (2005) states, “For organizations, it means that learning is an issue of sustaining the interconnected communities of practice through which an organization knows what it knows and thus becomes effective and valuable as an organization” (p. 8).  Sharing experiences, challenges and best practices would provide a forum for this exchange. This includes participative approaches, inclusiveness, support, encouragement, and openness, conducting reality checks, questioning rather than judging, and listening for feelings as well as content (Glaser, 2005).

Call To Action
Organizations need to support and encourage positive and constructive communication behaviours. Innovative ways could be explored as to how communication can be increased and recorded. Focus sessions could be delivered as a virtual or on-line session eliminating the challenge of time and location restraints. Using the intranet as a means of creative ways to communicate and collaborate virtually would be an effective means to achieve this objective.

If you have any “best practices” you would like to share on how your organization is adapting to your ever changing learning community as a result of communication, please do so —by email or in person, at an upcoming event.

Next month’s theme will address the value of networking and its value to the sustainability of leadership learners and the inclusiveness of the community in which they reside.

Resources:

Glaser, J.E. (2005). Creating WE: Change I-thinking to WE-thinking build a healthy, thriving organization.  

Izzo J., & Withers P. (2001). Values shift: The new work ethic & what it means for business.

Senge, P., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R., Roth, G., & Smith, B. (1999). The dance of change: The challenges of sustaining momentum in learning organizations.

Wenger, E. (2005). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. 

Cheers and have a great month

Michael Doody
President
Vancouver Chapter—International Society for Performance Improvement
mcdoody@shaw.ca
Tel: 778-230-9315
"leadership with integrity on a journey that is the destination"

September 2007 Message from the President
 

This month I would like to address an issue that’s becoming a focus of concern in most organizations—accommodating the learning styles of different generations.

Know Your Audience

Challenges

The shift in demographics from Baby Boomers to Generations X and Y is creating new challenges for organizations. Baby Boomers are retiring in increased numbers, forcing organizations to deal with a high volume of corporate memory leaving with them—a loss that creates a knowledge-and-skill vacuum that could put an organization at risk.

On the other hand, you have Generations X and Y, who have been raised on MTV, Nintendo DS, and MSN Messenger, and who seemingly have technology running through their veins. These same techno-savants are entering organizations with mainframes and operating systems sometimes designed and implemented decades earlier, when shoulder pads were big.  

Organizations are dealing with a transition and handover of responsibilities between these groups, like trying to force a three-prong plug into a two-prong outlet. People need to step back, assess and determine what can be done to bridge the generational gap by recognizing the needs and expectations of their employees and creatively and innovatively meeting them.

Call To Action

IBM  believes “A single approach to knowledge transfer and training isn’t enough–the learning function needs to understand employees preference and how different generations of learners learn best.”  As a community of practice, we need to look at ways we can assist each other in fostering learning from one generation to the next—and vice versa. If we work together, we’re better able to build two-way bridges that are not only smooth, but sustainable.

If you have any “best practices” you would like to share on how your organization is adapting to your ever changing learning community, please do so —by email or in person, at an upcoming event. 

Cheers and have a great month