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Orientation to Performance Improvement


Michael Doody
President

Click here to read Michael's bio

 

2006 AGM

 

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 k
nowledge 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

From a generation perspective, most organizations’ learning communities generally consist of four types of learners. Organizations are becoming aware of the importance of recognizing generational learning styles and how to best engage and manage diverse learners’ expectations. The table below outlines the various generations and the traits typical to each group.

Generation

Traditionalist

Baby Boomer

Generation X

Millennials

(Generation Y)

Years of birth

Prior to 1946

1946-1964

1965 - 1981

1982-2000

Population #

75 million

80 million

46 million

76 million

Traits

Patriotic, loyal, faith in institutions, desire to leave a legacy

Competitive, optimistic, desire to put own stamp on institutions

Resourceful, highly adaptive   self reliant, skeptical of institutions

Globally concerned, cyber literate, realistic, environmentally conscious

Influences

Great Depression, World War II

Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement

Sesame Street, computers, MTV, AIDS

Fall of  Berlin Wall, Terrorism, expansion of technology

Learning

Expectations

Use to lecture & presentations

Use to books, videos, self-help guides

Use to learning from a computer.

Use to learning interactively with multi-technology.


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
 

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"
 

August 2007 Message from the President

It’s hard to believe that summer is almost over. I  hope you’re having an enjoyable and relaxing time with your family and friends.

New Board Members
I’d like to welcome two new members of the Executive Team: Maureen Ewing, VP of Membership, and Gary Harper, VP of Programs. I’d also like to thank Katherine Marlow and Trina Pouttu for their time, energy, and contributions to the Chapter over the last year. It’s been greatly appreciated!

The Year So Far
Personally, the year so far has been an incredible one for me. Within ten weeks I’ve started a new job, moved to a new house, graduated with my Masters, and gotten married—in Newfoundland! It was a crazy time but a perfect reminder to “trust the process” and know that what is meant to be, will be!

2007 ISPI Conference: Performance Beyond Borders
Earlier this year, I attended the ISPI International Conference in San Francisco, which was co-hosted with IFTDO, the International Federation of Training and Development Organization. The theme was “Performance Beyond Borders.” It truly was a gathering of like minds collaborating to create communities of practice* around performance improvement. In particular, we looked at ways to look beyond our existing organizational borders and reach out to other performance improvement professionals.

While I learned a lot from the people I met and the sessions I attended, my most memorable learning was from a conversation I had with two members of the New Mexico Chapter. They shared ways in which they collaborate with other learning organizations, like ASTD, with whom they share speakers and resources. It was an idyllic illustration of communities coming to together to better themselves and the communities they create. Sometimes we get so entrenched in our organizational structure and the hierarchies in which we work that we tend to forget that outside our immediate world exists an incredible magnitude of untapped resources and riches of knowledge.

I encourage you to look at your current boundaries and seek opportunities to extend your “performance borders” to share with and learn from other communities of practice. For starters, I’ll be presenting at a CSTD session in Victoria in April. What will you be doing to extend your community of practice?

Let us know how you’re collaborating beyond borders—by email or in person, at an upcoming event.

* The concept of a community of practice (often abbreviated as CoP) refers to the process of social learning that occurs when people who have a common interest in some subject or problem collaborate over an extended period to share ideas, find solutions, and build innovations.


April 2007 Message from the President

Survey Says!

In January, the ISPI-Vancouver Executive sent a  survey to the existing membership. The purpose was to learn what our members thought was going well with the Chapter and what thoughts they had on how it could be improved. We achieved a 40% participation rate from members! Here is a summary of the results:

  • Value membership fees provides—91 % responded medium to high
  • Satisfaction with Speaker Lineup—98% responded medium to high
  • Transfer Learning to Job—90% responded medium to high
  • Meeting Venue—80% responded medium to high
  • Catering—93% responded medium to high
  • Website Content—90% responded medium to high

Three key themes identified in the comments segment which the executive is actively working on are:

  1. Strong interest in having more opportunities for networking at regular events

  2. Organizing a specific networking related event and a broader selection of speakers

  3. Feature individual members and relate to ISPI ProComms. Our first feature is about Maureen Ewing, a long time Vancouver chapter member. Click here to read it

The executive is a hard working group of volunteers who dedicate their time in creating a learning environment that enables a community to share best practices on performance improvement.   To maximize our potential as a membership who come together to create a Community of Practice, the executive invites members to share any creative ideas they may have on networking, relationship building, or simply the name of a potential speaker for a future event.

Finally, we are having our Annual General Meeting in June and there are positions on the Executive opening up, please consider stepping into one of the roles and adding your expertise, energy and creative spirit to this already dynamic team.

Looking forward to seeing you at Dr. Carl Binder’s presentation on The Six Boxes™: A Simple, Powerful Way to Accelerate Human Performance on May 8th. 

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"

Message from the President—March 2007

Communities of Practice Share Best Practices

This month’s session is about our learning community coming together to share best practices. Saint-Onge and Wallace (2003) describes a community of practice (CoP) as a group of individuals working together collaboratively to enhance performance. Presenters will be sharing their best practices in line with ISPI’s Professional Communities (Pro Comms).

These communities provide a structured way for ISPI members to network with others who have similar interests, and serve as a catalyst for sharing and gaining knowledge from each area of expertise.

Margaret Wheatley (2005) believes communities of practice are evidence that people are willing to learn and share what they know. But in order to make this happen successfully the following conditions must be in place. People must:

  • Understand the objective
  • Understand how it is a value-add to their work
  • Feel respected and trusted
  • Know and care about their colleagues
  • Value and trust their leaders

As you leave the session and reflect on the learnings you have obtained, think about how you can bring these key learnings back to your work environment. Envision the role you can play in creating the community that will enable you to discover and shared the best practices that currently exist in your organization. Looking forward to seeing you at the session and sharing in your best practices. 

 

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"

Sources:

Saint-Onge, H. and Wallace, D. (2003). Leveraging Communities of Practice for Strategic Advantage.
Wheatley, M. J. (2005) Finding Our Way: Leadership For An Uncertain Time.
http://www.ispi.org/proComm/default.htm


February 2007—Message from the President

Our CHOICES shape US and INFLUENCE others

"Your power to choose the direction of your life allows you to reinvent yourself, to change your future, and to powerfully influence the rest of creation."

— Dr. Stephen R. Covey, from The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness.

Whether it be in our personal or professional life, change is constant. Cy Charney says “Change is a fact of life in the new millennium…Change will continue with one difference - it will happen more often…You must adapt or die like the dinosaurs.”

How we choose to respond to change determines whether or not it will become an opportunity for us to grow from the experience or stagnant in a pool of negativity and confusion. Change can shift our paradigms and garner us new knowledge and insight into ourselves and the people in our lives. It all depends on how we handle our reaction to change.  A mentor once said to me, “It is not the situation you are handed that determines the final outcome but how you choose to respond.  

This month’s session is about communication and performance during times of change. Sharon Habib and Catherine Ducharme will use an interactive case study and group discussion to help us delve into the topics.  I wanted to share with you some key themes provided to me from the book, “Who moved my Cheese”, that are inevitable when encountering change in our lives:

  • Change Happens

  • Anticipate Change

  • Monitor Change

  • Adapt to Change Quickly

  • Change

  • Enjoy Change

  • Be Ready to Quickly Change Again and Again

Spencer Johnson, M.D.

Be aware of your choices during times of change. Seek out how learnings can be obtained for you and others you influence. Be open to change. Communicate with one another. Make change we encounter a venue to go forward and improve our life performance and influence others.

 Dr. Stephen R. Covey, (2004)  The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness
 
Spencer Johnson, M.D. (1998) Who moved my Cheese?


Message from the Incoming President—January 2007

The Best Year!


As I begin my term as President I'd like to share with you an excerpt from Debbie Ford.

The Best Year of Your Life is possible no matter what is going on around you. It is yours for the taking. This year, you get to choose what actions you will take and what behaviors you will engage in. You get to choose....

ISPI Vancouver invites you to take advantage of the choices you’ll be offered on the various topics of performance improvement in 2007. As a learning organization focused on shared learning and best practices, ISPI Vancouver is built on your participation as a member.

ISPI Vancouver is about you. We are our membership.

You and your fellow members have expansive performance improvement competencies. More significantly, your willingness and eagerness to share these with one another is what makes our Chapter such a vibrant group. And the more we communicate with one another, the more we will continue learning and ultimately improve our performance—personally and professionally.

To that end, my key goal as your President is to look at how we can increase communication within our chapter. I’d like us to look beyond our monthly meetings to find new ways to learn from and with each other.

I invite you to take ownership of making this the best year of ISPI. Any time you have an idea, an article of interest, or thoughts on how we can enhance our performance as a Chapter, share it with a member of the executive or contact me.

Be part of the solution and turn concepts into actions.

In closing, I’d like to thank the executive team for their hard work and dedication over the last year. A special thanks to Margy Hayden for her leadership in 2006; Margy’s constant positive, can-do attitude kept our Chapter solid through a year that brought many transitions to the executive team. I look forward to working with Margy, the executive team, and you in 2007.

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"

 

 


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