It is interesting how some people, when faced with disruptive situations tend to "bounce back" while others tend to flounder. Both groups will experience the same fear and apprehension when faced with change, but only one group will recover quicker from its effects to adapt, cope and maintain results.
"About a year ago, I hired a developer in India to do my job. My employee is none the wiser. I pay him $12,000 to do the job I get paid $67,300 for.He is happy to have the work.I am happy that I only have to work 90 minutes per day (I still have to attend meetings myself, and I spend a few minutes every day talking code with my Indian counterpart).The rest of the time my employer thinks I'm telecommuting.They are happy to let me telecommute because my output is higher than most of my co-workers."
- Slashdot.com February 2004
The story above from Slashdot.com is a great example (if a little extreme) of how some people are able to demonstrate - what the French call - bricolage; bouncing back and even prospering in times of change and disruption.It has renewed our interest in an area of research that started over 40 years ago, but which - over the last few years - has been a hot topic for change leaders who are challenging their people to engage in more and more change so that organisations can be responsive in their chosen market.
So what is it, and what does it contribute?
Aron Ralston, the Colorado climber who, two years ago saved his life by cutting off his arm, after it became wedged behind a boulder, calls the experience a "miracle and a blessing".Ralstron credited his education as a mechanical engineer, outdoor experience, and training in search and rescue for his survival. Of course there is a lot of truth in that, but it is also clear that more than education, experience and training, it was Aron's reflex at this extraordinary time - coming to terms with the reality of his situation, recognising his strength and believing in himself, being able to innovate and improvise - that was to determine whether he would survive or not.Further, it was the personal adaptability that Aron showed after the fact - recovering from the shock of the situation, learning and drawing strength from the experience - that was to help him bounce back and go on to do more than he thought was possible.
Life breaks everyone and afterwards many are stronger in broken places
- K Ernest Hemmingway
We can learn to be more adaptable during change
Some people seem so capable in times of workplace disruption and change that it is easy to assume that they are born that way. There is some truth to that of course - early theories about highly adaptable people stress the role of genetics and the formative influence that early experiences can have on resilience. However we can improve our personal adaptability and performance during change by first, better understanding how we respond to disruption and then developing key areas.
Current trends continue to point to a system of seven characteristics that provide the energy that resilient people need to help them through a disruptive situation. These are characteristics that can be developed to either release energy (optimistic, self-assured and innovative) or conserve energy (collaborative, purposeful and structured) to make sure we can retain a balance of energy to be proactive as appropriate to the change situation.
AID- using a simple process of Assessment, Interpretation andDecision you and your teams can learn a more resilient reflex during change.
Assessment
Working with Knight Chapman Psychological Ltd., a leading provider of ground breaking psychometric assessments, our Personal Adaptability Questionnaire provides a profile to explain the main features of a person's response during change.
This assessment reflects the extent to which the individual will value deploying a particular characteristic during the disruption of change.
Interpretation
Tailored coaching questions help people transform data into insight and draw out the potential implications for their life, work and a particular change situation.
Change leaders are askers of questions!
-
Ask people to reflect on a time when they remember using the characteristic with the high score - what were the benefits and downsides?
-
Also ask people to think about a time when they remember NOT using the characteristic with the low score - what were the downsides and benefits?
-
What has stood in the way of developing characteristic(s) with the low score in the past?
-
What would be the price / sacrifice to develop that particular characteristic now?
2 key AID Decisions to get started
Practical ideas for self development and support help people focus on one or two areas to improve their performance with specific ways to measure and get feedback on progress.
-
Balance optimism and self confidence with the true reality of the situation - six days after being trapped Aron realised that exhausted, dehydrated with a decaying arm and with no one knowing where he was, his situation would prove to be fatal.Similarly when organisational change disrupts people's balance it is those change leaders and impacted individuals who can personally connect with the reality of the situation that are more prepared and will maintain their focus and survive change.Research suggests that most people will slip into denial as a coping mechanism, and so for big change challenges spend time focusing on the consequences and costs of not changing to get people to start to engage with the change.
-
Build innovation and creativity as a core skill - on his sixth day, Aron was able to imagine a possibility to release his arm that would confound most of us. Similarly in change situations we could help people by providing some meeting time, empowering and encouraging them to look for innovative solutions, "think outside the box" and collaborate with people of different perspectives and with unfamiliar ideas.This helps people regain a sense of control during change, bounce back from the disruption and even prosper and thrive during change.
Provide a constant learning process
Identifying the things that can be learned from a change situation help provide meaning, structure and perhaps new values to frame our work in the future. We realise we have high levels of resilience and personal adaptability after the fact and as long as we have a way to use life experiences to grow we can learn to be more resilient and adaptable during change.
So for big change challenges use simple questions as a template to help people reflect and capture the learning:
-
What was/is the situation and what are we trying to achieve?
-
What process/method are we using, and what has worked well?
-
What is not working and where are we still trying to make a breakthrough?
-
What are other people doing in this situation?
-
Is there a set of principles that we could capture and re-use?
Changefirst celebrates its 10th anniversary!
We would like to thank all our clients for their support during this time. We have enjoyed working with you on building change capability and partnering with you on many of the 'leading-edge' implementation projects during the last decade
The last 10 years has seen a great deal of 'innovation'. Some of it sustained, some of it a passing fad. Among many others we have seen outsourcing, off-shoring, dot-com, e-learning, ERP, CRM, shared services, appreciative inquiry, six sigma etc. The list is almost endless. But the common denominator has always been the people factor. The big issue remains 'How do we motivate our people to change their behaviours, skills and way of working in complex organisations'.The 'bottom-line' may be that the most successful organisations of the next decade will be those with the most resilient, adaptable workforce
Hopefully you have learned as much from us as we have from you during this time. We look forward to working with you in the second decade of our existence!
David Miller
Managing Director
www.changefirst.com
|
