Worry About Leading Change--Change Mindset Series Part 2 of 4
Posted by Todd VanNest on Wed, Feb 23, 2011
We launched this 4-part series on Change Mindset last week to spark a fire in leaders of large change initiatives…helping them introduce a discussion in their teams that re-energizes them and creates openness to change--in particular, taking a “sideways” look at some traditional Organizational Change Management (OCM) elements to “break their frames” and build new perspective.
Today, in Part 2, I’m offering a sideways look at a big part of the Change Leader’s experience—worry (if not dread).
While not an identified part of the OMC “process” (pick your model, I don’t care), the Change Leaders I work with, like a parent or a nervous inventor waiting for the moment of lightning to enliven his Frankenstein report worry as a primary part of their experience—heart, mind, and soul.
Relying on disciplines outlined here in this LAST Word on Change blog (e.g., driving simplification into change, emphasizing leadership over management, and people over process), also points the way for reducing the negative impact of worry.
To examine the cost of worry (or build your personal Case for Change and adoption of these disciplines on the path to change success), let’s take a “sideways” look that this bugger. What I have learned in coaching Change Leaders for over twenty years is that carrying a burden of worry, wasting too much time at the Wall of Worry has two significant costs:
1-Feelings of worry or dread can unwittingly move you to shrink your field of vision or even “make like an ostrich” to avoid bad news. The biggest cost that results is that your perspective on success and solutions gets overly narrow. You tend to look for confirming information and only ask for feedback or evaluation limited to a few formal measures (e.g., “Are we still on track?”) and your range of responses to problems gets limited because the prospects of making a small issue into a bigger one or placing importance on areas that include ambiguity seems like a huge risk. This is one reason why project leaders can appear pretty “mechanical”—erring on the side of managing to the process rather than keeping their eyes and ears open for opportunity.
2-Extend the reference to building a “Wall of Worry” to four walls that make a box. The higher you build these walls (more worrisome you get), the greater the distance you put between yourself and you’re your stakeholders (sponsors, your change team, key partners, your audience). You may not notice this if you can still look over the wall (still see them), but they will notice the walls and as a result, perceive you as less accessible and less receptive to inputs.
So…how can you adopt a more constructive, liberating mindset (not bogged down by worry)?
ASK YOURSELF:
__When I look in the mirror, do I see optimism or dread?
__Is the source of worry something I can influence?
__Have I sequestered myself with Walls of Worry so I appear inaccessible?...uncaring?
__Am I finding it too easy to throw new concerns on that big, growing, and scary pile of worrisome things, or am I taking them on and taking action with the same vigor I began my project with?
ASK OTHERS:
__On balance, where could the “tone” of our interactions around this project benefit from more positivity and optimism?
__Is my team and I as open, listening, and attentive now during the change as we were when we were soliciting your inputs in the planning stage?
__Are we giving off any signals that we don’t have time or interest in listening to feedback or concerns?
Like a Chief Executive, the Change Leader can feel surprisingly isolated. Recognizing this risk and building in some processes and trusted feedback channels throughout the change journey can help you avoid the great costs that come with worry and isolation. This approach and asking the questions outlined above are a clear sign of a constructive Change Mindset.
Join me again next week for Part 3 in this series on Change Mindset.
http://www.lastwordonchange.com/blog-on-change
Share with your friends to challenge them with a “sideways” look at organizational change.
