"The Executives I speak to these days...are just maxed out with the amount of change they need to lead and the breadth of topics they need to be across"
That was the message from two very well connected 'Board level' colleagues over coffees in the last fortnight.
Change overwhelm: most of us are feeling it. Budget and Board reporting season doesn't help. But what to do about it?
#changeleadership #changemanagement #leadershipdevelopment
If you want to build sustained change capability…you will be limited or uplifted, by the hallmarks of your team or organisational culture.
BUT, what you’ve been told about “creating a change ready culture”…likely confuses being ‘in motion’ with ‘taking action’.
Read MoreThe comprehensive change leader is one who can engage both "hearts and minds".
Which one do you need to refine? Which one do you need to lift?
Done well, it surpasses mere progress reporting or 'sense making'; it's about profound understanding of the Change and how we need to lead it. Our Seventh Principle is "Measure progress with both numbers and stories" By intertwining data with personal journeys, we attain a panoramic perspective on change, laying the groundwork for more insightful, empathetic, and adept leadership.
"Seeing is believing". And within the organisations we work with, people want to believe; believe in the purpose, believe in their leaders, believe in their own personal convictions about this place that they've decided to commit the majority of their waking hours towards.
When we illuminate our decision-making process, we make our leadership of change believable. That's because we're not just shedding light on the outcomes; we're spotlighting the rationale, the inclusivity, the rigour, and the alignment with organisational values that underpin those outcomes. We’re demonstrating how decisions align with the change objectives and how they contribute to the broader vision of the organisation.
More importantly and on the flipside...in the absence of being told the story, people will make up their own!
Our Sixth Principle of Change is "Make decisions visibly", so this article spotlights some of our favourite decision-making tools and pragmatic tips on how to give a sense of visibility for even the most sensitive of changes.
Read More"Seeing is believing". And within the organisations we work with, people want to believe. Believe in the purpose, believe in their leaders, believe in their own personal convictions about this place that they've decided to commit the majority of their waking hours towards.
When we illuminate our decision-making process, we make our leadership of change believable. That's because we're not just shedding light on the outcomes; we're spotlighting the rationale, the inclusivity, the rigour, and the alignment with organisational values that underpin those outcomes. We’re demonstrating how decisions align with the change objectives and how they contribute to the broader vision of the organisation.
More importantly and on the flipside...in the absence of being told the story, people will make up their own!
Our Sixth Principle of Change is "Make decisions visibly", so this article spotlights some of our favourite decision making tools and gives pragmatic tips on how to give visibility, for even the most sensitive of changes.
Read More"Nice idea...but that doesn't work here"
Fair enough, it's your organisation and your culture...so I'll believe you. But I also take guidance from a Thomas Edison quote: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Neither of us has time or budget for 10,000 failed ways, so let's run some well thought out change experiments and get successful change happening sooner and smoother! In this article I introduce our Fourth Principle of Change, which is underpinned by creativity: "Learn Together through Experimentation." I lay out my top five Change experiments (aka: spoiler alerts for working with me...) and give ways to get started in even the most conservative environment.
If you've got a poor change culture or the 'bad vibes' are still lingering in the hallways from the last organisational change, then I'd argue you can't afford to ignore creative approaches to change; reasons stands that if you do the same things, you'll get the same results. #changeleadership #leanchange #leadership
Read MoreEveryone is considered...but not everyone gets a say
Imagine this: You've got an incredibly passionate team member...raring to go, championing the change and supporting the team. Their energy is infectious...but let's be real, it's not always helpful.
Sometimes that person just isn't close enough to impacted business processes or they lack the technical expertise, to really contribute in a meaningful way. Or maybe, as blunt as it can be, they just aren't respected amongst their peers and colleagues; to the point where their 'brand' affects the change messaging.
Artful leadership will find a way to still harness that enthusiasm and hence our third Principe of Change is "Empower everyone to contribute appropriately"
In this article I walk you through your role as a conductor of the orchestra in change leadership; you cannot play all the instruments yourself (aka: build all the inputs to change), so your role is about helping people keep in synchronisation and to "do their best solo work" when it's their time.
#changeleadership #organisationaldevelopment #leadership
Let's make 2023 the year we globally bin the label of "Change Resistors"
Change isn't an abstract concept or a manufacturing technique. It's a personal, human experience, with each individual processing it through their own unique lens.
Every person brings a mix of past experiences, present perceptions, and future expectations to the table. It's a complex blend that forms their reality – and their starting point for any change.
That's why change happens one conversation at a time.
In this article, I give an overview of how to do that at scale and walk you through our second Principle of Change here at Apricot, which is focused on relationships; "Meet people where they are at".
#leadingchange #transformationalleadership #changeleadership
"People don't buy WHAT you do; they buy WHY you do it."
There is a striking poignancy to these words, 14 years on from when Simon Sinek enshrined them in TED Talk immortality.
Every client, I will ever work with...I will start with the Why. It's a pragmatic approach: people aren't resistant to change; they're resistant to change that doesn't make sense.
(Luckily, we at Apricot enjoy that 'sense making' work, irrespective of the layers of complexity and emotionally charged narratives of "yesterday".)
"Align change with what matters" is our First Principle of Change, which unsurprisingly mirrors our hallmark Apricot Health Index.
But how does that come to life in an organisational setting? I give my explainer in this article, plus give some tips on how to make even the most mundane of organisational change have some sense of meaning and importance.
#change #meaning #purpose
In crafting up the final touches on Apricot's First Principles of Change (coming soon 👀) I revisited the most consistent guidance I give to leaders and their teams: know what the Planning Fallacy is and actively outsmart it.
The Planning Fallacy is a cognitive bias where individuals underestimate the cost, time, and risks involved in a project while simultaneously overestimating their own previous experience and capabilities.
It's important to grasp the duality of this; we underestimate tangibles and "knowns" (cost, time and risks)...yet we overestimate the intangibles of 'experience' and capability. Take a quick moment to reflect, on how much of organisational life is skewed towards a trust in experience - sometimes for very good reason, but not without consequence.
And the real shocker: if you give highly experienced leaders, new information which challenges their original planning estimates...they tend to be reluctant to change it! 😧
Reasons why this happens and some high-level guidance on mitigating the Planning Fallacy in the full article, but working through the unique cultural nuances and particular 'friction points' within organisations is the kind of work we love ❤️
#change #projectmanagement #organisationaldevelopment
Forget about making your bed first thing in the morning! My objection: as we meticulously straighten our sheets and fluff our pillows, are we priming ourselves just to "be busy"?
Here's my wake-up call to continually fight the organisational inertia towards just doing tasks for the sake of them - and realise how this default thinking can steer us away from the most meaningful and impactful work.
#leadership #change #coaching
As a Performance Coach and Talent Manager for Campbell Page, I experienced one of the most significant growth periods of my life. My travels suddenly took me through vast swathes of this wonderful country - yet far from the tourist routes. From Warwick to Moruya, Moe to Elizabeth (and 54 other places, if we're counting ✈ ) I watched dedicated managers trying to make a difference in their local communities.
Read MoreIf you want to make global impact, then you have to think big. Prof. Bent Flyvbjerg is someone who has spent more time than most, thinking big - mega even. I find his work a fascinating touchstone for my own work with leaders and organisations, especially the ones who need to compete where it's big and complex. Thanks to a recent Sydney Business Insights event, I got brought up to speed on his most recent work "How big things get done", looking at the common failure points and success factors behind over 16,000 major global projects.
Read MoreWhy?
1. We don’t focus on the behaviours that really matter in a given context
2. We don’t measure return on investment, through applied results
Read MoreAfter dialling up the emotion on my goodbye post, thought I'd close off my escient journey by reflecting on my top three invaluable lessons learned from being 'front and centre' to service design, digital transformation and change.
Read More
