Change – From the Inside Out

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I write about change and change management because I love it. Testing assumptions and considering new perspectives is an activity that touches a pleasure centre in my brain (and yes, I do own up to the geek-ness of that phrase). Even when new information means scrapping plans and starting over, it feels good to know our adjusted path will take us even closer to the goal. I not only love change, I seek it out. If things remain static for too long you’ll see me moving the furniture around.

All that said, I can still be made uncomfortable by change

It takes a lot to make me wince – and it’s only happened twice that I can remember. You won’t see me struggle with an unexpected new boss or a sudden increase in expected output (here’s a tip: if you see your boss reading “Double Your Profits in 60 Days” buckle your seatbelt). I can handle moving to a new city to take on career challenges. I learned a second language as an adult and then intentionally got myself a job in a place where English wasn’t spoken (I could write for days about the lessons I learned from making some very unfortunate pronunciation errors). And I’ve successfully navigated many years of corporate course corrections (a nice term for flavour-of-the-day management fads). None of those were particularly daunting. I’m talking about a different kind of change. The kind that skips over skills and abilities and digs right down to the values level — to who you are as a person and how you show up.

I’m talking about serious reexamine-who-you-want-to-be kinds of changes.

I see these playing out in three distinct stages:

• Developing awareness of the gap
• Consciously deciding what to do with that awareness
• Activating the decision

Developing Awareness
When we first become aware of a gap, we may not have a sense of the depth or breadth. It can start out as an intuitive feeling that something’s missing or odd. Stay with the feeling long enough to truly examine what’s behind it and you may find yourself peeling an onion. The deeper you go, the more layers become visible. Talking to others to gain multiple viewpoints almost always helps to round out understanding and perspective.

Deciding
Knowing there is a gap is not enough. Now you have to decide what to do with it. You have choices. You can choose to make no change, or make some adjustments, or ask others to adjust instead. You may elect to take it on fully as a personal and professional developmental challenge. This is your pivot point. What you do next will impact you and those around you.

Activating
A simple gap analysis – declaring where you are in comparison to where you’ve decided you want to be - will reveal the steps required to achieve the new goal. Write it down on paper. Draw a picture if you’re a visual thinker. Now just do it. Don’t wait for it to be perfect. If you need an accountability partner, say your goals out loud to someone. Do whatever it takes to activate your plan. Get yourself over the hump of that very first action and you will find that each next step will be successively easier than the one before.

I’d love to hear from others who have consciously undertaken a personal change process. What was true for you? Or maybe you’re looking for an accountability partner. Add your voice to this post by leaving a comment.

Customer Centric versus Customer Driven

Which business model sounds better: customer centric or customer driven?  They sound similar but one can lead to greatness; the other, failure.

Customer centric organizations are externally focused.  They know what their clients need, they understand their clients’ challenges, and they seek to provide value.  Customer centric organizations are keenly aware of their key differentiators because they think in terms of client value first.

Customer driven organizations are typically those in which a small number of clients represent a disproportionately large percentage of overall revenue.  When the client makes demands, the serving organization mobilizes – often without first thinking it through.  When large clients are unhappy, the customer driven company sounds the alarm and creates activity.

If you’re still scratching your head on this one, consider this.  In the customer centric organization there are no knee-jerk responses to market challenges and client demands.  They are taken very seriously, weighed carefully, discussed…  But they are not allowed to disrupt the business as a whole.  There are no emergency executive meetings, no pulling out of hair, no recriminations.  The customer centric business takes on a stance of open curiosity.  Can we improve delivery?  What would that look like?  Are there increased costs?  How does this align with our vision or long-term business plan?  Once a solution is found, the customer centric business executes swiftly.

Which one would you prefer?  Are there other considerations or other business models to recommend?

Graceful Endings

The way we end relationships speaks volumes about our interpersonal skills.

You and I will deal with numerous endings throughout our careers.  The average baby boomer held 10.8 jobs between the ages of 18 and 42 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).  Most of us will leave one employer in favor of another 12 times before we reach retirement age.  Other types of endings occur when companies decide to walk away from a client.  As a society we tend to avoid terminating relationships; we prolong the inevitable to avoid change and pain.  Sometimes we put it off because we’re not ready to take responsibility for the role we played in a less than successful stint.  As a result, we tend not to do endings well.

Shifting the way we view this type of change opens us up to learning opportunities – personally and organizationally.  Many companies conduct exit interviews and post mortems for that very reason.  Although these take place frequently not many participants give them the forethought required to make them the learning event they were intended to be. 

Start with the end in mind.

The best thing any of us can impart at the point of moving on is to relate what we have gained as a result of the engagement.  Whether we are leaving a client or an employer, the relationship began when two parties undertook to do some form of work together that could not be accomplished alone.  Take the time to show the good that you were a part of before you cite what was lacking.  Nothing in life is ever all good or all bad.  A balanced approach may garner lasting friendships that will outlive the corporate contract.

If you are feeling wronged, think carefully about how you will portray yourself or your company.  Nothing is more transparent than a vengeful spirit.  Sharing feelings of victimhood is seldom good for the career and tends to be overlooked as bitter comments meant to harm others.  If you are putting your thoughts in writing be sure that you are speaking only for yourself and are not taking risks with libel.  This should not be a problem if you stick to facts that can be corroborated or proven.

Take pride in productive, positive endings and you’ll set an example that your community, coworkers, and family can be proud of.

Anonymous Online Comments – Not So Anonymous Anymore

Recent court cases have forced online hosts such as Craigslist to divulge the identity of those posting damaging comments.  Other web sites forced to produce the names of anonymous posters are those engaged in naming bad doctors and bad teachers.  The question is — When does a comment cross the line between consumer protection and defamation?

Here’s a tip: If you’re making an online comment about someone and feel you must hide your identity, you’re probably about to cross the line in a bad way.

The court cases I’m referring to have been launched by individuals who see themselves as victims of malicious attacks.  The Internet has become THE forum for sharing information, learning, selling products, and - sometimes – for hurting others.  It can start with a simple difference of opinion and devolve into a barrage of personal attacks that go on for weeks or months.

Enter the Sock Puppet

A sock puppet is a false online identity used in a deceitful way to support an argument, to defend against critics, to promote a product, or to make oneself appear more popular.  It’s not about privacy — the intent is to deceive. This is a technique widely applied by those posting negative comments about another.  Lacking support from the online community, the poster creates a new identity – called a sock puppet – to write messages in agreement with their own views.  The hope is that their viewpoint will appear popular and will gain support or followers.  Some unscrupulous marketers use this as a scheme to create fake product endorsements.

Writing under a pseudonym or creating an online identity is not always a bad thing.  Privacy is a real concern and a need for some.  In recognition of this most web registration pages ask one to create a user ID that will appear in lieu of one’s real name.  Creating a user ID is as harmless as the CB handle popularized in the 70′s. (For those readers too young to remember citizens’ band radio, this was an earlier form of social networking where it was considered bad form not to have a humorous or descriptive nickname - a handle – used in place of one’s real name.)  The difference is all about intent.

Litmus test

Before posting ask yourself the following questions.  Stop writing if any of these statements ring true:

• I would be embarrassed if anyone found out I wrote this
• I wouldn’t want my {spouse, brother, sister, child} to see my name associated with this comment
• I have no proof to back up this allegation
• This comment is designed to hurt someone or to exact revenge

The Tyranny of the Possible

People blessed with ideation know that it can easily become a major weakness.  How? A mind racing with endless possibilities can take one off track.  It takes a load of discipline to keep things in perspective and in focus when ideas are plentiful. 

The best antidote is clear objectives.  It’s a lot easier to make decisions on where to invest your energy if you know where you want to be in three to five years. Goals give us discipline.  They put backbone in our time management decisions.