I’ve been told – as most leaders are told during their careers - that taking action is critical to success. We’re rewarded for doing. We’re rewarded for results. The unfortunate flip side of this prejudice for action is that leaders are not typically rewarded for stopping and thinking before taking action. . I’ve also noticed [...]
Sometimes it takes a lot of tolerance to be a Change Agent. Expect to Face Some Heat: As people go through their natural reactions to change, we get bombarded from time to time with negativity, insecurity, doubt and frustration. We might be surprised to hear these emotions from people who had previously been quiet or even [...]
No single factor can make or break your success as a Change Agent more directly than the attitude you choose to bring to your work. An honest, upbeat attitude can help you be helpful to others. It can enable you to create your own luck and build unseen momentum for your change. [...]
I was flying cross-country the other day after a long week of work when I noticed this beautiful scene out the window. It reminded me that most things worth doing involve some hidden elements. They may also be bigger and more complex than they first appear. But that shouldn’t frighten us away from taking them [...]
“No plan survives contact with the enemy.” – Field Marshall Helmuth von Moltke (as paraphrased in The Swordbearers : Studies in Supreme Command in the First World War (1963) by Correlli Barnett Resistance to change, unexpected stakeholder challenges and failed adoption are all enemies of successful change. Change Agents should heed the Field Marshall’s insight and expect that they [...]
As promised, today’s post is a quick collection of links related to Change and other topics I found interesting. Click around to read more and use the comment feature to let me know what you think. Without further ado… … 1 … Change Or Die: This article by Alan Deutschman came out a while ago [...]
When it comes to tracking change adoption, identifying levels of change support or uncovering pockets of change resistance, data may be king, but information should rule your decision-making process. In my last article, I introduced a way for Change Agents to gather and apply accurate data related to change support, adoption and resistance. It all [...]
I love pineapple upside down cake. If you’re a pineapple fan and you haven’t tried it, you need to. When it’s done right, there are few better desserts on the planet. To satisfy my sweet tooth, I plan to bake one of these beauties the next time I have a bit of time and access [...]
The last article on theBigRocks was authored by our first-ever guest writer. Dr. Rodger Dean Duncan is an accomplished Change Agent who worked for several decades in the field before capturing his methods in a book called “Change Friendly Leadership“. He shared part of his new book in that post. I would encourage you to [...]
I’m up in the mountains today and even though the calendar and the weatherman predicted it, one of this year’s first blasts of wintery weather caught me off guard. It also looks to have altered the clothing choices of most folks – including me. A nice, warm coat is definitely this week’s hot fashion accessory. [...]
Ugh. It’s election season in the United States and the rhetoric is flying in every direction. Since I live in the “swing state” of Florida, it’s nearly impossible to watch television for five minutes without being told who’s going to raise my taxes or destroy my future. Regular readers of this blog know that I [...]
Few professional skills will correlate more closely with your ability to lead change as your ability to facilitate influential groups through critical discussions and timely decisions. Being able to guide people as they define their goals for a given interaction – and then consistently reach those outcomes – is a big part of helping your [...]
So far in this series, I’ve focused on how Change Agents can be more effective by learning and applying the art of facilitation to their routine work. We’ve talked about different ways that people think and how good facilitators pay attention to this variance as they guide group discussions and decisions. Over the next few [...]
As a Change Agent, one of my most common roles is that of “Facilitator”. One moment I will be asked to guide an executive team as they make tough decisions. The next, I’ll help resolve a personality dispute that’s blocking team success. As a neutral Facilitator, I’m often called to help an individual or a [...]
In my last post, I described what often happens when Change Agents and Sponsors of Change fail to communicate with their stakeholders. I suggested that people could interpret a lack of communication in one of several negative ways. They might think you’re telling them: 1. “This change is simply not a priority.” – After all, [...]
Change Agent Tip #40: Don’t Wait. Communicate. It’s hard to over-emphasize the value of communicating with stakeholders when you’re implementing change. “Failure to Communicate” is consistently listed as one of the top causes of lackluster change results even though common logic, past experience and routine risk management would tell us to err on the side [...]
Today is the birthday of Amelia Earhart – the great American aviation pioneer. In 1928, she became the first woman to accomplish a transcontinental flight. Today, thousands of women around the world fly planes routinely. Yesterday, America and the world lost a great space pioneer: Sally Ride. She became the first American woman in space [...]
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