“Our mental development, unlike our physical development, does not have to end at age twenty; we can keep growing and developing in adulthood”**.

The question that has been central to me is: ‘can people and organisational cultures really change?’ I am now convinced that the answer is ‘yes’.
 
I became intrigued with the work of Robert Kegan while studying for my Masters in Organisational Coaching. It’s the most powerful way I have found to understand patterns of thought in myself and others and how those patterns impact the way we see the world.
 
The basic proposition is this:

Our mental development and growth helps us overcome our immunity to making other changes in our lives – it is when we begin to see and understand the commitments we hold around not changing, that we can begin to change.
 
I realise that our libraries and bookstores are littered books about personal change and growth. There is a reason for this – it’s something people seek. Unfortunately, it’s not something people often find. The problem with that literature is its inability to close the gap.
 
That gap between wanting and doing is a learning problem and closing it is about learning and changing the way we think about change.  Kegan and Lahey’s book is a great way to understand this learning. 
 
**Kegan, R. & Lahey, L.L. (2001). How the way we talk can change the way we work.. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

It’s really a question of money vs. happiness that seems to be a theme repeated at this year’s Writers’ Festival. Mike Daisey (The Last Cargo Cult) challenges our relationship to money by handing it to the audience as they enter the theatre – his money – the stuff that he was paid to perform the show. After 2 hours of amazing story-telling, the audience has the option to give it back.

So, after all the years giving lip service to the line ‘money doesn’t buy happiness’, these authors and philosophers seem to be saying ‘no really, it’s not a throw-away line…we are serious…what does it really mean?’   But it’s not just a concept for individuals, it’s being asked on a global scale.

Saul says that capitalism is only a valid concept for economies NOT in surplus. Once we have everything we need, more doesn’t get us anywhere.  So, measuring ‘more’ in terms of ‘product’ is the wrong measure. What to measure instead?  How about happiness and satisfaction?

It’s his example of how to start thinking spatially, not linearly. He says we should blow up all of the University Philosophy departments (get the people out first, ‘cause we still need them) – but blow them up into little pieces and catch them as they land. Then, put the pieces together in a new way.

To learn about this new way, we should turn to our indigenous populations and learn the ways of their dreamtime stories – they can teach us much more about philosophy in the way we need it today – spatially…not in the silly linear way taught by western philosophies of the Greeks and Romans.

So, what does Mr. Saul have against philosophers? (actually, his thinking extends to economics and business departments, too, as well as economic journalists and consultants – ouch). Well, he just doesn’t think we have evolved much since our 19th and 20th century thinking. We haven’t stopped to challenge ourselves – it’s been too long since we had a revolution of ideas. Or, said another way, we can’t solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them (problems being GFC and environment to name a few). Our problems are complex, and linear models just don’t cut it when trying to solve complex problems.

Do you agree? I do. As (an evil) consultant working in organisations, I see it all the time. Organisations don’t solve their own problems very well because the tools and models we have given them in business schools don’t match the complexity that is their reality. One thinker on organisation change (Kaufmann) puts it like this: linear thinking might help you get to the top of your current mountain, but if you need to climb a new mountain, you will need to change your ways – going sideways or even down before you go up again. You’ve got to be willing to put your models at risk and re-think the problem in a whole new way.

If we aren’t challenging ourselves the think in complex ways, we won’t be able to solve complex problems.

Is your current situation making you feel a bit restricted?  Is it a phase?  It’s probably not just in your head.  There is plenty of research showing that both you and your company will go through a number of normal and predictable phases of growth over time.   Part of finding the right organisational ‘fit’ is to match where you are in your growth.

Larry Greiner‘s now famous article, Evolution and Revolution as Organisations Grow* highlighted that as organisations grow in size and age, they pass through stages.  The growth (evolution) periods are characterised by certain management styles, while the change (revolution) stages are characterised by a dominant management problem that must be solved before growth can continue.  Greiner outlines the following stages:

Do you see the paradox?  The solution to the problem in one phase becomes the problem that must be solved at the next.  As a manager or employee of a growing company, you may find yourself solving new problems by changing the very things you put in place to solve old ones.    And this is while you are doing your own growing, too.  No wonder change is so darn hard in organisations. 

And, remember…if one of you starts to feel restricted, you may very well be at different stages of growth.  If so, you have a choice to make.  You can work to make it fit or you can choose a different size.  Greiner observed that ‘’a good phase 2 manager facing phase 3 might be wise to find a position at another phase 2 organisation that better fits his or her talents.”  I would add that it is just as likely that your own growth can pass that of your organisation, in which case it may be wise to find another company that can appreciate your talents.   Bad organisation/employee ‘fit’ just holds you both back – choose something that matches your size and character.

*Greiner, L. 1998.  Evolution and Revolution as Organisations Grow.  Harvard Business Review.  May-June 1998.

Several years ago I met a University Professor who gave great advice to his graduate students.  He said:  “You have to decide whether you want to be in research or adminstration.”

I have been repeating that advice to IT professionals ever since, but mine goes like this:

“You have to decide if you want to be the ‘doer’ or the ‘manager’.  Do you want to work on your technical skills or your management skills?

Here is a news flash for you…the grass is not greener on the management side of the fence.  Taking the management path might mean leaving behind some of the things you like best about your work – those things that caused you to get into technology in the first place.  Managers don’t get to play with the latest technologies, or tinker, or problem solve.  Managers delegate.  They match people with business needs.  They ensure projects stay on budget.  They write performance reviews and career plans to help technical people become better technical people.

What?  You say that doesn’t sound like management in your company?  Then maybe you are working for an IT company managed by technicians.  It’s a classic syndrome in IT – a superstar programmer or implementer emerges from the team and what do we do?  We promote her.  We take her away from doing the things she was best at and put her in management (and probably with very little support).  We end up with IT companies managed by technicians.  Some technical people make very good managers.  But others struggle to let go of their ‘technical expert’ personas.  (Hint – these ones are easy to spot…they are the ones who are too busy solving customer problems and writing lines of code to get their business initiatives done on time).

If your organisation is struggling with the roles of technician and manager, here are a few things you might try…

1.       Assess your current situation.  Who are the managers and what are their backgrounds?  What do they say are their strengths and weaknesses?  What do others say?  There are plenty of assessment tools you can use to help.

2.       Consider your company’s roles of manager and technician.  Are they equally rewarded and respected?  Are changes needed here?

3.       Start career planning.  Sometimes people choose a management path because it’s the only path they can see.  Good managers (the ones who aren’t buried in fire-fighting) recognise employee strengths and help the employee build on those.  These conversations take time and listening skills.  Do you need to strengthen these in your organisation?

4.       Look to the top.  Is your top management prepared to lead by example?  If not, return to step 2. 

Setting goals directs our attention to something  in a positive way, as if to shine some light on it and say ‘I would like this to be different’. Our attention, awareness and actions are directed there – where the light is shining. 

I had a chance to see this in action last week.  I was invited back to a company to repeat some skills training for their sales team.  Before we started this training,  I worked with the team members for about an hour to clarify their personal goals around selling – not about what they wanted to get from the training, but what they wanted to achieve in their selling in the next 6 months.  For the rest of the day, I conducted the training.

Guess what?  The students reported that the content was significantly more valuable to them than it had been the first time around.  Guess what else?  The content was the same.  The difference was them.   Setting goals before the training had made the content more valuable to them. 

I love it when something is both simple and powerful.  How might that apply to your own work and life experiences?  Could those experiences improve by linking them to one of your own goals or resolutions?  Why not give it a try?

*Locke, E.A. (1996).  Motivation through conscious goal setting.  Applied & Preventitive Psychology, 5(2).  117-124.

There is a fun and fascinating area of research around self-control that I ignored when I set my goals. 

“Just as a muscle gets tired from exertion, acts of self-control cause short-term impairments in subsequent self-control, even in unrelated tasks.”  (Baumeister, Vohs, & Tice)*

What does that mean?  Well, basically it means that changing multiple behaviours at once will ‘wear out’ our self control muscle, just like over-exertion of physical muscles can temporarily deplete our physical strength.  So, if we enter January with too many goals, we may not have the strength to sustain multiple new behaviours at once. 

I have so much I want to achieve this year, I have trouble being patient – I want to start on everything now!

The solution? I have to choose one thing to do at a time.  Once I have ’strengthened’ my self control around 1 behaviour and made it stick, the next one will be easier and faster.

So, if you find that you or your co-workers are already losing site of some of your goals, stop and evaluate if you are asking yourselves to do too much at once.  It’s hard to choose, but you have a whole year.  You don’t have to do everything at once (I can’t believe I just said that).

*Baumeister, R.F., Vohs, K.D., & Tice, D.M. (2007).  The strength model of self-control.  Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16(6).  351-355.

http://www.knowyourtribe.com.au/3plus-3minus-guide/

Kate calls her test the “3 plus/3 minus rule”:

What 3 things are frustrating you the most?

What 3 things do you most enjoy?

What actions can you take to minimise or remove the 3 in (1)?

What actions can you take to increase the 3 in (2)?

Items 3 and 4 are your goals. 

But it might not be as simple as it first appears.  if you are having trouble answering questions 1 and 2, you might want to try some ’sitting under a tree time’.  Rushing between meetings and deadlines is a great way to kill self awareness and stunt personal growth.  It doesn’t matter how busy or important you are…a daily exercise of understanding what is causing you frustration and making you happy is probably the best gift you can give to yourself.  Why wait for New Year’s Day?

According to Wilson, thrisis is not just an early mid-life crisis because it is about looking forward. It might come when we reach success in our mid-30’s and realise that these ambitions we have been chasing were not our own. We stop and re-design a future for ourselves that is about more than a vicious cycle of making money to spend more money.

Sound familiar? It sure does to me.

So, what should you do if you find yourself in this situation? Here are some thingsyou might want to consider:

1. Take stock. Take some time to try and understand what parts of your life are and are not working for you, and why. The worst thing would be to throw your life into chaos, only to find that you’ve created ‘same stuff…different wallpaper’ – a new situation, but the same old problems are still there.
2. Create some thinking time. Taking time for regular reflection might be a skill someone forgot to teach you along the way. If your inner voice has been stifled by work and family obligations for several years, it might take some practise to hear it again.
3. Get ready for change. Think about how you feel about change and uncertainty. These times of transition are great opportunities, but they can also be disruptive. Changing one thing can set in motion a number of other changes you hadn’t counted on.

Wilson closes her article with a quote from John F. Kennedy “The Chinese word for ‘crisis’ is composed of 2 characters: One represents danger and the other opportunity.”

Are you worried about the impact the economy will have on your business or your life? What are you doing about it? Reflective thinking is an important trait for anyone – time to think about where you are and where you want to be and plan for things so they don’t sneak up when you least expect them. But, coaching research has proven that reflection that doesn’t lead to insight and action is actually counter-productive and can increase anxiety and depression. In other words, don’t confuse reflection with rumination. Change your focus.

If you had more time to focus on your business or your career, what would you be doing? New products? New markets? New skills? New ways to connect to people and customers? Maybe now is the time to think about the strategic stuff.

I think we forget that making a change is so much more complicated than just making a decision to change, committing to it, and doing it. New behaviours involve letting go of old behaviours and the identity that goes with them.

In preparation for going to the US for Christmas this year, I have been trying to lose a bit of weight. I selected made a plan, changed my behaviours around food and drink, stepped up the exercise, and started a log. After week 2, the scale showed almost no change…yet, the behaviours I have changed are significant and I expected to see a reward. Now I have to fight the urge of slipping back to ‘X’ – the ‘up for anything as long as it involves food and wine’ girl. She is familiar, comfortable, and acceptable, both to me and the people around me. I have to remind myself that this change is about much more than weight loss…it has to do with my identify and the things I love to do. If I want my plan to stick, I have to address that stuff, too.

Here is Peter’s article:

Bob Kegan, Professor of Adult Learning and Professional Development at Harvard University and Co-Director for the Change Leadership Group, suggests any intentional shift from our old identity (X) to a new identity (Y) takes 6 steps:

• X is the old way of being – familiar, comfortable, acceptable.
• But then we get a sense that there’s “something else out there for me”, even if we don’t quite know what that is yet. This step is represented as X(y).
• As we develop a clearer sense of what we want (Y) we begin to feel anxious about what we’re leaving behind (X). “What if I can’t do it? What if it’s not real?” This is represented as X/Y.
• Then we get excited about the change. “I wish I could be more (Y)”. Yet there’s still a fear of loss of the old way of being. This step is represented as Y/X.
• The next step is a deliberate declaration of the new identity represented as Y(x). We avoid people we used to associate with at X. We become resistant to criticism. “I love it here and I won’t be pulled back!” Yet there’s still baggage from the previous identity (x).
• Finally, at Y we fully embrace the new sense of self. “This is a new life – a second chance!”

Of course we’re more likely to “stumble” towards change than make these transitions with any kind of seamless grace – two steps forward, one step backwards! And BIG changes can takes months and years.

And even then progressive change is not guaranteed. We can just as easily slip back to the old way of being. Yet Kegan says these big shifts in life are part of our adult development. “Life is pain Princess. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something!”