Difference between revisions of "Sustainable Business Learning Community Conversations, Nov - Dec 2012"

Revision as of 23:06, 14 November 2012

November 8, 2012 Topic: Consistency

Thoughts from last week:

• Cory, who works in a your entrepreneurship program in Ypsilanti, used the change curve in one of his classes.
• Hanna has been applying the change curve chart in developing an awareness of her life and its direction.
• Allow a period of self reflection after you recognize something that needs to be changed.
• Nested changes: One change can lead to change on a higher level.
• How does one change affect another change?
• Small changes can be a big deal for a lot of people in their daily lives. Small changes can have surprisingly big ramifications.
• UM triple bottom line students are discovering that small changes in a small organization can have ripple effects. Sustainability shows us that all things are connected so small changes can produce a big effect.
• Important to communicate values of your organization even before you identify areas of change. For example, at the Social Club they can say, "Water bottles were eliminated because we value the environment and are trying to achieve no waste".
• You need to be able to focus on a higher purpose with your work/business. These values should be identified under the "awareness" phase of the change curve. Your business's values shouldn't change (find your "north").

Consistency:

A tension exists between consistency and change. How can they be effectively balanced?

Cory's story:

• In their entrepreneurship program, they teach kids that they are a "brand" and that the strongest "brand" has consistency.
• Through consistency we can have a dependable relationship/interaction between people, businesses, etc.
• Consistency in personal relationships is necessary. Otherwise all you have is a transactional relationship. Consistency is required to maintain a relationship over time between businesses.

• Hannah's business: Different people require consistency. Clients should have their experience be exceptional each time. Why is that important to Hannah? Because she believes that this is what the clients deserve (one of Hannah's values) She offers the therapists consistent and reliable support - she has their back. If they get a bad client, that client won't be able to come back. They know that they will always have what they need, support, clean sheets, products, etc.

Consistency and Change:

• Because we live and work in an ever-changing environment, your business may have to adapt in order to maintain its consistency, whether that be consistency in product quality, customer service, etc.
• In an organization with an over-arching, high level of consistency, employees may feel more comfortable adapting to changes that occur because they feel secure - they understand the values of the business.
• You have to be able to discern which small changes in your business's environment need to be dealt with and which do not. How do you recognize when there has been a big enough change that it will require a systemic change in your business? Consistency and change are like a yin yang thing - there has to be a balance.
• Change requires a reason. It is not good leadership to tell your people that they have to change simply because things are always changing. People adapt more easily to change if they know and understand why the change is happening. Visual reminders (poster on wall) can be helpful, reminding them of your values, making clear why some changes will be necessary.
• Realize that people often have an emotional attachment to their jobs and their working environment which means that change can be difficult for many of us.
• Certain consistencies are critical: some areas/practices of your business should be consistent in order to allow for other areas to adapt to change.

Consistency can mean stability over time and it can refer to internal integrity.

Consistency of focus:

• If everyone in your organization knows where "north" is, if you can clearly define where the finish line is, then you can work through the "how's", and "who's."
• Everyone will be more comfortable with change when they know that these changes are helping get to the "finish line."
• You have to get people to believe in the "authenticity" of your vision - they need to buy into your vision in some way, or at some level, in order to be successful.
• If the finish line keeps changing, or there is inconsistency in leadership (i.e., making people work on things that are not getting you to the finish line), that is when the things become messed up.
• If you have consistency in direction, your business ecosystem will work with you. If there is no consistency in direction, the ecosystem will create "noise" which you will absorb creating problems.
• Loss of focus/vision will create fatigue among your team members - they'll get frustrated.
• Let people own the change: if people are able to work out how to effect change on their own, they're more likely to do it enthusiastically.

Goal fatigue: If you set an unrealistic goal and consistently stick to them, you will fail and will lose people. You need to be able to change to reflect the changing reality of a goal (if conditions alter). Jeff Bezos (CEO Amazon) says that the smartest people he knows are people who are willing to recognize when things aren't working and are willing to change what they are doing.

Jess (Food Lab): Changes come up every week that she and Anna have to implement. So they started putting all these changes on the "dashboard" that they created. They are able to look at them all in one place, figuring out which tasks fit together, then scoping and bundling them so they can actually fit them into their schedule in an efficient way. This is an example of a balancing mechanism between change and consistency .

Mind mapping softwares (tools used to map out ideas, brainstorm, problem solve): Xmind Freemind

However, software can only do so much. Leadership, discipline and competency are about 90% of the real work. There's nothing like face to face communication to really communicate your ideas to others.

November 1, 2012 Topic: Leading Change: Fostering & Encouraging Sustainable Change, cont'd.

Pointing the direction toward change!

What does a working environment that is conducive to change actually look like?

Two examples given:

• Quest tech - manufactured robotics for the auto industry, then, as the industry began running into trouble, they shifted to building training models for sustainable energy
• Motor City Denim - made covers for machinery, but now manufacture jeans
• A Rouge River canoe outing company (name?): As this company became more involved in Friends of the Rouge river clean up projects, they moved their tours further into Dearborn and began focusing on environmentalism, tying sustainability into their core business.

What qualities do these businesses have:

• Open-mindedness
• Efficient decision process making
• Knowing how changes will impact bottom line - how much will you save by using a more sustainable model? Having real numbers helps to encourage people to accept change.
• Ability to define the creative space: Communicate, at the very beginning, the scope of creativity, what's up for grabs and what isn't - are you open to all ideas or are there limits? The creative person needs to understand the scope within which they can be creative. There are real practical limits: What are we interested in being creative about? Where is the focus?

Some thoughts on change:

• If you want to implement some kind of change in your business, you must be able to define "why" of the change or you won't be successful.
• Sometimes a change that an organization makes will mean that some people won't fit anymore
• Some change happens accidentally; encouraging creativity and imagination can help foster positive change.
• Trusting employees to take responsibility for their work or a project allows for more creative thinking and makes it easier to effect change.
• Communicate where your vision is and where your employee(s) vision is. Ask yourself, is this really good for me? Good for them?
• Stay focused: "If you chase two rabbits, you'll lose them both." (Adrienne's grandma)

Effective ways of building awareness:

• Starting earlier and small is better than late and large. Let people know that change is coming.
• Be clear on the context: where does change fit in? How does it fit in to your business - is it about social responsibility? Environment? etc. Open up the dialogue and bring it out in conversation.
• Keep out all negativity: people have emotional attachments to their habits - focus on positive aspects of a change.
• Ownership of change: How would it benefit a business to move ownership of change (the "why" of the change, the approach, implementation and sustaining of the change) closer to those people who are actually doing the work?
• Dialogue - communicate and get feedback about an issue that may require change in a nonhierarchical way. If you're trying to create change, what does change landscape look like? Listening is more important than sending a message.
• State the "because" - "We're going to do this because…", you'll have a better chance of convincing them.
• Use "we", be inclusive. In invitation to enter into the "we" and be legitimate, meaning you will value and listen to others opinions.
• Scope of Change: The scope of change must be determined, but don't do this too early; you want to get feedback first because you might get the scope completely wrong if you don't.
• Measurement: Look at expected results vs. actual results and trends. This helps you to gain perspective and to learn and understand.
• Be aware that change is always happening anyway - the world around you is changing and your business will have to respond to it eventually.
• Be honest about the change you really want to make. Establish basic goals and let your employees work toward them. Don't encourage people to change if you aren't truly going to stick with it - it will just discourage them in adopting change in the future. There should be a balance between adapting to change and trying to effect too much change, too often.
• Be a good listener. You have to have dialogue first so that you know where people are coming from and what they think about it. You should understand where people are if you are going to introduce change.
• When the pain of change is less than the pain of staying the same, you will move forward.

Earlier Conversations:

Sustainable Business Learning Community Conversations, continued

Sustainable Business Learning Community Conversations, cont'd.

Sustainable Business - Learning Community Conversations

Sustainable Business Learning Community Conversations