It is the time of year that we look back, marveling at the speed with which the last 12 months have past and forward, wondering and planning for the next 12. Whichever direction you choose to focus, the one thing that is guaranteed is that there has been/will be change.

Arthur Schopenhauer summed this up quite pithily when he said, “Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal.”

And although change is constant, it is good to keep in mind Ellen Glasgow’s wise warning, “All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.”

Even when change does facilitate growth and moves you closer to your goals it may still be a difficult path to follow. As Arnold Bennett points out, “Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.”

I don’t really agree with Thoreau’s view, “Things do not change; we change.” Perhaps it was true then, although I doubt it, but it certainly isn’t true today.

What is true was best phrased by Dean Acheson, although I’m sure it’s been said in many ways before and since, “Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.”

Each of us is changing every second of every minute of every day; Gail Sheehy says, “If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.”

Bruce Barton states the same thought, but more pithily, “When you are through changing, you are through.”

But it is Gandhi who offers up the most powerful reason to change, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Consider it; make 2011 the year you change yourself and in doing so you will change your world.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackheart/457852359/

Oh, to be a teenager again and know everything.

Or twenty-something in a first job with the sure knowledge that if we were the boss everything would run perfectly.

Or able to quit when bored or annoyed because there is no mortgage, kids, spouse-or-equivalent; no responsibility for anyone else and able to move back home if necessary.

We often look back and wonder why, why we changed, what went wrong.

We blame ourselves and forget that our world changed, too.

Sometimes those changes are bad, often they are good and more often they are a just a function of shifting priorities over time.

We forget that the world itself changed and too often we minimize the effect of those external changes if they don’t hit us directly.

We tend to forget that we are no longer the same person; that who we are today not only doesn’t do the same things as our past self, but, upon close inspection, doesn’t even want to do them.

Would you really give up who you are today? Because doing so means giving up all the experiences and relationships that shaped the current you.

It seems smarter to change the specifics with which you are dissatisfied and to do so with surgical precision, after all, if your finger were broken you wouldn’t amputate your arm.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trainor/466111239/in/photostream/

I am a ‘why’ person and why is my first reaction to anything that comes my way, no matter the source. It’s not to challenge, just the way my mind works.

When I have no one to ask I tend to creatively come up with the why behind the thought, word or deed. Sometimes I’m right, other times not so much, but it is how I make sense of the world.

‘Why’ is a great way to move forward or challenge prevailing patterns; a way to focus on the underlying dogma in the event it needs to change.

But it is also good to remember that although there is a reason behind everything that happens, reasons do not validate the happening—they do not make [whatever] acceptable.

And that led me to create this Rule.

There is a reason for everything,

but

some reasons are stupid.

Reasons that are, or border on, stupid are reasons to change.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andryone/120278573/

Lot’s of talk about creating a culture of innovation, but often that’s all it is—talk.

The most important factor in a culture of innovation is the ability to fail.

India’s Tata is a leader in creating a culture of innovation and Sunil Sinha, an executive in Tata Quality Management Services, discussed its approach recently at Harvard.

Sinha described a culture of innovation at Tata that includes employee-awards programs for both successful and unsuccessful ideas. What’s important, Sinha said, is that employees feel comfortable in bringing forward ideas, even ones that don’t pan out, and that they feel they work in a place that values fresh thinking.

The innovation culture has produced several notable products, he said. One is a water purification system that costs just $20 and produces enough water to keep a family of four supplied for more than a year.

Not only that, but in 6 short years, from the time its CEO publicly mentioned the idea in 2003, Tata Motors produced a $2500 car for sale in developing worlds; it’s a small, two-cylinder car that gets 55 miles per gallon and meets all of India’s vehicle emissions and regulatory requirements.

Done in spite of all the global pundits who said it couldn’t be done.

I speak with managers all the time who talk about their desire to enable a culture of innovation and when it doesn’t happen, whether through laziness, benign neglect, or more active negativity, take no responsibility and place the blame squarely on their people.

A culture of innovation starts not in talk or even actions, but in MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) and its willingness to change.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zedbee/103147140/ and Tata Motors

Change is good and anyone who looks around knows that change is needed. I don’t mean changing from a Democratic majority in Congress to a Republican, that’s not change, it’s more of the same, but in a different color.

Paul Blank made this comment about Wal-Mart, but it applies to a wide swath of businesses, “Now is the time for Wal-Mart to seize the moment for true change. The American people are tired of publicity stunts, half-truths and empty words that have become synonymous with corporate America.”

Lots of companies claim that they are changing, from Wal-Mart to Wall Street, but, cynic that I am, I tend to agree with Bill Potter when he said, “At this point, I don’t know whether it will be cosmetic changes or real reform. I’m holding back my applause.”

But what about individuals? Do they change?

Guy Fieri seems to think that you have a limited amount of time in which to change, “At 38, we’re not going to change. You are who you are,” which I think is ridiculous considering current life spans. Anyway, I believe that as long as you’re breathing you can change.

While you can change yourself, you can’t change others, but you can follow Jennifer Star’s sage advice, “You can’t change anyone; you can only change the way you react to them. Don’t let other people’s actions affect you. Just figure out a way to resolve conflicts and avert uncomfortable situations.”

Speaking of changing yourself, a good place to start is to remember the words of Dr. Donald Redelmeier’s, “Do not get trapped into prior thoughts. It’s perfectly O.K. to change your mind as you learn more.”
Change, your own and the world’s, is truly in your hands. I believe Margaret Mead when she said, “Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world.”

I have to believe that because it was just a few uncaring people who so recently screwed it up.

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Yesterday I shared quotes about approval and promised you a story.

A few days ago a long-time reader, I’ll call him Jack, and I got back in touch.

Previously Jack had shared some of the problems and personal demons he was facing that were making him unhappy and holding him back.

Yesterday I could hear in his voice that he was a different guy. When I asked him how things were going he shared many of the processes and changes that had led to the new Jack.

It is one of his biggest changes that I want to share with you.

I am much stronger. My life doesn’t hinge on the approval of everyone around me. (I still chase it, but I don’t fall apart if I don’t get it)

Jack is not alone. We all look for approval from colleagues, friends and family, but especially from bosses, parents and our romantic interests.

Everybody chases approval in one way or another and that’s OK.

It’s not the wanting, but the needing that is the problem.

We need air to breathe, water, food and shelter.

We want nice clothes, cars, electronics and choice in everything.

Not having our needs met means misery; missing out on our wants is annoying and frustrating, but it doesn’t jeopardize our lives.

It took Jack more than a year of hard work to change his MAP and move approval from need to want, but he did it.

And so can you.

Flickr image credit: http://www.warningsigngenerator.com/

This week has been about communications, so I thought it apropos to include some good quotes about communications.

I love communications and communicating, whether it’s a good book, a stimulating conversation or when something I write really clicks. I think Anne Lindbergh summed my feelings up best when she said, “Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.”

Do you ever feel that real communications is a dying art; and if not dying, severely incapacitated? Well over a hundred years ago Charles Dickens said, “Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true.”

Before Dickens was even born Joseph Priestley said, “The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.” I guess he was prescient.

Erma Bombeck said, “It seemed rather incongruous that in a society of supersophisticated communication, we often suffer from a shortage of listeners.” That’s because so many people are enamored with their own voice.

Effective communications requires real effort; as Russell Hoban warns, “After all, when you come right down to it, how many people speak the same language even when they speak the same language?”

Sadly, we live in an era that proves the truth of Josh Billings words, “Most men had rather say a smart thing than do a good one.”

Changing this paradigm can only happen if each individual makes a conscious choice to do it; not through promises posted on a Facebook wall or tweeted to a mass of followers, but one person to one person.

Let’s get everyone as hooked on good communications as they are on coffee.

Sxc.hu photo credit to: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/547050

“New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.”

Obviously it’s not a new problem, since the above was written by John Locke in 1690, and I’m sure you’ve come up against it more than once.

People go to extreme ends to

• preserve the status quo;
• avoid change;
• indulge a not-invented-here mentality; and
• ‘buy IBM’ (it’s better to be safe than sorry).

The attitude wasn’t original in 1690 and the MAP that fosters it will still be around in 2090.

But despite yards of books and thousands of article and blogs (my own included) on creating change in a company, too many people still don’t get it.

They believe, or want to believe, that if all the right words are said it will happen.

They keep looking for a magic bullet instead of looking in the mirror.

But the only bullet around is the one they need to bite, the one that says that

• change must start with themselves and that it starts with how they think;

• nobody acts differently without thinking differently; and

• talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words, and the actions must be sustainable.

What’s really in your mind will eventually come out, either in word or action, people will notice and they won’t forget.

Image credit: SheCat on flickr

Yesterday we looked at positive and negative aspects of culture and I said that today we would discuss how to change/create a culture or sub-culture.

Repeating yesterday’s warning: if you want a culture that is fundamentally different from the overall company culutre be sure you’re willing to shield your people and take the heat.

Remembering that culture is a function of your MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™), here are 7 critical points that you need to think through before starting—whether you are CEO of a startup or a first level supervisor in a large company.

1. Know who you are: Since this step is strictly between you and yourself you need to be brutally frank as to your attitudes towards people, motivation, what’s important, what’s OK to do, etc., in other words, know your MAP! You need to know exactly what you think, are comfortable with the elements you embrace and understand that you need to hire people who will flourish in the environment you create.
2. Define your cultural goals: Use the knowledge of your MAP to determine the kind of culture you want and write a description including your vision and the specific infrastructure, processes, practices, etc., that are needed to make it reality. Test the attractiveness of your cultural vision by whether you would want to work in a similar culture. If the answer is yes then you can proceed with it; however, if your response is “no way” then you need to rethink what you want because over the long haul there is no way you can sustain a culture in which you don’t believe. Also, people tend to gravitate to people like themselves (likes really do attract). In other words, you will be hired by, work with and hire those with synergistic MAP.
3. Know what you have: Honestly assess (warts and all) whatever culture currently exists in your company and department (if you have one or more people you have some kind of culture); without a detailed assessment you won’t know what you need to tweak, change, circumvent, ignore or avoid.
4. Be aware of the cost of change: Changing culture often results in turnover and turnover can be costly no matter the condition of the labor market. People join companies because they feel comfortable and change is rarely comfortable. If they don’t like the end result (or the direction it’s heading) they are likely to start looking. If you are aware and prepared that isn’t always a bad thing; cultural changes can’t happen if employees aren’t willing to change their mindset; worse, those who won’t change will make every effort to sabotage the emerging culture. By being prepared you can not only circumvent that, but often turn the saboteur into a new culture evangelist.
5. Don’t assume: The human race functions to a great extent on various sets of unconscious assumptions. In the workplace people tend to assume that people with similar educations, experience levels, positions, etc., have similar mindsets, attitudes and philosophies. The next assumption is that based on those similarities everybody would create similar cultures; the third assumption is that the first 2 guarantee people’s willingness to buy into the vision. Predicating acceptance of cultural change on the assumption of deep, unproven commonality is a recipe for disaster.
6. Don’t overwhelm the troops: Whether you are changing an entire corporation (Gerstner and IBM), creating a culture for your startup, tweaking it within your department or group, or revamping it in your small business, recognize that you can’t just come in, make an announcement and expect people to buy into the vision. Present it in small bite-size pieces and in such a way that people feel they have input in the process, thus creating a strong feeling of ownership. Better yet, listen to the input and adjust if it makes sense.
7. Communicate and sell—don’t order and tell! Even if your goal is a truly collaborative, nurturing culture that challenges and then helps people to realize their full potential you can’t just walk in on Monday and announce that that’s the way it will be from then on.

• First, it’s unlikely that anybody will believe you (talk’s cheap);
• second, if you’re new it’s unlikely they’ll trust you (no track record with them); and
• third, whether you’re proposing a radically different culture or just fine tuning the current one they have no reason to get on the bandwagon if it means changing.

In the final analysis what you do will carry far more weight than anything you say about your culture.

It boils down to your having the courage to walk your talk.

Image credit: Svadilfari on flickr

I love George Bernard Shaw; he was brilliant and had a rapier wit with which he skewered deserving people, ideas and situations, while supplying pithy commentary on the events of his time as well as inspirational ideas.

Some of the things he said have passed into such common usage that few people even realize they are quotes. How many times have you seen this on cards, plaques and samplers?

“You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?’”

Sound familiar? It’s a favorite of mine; in fact, I have it on my office wall.

So I went looking for a few of the more esoteric Shawisms.

The first is an important heads-up for all of us, but especially anyone in a leadership role; you might even find that it accurately describes the problems you’re having.

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

Progress is something that both people and business expend great effort to do; what we often forget is that progress means things will be different.

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

Because we progress we are all constantly changing, but too often people don’t take the time to find out who you are now; Shaw sums the problem and solution up in just a few words.

“The only man who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew every time he sees me, while all the rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them”

Collaboration boosts progress; Shaw understood this and explained why it’s so important.

“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”

Progress requires innovation, but real progress requires thinking as opposed to rephrasing previous ideas to sound new, but if Shaw was correct it accounts for the lack of progress in so many areas.

“Two percent of the people think; three percent of the people think they think; and ninety-five percent of the people would rather die than think.”

Those who don’t think often lean on ideology to support their agenda. The problem with ideology is that it doesn’t lend itself to seeing another’s world-view. Shaw understood how ridiculous this was.

“The frontier between hell and heaven is only the difference between two ways of looking at things.”

My last choice is one I would like to apply to all politicians and educators. Perhaps, if we did, it would significantly improve the quality of those who claim to serve. (Hmm, it probably wouldn’t hurt to apply it to everybody else, too, including yours truly.)

“We should all be obliged to appear before a board every five years and justify our existence…on pain of liquidation.”

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons