(Linkages between social and organisational change cont. 4)
Need to be Positive, ie look at issues not as challenges but as opportunities that are exciting and/or meaningful.
"...focusing on the opportunities to learn and develop and think concretely about the role you can play... "
John Kotter et al, 2021
Some questions to help lifting positivity:
i) What will a positive outcome look like?
ii) How do you feel about that outcome?
iii) What changes do you personally feel invested in contributing to?
iv) What are the most exciting or interesting activities coming up?
(source: John Kotter et al, 2021)
It can take some effort to think positively, as the brain has a preference for negativity (for more details, see elsewhere in the Knowledge Base)
If you can successfully balance your negativity with positivity, it allows you
"...to better recognise threats, ignored or forget that is not about real crises, be a role model of thinking excitement (and build that same authentic excitement in others), and begin to take useful/needed action on opportunities ahead of you and the organisation..."
John Kotter et al, 2021
Some more questions
i) What are the challenges in front of the organisation?
ii) What is possible if you innovate and think differently?
iii) What needs of different stakeholders (customers, staff, community, supplier, shareholder, etc) are not being addressed?
iv) What is the pay-off if their needs are addressed?
(source: John Kotter et al, 2021)
Need to flood your organisation with communications about possible opportunities so that it touches both the minds and hearts of people. People will then want to be engaged in the opportunities. The initial focus should be on staff who are keen to get going as they will build the momentum and are already energised. Later on, handle the resistors.
NB As an opportunity is not a purely intellectual concept, leaders need to do more than articulate the rationale behind an opportunity and remove obvious barriers; they also need to tap into positive emotions, ie
"...seizing and capitalising on organisationally relevant opportunities - fairly excited, happy, filled with pride and purpose, passionate, a sense of comaraderie, even enjoyment..."
John Kotter et al, 2021
Use positive emotions to trigger staff
"...take actions to connect personally with the opportunity, take a learning perspective, and clarify their role in achieving the opportunity..."
John Kotter et al, 2021
The role of repeated positive emotions is important; it can keep people activated for remarkably long periods of time. This involves having intellectually and emotionally compelling opportunities; with actions and behaviours that continue to align purpose, keep the focus on exciting future and elicit positive emotions.
"...Despite barriers, people are initially mobilised to build with speed something of significance that takes a group into a better future. Success is celebrated with every win. Each success, people's energy is reinvigorated and more people are inclined to want to join the movement..."
John Kotter et al, 2021
However, this can be hard to do in the traditional, hierarchical, bureaucratic organisations as deeply embedded ways of working can obstruct and overwhelm the reality of new opportunities. Sometimes the opportunity can be seen as a threat; this stifles risk-taking, creativity and innovation from finding solutions, especially at lower levels of the organisation. The greater the general level of fear and anxiety in the organisation, the harder it is for individuals to take risks.
Furthermore, traditional organisations are about removing uncertainty and minimising risks. This can lead to a focus on threats, or perceived threats, especially to the status quo rather than opportunities.
Some examples of messages used to maintain the status quo include
i) getting into 'trouble' if you challenge real or imaginary policies that support the status quo
ii) you must follow all instructions from anyone above you in the hierarchy
iii) face potentially serious consequences if
a) miss achieving performance metrics, like budget limits, sales, inventory control, cash flow, etc
b) violate cultural norms like dress code, being late for meetings, etc
(source: John Kotter et al, 2021)
Always need to be on the guard for real threats; need to be careful that anxiety, etc does not shut down creativity, innovation, flexibility, agility, etc needed to handle opportunities.
Sometimes the sheer volume of activity (management processes, performance metrics, expectations, etc) in modern organisations makes it hard for individuals to be proactive.
"...Many employees are overwhelmed with initiatives, projects, meetings, spreadsheets to be studied, and e-mails to be answered..."
John Kotter et al, 2021
You need to stop and ask 'what should you stop doing and where should your focus your time on?'
NB Your default system is to focus on threats (real and potential) over opportunities. Instead you need to learn how to prioritise; need to evaluate actions and initiatives through both their effectiveness at addressing the problem and their capacity to activate a positive response.
Transparency is also important, ie
"...transparency about why the action is being taken and the outcome to anticipate can provide context and prevent unfounded fear and anxiety..."
John Kotter et al, 2021
Be careful of focusing too much on risk mitigation. Usually this is handled by more strategies to create more oversight and control, like new quality metrics (includes targets, goals, budgets, dashboards, reports, accountability, etc) and/or increased supervision of expenditures, etc. This can have a negative impact by increasing workforce anxiety and fear.
Mitigate this by removing metrics that are outdated and sending the wrong message.
"...you celebrate behaviours that move the organisation towards capitalising on opportunities, not just short-term financial outcomes..."
John Kotter et al, 2021
The actual size of these large organisations (with accompanying bureaucracy) can itself trigger anxiety.