Harness the Momentum of Synergy to Realize Change Goals
This is the last post in my series on developing synergistic work teams. I have been describing a four-phase model that includes Interacting, Appreciative Understanding, Integrating, and Implementing.
Phase IV: Implementing
Finally, all the hard work of communicating, and appreciating and merging divergent views begins to pay off. The synergy process I’ve been describing has many benefits: more
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©2012 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
Value and Utilize Diversity to Build Synergy
In this series about fostering synergy, I’m sharing a sequence of activities that typically unfolds as synergistic relationships play out. It includes four phases: Interacting, Appreciative Understanding, Integrating, and Implementing.
Phase II: Appreciative Understanding
Although miscommunication can be part of what contributes to 1+1 = 2 and 1+1 < 2 results, in many situations, a lack of communication skills is not the real problem. People involved in the classic interpersonal struggle often communicate very well with each other—so well, in fact, that they know exactly why they disagree with each other. more
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©2012 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
Four Ways Communication Can Build Synergy in Work Teams
In this series, I’m discussing what I’ve learned about fostering synergy during major transformational initiatives.
If people have the willingness to forge their diverse perspectives into a synergistic alliance, the following sequence can be used to describe how they can work together to realize change. The four phases outlined are Interacting, Appreciative Understanding, Integrating, and Implementing.
Phase I: Interacting
A basic condition for synergy is that the key players must effectively interact with each other. If iron and nickel are never brought into contact with each other, the process of making steel is impossible. The same is true for people. For sponsors, agents, and targets; or practitioners and their clients to work synergistically, they must be able to communicate effectively.
People who attempt to work together, but who have little or no opportunity to interact, often generate a cyclically degenerating climate more
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©2011 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
Changing Someone’s Mind—The Basics of Reframing
(3) Comments“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.” — Peter Drucker
An important part of successful change facilitation is the ability to influence others (especially sponsors). Sometimes we only need to explain to them what needs to be done. Much of the time, however, their behaviors and/or mindsets must be carefully reshaped for an initiative to be fully realized.
There is a close interdependency between a person’s mindset and his or her behavior. Each reflects an important component to the change process, yet many practitioners are better prepared to address the behavioral dynamics than the mindset implications. Although successful change facilitators attend to both when attempting to redirect a person’s natural reaction to a situation, this series will focus only on how to encourage new mindsets that support an initiative’s desired outcome. more
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©2011 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
What’s Culture Got To Do With It?
(2) Comments“Change is hard because people overestimate the value of what they have—and underestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up.” ~James Belasco and Ralph Stayer
Flight of the Buffalo (1994)
In a recent series, I reviewed what I have learned about paradigm management and the role it plays in facilitating transformational change. A critical subset of the paradigm model I shared dealt with the interrelationship between “mindsets, behaviors, and systems.”
- Mindsets—conscious and unconscious understandings and expectations around what people hold to be true about themselves, others, and their work
- Behaviors—observable actions
- Systems—the interaction of mindsets and behaviors that have the aim of achieving an organization’s purpose
Expressed or unexpressed mindsets are reflected in particular behaviors. When they are configured and applied in a consistent manner they form systems. There are informal systems (the grapevine) and formal systems (the annual budgeting process).When these three elements of organizational life are focused on, it sheds light on a close cousin to paradigms…culture
Though there are some important distinctions, paradigm and culture are more
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©2011 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
Lessons Learned About Building Commitment to Change
After three-and-a-half decades of being a professional change practitioner, I’ve seen my share of successful and unsuccessful attempts to generate enough commitment to reach full realization. If there is one thing I’m sure of it’s that the necessary momentum and critical mass of commitment toward desired outcomes is not easy to come by. Below are some of the more important lessons that have affected my practice.
1. The commitment process unfolds at both intellectual and emotional levels.
Usually, intellectual commitment precedes emotional commitment. Most people can grasp the implications of a change at a cognitive level fairly quickly. However, they often find that they need more time to make the necessary emotional adjustments.
This split-level commitment can produce confusion, mixed signals, and more
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©2011 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
Tactics for Building Commitment
In my last post, I described the eight stages of building commitment. Applied properly, I have found them to be helpful in generating the momentum and critical mass needed during various engagements. At each stage, there are potential barriers to success, and for each barrier, there are actions that can be taken to move people to the next stage as well as indicators that can be used to mark progress. more
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©2011 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
The Eight Stages of Building Commitment
(2) CommentsIn the early ’80s, while involved in research to identify patterns of change-related success and failure, I learned that the winners and losers in this arena demonstrated very different levels of resolve. As a result, I developed the following model, which describes how and when people become committed to major new organizational requirements. (Click here to download a printable worksheet of the Commitment Model to help you identify a person’s or group’s level of commitment.) more
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©2011 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
Are We There Yet?
“When you’re that successful, things have a momentum, and at a certain point you can’t really tell whether you have created the momentum or it’s creating you.” ~ Annie Lennox
Some of the questions we are asked by clients are so straightforward (Is resistance a bad thing? Can we realize our objectives despite lousy sponsorship?) that there isn’t much room for insightful responses. But some questions provide opportunities to take clients into more sophisticated space. Of course, we have to be prepared for these deeper dives. Based on the questions being posed, some of us are primed and ready to go, some not. more
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©2011 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
Use Mindset and Behavior Patterns to Your Advantage
(2) Comments
Once you understand that a specific mindset and its associated behaviors can either facilitate or impede success, you have a level of insight that can be truly invaluable to a sponsor who is less familiar with these kinds of change dynamics.
Mindsets are made up of frames of reference (the ways individuals make sense of situations) that lead to the formation of priorities (the relative importance of various options). Shared mindsets within an organization serve as the foundations of culture and ultimately lead to common patterns of behavior.
Successful change requires a specific mindset that is shared among key players as they perform their respective roles. This “success mindset” reflects the more
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©2010 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
