Six Hattitudes Transform Concerns to Commitment

Every now and then I am reminded of why change is so difficult. Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard is my new favorite resource because it is a great read that blends together many dynamics and how-to's for leading change from an organizational perspective. (We'll talk about the relationship between hattitudes and motivating the elephant at a later time!)

Today I want to share with you a micro-aspect of change leadership. About how we can champion change relationally; in our daily interactions with others who are impacted by the change or needed to make the change happen. In working with many leaders seeking to create meaningful change in their organizations, I have found that most are pretty frustrated with people who question or seem to push back on the initiative at hand. It is important that leaders not get caught in a defensive posture, but remain open and flexible. For those of you matching that description (or who are working with leaders who do) it is helpful to recognize that concerns raised are simply unanswered questions. Nothing more, nothing less.

1. Information Concerns. What is it that you know, that if I knew I'd agree with the need for change and/or the direction and details of the change? I have noticed a tendency to "sell" the change which is different than having a conversation with stakeholders about why, why now, why this. Several examples from Switch highlight how to do this on a large scale (e.g., creating a tower of the different gloves being used to demonstrate the waste involved by not having one supplier), but that doesn't negate the reality of having to be on the look out for people who are raising concerns because they simply don't know what you know. The detective hat reminds us of those clues and our own path of discovery to reach our conclusions and can help us acknowledge and be patient with those who are needing to discover answers for themselves.

2. Personal Concerns. I don't know about you, but the popular radio station--WIIFM (What's In It For Me?)--doesn't seem quite so popular these days, especially in non-profit or faith-based organizations. Instead I am finding that personal concerns really have more to do with seeking the answer to different questions: Can I still succeed in this new reality? How is this going to impact me personally? The astronaut helmut helps us answer this for individuals by helping us identify those necessary conditions that will be maintained in the new reality (e.g., oxygen) and how we are going to support them in exploring in this new land with no gravity (e.g., suits and tethers). If we can't help valued stakeholders see how they can be successful in the new reality, we find ourselves in overt or covert battles for power.

3. Implementation Concerns. Once people have been given satisfactory answers to their informational and personal concerns the next questions involve the actual implementation of the change. Specifically, folks want to know: How is this really going to work? Where do I get help? Just like the blueprints created by artitects and funders are given to construction professionals, often our strategic plans are given to a wide-range of implementors. As the rate of environmental change increases, those blueprints can become out of sync with reality pretty quickly. Instead of wasting precious time perfecting the blueprint, I believe we need to empower implementators to figure out what modifications are needed in real time AND provide clear processes/procedures for where and when to get help.

 4. Impact Concerns. If you have answered the first three concern areas in a manner that creates POSITIVE energy, implementation concerns aren't emotionally loaded. If you haven't answered the first three concern areas well, you will see active opposition start to form. The questions are simple: Does this change make any real difference? Will it be worth it? The surgeon's perspective is useful to us at this stage as we seek to answer these questions. As we seek to describe the quality of life for the "patient" after the procedure we also describe the risk factors including the risk of not doing the procedure. It is important that as we are answering these questions we are reassuring, but not overly emotional. We don't want a salesman providing an explantion about the impact of using a fancy new drug or procedure, we want a cool professional assessment.

5. Collaboration Concerns. For wide-sweeping change initiatives, How do we get everyone involved? is an important question that must be addressed throughout the organization. And usually this is important to be answered in context. The coaches hat reminds us to play to our strengths, rally people around a common objective while helping them succeed in their particular role in order that they can be a positive contributor. This is different than buy-in, this is game time. It is about deciding where we need people to be functioning as coaches, where they are to be functioning as players, which players are assigned to which coaches and how coaches are to relate to one another. There is a lot of role confusion with many change initiatives. Clarifying the game plan and leaders of it is essential for tranforming this concern into commitment.

 6. Refinement Concerns. What happens if we need to make changes? Who gets to decide what changes are allowed? These questions are a cousin to the implementation concerns raised above, but are usually asked once the change is underway. Like an artist who has captured the idea on canvas, we need to be sure that folks are encouraged to from the same color palette (values and mission) to make needed changes and adjustments. Too often organizations stop short of filling the entire canvas or the necessary details because they haven't armed enough people with paint brushes, compatible pallets and berets! Much has been written about the need for adaptive change and the distinction between that and incremental change. Innovation is bigger than that and each change initiative needs to be raising up new innovative and creative leaders that will push us beyond the current change initiative and into the next one.

Transforming concerns to commitment with these six hats not only helps organizations build relationships but build innovative capacity.

An Image of the Creative Process

I arrived home late last night from leading an intense, but good, 1.5 day retreat in Missouri. As I was getting reoriented to changes in the home landscape since my departure, l found a sculpture my 15 year old son, Andrew, created. It inspired me so much that I thought you might also be inspired. Here's what Andrew had to say about it:

"This sculpture, inspired by Joseph Cornell, is symbolic of the flow of the creative process. In the first box on the right, you'll find a map, a plant and a human figurine. These represent general sources of inspiration (culture, nature, family). Supported by those things is a cup filled with pebbles that flow out into the second box. The pebbles are representative of an idea that pours out into the present day (the second box) and brings up products of creativity (such as music, companies and new knowledge). In the third box you will find an open book, symbolic of a blank slate for the future, to be filled with whereever your creativity leads you. The violin enclosing the box is representing a way I often find inspiration and vent out creativity: music. If you look carefully, you will see a gold thread that represents the creative energy that weaves through it all."

As a facilitator or catalyst for creativity with groups or leaders, I find myself in agreement and a bit in awe of Andrew's depiction of the creative process. I often begin by getting people reconnected with their sources of inspiration-- engaging people spiritually, emotionally, relationally and physically. This engagement with sources of inspiration, along with a good dose of creative energy, is essential for people's cups to be overflowing with pebbles of ideas. You need more than one pebble to actually create something. Often our cups are filled with stress, worry, fear, anxiety, negative thoughts or other non-creative energy that must be released before any pebble-making is possible. In addition to some sort of glass emptying process, I find myself helping the group or individual find or restore their golden thread. There are many different tools I use, but often my standby's are music, meditation, Visual Explorer and, of course, One Hat At A Time. (For guidance on how to use these hats to break the ice, create ideas and more, see our Energizing Groups with Hats guide. For more ideas, visit Coaching Toys.)

I love that Andrew recognized many different forms that creative "products" take. Some people don't believe they are creative because they don't recognize the "product" of their work as creative. They reserve the "creative" for works of art, music, dance, etc. Yet we all know that innovation is the ground rhythm of our culture. What does creativity look like in your world? How are you strengthening and acknowledging the golden thread of creativity in your life and/or work?

The Love-Hat Relationship by Aaron Belz, Poem of the Day from Poets.org

Check out this hat-related poem, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

The Love-Hat Relationship
by Aaron Belz

"Many Hats, Many Roles"

I was in the midst of yet another team of 40 people--some long-time members, some new--all a bit apprehensive about what the day-long session might reveal. We needed more than an awkward "Hi, my name is..." We needed an icebreaker than helped set the tone and get them in the right frame of mind for the heavy mental lifting they would have to be doing. I spread an assortment of cards on each of the round tables, made a simple statement and asked a simple question.

"We all come to this meeting wearing many hats; playing many roles. I'll bet there are many of you who come to this meeting with many ideas, questions and concerns. Let's get our heads on straight while we get to know one another a bit better. You'll see a pile of cards with drawing of hats on them. Please select the hat that best represents the spirit, energy and perspective you'd like to bring to this meeting as we discern what's next for this team. Then each of you will have 30 seconds to tell us your name, the many hats you wear and briefly why you chose the hat that you did."

I modeled what I would have them do so they got a sense of what the round of intros would look like. I gave them about 2 minutes to find a card and think about their intro. Then the fun and laughter began....

Hattitudes Prepare Strategic Plan Team for Public Launch

Last week I was working with a 29-person strategic planning team in Plano, Texas. They were two weeks out from rolling out the initiative and soliciting feedback as a part of a highly visible, major annual meeting. The meeting was devoted to nailing down lots of the details surrounding the presentations and small group decisions they were responsible for facilitating.

The anticipation and stress were almost palpable.

We started the meeting talking about all the roles they play and the importance of showing up to at this meeting with a "hattitude" that would help them be great ambassadors for the strategic plan team. Each person picked a hat from the One Hat At A Time deck and shared the hat and the why with the group as a whole.

There were several coach hats to keep the focus on everyone getting equipped to get in the game, several high-risk hats (cowboy, parachute, firefighter) that acknowledged the thrill, danger and risk in doing something new. Some chose the artist's beret as a reminder of the powerful force of co-creation. Still others chose  astronaught/diving hats to emphasize the thrill and history-making opportunity that comes with exploration of new terrains.

The next time you show up to a big opportunity, choose your hattitude with intention!