A631.6.4.RB - Transformational Strategies

Transformational change can be a very difficult, but beneficial opportunity for many people.  On a personal level for me, transformational change is something that can be scary and intimidating because the future is unknown.  There is a nagging worry that you may fail, which makes putting yourself and your ideas out there that much more difficult, but if understood and carried out correctly, the process can be an enlightening and beneficial experience that not only improve the current situation, but also encourages growth and development as a strong leader.  The experiences depicted in both Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale and Stanley McChrystal’s stories really express well the the various struggles and challenges within individual situations when going through transformational change.  The biggest takeaway I had from these videos was the acknowledgement for people, and the importance of understanding the importance of the relationships, encouragement, trust, and support that people can benefit from.  Both videos showed different approaches to how transformational change can be successful through strong leadership.  The leaders were both very different, battling different situations and cultures, but both had one major characteristic in common, which was a recognition that the strategies need to be consistent with the culture (Brown, 2011).

            In Gallery Furniture’s transformational change experience, they were dealing with a culture that had been around for quite some time in the furniture world. The company hadn’t needed to make any major changes in their structure or strategy until the housing market crashed and the company experienced a devastating fire.  This caused a drastic change in their environment and in turn, the strategies needed to be reevaluated.  McIngvale recognized that the biggest focus for this change needed to be on reworking the culture to better match the new strategy.  McIngvale focused on developing training opportunities for the employees that encouraged them to approach their customer service in a different manner.  He understood that with a drop in customers, customer satisfaction was now going to be more important than ever.  Instead of forcing the employees to do things that they did not want to do, and forcing the culture to change, McIngvale instead taught them how to love what they hated through education, training, encouragement, and incentives.  The training program focused on motivation and ability within the structural aspect of the company, the social challenges, and personal challenges.  By focusing on training and encouragement, the employees learned to build confidence in the areas where they were not as strong, while in exchange, learning to appreciate the new strategy and change.  The results of this process ended up being a huge success for the company.

            In a different type of situation, Stanley McChrystal gave an exceptional TED Talk on his experience with a changing culture in a stagnant strategy.  He began to recognize through successes and failures, that the environment and culture was shifting.  People were all over the world, coming from all different types of backgrounds and experiences and it was up to McChrystal to communicate and lead them effectively.  He did this by taking his understanding and knowledge from his past experiences and molded those experience to fit the new environment.  He was able to do this because of the culture within the military.  There is a strong, well developed culture that is not a culture that can be easily changed (Brown, 2011).  McChrystal understood the core values of the culture, but also recognized the new perspectives and environment from the new generation and realized that working back to the foundation of the culture and developing a strategy that blended well with that culture and the environment would be the best method for success.  

            When McChrystal asked “where were you on 9/11” and a young man responded with “in 6^th grade”, McChrystal realized that while these people are vastly different in everyway, they shared a common vision.  McChrystal then developed a plan and strategy that still focused on the common vision and the goals, while also adapting to the changing environment.  To do this, he focused on the people, similarly to what Gallery Furniture did.  McChrystal continued to build and work on developing trust and relationships with his team and made that his main focused, instead of the old strategy of listing commands.  He used his own personal experiences to deliver a similar message of inspiration, understanding, and reassurance that resonated with his team because his message shared a common vision with them.

            These experiences from both McIngvale and McChrystal highlight an important factor in transformational change and that is an understanding of people and their relationship to the change. When thinking through my own experiences, I faced my own opportunity to grow and strengthen as a leader by working through transformational change.  When I was in high school, I decided to compete in the local science fair for a class instead of taking a test.  I was never very strong at tests, so the science fair seemed like a better option for me.  Looking back, it ended up being one of the most influential experiences for me because it put me in a lot of positions where I was uncomfortable, faced with unknowns, people who didn’t want change, and most importantly, it was an experience that forced me to make a decision on whether or not I wanted to put myself out there and try knowing that I could fail, or decide to go a safer route, knowing nothing will come of it, neither failure or success.  Making that decision was a very tough choice for me, but it helped me grow a lot and I am glad I did it.  My project was focused on bringing a successful recycling project to the local schools.  We had recycling bins, but we only used them as trashcans and I never understood why.  While I was doing research and investigating potential reason, I (without knowing it at the time) saw that I needed to focus on the people, not the action of recycling.  It was up to the individuals within the school to make it work and be successful and if it was going to be successful, I needed to understand the culture. My research highlighted a lack of interest in recycling related to a higher level of need for the individual student’s focus to be placed on more important issues, such as safety, food, and survival.  I found that most students at my school were in extreme poverty and they had no need to care about recycling.  It seems like a small action or inaction to think about your actions, whether or not you are putting a can in a recycling bin or in a trash can, but to these students, it wasn’t a small action; I found that it wasn’t even on their radar as an option because they were facing vastly different problems.   

            I will never forget this experience, as it continues to be one that highlights a lot of experiences that helped me develop as a leader.  The experience of recognizing and seeing a different perspective and culture forced me to think and understand people differently, which in turn helped me to learn how to develop better relationships with people.  It was a project about recycling, but also people and the importance of understanding people and how that understanding can build a successful change within an environment and the people in that environment.

References

Brown, D. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8^th ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall.

Gallery Furniture: Case Study. (n.d.). Vital Smarts. 2014.

Stanley McChrystal: Listen, learn…then lead. (2011). TED: Ideas worth spreading.

A631.5.4.RB - Leading System Wide Change

In your reflection blog, consider how difficult it must be for a leader to grow into a person who can lead a system-wide change effectively. Perhaps you remember leaders who attempted system wide interventions but failed because they were not capable of pulling it all together. On the other hand, you may know leaders who were able to do what you thought would be impossible. From your point of view now, what is required for a leader to be successful?

I am someone who is moved easily by examples of advertisement like the Apple commercial for their campaign “Think Different”.  This commercial displayed images of some of the most important leaders and change makers in the 20^th century.  It is so easy to get stuck in a rut of constantly feeling like you could be doing more, but decide to stay put with where you are because reaching those goals might feel totally unachievable.  I feel like this is a subject that occupies my mind quite often.  This Leadership program has really helped me understand that goals do not have to be impossible if you set your mind to something and understand how to implement successful strategies, both in my personal life and professional life.  So the question becomes not asking yourself if it “is even possible to reach these goals”, but instead “what can I do to make it happen?” 

            I came across a quote from Claudio Fernandez-Araoz, an Argentinian author, speaker, and global expert on talent and leadership.  According to BusinessWeek, he is one of the most influential executive search consultants in the world. According to Fernandez-Araoz, “the world would be a better place if the right people were at the top, and if we could become better at identifying our high potentials, and if we could become much better at motivating and developing them.”  (Fernandez-Araoz, 2014). What stands out to me most is Fernandez-Araoz’s comment about potential.  I feel that now, more than ever, seeking out candidates who have potential is far more important than competency or experience.  Fernandez-Araoz pointed out that the world market is running short of critical talent for a variety of reasons, but the solution to this is not just hire someone from another company who offers experience, but to instead as a company, become better at identifying high potentials within your own organization and motivate them to achieve success (Fernandez-Araoz, 2014).  In order to retain and motivate these types of high potential employees, the culture needs to be an environment that helps these individuals thrive.  Developing a culture that encourages curiosity, insight, engagement, and determination, from what I believe, will really help encourage a system-wide change. 

            Out of all of those characteristics, I think curiosity is the most important followed by determination.  Brown noted that data surveys and feedback, mixed with a fitting intervention strategy, encourage a higher success rate for a system-wide change (Brown, 2011).  I feel that curiosity is necessary to have as a leader to even begin the first step.  Curiosity in a leader, to me, means they are constantly learning, constantly interested and asking lots of questions to always gain more insight and knowledge into their environment and the interactions that people have with one another.  Curiosity allows leaders to develop a stronger understanding for their organization, department, coworkers, competitors, and customers.  While I can’t speak for everyone, but I love asking questions and finding out more about a topic or a person.  I enjoy hearing other people’s stories, life or work related, to help me get a better understanding for who they are and what they’re all about.  It’s nearly impossible to gauge someone without asking questions about them.

            Curiosity allows leaders to gain insight and develop a plan that can encourage more engagement, determination and motivation.  Motivation is another key factor in developing a system-wide change, or even just a change in general (Brown, 2011).  As I have mentioned in previous reflection blogs, one of my professors from my undergraduate university had an incredible knack for motivating students.  With motivation, naturally comes determination because you are always wanting to better your self.  When the employees or students around you are feeling the same way, the culture and environment starts to develop into a productive and healthy competitive, but encouraging state of production.  I’ve always felt that when you are in an environment that encouraged curiosity and determination, the people around you are all working together to discover new problems and adapt new changes to be more productive.  As a leader, I feel like this is a good environment for developing a system-wide change program. 

            Leaders need to lead by example through their own enthusiasm and determination to achieve their goals, as well as lead through motivation and encourage healthy curiosity.  These traits can be implemented in a lot of different organization, as it develops a healthy foundation for change.  Once this type of culture has been injected into the current environment, I feel like developing a change plan will be easier.  The employees will be motivated and encouraged by the idea of change because they are curious and want to be better.  This will also help to set up goals and encourage productivity, giving everyone something to work toward.

            While it seems easy to implement this philosophy into your personality, I can see where it could be very difficult as well.  I can only speak for myself, but in some areas, I do think I would struggle implementing such a change.  In one way, I am highly determined, engaged, and curious; however, I lack the toughness to encourage that in others.  I try to lead by example, but if someone doesn’t like my leadership style or my enthusiasm, I wouldn’t be comfortable forcing it on them.  I came across another quote from Warren Buffett stating that “the difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say “no” to almost everything.”  (Warren Buffett, New York Times, 2014) Buffett goes on to conclude that by saying no, you are giving yourself more time to accomplish so much.  This is definitely another area where I struggle with, is saying no.  I am willing to take on way more than I can handle, and as a leader, it’s more important to have the insight and understanding of the situation and what is needed and what is not.  I recognize these traits as my weaknesses, but I also know that they have their benefits too.  With that said, there is a lot to be learned from weaknesses and failure, so a leader who is successful in implementing a system-wide change needs to recognize that failure will happen, but we can all learn from these setbacks and grow from them.  I remember my professor would talk about the various jobs and life experiences she had and how those experiences gave her valuable insight and opened her eyes to a new set of ideas and dreams to achieve.  Just because something feels difficult or off track, doesn’t mean that there isn’t opportunity to grow and develop new insight from it. A leader, especially one trying to implement a system-wide change or encourage motivation in employees, should have the understanding and curiosity to recognize that these experiences offer new opportunities that should be explored.  As cliché as it sounds, it’s a lot like the little girl at the end of the Apple commercial opening her eyes to the possibilities and opportunities.  All of the leaders depicted in the commercial, in one way or another, represent these valuable characteristics a leader must have.  I also think the methods they chose to inspire the people around them represent the type of motivation and determination that they encourage in their environment.

References

Brown, D. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

Eight Things The World's Most Successful People All Have in Common. (2014). Retrieved November 18, 2015, from http://time.com/12670/8-things-the-worlds-most-successful-people-all-have-in-common/

Fernandez-Araoz, C., & Bernstein, A. (2014, October 7). The Future of Talent Is Potential. Retrieved November 18, 2015, from https://hbr.org/2014/07/the-future-of-talent-is-potential/

A631.4.4.RB - INSEAD Reflection

In light of the video and the readings from your textbook;

o   What do you see as some of the major benefits and drawbacks of self-managed teams?

o   Would you like to work within such a team?

o   What competencies would you need to develop to be an effective external manager of a self-managed work team?

Self-managed work teams are becoming a growing trend in companies around the world, as they offer a variety of different benefits to both the performance and success of the company, as well as the ability to solve new problems quickly in order for the companies to grow.  The question becomes, as posed in the INSEAD video, how do you manage a self-managing team and what types of benefits will occur from these types of team?  The role of the external manager within the self-managing team can be crucial to the success of the team, as they are there to help encourage and inspire the members.  I thought Paul Tesluk summed this idea up well by discussing how the external manager needs to be flexible on the means, but specific on the end results (INSEAD (2008, 1:50).  In other words, the self-managing team can make decisions and take formal responsibility for the process of reaching the goal, but the goal should clear and specific for the team.  Having a clear sense of vision for the team and the organization is a valuable characteristic of self-managing work teams (Brown, 2011). 

            Self-managing work teams have the potential to offer excellent benefits to an organization.  When the organization is set to support self-managing work teams, these types of teams can offer a more effective approach to managing than traditional management within an organization (Brown, 2011).  Generally self-managed work teams are comprised of 5-15 members who all offer superior skills set and knowledge base that brings a rich diversity to the team.  I always think about IDEO when discussing effective work teams.  IDEO, as I have mentioned in previous posts, in an organization that thrives off self-managing work teams.  These teams are a perfect example at how bringing together diverse, but knowledge backgrounds can really offer an abundance of new ideas, processes, and execution abilities to the team.  Having these diverse backgrounds encourages each member to participate and offer their own bits of knowledge, while taking in and learning new ideas from the other members.  This also helps to encourage trust and respect between the members, while improving the quality of work because of the diverse perspectives being offered.   These results can be very beneficial and successful for an organization; however, there are always risks and drawbacks to self-managing teams, especially if the organization does not have a favorable environment for these types of work teams. If an organization does not have the proper foundation that would encourage success amongst self-managing work teams, then the odds of success can be substantially lower. It’s important that each member is clear on what their roles are within the team and that they know what their responsibilities are.  If members are confused about their roles and the end goal for the team, then the odds of disagreements and unproductive behavior will most likely increase.  It is important that self-managing work teams are managed very little, as the members of the team will most likely become less productive if a external manager interferes too much. 

            I think self-managing work teams are the essence of a lot of the industries that I have been exposed to.  In creative fields, I’ve always believed that more than anything, having diverse team members with a high level of knowledge and a strong skill set for their background will offer up some tremendous results.  I’ve never been a huge fan of traditional “teams” or “groups”, as I find them to be very dull and lack innovation.  Every traditional group I have been apart of always seems to follow the same rigid structure that always leaves me wanting to add more or explore more ideas and develop more conclusions.  With self-managing work teams, I feel like you have a lot more opportunity to explore and develop new ideas.  They follow a similar idea in that both traditional work teams and self-managing work teams are all working toward reaching a goal; however, with traditional teams, the area I have always struggled in was the lack of innovation due to the constant suggestions and direction given by the leader of the group.  I’ve always felt like I’m the type of person that has so many ideas, but struggles to get them out in a way that makes sense to other people, so when I am in a traditional group, I feel like my abilities, strengths, and opportunities are often suppressed because I do not have the means to express my thoughts.  A self-managing work team on the other hand, offers a lot more opportunity to explore, share, and develop both as a person and as a team. 

            Overall, self-managing work teams, in my opinion, seem like a really beneficial and encouraging approach to the way we work today.  I do think that they need to be carefully implemented, as Brown discussed in this weeks module, but I also think it is important that the external leader understand their role as well.  In several experiences I have had in work groups, the external leader in that situation fails to offer any inspiration or vision for the ‘why’ we are working toward a goal.  When I was in college, I had a professor who really influenced my work and my development both personally and professionally.  She was so encouraging and led her students in a way that was very similar to how an external leader should lead a self-managing team.  I remember she used to show us a slideshow on the very first day of class that really summarized what her role was going to be.  It was just a slideshow with a few pictures and a couple of quotes, but she would always speak to the photos.  Her saying used to always be “I’ll be the monkey on your back and the wind beneath your wings”, which I think was very true of the way she taught and led her students.  The parallels I see between her teaching style and the way an external leader should lead focus mainly around the ability to inspire and encourage each member (or student) to develop a strong vision.  This idea is very motivating for my work.  My professor had the ability to inspire, but with that inspiration and vision she helped us create also came a sense of responsibility to putting forth your best work.  She inspired you in a way that made you feel like you were not only working for the goal, but that you were also working to not let yourself down by not giving it your all. While I can’t speak for everyone’s motivation, for me, this was definitely a reason that I continued to work through problems, seeking out new solutions, because I felt like she really believe in each and everyone of her students and there was no way you were going to let her down by not giving it your all.  To me, an external leader should lead the same way; inspire and encourage a strong vision for the members, but don’t interfere with their process for reaching that goal, unless absolutely necessary.  If the leader can do this well, then the team should function at its peak ability and level because they are encouraged by their own desire to be better.

References

Brown, D. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

INSEAD. (2008, September 22). Self-managing teams: debunking the leadership paradox [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/GBnR00qgGgM