A Fool with a Tool is Still a Fool
“A fool with a tool is still a fool.”
Grady Booch, American Software Engineer
In any situation involving significant transformation, the most important change process is the one within, one’s mindset. In my 12-month culture transformation process people often feel excited about tools but don’t have as much patience or see the relevance of, critical mindset. Tools are sexy because they’re tangible, powerful, and work (at least some of the time). Having said this, I emphasize that a right mindset is more important than any tool and that without it, people often default to limiting and fearful beliefs and behaviors that necessitated a tool in the first place! By deeply considering new concepts first, they are re-tooling their minds and hearts, a necessary priority for long-term success.
Once a solo teacher adopted our responsibility-based model for her 8th grade class. She invited me to sit in on a classroom meeting. In walked a boy who said, “ I have something to add to our meeting agenda! I’m being bullied by my homeroom teacher!” When it came time to share his story, he said, “We have this new tool called a peace pledge. We’re asked to put our hands on our hearts and say, ‘I pledge to use my words and actions for peace.’ I don’t have a problem with the tool. I just don’t appreciate that my homeroom teacher shook her finger at me and scowled, ‘if I catch you not doing the pledge, you’ll get a detention!” Sidebar: This, my readers is – ‘a fool with a tool!’ Luckily, as in all things, this was an opportunity to teach responsibility and how to manage a relationship, even when with an authority.
I tell you this because tools attract us. They promise immediacy as compared to the task of scrutinizing and shifting core beliefs and intent, often unconscious and easy to avoid. Tools are feasible. Let me give you an example. In our first project month, participants are provided concepts and two new tools. One is a mind trust and the other healthy venting. Used together, these tools, over time, are effective at eliminating gossip. Having said this, giving people these tools, without sufficient understanding, context, and self-awareness, is like giving a new driver the keys to a manual car and sending them out to drive. Without proper understanding, practice, and support, it’s likely this person will start as ‘a fool with a tool.’ Yet people often avoid mindset when it comes to emotional intelligence and culture transformation.
In our mind trust tool, one is guided to make four commitments: “I won’t say bad things about you behind your back. I’ll come directly to you if I have a problem with you. If someone comes to me to say anything bad about you, I’ll stop them. I’ll persuade them to go to you, so they don’t hold onto their grudge or take it elsewhere.” On the surface, this tool seems straightforward and simple. And…in about 50% of our client sites, people can’t do this tool at first, or at all, or all four of the steps, or with all the people on their team. They may not even realize what they feel about each step and why they may have reluctance to adopt any or some of this tool. They don’t realize plausible reasons why they have been gossiping and how to get crucial needs met so they can become receptive and willing to master this tool.
I recently worked with a group of leaders who had participated in a leader review program. This is when a company’s leaders fast track through our training only, with a LifeWork Systems consultant. In this program, they skip a lot. They do NOT view monthly individual online training modules, complete workbooks, take post-training surveys, take assessments, participate in and take turns leading monthly group review sessions, or monthly mentoring, or work on how they’ll integrate what they’ve learned. Recently a VP from this group came to me with a problem. She told me that two leaders came to tattle to her about another leader who was saying bad things about her at a meeting. I asked her, “Did you tell them to take that issue to the person directly” as per the mind trust? ?“Did you ask if they tried to stop the person when they were saying bad things about you in the meeting? as per their mind trust with you?” She quickly realized, “Wow, it never crossed my mind to recall the mind trust at all.” Not only had she failed to recall these two steps, she went over the head of the first leader to his boss (who was also at the meeting, had a mind trust with her too, but did not say anything to stop this person either)! She was going to have this leader address the issue with the first leader! In a very short time, she realized they were all five ‘fools with tools.” Now she and they are all willing to do the necessary work in mindset, practice, and application to become consciously competent in using this and all our tools.
If you recognize yourself as ‘a fool with a tool’ or lopsidedly adopting tools for your business without sufficient success, please let us help. Instead of being ‘a fool with a tool’, I’ll help you become a ‘pro in the know!’
Why People Hire Judy Ryan and LifeWork Systems
Business owners, community leaders, and educators hire Lifework Systems because they want the advantages of an extraordinary workplace and recognize a systems approach ensures consistency and sustainability in the transformation process. They know that conscientious employees grow your business and improve your reputation, giving you competitive advantages. We help organizations instill into every person a common language and toolset for how to participate in a responsibility-based Teal workplace. Visit our website at?www.lifeworksystems.com , and click the link at the bottom to complete a culture assessment and schedule your first consult to review a report on your feedback, all at no cost.?You can also contact Judy Ryan at?314.239.4727?or [email protected].
This article is published in The St. Louis Small Business Monthly, in Judy’s column The Extraordinary Workplace, March 2022.