Foundations for Change Create Bridges to the Future

Did you read in my last article where I put forth a theory that our organizations may be fractured in both space and time? The lack of feedback I received makes me wonder if perhaps I’m the only one feeling it. Is it possible that other teams and organizations are moving blithely ahead, implementing their “smooth as silk” transformation efforts without skipping a beat? Anyone? Perhaps… not so much. Ok, then– let’s proceed with some problem solving regarding the inevitable change journey we are find ourselves on.

Let’s start with acknowledging that every change journey involves moving ahead - in a forward direction. Ahead to the future, not retreating to a past position. I can’t emphasize this enough – if we find ourselves moving backwards to the “way it was” 15 months ago, we won’t be doing any of our stakeholders any favors – not our customers, team members, leaders or investors. Instead, we must believe that the journey we are on will kick-start our advancement towards a refreshed business strategy, value proposition, operations and fulfillment of our mission.  

And that’s the end of the easy part. Now comes the challenge – bringing our people along with us. How do you know if your team is ready for the journey – the charge ahead? If you’ve learned anything about me by now, you’ll know that I firmly believe steps one and two are to ask the right question and then listen to the answers! What is the right question, though? It’s probably easier to describe what some “wrong questions” would be. Some examples of less than effective ones: 1) Leading questions where everyone knows what the response is “supposed to be” 2) Rhetorical “thought leadership” questions that are designed to showcase how “smart” the asker is 3) That one same question that gets asked EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Rather than asking series of complex, multipart and weighty questions, I’ve learned it’s better to facilitate a patient, guided conversation that allows for exploration. Throw away the deck and the spreadsheet. The goal is to assess how people are doing, not orchestrate the conversation to get the answer you wanted to hear all along. This is the time to foster an open environment, out of which comes expanded ideas and new discoveries.

We've all learned (or at least talked about) the skill of active listening, right? Ok, then… dust off your notes, do some fresh research, and sharpen those skills. I’m the first to admit that I have to turn off my “Zoom brain” and turn on those listening skills when I head out for visits with our field teams. I regularly remind myself not to complete people’s sentences in my head, or fill in any blanks I sense (let silence work its magic), or make broad leaps and assumptions about what I’m hearing. I’ve found the road to understanding and change is less bumpy when I put in the work and listen more intently.

Don’t forget, it’s valuable to repeat back what you’ve heard and ask clarifying questions. This isn’t to challenge what the speaker said, but rather to make sure you understand their intent. Once you’ve asked the questions and listened carefully, it’s time to assess where your teams sit on the change spectrum. Take note of the similarities and differences in what you hear from similar stakeholders. Where are there gaps, conflicts, and agreements? There’s a very good chance right now that your team, leaders and customers are “all over the map.”

It’s no mystery why these differences happen. The past 15 months required us to dig deep and pull out all the stops to keep our businesses running, and we’ve done it without the usual “idea socialization” and informal conversations that happen when working side by side with colleagues. Hallway conversations, impromptu lunches and pre-meeting meetings just haven’t been happening. These informal communication processes serve as alignment and validation points. It’s not surprising that we all may be in a different place in understanding the future direction of the organization and our role in getting there. This is a fragile platform on which to build change – it needs reinforcement, strengthening, and solidifying.

It’s time to start bridging the gaps – building connections where they’ve been missing. Start small with simple, tailored messages focused on the most important of ideas. Don’t be too quick to rush on to the next level of detail. Let these messages sink in, and keep repeating often enough for your team members, colleagues and customers to start to believe them. Build your credibility by checking in with your audience from time to time. Expect people to come together and start building that solid foundation of change again. Avoid the temptation to accelerate your change processes as soon as you sense forward progress. Finally, be patient with the process– your stakeholders will demand more information as they are ready to absorb it.

Your change foundation is made of people, and strengthening its structure can’t be inorganically forced. I confess to find it maddening that I can’t assign a milestone date to a change journey like I can to other aspects of a project plan. It can be frightening to see the walls of your (change) foundation sway and flow in what is actually a natural way. There is enormous risk in moving ahead before stakeholders are ready. Our responsibility is to invest in the process, listen to our stakeholders and build a solid foundation.

What’s the payoff? Why is it worth the extra investment? Once that solid foundation is set, it will be nearly impossible to hold your team back. They’ll take over and accelerate the rest of the change faster than you imagined was possible. Why? Because at the beginning of the process, you asked them the right questions and actually listened. Isn’t that what anyone wants? We want to be heard.