How Leaders embed Change and Make it Stick

"Cliff, I get this in theory. I can do it now. But how do I do it in the moment?"?

If I had a dollar for every time I had been asked some variation of this question…?

As a trainer, one of the things I spend time thinking about is how do I equip people to implement the training, apply the learning, and consistently take action once they step out of the training room.??

Regardless of what we learn, whether it is leadership techniques, conflict resolution skills, new communication approaches or a change in organisational processes; under the pressure of real-time, we often fail to do things differently.??

Whether it's the emotions are running high in the moment, or we get sucked into the busyness of the day, or in the face of mounting deadlines across the week, under the pressures of the reality of our workplaces too often we resort to our default approach. We do what we have always done.??

So how do we create a new default approach? How do we embed the learning so we can apply it in the moment and under pressure??

The key is to not focus on what we do in the moment. It's what we do on either side of the moment that makes the difference.??

REFLECTION

I recently came across some interesting research highlighting the benefits of reflective practice. The study examined whether engaging in reflection enhanced basic life support training for 287 first-year medical students learning to do CPR for the first time. Half of the students received the training as usual, while the other half were asked to spend 15 minutes to reflect on what they had learned immediately after the training. Both groups were assessed on the day of their training, and again, one week later.??

The reflection group performed significantly higher scores and more effective compressions in both assessments. Interestingly, both on the day and a week after the training, those who engaged in reflection began compressions significantly earlier than their counterparts.??

The study concluded that reflective practice significantly improves both the recall of learned information and the practical application of skills in the moment, under pressure.??

One of my favourite quotes (I'm sure you've heard me say it before!) is by John Maxwell who says, 'Reflection turns experience into insight.' When we reflect back on our experience, we are able to analyse it and learn from it. The process of reflection allows us to identify the insights we can carry forward so we can improve.??

What insights? Primarily, reflection allows us to identify two types of opportunities.??

1. The opportunity to take action.??
2. The opportunity to take a different action.??

Reflection allows us to identify opportunities we missed to apply what we know and what we have learned. Reflecting back on an argument highlights the missed opportunity to apply those conflict resolution skills you learned. At the end of the day, reflection might highlight where you did and didn't apply those time management techniques you read about. And reflecting on your leadership over the last month, you're likely to identify a dozen moments you missed the opportunity to coach your people.??

In addition to helping identify missed opportunities, reflection also allows you to identify opportunities to be more effective. Where you were intentional about improving and applying what you learnt, reflection allows examine your actions and ask questions. How effective was it? How could I have been more effective? What could I have done differently to get a better outcome??

Reflection is vital to improvement. But it's only half the equation.??

PROJECTION?

In the study mentioned above, the reflective activity asked students three questions:?

1. What they did that was conducive/obstructive to optimal patient care??
2. What alternate actions they could have taken that would have resulted in optimal patient care??
3. What they will do in the future to ensure optimal patient care??

Notice the nature of these questions. The first two were grounded in the past, requiring reflection on what the students did, and what they could have done. The final one is future-focused, what they will do next time.??

It is one thing to know what you could have done to be more effective in the past, it is another to have a plan to be more effective in the future. Projection is planning to implement your learning in the future. You are projecting forward to identify opportunities to take positive action and be effective before those opportunities arise and the pressure of the moment makes it harder.??

You might think of reflection being a bit like a GPS which tracks where you have been; whilst projection is more like a radar that tells you what's coming. When you know what is coming, you can anticipate how you will take action in the most effective way.?

Learning from the past allows us to be more intentional in the present, to be more effective in the future. Put in another way, hindsight reveals insight that can be used to produce foresight.??

Viktor Frankel famously wrote, 'Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our ability to choose our response. In that choice lies our freedom.' The key to embedding learning is to widen this space and increase the gap between stimulus (the opportunity) and response (applying our learning).??

Reflection allows you to practice identifying opportunities in the past and what could have been done to make the most of them. Projection allows you to practice identifying opportunities in the future and plan to make the most of them. It is this combination of reflection and projection that increases this space.??

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY??

Now you know how to embed your learning and adjust your default approach. What are you going to do to implement this learning??

If growth, development and improvement is important to you, and if you are really committed to embedding your current development focus and being the best leader you can be, you will need to prioritise it.??

That means scheduling it. In your calendar. When will you spend time reflecting and projecting? Project forward across the coming week, identify the opportunity to spend time reflecting and book it in.??

By the way, this isn't a lesson that solely applies to you. It applies just as much to your team as well. Collective reflection and projection is critical to team performance.??

The more one is able to identify opportunities in the past, the easier it is to identify opportunities in the present, so you can do what you need to do to be successful in the future.?

But it's up to you to actually do it. Will you??