Fun in Business? Managing Change at Work.

Have fun at the doing zone! 

 Today's guest blog post is from Jill Douka

Over the past decades, while working in the field of personal development, I had the opportunity to observe the same, repeating behaviors at myself and our clients.

As an example, there is a great pattern in the process of change, one of the most important ways for someone to be developed.

You take actions with the aim to make a change, to follow a different path and as soon as you make such actions, you wait…for the results. There is a waiting stage. Just at this stage, it is essential to insist, to wait with patience and faith, to be there and not give up. Even more, if you think about it, during the waiting stage, we learn, develop and become better people.

Before  taking action, we think about the problem and we may discuss it with people we trust. In other words, we knew that there was something that needed to be changed, even if we were only hearing a “gentle” inner voice that confirmed that.

Further, when we get to “the edge”, when we are fed up with things, only then we move towards change. We make this essential step, leaving the past reality, get into the “effort zone” and we pass into the actions area. Within this area our boundaries are pushed and we don’t feel at ease. That is, we are in our “out of comfort zone”, the doing zone.

Imagine that you are about to jump. Not anything fancy, you’ ll just leave the floor. You prepare yourself, you bend your knees and then, you are in the air, there is a second of suspension. During the time you are in the air, there is a mixed feeling. On one hand, there is the pleasure of experiencing a new state, its fascinating and on the other hand, there is the fear of falling down. You may think, what if I fall and get hurt?

Still, the seconds that you are in the air is the moment you are developing, learning, evolving. That is the doing zone and yes it is both uncomfortable and full of benefits at the same time. For example, consider the moment once you are off the ground and once your jump is already finished. All these thoughts (is it the right thing to do?) or the doubts (is there a better alternative?), where are all these when you touch the ground? Nowhere! They disappeared!

Indeed, how often do you rejoice about the learnings you acquired during a process? How often do you reward yourself because of a step you made and brought you closer to change?

The answer is: Rarely. It is in human nature to think: “and then, what? What is the next move?” right there we may see the energy and the beauty of human nature: at the fact that we keep moving forward and looking for the next step once we have achieved our jump! 

 Actually, change fascinates us…

What are you really planning to change? Bear in mind: the ding zone may be uncomfortable, but full of rewards at the same time! Accept the out of comfort zone and enjoy the rewards!

Enjoy the experience of changing!

Be Unique!

Watch Jill's presentation on TED
 
Jill Douka MBA, ACC is a Life Coach, international workshop leader and author.

She is Greek Canadian and has trained, coached and mentored thousands of individuals in Europe, USA and Asia. She is considered to be one of the most acclaimed coaches in Greece by the press and is one of the first European women invited to speak in a TEDx event in Asia. Vice President of www.uniquenessdevelopmentgroup.com she supports people to successfully cope with change by unlocking their strengths, energy and goals. Some of UDG clients are Kraft, Microsoft, Iiberdrola, Peiraios Bank. Founder of www.BetterLifeDay.com, the global educational platform commited to solutions worth knowing, is looking forward to living in a world where lifelong learning tools towards collective better living, become mainstream and are accessible to all. Ms Douka was chosen as a mentor at the European Business Mentors network and is an active philanthropist.

How Do we Help Children Become More Adaptable to an Ever-Changing World?

Resilient teams navigate through change and transition with more ease. We often learn our responses and reactions to change at a young age, and carry those coping skills, whether they be healthy or not, with us through life into our professional world.
I am delighted to have guest blog post today from my dear friend Sheri Fink.  Change in the workplace is something that is consistent and that you can count of for sure. Many organizations and corporate clients tell me that leading teams through change, dealing with the reactions to change and communicating during change are their most trying moments. My friend Sheri wrote a wonderful children's book (The Little Gnome) which I love, it talks about change and I felt it would be refreshing to consider change through a different perspective. Thank you Sheri for sharing this one.

How Do we Help Children Become More Adaptable to an Ever-Changing World?


By Sheri Fink

Adapting to change can be challenging for anyone, but it can be particularly difficult for young children. As children, much of our lives is changing, and mostly outside the control of our control. From moving; starting new schools; meeting new people and making friends; starting sports, troops, and teams; to marriage; divorce; new siblings; and more, children consistently experience change. How do we help them become more adaptable to an ever-changing world?

Modeling strong adaptability helps instill confidence in children that they can weather any change. Demonstrating how to look for the good in change and having an optimistic perspective can be beneficial. In my children’s book, The Little Gnome, the main character arrives in a beautiful garden in the Summer and is happy with his environment.

When the seasons start to change, the Little Gnome experiences these changes for the first time and doesn’t know how to interpret them. When his friend, Goose, returns in the Spring and explains the cycles of nature, the Little Gnome is able to remember something positive from every season. The story helps children discover how to embrace the good in every change while learning about the four seasons.

Sheri says "My hope is that The Little Gnome book will inspire and delight children while planting seeds of self-esteem that can have lifelong benefit. The Little Gnome is available in hardcover and Kindle edition on Amazon.com (http://tinyurl.com/thelittlegnome)."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sheri Fink is a #1 best-selling children’s author and an international speaker. Sheri’s first children’s book, The Little Rose, is an enchanting story about a rose growing in a weedbed who learns to accept and love herself despite her differences. Published in March 2011, The Little Rose has been a #1 best-seller on Amazon for over 45 weeks and is being adapted into a play. Her second inspirational children’s book, The Little Gnome, helps children learn to look for the good in change and debuted at #1 on the Amazon best-seller list in March 2012.

In 2011, Sheri was selected as one of the top “50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading.” She is featured in several inspirational non-fiction books, including two international best-sellers, Self-Esteem Doesn’t Come in a Bottle by Kelly Falardeau, and Dare to Dream: This Life Counts by Debbi Dachinger. Sheri is a proud supporter of organizations that make a difference in the lives of children, especially Reading Is Fundamental and the Girl Scouts of America.

To discover more about Sheri and her books, connect on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SheriFinkFan and explore http://www.thelittlegnome.com/.




Other books on Change that I love and recommend are:


                     

What "Bounce Forward" Means to me

In the midst of re-creating our business brand, I put a stake in the ground.  I claimed the title Bounce Forward Expert.  Many people may wonder why I chose the brand "Bounce Forward" (TM).  I get asked as many questions as to what it means to me and how I implement it.  There is a, not short but, simple explanation and I would like to share it with you today.

When considering what stake I would claim I thought about the results I hoped to achieve with my clients, and what I want to be remembered for in my business.  The ideas, words, and values quickly spilled from my brain to the paper.  In an effort to make sense of this brain dump, a theme emerged.  I wanted to leave any business that I worked with better off than it was before we met.
Through my professional speaking, training, facilitation, consulting and mentoring services, I hoped that businesses and teams would become more resilient and inspired.  I figured if those two results became a reality, teams could pretty much survive (or even thrive) during change, challenge, adversity and crisis.
Our new brand "Bounce Forward" (TM) implies a sense of energy, movement and action, which are all critical to business success.
Life and business are really full of moments...moments that define you, moments that challenge you, moments that make you grow.  What we do in these moments really counts.  What we don't do in these moments also counts.  Any action, including no action, sets the stage for what comes next.
In essence, to "Bounce Forward"(TM) is to stand up, brush your knees off, and move forward when life's moments cause you to stumble or fall.  It is more than simply recovering or returning to the original state, which is how resilience is usually defined.  You can probably list numerous situations that you would never want to return to or simply recover from.  Recovering doesn't mean we are any better off.  Bouncing forward does!
So, in answer to why I chose the brand "Bounce Forward"(TM); I chose it for all the people and businesses that I would be working with that needed to reconcile the battles of change, challenge and adversity in order to step forward into their futures as resilient individuals and teams.

Solving The Change Mystery...

Solving the Mystery of Leading People Through Change is the subtitle of an incredible book called Who Killed Change? by Ken Blanchard and John Britt. This book is easy to sink your teeth into and is written in the form of a story, actually a murder mystery, which makes the read enjoyable and different from most books about organizational change.


The book is full of rich insights that will help any leader, business consultant, HR representative or business owner. Agent McNally is the consultant investigating the "death of change", and in the book, change is a character. His usual suspects are:

- Culture

- Commitment

- Sponsorship

- Change Leadership Team

- Communication

- Urgency

- Vision

- Plan

- Budget

- Trainer

- Incentive

- Accountability

- Performance Management.....


Do any of these sound familiar in your team or business? When I reflect on the teams I have work on, or was a facilitator for, these suspects are always present in some form in change processes. It could be a culture that does not embrace change, or that change is so frequent but never fully implemented. It may be the lack of commitment towards the change process, or one person's over commitment that causes them to burn out. Communication is always a challenge and while there may be a lot of talking about change going on, the communication is often unhelpful forms of dialogue such as assumptions, rumors and speculation.


Vision, unclear or lack of vision is often at the root of a challenged change process, frequently there is not the budget to support the change, or those in charge of the dollars will not approve the expenditures... the list goes on. Blanchard, through Agent McNally's character not only identifies these "suspects" but helps the reader understand what often goes wrong, and how to fix it.



To create a different outcome to the mystery of change or the death of change, Blanchard suggests there is hope:

- determine where the current culture is out of alignment with the change that is being implemented

- to increase commitment, you can provide forums for employees to ask questions and address concerns in a facilitated/healthy forum instead of through gossip and rumors

- get people involved, and engaged, provide opportunity for the believers to be champions for the change

- ensure you get commitment and buy in for the change, and model the behaviors you want others to demonstrate

- foster accountability through modeling and showing that the organization is serious about and committed to the change

- communicate, communicate, communicate! Deliver clear and credible messages, and clarify rumors before they get circulated in the rumor mill

- have a vision, and get behind the vision...then build the plan

To find out more about Who Killed Change... or how the story ended visit:

Change: Can it be as easy as 1, 2, 8

John Kotter, is the author of Leading Change, a great book about the challenges of change and the 8 step process to implement change more effectively and thus avoiding the consequences of lower morale, and business interruptions.  Kotter's 8 step process may not always be easy as 1, 2, 3 but, these steps provide a road map to follow. 


1. Establish sense of urgency

2. Create the guiding coalition

3. Develop vision and a strategy

4. Communicate the change vision

5. Empower employees for broad based action

6. Generate short win wins

7. Consolidate gains and produce more change

8. Anchor new approaches in the culture

From my experience, the steps that are frequently missed, downplayed or challenged are: 2, 3, 4, and 5. Often the urgency is present however, I see leaders jump into implementing the change without pulling together the team, so, the leader becomes the change agent, communicator, lead, etc. When a change team is created, there are more champions to communicate the vision, and empower others.  The communication of change is very important, right from the WHAT is being communicated to the WHEN and in WHAT ways.  I am a strong believer of having a communication plan to guide the communication, this minimizes opportunity for miscommunication, rumours and inaccurate assumptions.
When I facilitated change management processes, these aspects form part of the change charter that is developed by the team leading the change.

To find out more about Kotter's book, visit: