Start With – “Who?”

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What do you know about your client?

Most questions you will use are those journalists have used forever:  Who, What, When, Where, Why and How and is the source of the information credible? 

 

The “Who” is very important since it starts with the consumer or the customer or the patient or the client, whatever your nomenclature is;  and, you may have to define the present customer and how they are acting, the customers who left and why and define the future or target customer.  Too often we assume what the customer wants and what our solutions will be without the input of the customer or the definition of the expectation – the results needed.  One of my earliest mentors, thanks to Citibank, was Ram Charan who writes and speaks about sound assumptions and knowing the customer better than the customer knows himself which leads to innovative solutions for the customer. I will list some of his books on my reference page on my site.

Who also refers to the competition…and you can learn a great deal from your competition.  What are they doing, what is their culture, are they successfully stealing your clients, are they threatening your place in the marketplace, are they offering new products, are they offering better quality and a lower price, are they moving, are there any new competitors out there that are completely turning the industry’s environment with different technology – a question Kodak should have studied and acted upon and that newspapers are trying to deal with. 

And Who also can refer to our employees, our colleagues, our vendors, etc.  I have worked with organizations that realize they have no succession plan, that employees have not been developed or are lost in the status quo, afraid of change, and have lost their value in the eyes of management, or critical , early adaptor people are unhappy and are on their way out the door.  I have seen managers with skills of Attila the Hun and those who are excited by crisis management.  It is important to understand the talent that you have and their capacity for change. 

Our vendors are also important to evaluate.  Are they vendors because we like them or because they deliver?  When was the last time you looked at their price and compared it and their service to others? Are we more loyal to vendors than to our drive to meet our expectations?  Are our vendors able to come on the journey with us or will they be a drag on our progress?  Do we have these vendors because they helped out my family or do they deliver? 

Information comes from this data collection and can reveal strengths or weaknesses, threats or opportunities.  It is extremely important to be honest so that you do not jump to a wrong conclusion with poor information. Also note that you will be building on your strengths and creatively finding solutions for your weaknesses.

 Now on to “What?”

 

 

Why Do Data Collection?

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Looking for information

My life has been spent as a change agent needing little to get me excited about a need for change but I have had to learn from mentors, books , seminars, videos and experience including success and failure, about how to make real change happen and then continue to change in order to sustain a healthy organization. 

To kick start a call for action one needs to gather information to paint a picture of today’s reality.  To refer to my last blog entry, it is the creation of dissatisfaction with the present that helps us reach agreement and support for the change.  Some people can start to work on a project just when they see that there is an issue often jumping to the wrong solution. (An example is programmers who code before a plan or spec is developed).  Others require more “show me information.” (Some need to be totally converted, but you can’t wait for them or they will tend to live in the status quo. These types need to be led by experience and belief after you have begun the change.)  And often one learns a whole new story when the data is in front of you to review.  An assumption has been blown away or a new item is a critical item to investigate. This could be a new regulation or change in the law that opens up a whole new product. 

Information gathering is a process.  Some people call this gap analysis.  Some call it SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis. Some people call it defining what the results must be in order to survive.  Some call it knowing the environment.  Some call it metrics. Some call it facing reality.

No matter what it is called, it is defining what the present is… and today’s results – so that you can understand and then compare to what the future must be… tomorrow’s needed results or new standards.  For in understanding what today’s reality is, one can more easily see the need for change in order to achieve the desired goal … tomorrow’s results.  I often refer to creating an “aha”  moment that can be simply communicated. 

Sometimes we realize that we don’t have enough information to make a sound decision and that we have to develop some better data collection processes.  This is often called metrics.  The information required depends on the project.  Often I have been given loads of data, but I don’t find it useful to define the situation at hand.    

If this is a strategic change or a cultural change, it may require more data or a SWOT analysis to understand the scope of the problem.  If it is a personal it is probably more apparent but may require data.  One of the methods that nutritionists employ while working with clients is to ask them to record a food consumption diary which is simple data collection.  Successful weight control programs often use exchanges to help clients consume within standards that the organization has developed. Daily collection of data and awareness become a way of life to understand where they stand.   It works for overweight and underweight clients because it tells them about reality. 

The same methodology works for organizations. Measure, analyze.  The trick is not getting caught in analysis paralysis  and failing to go to the next step of taking action to get the desired results. So don’t over do the process and keep digging when “it” will really not get you any more information than you have.  The problem may be that you don’t have a solution…yet ,,,and that is where creativity comes in.

Let’s start to face your reality.

The Beginning of Change

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Another Bright Idea

The beginning of change is dissatisfaction with the present.  Think of any time you’ve personally said to yourself: “This is ridiculous. I have to change this.” 

  • It can be a health issue:  losing weight, gaining weight, a tooth ache.
  • It can be a relationship issue:  no dates, too many dates, no fun, too serious
  • It can be a financial issue:  no savings, spending too much, spending too little, selfish spending
  • It can be a business issue: process is not working, business is losing money, customer satisfaction
  • It can be a political issue: incumbent is not listening, opposition is too crazy
  • It can be a community issue: poor graduation rate, no employment talent
  • It can be a team issue: no one listens, no one cares
  • It can be a family issue: no communication
  • It can be a victim issue: bullying, drug or alcohol abuse
  • It can be a customer service issue: no one answers the phone, the product is awful

Whatever it is, it doesn’t feel right.  We have two choices at that moment: accept the situation or start to change it.  We all know how to accept it and we have all done it – by putting our head in the sand.

So how do you change it? 

Many of us get fired up for the moment, rant a while, say a few things on our choice of social medium, complain to everyone about it and then go back to our habits.  If enough people hear about it, as in the case of a product or service, we will have influenced someone not to buy the product, but it is not a radical effort.  But we can say:  “Nothing ever changes.”  And then we continue to act as a victim.

The better reaction is to actually do something positive.  But most of us don’t know what that is or care to devote any energy to it. 

Here are a few easy, but critical steps to start:

  1. The best thing to do is to ask questions.  You will get better at asking the right question.
  2. Gather information about what the story really is. Talk to people, read, what are others doing, surf the net, …
  3. Define the current status in real terms.  You may have to use some numbers but don’t fret.

We will move on to the next steps: 

  • Decide on how things ought to/should be ideally – this is the fun part
  • Take the situation in hand. 

Tune in for the next chapter.

A Trip To Brooklyn: Observing the Change

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Roses in Full Bloom

This week I had a great opportunity to walk around Brooklyn, New York, and discover why people love this place.  I had mentioned to a colleague that I was looking forward to this vacation when he looked at me like I was crazy. ” I couldn’t get out of that place fast enough,” was his response to me, “nor would I ever go back.”  In his mind the place has never changed. 

 Lucky for me and many young people who are/have been migrating there, it has changed and partly because of them.  People believed they could make a difference, piloted their ideas, found others to try it out, invested in the old buildings and neighborhoods and have returned  Brookyn to a vibrant borough with an active citizenry.  BAM was celebrating African culture with loads of people using the area for learning, selling, eating, laughing and celebrating.  The Botanical Gardens were abloom with the most beautiful roses.  The visitor center has incorporated a green roof in its design and you can see how they incorporate buy local at the café and composting in their herb garden.  They lead by example. 

 

I have come back to my office fresh with ideas.  It is good to be an observer of others’ hard work and great results.  It says to me:  “Okay, what are you going to do now?”

 

Garden Roof of the Visitor Center

Ambiguity and Change

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If you could take two words that make people uncomfortable one might choose  these.  Suspense and lack of certainty drive many of us to distraction.  Some of us have such a need for coming to closure that we will make a decision – even a bad one – to not have to deal with this unsettled part of our lives so that we can just get on with it.  The “it” is not always clear, mind you, but,   we have to know.  We have to avoid anxiety, and be moving towards something.   We are like the kid at birthday time having to search for the hidden present before it is given to us.  We do not allow ourselves the time to ruminate and collect information so that a better decision can be made, such as waiting for the gift to be given to us so we can honor the gift giver. 

As a change agent it always perplexes me how otherwise smart and successful people can be so upset when change arrives at their doorstep… until another change agent comes to my door.  This usually comes near the end of a project and I have to start thinking about what I will do next and the work it requires to explore and find the next part of my journey. So the change agent can be yourself, a circumstance in life or another person who tells you that you have to do these things in order to survive and thrive.  It is a bit like going into surgery feeling pretty good and knowing that when you wake up it will not be so good, but with time and work, you will feel better. 

In these past years I have learned about other professions and just what it takes to be successful in those professions.  Entering another arena to act as a change agent requires some listening skills and acceptance skills, but the value of the knowledge and the possibilities of always learning outweigh the need to hunker down and be comfortable.  What I have learned to do better is realize how frightened others are of me as the change agent.  They usually think of the negatives that this will mean to them and their place in the organization and not of the positive potential a change will have. 

It is necessary then to become the calming influence while constantly pushing an organization to the next step.  Sometimes one has to be the Coach, the whisperer, the motivational speaker and keep in check the change agent that screams out for attention and getting to the next step. I have been accused at these times to manipulating people so they will do my beckoning, but sometimes a spin doctor is needed for change to happen.  After all some wise person talked about bringing the horse to water but you can’t make him drink.  Rather than accept failure, one has to resort to understanding just what is making the person balk, what is making that person most uncomfortable and why can’t they buy in to what the organization believes is a reasonable change. Most often they will tell you what the situation is and most often you can ask those if, then questions for meeting their needs.  One that works well is: 

  • So, if we could find a way that would do this… while doing that…you could find yourself more at ease with what we are trying to do and try this next step?

Then we have to find that solution if it is not so outlandish as to add 10 steps to an already complicated process.  More often than not I have found that the objections surfaced are helpful in finding a better solution.  So the point here is that we often have to take the ambiguity out of change, even though there are those of us that like these feelings and know that a moment of creativity is just round the corner.  More on that – I am reading “Imagine: How Creativity Works” by Jonah Lehrer who confirms some of these thoughts.

Author Unknown but worthwhile thinking about

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In life we do things.  Some we wish we had never done.  Some we wish we could replay a million times in our heads.  But they all make us who we are.  And in the end they shape every detail about us.  If we were to reverse any of them we wouldn’t be the person we are.  So just live.  Make Mistakes.  Have wonderful memories. But never second guess who you are, where you have been, and most importantly where it is you’re going.