A630.6.4.RB - 50 Reasons Not to Change/The Tribes We Lead

How do you react when you hear colleagues using some of the excuses listed in the 50 Reasons Not to Change graphic? I myself am a believer that that is necessary for organization to improve and grow.  I have come to accept the fact change is not an easy process and often requires sacrifice by certain individuals.  I find it difficult to deal with individuals who are so stuck on the old ways that they can’t move forward with anything new.   When I hear a co-worker, manager, or team member list a reason or excuse from the “50 reasons not to change” list, I become bewildered and ask why they are fighting certain changes so much.  Change does not just happen for no reason, there normally is a need; ensuring that the organization is staying competitive, efficient, and effective through their processes. 
Do you ever use any of these excuses yourself? As I have matured, I have realized that I have been very guilty in my past of giving some of the same listed excuses in certain situations; when I did not agree with some type of organizational change.  What makes this so bad is I am guilty of the same offense as the individuals I have often criticized for resisting change.  What I have discovered is, more than often, I have often found myself using some of these excuses when the change does not directly benefit me.  As the saying goes I was subconsciously asking myself, “What’s in it for me.”
How can you overcome the thinking that creates those responses to change efforts? What I have learned is to adopt a strategic perspective of looking at the pros and cons of implementing change.  For me it all begins me understanding that changing an organizational culture is not an issue aimed at me personally; I am not going to lose something.  The next thing I need to do is understand that if I cannot change a situation or an outcome, my best option is to learn how to accept it and deal with it.  Last, but not least, I need to focus on what I can do to find positive factors that will come from the imposed changed. 
Do you agree with Seth Godin’s concept that change is driven by tribes? Yes I will say I agree with Godin’s concept about tribes.  Ideas are great but it takes someone who is will to push that idea to get others on board. In every organization there are certain individuals who are passionate about certain issues, alone they do not have that much power but once they get people who have the same passion to speak up, they are heard by the masses.  Now no one said this call to leadership is an easy task.  It takes a special person, or as Godin said someone with charisma to stand up in front of strangers, to propose an idea that, to challenge the sta­tus quo, to be different, and to lead change. As a professional trainer of leadership, I truly believe Godin words and his book is applicable to anyone, from employee to CEO, who wants to instill change. 
What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?   When you understand how change works, it reminds you that anything is possible is someone to just take the first step.  Accepting status quo is easy, but when things change for the better, it’s encouraging to know that society and the business community is still evolving.  
Once you have reflected upon these questions, list any other questions or insights that have come to you as a result of this exercise.  For my career today I need to encourage myself to change and to think outside the box more.  Those that aren’t scare to try new things are often rewarded in their careers. I will be more cognizant of my thoughts and words during my organizational and personal changes; keeping a positive attitude and understanding that change can be good, particularly in the absence of resistance!

 

A630.5.4.RB - NASA Culture Change

Why did NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe address NASA employees to describe the plan to bring about proposed changes to NASA's culture?  After the tragedy with Space Shuttle Columbia, Sean O’Keefe took a true leadership role by addressing the employees of NASA.  After the assessment by BST, it was discovered that the culture in NASA needed a serious change.  Mr. O’Keefe wanted every employee to know that though there were many positive aspects of the NASA culture, he also wanted them to the culture of NASA demanded improvement in many areas. I respect the fact that O’Keefe was very specific about the fact that change had to start with leadership; he knew the employee needed to hear the words directly from him, not from some memo or by rumor.  Another point of him giving the speech first hand and directly addressing questions and concerns was to ensure he was making a point that this change involves everyone and every aspect of the organization; not just a select few. 

Was he believable? Is it important whether he appeared to be believable?  I am not sure if the speech was believable.  The right things may have been said, but the delivery lack passion; as if it was scripted.  Mr. Okeefe was very diplomatic, but at the same time honest in his words; addressing several areas that he thought would stand out.  He continuously reiterated that NASA is a good organization; however, he also mentioned that there was room for improvement based on his perspective and the survey.  One interesting note in the video; if you watch closely during the speech, you will notice one employee member smirking; as if to say here we go again.  Whether the information is factual or not and whether his heart is in the speech, I do believe it is important to appear believable.  If not employees will see the insincerity.

Why did he talk about NASA values?
Organizational culture is the foundation of the identity and understanding of its members and this culture is grounded in the values of that company.  Mr. Okeefe reemphasized that although NASA had many of the values in place that were working already; but there was definitely room for improvement.  The post shuttle crash assessment from BST made it clear that change was needed.  One area he discussed was respect for one another professionally to carry out tasks; all relevant important viewpoints must be considered and completing important task should not be based on just one individual perspective.  The other area he addressed was safety.  Mr. Okeefe stated’ “We don’t act it quite the same way we say it” in regards to safety.  By addressing the values of the organization, he is holding everyone accountable to the meaning is such said values. 

What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?  Effective communication is one of the most important skills a leader must possess.  However, if communication is not supported by action or passion, then the leader is not walking the talk or leading by example.  As I have stated in other discussions, the culture at NASA is by no means bad or lacking, but leaders recognized that they need to improve.  Looking at the situation that NASA had faced, the worst thing leadership could have done is nothing.  For his attempt of instilling changes throughout the organization, I commend Sean O’Keefe. He recognized the need to evolve and change and that NASA should not shy away change, but embrace it as a way to learn and improve our quality of life/work.  As I watch this video, I realize that even at my own job, I am given task or information and a strong level of sincerity is not included.  Whenever I teach or train individuals at work, I will try to be more sincere with my delivery of information. 

A630.4.4.RB - How Companies Can Make Better Decisions

Marcia Blenko argues that decision effectiveness correlates positively with employee engagement and organizational performance. How do you think employee engagement relates to decision effectiveness?  I would agree that companies with higher decision effectiveness have happier employees.  When employees buy in and are on board with the decision being made, they are more committed to making sure those decisions are executed properly.  When employees know they have a part in the decision making process, they become committed, which translates into better productivity and quality.  I think that the four elements of good decisions {quality (Q), speed (S), yield (Y), and effort (E)} are also the qualities you get from employees who are a part of the process.  Using the four elements can enhance in better productivity and efficiently.  Form my perceptive, employees are willing to not only execute decisions but also accept them while at the same time putting forth more effort to help lower costs by working harder to achieve company goals.

 

What are some impediments to good decision making?  Companies have become quite complex over the years.  There are a lot of people involved in the decision making process.  Some companies have a President, CEO, CFO and even a board of directors that make decision; thus sometimes too many cooks in the kitchen.  Some companies operate in a matrix, and it is hard to tell who is making what decisions.  Sometimes, employees at all level are unclear when it come to whom should be involved in the decision making process.  This brings up the next impediment of time.  Organizations of every industry are often forced to make split-second decisions that have significant impacts on their business, but often times it’s hard to make a quality decision in so little time.  Decision making is also impeded when people are trying to make a decision without any type of current information or data. This would be a huge hindrance in my opinion. In some cases, leadership can impede the decision process because the employees do not support the decision that has been made. For example, they must be open to discussion during the decision process. If the company appoints someone to make a decision, they may or may not like the outcome or the costs related to the decision made by the appointed party. Without the support of leadership they entire decision making process could come to a stop. There has to be a pool of talent to carry out the decision making process and the final decision implementation.

Blenko suggest that there are four elements of good decisions: quality, speed, yield, and effort. In your opinion, is there anything missing from this list?  In my opinion, knowledge is missing from this list.  Marcia Blenko stated that decisions are often hindered because people make decisions without any information.  Research or knowledge is always a key in any form of good decision making.  Current market research or data increases the quality, speed, and yield of good decision making with will determine the overall effort needed to achieve the organizational goals. Employee engagement should also get added to the list. This is another key to ensuring that decisions are properly executed and embedded throughout the organization. Employee engagement eases the transition and implementation of company goals based on company decision making. Operational decisions are also very important and directly affect the employees.

What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?  Due to the fact that part of my job is curriculum development and training, I would use the four steps of good decision making to determine what information will be most beneficial to the students to achieve the educational goals of the courses I develop.  This, in turn, benefits the organization as a whole. I also take away from this exercise that some organizations are stronger in one area versus other areas of effective decision making. With this knowledge I can first determine where the strengths of my current organizations lie—and possibly make suggestions as to how this can be improved.

Once you have reflected upon these questions, list any other questions or insights that have come to you as a result of this exercise.  As a result of this exercise, a few questions have come to mind. Marcia Blenko says that they use 1000 companies as these bases of their decision effectiveness scale. Does the list ever change? If so, how often—or do they just keep the same companies on the list? Do they offer easy to improve decision effectiveness for those companies that are strong in some areas and weak in other? I do not think that all companies are created equal, so sometimes in spite of making all these best decisions, and organizations may not reach their goals. I think that sometimes organizations may need to slow down on their decision making—especially if you operate in an industry in which things are ever changing. By the time a company completely implements the change, consumer needs may have changed as well. Earlier, we discussed some impediments to good decision making. I think it is good to discuss these obstacles because they are often overlooked by those not in leadership position. We always look at the cost or bottom line without considering other factors.

A630.3.3.RB - A Day in the Life of the Culture Committee

Is the Cultural Committee at Southwest effective in establishing cultural norms?

From an initial view, the Culture Committee does seem to do a good job of establishing some type of cultural norms which focus on internal organization exemplary service, happiness, and kindness.  However, can a short video paint an adequate of their efforts from other factors of the organization that were not mentioned?   Employee appreciation has been around in many forms prior to the establishment of Southwest Airlines. Many companies give bonuses as a form of employer appreciation. Some companies have company picnics as a form of appreciation and comradery.  It is used as a time to laugh, play and appreciate one another not only as employees bust as human beings as well.  For what the video presents, I think that Southwest is effective because this type of appreciation carried out or established by the cultural committee makes the employees happy and appreciated.  Southwest models are well known throughout the aviation industry; however other carriers that see the results do not always conduct similar programs.  You would think that other aviation companies should be more willing to try to emulate success.  Because I have done studies on this airline, it would be fair to state that the values and traits of this culture committee mirror the attitudes of senior leadership.   

 

From what you can tell, what is the purpose of the Cultural Committee at Southwest?  It is a way of saying thank you; the Cultural Committee at Southwest is designed to show the pilots and flight attendants appreciation for a job well done. It also allows employees to show their team unity with fellow employees.  In addition to what is previously mentioned, a culture and climate for the organization-at-large is established and reinforced. A happy employee is a productive employee, plus this action set the example for how those very same employees should be treating customers.

What would you see as a viable mission for a Cultural Committee in your place of work (or your last place of work if you are not currently working)?  A viable mission for the cultural committee in my place of work would consist of a monthly luncheon or just someone saying thank you for asking how your day is going today. Sometimes, we get so caught up in our own work and daily lives we forget the little things that are so important.

What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career? After completing this exercise, I think that I should just try to show appreciation to ward my co-workers whenever we complete a teamwork task by telling that they did a good job or by brining a snack like donuts to the break room for everyone to share.  After thinking about it, I suppose all of us at any job can do more to try to appreciate one another. However, we must not forget about the one we should appreciate the most: the customer. I would like to think that we should not get so caught up with the internal organization--forgetting about the external factors. As for the video itself, I think it was represented on a very small scale. Even though this was Southwest Airlines, no one can say that everyone at their company is 100% happy. The video only showed how employees utilized the cultural committee to show appreciation for flight attendants and pilots. What about everyone else? Do the flight attendants and pilots show appreciation for customer service representations, ticket handlers, etc?