Leading Change in Turbulent TimesExecutive Education Seminar

MOVENDO SEU ELEFANTE

Scott Wright, MBAOctober 2013

“Change is the only constant”“Mudança é a única constante”

~ Heraclitus – Greek Philosopher

2

Change is difficult

• Multiple studies have shown that 70% of the time, when significant change is needed:– People back away– Try but fail miserably– Stop, exhausted, after achieving half of what they

want using twice the time and money

3

4

Mudança envolve três elementos

• Guia – intelecto

• Elefante - motivação

• A trilha - ambiente

5

Direct The Rider

• Riders love to contemplate & analyze but the analysis is usually directed at problems rather than bright spots

• Example - Malnutrition at a Vietnamese village

6

Knowledge Does Not Change Behavior

Conhecimento não altera o comportamento

• Overweight doctors – médicos obesos• Divorced marriage counselors - conselheiros

matrimoniais divorciados• Corrupt police officers – policiais corruptos• Depressed psychologists – Psicologos

depressivos7

Ask the Exception Question

• When does the problem you’re fighting not happen? i.e.,– When does your teenager not talk back? – When have the two warring departments collaborated

instead of feuding?– When does your front-line employee show a “customer

service focus”?

8

Provide Explicit Direction

• What’s wrong with:– Be more innovative– Be a more loving couple– Teach more effectively– We want to have the best sales force

• Remove abstractions

9

3rd Party Observation

• Would someone observing from the outside be able to tell if you were making progress toward your goal?

• Will your team know when it is time to celebrate?

10

Decision Paralysis

• Retirement options– For every 10 additional options,

participation goes down by 2%• 6 jams vs. 24 jams

– Shoppers who viewed only 6 jams were 6x more likely to buy

• Speed dating– Young adults who met 8 other singles made more

“matches” than those who met 20

11

Rider Review

1. Focus on the postive

2. Provide clear direction

3. Be careful of too many choices

12

Motivating the Elephant

– Managers initially focus on strategy, structure, culture or systems which lead them to miss the most important issue

– Behavioral change happens in highly successful situations mostly by speaking to people’s feelings

13 Source: John Kotter in “Heart of Change”

Motivating the Elephant

• Most people think change happens in this order:– Analyze, think, change – generally unsuccessful– See, feel, change – is more successfulYou’re presented with evidence that makes you feel

something – speaks to the elephant

14

Make the Change Visual

• Seeing is often more emotional than reading or hearing

• What can you show your employees to exhibit your desire for change?

• If you could video one person, who would that be – a competitor, an employee that has seen the benefits, etc.

15

16

Hospital Screen Saver

17

18

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-8PBx7isoM&NR=1

19

Candle Problem

20Attach candle to wall so wax does not drip on table

2 groups asked to solve problem

21

No reward structureOnly measured for time

Offered $20 for best timeor $5 for fastest 25%

2 groups asked to solve problem with tacks out of box

22

No reward structureOnly measured for time

Offered $20 for best timeOr $5 for fastest 25%

Incentives

• If-then rewards work really well for those sorts of tasks, where there is a simple set of rules and a clear destination to go to.

• Rewards, tend to narrow our focus and concentrate the mind.

• London School Economics looked at 51 studies of pay-for-performance plans – financial incentives can result in a negative impact on performance.

23

Optimism Bias

• We’re more optimistic than realistic

– Driving ability– Honesty

24

Source: The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain- Tali Sharot

How many of us have the optimism bias?

A. 50%B. 60%C. 70%D. 80%

25

Which card should be paid first?

Card Amount Owed

Interest Rate

A $8,000 15%B $6,000 11%C $9,000 9%D $500 7%

26

Shrinking Change

• Make the change small enough that people can easily feel an accomplishment

27

Shrinking Change

• Car wash frequent-buyer cards study

• ___% returned 8 times

• ___% returned 8 times

28

Play for Small Wins

• How long does your team have to wait before they have a sense of how they’re doing?

29

Growth vs. Fixed Mindset• 1. Sua inteligência é algo tão básico que você não

pode modificá-la muito.• 2. Você é capaz de aprender coisas novas, mas você

não pode realmente modificar seu nível de inteligência.

Source: Mindsetonline.com

30

Growth vs. Fixed Mindset

• Imagine Edison inventing the lightbulb

31

Growth vs. Fixed Mindset• “In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like

their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong.”

• “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.”

Source: Carol Dweck – Mindsetonline.com

32

Your Role

• If people have a fixed mindset they may see hard work and effort as signs that the problem can not be solved or that they are not the right kind of people to do it—can you help them understand that they are building “muscle” that will pay off in the future?

33

Elephant Review

1. Financial incentives don’t always work and can decrease performance.

2. Emotionally, we need to feel that change is needed.

3. Make change appear easy by starting with small steps.

4. Help people develop growth mindsets

34

People or Situational Problem?

35

Shaping the Path

• “Fundamental Attribution Error”– Psychologist Lee Ross

• We tend to attribute people’s behavior to the way they are rather than to the situation they are in.– Person driving recklessly– Nurses distributing wrong pills

36

37

47%

38

39

40

Why do errors occur?

• Errors of ignorance (mistakes we make because we don’t know enough)

• Errors of ineptitude (mistakes we made because we don’t make proper use of what we know)– Projectcheck.org – how to create checklists

41 Source: The Checklist Manifesto – Atul Gawande

Highlight the Changes

• Showcase people who are actively supporting the change

• Telling homeowners how their electricity use compared with their neighbors' had the effect of cutting energy consumption by 2%.

• This had the same the impact of an 15% rate hike.

Source: Hunt Allcott of MIT

42

Path Review

1. Make the environment conducive to change.

2. Utilize checklists.

3. Show how others are changing (moving on the path)

43

How to Change

• Direct the Rider

• Motivate the Elephant

• Shape the Path

44

45

Idéia Pegajosa

46

• Sticky = Understandable, memorable, and effective in changing thought or behavior

47

Making Ideas Stick

• Simple – Simples = 1 idea• Concrete – Concreto = Understand and remember• Credible – Digno de confiança = Believable• Unexpected – Imprevisto = Gets your attention• Emotional – Emocional = You care• Story – História = Puts into context

48

Sticky or Abstract?• “Our mission is to become the

international leader in the space industry through maximum team-centered innovation and strategically targeted aerospace initiatives”

49

Sticky or Abstract?

– Simple?– Unexpected?– Concrete?– Credible?– Emotional?– Story?

• President Kennedy - “Put a man on the moon & return him safely by the end of the decade”

50

Simple - Simples

1 + 1 = 2

51

Simple– Proverbs – Sound bites that are profound

• Bird in the hand (Aesop – 570 b.c.)• Golden Rule

– Visual proverbs: The Palm Pilot wood block– Existing Schemas: The Pomelo fruit

52

Concrete - Concreto

53

OR

Velcro Theory

• Remember the capital of Bahia• Remember the first line of Hino Nacional do

Brasil• Remember the Mona Lisa• Remember the house where you spent most

of your childhood• Remember the definition of “verdade”• Remember the definition of “maçã”

54

55

Credible - Digno de confiança

56

Cure for Ulcer?

57

Duodenal Ulcer DiseaseBarry Marshall found cure but had no credibility.

Making #s Credible

• Only 37% said they have a clear understanding of what their organization is trying to achieve and why.

OR

• Only 4 of 11 players on the field would know which goal is theirs.

Source: The 8th Habit – Stephen Covey – 23,000 employees polled58

.

Using a Soccer Metaphor

• Only 4 of 11 players on the field would know which goal is theirs.

Source: The 8th Habit – Stephen Covey – 23,000 employees polled59

US Fiscal Condition

US Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000New debt: $1,650,000,000,000National debt: $14,271,000,000,000Recent budget cut: $38,500,000,000

60

Make it Relevant

Annual family income: $21,700Money the family spent: $38,200New debt on the credit card: $16,500Outstanding balance on credit card: $142,710Total budget cuts: $385

61

Unexpected - Imprevisto

62

What Makes People Interested?

• Common sense is the enemy of sticky messages – If I already understand what you’re trying to tell me, why should I obsess about remembering it?

• Basic way of getting someone’s attention: Break a pattern– Great Wall of China seen in space– We should drink 8 glasses of water a day– We only use 10% of our brain

63

What Makes People Interested?

• Find the knowledge gap– Highlight specific knowledge that your audience is

missing– Pose a question that exposes their gap in

knowledge

64

65 Emotional - Emocional

Emotional - Emocional

• Feelings inspire people to act (moving the elephant)

• Make people care– People donate more to a girl than to Africa

• 7-year old girl in Mali vs Save the Children– Appeal to self-interest

• The “benefit of the benefit” that they can imagine themselves enjoying

66

Story - História

67

Story - História

• Stories provide simulation (knowledge about how to act)

• Stories are like flight simulators for the brain• Hardest part is to keep them simple and

deliver your core message

68

Making Ideas Stick

• Simple – Simples = 1 idea• Concrete – Concreto = Understand and remember• Credible – Digno de confiança = Believable• Unexpected – Imprevisto = Gets your attention• Emotional – Emocional = You care• Story – História = Puts into context

69

• What story can a a beer company tell?• www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SrGRyI4lXM

70

One application of genetic mapping

71

Genetic Mapping

• Read article and develop a plan to sell the idea of providing personal genomes for $99.

• Prepare a 1 minute presentation

72

Making Ideas Stick

• Simple – Simples = 1 idea• Concrete – Concreto = Understand and remember• Credible – Digno de confiança = Believable• Unexpected – Imprevisto = Gets your attention• Emotional – Emocional = You care• Story – História = Puts into context

73

Additional Readings from Faculty

ohiofgv.com - Materials

74