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February 14, 2007 How To Herd Cats... When You're a MouseIn This Issue:Feature Article: "How To Herd Cats... When You're a Mouse" Audio Interview : "Meet Mr Fundamental" Fast Facts: "Who's The World's Largest Employer?" * FEATURE ARTICLE * “How To Herd Cats... When You're a Mouse”Bringing about change in an entire organization is a bit like trying to herd cats... when you're a mouse.Not only is it just plain difficult to get everyone moving in the same direction... but at any moment, someone could turn around and bite your head off! (Or if they're like my old cat, give you a few swipes and then "play" with you a bit... cruel, I know...) So how do you do it? How do you change things... from how promotions are awarded... to the policy on leave entitlements... to the structure of the organization... to the overall morale of the staff... to anything? After all, you may be a small "cog" in a very large wheel with very little apparent influence... or, even if you're part of senior management, you may feel that you won't get buy-in from the majority of staff. Well, here are four (4) steps I suggest you take to bring about organizational change: 1. First of all, realize this: Almost nobody does anything - including embracing change - unless they wholeheartedly believe (at both a logical and emotional level) that the benefits of doing so outweigh the costs... for them! So, if you're going to convince anyone to act differently, you must sell them on WHY they should do so. At both an emotional, as well as logical or rational level. And by the way, when I say "emotional" I DON'T mean being all soft and mushy - I just mean you need to appeal to the feelings that will drive people to act. Also, consider that different reasons will appeal to different people. For example, several years ago, the law firm I worked with (one of the biggest commercial law firms in Australia) introduced a number of initiatives to give staff more "flexible work" options, like receiving a reduced salary in return for more annual leave. To the staff lawyers - many of whom were on relatively high salaries yet working horrendous hours - this meant a little less pay for a lot MORE TIME OFF. To them TIME was the biggest appeal. To the partners who introduced the initiative, it meant happier staff... which translated to LOWER STAFF TURNOVER.... and in turn, lower staff costs. So LOWER COSTS was the major attraction. Presumably, whoever sold the partners and the lawyers on the flexible work idea appealed to them in these different ways in order to garner their support. 2. Work out what it's going to take to bring about the change. Both in terms of what YOU will have to do... and what others will have to do. Identify your end-goal and work back from there, identifying the what, who, when, where and how of what needs to happen to bring about the change you want. Eventually, you'll come back to YOU, and what you'll need to do to get the ball rolling. Which brings us to the next step... 3. Determine whether trying to bring about the change is worth all the effort! Notice I said "trying". Now I don't like the word "trying" very much, but I've used it here for an important reason. I specifically want you to think about whether the cost to you, personally, of instigating the change you want is worth it... if you DON'T succeed. You see, depending on the organization and the change you're trying to achieve, there will be a LOT of variables outside of your control... and the change you seek may not happen. This doesn't mean that all your efforts will be in vain - you may accomplish something else instead - but you need to consider all the possible outcomes (as well as accepting that you won't be able to foresee them all) and decide whether you're still willing to pursue that change. 4. Start with the first step If you're confident you can persuade people to embrace the change (step 1), have mapped out what needs to happen to achieve it (step 2) and decided that it's worth it to go ahead (step 3) then the final step is... get started. And this is where you take the "first step" towards bringing about the desired change. And that means taking ONE step and one step only. You see, depending on what you're trying to accomplish, it could very easily become overwhelming. But as the Chinese proverb goes: "A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step" So don't try to do everything at once. Just focus on one step at a time. When that's done, move onto the next, and so on. You may be attempting something as massive as bringing about widespread cultural change and boosting morale in a large company that's just undergone a merger or restructuring... but it still begins with YOU taking ONE step. Like speaking to a key manager. Or writing an email. Or speaking up at a staff meeting. Work towards your goal, step by step, and you'll certainly achieve it faster than if you let it overwhelm and stall you! But... can a single person really bring about major organizational change? Yes and no. Yes, one person can get the ball rolling... but no, no single person can change an entire organization. By definition, the organization - which means most, if not everyone, in it - must also embrace the change. Much work may need to be done. But the key to achieving the change starts with understanding and persuading people that the change you want is WORTH IT to THEM. And then doing what it takes - step by step - to making it happen. * HIGHLY RECOMMENDED * “How an Ordinary Manager Transformed a Struggling Business On The Verge Of Collapse Into a $40 Million Company”Here’s a shocking, yet true, story... At the start of last year, a good friend of mine took the job of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at a small technology company. The company was five years old, but hopelessly unprofitable. It’s backers – a venture capital company – were growing impatient with the company’s abysmal performance and ordered the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to appoint someone who could commercialize the company’s technology – so they would finally have a product to sell. Otherwise, the venture capital company would no longer fund the business. My friend was excited about the job. He was a bit of a risk taker, and despite the pressure, looked forward to helping the company bring its product to market and build it into a profitable business. But there was one problem. A big problem. The staff, the CEO warned him, were “incompetent and lazy.” In fact, one of the reasons the CTO was being hired was to get rid of the “dead wood.” “Frankly,” the CEO told my friend, “you’ll probably have to fire the lot of them.” * AUDIO INTERVIEW * “Meet Mr Fundamental”At one point in this interview with computer consultant and
Internet entrepreneur, Kelly Conway, Kelly calls himself “Mr
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