Disruption and change

Once upon a time the forest caught fire. All animals, big and small, could smell the smoke, feel the heat but for some time could not see the flame. Known for his super sensitive sense of smell, the hare run to the mountain top, bells in hand and once at the top, sounded loud bells while shouting……run, run, run, run for your dear life! A big fire is coming! take cover! As usual, in the forest, there was a committee that was in charge of emergency affairs chaired by the tortoise …..really? anyway, so the chairman summoned his team (remember the fire was spreading while this committee deliberated) and discussed many strategies among them; dig a wide deep trench to separate the burning side from the safe side, send all the children and elderly to the mountain while the young men confront and tame the fire, clear the entire forest so that the fire had nothing to raze down, and the winning strategy was to send the all-powerful, gallant, fearless lion to strike a peace deal with the fire to cease…….. your guess is as good as mine on how this ended. Meanwhile the hare and his relatives escaped unscathed ☺☺ they listened and swung to action. Disruption and change go hand in hand. I’m sure you’ve heard this statement ‘change is the only constant’. I beg to add disruption to that statement because both will remain constant as the world quickly becomes a global village. The subject of change has been covered quite extensively in our generation. Sometimes nearly misplaced or out of context. As we go through unprecedented times (a.k.a. disruption) understanding how to adapt and thrive in the new circumstances will be a critical 21st century skill of success. No surprise that managing multiple and complex change made it to the top 10 skills of 2020. But many organizations and individuals handle change and disruption just like in the story. There is always this swift person who can smell it and swings to relevant action immediately. There is the majority who convene academic forums chaired by clueless …no, that’s harsh! experienced persons who might have good intention but Copyright May 2020 their speed of execution and sometimes relevance of their actions is in question. Moving on, I feel like that’s a separate topic on selecting the right leader to navigate disruption. There are a few strategies that can help us win this war together. Remember at the moment we have several battles going on and perhaps more to come; COVID-19, floods and locusts. I think social media should make it to this list especially Twitter. I don’t know so much about military and wars and front-line soldiers, but I know the best generals lead by example; the center of command is known and the instructions are followed to the tee. They are well versed with the subject matter and when in doubt they consult secretly and act swiftly. No gaps. No leakage. The choir is in harmonious tune. Your goal as a professional is to get people to change both their BEHAVIOR and their ATTITUDE. In terms of how to measure success, these are the two indicators that must be measured. Enough lecture, let’s explore three types of strategies that you can use in these very dynamic times. i. Persuasion By definition, to persuade means to provide reason to someone so that they can do something. Persuasion changes behavior temporarily. The animals were persuaded to come together to find a solution to quell the fire. Unfortunately, this strategy is short lived. As soon as humans get the feeling someone other than themselves is responsible for dealing with the change (like the gallant lion), they slowly revert to their old ways and wait for the next panic attack while pointing fingers and criticizing how badly the ‘lion’ is executing. Usually on social media. ii. Coercion By definition, coercion suggests that someone with authority forces others to do something and for a good reason. Coercion is often filled with threats….. “if you do or don’t do this, you shall face these consequences (read punishment)”. This works in pre school and nursery only when children are in character formation stage. Beyond that, the more you use coercion, the more resentment you face and the more the situation worsens. I have a feeling the gallant lion in our story was coerced by the chairman, Mr. tortoise to go Copyright May 2020 for the peace deal with the fire. I don’t’ know but you are free to air your opinion. You know how that ends. iii. Activation Even as you read the word, you feel like you are required to do something right? Activation is powerful; it is a process of ownership. It brings all people to the table. By activation, your biggest win is to change people’s attitude before trying to change their behavior. Often you succeed by incorporating the opinion shapers into the grand plan. You see, in our story, the hare had a good activation strategy. He knew there was a fire, animals could smell it and feel the heat, some could run fast while others couldn’t. To accommodate the different dynamics of animals, he ran to the mountain top (read safety) and hoped that all other animals, big and small knew that he was a man of the people and wanted the best for everyone. Wrong. People will not believe you unless their opinion shapers say so. Change of attitude has to do with a deep sense of ownership and belief. The hare needed to bring a few other animals (especially the dissenting, hardcore non-believers) to the mountain top to relay his message of alarm and escape. No committees, no much talking, just rally those known hard-cores and engage your swift action. You will be shocked at how people change tune and behavior when they can relate to the choir masters! Dear HR professionals and business leaders, Do not beat yourself too much over casualties; every war must end with a few casualties. As you go through these unprecedented times and fight ‘njahi’ on twitter, do not shy away from acknowledging that you cannot do it alone. You need opinion shapers with you. You need to be swift and agile; dismantle red tape structures that slow down decision making. Be fully aware that in the end, the tortoise and the hare both belong to your animal kingdom and you must find a way to rescue them. We shall judge you by your solutions not opinions!

Yours professional,

Miriam Wambui, Certified Change Leader, Senior member IHRM

Executive Director – Scope and Impact Ltd