An Unprecedented Approach

ADAPTIVE CHANGE MANAGEMENT(RON HEIFETZ)

People do not hate change

Create a “holding environment”

Get up on the balcony

Give the work back to the people

New concepts

Change fails because…

People are OK with going

from A to Z. They have

trouble tolerating the

daunting, painful steps in

between.

Holding Environment

The job of the leader is to

create a holding

environment in which

people can do the

learning they need to do.

Get up on the balcony

We need to get above the

day-to-day fray to be able

to see our situation with

some detachment and

objectivity.

Give the work back to the people

It is messy; maybe even

chaotic. But people really

will rise to the occasion

and create solutions –

often things we could not

have imagined by

ourselves.

Reasons Attempts To Change Fail

Misperceive threat

Perceive threat but responding is beyond

adaptive capability

Inability to cope with distress provoked by

problem and change it demands

◦ Leads to “avoidance mechanisms”

Avoidance Mechanisms

Holding onto past assumptions

Blaming and/or scapegoating

Externalizing the enemy

Denying the problem

Jumping to conclusions

Finding a distracting issue

My job as facilitator…

Apply just enough

pressure to keep forward

momentum...

…but not so much that you shut down.

People can tolerate only

so much tension before

they need a breather. But

if they see the value in the

endeavor, they will return

to the work and keep

moving forward.

There is that law of life so cruel and so just that one must grow or else pay more for remaining the same.

Norman Mailer

It’s time to get REAL!

Let’s stop going in circles

and stick with this until

we can make practical,

sustainable decisions

that will inform our work

in coming years.

An unprecedented process

THEORY ‘U’ OR “DEEP THINKING”(C. OTTO SCHARMER)

Retro-movement proponents:

◦ “Let’s return to the order of the past.”

Defenders of status quo:

◦ “Just keep going. Focus on doing more of the same.

Muddle through.”

Transformational Change advocates:

◦ “Isn’t there a way to break the patterns of the past

and tune into our highest future possibility?”

Three distinct responses to challenges

DOWNLOADING

SUSPENDINGPre-conceived

ideas

SEEINGWith fresh eyes

REDIRECTING

SENSING

LETTING GO

PRESENCINGConnecting to Source

Open Mind

Open Heart

Closed Mind

Open Will LETTING COME

CO-CREATINGNew thinking and principles

CO-CREATINGAn unimagined future

Scharmer, 2009

Theory U or “Deep Thinking”

Keep an Open Mind

An open mind exhibits

intellectual curiosity. It

considers all perspectives.

This does not mean that

you agree with all

perspectives. It means you

will seriously consider all

perspectives.

Cultivate an Open Heart…

Even if it means that you

might be disappointed.

Your heart may be even

be broken. Or it could

result in unimaginable joy

and pride!

The bottom of the “U” requires

Open Will

When the going gets

tough, the tough get

discipline. They make

themselves push through.

Quitting in frustration or

overwhelm will not get the

job done. Vent and then

get back to work.

Our “Blind Spot” is below the surface

Our Blind Spot is the inner

place from which we

operate. It is the “source”

of our attention and

action. We cannot meet

the challenges at hand if

we do not illuminate our

blind spot – individually

and collectively.

We have to drop all our old tools and attend to

the situation with fresh eyes.

We have to abandon our conventional ways of

reacting and operating.

We have to re-focus our gaze from our public

way of reacting to our unseen blind spot.

We have to deepen our attention to and

wonder about our milieu.

Dealing With Our “Blind Spot”

Let’s start thinking about our “blind

spots” regarding funeral service

practice?

ONTARIO, OREGON 1963

My first dream “funeral home”

VIVID IMAGINATION OR DIVINE GUIDANCE?

“Do something different

that makes a difference”

The “spine” of my work…

I really need for it to be important and

prestigious or I may have made a mistake by

going into the field.

I am embarrassed and defensive about the

negative public image of funeral directors.

What if it isn’t all I want it to be?

Can I let it be whatever it is?

My Blind Spot About Funeral Service…

Relax, reflect, record

List questions we need to ask and data we

need to gather

Avoid persuasive arguments

◦ Open questions vs. Closed questions

What is your “blind spot?”

Evening Homework