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Something like 4 million people have looked at this video http://tinyurl.com/2rzrn9. In case it takes more views than that to saturate the You Tube market I give you the link. It is about education, the future (told in 2006) and a whole bunch of fun and intriguing facts. You will also quickly see it is about how things around us change- our environment, our resources, our tools and our capabilities.
And, I have to give this plug, it is an awesome, simple, clear use of black and color.
This is one of the best media presentations I have seen in the way it rolls out information, is fun, has no fluff and uses all of the screen wisely (which to me means lots of space). It uses the space with movement, stillness, appearance of important items at the right time (and not too fast and not too glaring) and, again, color.
Now for the editorial comment-
Juxtapose this video with the way change management is presented and rolled out.
Certainly I will give up the black (not truly a color anyway) but not color in general. Color can be used to categorize communications, illustrate emotion (the whole red is fire, blue is cool strength thing), differentiate timelines, place things in an exact spot (with a relation to things around it) and just plain make things more interesting. Which introduces another aspect of the word color- the commentator kind. CM is typically colorless (maybe due to the automatic assumption that people say no before yes). Start out with a clean lack of color (white) or all color (black) slate and add or take away to build interest, increase attention and make business and change a little more like real life. Yes I mean that metaphorically, but as you can see in the video it works literally for presentations too.
Technorati Tags: Big Picture, change communications, communicate, Communications, engagement, Examples, Garrett Gitchell, vision to work
There is something very enjoyable about opportunities to “toot our own horns”. It feels good to hear yourself acknowledge your own success. If the toot elicits a welcome response all the better. Of course I am assuming here an accomplishment vetted in our own heads (not braggadocio).
And so you say, “what does this have to do with change management?”. I’m glad you asked. One up on hearing my own horn tooting is to encourage others to do the same. How often are we given genuine permission to lay out our tackled obstacles?
If you are guiding change as
Continue reading Tooting your own horn
“Beware of losing trust by blaming others (i.e. making internal attributions about them). Also beware of making excuses (external attributions) that lead you to repeat mistakes and leads to Cognitive Dissonance in others when they are making internal attributions about you. “http://tinyurl.com/24acxdd (from Changing Minds.org one of my favorite dig deep reading sites). The Attribution Theory.
Some change management connections-
Internal attributions are often silent and shared- CM practitioners must learn to draw them out and attach new behavior/perspective. External attributions spread fast and can become mythical- They are best illuminated and stopped as quick as possible. Empathy is
Continue reading Trust, perspective, behavior and a shout out for one of my favorite sites
This is where all third party firms and most consulting firms believe you as a client should reside- in their stable. Once they weasel their way in to your inner circle or directly to you (disclosure- of course I also have to do this part) they want to “own” you like a Kentucky rancher. Any use of you for any reason that has to do with their connection, in their scheme, requires a fee. The more valuable you are to the other ranchers the higher the fee. This might work for raising horses. For consulting it makes no
Continue reading Client “ownership” consulting is not horse racing
An easy change scenario-
The organization will at some point move a performance system from paper based to online access (say into an SAP module). The money and energy is not there for the technical transfer (and the change that goes with it). There is the ability to address the system itself. There are grumblings from stakeholders about the ties between measures, performance and rating (especially against others in similar but different functions). The icing on the cake is a sudden realization from executives that there is both room and need for “enhancement” (yesterdays blog word for change http://horizontalchange.com/2010/08/the-adult-bad-word/).
Continue reading “Easy” Change and tips
Many of change managements “less than successes” (I am growing tired of seeing the word failure and change tied together with little explanation) are a result of misguided perceptions, false assumptions and detrimental naivety. Here are a few-
Having the IT manager responsible for change for technical initiatives Having the project manager responsible for change for all initiatives Crowning someone buried in the middle of the organization with a role that touches all Change fails 70% of the time (what is that stat and how is it possibly helpful for anything but fear marketing of books and models?) There
Continue reading A quick change misperception list
My kids have a list of bad words (dumb, stupid etc.). It turns out there are some adult bad words too. No not the ones you are thinking.
Change
This is, apparently, when you take something that is not that broken and tweak it. Or simply tweaking seems to count too. The word gets progressively worse the more you tweak.
For anyone intending to have changes and wrap change management around them it would be good to have the benefits and the business case rock solid tight before venturing into the change process. With that diligent pre work you
Continue reading The Adult Bad Word
“it’s very easy to get addicted to the change pattern by not getting the change right in the first place, not making the tough calls or bold decisions up-front, maybe going for something half-way, and then allowing things to slip back.” BP’s Fiona MacLeod (maybe not timely to quote BP, but every organization has a silver lining within) http://tinyurl.com/mewr9p
Change and addiction strung together seems a contradiction to me. It insinuates change is a bad thing. I suppose serial change makes little sense if it is not rooted in reality and sustainability. There, I admitted it might be possible
Continue reading Change Addiction
Still the most popular post-
http://horizontalchange.com/2009/12/dandelions-in-the-lawn-organic-change-management-design/
a close second-
http://horizontalchange.com/2010/07/first-things-first-a-change-management-short-list/
and this, of course, if my favorite-
http://horizontalchange.com/2010/02/c-level-leverage-of-your-change-management-trusted-advisor/
and one that, I am embarrassed to say, has never been viewed (and is my second favorite)
http://horizontalchange.com/2010/07/c-level-change-management-primer/
It has been an interesting year. Reading back on the posts I am now itching to expand on some of the thoughts and ideas for useful information for both clients and consultants. For now here is a link to two posted papers, both on high level change management-
http://www.scribd.com/garrett_gitchell
Thanks for peeking into my thoughts and experiences and taking the time to look
Continue reading 200 Blog Posts and my one year anniversary
Change Management is a constantly customizable and necessarily adaptive pursuit, but the more exposure you get the more you see that in some ways “people are people”. For the weekend I give you generalizations (sorry friends who say I do this too much- it does stimulate conversation though) about stakeholder types.
The Peacock
This is the person who struts around with feathers spread looking for attention. They are colorful in attitude and dress. Typically they range from happy to really happy. Once in a while their displays are of the jilted lover type- everyone feel sorry for me now.
Continue reading Stakeholder types because “people are people”
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