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I was attracted to a short article the other day titled "The Role of Curiosity in Learning." In a nutshell, the author defines a learning organization as one that encourages a culture where employees can – and do ask questions. Unfortunately, she says, many adults have forgotten how to be curious after having lived through the "sit down and be quiet" approach of many of our educational systems. And our organizations haven't always made it easy for employees to be curious!

 

The article reminded me just how important it is for companies to use the power of questions to help employees through the turmoil of change.  

 

What, why, how, when and what about me? These questions are very real to employees as change occurs -- new systems, mergers and acquisitions, senior leadership changes, reorganizations, layoffs and more. When organizations use one-way communication during times like these, questions will usually get answered around the watercooler -- and not necessarily answered correctly. Employee morale, retention and productivity can suffer.

 

Organizations need to tackle change questions by getting employees to talk. Conversation is the key ---but it needs to be structured conversation that allows participants to explore the right questions in a setting of participation, honesty and safety.

 

That’s why Discovery Maps® work so well for major change initiatives. This high-involvement approach  drives discussion around issues that employees are already highly curious about. It guides small teams of learners to discover answers and to raise even more questions of their own. As they learn, they  integrate new information (ah-has!) into their own knowledge base.

 

Here’s what the author says about "great questions" (paraphrased):

 

When Paradigm Learning helps clients communicate strategic change, our biggest challenge after understanding the change issue is to help them come up with great questions -- those that get at the what, why, how, when and what about me concerns.

 

Questions that tap into employees' curiosity.  Questions that guide deep thinking. Questions that are simple yet relevant and revealing. Questions that point the way to new insights  The second challenge, then, is to integrate those questions into an experience that is engaging, challenging, nonthreatening, targeted, relevant and honest. 

 

For change communication professionals, then, one of the keys to success is posing the right questions in the right setting.

A recognized leader in the area of change management, Daryl Connor of Connor Partners, recently posted a blog in which he lists the characteristics of two types of organizational change ... incremental and transformational. (Exploring a Project’s “Degree of Difficulty” (Part 2 of 5).

 

In this blog, he says:

 

He concludes by saying that transformational projects are inherently more difficult to orchestrate than those with incremental improvement objectives.

I like the way Mr. Connor has clarified differences in these two types of change. What is very obvious about both of these lists is how important it is to have people throughout the organizational knowledgeable and committed to change. And, when the change is transformational, it is absolutely essential to success.

Recently, Paradigm Learning had the opportunity to work with several clients whose changes have been transformational in nature, requiring an educational approach aimed at employee “heads” (knowledge and understanding) as well as  “hearts” (emotional connection and commitment). For example, we worked with:

 

* The procurement operation of a major government agency, implementing a new customer service initiative impacting all processes and people

 

* A major hotel chain reorganizing its entire sales function and changing everything from job descriptions and processes to locations and reporting relationships

 

* A large office equipment manufacturer undergoing a major technological shift in HR processes, changing the way HR personnel interact with employees and how information is accessed.

 

* A health care organization whose mission is to change the way healthcare is delivered, needing to build its own employee commitment to this mission.

These clients have used our Discovery Maps^® to significantly impact the outcomes of their change initiatives by guiding learners to discover the whats, whys and hows of the change as well as the WIFM’s (What’s In It For Me’s) for the organization, customers, departments and individuals.

When transformational change is occurring, using whole-brain approaches like this can make a big difference in the level of employee engagement and involvement.  

Want to learn more about using whole-brain approaches.  Join us for a complimentary webinar, A Whole New Workforce: Educating and Engaging Employees in a Right-Brained World, on Dec. 8, 2009.   The New York Times best-selling author Daniel Pink (“A Whole New Mind”), John Hine of ConAgra and Catherine Rezak, co-founder of Paradigm Learning, will share how new learning approaches can harness the right-brain capabilities of your workforce. Click here to register.

Have you seen the latest employee morale and commitment survey conducted by Watson Wyatt and WorldatWork ? If not, you can view it at WorldatWork.

 

Here are some highlights, according to a Chief Learning Officer "Industry News" post this week:

 

An executive with WorldatWork was quoted as saying....."Taking a total rewards approach and looking at all of the ways companies can motivate and retain - including compensation, benefits, work-life initiatives and career development - is going to be essential."

 

I agree! In my September 9 blog post, I talked about the importance of managers taking accountability for employee retention. This is becoming more and more important as the economy shows some signs of recovery and as job opportunities begin to open up. I think what I said in that blog bears repeating:

 

Manager Accountability for Retention: Managers at all levels -- not just at the top -- need to be held accountable for keeping good people in the company. They need to be more involved than ever before. They need to step up their "management by walking around" activities. They need to bite the bullet and deal directly with employee emotions -- including fear and anger. They need to provide an open door for employees to walk through to talk about their issues and concerns. And, they need to develop employees in ways that make them want to stay.

 

Interestingly, we  have found that the use of Paradigm Learning's Mosaic: The Art of Talent Leadership -- a program for managers to help them understand their impact on retention and to build a plan to take action with their own employees -- has actually declined during this time of economic unrest.  We think it's possible that some of our clients who said things like "We can't afford to take time to deal with employee retention issues right now" might end up saying "We wish we had done something earlier!"

 

What do you think?

A colleague told me that she would send me something I needed for a time-sensitive project as soon as she got back to her office. I watched her take down a note and star* it several times.  Six weeks later I’m still waiting.

A 12^th grader contacted me via email for a history class project. She wanted some information about a fellow Vietnam vet and needed it right away. I spent several hours getting her what she had requested and asked for only one thing in return: a copy of her final report. That was a year ago and I’m still waiting.

A neighbor who I have seen repeatedly at parties over the past three years told me again last week -- for about the fifth time – that he would be calling me to get together for dinner.  I’m still waiting.

None of these stories have made a big difference in my life.  But they all demonstrate something that HAS made a big difference. It’s a principle that I learned from my US Navy CO, Master Chief Petty Officer Billy C. Owens, in 1968:

In the service, living up to that principle was about life or death.  My team knew it and lived it. We had to trust each other.

Although leaders in companies today don’t have the same life or death issues to deal with, they are in a position – day in and day out – to make decisions and take actions that significantly impact the company and other people in it. They have been “entrusted” with their position – and can either demonstrate trustworthiness or not.  It’s really pretty simple.

If you are a leader of people – no matter what your title or responsibility – you have to do one thing always:

And there are no excuses. If you make a commitment, you’ve made a commitment. Period.  Forget “the story, reason, who’s to blame and how you feel about it” excuses.  There are no excuses for not living up to your word.

In our leadership training program, Impact 5: The Business of Leadership Game®, we deal with the issue of accountability – including the accountability for developing your own personal effectiveness as a leader.

 Being effective in your job --- and also in your life … becomes a lot easier when your word becomes who you are, rather than a philosophy or something you just talk about.

 

The day before Halloween, we're going to have some fun at Paradigm Learning's offices in St. Petersburg, Fla. There will be a costume contest, prizes, Halloween games, a trivia contest, pumpkins and pizza. In short, we're going to play!

Why? Because it has been a tough year and everyone has worked hard. But, most important, because we believe that play should be part of work too.

 Daniel Pink, in his best-selling book, A Whole New Mind, refers to play as one of the six right-brain "aptitudes" needed in today's workplace. He sees these aptitudes as what it takes for individuals and organizations to excel in the new big-picture, holistic, artistic and creative world.

About play, he says:

 "Ample evidence points to the enormous health and professional benefits of laughter, lightheartedness, games and humor. There is a time to be serious, of course. But too much sobriety can be bad for your career and worse for your general well-being. In the Conceptual Age, in work and in life, we all need to play."

 At Paradigm Learning, we have long recognized the value of fun, games and "play" in the design of our educational offerings for corporate clients, and we use a unique set of discovery learning tools and techniques to add to the excitement. For example, gaming techniques like chips, cards, game pieces, game boards, dice and times are integral to the business games and simulations we market to clients. We believe that there is nothing like a little laughter and competition to keep people focused on learning! And having a good time learning new things can translate to greater engagement and motivation on the job.

So, as a company that loves fun and games, we're going to have a Halloween party at the office. How about you?

p.s. Did you know that Halloween is the second most commercially successful holiday, after Christmas, and that Americans spend more than $2 BILLION annually on Halloween candy?

p.s.s. Look for details about an upcoming Paradigm Learning webinar with Daniel Pink on December 8, 2009, titled A Whole New Workforce: Educating and Engaging Employees in a Right-Brain World.