Most people, when confronted with change, become anxious. Change is uncomfortable. Change can be scary.
So began the introduction to the May 2013 presentation to the county’s leadership team on Cook County’s initiative to hire a county administrator.
Seven years later we find ourselves, once again, facing change.
Every leadership transition creates uncertainty, not only for county staff and elected officials, but also for members of the community.
How are we to best take advantage of this opportunity? What can we learn from our collective experience that will enable us to help ensure positive change?
Too often, we get caught up in short-term thinking, we apply stale formulas, or move too fast in an effort to maintain an operating rhythm we’ve grown accustomed to.
Visual thinker and life coach Adam Sicinski, founder of IQ Matrix (a system to help simplify and organize complex topics and ideas), writes: “The first thing you must do is acknowledge that this change is bringing forth new possibilities and perspectives that may not have been available before. It’s therefore critical that you are open to new ways of looking at things, and even different ways of doing things. This unexpected change may have benefits that you might not have even imagined. However, you must first stop to see them, to understand them. Therefore pause for a moment and take everything in. Take things in, one breath at a time. See things in their proper context and with the right perspective that will help you to move forward.”
The best way to “take everything in,” as Adam suggests, is to step back, way back. The farther back we step the broader our perspective. By enlarging our landscape, seeing the “bigger picture” we position ourselves to ask the question, “What are we not seeing about this change that could be advantageous long-term?”
In the May 2013 presentation, I suggested, “Collect the pieces: most of the time, no one has ALL the information regarding an impending change. However, a lot of people have some of the information. Collect the pieces and put a context to them all to build the big picture. Ask questions when you are unclear rather than make assumptions.”
In other words, revitalize ways of thinking, behaving and working …the way we do things around here.”
Adam counsels, “It’s important to remain open to the possibilities, the opportunities that may exist as a result of change. It may even be the catalyst that stimulates your imagination and forces you to think more creatively, force you to ask insightful questions. It might actually force you to reconsider the choices and decisions you have been making up to this point. Maybe this unexpected change might even force you to re-evaluate your priorities and values. If you take some time to reflect and look below the surface of this change, you may, in fact, find that the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.”
Scott Keller, who counsels Fortune 100 leadership teams on enterprise level transformation, cultural-change programs, top-team performance, and CEO effectiveness, encourages leaders to engage their organizations …get their advice. Pull together a baseline analysis of performance and culture. Create “one version of the truth.”
In our case, where the county has been, where it is now and where it needs to go – and why.
Allow concerns, tensions and inconsistencies to come to the surface, acknowledge that they exist and encourage that they be discussed openly. Sure there is a measure of vulnerability in pursuing this approach, but it is guaranteed to lead to a better outcome.
One of the main obstacles to change, is organizational politics. Keller relates, “Leaders rank organizational politics as the main challenge: 68 percent of transitions flounder on issues related to politics, culture, and people, and 67 percent of leaders wish they had moved faster to change the culture. These matters aren’t problems only for leaders who come in from the outside: 79 percent of external and 69 percent of internal hires report that implementing culture change is difficult.”
Back in 2013, I was asked, as a newly seated commissioner, why we weren’t moving quicker on hiring a county administrator? My response was always the same: “We are not looking to fill a position; rather, to change a culture.”
The sooner we recognize the importance of making culture our competitive advantage, the sooner we will begin to reap the benefits.
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” –James Baldwin
Former Cook County Commissioner Garry Gamble is writing this ongoing column about the various ways government works, as well as other topics. At times the column is editorial in nature.
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