This is a guest post from Faith Fuqua-Purvis, President and Chief Solutions Architect of Synergetic Solutions LLC.
Wikipedia defines revolution as follows:
A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, “a turn around”) is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.
Amidst the corporate chaos and on-going organizational changes there lies a source of power, power for change. There are the People.
People come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and viewpoints. There are many, many viewpoints. Sometimes it seems like too many. Have you heard the joke that if you ask 4 recruiters their opinion on a resume you will get 5 answers? If you’ve been looking for a job lately you know that this is not just a joke, often a reality.
Often the different viewpoints seem opposed and are a source of chaos, but if you seek to understand not just respond, they can be a great source of information and power. How often do you stop to try and truly understand another’s viewpoint and how they reached their own personal conclusions? What attitude do you bring to the interaction? Are you focused on listening to a different viewpoint or are you focused on winning an argument?
Each and every day we make a series of decisions regarding how we interact with each other. How actively do we listen? How thoughtful are our responses? Are we working together? Is it a “we” or a “me” moment? Are we focused on our part of the organization or the effectiveness of the organization as a whole? Are we trying to understand how the decisions we make today impact other areas of the business or organization? Are we focused on the past or on the future? Are we playing the “blame game” or are we expending our energy working to resolve a situation the best way possible?
Attitude truly does make a difference. The Beatles sang of One being the loneliest number yet in the Matrix we saw how significant the impact of “The One” could truly be. We can all be Agents of Change. The revolution starts with yourself and your attitude, not with others and theirs. We can influence others but we can only truly change ourselves.
Binary language focuses on Zero and One, Off and On. There are studies showing that when collaboration is involved, the sum can be greater than the individual parts. Where One + One + One = Four not Three. Where there is the addition of understanding and alignment of objectives vs. the subtraction of position and personal power plays.
When you interact with others today and make decisions related to your job, your department, your organization and programs, are you going to be a 0 (Off) or a 1 (On)?
Faith Fuqua-Purvis is the founder of Synergetic Solutions LLC, a consulting firm specializing in Strategic Change. She is a strategic thinker, a proactive leader and an experienced coach, helping business implement transformational changes by aligning people, organizational structures, and operational activities with business strategies. You can find her complete profile at LinkedIn.
Photo credit: clix
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nice post Faith. But no matter how hard you try, in any organization – big or small, private or public – you as an individual cannot influence change unless the culture AND the top leadership drive it. Otherwise, the only change you will make is who your employer is and the only thing doing a revolution is the door on your way out.
Thanks Tim – Effective and Sustainable Culture Change does require both levels to work towards changing behaviors. It requires commitment, focus, and frequently multiple organizational and operational changes to truly “take” in the long term.
However, I firmly believe that we can each take accountability for our own behaviors – even if the leader or the organization’s current culture is not the most conducive. Too often people slip into behaviors because it is easy – they don’t want to rock the boat. I believe that quiet leadership and leading from behind are possible. That we should say “I can make a difference”. I’ll do the right thing even if it might be harder to do. I believe that we can each set an example, whether positive or negative, for those around us.
I firmly believe that if enough people act as individuals to be accountable and behave collaboratively you can gain momentum and begin the change process without leadership on board. For the American revolution, it started somewhere, with someone believing things could be different. There was no leader at the top. It was individuals banding together because they believed things could be different. Eventually leaders emerged.
With enough momentum from individuals, the leader at the top might be the one going out the door.
Faith
[...] credit: clix This article first appeared on The CIO Assistant’s Blog on July 1st. Categories : Business Transformation, Cultural Change, Personnel [...]