Changing Team

Motivating a Team to Change

He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery. – Harold Wilson

Previously we have talked about what motivates people and what can we do to motivate somebody else. The discussion had generally been on self motivation or one to one motivation. Today the focus will be how can we motivate our team to change for the better.  The difficulty level climbs exponentially if we have to motivate more than one person as barriers to change are different for different people.

These barriers to change being

a)       Agreement to Change or Improve  (We should  change or Its time to change)

This is the first step in building a critical mass towards change. However, this is one of the most difficult steps as people are very happy in their comfort zones and perspectives. Convincing them to move out of comfort zones or change perspectives is an uphill task.  Pointing at numbers or graphs may not convince people to change because those who are doing good at numbers  feel no need to change, while others take is as criticism and feel that they are not more needed and hence generally start looking to be part of another team.

To make people agree to change, focus should be to bring them out of “behind the desk” and bring them face to face with reality, so that they see what you are seeing.

b)       Availability of means to Change or improve  (We have the resources that will help in change)

Once people agree to change, they will surely find ways to change as they will start leading their brain  http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/pushing-people-to-give-in-their-best.html

But still they would not have fully moved out of their comfort zone and would start question the availability of resources that will help them in changing, the question being will we be successful in this change. These questions either make them trim the ambitions to change or start waiting for the resources to be available to change. Unluckily, we currently live in a “resource constrained world” hence the team leader focus should be in redirecting the resources to areas with biggest possible payoff.

c)       Wanting to Change or improve (I am motivated to change)

5As of Motivation   http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/motivating-others-driving-others.html (1) Appreciation, (2) Authority, (3) Avoiding Pain (internal to self) (4) Affluence and (5) Association. And the 9 tactics around the “5As” that lead to self / others motivation being (1) Recognition, (2) Trust, (3) Challenge, (4) Direction and Communication, (5) Opportunity, (6) Personal Stake, (7) Freedom of Choice, (8) Incentive and (9) Association with a team or group.

We have discussed recognition, and how it is used to tame killer whales http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/rrecognition-can-tame-killer-whale-why.html

Trust as a motivator http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/people-respond-to-trust-by-upholding-it.html

Challenge as a motivator http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/life-challenges-help-us-discover.html

Direction and Communication as a motivator http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/efforts-and-courage-are-not-enough.html

Association as a motivator http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/02/camaraderie.html

Motivation via growth opportunity http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/02/growth-1.html

Motivation via personal stake http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/02/own-risk.html

d)       Politics (This change are in alignment with my vested interest)

Vested interest always resist change, the more likely the change becomes, the more loud these voices become. The focus is always to protect one self or one self position. Creating alliances is one way out of the political hurdle, another being making people think win-win and lastly you can always make people focus on the objectives of changing / not changing  rather than the position they have taken towards change.  Position is an emotional state and is difficult to break with the objective is more logical and easy to break / convince.

Again, its not simple as ABC. The importance given by different team members to the above barriers changes with time, hence making it difficult to bring about a quick change. This makes it very difficult to have a formula to change. However, a time comes when a lot of people are “For the change” or “Against Change” and this direction/inclination of the critical mass of people decides will the change be successful or unsuccessful.

Your comments will be appreciated, Please feel free to add...... and visit the full blog at http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/

Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.  ~Robert C. Gallagher 

Growth 2

Motivation via Growth Opportunity

Part 2

If we don’t appreciate our life, and the opportunities it throws at us, then we are doing is only existing and waiting for death.

A few days back we discussed http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/02/growth-1.html  that, we should not get bothered if people point fingers at us and tell us that “you are no good, stop trying, stop doing things you have not done before”, we should also not blame our losses to somebody else, lets not be cowards. In the end, it is not about how hard you are hit in trying a new thing, its all about keep moving forward and exploring new things and ideas.


Today lets talk about, how do we push people out of their comfort zone?. Unfortunately, we as humans avoid pain and move towards pleasure, moving out of our comfort zone is a painful experience, we are entering the unknown, there is this fear of failure or chance of embarrassment. HOWEVER, if the world would not have been a better place, if people had not marched into the unknown. If we continue to listen to the same music, read same magazines, take same route to office etc, we would not know what we are missing in this world. May be the new type of music suits are ear buds better, maybe the other magazine has a better prospective etc.


Simple steps to push people out of their comfort zone and towards growth.

Step 1:- Explain what’s in it for them. The main reason why people don’t move out of their comfort zone is the fear factor. Fear of unknown, fear of embarrassment, fear of failure. BUT if somebody can make them see how would their life be positivity impacted by marching out of the comfort zone. They will gain some impetus towards the unknown. However, they may still have the fear because of the lack of self belief.

Step 2:- Show confidence / Trust that they will succeed. One time or the other, everybody needs a reassurance to boast back  self belief. “Yes you can”, “I can bet my life on your success” etc are some phrases that one might need to use to smoothen the shaky start, and also to communicate, that you are right besides them and will help them all the way. This confidence boaster is necessary, especially when the person has just moved out of the comfort zone, because at that time the mind is calculating all the negative  “What ifs” and help is needed to lead the brain in positive direction. http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/lead-brain.html

Step 3:- Try to hand over the power/authority over “plan of action” and “plan of implementation”. Every human has more ownership of their OWN plans rather than plans of the others. Chances of success are enhanced if the plans are made and implemented by the same team.

Step 4:- Follow up to maintain the drive. It not a “walk in the park” when somebody heads out of their comfort zone, brain plays all the negative scenarios, and the easiest thing to do is walk back into the comfort zone. The urge to do this is immense. Hence, somebody should follow up to explain what’s in it for them, build confidence, to help in planning / implementation so as to maintain the drive.

Your comments will be appreciated, Please feel free to add...... and visit the full blog at http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/  

Pushing people to give in their best

Continuing with lead the brain discuss http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/lead-brain.html  below is a summary of a book that throws light on how can we help people around us build a habit of  "leading their brain out of adversity"

 

MindSet  (Summary of a book by Carol S. Dweck)!

Don’t divide the world into week and strong, success or failures…. But divide the world into learners and non-learners.

There are two types of Mindsets

1.      Fixed mindset.  Where an individual believes that his/her qualities are carved in stone. They have a specific amount of intelligence, personality and moral character. And they have to prove this over and over again, because they feel every situation is evaluated. And they have to ensure that they deliver on their personal belief of the amount of intelligence, personality and character they have. These people end up blaming the "3rd Person" for any adversity or challenge in their life. Hence are stalled in their feet when stretched.

2.      Growth mindset.  Here an individual believes that his/her qualities can be cultivated through efforts. Although, initially, people may differ in every which way – in their initial talents and aptitudes. But everyone can change and grow through application and experience. This creates a passion for learning and stretching  themselves. People in growth mindset, thrive on challenge as the bigger the challenge, the more they can stretch and learn. In growth mindset, failures don’t define you, but it is considered t be a problem that has to be dealt with and learned from.

How to Develop Growth Mind Set in Others. It can be developed at any age

1.      Send development messages. Every word and action sends a message. It tells children or students or peers or athletes – how to think about themselves. It can be a fixed mindset message that says: you have a permanent trait and I am judging it. Or it can be a growth mindset message that says: you are a developing person and I am interested in your development.

2.      Don’t stereotype or label people. Praising people for their effort as well as the result. This will help people find success via learning and improving. If you start labeling people, they move towards fixed mindset and hence do not admit and correct their deficiencies. A student mentioned that I am always praised for my intelligence rather than my efforts, and slowly buy surely I developed an aversion to difficult challenge.

3.      Inculcate True self confidence via pushing them towards learning mode i.e. the courage to be open – to welcome change and new ideas.  This will help in making people ready to grow.  To grow true self confidence, we should focus on praising the work that they have put in i.e.  That homework was so long and involved. I really admire the way you concentrated and finished it.  Focus on inculcating that skills and achievement come through commitment and effort.

4.      Push people towards Observe, Learn and Improve Set high standards for people around you and keep raising the bar. Focus on telling them that “you have to apply yourself each day to become a little better. By applying yourself to the task of becoming a little better each and every day over a period of time, you will become a lot better”

Gist being

“Did I win? Did I lose? These are wrong question. The correct question is: did I make my best effort? If yes that you may be outscored,  but you will never lose”

To read the full blog please visit http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/  

 

Motivation = Drive towards doing something

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. It does not matter where you have been, what matters is where you are going, what are you becoming.....

Motivation = Drive towards doing something.

Today lets look at the “Whys” behind motivation i.e. “why do we do the things we do?” or “Why we make a certain decision?” or “Why are we driven towards a certain direction?”

To answer the “Why” lets look at what motivates an average human?  I call it the 5A of Motivation

Appreciation (recognition, acknowledgement, respect etc)

Authority or Achievement (Power, influence, control etc )

Avoiding Pain “internal to self” ( Internal sense of duty, Philanthropy, accountability, freedom of choice etc)

Affluence  (Wealth, prosperity, income etc) 

Association (Part of a group etc) 

Depending on the day, mood, historical perspective, we give higher weight to one of the above “A” and make a decision that leads us towards it.

Please feel free to add…..