Challenge the Process

Transcription

1 Challenge the Process Challenge is the opportunity for greatness. People do their best when there s the chance to change the way things are. Maintaining the status quo simply breeds mediocrity. Leaders seek and accept challenging opportunities to test their abilities. They motivate others as well to exceed their self- perceived limits. They seize initiative and make something meaningful happen. Leaders treat every assignment as an adventure. Most innovations do not come from leaders they come from the people closest to the work. They also come from outsight. Exemplary leaders look for good ideas everywhere. They promote external communication. They listen, take advice, and learn. Progress is not made in giant leaps; it s made incrementally. Exemplary leaders move forward in small steps with little victories. They turn adversity into advantage, setbacks into successes. They persevere with grit and determination. Leaders venture out. They test and they take risks with bold ideas. And because risk- taking involves mistakes and failure, leaders accept the inevitable disappointments and treat them as opportunities for learning and growth. Taking Action To Challenge the Process, you must search for opportunities by seizing the initiative and look outward for innovative ways to improve. This means you have to Always be asking, What s new? What s next? What s better? Do something each day so that you are better than you were the day before. Be restless; don t let routines become ruts. Put yourself in new situations; take on a new project at least once a quarter. Find out if the way things are done around here still makes sense. If it doesn t, do something different. Ask your customers (clients, suppliers, and so on) for their ideas about what you (and your organization) can do better. Go on the Web each day and search for something related to what you do. Also visit sites that are totally unrelated to your business. Design work so that it s intrinsically interesting. Seek firsthand experiences outside your comfort zone and skill set. Talk with folks outside your organization s four walls; encourage others to do the same. To Challenge the Process, you must experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and learning from experience. This means you need to 1 of 2

2 Keep people focused on what they can control in their work and in their lives. Assign meaningful work to people so that they can see how their efforts contribute significantly to outcomes. Emphasize how personal fulfillment results from constantly challenging oneself to improve. Set incremental goals and milestones, breaking big projects down into achievable steps. Continuously experiment with new ideas through model sites, pilot projects, market trials, and the like. Remind people of the progress they are making every day and that any setbacks are only temporary. When mistakes are made, always ask, What can we learn from this experience? Debrief successes and failures, recording the lessons learned and making sure that they are disseminated broadly. Spend time learning something relevant and new every day, and make sure you offer that opportunity to your constituents. Accept this mantra: Never Stop experimenting. Use The Leadership Challenge Mobile Tool app to immediately integrate these activities into your life. From The Leadership Challenge How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations, 5 th Edition by James Kouzes and Barry Posner Notes: To dare is to lose one s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself. ~ Søren Kierkegaard 2 of 2

3 Nurturing History Making Organizations Challenge the Process Tuesday, February 10, 2015

4 Cynthia Radford L E A R N G R O W R E N E W

5 Dana Beach

6 The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership

7 The Five Practices! Model the Way! Inspire a Shared Vision! Challenge the Process! Enable Others to Act! Encourage the Heart

8 Challenge the Process! Search for opportunities by seizing the initiative and by looking outward for innovative ways to improve.! Experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and learning from experience.

9 Think Change

10 Change J Curve Performance Positive Neutral Negative Page Time Jerry Jellison

11 Change Must Be Led Leaders can:! Predict impact of change! Anticipate responses to change! Plan to mitigate impacts and resistance

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13 Challenge the Process: LPI Items " Seek challenging opportunities to test skills " Challenge people to try new approaches " Search outside organization for innovative ways to improve " Ask What can we learn? " Make certain that achievable goals, plans, and milestones are set " Experiment and take risks

14 Challenge the Process: LPI Items " Seek challenging opportunities to test skills " Challenge people to try new approaches " Search outside organization for innovative ways to improve " Ask What can we learn? " Make certain that goals, plans, and milestones are set " Experiment and take risks

15 Seek challenging opportunities to test skills (Question # 3)

16 The focus of a leader s attention should be less on the routine operations and much more on the untested and untried. Leaders should always be asking What s new? What s next? What s better? That s where the future is. Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner The Leadership Challenge

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18 Challenge people to try new & innovative ways to do their work (Question # 8)

19 What was the most creative thing you did as a child?

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21 Search outside formal boundaries of organization for innovative ways to improve (Question # 13)

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23 Ask What can we learn? when things don t go as expected. (Question # 18)

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25 Set achievable goals, make concrete plans & establish measurable milestones for projects & programs (Question # 23)

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27 Experiment & take risks, even when there s a chance of failure (Question # 28)

28 Small Wins! Show a pattern of consistent winning.! Attract allies.! Build confidence.! Build a foundation for success.

29 Small Wins, continued! Promote learning as you go.! Deter and decrease opposition.! Keep people from feeling overwhelmed.! Minimize cost of trying and reduce risks.

30 Tips for Generating Small Wins! Break it down! Make a model! Keep it simple! Do the easy parts first! Accumulate yeses! Experiment! Give feedback! Celebrate

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32 The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking. ~ Albert Einstein

33 Let s Dream Big

34 Nurturing History Making Organizations Challenge the Process

35 Seek challenging opportunities to test skills (Question # 3)

36 Nurturing History Making Organizations Challenge the Process

37 Set achievable goals, make concrete plans & establish measurable milestones for projects & programs (Question # 23)

38 For Dana Beach about Challenging the Process

39 Ideas into Action

40 Thank You!!