Leading Change

I heard a great presentation on change management.

Some highlights I really liked:

– U.S. Army War College in developing high performance leaders seeks to develop competency to operate in an “VUCA” environment:

Volatile

Uncertain

Complex

Ambigious

– The key is NOT to get “emotionally/amygdala hijacked” where our “reptilian brain” in response to threats jumps to:

Fight, Flight, or Freeze

– Instead, we need to manage change methodically as “transitions” (which are personal and emotional) so that we understand that:

Every Ending is a New Beginning

(G-d does not close one door without opening a new one for us.)

–  When one thing in life comes to an end, this is where there is enormous potential for growth in:

The Reinvention of Ourselves

Release the emotions and be ready to move on!

– In short, it can be difficult to accept change unless we realize that:

Problems = Opportunities

And this is the critical place where we can try new things and learn and grow. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Check The Clock

So it should be so easy…

We manage time by the hours and minutes–and moments of life. 

This sign was hilarious though:

Breakfast 6 am – 10 am
Lunch 11 am – 2 pm
Dinner 4 pm – 7 pm
We are here to serve you any time.

Really, if you’re here to serve us any time, then isn’t that mean around the clock–24/7–and not just the total 10 hours listed?

What a ridiculous contradiction!

It reminded me of another crazy story of the person who when you ask what time it is, they tell you how to make the watch.

Yes, the point has definitely been missed by the other person.

Their explanation may be very detailed and even accurate on how to make a watch, but frankly they missed the point altogether, which was simply what time is it!

We need to pay attention to our communications and be honest and actually say what it is, and not beat around the 24-hour bush. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Not Exactly A Genie

Okay, we all like a genie in a bottle (with G-d’s help) to grant us our wishes for the good. 

A colleague told me that if he had a genie in a bottle, his first wish would be to have infinite wishes; his second wish would be for all his wishes to come true; and his third wish would be that all the wishes would be free of ambiguity such that the intent would be fully clear–nice!

But this is no genie…this is an umbrella in a bottle. 

Twist the top (handle) and pull it from the bottle (case) and whoola, an umbrella. 

Cute design, but when I tried to open the umbrella, it felt functionally, like a piece of garbage (IMHO). 

Oh genie, how about an umbrella that actually works and who cares if it’s in a bottle or not. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)