People won't commit if they don't know where they're going

We need big trust to go with someone and not know where they’re going.

'Trust me, it’s a great restaurant.'

‘Believe me, you’ll love this holiday location.’

We may think people will just follow us or they're at fault because they don’t 'engage or buy-in'. How do we lead so people will change with us as we launch something, try something new or zig when everyone else is zagging?

To reduce anxiety and uncertainty and build trust and understanding use sensemaking. We have some of it in our nature (how we make sense of things) but we can learn more so we become insight seekers and rapid sense makers in this world of complexity and uncertainty.

Do this:

1️⃣ Create a map of what’s possible, what the potential is

2️⃣ Talk through that map, share it with others

Like this:

In my recent Sensemaking skills workshop, a participant created a map about change in the educational sector she works in. She shared and talked through the map with the team. A topic that used to create resistance now had understanding, intrigue and curiosity.

✅Ace!

What do you have to convey:

- Your own thinking and ideas?

- A new product or service?

- A plan or vision for the future?

TL; DR 'Too long; didn’t read'

We’re drowning in it! Information overload from packs, keynotes, talks, sessions, webinars, meetings, presentations, conversations aarrrggh NOT TO MENTION OUR OWN THOUGHTS and Netflix binges, podcasts, audio books, Spotify playlists oh and pretty journals.

How do we take in more ...or just make better, quicker sense of things?

If you move from a mess to a list, to a pack, to a pic... all of these have pros and cons but the one that wins the race, the journey, the transformation is… the MAP.

We already enjoy a daily use of maps:

• Where is my food delivery?
• Why did the driver go down that street?
• Which is the quickest route to the cafe?

Maps have gone full circle (full globe?) from being crusty old, folded-the-wrong-way paper, to books of maps, to apps of maps. We know what maps look like and use them all the time. They guide and show us the unknown, unseen.

So it's too bad (and so silly) that more leaders don’t use maps instead of weighty wastes of slide decks that sucked weeks of time and tinkering from us. It could have all be done in 1/10th of the time, with 10x the impact ... with a map.

Do you map? Here’s one I prepared earlier :-)

Changing conditions

Woah! Watch out, take care!

'Variable water depth and drop off’ says the sign at my local beach here in Melbourne, Australia. If this is the first time you’ve come to this beach, then this information is vitally important. It could save your life! Waters are clear but not so clear that we can always see the bottom.

The signs I’ve been sharing in posts this week may well be about water, beach and swimming safety, but they’re a brilliant reminder for us in many other situations.

Be ready; that solid ground you’re standing on could shift, move, change. And while we think conditions are set or predictable, they can and do change rapidly.

This is a common environment for us now in a world that’s labelled ‘VUCA’, in workplaces undergoing change or transformation, and in people who may be fed up hearing about all of those things!

We can become complacent, comfortable, habitual. And so an unexpected change or shift, is just that … unexpected. These times are about our ability to adapt, change and to be ready.

It is having a capability of adaptability.

Currents, turbulence and disturbed air flows

We often expect things to be smooth and uninterrupted. I heard a driver shout ‘get out of my way’ to a fellow road user this morning.

It’s a complaint of our time, always expecting a clear path. But not every cruise can be on calm seas; not every flight is entirely smooth. Weather patterns clash and collide and we travel through so much airspace that we’re bound to encounter different situations.

This is most certainly the case in our diverse workplaces and communities. It happens in teams, in projects … even in meetings. We have a rich mix of styles, types, modes, preferences and behaviours. All colliding. And we need to be able to make progress with them, not against them.

What’s going on in your team or project may not be permanent. It may just be a passing current, passing weather, a ripple or ruffle from something else. Don’t be too quick to smooth it.

In becoming better facilitators of processes and people, we can learn how to go with currents. Just like a rip in the ocean or at a surf beach, fighting it is tiring, pointless, dangerous. Going with it usually takes you to another exit point, another way of exploring it, solving it and surviving it.

Degree of Difficulty

There could be a degree of difficulty.

Trying new things, working in new ways or joining new teams can present challenges. Not everything is easy, simple, clear or certain to ‘go our way’. Any time you’re working with or on something new, there could be a degree of difficulty with it.

Yes, just like athletes in diving, skating, skiing - and many other sports - there’s a grade or tariff in a technical skill.

As the world of work keeps changing, your role may change, the system may change, the leader may change, customers change. And with every change, there could be some challenge and difficulty.

Rather than resisting, blocking, denying or ignoring the new, try it. Practice it, try it out, and again. No great skill, insight or learning came from persistent resistance.

New ways of doing things are new to some of us because we haven’t done things like this, in this way, using this system/process/app/tool/method before. As we try to think and do things in new ways, be kind to those experiencing these degrees of difficulty.

We've all been there. Don’t push people down the ramp. Let them take it step by step.