Is it for information only

The difference between being invited for consultation and information are so, so different. 

Yet they’re often substituted. 

🔅‘Please comment on this change’ is different to ‘this change is happening’. 

🔅‘What do you think of this proposed process’ is different to ‘things will change on the 8th of the month’. 

🔅’What’s your advice on this idea’ is different to ‘here’s how things are going to be’. 

Check if it’s really consultation or just information. 

Don’t invite people to a forum if there’s no discussion, input, invitation or conversation. 

That’s information. 

If it’s all PowerPoint and the same heads talking ... that’s information, not consultation. 

Sadly, many people are so ready to give their ideas and suggestions, but there’s no room. time or space for it. 

The newer world of work makes many more opportunities available for co-creation, consultation and collaboration ... not just communication. 

It’s acknowledging that people have plenty clever, creativity and ingenuity to share ... to help solve tricky problems, deliver greater value and make faster change. 

That’s richer than ‘for your information’. 

What can you turn from information into consultation? 

What’s new in your change toolkit

Change is almost always a complex, gnarly process with many moving parts... and people.

Resistance is common.
Misunderstandings frequent.

We’re change fatigued, weary (and wary) of more change to things at work.

And preaching 'change is a constant' doesn't get people into it any quicker or easier. 

It’s hard to engage and inspire people on why it's happening and what their role is.

Many change messages don't cut through the overload and overwhelm people are struggling with, particularly when remote and online. 

Conflict, debate and tension escalates, creating problems beyond the change program.

Your toolkit of change becomes vital. 

How do we do things differently to get the results needed? 

Channel your efforts to:
▪️ ENGAGE 
▪️ LEAD &
▪️ IMPACT. 

Focusing here helps cut through the complex nature of change. It gives the change team 3 elements, a mantra for strong, clear and decisive activity. 

Engage. 
Lead. 
Impact. 

6 ways we’re overloaded

We know what overloads and overwhelms us: information, overwork, deadlines, social issues, politics, uncertainty. 

While we need to keep a handle on managing our own overload, it’s important to consider others and how we might be overloading them...accidentally or unknowingly.  

Here’s how we overload:
1. Meetings are too long
2. Focusing on the work for too long
3. One person speaking for too long. 

These are about the pressure and expectation we have of ATTENTION. There’s no break and pressure piles up with no relief or release. 


And then there’s:
4. Rambling, unstructured information 
5. Too much context or background 
6. Lengthy presentation packs. 

These are about the quantity and types of INFORMATION. We expect we can keep processing, analyzing, digesting and synthesizing information... endlessly. 

All 6 of these overloads are “too much”: too much unreleased pressure and too much wrestling with information. 

Combined, they lead to the reduced engagement, slowed progress and increased confusion of overload. And exhaustion. 

Take each in turn and use it as a kind of gate, filter or checklist. 

We can’t expect others to ‘just deal with’ what we haven’t considered, constrained or refined. 

Are you there with curiosity

Or did critique and complaint show up instead? 

There can be an easier, default response to be right ... by pointing out the wrong. 

But these times of extreme change and uncertainty require a greater openness of mind, a willingness to wonder and a greater sense of possibility. 

Our curiosity bias is there. We think, ponder and are curious about many, many things. 

How can we be curious about the things that might benefit from our curiosity? 


1. Do we bring curiosity to potentially boring meetings? 

Do we think:
“OMG this is so dull and boring; they are a hopeless leader.”

Or do we think:
“Hmmm, how could I help bring greater engagement or contribute to higher interest - for myself and others? What else is possible? What could I do here?”


2. Do we bring curiosity to a dense information pack?

Do we think:
“Ugh what waffle. Pages of it! They’ve missed the point. They’ve got no idea.”

Or do we think:
“Hmmm I wonder what the intention is? What’s the main point here? How can I best make sense of this?”


It may be easier to critique but the better, and more powerful work is in curiosity. 

Be there with curiosity. 

Move beyond the clichés

- Let’s take it offline 
- I hear what you’re saying
- Let’s car park it 
- I’ll take it on board

These meeting clichés can be said to dismiss, defer or redirect attention. 

We might be economical, to “keep things moving”, so we use clichés for convenience. 

But they’re overused, unoriginal and predictable. 

Clichés might be convenient for you but they’re not so good for genuine, human conversations and interactions. 

People zone out. It doesn’t connect. 


Why not say what a human would say to another human, in a normal conversation style. 

Speak originally and genuinely, leaving ‘cliché city’ behind! 

The distances between us call for greater humanity and originality.

In a world where connection with each other has been impacted, it’s worth us trying to communicate in more human ways ... not less.