Pull the Plug on Change : Bullet Points are Bullshit

"Pull the plug! Go on I dare you! Step out from behind the PowerPoint slide deck you've created."

I said this to a leader of change in a health insurance business and he said ....'No. I can't do that!!!'

But if you're 'rolling out' your communications and key messages for that change and transformation project you're working on - just as this leader was - you don't need a slide deck, a pack or a bunch of pages with boxes, arrows, chevrons and bullet points in it!

In fact those bullet points you've got there? They're bullish*t.

There. It's in print. I think bullet points are bullish*t. 

They boring, linear, impossible to memorise after about five - unless you're a memory champ - and they do little to inspire or inform, particularly during times of change. 

Most of all, bullet points often show up as a default option in PowerPoint. But you need to buck the default if you want to get engagement and understanding with your message. 

With all of the information flying around your organisation and team, you want your change messages to get a little more cut-through than the notice in the kitchen that cleanliness is everyone's responsibility!

Just because you have some key points to make about change, doesn't mean they need to be communicated as points.

Unpack your entire message across different dimensions: a story, some data, a quote, the rollout plan, where things were, what they'll be like in the future, some engaging questions, some customer insights, the trends in the industry. 

So this leader who I challenged to 'pull the plug'? We took his PowerPoint pack of bullet points and crafted some flip charts, posters, key messages, a couple of stories and some questions to have dialogue with the team. 

That's what he rolled out across the country. No PowerPoint in sight. 

He did pull the plug; and his people were so pleased he did. He stepped out from behind the pack of pages. Now he's talking, engaging, interacting and co-creating the change process with his team. That's leadership!

A P.S. to the Standup

Good news! The team I talked about in my recent post The best meeting : 10 minutes, no water bottles, no chairs, no tables, has now had four stand up meetings... FOUR.... and they're hooked!

Yes there was uncertainty. There was doubt. There was disbelief.

But there was also focus, clarity and progress.

They laughed. They even applauded spontaneously at the end of the first meeting.

And then off they went and started... doing! Hooray.

I'm still standing by them as they stand up, mainly to guide the leader with some facilitation skills. Of course, that leader already has some great facilitation skills, but you know what it's like when you're working with PEOPLE! :-)

We're all human and so the human leader just needs to deliver some more human to the humans in the stand up.

So a little coaching, guidance and debriefing for the leader on the fine art of 'handling the sh*t that goes down in groups' is what we've be doing after each of the stand ups.

I'll keep standing by their stand ups and look forward to seeing them getting on with great progress and celebrating - whether they stumble, fall, get up, fail, or go wildly beyond what they were expecting.

Are you standing up yet?

The 7 Habits of Highly Collaborative People

Have you heard that comedy line about how we all think we're above average drivers? Then who is it that's causing the fender-benders and why did that grrrrr (insert some road rage) person change lanes without indicating!?

Similarly in the world of work, I think we believe we're above average collaborators. When it comes to working with others, we think we're better than most and "hey, why wouldn't someone want to work with me?!"

To build on being that person that others want to work with, to be that person that lifts energy when you walk in the room, and the person that helps people feel that anything is possible, I've written an eBook called 'The 7 Habits of Highly Collaborative People.'

In facilitating hundreds of workshops, sessions and meetings, I get to see people at work every day ... and I get to see and hear them collaborating.

This is what the most collaborative people do. The 'new collaborators' of today's work world:

1. Facilitate 
2. Marinate (no, this is not about the workplace kitchen!)
3. Validate
4. Ideate

...and then they

5. Build On
6. Shift Status and
7. Stay Agile

You're welcome to download my free ebook 'The 7 Habits of Highly Collaborative People'.

And let me know what you think...

What will you do when you get to Liminality?

Liminality? Where the heck is THAT?

If you're thinking from here to eternity is a big trip, wait until you find your way to liminality!

Actually, liminality isn't that far away. You've probably been there before. If you're in the midst of a new year change or trying some new habits and rituals, you'll get to liminality sometime over the next week or so...

Liminality isn't so much a place, but a state of uncertainty, a feeling of 'where the heck are we?'

If you've been travelling a bit and then wake up during the night in a darkened and unfamiliar room wondering 'where am I? Which city? Where's the bathroom', you could well be in liminality. 

Most of all we experience liminality in a place that's a bit like a twilight zone or no man's land; we're not quite here, we're not quite there. Like a threshold of sorts. 

Though the roots of liminality come from anthropology and have a strong connection to rituals, it's a useful concept when teams and individuals are working through changes and new patterns of working or behaving. 

Think of when the school year comes to an end; students have finished their exams, but they're waiting to graduate or waiting for the results. They're not quite done being school students and they're not yet university students. 

No wonder the 'gap year' has become so popular. Is it a way to truly enjoy no man's land and uncertainty and create some new holiday rituals perhaps?

When organisations, teams and businesses set off on a path of change, they must keep a look out for liminality. From here to liminality... that point where some of the old ways are breaking down and being replaced by new ways; but those new ways are not fully embedded. There's a chance we'll revert to old ways. 

Leading a team in liminality takes patience, understanding, empathy. There can often be a lengthy period of time before an old system or process stops fully and the new one 'goes live'. There's that time in between where both might be running; or some of the team are doing a bit of this, a bit of that. A threshold to cross. 

Know that from here to liminality can involve the decision to change, the introduction of new rituals, processes and ways of working. And then from liminality onwards... that's where the real change gets created, embedded, reinforced and truly starts to take shape. 

It will be a great trip. Want to come along?

The best meeting : 10 minutes, no water bottles, no chairs, no tables

At a client workplace this morning I saw a group of colleagues heading off to their Monday morning meeting. They were all carrying note pads and pens and water bottles full to the brim. Into the meeting room they walked, they shut the door, sat down and they got into two hours of ..... yawn. 

I'm working with them to help them become quicker collaborators, clearer communicators and faster problem solvers. 

The first thing we will 'delete' (before we create or add to a 'do' list) is their lengthy Monday morning meeting. 

Starting tomorrow they'll be having a daily stand up, or a huddle; a quick (5 - 15 mins) standing meeting that reports on what each individual is working on and if there are any impediments to them getting that done today.

They'll meet again the next day, same type of meeting. And the day after, and every working day onward. 

This 'stand up' approach to meetings is efficient, quick, clear, focused, progressive and helps get stuff done. 

It's a no nonsense, no blah-blah and no bullish*t approach to producing outcomes and getting over hurdles. 

Borrowed from the worlds of agile and scrum and highly effective in software development, the daily stand up answers three questions and everyone reports in on them, quickly: 

1. What did I accomplish yesterday?
2. What will I do today?
3. What obstacles are impeding my progress?

A team in financial services I helped set up these meetings got started, but then they started shifting the time of the meetings to 10am and midday and then sometimes it didn't happen. 

The key is same time, every day, no matter who is or isn't there. The meetings get people used to communicating frequently, face to face and clearly. 

It's so great to see a team get some momentum with this approach. They're relieved at the time they're saving; they're motivated by the progress they can see they're making. 

And the team leader can see quickly which areas need their input and leadership to unblock or remove impediments. 

You don't need a meeting room. Stand up in your working area. 

Try it at home. Have a daily stand up meeting at home to work out what's happening today and what obstacles are in the way. 

There's so much more to read and learn about stand ups. Start with this awesome piece from Jason Yip on Martin Fowler's website and you'll find plenty of insights, learning and tips on how to make it more than just about standing up. 

Your team's culture and collaborative effectiveness can change. This is one strong way to impact and lead that change. 

Will you stand up?