Training Magazine - June 2008 - (Page 28)

John Kotter Q&A 250 penguins in the book. In global companow, so why change?” One way to get by 8 STEPS TO nies, it’s rare to move 42 million people in 72 this is to send someone off for three years of SUCCESSFUL countries a step to the left. Instead, it tends to psychoanalysis. Another is to find a way to CHANGE work in pieces. I just got off the phone with a purposely disarm the fears. Humor is great 1. Increase urgency person in charge of a U.S. division of a huge for this. I’m a feedback guy, and I’ve found 2. Build the guiding team company, who said, “We have to get our you can get the audience more engaged by 3. Get the vision right group going, so we can provide a role model using humor. 4. Communicate for buy-in for other groups.” They get something rolling 5. Empower action and are noticed by other parts of the company. Some might say that finding another 6. Create short-term wins iceberg is not the final solution—it’s just If you can get different rates of change going, 7. Don’t let up putting off a bigger problem (i.e., what to the whole thing starts to move. 8. Make it stick do about global warming—where do the As for different cultures, this change penguins go when there are no more icemodel is based on human nature and cuts bergs?). How do you respond to that? across cultures, sectors (public/private), and generations. KOTTER: The point is that there is no permanent iceberg. Life Often, employees are open to change but have conis going to change, so just get used to it. It can be fun. You can cerns about their company’s willingness or ability to train the next generation to do it better. You’re going to be provide the necessary resources. How does a company moving. You may end up living on something other than an overcome those concerns? iceberg, but even that may turn into an iceberg. The ultimate KOTTER: Fears hold people back. They’ve seen people get solution—nomadic existence in which the penguins move whacked in the past or they think, “Things are working fine from iceberg to iceberg—was our analogy that what sustains you is going to change. CAST OF CHARACTERS FRED: Unusually What is your own “iceberg” right now? KOTTER: My iceberg now is that when you get good at some- curious, observant, and creative; level-headed; fished less and studied the iceberg and sea more. He was the first to notice the iceberg was melting. LOUIS: Top penguin and head of the Leadership Council (aka the Group of 10); patient, conservative, not easily flustered, respected by all except NoNo and the teenagers, smart (but not an intellectual heavyweight). He put together the team of himself, Fred, Alice, Buddy, and the Professor to solve the problem. ALICE: Member of the Leadership Council; tough, practical bird with a reputation of getting things done, didn’t care about status, impossible to intimidate. She listened to Fred, made the case to the council, and worked to find a solution. JORDAN THE PROFESSOR: Closest the Leadership Council had to an intellectual; well-read, fascinated by interesting questions. He obtained and analyzed information. BUDDY: Quiet, boyishly handsome penguin everyone liked and trusted; not ambitious, not an intellectual heavyweight. He communicated the message of change and the solution to the rest of the penguins. NONO: Older, heavyset bird responsible for weather forecasting. He refused to believe Fred’s dire predictions about the iceberg or participate in any problem-solving activities; he also worked to sabotage possible solutions. thing you are tempted to stay in that box forever. I want to keep creating new things that have broader reach. I’d like to help the world get 100 million people to lead organizations and their own lives better through the work we’re doing. Another of my icebergs is convincing the people working with me to move forward with me. And I only realized in July as I was sitting in the audience of a Leading Bold Change session that my team was not complete. They give you sticky things with the characters’ faces on them and ask you to choose the one that is most like you and stick it on your shirt. Then you have to identify the people around you and match them to characters. At that moment, I realized I didn’t have all the “characters” I need around me to accomplish what I need to accomplish. I thought, “Why in the world didn’t I see this before?” So, I’ve recently made some huge decisions to try to put the missing elements into my team. Editor’s Note: Dr. Kotter’s next book, “A Sense of Urgency” (Harvard Business School Press) focuses on the first step in his change model (creating a sense of urgency) and is due out in September 2008. ISB Worldwide Corporate Learning Management provides access to top business thought leaders and best-of-breed corporate training offerings. For the last 20 years, it has assisted organizations in developing leaders at all levels through in-house workshops, trainer certification programs, and licensed programs and products in all major leadership and management disciplines. For information, call 877.258.6231 or visit www.isbworldwide.com. w w w. t r a i n i n g m a g . c o m 28 | JUNE 2008 t r a i n i n g http://www.isbworldwide.com http://www.trainingmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Training Magazine - June 2008

Training Magazine - June 2008 Contents Online TOC Editor’s Note Live & Online Training Today Soapbox How-To World View Changes With Penguins Keeping Forced Ranking Out of Court Across the Board Certify Me Meetings CPR How Secure Is Your Data? Training Leadership Summit Wrap-Up Tools of the Trade Inprint Questions for Covey

Training Magazine - June 2008

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