Moving Beyond Stuck
How often do you hear leadership say, "We should have solved this problem a long time ago. I wonder why we are "stuck?" Sound familiar? We hear it every week in our conversations with CEO's, Chief Medical Officers, and decision makers at all levels. "We know there is a problem. We just don't seem to get our feet out of the mud long enough to solve it!" The "mud" comes in many varieties. Mud can be a fear of change, a historical way of doing things that feels sacred, fears of rapidly changing technology, "We are so busy, there is no time (or energy) to implement needed change," or, "What if the proposed change fails"? And the mud gets deeper, and our feet get more intrenched!
What to do to change the cycle of making difficult decisions and changes to processes? Here are some tips for breaking that cycle and creating a path for positive and necessary change.
- Accept Responsibility: You are the designated person who is responsible for creating change. It isn't always fun, but, if you don't initiate the process, you aren't fully doing your job. Many describe this process as "liberating" and, personally, a major accomplishment.
- Take a Step Backwards: Stop the failed efforts for creating change and create a sentence or two statement for yourself that defines the objective, not the path.
- Think About the Dance Steps: Create a list for yourself of who the players will be and the role each tends to play when change is proposed, i.e., The "That never works" person, the "Everybody knows that" person, the "if I have something to add, I will, so don't mind my silence" person, and the "our patients hate technology" person.
- Self-Analyses: Think back to the role YOU generally play when it comes to change. How has that role traditionally impacted the "mud" that slows or deters change?
- Accept "Lifesavers": Truly, you are not the first or only person who has ever gone through this process. There are mentors, peers, professionals, and colleagues who can share their stories with you as well as offer you support and feedback on the process.
- Ask Questions: Don't be afraid to ask questions such as "Why", "How do we know that for sure?" or "Is that a fact or a "limiting belief"?
- Dig Deep: In a universe filled with mediocracy, who are the "outliers" ---Those who have chosen to take the path of excellence and leadership. Follow that path.
- Success begets Success: Take and reward small steps, actions, and positive changes. They become the base of larger steps and actions. You will be building a new culture. New cultures need a firm and strong foundation.
- Good listening: Change demands good auditory skills. Here your role is to be both a good listener and a good hearer. When is a question not a question but a judgement? When is silence a deterrent to getting out of the mud? At what point is a staff member's "confusion" not really confusion but cloaked resistance?
- Threats and Obstacles: Neither fuel threats to the process of change nor deny the reality that some individuals, for an array of reasons, are paralyzed by the process of change and may never achieve buy-in.
- The Goal: Remember, at all stages of change, you have options. You may not love the options, yet, you have options! With your goal in mind, how do the options impact achievement of that goal?
- Remember, you are a leader. Change and modifying the culture takes time and patience. Change requires the leadership role to be positive, goal-directed, energetic, and visible. It also demands that you be strategic.
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