Getting started at last

Last week, I had the breakthrough I was waiting for since I started using the techniques of the book Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, by Chip and Dan Heath.  A few weeks ago, I described this books model for change in an organization.  Picture everyone in the organization as a person riding an elephant.  The "rider" is the logical mind.  The "elephant" is that person's emotions.  Change involves appealing to the rider, motivating the elephant, and clearing the path.  Here are key points from the book in each area and some of the ways this applied to my recent project:

1. Direct the rider.  The book suggest that you "follow the bright spots".  Focus on reapplying what is working well.  I was able to do this on my project because one factory had the best results.  I kept investigating and found that there were some things they did uniquely well and that these things could be reapplied.  The book also suggest you "script the critical moves", that you clarify specific behaviors and explain the destination.  I was able to focus on a simple theme of better communication from the factories to the central organization and how this would help the central group reduce overtime and would help the factories ensure they got their needs met.
2. Motivate the elephant.  The book suggests you "find the feeling".  Appeal to emotions strategically.  I was able to appeal to the desire of the plants to get what they want the first time from the central group.  I got the central group excited about the idea of clearer communication from the plants leading to fewer complaints and less frustrating rework.  The book also suggest "shrinking the change".  Get started small to create momentum.  For this, I focused more on those sites that wanted to test the new ideas and less on trying to persuade everybody at once to come on board.
3. Clear the path.  The book suggests "tweaking the environment" to make the change easier.  To do this, I helped clarify and document those ideas that we hope will spread from the most successful factory to the other plant sites.  Finally, the book suggests "rallying the herd", getting some sites to take the lead and inspire others to join.  Here, the focus on those sites who were most eager to learn has helped others decide to join in.

At this point, we have a project.  We have momentum and I expect big changes despite my lack of authority over anybody involved.  I feel I owe a lot of what has happened to Chip and Dan Heath's terrific book.

Addicted to an App

I'm hooked on the "30/30" iPhone app.  I add a task, set the total time I want to spend on it, and click play to start the timer.  I can tap to add or subtract a little more time as I go.  Gives me confidence that I'm not going to lose track of time.  My iPhone, sitting next to my computer, holds me accountable.  Great tool when I'm really overloaded.

Keeping Track of Time

I'm terrible at keeping track of time.  I want to have a nice mix of projects at work and home, but I'll get so caught up in something that I run out of time for my other priorities.  I've been experimenting with different mechanical and electronic gadgets to deal with this.  Here are some of the things that have been helping:

• Free software:  "TimeLeft".   This free software puts a semi-transparent timer on my computer screen.  I like the fact that I don't even need to look away from my Excel sheet or my e-mail to see the time clicking away.  This is really nice because when I'm REALLY caught up in something, I might not look at a stopwatch that is just 2 inches from my computer.

• Mechanical timer "Joseph-Joseph".  I like the way this timer gives me visual feedback of how much time is left.  I use it at home, but it makes too much noise when it rings to use it in my cubicle at work.  I got an extra one on sale and tried to take it apart to disable the ringing mechanism, but this mechanical engineer met his match.  All kinds of little parts fell out and I couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

• iPhone apps
• I think I like these the best.  My favorite so far is "30/30".  Like the "Joseph-Joseph" timer, it gives me visual feedback of how much of the "pie" has been consumed.  Unlike Joseph-Joseph, I can keep the thing from ringing loudly and annoying all my neighbors

From I to We to I

It often happens to mothers.  Many days, they feel that all they've done all day is take care of the family.  They never got a chance to indulge in their own priorities.

It can happen to fathers, too.  When I get home from work and when I'm home on the weekends, I'll often feel that I need to focus on what the FAMILY needs, focus on what WE need, not what I need.  And this is probably the right thing to do.  I want to be a devoted father, not one who spends most of his free time indulging his interests and ignoring his family.  But I'm finding, lately, a need to consciously shift back and forth from a focus on WE--the family--to I--the things I'm interested in that nobody else necessarily cares about.

In most of my free time, I'll focus on WE.  What do we all agree we need to get done?  What fun do we want to have as a couple or a family?  Then, having satisfied many of the family's needs, I'll consciously shift to a mode where I'm not focused on what the rest of the family wants.  I do the chores and projects nobody else thinks matters.  I blog.  I'll go to a performance of jazz or of classical music.  I'll go on a hike.  The rest of my family isn't interested in these things, but that doesn't matter.  As long as most of my free time is devoted to family, I can feel good about the support I'm providing and still find time to indulge in the things that only matter to me.

Trust the Elephant

Last night I tossed and turned for a couple of hours, thinking about the big conference call that would be coming at 11 am.  During this conference call, I was going to encourage that we reapply the methods of a factory that, in one aspect of the business, was greatly outperforming all the rest.  Seems logical, but, unfortunately, the other plants naturally conclude that I'm perceiving them as as second best or worse.  At 3am, 4am, and again at 5am, I wondered whether the big conference call was going to be filled with arguments and defensiveness.

But I started to tell myself to "trust the elephant".  Trust the model that I had been reading about in the book Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Dan and Chip Heath.  Trust that I can persuade people to change if I direct the rider of the elephant (in simple terms, what do I propose we do?), motivate the elephant (connect to emotions by painting a picture of how this can make their lives better), and clear the path (help make the change as easy as possible).  I decided to let this model guide everything I said during the phone call.  I fell asleep after I decided to "trust the elephant".  Later, when I had the phone call, the plan worked.  No insurmountable arguments, everyone aligned to the next steps, and we got through a one hour call with 10 minutes to spare.