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We provide tools & seminars that will equip leaders to motivate, engage and empower people.

Future focus has three components: cultivating self awareness, awakening motivation and shifting mindset. We use world-class diagnostic & training tools to help you and your organization move people forward, into their future. We custom each program according to their unique needs, with a focus on maximizing strengths.

Contact us today to arrange a taster or for more information on how we can help you and your people.

]]> http://www.futurefocus.net.au/2011/01/24/awaken-motivated-shift-mindset/feed/ 0 http://www.futurefocus.net.au/2010/09/24/143/ http://www.futurefocus.net.au/2010/09/24/143/#comments Fri, 24 Sep 2010 01:19:32 +0000 admin http://www.futurefocus.net.au/2010/09/24/143/ For some reason humans seem to be drawn to all of the wrong things when we pursue change. We assume that we need a solution that is a big as the problem. And we look at the problems, analyzing, dissecting, fretting, hoping a solution will emerge.

Take the example of Jerry, who was hired by a emerging nation to help address malnutrition among children. Kids were dying because they weren’t getting the right foods. It was a massive problem, and Jerry was given just one year, and no resources to fix it.
How’s that for a challenge?

Most of us would get out the spreadsheets, ask for more money, or simply quit due to the lack of resources. But Jerry went looking for the bright spots.

He discovered that in some villages, the kids were healthier & had a higher survival rate. After some research he learnt that the mothers in those villages fed their kids four meals a day, not two; this made it easier for kids to digest all the nutrients they needed. And while the kids were eating basic food, they also added in prawns and vegetables, that gave them vital protein and nutrients, which the other villages didn’t.

These two simple changes had a dramatic effect, and within a year, by using what was already working as a model, Jerry saved the lives of hundreds of kids, and earned the respect of the government that hired him. If like Jerry, you have changes that need to be made, here are three vital lessons to embrace.

1) Start with the bright spots

It was a simple practice of time, and extra resources that fueled Jerry’s changes. He didn’t waste time, energy & resources fretting about what was wrong, trying to convince people to change or fighting battles to get attention. He found what was working, and shone a bright light on it.

-What are the bright spots in the areas you’d like to change?

-What is already working, no matter how small it may seem?

2) Find the motivation

Again with Jerry’s problem, it was the motherly motivation of wanting to have healthy kids that brought about a change, and ultimately a community transformation. A big problem doesn’t always need a huge solution; but it does require motivation on our part to act. The government didn’t have the power or resources to address the issue appropriately; but the Mothers who were feeding these children every day were instinctually driven to make changes that would benefit their children.

-What is going to motivate you or your organization to change?

-What are the powerful motivations, the positive outcomes that can help you embrace change?

3) Shrink the change

Perhaps Jerry’s greatest success was to shrink the change. The mothers didn’t need to go to cooking school, or learn about best health practices. They didn’t need to purchase expensive ingredients, or receive education around malnutrition. They simply added some ingredients (which were already being fed to adults) and fed their kids smaller meals more often. A huge problem was tackled with a simple, practical solution. It was a change of mindset that led to a significant cultural shift.

-How can you shrink the change you need to make?

-How could it be reduced to some simple steps that will make a big difference in the long run?

Change is difficult at times; but using these three simple steps can make it a reality, even when it’s tough.

Shine a light on the bright spots; find the motivation; shrink the change

Learn the secrets to BOUNCE

The powerful analogy the book is built on is a comparison between the two creatures; cut off a spiders head, and it dies (as those of us who live in houses inhabited by spiders know too well.)

However when you slice up a starfish, chances are it will reproduce a new leg to replace the one that has been severed; and in some cases, given the right conditions, that severed leg will grow into a whole new starfish.

Transfer this analogy to organizations; some are built on a powerful, top-down leadership model, like banks, telcos, record companies and movie studios.

Those at the top fire their orders down the chain of command, and the organization rises and falls on their abilities. But what happens to them when the leader retires, or information can’t get to the top quickly enough?

Take the Victorian Bushfires, or Hurricane Katrina as an example: in both these instances, tragedies unfolded so quickly that emergency responses couldn’t cope.

Those on the ground knew what was happening, but due to the top-down leadership employed by both the Victorian Government and the US Government, no-one on the ground had the resources or authority to muster an appropriate response.

Meanwhile those who did have resources & authority – the heads of the spiders – took far too long to gain an accurate understanding of what was happening, and what was needed in response.

It just takes too long for accurate, insightful information to move all the way to the top of chain, and in the case of these tragedies, those at the top had too little time to mobilize those under their command.

Compare this to the neighborhood fire-fighting model my suburb embraced in the wake of Sydney’s most recent bushfire disaster. They raised funds to equip every street in fire prone areas with fire-trailers, filled with hoses, helmets and other gear needed to fight fires.

They then trained residents in that street to fight fires, to use the equipment, and to evacuate not a whole suburb, but just their own street. If another bushfire flared up quickly, those closest to the action (and therefore closest to danger) did not have to rely on external structures to provide them with leadership; they could do it themselves.

Put simply, organizations that embrace the principles of the starfish are changing the way our world works. Companies and groups that continue to embrace top-down leadership are essentially falling behind; it’s not that these types of structures don’t work, but rather that the starfish-model has an inbuilt advantage that the spider-model does not; try to kill it and it grows.

Take the music industry as another example of a spider-type organization. In the early parts of this decade, the music industry was being slaughtered by the spread of the internet; music lovers everywhere were fed up with having to pay full price to listen to songs that were part of bad albums. So they began swapping files online for free.

MGM launched legal proceedings against Napster, and the other record companies lined up to help them; they wanted to take the head of this spider once and for all, sending a message to the freeloaders who had plundered the profits.

But the freeloaders responded by getting smarter.

Rather than storing music files in a central database, that could be searched out and destroyed, they began creating file-sharing services. They eliminated the middle-man, and began to recover, just like a star fish that had lost a leg.

It’s almost impossible to track who has downloaded what in the world of Kazzaa and Limewire, and literally impossible to find out who is in charge; because nobody is.

The six major record companies, rather than plugging their leaks, have instead had their cupboards raided by pirates, and by the looks of things will never return to the glory days where they dominated the music business.

Here is one last example for you about the power of leaderless organizations.

Put your hand up if you’ve heard of Skype? A few years ago, when Skype first came up with the idea of internet phonecalls, they struggled to raise a few million dollars worth of investment.
How would anyone be able to compete with telcos that have invested billions of dollars in establishing communications networks? Today Skype is worth over $4 billion.

I don’t want to tell you how much a $1000 investment back in the day would be worth now. Skype is fueled by the principles of the starfish; no centralized leadership, just common values. Users connect to each other, and each user stores a section of the skype directory on their own PC, eliminating the need for the kind of central database that costs Telcos billions of dollars to build.

Most organizations are willing to invest an incredible amount in great leaders; but the principles of the starfish seem to suggest that building a brilliant organization, with common & explicit values, might be a better investment than a CEO who is one day going to be asking for a golden parachute.

Talk has been especially negative regarding General Motors, and their inability to observe shifts in the habits & needs of motorists. It seems they’ve failed to adapt to changing conditions, and have paid a heavy price for their leadership or lack thereof.

If we flash back in time to another period of recession, the 1980’s, it seems the automotive industry was already providing clues to help GM grow and change. You may have seen the movie Gung Ho, which chronicles how Toyota collaborated with GM to help turn around the fledgling Freemont, California plant.

While GM had remained a top-down & centralized structure (think Spider), Toyota had embraced hybrid leadership principles (think starfish).

They innovated, adapted, and embraced feedback from both customers and staff. In fact they even had a system whereby any worker could stop the assembly line to suggest improvements on the manufacturing process.

Employees felt like part of the team, and the vast majority of improvements suggested were actually implemented, creating a high level of ownership amongst staff. Toyota viewed its employees as key assets, not just pieces in an assembly line.

GM scoffed at their innovative ways, despite the fact that their own vehicles were prone to mechanical failure. They contended that their own problems were the result of unchecked union power, and that Toyotas success was birthed in cultural differences.

The story is rich with learnings about what makes organizations and their leaders, great.

Freemont was so bad, that GM had already decided to close it down when they offered it to Toyota. It was their lowest producing plant, with the poorest quality vehicles. Relations between staff and management were so bad that managers carried guns for protection, and the union had a terrible relationship with management. It was a nightmare by any standard.

GM threw down the gauntlet, and forced Toyota to hire the same unionized workforce they dealt with.

GM & Toyota re-opened the plant and immediately embraced the principles that had served the Japanese operators so well. The pay scale was flattened. The value of team work and individual ownership was stressed and they  created a culture where staff were assets.

Team members were quoted as saying:

“our team dictates what we do and how we do it; we see our group leader for 30 minutes each week…the team members are what is most important; we can function without management.”

The results were remarkable; within 3 years the plant was among the top GM units worldwide, with an average of 60% higher productivity than comparable plants. Quality had dramatically improved.

When a secret managerial spy infiltrated the Freemont plant as an ordinary worker, and began slacking off with long lunches, lapses in concentration and a poor attitude, he was stunned by the response of his team; they were tougher on him than management, due to their new-found pride and desire to see the plant run smoothly.

Values, not structure or procedure, transformed the Freemont plant. Toyota realized that values were an important addition to structures, and they learnt to harness the power of values to produce great results.

They realized that a centralized assembly line would take vital influence and power away from their employees; however they maintained a structure that meant employees still had projects and targets to work on.

They were never free to just do whatever they wanted, but they were empowered to do the job in the most innovative way they could imagine.

Essentially, Toyotas values gave it control over consistency, and its decentralization inspired ownership & creativity.

Recent events might lead us to conclude that GM is still holding onto structures that are ineffective, and despite the lessons of Gung Ho & the Freemont plant, have still not harnessed the potency of values in leadership.