THE ROLLERCOASTER - Conceptual buy-in The front car reached the top of the climb and the coaster immediately dropped a heart-pounding 155 feet reaching a top speed of 72mph. It was two minutes and sixteen seconds of sheer adrenaline as the coaster had four loops ending in a cobra roll as the grand finale. Tom and Scott had brought their families to the amusement park on a sultry Saturday afternoon. After the rollercoaster thrill, they both decided they needed a break. They grabbed a refreshment and parked their bodies in a shaded area. The collective family members agreed to return in an hour and quickly scattered to other areas of the park.
After collecting their senses, Tom and Scott broke into a conversation about work. They both held leadership positions in complementary industries, so it was easy for them to have an appreciable understanding to each other's situations. Tom shared a problem he was having associated with one of his company's initiatives, which was implemented in the prior year.
Tom said, "We just cannot get this new workflow adopted with our national producers. We've showed them umpteen times that the initiative can increase productivity while reducing cost, yet some only partially utilize the workflow while others don't buy-in at all. The partial adoption is almost worse because it creates a duplication of effort and makes efficiencies look bad with mixed results. The others are just stubborn having more comfort in their traditional ways."
Scott chuckled and replied, "Well, we all know change is not easy...we've always adopted the adage that change is easier with someone than too someone. How did you roll this initiative out?"
Tom said, "Oh definitely I agree about incorporating change with the people. We thought we did a good job this time around, because we created an internal campaign and called it Hearts & Minds. The concept was that we needed people to both believe it in their heart and understand it in their mind that this initiative would help us differentiate ourselves in the marketplace, while simultaneously increasing efficiencies and reducing costs. We knew that we needed both hearts and minds won over for this concept to work, because if you only believe and don't know then you cannot succeed. Visa verse, if you only know but don't believe then you will choose not to succeed. So we made sure that we won over the hearts and minds of our middle managers and they, too, became supporting voices for this initiative."
Scott nodded, scratched his chin and looked off in the distance to help formulate his response. After a few peaceful moments Scott replied, "You know, we did something like this about 18 months ago. We broke our project down into three conceptual rollout stages: Identification, Conformity & Internalization. With Identification we reached out to strategic members of our organization to help them find commonality with what we were trying to achieve. With Conformity we used peer pressure to get resisters in-line with adopters."
Tom responded, "that sounds similar to our hearts and minds campaign just put into different terms."
Scott replied, "Ok, I'll give you that, but we took it one step further and maybe this could help you. Internalization is what's really needed. It is one thing to believe a concept in your heart and understand it in your mind. However, what really needs to happen is to put your hearts and minds to action is if the initiative is burned into your company's workflow DNA. It has to be part of who you are, what you stand for and it's like breathing...an everyday unrealized necessity."
Tom interrupted, "I hear what you are saying, but I've felt our hearts and minds campaign was to achieve what you say."
Scott smiled and replied, "Ya, it is hard to discern the difference of going beyond understanding and believing. Think of the rollercoaster ride were just on." Tom nodded with acknowledgement and Scott said, "during that rollercoaster ride were you thinking about anything else but the thrill of the ride?" Tom looked confused but said nothing. Scott continued, "During those turns at 70 miles an hour you were not thinking of your plans tonight or the things you need to do next week...you were at one with the rollercoaster and in the moment." "
I agree," Tom said.
Scott replied, "So, the same mind set needs to be ingrained in your people. Internalization is the next stage to take your people to get the adoption you need for your initiative."
Tom smiled and replied, "Yep, I know several who need and are going to get a rollercoaster ride!"
After collecting their senses, Tom and Scott broke into a conversation about work. They both held leadership positions in complementary industries, so it was easy for them to have an appreciable understanding to each other's situations. Tom shared a problem he was having associated with one of his company's initiatives, which was implemented in the prior year.
Tom said, "We just cannot get this new workflow adopted with our national producers. We've showed them umpteen times that the initiative can increase productivity while reducing cost, yet some only partially utilize the workflow while others don't buy-in at all. The partial adoption is almost worse because it creates a duplication of effort and makes efficiencies look bad with mixed results. The others are just stubborn having more comfort in their traditional ways."
Scott chuckled and replied, "Well, we all know change is not easy...we've always adopted the adage that change is easier with someone than too someone. How did you roll this initiative out?"
Tom said, "Oh definitely I agree about incorporating change with the people. We thought we did a good job this time around, because we created an internal campaign and called it Hearts & Minds. The concept was that we needed people to both believe it in their heart and understand it in their mind that this initiative would help us differentiate ourselves in the marketplace, while simultaneously increasing efficiencies and reducing costs. We knew that we needed both hearts and minds won over for this concept to work, because if you only believe and don't know then you cannot succeed. Visa verse, if you only know but don't believe then you will choose not to succeed. So we made sure that we won over the hearts and minds of our middle managers and they, too, became supporting voices for this initiative."
Scott nodded, scratched his chin and looked off in the distance to help formulate his response. After a few peaceful moments Scott replied, "You know, we did something like this about 18 months ago. We broke our project down into three conceptual rollout stages: Identification, Conformity & Internalization. With Identification we reached out to strategic members of our organization to help them find commonality with what we were trying to achieve. With Conformity we used peer pressure to get resisters in-line with adopters."
Tom responded, "that sounds similar to our hearts and minds campaign just put into different terms."
Scott replied, "Ok, I'll give you that, but we took it one step further and maybe this could help you. Internalization is what's really needed. It is one thing to believe a concept in your heart and understand it in your mind. However, what really needs to happen is to put your hearts and minds to action is if the initiative is burned into your company's workflow DNA. It has to be part of who you are, what you stand for and it's like breathing...an everyday unrealized necessity."
Tom interrupted, "I hear what you are saying, but I've felt our hearts and minds campaign was to achieve what you say."
Scott smiled and replied, "Ya, it is hard to discern the difference of going beyond understanding and believing. Think of the rollercoaster ride were just on." Tom nodded with acknowledgement and Scott said, "during that rollercoaster ride were you thinking about anything else but the thrill of the ride?" Tom looked confused but said nothing. Scott continued, "During those turns at 70 miles an hour you were not thinking of your plans tonight or the things you need to do next week...you were at one with the rollercoaster and in the moment." "
I agree," Tom said.
Scott replied, "So, the same mind set needs to be ingrained in your people. Internalization is the next stage to take your people to get the adoption you need for your initiative."
Tom smiled and replied, "Yep, I know several who need and are going to get a rollercoaster ride!"
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