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Accelerate the Pace of Change

Guest post by: Eric Douglas

Article Overview: It may seem counter-intuitive, but the best way to lead in a time of accelerating change is to keep the foot on the accelerator.

Accelerate the Pace of Change

It may seem counter-intuitive, but the best way to lead in a time of accelerating change is to keep the foot on the accelerator. Which accelerator? I call it the "learning accelerator." When performance is measured and communicated, performance accelerates. In a time of accelerating change, leaders need to enable people to adapt quickly by introducing "learning loops" throughout the organization. Successful learning loops have three qualities: They are based on clear metrics and targets; they are monitored on a regular basis by groups empowered to make change; and the communication is immediate. Effective leaders not only arm people with the skills and tools to continuously learn, adapt and navigate change effectively. They also weed out hidden "ignorance loops" that impede the organization from learning.

Don Winkler, the former chairman of Finance One Corporation, tells an interesting story about accelerating the learning. Winkler was assigned the task of managing the subsidiary of an American bank in Greece. When he arrived in Athens, he discovered the bank was in deep trouble. Scores of customers were closing their accounts, appalled by the poor quality of customer service.

Winkler knew he had to change the bank's culture. He also knew that in order to be successful he needed to get the bank's Greek executives and employees fully engaged and committed to making the change happen.

Winkler convened several brainstorming sessions. Initially, he encountered resistance, especially among the Greek managers of the bank who resented the outsider's intrusion. But Winkler kept at it.

After the tenth brainstorming session, the executive team came up with a plan. The Greek bank president decided he would move his desk into the middle of the lobby. This would symbolize the bank's new commitment to customer service.

An advertising campaign kicked off the event. Customers came to see the bank president sitting at his desk as they came through the doors. But as Winkler recounts it, then something surprising happened. The Greek president heard customers complain first-hand. He was shocked by the level of vitriol directed at the bank. "We must do something," he told his executive team. "Immediately."

The bank president ordered a new customer complaint tracking system. He insisted that all employees be trained to respond immediately to customer concerns. The bank president personally presided over the customer service team. As the level of customer service went up, the bank's business was revitalized. In less than six months, the bank's customers were singing the bank's praises. In less than five years, the bank realized a 5,000 percent increase in profits.

The key in Winkler's story is that employees were engaged in an accelerated learning process. Winkler's ideas worked because he understood that employees could be agents of change only if they were given the knowledge and the means to invent the change themselves. as Winkler says, "they alone could identify the continuing sequence of small changes that add value, enhance efficiency, build competitive leadership and increase profits." They alone could accelerate the learning.

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Article Tags: accelerating change, business change, change management, learning organization



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Re: Spellcheck? - [quote="TheAnonymousMan":2f894q6j]When discussing the majority of people I would definitely say that most people hit the "Change" or "Ignore" button without thinking too much about the correct spelling of a word. All bosses are concerned about is getting the report to the Directors meeting on time.[/quote:2f894q6j] That probably depends on what the "majority" are trying to accomplish. I have word set to alert me about misspellings and grammatical problems, so I fix most as I go. But I also add names etc to the dictionary because I get tired of seeing the red and green squiggles when I know the info is right. If you're only going to click "Change" or "Ignore" then why bother to take the time to use spell check????? Business people that I work for want the info compiled in a timely manner and they want it right - which is fine because that's the way I strive to do any project. Sending out a memo, letter, report etc with obvious spelling and grammatical mistakes makes the person and the company look bad as far as I'm concerned. Shri
Re: e-Commerce and e-Payment providers - Hi GT It is only fairly recently that people in South Africa have been able to get full use of Paypal as we were only able at one time to make payments but not receive them. Fortunately this has now changed. I have received money through Global X Change for one of the affiliate programs that I promote and have found them pretty good as the money is normally transferred directly into my bank account within 2-3 days and I have not had any problems with them. MichelleJ
Re: Obama Wants Social Security for Illegals - [quote="Alan Mater":3kaa8sg4] Obama WILL make changes... but they're not the changes we as a country need or should look forward to.[/quote:3kaa8sg4] Sad but this is exactly how I feel about it. Change is coming - but unless I'm really wrong, it is not a change this country needs. Amazing how much a good speaker with a good speech writer can do. If you paid attention to the things he said "off script" - much of it is frightening. Chris
Are you an Opportunity Addict? - 1) if you find yourself saying yes without thinking about how it will affect your other priorities 2) you have over 10 projects/inventions going on at the same time and this seems normal to you 3) you have spent hundreds and thousands of dollars on manufacturing, prototypes, etc. not to mention thousands of hours of your time....but you havent followed through on any of it 4) most of your projects are falling behind or have completely fallen off your radar....which is fueling your frustration The first step in recovery is to recognize this as a pattern of self sabotage. If you are clear in what your overall goals and objectives are, you should be able to create a lens through which you measure opportunities. You create your life, and your to do list. Change, Add, Remove, Adjust time-lines - whatever you like. But remember that every piece of unfinished business - stays that way J
You are too young - I don't really believe (I've been into web designing for 7 years now... I started in 2000) there is any web design laws. Besides the fact that you can't use copyrighted images on web design without permission from the original author. Also, any web designs you do you may want to have it copyrighted so other's can't steal your idea's or whatever... of course, you can offer a "Copyright Change" option for a bit more money that will allow you to be able to transfer the copyrights and give exclusive rights to the purchaser. All in all, don't worry about the laws... you should be fine, just remember that if your in the U.S. that if your making over $400 (or maybe its $600) in revenue, you'll have to pay taxes to the government... and please get a LLC, although its not a big thing with web designs, you could get into legal trouble somewhere in the business. Lastly, use contracts for when your selling or use agreements to clear the air so that you can have a safe business and you'll have some backing up if you ever are taken to court.


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