Category Archives: pivot

  • -
changing landscape

Changing Landscape And How Your Workforce Adapts

Tags : 

Are you facing a changing landscape? Has your workforce changed or is there a need for change?

Change can be tough.

There are many people who are eager to change. They’ve grown tired of the old ways, the boredom, the monotony. They might also see opportunity in change and believe change works.

At the same time there are many people who are unsure of change. They are comfortable in the old ways. Knowing what works and how to do it feels safe.

Change resistors are quick to shout out potential problems, obstacles, and roadblocks. Things are happening too fast for them, the unknown means confusion, delays, and more emotional labor.

What are the real objections? What is happening, at the root?

Is it fear stopping progress?

Changing Landscape

Newsflash, things are changing.

The rate of change seems to be accelerating. What has transpired in the last 18 months (2020 pandemic) has sparked a lot of change. Even greater is the transformation across the most recent 50 or 60 years.

Technology is changing everything. Adapting and growing with it comes with a price.

The price of avoiding it and staying the same is much greater.

In a tight labor marketing people are going to work with what they consider the best companies. Many workforce experts have suggested we are heading into a time they’re calling The Great Resignation.

Are you listening for the objections?

Change resistors are often masquerading fear with objections.

Will your workforce adapt, hold the organization back, or will they move on to what they perceive as greener pastures?

Working towards a greater understanding of risk, reducing fear, and improving confidence may be the best way to navigate change.

People are counting on you.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
adaptive change

Adaptive Change Is Different From Innovation

Tags : 

You recognize things are changing. Have you been experiencing adaptive change?

Many people, likely most people, realize that change is always happening. There are technology advancements, societal shifts, and even history that becomes understood in a different way.

Is there a status quo? How long does a status quo last? It is minutes, hours, a year or more?

There are pockets of people who want life exactly the way it was years ago. There are groups of people, the Amish come to mind, who believe the ways of the past are the pathways to the future.

In a world of constant change the riskiest place to be might be staying in the status quo.

What do you do? Do you adapt or do you innovate?

Adaptive Change

Many people are on the path to adapting. Change is happening. Sometimes too slow and sometimes too fast. In some cases, the expectation is to go back to the old way of doing things. It suggests that perhaps there isn’t a new normal.

Think of the cars of the 1990s, or older, on one hand, it seems not that long ago, on the other, the technology in newer automobiles is drastically different.

Is different better?

It may depend on who you ask. If you’re driving a brand-new car, as compared with one manufactured 20 or more years ago, you’ve adapted to change.

Sure, it’s still an automobile with four tires, but many things about its movement, suspension, comfort, and onboard tech are very different. Perhaps, you didn’t even notice.

It is true for your computing devices. From mechanical storage drives to static storage, to the cloud. As an end-user do you even realize where your data is being stored? If you are a smartphone user, probably not. You’ve just been going with the flow.

If you engage at nearly any level in society, your community, or your workplace, you’ve probably changed recently.

Adaptive change doesn’t make you an innovator. Yet, innovation is something someone is doing.

There is always a new normal.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
new sheriff

New Sheriff, What Happens When You Get One?

Tags : 

There is a new sheriff in town and now what will you do? Of course, this is a metaphorical expression. What happens when you get a new boss or what happens when your client hires a new buyer?

People adapt. We’re a species who has survived because of adaptation. We adapt to change, to the situation, or sometimes to survive.

Start a new job, and you’ll likely adapt. Get a new boss, and you’ll likely adapt. When your long-term customer retires or moves on, you’ll have to adapt.

Is it really that simple?

Small Business Scale

Many small businesses fail when they attempt to scale. The very small company might accel in a very small marketplace but when they try to expand, the world seems to collapse around them.

The same is true for your workplace culture, the lingo, buzzwords, and ways of doing things. It might work really well within the small environment, but expansion or new company ownership might be devastating

When you’ve adapted to what the boss wants, how she likes the information, or how he expects the behavior, you’ve survived. You know the routine and can perform it with or without a drum roll.

Does it scale?

The small restaurant with seating for a few struggles when they increase the seating to 50, or 100 people. Same food, but something has changed.

Not everything scales by keeping the product or service exactly the same.

It is true for your performance on the job and its true for the small business enterprise.

New Sheriff

Have you encountered a new sheriff?

The trick is not always doing the exact same thing in the exact same style or with exactly the same product.

If your boss changes you may need to do something different. If the company you’ve done business with for years gets a new buyer, you may need to do something different.

Whether you’re trying to scale or navigate something new, something different might be exactly what you need.

The assumption of, it worked here, now make it scale, isn’t always the answer.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
project push

Project Push and Pull Should Work For You

Tags : 

Have you jumped in with both feet? Are you working from a project push or is it more of a project pull?

Distance runners tend to like the wind pushing from behind. Facing it, and running directly towards it is an opposite force and one the burdens the runner.

It is true for throwing our kicking the football, it is true for gas mileage, and it is especially true for the project you are working on right now.

Much easier, is having the wind at your back.

When the customer requirements are supported and embraced, and it is a known dynamic, the wind is at your back. If something else is driving it, such as a new government regulation the wind may be blowing directly at your forward motion.

Project Push and Pull

Getting the people on board. The designers, the engineers, the widget makers and the sales force all matter. The team members involved in keeping your project moving are more engaged when they are pulled into the process.

If you try to shove a naysayer, you typically get more resistance. It’s the donkey sitting down with its hoofs dug in, trying to stop any motion in the direction you are pushing.

On the other hand, when there is something attractive, a point of interest, or a recognition of something that lies ahead people will typically be eager to get there. They are pulled or compelled to push themselves for the opportunity.

A project in motion, with a team that is being pulled, attracted, and compelled to reach the objective gets an enormous boost when the wind is blowing at their backs. The opposition is less, there is not as much resistance, and their motivation is strong.

The key then, is gaining the benefit of attraction which creates the pull and then supplementing it with a little bit of a push.

Paddling with the current is always easier.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
falling down

Falling Down Often Starts With a Choice

Tags : 

Lots of things are the result of a decision or choice. Falling down happens. It happens to nearly everyone and everything in one capacity or another. What are your choices?

By now you’ve probably heard all the rhetoric.

Don’t look where you don’t want to go.

A backup plan means you’ve already failed.

Analyzing alternatives is a lack of focus.

While there may be some valuable nuggets to consider in this type of rhetoric, it may also be helpful to know when enough is enough.

You guessed it, finding the magical balance between persistence and quitting while you are ahead is ideal.

Have you ever experienced the feeling of falling down?

Consequences of Failure

The consequences of failure can be huge. With some hard work, persistence, and a little luck you might land a high-paying job or get a business rolling that yields substantial wealth.

Can it all come crashing down? Yes, and everything seems to have a beginning and an end.

Great jobs, great businesses, and great communities. They rise and they fall.

Giving up too easily is problem. Holding on too long is also a problem.

Then there is the case where you had no choice. The plug was pulled. The carpet ripped out from under your feet without any fault of your own. This too happens.

Falling Down

All or nothing is a gamble. Anything without risk has little or no reward.

Digging deep matters. Acceptance that no one is coming to bail you out might spark the fire in your belly that you need to persevere.

You made a choice where to start. It may be obvious or it may require some deeper thinking to discover the moment the decision was made. You can make a choice about where and when to stop too.

In the case where failure hit by no fault of your own, you make a new choice for a new beginning, or to crumble down in the ashes.

It’s is funny how many things happen after someone says, “There wasn’t any other choice.”

Make your next decision with eyes wide open about the consequences.

At some point, the cavalry is not coming.

Hearing this may make a difference. Experiencing it is a game changer.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
escape stuck

Escape Stuck and Change Your Future

Tags : 

Are you able to escape stuck? Have you ever had difficultly letting go of something that you know needs to go?

It might be anything. A pair of old shoes, jeans you wore a decade ago, a bad habit, or even a relationship. Are you holding on to something that you should let go?

Perhaps the opposite of change is the status quo. It is a place where most people like to hang out. It may feel safe and comfortable. Habits are hard to change. Good or bad, habits can become very sticky.

While it might sound silly, a few years ago I had to let go of an old washing machine. It was hard to see it go. We’d been through so much together. Our relationship lasted more than 20 years.

Now I’m stuck with a 1999 Chevy Tahoe. A lot of miles and the rust is tearing it down, but I still don’t want to let it go.

Sometimes we want something new so bad it is easy to break free. Throw it in the ground and bury it, done.

In other cases, we hold on too long.

Escape Stuck

Fear may be part of the problem. The unknown about what is next and what will be different. It’s true for so many things.

Yesterday in a seminar there was some discussion about leadership and culture. A participant expressed boldly, “It’s not the 1990’s anymore!” To me, it was an interesting perspective. I feel like I cut my management teeth in the 1990s and I’m proud of that, yet a workforce generation or two removed and it appears unwanted and not worthy.

At the same time. I came to realize that I’ve changed. I don’t suggest the same things that I use to offer as consideration for a solution. I would never suggest some of the behaviors or cultural attributes that seemed normal back then.

Are some businesses and organizations stuck? Are the people?

You may be more stuck than you realize, or you may be letting go and you don’t even notice it.

If you are still moving, you must not be stuck.

If you are stuck, now is the time to get something moving.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
lane selection

Lane Selection May Be a Form Of Strategy

Tags : 

Are you staying in your lane? Lane selection for your career path may be more important than it seems.

Many people are excited about new opportunities, and for good reason. Boredom is a leading factor in workplace disengagement.

Have you ever been advised to stay in your lane?

Of course, it is not highway driving that I’m referring to, it is analogy about your job or career.

There are plenty of ways to expand and grow. Plenty of opportunities to take some risk, try something new, or move in a different direction. Yet, beyond the somewhat apparent risk of needing to hone new skills, there is another risk.

The risk of doing everything you do poorly.

An economic downturn may be as much to blame as an economic upturn. Both businesses and people alike are searching for what works best.

In a world of constant change, you may need to do more than just do things differently, you may have to do different things.

Lane Selection

You should make conscious choices and use specific strategies on your quest. Throwing a bunch of things at the wall to see what sticks sounds appealing. Especially, when you can’t see a clear path. However, this often quickly leads to being a master of none.

Whatever you do, choose your lane. Make conscious decisions about direction shifts or portfolio additions.

Pivoting matters, it always matters, largely because nothing stays the same for long.

In every field, and in every business sector, there are people throwing things at the wall to see what sticks.

This shouldn’t invite chaos. Choose your path, consciously, strategically, and don’t give up too soon.

Swerving benefits no one.

It’s reckless.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
formal meetings

Formal Meetings or Hallway Chatter, Which One?

Tags : 

Many businesses want to make a choice, pivot direction, or start something brand new. The team is assembled. Often within formal meetings. Is that the best idea generator? Is it where the decisions are made?

When the conference room lights are turned out and everyone is gone are there continued discussions happening behind closed doors?

Is there a meeting after the meeting? When the Zoom session is over is there another meeting, a telephone call, or a long email message?

Formal Meetings

Brainstorming sessions can be very productive.

Unfortunately, it often takes advanced facilitation skills to bring everything out. Important items are left unsaid, others are strategic and prearranged to create a specific flow, or worse, they’re selectively designed to navigate towards a predetermined outcome.

Wouldn’t it be great to capture it all?

No manipulation, no behind the scenes strategy, and just open and honest flow?

Some of the best and most truthful ideas come from the hallway chatter. That is when the information isn’t being protected, guarded, or facing criticism.

Hallway Chatter and Cocktail Napkins

Many great ideas and inventions are said to have occurred on a cocktail napkin. Some appear on yellow legal pads, others in an executive portfolio, and still others are written in a spiral bound notebook.

As it turns out, many of the decisions made, policies adopted, and future directions are the product of the conversation outside of the meeting.

They happen when ridicule is less feared and the consequences are only fairy tales or negative fantasies. There seems to be less risk and yet more power.

Pay close attention to the new idea presented in the hallway. Take a look at the cocktail napkin drawing, or what is presented from the ruffled edges of the yellow legal pad.

Often these are the honest ideas and the ones having enough risk to actually spark positive change.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
train tracks habits

Train Tracks and Habits Have Much In Common

Tags : 

How are your habits similar to train tracks? The answer may be easier than you think.

Much of what you do each day is derived from your habits. Habits built around a schedule, the food you’ll eat, and even how you’ll communicate.

By default, most people look for the easy road. I’m certainly not suggesting they are lazy. I’m suggesting that people are wired to look for efficiency and effectiveness.

If you drive an automobile to work, what route do you take? Where do you stop for fuel or coffee? Chances are, you have some habits connected with this behavior.

The same is true in your household. How you clean, do laundry, or prepare meals. Largely, it is probably based on traditions or habits.

The work that you do, or the baseline competencies for your career are largely structured around habits. You know them to be effective or perhaps the most convenient.

Train Tracks

Prior to the explosion of the automobile, trains ruled.

The rails will carry a heavy load, they are largely consistent and you know exactly what to expect and when.

One problem is, trains operate on a fixed route. If the tracks are blocked, you’re stuck or stranded. If the train doesn’t move, there are not good options. You can’t effectively detour.

People tend to get on fixed routes too. Their tracks are built to follow the rails of a particular path.

It is a habit.

Luckily, there are other choices, should you choose to take them. You can easily re-route or change your path and direction. You can take new turns, double-back to reposition, speed up, and avoid roadblocks.

Do you want to? Do you need to?

Some habits are good and desirable, others, not so much. You may want to be selective on the tracks that you choose, or even which side of them you exist on.

Full steam ahead.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


  • -
consistent influence

Consistent Influence Promotes Patterns of Change

Tags : 

Are you trying to shape a positive culture? Is a change required to navigate your current business climate? Consistent influence may be the most underestimated action you can take.

How do cultures shift or change? How does a seasoned workplace leader learn new habits that will help him or her navigate shifting workforce ideologies?

Many organizations invest in training. It is the right thing to do. Whether it is technical skills or people skills, training makes a difference and it always matters.

Another important aspect of any organization is its culture. Those collections of ideas, norms, and values. The symbols, the branding, and belief systems. And let’s not forget the role models. Sometimes knowingly or unknowingly people are looking at others for behavioral guidance.

How do you engage to make the good things better, the bad things fewer, and promote a new path to success?

Consistent Influence

Training is an influence. The network of people engaged in your organization is part of the influence. Whether it is employees, customers, or even vendors, they are all part of the organizational ecosystem.

Change doesn’t happen without change.

Recently, a manager commented during a training event, “Getting people engaged around here has been a problem for 27 years.”

After thinking for a moment, I responded with, “Who owns that?”

The room was quite for a few long seconds.

My belief is that this was a fair question.

It’s easy to throw our hands up in the air and claim that it won’t work. It’s easy to blame the onboarding practices, the economy, or the government.

In the end, the organization needs to survive and ideally grow.

Workplace leaders have a responsibility to be relentless in their pursuit of role modeling the desired behaviors for the future. Whether that is getting back to the roots, or shifting forward to meet the demands of shifting societal ideologies.

Consistent influence will help those charged with change create the desired outcomes.

Just like a shower or a bath, training and influence is not a one and done. You have to refresh regularly.

Back to that manager. Following the training, he approached me and thanked me for working with their team. His closing comment to me was, “I learned a lot.”

Practice what you’ve learned.

Consistent influence.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


Search This Website

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Blog (Filter) Categories

Follow me on Twitter

Assessment Services and Tools

Strategic, Competency, or Needs Assessments, DiSC Assessments, 360 Feedback, and more. Learn more