pivot Archives - Dennis E. Gilbert

23
Sep 21
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Status Quo Defense, Is That Your Position?

Tags : change pivot status quo strategy

Have you ever witnessed a status quo defense? Have you been a person who delivered one?

Change is happening all around you, even though the first thought is often a defensive posture.

That will never work.

We can’t do that because we don’t have the resources.

It is too expensive, we can’t pass the cost along. It will weaken our margin.

The status quo defense is common. Is it always appropriate?

Status Quo Defense

What changes are you attempting to protect against?

Is it technology?

A face-to-face is always better than a Zoom.

The newspaper, in print, is better and easier to read when compared with an online app.

Going to the movie theatre is much better than catching a movie on a digital stream.

Is change really about the risk of going backwards or is it more about the feeling of risk attached to the unknown?

All change involves emotion. There is often a gut feel, a weighing of risk, and the insecurity of the unknown.

A list of pros and cons might be helpful, but suddenly emotion and framing start to tarnish the attempt at honesty and facts.

Business meetings and strategy sessions often attempt to unveil something new. Something new means change and change often sparks a status quo defense.

You decide on what is most helpful, but quick and thoughtless reactions might leave you stuck or falling behind.

Debates create winners and losers. The other side of the coin is that without debate there may be complacency.

You’ll likely take a position.

Remaining neutral is a status quo defense.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), 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.

02
Sep 21
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Society Shift, Is It Change You Can Manage?

Tags : change culture pivot society shift workplace

Is there a society shift? You bet, it has been happening for hundreds or even thousands of years or more.

Is the pace of shift or change different? Likely, yes, the access to information, thought leaders, news media, and even social media have likely accelerated the pace.

It is good, bad, or indifferent?

What are your thoughts?

Culture Change

People use the word culture to describe many different aspects of societal connections. Culture is sometimes linked with race, especially in third world countries. Culture may be linked with occupations, such as farming, artists, or perhaps even architects. And one of my favorites is, culture that is connected to workplace norms.

Culture can shift, things change, technology is a force that drives changes in culture. Other forces might include government actions, environmental concerns, and the economy.

There is also the force of the people.

Some people want to hold tight to older values and beliefs. An Amish community might be a great example.

Other people want to change the rules, insist that there should be more diversity, more fairness, and more generosity granted to those who might be labeled underprivileged or less fortunate.

Largely it’s a tug of war between old-school and new-school.

Society Shift

It is often suggested that there are two sides to any story. It may be true for the kids on the playground who engage in some disruptive behavior and it may be true in the workplace.

A natural reaction for many people is to become very opinionated about their side of the story. Emotions often run high and anger erupts.

Social media is a great example of a medium where emotions, debates, and arguments are placing pressure on what may have once been considered a cultural norm.

Some people suggest a quieter reaction, or what may be considered to be no reaction at all. Play it safe, play it somewhere in the middle.

You are probably not going to stop change, cultural or societal shifts. They are always moving, some faster than others. There may even be evidence of ebb and flow, expansion, contraction, and a full-circle back to the way things were before.

The way you choose to navigate change will have a lot to do with what happens next.

You may not be able to stop or control the changes around you.

You can choose how you’ll respond.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), 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.

31
Aug 21
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Moving Forward, Sticky Leadership Ideas Sell

Tags : belief change ideas innovation pivot

We’re moving on, or we’re moving forward. It’s a charge that many people have grown to expect as their team moves from obstacles, setbacks, or even failure. Is this good leadership?

Leadership requires responsibility. It requires action, effective communication, and fosters opportunity.

Change is often based on a decision. Sometimes it is based on a need, an obstacle, or an event.

Revenues falling short, you have a need.

Good momentum, suddenly halted, and you may have an obstacle.

Some unexpected force, an act of God, a stock-market crash, or a pandemic, any of these and many others might signal the start of an event that requires change.

Leaders often come to the table with new ideas. It is considered to be a fundamental part of leadership.

Are your ideas good? Will your idea work? Are you able to get buy-in?

Moving Forward

Whoever made the first donut likely did it accidentally or with purpose. Either way, the first donut, at the time, may not have seemed like a good idea.

We could probably say the same about flavored coffee, the personal computer, or built-in cameras on telephones.

Arguments against, or obstacles in the path, may have been a challenge that needed to be overcome.

It first, it may not have seemed like a good idea. Too expensive, or simply undesirable.

Creating change, or examining a product life cycle, can often be represented on a bell curve. In the beginning, not much is happening, it is hard to gain momentum. After the peak, it is much harder to grab a piece of the market or be successful.

The most difficult challenge may be that in the early moments, a good idea may be a tough sell. No one seems to know if the idea is good or bad.

Leader’s Lead

There are many components of leadership. The idea is that leaders lead forward. They help discover, create, or engage with forward movement.

Good ideas are often a hard sell at first. When a good idea gets sticky, you’ve probably achieved buy-in.

It’s more than just having an idea. Leadership includes the act of making them sticky at just the right moment.

Most ideas are just ideas until they move forward.

Long curves or short curves. Jumping on the curve early has the most advantage.

Belief often conditions what happens next.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), 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.

11
Aug 21
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Is Slow Growth Better Than No Growth?

Tags : change learning pivot professional growth

The easy answer is, yes. Slow growth is probably happening all around you, sometimes you don’t even realize it. Yet, a lack of action can lead to no growth, and worse, decline.

The operating environment lovingly known as Windows was first released in 1985. It’s grown a lot in 35+ years.

It may have been hard to see it growing from day-to-day but over longer periods it is easier to see.

Much of your daily environment has been changing and growing across months, years, and decades. In addition to computing products, look at transportation, radio and television, and even kitchen appliances. Growth, and lots of it.

People often take for granted what is happening for the development process. Whether it is a technology device or professional growth.

Change and growth often go hand-in-hand, but change can also lead to decline. Stopping or stalling is often the first indication that some decline is about to emerge.

My belief is that the airline industry has declined. The service and reliability of schedules has been in deep decline since the 1990s. While there are many influences and factors, from my experiences, it is a fact. It’s declining.

What are your personal aspirations? Are you growing personally or professionally, or have you stalled, or worse?

Slow Growth

There are many metaphorical expressions and evidence of unrecognized growth. Trees are a great example, they seem to grow very slow, then suddenly, with a more intentional observation, they are big.

Something big or something small, there is change every day.

An idea, an expression, or even an opportunity to see something differently than you have before.

People learn to listen better (hearing is instinctual, listening is a developed skill), observe better, and even be more empathic or generous.

Stops or stalls don’t last very long. As quickly as they happen, without appropriate action they are just about to decline.

This is exactly why whatever is happening in your environment, you need to change. It may be slow, almost unnoticed, but across time it still matters.

Slow growth is always better than no growth.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), 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.

05
Aug 21
-

Changing Landscape And How Your Workforce Adapts

Tags : change fear pivot the great resignations workforce

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 (CSP^TM), 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.

06
Jul 21
-

Workplace Tenacity, Turtle Race and Bunny Hops!

Tags : change navigation pivot psychology of work tenacity

How do you approach work? Are you in the groove of getting by, or are you charging ahead by giving the best example of workplace tenacity?

Having the commitment and approaching your work with rigor are characteristics that should not be forgotten. Work is called work for a reason.

One of the best examples of leadership comes to you through role models. Role models often pursue their work unknowingly. They are unknowingly are serving others through their own example.

Are you an example of tenacity?

Workplace Tenacity

Change is a constant. So is the reality of shifting duties, responsibilities, and careful navigation.

Many hard-charging employees believe that the way to succeed is through merit. Merit matters, it matters a lot, but for the fast-trackers it seems that one of the most important attributes is navigation.

Knowing when, how, or having luck on your side and managing it well is just as important as having a technical skill.

Are you flexible? Can you pivot without wavering? Do you compromise, can you balance actions and behaviors while not going too far outside of the lines?

Work is often about mastering your craft. That means not only technically, but by careful navigation.

It might be more about a race of turtles, not the zig-zag fast hops of rabbits. Observation suggests the rabbits are winning, but one or two hops in the wrong direction can mean devastating consequences.

Consider building skills centered around your expertise and supplementing your efforts by careful navigation.

Technical skills are abundant, the greater challenge is navigation.

Tenacity means you’re in it for the long haul.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), 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.

26
May 21
-

Competence Evaporates Unless You Adjust

Tags : change competence pivot profession skill

Is it possible that competence evaporates? The process of losing your skill or an area of expertise over time, does it happen?

Assume you are a master sales person. You thrive on in-person, face-to-face interactions. You read the body language, tell a story or two, and ask questions about family and life right after a brief discussion of the weather. Your competence at selling is high.

Then a pandemic emerges and you can’t be with people face-to-face. Now it’s an avatar, an email, or a text message. You still believe you have high competence in selling, only every skill you once used to sell is nearly obsolete.

Evaporated, gone, useful perhaps, but the environment for selling has changed dramatically. The future means you may have to close the deal differently.

Competence Evaporates

The skills you build across time are earned. Often, earned the hard way, by hours and hours of doing, learning, and repeating.

Developing a high level of competence in any field doesn’t happen overnight.

Many people call themselves coaches in the workplace. Coaching is a profession that takes decades of careful practice and patience to hone the craft. You can read some books, watch some videos, and even go through specialized training, perhaps one-day earning an advanced certification.

Across time the methods shift. The social trends ebb and flow. The way of doing things slides.

Like a few drops of saline in a petri dish, things start to evaporate.

The competencies you acquire may be the foundational skills you need to move forward, yet many people hold on to those hard-earned methods for far too long.

When you want less evaporation of your competence, you’re going to have to do something new. You’re going to have to explore different things.

It’s a chance, and some risk, but getting left behind while you watch things evaporate isn’t ideal either.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), 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.

18
May 21
-

Adaptive Change Is Different From Innovation

Tags : adaptive change innovation new normal pivot

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 (CSP^TM), 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.

21
Apr 21
-

Escape Stuck and Change Your Future

Tags : change movement pivot stuck

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 (CSP^TM), 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.

22
Mar 21
-

Does a Fluid Approach Seem Like a Good Path?

Tags : fluidity goals pivot strategic planning strategy

A plan and a goal always seem to make sense. Are your goals rigid or do you use a more fluid approach?

Are you a little bit more of a perfectionist or do you scribble outside of the lines?

Most pathways start with a vision. It is a plan, of sorts, with directions, timelines and milestones. Spoken or sometimes unspoken they are all part of the plan.

Plans are designed to work. They are expected to achieve outcomes by going through barriers, leaping hurdles, and most certainly against all odds.

Some people identify with a system, a structure, and a protocol. It might be similar to a flight plan, a rocket launch, or a thousand-mile road trip.

Not everything fits inside the plan, and that is when the plan becomes even more important. The what if’s, or what to do when, are all expected to be part of a really good plan.

Have you budgeted for fluidity? Does a fluid approach make sense?

Fluid Approach

Sometimes people call it a backup plan. Plan B is often suggested for execution will all else has failed during plan A.

Those committed to the plan are hesitant to jump off plan A and switch to plan B. They may insist that plan A has not been exhausted yet and staying the course is most important.

Leadership requires resilience in the face of adversity. Plan A or plan B, both might contain a pathway for success.

When you plan for fluid approaches, it doesn’t necessarily mean one pathway must close in order to access another. It also doesn’t mean that one is right and one is wrong.

You still have a choice with your goals.

Stalls, delays, or dead-end stops are likely not as good as study movement.

When time matters, and it nearly always does, a detour around the block, and then right back on the original trajectory is probably much better than waiting for the traffic jam to free itself.

Leadership keeps things moving and makes way for a reason or logic to embrace a shift. Belonging often means safety, security, and a sense of accomplishment.

When getting there is the objective.

A fluid approach may be your best path.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), 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.

Tag Archives: pivot

Sep 21

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Status Quo Defense

Sep 21

-

Culture Change

Society Shift

Aug 21

-

Moving Forward

Leader’s Lead

Aug 21

-

Slow Growth

Aug 21

-

Changing Landscape

Jul 21

-

Workplace Tenacity

May 21

-

Competence Evaporates

May 21

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Adaptive Change

Apr 21

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Escape Stuck

Mar 21

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Fluid Approach

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