More talking = more improvement
11/07/11 15:54 Filed in: Coaching | Productivity
It’s July 2000. I’m in London, taking a leadership course from the Principals’ Training Center. And the instructor gets us into small groups, tells us to set up the game, and explains that the goal of the game is to get our game piece across the board by achieving organizational improvement.
Then she tells us to start. The atmosphere is electrically competitive. My group implements policies and moves our piece! We implement procedures and systems and move our piece! We are moving across the board and feeling good! Until we see how far across the neighboring teams are. Many are already 50-75% across the board, while we are a measly 30% at best.
So we focus even more on implementing policies, procedures, and systems, believing that this will propel us across the board toward successful organizational improvement. We move our piece 2 more spaces, and a team announces, “Done!”
I’m stunned: “Done? How could they be done? We did what you need to do to achieve organizational improvement—we implemented policies, procedures, and systems. Why didn’t it work? What did they do?”
During the debriefing, I learn what the winning group did. They didn’t start by implementing policies. They didn’t start by implementing procedures or systems. They started by talking—and they continued talking in order to move their piece across the board toward organizational improvement. I just don’t get it. In my heart, I suspect that the makers of the game, and perhaps the instructor, are mistaken….
But in the ensuing years, I found out how mistaken I was and how right they were. In my organization I saw improvement initiatives founded on policies and systems flounder; I saw improvement initiatives founded on talking flourish.
It’s now July 2011. I’ve (finally) learned my lesson: more talking = more improvement. When all staff members—not just the leadership—talk together about organizational improvement, the organization improves. When all staff don’t talk about organizational improvement, the organization doesn’t improve as much.
(I’m not saying that there is no place for policies, procedures, and systems when working to achieve organizational improvement. What I’m saying is that these should not be the primary strategy—talking should be. Without talking—without dynamic conversation—policies, procedures, and systems lead to temporary improvement, not the lasting improvement your organization needs to carry out its God-given mission. And remember, God uses talking—He talked creation into being and talked with His disciples, who then talked with others about the Gospel.)
You might be thinking, “How do I get people talking? Talking sounds good, but I’m not sure how it would work in my organization. Getting people talking about organizational improvement sounds difficult, and I’ve already got enough going. Just how do I get people talking?”
Good question. I know a way to get people talking. It’s easy. It’s effective and time-tested. And those you’re trying to get talking will like it. What it is? It’s asking questions.
If you want to get people talking, ask questions. Ask open-ended questions like:
Here are related resources:
Then she tells us to start. The atmosphere is electrically competitive. My group implements policies and moves our piece! We implement procedures and systems and move our piece! We are moving across the board and feeling good! Until we see how far across the neighboring teams are. Many are already 50-75% across the board, while we are a measly 30% at best.
So we focus even more on implementing policies, procedures, and systems, believing that this will propel us across the board toward successful organizational improvement. We move our piece 2 more spaces, and a team announces, “Done!”
I’m stunned: “Done? How could they be done? We did what you need to do to achieve organizational improvement—we implemented policies, procedures, and systems. Why didn’t it work? What did they do?”
During the debriefing, I learn what the winning group did. They didn’t start by implementing policies. They didn’t start by implementing procedures or systems. They started by talking—and they continued talking in order to move their piece across the board toward organizational improvement. I just don’t get it. In my heart, I suspect that the makers of the game, and perhaps the instructor, are mistaken….
But in the ensuing years, I found out how mistaken I was and how right they were. In my organization I saw improvement initiatives founded on policies and systems flounder; I saw improvement initiatives founded on talking flourish.
It’s now July 2011. I’ve (finally) learned my lesson: more talking = more improvement. When all staff members—not just the leadership—talk together about organizational improvement, the organization improves. When all staff don’t talk about organizational improvement, the organization doesn’t improve as much.
(I’m not saying that there is no place for policies, procedures, and systems when working to achieve organizational improvement. What I’m saying is that these should not be the primary strategy—talking should be. Without talking—without dynamic conversation—policies, procedures, and systems lead to temporary improvement, not the lasting improvement your organization needs to carry out its God-given mission. And remember, God uses talking—He talked creation into being and talked with His disciples, who then talked with others about the Gospel.)
You might be thinking, “How do I get people talking? Talking sounds good, but I’m not sure how it would work in my organization. Getting people talking about organizational improvement sounds difficult, and I’ve already got enough going. Just how do I get people talking?”
Good question. I know a way to get people talking. It’s easy. It’s effective and time-tested. And those you’re trying to get talking will like it. What it is? It’s asking questions.
If you want to get people talking, ask questions. Ask open-ended questions like:
- Regarding this improvement initiative, what progress are you seeing?
- What excites you about this improvement initiative? What concerns you?
- What helps us improve? What hinders us?
- What can we do to move this improvement initiative forward?
- What improvement initiative do you want to talk about?
- What progress have you experienced? What’s been satisfying?
- What roadblocks have you experienced? What’s been frustrating?
- To leverage your progress and minimize your roadblocks, what do you need to keep doing? start doing? stop doing?
- What do you think you’ll do?
Here are related resources:
