CHANGE: Practice - Learning to Speak Elephant

Welcome back Viphilus*

If you’re new to this blog or you don’t remember the elephant-rider analogy that I've been using then take a trip back to the posts on March 16 and March 23. Let me recap it though to keep this post complete. In short, the rider is your conscious mind and the elephant is your subconscious mind. The rider is principled, noble and wants to do and be good. The elephant is lazy, pleasure-seeking and pain-avoiding (completely indolent) and is only out for himself. This creates a virtual civil war inside of us as our brain is divided on intent.

Oh yeah … a few others things that are REALLY important before we go on. 

1. The rider tires easily while the elephant seems endlessly energized.
2. The elephant wants pleasure NOW, and he wants to avoid pain NOW.
3. The elephant spooks easily at change … any kind of change.

This pleasure-NOW, no-pain-NOW nature within all of us creates the urgency paradigm that we looked at back in March. The elephant has all the power - this is the principle we need to understand; all that remains is to teach the rider how to train his elephant. Self-awareness/knowledge is about getting to know and understand your rider and your elephant. Self-management is teaching your rider how to train your elephant. Emotional intelligence then is the art of elephant training …and the first step in that training is for the rider to learn to understand and speak elephant in order to influence him: to get your idea or message into his head.

Before we try to recreate the wheel, let me highlight some work that has already been done on this. Let’s start with ancient Greeks. Rhetoric was an art developed by the Greek philosophers around 600 BC. This art had the goal of persuading people (individual, audience, etc), convincing them to act, to pass judgment or to identify with given values. Plato described rhetoric as the “art of enchanting the soul.”  According to the Greeks, this art has 3 distinct components (the Greeks loved breaking things down into their constituent parts):

Credibility (ethos – from which we get the word, “ethics”)
Emotion (pathos)
Logic (logos)

Here’s what it all means. Before someone will listen to you and allow you to influence them they must find you to be credible, you must have a logical argument, and that argument must align with them emotionally. The Greeks also stressed practice and training in this art in order to master it.

The next work I want to cite is considerably more modern … albeit still 80 years old. Dale Carnegie wrote on the topic of “influence” and his 1936 book became one of the best-selling self-help books of all time: “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Carnegie’s book is essentially a manual on how to speak to other people's elephants.

If you are trying to influence someone to change their mind … or even yourself to change your own mind … you need to speak directly with the elephant. His language is the language of emotions. Sure, he does care about credibility and logic … but only AFTER his emotions are settled down so he can even consider the other two. And when it comes to change, the overarching emotion to address is fear (of the unknown) because change suggests a different future, and in that future there may be more pain and/or less pleasure. The elephant won’t stand for that … unless he can CLEARLY see that if the change does not happen, the pain will be even greater and/or the pleasure will be even less.

Is this starting to make sense now? Change truth # 3 (June 8 post) is that change in us is always emotional. That’s because the elephant gets riled when he senses that something/anything will potentially thwart pleasure or introduce pain. This is why the Heath brothers, in their book: SWITCH (all about change) highlight the importance of speaking to the elephant (our own if we are trying to convince ourselves to make a change … or other people’s elephants if we are trying to introduce change into their world). Remember, when you are thinking consciously about something and when you are determining to do something or not do something ... that's the Rider doing that thinking. He is very logical and knows right from wrong. The problem is he tries to convince the elephant (the subconscious automated part of you) by using logic. He thinks that Plato himself would be proud of his unassailable arguments and that the elephant would be easily convinced. Well, Plato would shake his head and tell you, "Hey dummy ... why are you speaking 'rider' to an 'elephant' ... he only understands 'elephant' so maybe you better ditch the 'rider language' and learn to speak 'elephant.'

'Elephant' is synonymous with "emotional." The rider's logic must be couched initially in emotional terms that answer the question: “what’s in it for me?” Any other approach is almost always doomed from the outset. Save the fancy Aristotelian logic for arriving at your reasons for the change. When it comes to getting the subconscious onside (or other people's elephants), your primary target is emotional alignment.

Let’s go back to Dale Carnegie’s brilliant book. Below I have listed the 4 sections in the book along with the chapter titles. Take a look at each title and see if, from the title alone, you can identify for each chapter whether the topic is about establishing credibility (C), appealing to logic (L), or appealing to a person's emotions to get alignment (E). Put a C, L or E besides each one below then get a count for each letter (C, L or E) after you have completed the list.

1. Fundamental Techniques in Handling People

1 - "Don't criticize, condemn or complain."

2 - "Give honest and sincere appreciation."

3 - "Arouse in the other person an eager want."

2. Six Ways to Make People Like You

1 - "Become genuinely interested in other people."

2 - "Smile."

3 - "Remember that a man's name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in any language."

4 - "Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves."

5 - "Talk in the terms of the other man's interest."

6 - "Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely."

3. Twelve Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking

1 - "Avoid arguments."

2 - "Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never tell someone they are wrong."

3 - "If you're wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically."

4 - "Begin in a friendly way."

5 - "Start with questions the other person will answer yes to."

6 - "Let the other person do the talking."

7 - "Let the other person feel the idea is his/hers."

8 - "Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view."

9 - "Sympathize with the other person."

10 - "Appeal to noble motives."

11 - "Dramatize your ideas."

12 - "Throw down a challenge."

4. Nine Ways to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

1 - "Begin with praise and honest appreciation."

2 - "Call attention to other people's mistakes indirectly."

3 - "Talk about your own mistakes first."

4 - "Ask questions instead of giving direct orders."

5 - "Let the other person save face."

6 - "Praise every improvement."

7 - "Give them a fine reputation to live up to."

8 - "Encourage them by making their faults seem easy to correct."

9 - "Make the other person happy about doing what you suggest."

What was your count? Did you get a vast majority with the letter E? If you didn’t, go back and think about them again because most of them are actions to create emotional alignment. Carnegie understood very well that you will never convince anyone to change until you first remove their emotional obstacles. Until you take the emotional objections off the table the elephant won’t budge … and the rider has no power whatsoever to move him. All the convincing arguments in the world won’t make a wiff of a difference.

Same goes for convincing yourself to change … if you don’t address your own emotional resistance your elephant won’t budge. But when you speak to him gently, letting him know that you aren’t judging him (don’t beat yourself up), and letting him know what’s in it for him (your deep reason why change is essential), and that you are going to do everything possible to make the transition journey easier for him (by making the path as easy as possible for yourself) … well, the elephant might just start lumbering slowly in the direction that the rider wants him to go (meaning, you will stop self-sabotaging).

Next week is the 5^th Monday this month so we’ll take a break … but when we come back in July I want to dig deeply into the actual training of your elephant so that he and your rider are working together (which will mark the beginning of the end of the self-limiting, self-defeating and self-destructive behaviour within you).

See you in two weeks.

Blessings Viphilus,

Your friend, Omega Man

OCA Training

* Viphilus means, "lover of life"

CHANGE: Personal - Are You a Hammer or a Nail?

Welcome back Viphilus*

Let’s begin where I left off last week … with the prime directive:

Control the change process within you - because you can

Your reaction to that statement will depend on which kind of person you currently are. And in this context, there are only two kinds: Hammers and Nails.

Hammers are people who proactively take charge of their mind and emotions, using them to dictate their circumstances. They are tactical in using their natural fight and flight responses to their advantage.

Nails are people who react to life and let it control their mind and emotions, and are controlled by their circumstances. They use their natural fight and flight responses inappropriately, usually to their detriment.

I’m clearly being reductionistic here because you can never break people into two cleanly divided groups … people fall in a spectrum. What I’m describing are the polar opposites in this spectrum. Let me continue then with an idealistic description of these polar using words that are more familiar; Nails are pessimists while Hammers are optimists. (important note: while all Hammers are optimists, not all optimists are Hammers.) And their orientation or temperament on this particular spectrum really comes down to whether or not they feel they have control … or even a sense of control. For the most part, pessimists believe they have no control … optimists believe they do. And here’s the kicker … the control doesn’t even have to be real … it’s completely about the perception of control.

Since we are all familiar with the terms optimist and pessimist, let's explore them a bit more thoroughly to see if we all share the same understanding of these two particular orientations.

Optimism and Pessimism

Optimism, and its counterpart, pessimism, are attitudes of interpretation. One dictionary defines optimism as “a disposition or tendency to look on the more favourable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favourable outcome.” The traditional metaphor for characterizing this attitude is a glass that holds half its capacity of water; optimists interpret the glass as half-full, pessimists interpret it as half-empty. Pessimists defend their attitude as being more realistic; optimists believe in the value of being hopeful. Just as a glass that holds half its capacity is no more half-full than half-empty, an optimistic perspective isn’t any more truthful than a pessimistic one. So why does the attitude matter?

The Value of Pessimism

Pessimists are oriented towards an expectation of failure which aids them in protecting themselves from disappointment. They manage their expectations in a mitigative manner by lowering their expectations of almost everything. In the Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz write, “from an energy perspective it is easy to be negative; optimism requires courage, not just because life is finite, but also because we all inevitably face challenges, obstacles, and setbacks along the way.” As well, the perennially hopeful attitude of optimists is often a naïve Pollyanna heartset that blinds itself to reality and sets them up for disappointment. Therefore, pessimism seems like the safer emotional bet. In fact, pessimism is the default attitude when optimism isn’t intentionally chosen. On the surface this seems like a good strategy for managing expectations.

But this strategy, conscious or not, comes with a greater cost than benefit. Everyone knows how it feels to be around a relentlessly pessimistic person; they radiate negative energy and nobody wants to be around them. That alone might seem like a sufficient reason to choose to be optimistic, but there is an even better reason; your performance in life is greatly dictated by whether you are an optimist or a pessimist; performance is greatly enhanced by optimism.

The Greater Value of Optimism

Experts in human performance have shown that optimists have an orientation towards an expectation of success … a preferred attitude in order to actually produce success. However, optimism must be anchored in reality, focused by results, and fuelled by deep core beliefs. Loehr and Schwartz write, “to be effective in the world, we find a balance between looking honestly at the most painful truths and contradictions in our lives and engaging in the world with hope and positive energy.”

Pessimists remain inactive and seldom leave their comfort zone because of a scarcity mentality. Optimists inherently are risk-takers and are driven more by an abundance mentality. An optimistic viewpoint is more energizing and empowering; optimism leads to action whereas pessimism typically leads to paralysis. It is an optimistic attitude that drives persistence. Again, Loehr and Schwartz write, “anything that prompts appropriate focus and realistic optimism serves performance.” They continue that “realistic optimism is a paradoxical notion that implies seeing the world as it is, but always working positively toward a desired outcome or solution.” As well, “when it comes to the everyday challenges of performance, the energy of negative thinking is almost invariably undermining and counterproductive. Realistic optimism better serves the challenges we face.”

Look at the graphic and, from the discussion we just had, see if you can track through the logic (I’m hoping that it is self-evident).

Again, this is reductionistic and idealized, but it makes an important point … those who say they can and those who say they can’t are usually both right.

Let’s dig a little deeper. In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey teaches about the link between our influence on the world around us and how we focus our energy. He says that we each have a wide range of concerns such as health, children, problems at work, national debt, global warming, world wars, etc. These we separate from the things for which we have no particular mental or emotional involvement by creating a “Circle of Concern.”

As we look within our Circle of Concern it becomes apparent that there are some things over which we have no real control while there are others that we can do something about. The latter ones we can capture in another circle that he calls, “The Circle of Influence.”

The point of his teaching is that when we put a lot of mental or emotional energy simply into the things that concern us, we run the risk of negatively impacting ourselves because many of those things may fall outside of our circle of influence.  Why is that negative? Because when we lose control over things that matter to us we become anxious … and anxiety diminishes us and drains our energy. The famous “serenity prayer,” teaches us to courageously put our energies into the things over which we have influence and to serenely accept the things over which we have no influence.

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Covey’s concept of the Circles of Concern and Influence is a modern day reworking of that prayer, but with a deeper insight into the results of such an attitude. When we courageously focus our energies, with discipline, into the concerns over which we have some influence, that effort expands our influence and we actually make a difference. It also energizes us. An optimist directed by this strategy can usher change into the world around him. Pessimists, on the other hand, are equally caring people, who may have an even larger circle of concern. However, their negative and hopeless attitude about results and outcomes prevents them from proactively investing their energies in any strategic way because they do not see their actions having a positive impact. The result is a self-fulfilling downward spiral of negativity; their efforts bear no results, justifying their negative attitude. It also depletes their energy as well as diminishing their circle of influence even further.

Tactically, this needs to be taken one step further because the Circle of Influence likely contains more things and people than a person can commit to influencing. We are finite and have limited energy. High performers choose to focus their energy into narrow streams. In this light, I appreciate the way the University of Texas (San Antonio campus) Health Science Center expands on Covey’s circles by adding a third one … a “circle of commitment.”  This is the practice of highly effective people … to intentionally focus their limited energies to have the greatest realized-influence.

If you are on the pessimistic end of the spectrum then here are four insights that the optimists instinctively know … reasons for perhaps choosing optimism, if you can:

1. Optimism is synonymous with hope.
2. Optimism creates an abundance mentality and powers performance.
3. Optimism drives persistence and enables results.
4. People prefer being around optimists; pessimists are not fun to be around.

Final Word for Christians (but all are welcome to read it)

To be optimistic means to be intentionally oriented towards results. Results-based optimism provides an inner target and mission to keep a person working towards goals and outcomes. Because the results are internally held, the emotional resolve to achieve the results is more readily sustainable because it is not imposed from the outside.

We Christians, however, are taught that we should not strive towards human goals but towards heavenly goals. “Seek first His Kingdom, and His righteousness …” is the admonition of Jesus … “and all these (other) things will be added as well.” We are also taught to work hard towards every enterprise to which we give our heart, but do it all as if we were doing it for God Himself. Herein, then, lies the tension that must be maintained … we must make sure that our hearts are oriented not just towards results … but towards God’s results. This may present itself as a contradiction, but it is an essential tension that must be maintained and managed.

An old saying teaches us to, “work as if it all depended on you but pray as if it all depended on God.” This takes an almost divided mind to be able to maintain effort and focus with apparently two opposing and driving emotions. But the mature Christian knows of the importance of maintaining balance despite the tension of these seemingly opposing perspectives. We are to strive, optimistically (hopefully) towards outcomes … but not be disappointed if the results differ from our expectations, because it is only God who can truly measure the success of our efforts and mission. This doesn’t mean that we don’t set human goals and strive for human results. We must! But the mature Christian establishes these under the authority and purpose of God and his/her emotional state is not determined by those outcomes.

I am not simply an optimist. I prefer to think of myself as a results/faith-based optimist. Optimism is a powerful mental state that is born out of choice; YOU CHOOSE your attitude.

Choose optimism!

I hope to see you back next Monday.

Blessings Viphilus,

Your friend, Omega Man

OCA Training

* Viphilus means, "lover of life"

CHANGE: Principles – 5 truths about change

Welcome back Viphilus*

First, let’s close take care of some unfinished business … the answers to last week’s question.

The story of ugly reaction to change was the story about my Dad. He never adapted and it made the rest of his life terrible. Despite what pithy bumper stickers might suggest, that which doesn’t kill you doesn’t always make you stronger. It depends on what you do (and don’t do) with it.

The story of bad reaction to change was the story of me being re-assigned to an HR project. I eventually adapted but not until I had ruined Christmas for my family … something that didn’t need to happen. If I had been more adaptable or better able to manage (contain) my emotional reaction there would have been virtually no collateral damage. {the fact that it turned out very happily in the long run is moot … because that was only known after-the-fact … I needed to manage my reactions before I knew what the outcome might be}.

The story of the good reaction to change was the one about my new laptop. Sure, it took me a couple weeks to make up my mind to adapt, but there was no collateral damage and I self-corrected on my own … without an attitudinal adjustment from my loving wife.

OK, so there are some realities about truth that are incontrovertible. We can deny them and pretend that they aren’t true, but then we just make life long and hard. Life is hard enough when we know and face the truth … denial helps nothing. Accordingly I’d like to set forth 5 truths … 5 principles about change that are enlightening and can dramatically change the course of our life once we accept them.

Change Truth # 1 – Change is inevitable – it WILL happen

Go ahead. Say it. DUH!

I didn’t say that these truths would be earth-shatteringly new. Change is inevitable. We can trace an appreciation of this back thousands of years. One of the clearest and most succinct statements came from Heraclitus around 500 B.C. when he said, “The only thing that remains unchanged is change.”

It is the nature of the universe, and everything in it, to change … so an important skill to develop in becoming mature is to expect change (this way, you can better prepare for it).

Change Truth # 2 – Response to Change Is Personal

Since every person is unique, their response to change (stress, in general) is also unique. It is impossible to predict how specific changes will affect other people, except what we know from Truth # 3. There are times when we are tempted to judge someone else’s lack of adaptability regarding a specific issue, but here’s the thing … that is wrong (or at least, inappropriate).

Things that bother me don’t bother you … and vice versa. Chalk that up to different temperaments, different life experiences, different cultures and social customs, different … whatever. We may be tempted to mock whiners with the declaration, “First world problems!” when we hear them complain about the same thing that less privileged people might celebrate. And we may be justified … but be cautious … you likely do the same thing. The reality is that we each react to change differently so it’s quite unedifying to even comment on someone else’s adaptive capacity … unless of course they recognize they are being selfish or childish or foolish and are asking for your help or perspective.

Change Truth # 3 – Response to Change Is Always Emotional

“Change? I like change,” you might say. Chances are that what you likely mean is that you like variety. Change … at least the kind I’m talking about … is when something new is imposed on you.

Under those conditions, your response is always emotional. Always! You can’t help it. I’m not saying that you explode in rage, break down in tears, halt in fear or become numb in shock. I simply mean that your immediate reaction will be one that is emotional rather than rational. The specifics of type and intensity of emotion depends on a host of things … but the truth remains that it WILL BE EMOTIONAL.

Perhaps you believe that you are a person who is self-aware and able to recognize your emotions as they are happening in you. Great! The bad news is that that is true for only one in three of you.  Other social science data tells us that only 1 out of 4 people are not controlled by their emotions (if you are in a room with three other people and you know for a fact that one of them is very well managed regarding their emotions … well then, chances are likely that you and the other two people aren’t so well managed).

Why all this matters is that logical or rational solutions for dealing with change cannot be addressed until the emotional questions are first answered (“what’s in this for me?”   “how can I be certain that I will be OK?”    etc.)  If you are trying to help another person (or an organization) move through the transition of a real or imminent change, you are simply wasting your efforts (and likely making things worse) if you proceed first with logic and rational reasons. People need to be “settled down” first to get that sense that things will be OK. Then, and only then, can the change be dealt with effectively in a way that strengthens rather than weakens them.

Change Truth # 4 – Change Is an External Event … Our Response Is an Internal Process

Change inside a person is not a simple flip of a switch. It is an ongoing process that must be managed and monitored. This process is called transition … and we need to spend just as much time reinforcing change as implementing it.

I started out today to say that in my story about my career-shift, I simply “flipped the little switch in my head.” What I didn’t explain was that this switch was put in place with a lot of training … training to take a mental journey proactively so that the result is seeing myself in a very positive place regarding the change when the journey is over.

The graphic here gives an idealized outline of what a person experiences (emotionally) when they go through change. It’s virtually the same “curve” that you might have seen or referred to as the “grief cycle.” The reason that they are the same is that change evokes in us the sensation that we are going to lose something  … and grief is the result of loss. The loss doesn’t even have to be real before the body starts secreting reactive hormones (adrenalin – cortisol … and other stress hormones).  Typical emotions or conditions include:

• Denial quadrant – denial, shock, anger
• Resistance quadrant – anger, frustration, depression, ambivalence
• Exploration quadrant – skepticism, acceptance, importance, hope
• Commitment quadrant – understanding, enthusiasm, commitment

Change vs Transition

Change is inevitable and necessary   BUT  Transition is optional (and also necessary).

Change is a shift in external circumstances   BUT   Transition is an internal psychological reorientation to acceptably expand the comfort zone to accept the new reality.

Change is focused on results and outcomes   BUT  Transition is an inner experience that is not focused on results.

Transition is usually what people resist, not the change.

What we all have in common is that for every change, we go through a transition.

We resist giving up our sense of who we are: our identity as it is expressed in our current situation. We resist the chaos and uncertainty of the neutral zone - the in-between state. We resist the risky business of a new beginning - doing and being what we have never done and been before.

In order to effect change it is important to help people through the transition.

The difference between us as individuals is the speed at which we go through transition.

Change Truth # 5 – We Can Control Transition – the Internal Process in Us

The difference between people who adapt well and those who don’t can be explained by the difference between how they chose to take charge of the internal process of transition. First let’s look at the technical elements of that process that can be managed by recognizing that every successful change in an individual or group can be seen as 5 distinct but linked steps … something I learned in my formal training to be a change-management practitioner. It’s called the ADKAR model:

Awareness – I know that I need to change

Desire – I want to change

Knowledge – I know how to change

Ability – I am skilled at making change a reality

Reinforcement – I can sustain the change

I want to conclude this week with a Prime Directive borne out of Truth # 5....

PRIME DIRECTIVE

Control the change process within you - because you can

Next week I want to look at this prime directive in greater depth and discuss what we can intentionally do to bring us through change in order to thrive and not just survive.

I hope to see you back next Monday.

Blessings Viphilus,

Your friend, Omega Man

OCA Training

* Viphilus means, "lover of life"

CHANGE: The Good, Bad and Ugly - A Perspective

Welcome back Viphilus*

This month I want to talk about change. My goal is to help you think differently (better) about change if change is something that you don’t like. Let me cite a few of my favourite quotes regarding change:

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”  ~  Charles Darwin

“I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.”   ~Georg C. Lichtenberg

“Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.”  ~ Sydney J. Harris

“If something is not to your liking, change your liking.”  ~ Patricia Ryan Madson

“There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.”   ~ German proverb

“When it becomes more difficult to suffer than to change... you will change.”  ~ Robert Anthony

“He who rejects change is the architect of decay.” ~ Harold Wilson

First let me be transparent. I don’t like change. I have proven to myself time and time again that change can be a powerfully good thing … but I still don’t like it. Just sayin’.

I want to set the stage for our discussions over the next few weeks by sharing a perspective that I’ve developed which comes out of three different stories from my life.

Story # 1

Back in the late 90s I was a marine meteorologist who also specialized in hurricane forecasting for the mid-latitudes. I had been one of a small handful of forecasters who had been specially trained in the 80s to deal with tropical cyclones that might affect eastern Canada. As the dozen years transpired between my initial training and the time of this story, I had become one of the primary people who did media interviews related to hurricanes, I made sure that annual reports were being written for the Canadian Hurricane Centre (CHC) and I just seemed to be one of the main couple of people that folks went to on such issues.

I was at a Christmas party with a few dozen colleagues when someone approached me and asked, “what did you do to piss off **** (the director)?” I had no idea and asked why he asked. He told me that he had just learned in a separate conversation with the director on the other side of the room that he was going to assign me to work on the inter-branch team that was working on the new classification reform project called U.C.S. (a federal-government-wide initiative). The assignment was going to be for about a year and a half.

I wanted to throw up. What kind of a Christmas present was this? What did I know about H.R. stuff? How could he do this to me? Hadn’t he been reading the comments that I had been putting on my annual performance evaluation where they asked me my desires and intentions over the next five years? (I had written on one of them that it was my goal to become “The King of the CHC!”)  Moving me out of meteorology and away from hurricane forecasting would kill any chance of “career” development. That was it. My career was over. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream.

Over the next few weeks (which included Christmas and New Years) I moped around like I was on death row. I completely ruined Christmas for my family because of my bad attitude. I was like a toxic waste dump … anyone who came near me was at risk of being infected.

Somewhere in the first week of January when I had been into the assignment for only a couple days, my wonderful wife sat me down (no, she didn’t sit down with me … she SAT ME DOWN) to offer some sage advice … and gave me an emotional cuff upside the head. Her attitudinal-adjustment speech went something like this. “Look … why don’t you just do with this like you do with everything else … make this a point of purpose for yourself … you know, just flip that little switch in your head and embrace this. If you just go out there and be the best HR classification expert that the world has ever seen I bet you’ll really enjoy it.:

Of course she was right. So I flipped that little switch … and embarked on one of the most professionally satisfying 18 months of my career. In the process I go to know every manager and director in Environment Canada’s Atlantic region, and got to meet virtually every one of the 300 employees across the 4 provinces. Until this assignment I might have known 20% of the people.

Story # 2

Mom and Dad dancing

My dad was a corporal with the Ontario Provincial Police; he worked as a communications officer at HQ in Toronto. The main tool of his trade was a teletype machine. I swear, the man could type 80-100 wpm using his 2-finger hunt ‘n peck  approach (there was no power-assist on those keys either … those suckers needed about 200-lbs of force per key). He was always at the centre of all real-time intelligence-sharing between detachments and other policing agencies, including federal and international.

His world changed in the late 70s when they took away his main tool and replaced it with a new one: a computer. My dad was not able to adapt. From what followed and my reflection on it in the years that have followed, I realize that my dad had always been unable to adapt. He wasn’t change-resistant … he simply avoided change at all cost. And the cost was very high, on him and our family.

To make a long and brutally sad story short, he left work on medical leave and spent the rest of his days in seclusion. He died in 1984 of a heart attack … but the last half dozen years were not pretty. The change at work created a fracture in him that never repaired. He had a psychotic break and essentially lived out his days clinically insane. He wasn’t a danger to others but simply retreated into a delusional shell that nobody could intervene or “change.”

Story # 3

I retired from Environment Canada in December 2012, which meant one thing … I no longer had a laptop or a cell phone (did you know that when you retire they make you turn that stuff back in? – go figure eh).

My wife, Deb, bought me a new laptop for Christmas which ran on a Windows 8 operating system.  Harumph!  I was an XP guy.  The laptop was cool though … oodles more power and memory and speed and features. But it wasn’t XP. No worries, I could learn. I opened it up, turned it on, saw the Windows 8 screen, which didn’t allow me to do anything intuitively (based on XP-style intuition) … and then shut it down and put it back in the box … where it sat for 2-3 weeks. Deb’s feelings weren’t hurt … she knew that I’d get to it when I was ready (she’s the techno-queen in our little world so she also knew that when I got stuck trying to figure it out she could help me).

Being forced to use only my desktop computer (which was old) I decided I needed to get past my learning-curve issues and just make the effort. Within a day I discovered that it wasn’t so bad after all … it was just different. Over the coming days, weeks and months I kept discovering new functionality as I explored.

Good?  Bad?  Ugly?

OK, I’ve told you three personal stories. In my own assessment on what I understand about change, I am going to rank these stories as being good, bad and ugly: but not necessarily in the order that I told them.

Before next week see if you can determine which of those stories was an example of GOOD adaptability? Which story was a story of BAD adaptability? And which story was just UGLY?

I hope to see you back next Monday.

Blessings Viphilus,

Your friend, Omega Man

PS…. Regarding story # 1 … when I returned to the CHC after the HR assignment my manager said that they wanted to create a Program Manager position for the CHC. Since I was the most senior hurricane forecaster who had invested more in that program than anyone else I likely had the best idea about what such a position might look like. Also, since I had this new training on how to write work-descriptions according to the new classification model, she asked if I could draft a work-description and statement of requirements for the job for her as a starting point. Of course I agreed. When the job was eventually posted for hiring I applied for it. I was later called into the HR director’s office where he and my manager told me that I was the only applicant and that they were simply appointing me in the position. Turned out that nobody else applied because they felt they didn’t stand a chance against the guy who had written the job description. Turned out that that “career ending” assignment actually made my desired career possible. I wished that I knew at that Christmas party what I know now … that change can sometimes be the only painful path to success.

OCA Training

* Viphilus means, "lover of life"