Yap 3.0

Hesitation is one of the flaws of great intellect.....thus the need for proaction not reaction said a 60 yr old multi-degreed doctor (my mom) decades ago after I graduated from law school and was trying to figure out what to do next.

These words resonate with me whenever I am stunted with roadblocks in the midst of helping an organisation prioritize, reorganise, change, and transform their processes, policies, projects, and standardization programmes. Whether this was created by perceived and/or real issues, they are challenges nonetheless. I channel my mom whenever I see this happening with leaders trying to wrap their hands around constantly changing landscapes - economic, physical, emotional, psychological, sociological, political, technological, and anything that seemed to have an "al" word in what sometimes feels like supranational policy making processes.

I do know these training and organisational truths...
Yes, change is constant.
Yes, we are only as good as our last performance in the classroom.
Yes, we need to learn how to learn.
Yes, we focus on our students even though they are not happy to be in our classrooms.
Yes, we try to engage all stakeholders.
Yes, we have documents and documents of what we do best.
Yes, we prepare, prepare, and prepare some more before we head to the classroom.

With these truths, I formulate my responses to the leader and their employees before me. Depending on which of the multi-generational employee you're working with (Traditionalist, Baby Boomer, X-Gen, or Gen Y), you will be faced with varying responses.

So comes the questions ~
Will they really change?
Will they at least listen?
Will they respond individually or by organisational party line?
Will they understand that no one person know everything?
Will they get it?
Will they be forthright with their real problems?
Will they be there for us since we know that any real handshake in this context translate into partnerships?
Will we trust each other?

And then I reframe and rephrase my responses. Such experiences are both exhilirating and thought provoking as well as sometimes frustrating but it is just part of our daily sop as scholar-practitioners.

What are your additional truths and questions as you engage your leaders in this sea of change?