Executive Coaching

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Getting the Banana Against the Odds

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by Marsha Hughes-Rease

Although this experiment is attributed to Harry Harlow, a social psychologist, it is impossible to find the original research. But, since I am into metaphorical thinking, it suits my needs to explain what is often seen in organizations when the question is asked “why are you doing this?”

In the alleged research study, five monkeys were placed in a cage with stairs leading to a ripe banana. One monkey climbs the stairs to retrieve the banana, but hidden at the top of the stairs was a water spray which showered water over the monkey. So it abandoned the attempt. Another monkey tried; it too was sprayed with water. Each monkey in turn tried, but each was doused and eventually gave up. The researchers turned off the water spray and removed one monkey from the cage, replacing it with a new one. The new monkey saw the banana and immediately tried to climb the stairs. However, to its horror, the other monkeys leapt up and stopped it.

Over time the researchers removed and replaced all the original monkeys. However, every time a newcomer approached the ladder, the other monkeys stopped it from climbing up. None of the remaining monkeys had ever been sprayed, but still no monkey approached the ladder to reach the bananas. As far as they knew, that was the way it had always been done, and so the habit was formed.

Of course, humans are so much more complex than our distant cousin but our behavior is sometimes predictable when it comes to problem solving. And why is this. It is partially related to the influence of group culture. Edgar Schein, a renowned social scientist, offers a formal definition of group culture as “a pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.” In subgroups in organizations, the shared assumptions may be questioned by newcomers as they are trying to “get the banana”. However, because the old members in the group may not even remember why they are doing what they do, their response may be like the monkeys…they chastise the new member. After a while, the new member forms the same habits as the other group members and the status quo is preserved.

Preservation of the status quo is fine unless it interferes with how adaptive the group is. If the same group of people always sit together in the cafeteria, no big deal! On the other hand, if this group fails to examine its own norm of denying group members the opportunity to share different perspectives or views during problem solving, this may be reinforcing a status quo that is not benefitting the group members or the organization. It is a lost opportunity for exploring new possibilities, learning, and innovative thinking.

The surfacing and examination of assumptions supporting unacceptable behavior related to cultural conditioning is not for the weak or uncourageous. It requires the a little preparation including asking yourself some hard questions like:

  • What difference will it make if I do challenge the status quo?
  • What are my intentions for challenging the status quo?
  • What outcomes do I expect?
  • What capabilities do I need to challenge the status quo?
  • Am I willing to change my behaviors if I expect a change to occur?

The monkey and banana story is certainly a simplistic way of looking at rather complex human behaviors but it’s a great story to remember whenever you find yourself asking “why are we doing this?” and the response is something like “we have always done it like this!” Just because you have always done it a certain way does not mean that it cannot be changed. You just have to acknowledge how much you want the banana and what are you willing to risk to get it.

Leading Organizational Change – Part IV

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Personal Change and Development
Using the Organizational Change Model
by David Grau

The framework used for implementing change in organizations is a close analogue to the change process used by individuals seeking to move to their next higher level of performance. Executives find it valuable to work with a coach who is an objective, outside observer. The coach facilitates, guides, and provides feedback and support to executives as they move along the path from goal creation to implementation. Executive goals are the desired developmental changes that will result in an increased positive impact by the leader in his or her organization.

With organizational change, executives work with their leadership teams to assist in defining the change goal and with the creation of the change process and seek additional input from other members of their organization.

With personal change, executives enter the coaching relationship with their own sense of the goals and, in conversation with the coach, may clarify or change the goals they choose to pursue. The coach asks questions that help the executive reflect on the changes they are seeking. To achieve greater self-awareness and understanding of one’s impact on others, the executive may choose to complete self-assessments. These can provide insight into the changes that are desirable and the actions they need to take to achieve their goals. Should the executive choose to do so, the coach may conduct 360-feedback interviews. The coach talks with people the executive believes know him or her well. Typical questions include:

  • “What does [xxx] do that makes him/her effective?”
  • “What could [xxx] do to be even more effective?” and
  • “What are [xxx]’s greatest strengths?

The coach presents a thematic summary to the executive and provides specific examples of comments, without attribution, that led to the creation of each theme. From this information, the executive might choose to review critical leadership and management competencies with the coach and decide which to work on for improvement.

The executive uses the results of the assessments, the feedback, the exploration of competencies, and outcomes from conversations with the coach to refine their goals, develop key performance indicators and decide upon the actions to accomplish their objectives. As with implementing organizational change, it is important to prioritize the goals, objectives, and actions to an achievable few. When goals and objectives are realized others can be introduced.

As the executive pursues his or her goals the coach is there to discuss challenges that arise and works with the executive to develop options for resolving those challenges. The executive looks for support and ideas from the coach as they follow the action plan. The coach may offer tools and techniques to assist in executive development and suggest articles or books to read, or actions to take between sessions to support the executive in what he or she wants to accomplish.

Change can be difficult. There may be assumptions, competing commitments or beliefs that undermine the achievement of the desired change. The coach works with the executive to overcome those obstacles. Together they create a system that holds the executive accountable for pursuing the action plan and achieving results.

While the coach walks with the executive on the developmental journey, it is the executive who drives the change process. He or she chooses the goals and the ways in which those goals are achieved. By engaging in this process, executives bring themselves to a level of performance that enables them to make a greater difference in their organizations, in the lives of their employees, with the customers they serve and in their relationships with the other stakeholders of their organization.

Leading Organizational Change – Part III

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Strategy Execution
by David Grau

Strategy execution is where breakdowns in the change process usually occur. Great plan, poor execution. Here are suggested best practices for change leaders and the work groups they sponsor:

Executive Sponsorship

  • Sponsors are executives that take the lead on behalf of the leadership team to ensure that each strategy is executed flawlessly. They form the work groups that will be responsible for the creation and implementation of a project plan for each strategy.
  • Work groups ideally have between 6 – 8 members. Select employees with both the necessary technical competencies and the ability to work well as members of a team. Designate a group lead. Talk with the supervisor of each group member to make sure that the employee has the time required to fulfill their responsibilities as a work group member.
  • The sponsor meets with the entire group at the first meeting laying out the expectations of the executive team for strategy execution in the form, once again, of a SMART goal. As a review from Part I of this article, SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and indicate the Time by when the goal will be achieved. Group members are invited to ask questions and provide their feedback as to their thoughts on the intended outcomes. All group members need to be in alignment with the strategy outcomes.
  • The sponsor and group lead should communicate once a week, even if for 10 minutes, so that the group’s questions can be answered and the sponsor can be updated on the status of the project plan. The sponsor drives the process and ensures that the plan is being executed appropriately and on time. Sponsors are very busy people. Make it a priority to keep in touch with your group lead so the group sees that you are as engaged as you want them to be.
  • The sponsor may get invited to an occasional group meeting to be asked questions or for group members to propose changes based on discoveries made as they step through the project plan. Make changes if needed and also be aware of scope creep, the desire of the leadership or group to accomplish more than planned. Do that only if absolutely necessary. The risk is that the change that prompted the strategy will be delayed leading to negative consequences for the organization.

Communicate Progress

  • Quick wins generate momentum. Each work group should achieve an important milestone within 4 weeks of their first meeting. It lets employees know that the change is for real and progress is being made.
  • Provide a weekly update that comes directly from you, the leader, on the status of the change initiative. Let people know what to expect over the weeks ahead. Keep everyone engaged in the change process. Celebrate successes and reward and recognize the people actively involved with implementing the change.

Tracking Performance

  • As with the overall goal of the change, each work group creates a scorecard with key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure that once implemented, the strategy is achieving its goal and is making the intended difference in support of the entire change effort.

You’ll know the change was truly a success when instead of being seen as a “new way of doing business” it’s seen as “the way we do business,” and what you envisioned at the start of the change process becomes a reality.

See next, Leading Organizational Change – Part IV

Leading Organizational Change – Part II

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Creating a Pathway for Achieving the Goal
by David Grau

The leadership needs to resist the temptation to do everything that everyone can think of to achieve the desired future state of the organization. If there are too many priorities they will compete with each other and little will get done. Here is an approach for keeping the number of strategies to those necessary to successfully implement the change:

  • Relative to the goal, where is your organization today? Establish the gap. If the change is to resolve a problem, discover the root causes. Taiichi Ohno, Former Executive Vice President of Toyota Motor Corporation saw problems as opportunities. “’Having no problems is the biggest problem of all.’ Ohno saw a problem not as a negative, but, in fact, as ‘a kaizen (continuous improvement) opportunity in disguise.’ Whenever one cropped up, he encouraged his staff to explore problems first-hand until the root causes were found. ‘Ask why five times about every matter.’” The Toyota-Global website (http://www.toyota-global.com/company/toyota_traditions/quality/mar_apr_2006.html) has an excellent example of Ohno’s methodology for uncovering root causes.
  • Generating ideas (strategies) for how to make the change happen, i.e., how to get from where the organization is today to where it needs to be, as already alluded to, will not be difficult. Generating high quality ideas involves a concept known as “rich idea spinning,” developed by Jerry McNellis, former CEO of McNellis, Inc. As with brainstorming, rich idea spinning accepts all ideas but is different in that the other participants in the group ask clarifying questions of the person proposing the idea. They “spin” the idea up into an even better idea and make sure it is so clear that if someone walked in the room and read the idea they could picture exactly what would result if that particular strategy was pursued by the organization.
  • Another approach is to do a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). MBA-Lectures has an excellent description of the SWOT analysis– http://mba-lectures.com/management/strategic-management/1248/tows-or-swot-matrix-of-toyota.html
  • When idea spinning or SWOT analysis is completed, narrow the suggested strategies to the critical few that will lead to the achievement of the goal. Establish criteria with the group so that everyone involved in the decision making process will be using the same lens through which they will be selecting the top strategies. Criteria could include how much time it will take to implement a strategy, available resources, i.e., people, dollars, and materiel, likelihood of a strategy being successfully implemented, whether or not the strategy is absolutely necessary to help the organization to be successful in its change effort, etc. In government, a common criterion is whether or not a particular strategy is mandated. If it’s mandated, unless pushback is successful, it gets done.

Now that the organization has answered the question “What are we going to do to achieve our goal?” the next questions is “How are we going to get each strategy implemented so that it contributes to the realization of the envisioned change?” Part III of this article explores this next step.

See next, Leading Organizational Change – Part III

Leading Organizational Change – Part I

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Making the Case for Change
by David Grau

We live at a time when the pace of political, economic, social and technological change is accelerating, creating an ongoing impact on our organizations. It is not only the rate at which change is occurring but also the complexity of those changes. Those external changes create an imperative for organizations to also change. As a leader, how do you ensure that your organization not only keeps up with those changes but thrives in the midst of them? What do change leaders need to do to successfully implement change and ensure that the benefits of that change continue well into the future?

I of this series of leading change we explore the executive actions associated with making the case for change and garnering the support of other executives, managers and employees. For a more detailed analysis of the critical steps for implementing change in organizations I recommend the book The Path of Ascent (2009)1, which provides the framework for the steps outlined in this article. Leading Change (1994)2 is another highly recommended resource.

Making the Case for Change

  • Meet with your executive/leadership team and share your observations on why you believe change is needed. Provide time for them to reflect on what you are saying and together discuss the pros and cons of pursuing the change. Members of the leadership team may have ideas on how to create a change that will be even more impactful, having had the opportunity to build on the idea(s) you brought before them.
  • Your leadership team must be in agreement with the proposed change. It started with working with them on the change initiative from the beginning. Leadership must be able to talk about the importance of the change, what will happen as a result and the impact on employees and the work of the organization. Your managers need to be able to do so, as well, so that the change process is not undermined at lower levels of the organizational hierarchy. Leaders need to engage and enroll their managers in the change effort so that the organization speaks about the change and supports it with one voice.
  • Together with your executive team, describe what success will look like. Make it real for people. Create a sense of urgency and excitement. James Collins and Jerry Porras (1996)4 describe doing so as follows:
“[a] vivid description—that is, a vibrant, engaging and specific description of what it will be like to achieve the [goal]. Think of it as translating the vision from words into pictures, of creating an image that people can carry around in their heads. It is a question of painting a picture with your words.”
  • With your leadership team create the overarching goal, i.e., the purpose of the change effort. Make it, as George T. Doran (1981)3 suggested when creating goals, SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and indicate the Time by when the goal will be achieved.
  • It is important for you and the other executives to gain buy-in from the other members of your organization. Step into the shoes of the managers and employees that will be impacted by the change. See the world through their eyes. Appeal to their desire to ensure that the organization prospers and explain the benefits for them and the organization and why the change is necessary now. Be inspirational in your speaking and communicate frequently with those who will be impacted by the change.
  • To reduce potential resistance and win over your internal stakeholders, invite their input. You’ll increase buy-in and generate the support you will need from the people who will help with implementation and be impacted by it. Research conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that if 70% of employees are not behind the change it will fail to achieve the desired results.
  • It’s not only “okay” to hear from people who disagree with the change, it’s necessary. It provides an opportunity for you to explain the rationale behind your decisions and make, as appropriate, adjustments based on the input you receive. You’ll convert many of the skeptics to supporters.
  • Create a scorecard with key performance indicators to ensure that the overall goal for the change has been achieved. Use the scorecard as part of a feedback loop that indicates your successes and opportunities for improvement.
  • Your ability and that of your leadership team to effect change will be predicated on the level of trust developed between you and the other members of your organization. Over the course of the change process the leadership needs to be forthcoming, transparent and especially if the change is impacting the culture of the organization, models of the change you and the other executives want to see across the organization.

Creating a shared vision answers the question “Why are we embarking on this change and what will occur as a result?” In Part II of “Leading Change,” we will explore the next step in the change process– determining the strategies to achieve the goal.

See next, Leading Organizational Change – Part II

  1. Riboldi, J. (2009). The Path of Ascent: The Five Principles for Mastering Change. Provo, UT: Ascent Advisor.
  2. Kotter, J. (1994). Leading Change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.
  3. Doran, G. T. (1981). There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives. Management Review, 70(11), 35–36.
  4. Collins, J. and Porras, J. (1996). Building your company’s vision, Harvard Business Review, 74(5), 65.-77.