additional content two years , Bailey said , the company would need to undertake many painful measures , including huge cuts in staff and other unnecessary costs , to “ stop the bleeding .” It would also need major operational changes , applying the “ lean thinking ” approach that had helped many companies instill quality practices at lower cost . Finally , it would divest some major underutilized assets , in a way that allowed those assets to survive — and maybe do better — in other companies that were better suited to managing them .
Though the holidays were approaching , Bailey insisted they start executing the new approach right away . “ I had three weeks to do site audits , meet all the key managers , and conduct the high-level assessment before most sites closed for three weeks ,” he recalled . “ I could not wait until they came back in January .” When he asked for their reactions and input , most people were skeptical , and he understood why . “ I had not met any of these managers before . I was new . There was low trust and high personal stress . Corporate management could shut down the business any day .” During the first two months of the following calendar year , Bailey followed up with a series of in-depth meetings and training sessions in all eight of the company ’ s main office locations . He reassured people that the pervasive rumors of a “ bloodbath ” were not accurate , and acknowledged that their ability to come up with new ideas had been impaired by the emotional impact of the past year , including the natural drive for self-preservation , which had led many of them to blame others . For one pivotal training session with about 30 functional leaders and key managers from all eight sites , Bailey asked participants to prepare in advance short talks about what they personally wanted their businesses to achieve . After the discussion ended , he passed around a statement of his own position and objectives , which he had typed up the day before . “ It turned out to be very aligned to what they had just said ,” he explained . “ It blew them away .” They had all believed the deceptive organizational message that they were in competition . Now there was a reframing : We ’ re in this together . “ We then went into a formal review process ,” Bailey said . “ I asked them to identify the waste and key failure points within their processes that prevented products being delivered profitably and on time , and how they and their teams could address them . Everyone contributed .” Within five hours , they had identified more than 130 problems and agreed on the seven that needed to be fixed first . They also agreed on who would drive the corrective actions , with a support team nominated for each . These were all broad common issues that had affected most or all of the eight sites . This reframing brought the group from ambiguity and conflict to a sense of shared purpose .
An equally powerful case of reframing occurred at the food company with Lauren and Majid . Lauren screwed up her courage and asked Majid to have lunch with her , just the two of them . This wasn ’ t easy , and when they met , speaking openly about her concerns was even harder . “ Majid ,” she said gently and without rancor , “ we have a problem between us , and it ’ s affecting everyone on our team .”
Majid , to her surprise , opened up as well . He said he was just as concerned ; rather than wishing to undermine her , he had been trying to protect himself . Now they recognized that their success depended on each other . They didn ’ t have to trust each other completely , but they did have to reach out to each other with a problem before escalating it to headquarters .
As Lauren and Majid talked more frequently , they found new ways to collaborate on expanding the business in their region . Each began to regard the other as someone to rely on . Instead of believing deceptive messages that they were at risk of being marginalized , the two of them now put forth a message : Together , we know how to grow the enterprise . Your ability to act as a transformative leader — a catalyst for farsighted action in the organization around you — depends on your continued practice with relabeling and reframing deceptive organizational messages . When you relabel them , identifying them as problems rather than accepting them , you are no longer bound by forces you cannot see . When you reframe them , crafting new messages that take you in the right direction , you trigger higherlevel patterns of behavior in the mind , reinforced by similar habits in the brain . Eventually , the messages that people ruminate on in your company — as individuals and as a group — are no longer nearly as deceptive . People understand those messages as not just a way of perceiving reality , but a choice to perceive reality in a more accurate and constructive manner .
Author Profiles :
• Jeffrey Schwartz is a research psychiatrist at the University of California , Los Angeles , and the author or coauthor of three bestsellers : Brain Lock ( with Beverly Beyette ; HarperCollins , 20th anniversary edition , 2016 ), The Mind and the Brain ( with Sharon Begley ; HarperCollins , 2002 ), and You Are Not Your Brain ( with Rebecca Gladding ; Avery , 2011 ). He was the first scholar to identify self-directed neuroplasticity and attention density , terms that he coined , as means of making personal and organizational changes .
• Josie Thomson is an executive coach based in Brisbane , Australia , who has pioneered the use of neuroscience principles in working with business leaders .
Based by : Strategy & www . strategy-business . com
supported by EUROBAK
93