Less is more: Why our brains struggle to subtract

Premise: It seems that our brains are naturally wired to think in an additive way when we are trying to solve problems. It is one of those brain hacks that we picked up from our ancestors but is no longer as useful to us as it was to them. So, if we can learn to think in the opposite direction, i.e, in a subtractive way, we might surprise ourselves with the solutions that we might arrive at. The Research and its Findings: Here is a research paper published by Nature which looks at this phenomenon and concludes We show that […]

6 Levels of Commitment to Change

Premise: Every change or a transformation effort needs the support and commitment of people who will either be affected by the change or who lead the change or who could influence the success of the change effort. Hence, it is important for those who want to drive or lead the change effort learn how committed they are to the change. The commitment can vary from people wanting to outright sabotage the change on one extreme to co-creating or co-owning the change on the other end of the spectrum. Along the spectrum, there are 6 levels or stages of commitment that […]

Becoming Change Agents..

Whether we like or not, we are all involved in some form of transformation at any given time. Some of these transformations are self initiated, at times they are forced upon us, on our companies, industries or even economies. It is in our own interest to learn how to navigate these changes. The best way to do that is to learn to become a change agent and lead the change instead of allowing the change to lead us. Being or becoming a change agent is not simple. We need to learn specific skills around managing and leading change. Unfortunately, we […]

4 Ways to Enable Connections

Premise: One of the most important steps in driving any kind of transformation is the ability to rally around teams that are impacted by the transformation. One of the reasons many transformation efforts fail is existence of resistance for the transformation effort. It is critical to address this resistance if we want to have a good chance of success. Here are 4 ways that we can bring people together as team so that we can understand the existence and the reason for the resistance. Once we know this, we can then address the same openly. Shared Purpose The easiest and […]

Tips on Leading a Successful Transformation Effort

Premise: We are living in a world where every organisation is undergoing some form of transition or transformation – forced or otherwise. Another thing we know is that most change efforts fail. Given this background, what can we as leaders do to tilt the probability of success on our side? Here are some suggestions that are offered in the book “Terms of Engagement“. Flow of Information: In any transformation effort, the flow of relevant information between people plays an important role. We, as leaders, need to ensure that we are able to share relevant information with all the relevant stakeholders. […]