Please add comments to below two posts(1-2 Paragraphs each)
Post 1:
This week was very relatable to my traits as a person. I accept changes slowly. I resist change because of the fact of the unknown increases my anxiety. For example, in my training routine for baseball, I am repetitive because I am superstitious about sticking to what makes me successful on the field. If a mentor or coach changes my training routine, I become nervous that I will not be as successful on the field. I resist change because I am the type that typically sticks to it once I am comfortable with something. My first takeaway for this week is that change takes time. In organizations, change should not happen overnight; it is a process of slowly implementing the change. My second takeaway for this week is that the leader of an organization needs to educate and communicate details about an organizational change. If my peers or employees are like myself and do not always accept change, they must learn the reasoning behind an organizational change. My third takeaway for this week is that changes must be implemented with a plan and strategy. When implementing change in an organization, it must be well thought out and strategized to succeed. Change is hard to accept, and strategies must be created to help those who resist the change.
Thanks,
Brock Webber
Post 2:
My first takeaway is from “Leading Change,” the eight steps to transforming an organization were interesting. Out of the eight I think the short-term wins, which is step 6 is vital to making sure change lasts. Creating short term wins is an active way for management to establish goals and reward those who meet these goals. An example is at my current place of employment managers give out “difference makers” that can be used for days off. A few months ago, they changed a few of the processes in my department and how things were going to be done. Rather than make all the changes at once they added in new adaptations each month. The reward for completing these tasks was a “difference maker” for the accounting employees. The changes were manageable and there was a small reward for doing a good job.
The second takeaway is from “why change is so hard” by Dan Heath. He made an excellent point that what can be perceived as laziness is sometimes just exhaustion. Changing behavior and habits can be tiring, especially if there are a lot of changes. It can be important to be patient with people who are going through changes since they are not always easy. The experiment with the cookies and radishes was intriguing and did a great job of demonstrating how self-control can be difficult and can make people give up on tasks sooner if they are getting weary.
The third and final takeaway is from “How to change your workplace” by Adam Grant. One of the things that stuck out to me was the story on the intern getting all the different work gloves with a price tag and showing how much money is wasted on these. This demonstrated that information alone does not always work. Emotion is needed as well for people to accept and make changes. This point hit home with me since as an accountant, I rarely think of appealing to people’s emotions. In my mind I think the data and numbers are concrete evidence for decisions to be made, that is clearly not the case though
Thanks,
Hadden