Living Renewal: Powerpoint Available on GCPEDIA

Quite a few people have been asking for the Powerpoint of last week's presentation at the CSPS Armchair Discussion. It is now available on my GCPEDIA page.

Bottom-Up Change: Comments and Feedback

Please give me your feedback about the presentation by using the comment feature below.

Thank you!

Bottom-Up Change: Video Rebroadcast

If you couldn't attend the original session taped on December 11, 2008, you will be happy to know that CSPS is rebroadcasting "Bottom-Up Change: It Starts With An Individual" on March 26, 2009, in both French and English.

Go to the CSPS Armchair Discussions website to register!

Living Renewal: Comments and Feeback

Please give me your feedback about today's presentation by using the comment feature below.

Thank you!

Living Renewal: How to Turn An Organization Around in 1000 Days

It's official! I will be delivering my presentation entitled "Living Renewal: How to Turn An Organization Around in 1000 Days" at the CSPS Armchair Discussion on March 17, 2009, 8:30 to 11:00 (Eastern time).

If you are a federal public servant, you can register:

• Live presentation (Ottawa)
• Webcast

Here's the description:


Living Renewal: How to Turn An Organization Around in 1000 Days

To say the organization was in a poor state would be an understatement – it was a mess! Much of the pride and commitment of the employees had been eroded, if not lost altogether. Relations between management and staff were strained. Everywhere, the organization was preceded by its "bad reputation".

Fast-forward 3 years later: trust has been rebuilt, employees are as dedicated as they ever were, and people are now saying: "If this organization did it, anyone can!". How did this organization renewed itself? What were the steps that lead to organizational healing? What were the big lessons learned? What can you do to make renewal a reality in your organization?

In this presentation, Etienne Laliberté, will tell the story of the renewal lived in his organization over the years, and even share the secrets of how they systematically do staffing in three weeks (yes, that is correct: only three weeks!!!). In the spirit of his article published recently in the magazine Canadian Government Executive, the presentation will also challenge some of the myths around change management and demonstrate how simple - and yet difficult! - turning an organization around can be.

***

[Français]

Vivre le renouvellement: comment transformer une organisation en 1000 jours

Ce serait un euphémisme que d’affirmer que l’organisation était en mauvais état – c’était un beau gâchis! La fierté et l’engagement des employés avaient été gravement ébranlés, voire complètement anéantis. Les relations entre la direction et le personnel étaient tendues et partout, la mauvaise réputation de l’organisation la précédait.

Projetons-nous dans le futur, soit trois ans plus tard : la confiance a été restaurée, les employés sont plus dévoués et les gens disent maintenant : « Si cette organisation a réussi tout cela, tout le monde peut y arriver! ». Comment cette organisation est-elle parvenue à se renouveler? Quelles étapes ont mené à cette guérison organisationnelle? Quelles sont les grandes leçons apprises? Que pouvez-vous faire pour faire du renouvellement une réalité dans votre organisation?

Au cours de cette présentation, Étienne Laliberté, nous relatera le déroulement du renouvellement vécu dans son organisation au cours des dernières années, et partagera même comment on y fait de la dotation en trois semaines (oui, vous avez bien lu: seulement trois semaines!!!). Tout comme il le fait dans un article publié récemment dans le magazine Canadian Government Executive, cette présentation s’attaquera aussi aux mythes entourant la gestion du changement et nous démontrera à quel point il est simple - et pourtant si difficile - de transformer une organisation.

In response to the comments...

As I alluded to in an earlier post, one criticism I have received repeatedly concerning my "Bottom-Up Change" presentation is that it is a bit short on examples and not practical enough.

The critics are right!

Although I didn't anticipate that the need for practicality would be an expectation or need from the audience when I originally developed the presentation, I consciously limited the use of specific examples. Part of the reason is that my intent was to provoke a desire to change, more than providing solutions.

But another reason has to do with the inherent difficulty of using specific examples and/or making things practical in a 45 minute presentation. The challenge is to meet the three criteria that make the core message effective, namely:

• General: if you want to reach the entire audience, the application of your ideas must be broad enough so that everyone can relate to them;
• Simple: in a keynote presentation, communication is mostly one-way (as opposed to a group discussion or a dialogue). Since feedback loop is minimal and opportunities to clarify ideas limited, it is best to keep the message very simple in order to ensure it is well understood as it is communicated.
• Accurate: Whatever idea you are communicating, you want it to be correct, complete, and you hope it will meet the needs and expectations of each person in the audience.

As you can imagine, it can be pretty difficult to meet these three criteria in a short presentation. Most of the time, you must do some kind of trade-off and sacrifice one criterion and go with one of the following combinations:

• General and Simple: You communicate a message that will be meaningful to all and can easily be communicated clearly and concisely. This also means the idea you communicate may be partial or incomplete, or may not be customized to the specific situation each person in the audience encounters.
• Simple and Accurate: If you frame the issue you want to address very narrowly, it becomes possible to make the message accurate and yet easy to understand. Obviously, the application of the message will likely be limited to similar type situations, which in turn may not be relevant to everyone in the audience.
• General and Accurate: In order to meet the specific needs and expectations of everyone in the room and make the message relevant to all, you will likely have to spend time articulating each argument or scenario in greater detail. Ultimately, it may make the messaging much more complex, unless the issue you're discussing is very narrowly defined.

I personally find the last combination the most difficult to achieve in a keynote presentation. I find it even more challenging during question periods, because very often a person in the audience will ask a question stemming from a very specific situation he or she is experiencing, which warrants and "accurate" response (i.e. correct, complete and relevant). But here's the difficulty: since I don't have all the background on the specific situation, it is hard to be accurate in my answer. Furthermore, assuming my answer is accurate given the person's needs and expectations, there is a low probability it will be equally accurate for the rest of the audience.

So there you have it, and that's why my "Bottom-Up Change" presentation is a bit short on practicality and examples.

For the second presentation I have developed - "Living Renewal: How to Turn An Organization Around in 1000 days" - I have taken a different approach. From the outset I compromise on the general application of what I have to say by specifically telling the story of organizational renewal experience in my Directorate. The upside is that it is highly practical and I give a lot of specific examples of things we did, tools we used, etc. The downside is that I know many people in the audience will listen the presentation, recognize we've done a good job, but leave feeling empty-handed because the practices I describe are either too specific or can't really be applied in their organization. Once again, I made a choice when I designed the presentation, and I know it won’t please everyone.

On a positive note, and regardless of the approach I take, these presentations are always followed by multiple and highly productive one-on-one conversations with people from the audience. And that's when I realize that the presentation is almost just a pretext to allow these conversations to take place!

There's something happening here

During the Holidays I came across "A Leader's Manifesto" by Kelley Eskridge. I recommend it to those who have enjoyed "An Inconvenient Renewal", as there are many similarities between the two documents. You will also find plenty more manifestos on the ChangeThis website.

I would love to see more of these manifestos being released by public servants. It would be a great complement to the work of the guys at CPSRenewal and my own. Actually, I would argue that we need more people to join in and provide active support through unique contributions of their own. We need a diversity of ideas.

Following my presentations at the MTP Conference and CSPS' Armchair Discussions last month, I have received quite a few emails. About half of them were from public servants who wanted to share a good idea with me. That in itself is a good news. But then, a good portion of them would go on to suggest that I would be the perfect person to kick-start the idea and make it "real".

While I find the suggestion flattering, it also indicates me that while my message may be well received, it is not entirely understood. When I talk about things like courage and the need to speak up and do something, I am implying that it is our duty! Not just mine, Nick's or Mike's!

That being said, if there is one thing I have learned through my involvement and participation in various PS Renewal committees, it is that the request is rarely the true need. More often than not, we must look beyond one's request to uncover the real need that is not being met.

For instance, I have heard many young public servants demand the creation of formal mentorship programs. The vast majority of managers simply nod in approval, and once in a while, launch such a program, with mixed results. But only a minority of managers actually take the time to ask the young public servant why they're making such a request. When they do, they are able to uncover the real reason behind the request to create mentorship programs. In this particular case, the real reason is usually twofold: 1) new hires lack meaningful guidance in the public service; and 2) they don't have any role model in their immediate work environment. But that doesn't necessarily warrants the creation of mentorship programs. Mentorship programs are just one way to address the need, but there are many (less formal!) options as well.

I think it's the same thing with the people who suggest I should implement their good ideas. There must be some unmet need behind their request, but what it is ain't exactly clear. If you have thoughts, please share them.

Big Day Ahead!

I've been on the road for the past few weeks - interrupted only by a short holiday in my native land (!).

Last week during the Management Trainee Program (MTP) Annual Conference I gave my "Bottom-Up Change" presentation in both official languages for the first time. Today, I'll be delivering it at the Canada School of Public Service's weekly Armchair Discussion, first in French, then in English. The presentations will also be available in webcast. If you attend the event in person or watch it on the Web, please use my blog to provide feedback. I'm looking forward to reading your comments.

Last week's MTP Conference also featured my new talk: "Living Renewal: How to Turn An Organization Around in 1000 Days". In this presentation, I discuss the drastic shift in morale and employee engagement experienced in my organization over the past 3 years. It is directly in line with the objectives of PS Renewal, and I've been waiting for the opportunity to tell this story for almost a year now. It seemed to be received quite well, despite the fact I had to cut short the last half-hour - which is also my favourite part because I use it to debunk some myths about organizational renewal and change management. This afternoon I am supposed to record the talk in both French and English for a podcast sponsored by CSPS. Hats off to Dean Landry, who is really "taking the bull by the horns" by bringing these concepts to life at the School and making the most of what technology has to offer!

I know I will be drained by the end of the day. Regardless, I think it will be worthwhile!

So PLEASE!!! Share your comments and feedback! :-)

Bottom-Up Change: It Starts With An Individual

UPDATE, June 19, 2008:

If you have attended my presentation entitled “Bottom-Up Change: It Starts With An Individual”, I would very much like to get your feedback. Please feel free to leave your comments here!

Thank you.