Change is Gonna Come ...For You

Change is a concept that seems to drive us, win elections, looks great on a coffee mug, and creates stress. 

We hear the word and feel two immediate and visceral responses: things will improve for us and everyone will need to change but us. Things need to change; I'm fine!

 We love the idea of it; the cozy non-committal nature of talking about it. It's as if the world was covered in magic dust and all is well. "They need to change." "We need to bring about change." "Change is gonna come." It all sounds so good. 

 Someday does not appear on the calendar 

 To most, change is about control and standing still while others make the shift. You may be one who thrives on change but be careful when you want to instill it on others. They too may like the theory but will define it to fit their own convenience. 

Who among us admits to be part of the problem? We want things to change but often under our rules and our guidelines. And whenever you include anything or anyone outside of your own mind, the grip must be loosened or collaboration is a challenge. 

 Actual change verses talking about change is the key.

The Only Constant

Change is a concept that seems to drive us, win elections, looks great on a t-shirt, and creates stress. We hear the word and feel two immediate and visceral responses: things will improve for us and everyone will need to change but us. Things need to change around here, but I'm fine!

We love the idea of it; the cozy non-committal nature of talking about it. It's as if the world was covered in magic dust and all is well. "They need to change." "We need to bring about change." "Change is gonna come." It all sounds so good, doesn't it?

Someday does not appear on the calendar

To most, change is about control and standing still while others make the shift. You may be one who thrives on change but be careful when you want to instill it on others. They too may like the theory but will define it to fit their own convenience. Who among us admits to be part of the problem?

We want things to change but often under our rules and our guidelines. And whenever you include anything or anyone outside of your own mind, the grip must be loosened or collaboration becomes a challenge. 

Actual change verses talking about change is the key. __________________________________________________________________

Make or Become Different

Change is a concept that seems to drive us, win elections, looks great on a t-shirt, and creates stress. We hear the word and feel two immediate and visceral responses: things will improve for us and everyone will need to change but us. Things need to change around here, but I'm fine!

We love the idea of it; the cozy non-committal nature of talking about it. It's as if the world was covered in magic dust and all is well. "They need to change." "We need to bring about change." "Change is gonna come." It all sounds so good, doesn't it?

Someday does not appear on the calendar

To most, change is about control and standing still while others make the shift. You may be one who thrives on change but be careful when you want to instill it on others. They too may like the theory but will define it to fit their own convenience. Who among us admits to be part of the problem?

We want things to change but often under our rules and our guidelines. And whenever you include anything or anyone outside of your own mind, the grip must be loosened or collaboration becomes a challenge.

Actual change verses talking about change is the key.
__________________________________________________________________

Change vs Changed

Change is a concept that seems to drive us, win elections, look great on a t-shirt, and create stress. We hear the word and feel two immediate and visceral responses: things will improve for us and everyone will need to change but us. Things need to change around here, but I'm fine!

We love the idea of it; the cozy non-committal nature of talking about it. It's as if the world was covered in magic dust and all is well. "They need to change." "We need to bring about change." "Change is gonna come." It all sounds so good, doesn't it?

Someday does not appear on the calendar 

To most, change is about control and standing still while others make the shift. You may be one who thrives on change but be careful when you want to instill it on others. They too may like the theory but will define it to fit their own convenience. Who among us admits to be part of the problem?

We want things to change but often under our rules and our guidelines. And whenever you include anything or anyone outside of your own mind, the grip must be loosened or collaboration becomes a challenge.

Actual change verses talking about change is the key.
__________________________________________________________________

Change: It Looks Great on a T-Shirt

Change is a concept that seems to drive us, win elections and create stress. We hear the word and feel two immediate and visceral responses: things will improve for us and everyone will need to change but us. We think change will bring about success but it may also bring uncertainty.

Change Cannot Be Measured

You can’t grab yourself a nice cold refreshing tall glass of change. Your closet cannot be filled with long sleeved hand sewn change. Driving to your next appointment won’t happen in the comforts of your brand new two-door Change. But we love the idea of it, the non-committal nature of talking about it. "They need to change." "We need to bring about change." "Change is gonna come." It all sounds good.

To most, change is about control and standing still while others make the shift. You may be one who thrives on change but be careful when you want to instil it on others. They too may like the theory but will define it to fit their own convenience.  And who among us admits to be part of the problem?

Cause and Effect

If we eat cheeseburgers and sit on the couch, there is a pretty good scientific chance we will gain weight. If we work hard and focus on our goals, there is a better chance of success than tweeting all day about being busy. Complaining about the current state verses accepting responsibility and offering solutions may slow down our progress and goals as well.

We want things to change but often under our rules and our guidelines. And whenever you include anything or anyone outside of your own mind, the grip must be loosened or collaboration becomes a challenge.

Moving change from concept to reality is the tough part.
__________________________________________________________________
Kneale Mann | Leadership Strategist, consultant, writer, speaker, executive coach facilitating performance growth with leaders, management, and teams.

callcentrehelper

Life Without Rules

A couple of years ago, I wrote a post entitled Lord of the Flies: The Business Model. Since then, I have recounted my theory on this countless times. It's the story of kids left on a deserted island to fend for themselves. At first, they are celebratory. There are no rules. And then anarchy ensues. We like rules yet we live in a time where some claim they own the rule book.

The premise is simple. The social web is a place where there are no rules or guidelines. Anyone with a keyboard and an Internet connection – and there are now over two billion of us – can publish online content.

No, you don’t need to use Blogger, TypePad or WordPress. Comments do not have to be activated. You don’t even have to be on Facebook or Twitter. In fact, you don’t have to read another word of this post. You can just go do whatever you want to do.

The Choice is Yours

You can post content on your company’s website or send emails to anyone you want. It is completely up to you. Google+ will go on with or without you. You don’t need to listen to anyone. It doesn't mean anyone will listen to you but that's okay.

It is rather curious how much online time some people spend trying to tell us the way to do things. This is especially tricky inside a larger organization where the evangelists are screaming (not literally) down the hall for the company to embrace all these cool channels and tools.

People are Listening

Then you have the advocates who are beginning to listen to all this screaming. And somewhere up the ladder you will meet a wallet. This is where the toy may or may not be taken away. These are the people who may or may not agree this activity is valid but will ask very succinctly, why and how long. They want a return on this investment.

Business is not charity. Work is not free. Time is not endless. So in order for ideas, concepts and interactions to accelerate, you may want (not have) to build in some rules – your rules. It is strongly suggested (do what you want) that you create even a rough outline of your company’s digital engagement policy and a set of guidelines for stakeholders to uphold.

Company Rules

After all, you do have schedules and meetings, dress codes and client deliverables to manage. No matter if you are a kitchen table company or running a worldwide enterprise, you have to be accountable to someone. So it stands to reason, your deserted island may need some parameters.

Your rules may not be right for me and mine may not work for you. So instead of telling each other what to do, let's share best practices and see if we can both improve.

Does that sound like a plan?

Kneale Mann

image credit: bikingtoronto | original: july 2011

There Are No Rules

A couple of years ago, I wrote a post entitled Lord of the Flies: The Business Model. Since then, I have recounted my theory on this countless times. It's the story of kids left on a deserted island to fend for themselves. At first, they are celebratory. There are no rules. And then anarchy ensues. We like rules yet we live in a time where some claim they own the rule book.

The premise is simple. The social web is a place where there are no rules or guidelines. Anyone with a keyboard and an Internet connection – and there are now over two billion of us – can publish online content.

No, you don’t need to use Blogger, TypePad or WordPress. Comments do not have to be activated. You don’t even have to be on Facebook or Twitter. In fact, you don’t have to read another word of this post. You can just go do whatever you want to do.

The Choice is Yours

You can post content on your company’s website or send emails to anyone you want. It is completely up to you. Google+ will go on with or without you. You don’t need to listen to anyone. It doesn't mean anyone will listen to you but that's okay.

It is rather curious how much online time some people spend trying to tell us the way to do things. This is especially tricky inside a larger organization where the evangelists are screaming (not literally) down the hall for the company to embrace all these cool channels and tools.

People are Listening

Then you have the advocates who are beginning to listen to all this screaming. And somewhere up the ladder you will meet a wallet. This is where the toy may or may not be taken away. These are the people who may or may not agree this activity is valid but will ask very succinctly, why and how long. They want a return on this investment.

Business is not charity. Work is not free. Time is not endless. So in order for ideas, concepts and interactions to accelerate, you may want (not have) to build in some rules – your rules. It is strongly suggested (do what you want) that you create even a rough outline of your company’s digital engagement policy and a set of guidelines for stakeholders to uphold.

Company Rules

After all, you do have schedules and meetings, dress codes and client deliverables to manage. No matter if you are a kitchen table company or running a worldwide enterprise, you have to be accountable to someone. So it stands to reason, your deserted island may need some parameters.

Your rules may not be right for me and mine may not work for you. So instead of telling each other what to do, let's share best practices and see if we can both improve.

Does that sound like a plan?

Kneale Mann

image credit: loarules

Lose Control and Grow

Change is a concept that seems to drive us, win elections and create stress. We hear the word and feel two immediate and visceral responses: things will improve for us and everyone will change but us. We think change will bring about success.

Change Cannot Be Measured

You can’t grab yourself a nice cold refreshing tall glass of change. Your closet cannot be filled with long sleeved hand sewn change. Driving to your next appointment won’t happen in the comforts of your brand new two-door Change. But we love the idea of it, the non-committal nature of talking about it. "They need to change." "We need to bring about change." "Change is gonna come." It all sounds good.

To most, change is about control and standing still while others make the shift. You may be one who thrives on change but be careful when you want to instil it on others. They too may like the theory but will define it to fit their own convenience.

Concept Meet Reality

Some love change and make a run for it while assuming their competitors won’t react. That rarely happens. The competition is not apt to surrender their hill. They may make a mess of things and bring you victory, but the chances they will remain in their box is a dangerous assumption.

Like scaling, we can’t control the speed and intensity of change. But we know that standing still rarely creates growth so we venture out while expecting a return on our investment. Lawyers document it, accountants tally it and doctors examine it.

Cause and Effect

If you eat cheeseburgers and sit on the couch, there is a pretty good scientific chance you will gain weight and over time clog your arteries. If you work hard and focus on your goals, there is a better chance of success than tweeting all day about being busy. Blogging and podcasting may help but only to a point. There are some things we can do that will accelerate results in our favour but none is guaranteed.

There are millions who have started companies with great plans and solid ideas only to see bankruptcy. There are some who have lucked into successful ventures. But most of us fall somewhere in the middle. We want things to change but under our rules and our guidelines. And whenever you include anything or anyone outside of your own mind, the grip must be loosened or collaboration becomes a challenge.

Can we experience change, release control and find success?

Kneale Mann | How can I help?

image credit: flickr

It's All Social Media

The medium in which we socialize.

It has very little to do with a web portal, zero to do with anything electronic, nada to do with any gadget or interface without one important ingredient - us!

Anyone with an Internet connect can publish thoughts online and build an audience.

I am not a social media expert and neither are you.
I am a social media expert and so are you.

This is not to suggest that everyone must have a blog or a podcast but we all have the ability to have them. Technorati tracks upwards of 140 million blogs and that number is probably still a fraction of the number of online spaces that offer someone’s opinion.

Monumental shift in how we communicate.

I often hear from colleagues and friends that all this social media stuff is a big time waster with no results. Before you make that summation, look at how much quality time you really are giving these activities. My treadmill continues to collect dust and will never lose me weight by osmosis.

We are all customers, providers, consumers, producers, buyers and facilitators. Life has always been about residing on either side of the proverbial counter but now the control is in all of our hands. If you run a business, you must be aware of that.

We give up too quickly.

It takes years to master the sales process, decades to learn the fine art of professional chess, thousands of hours to perfect the 3-point shot yet some feel we can hop onto online channels, chat with strangers and with very little get the sale.

Once we realize there is no particular right way, we quickly discover that a blog, podcast, email, phone call or lunch meeting all have one imperative common element - people.

Take a closer look at all of your communication avenues. Don’t just focus on the multitude social networking websites, look at all media. Look at the people you deem to be navigating those channels well and ask questions. With some clarity, you will quickly realize it's all media shared socially.

None of us has this mastered, you in?

knealemann

image credit: scienceblogs

Pack Your Social Media Toolkit

Hittin' The Road

You’re about to head out on a trip. An oil change and a quick check of the tires is a good idea.

You should give the car a once over and top up the fluids. You need clothes, toiletries and provisions.

Then you need to put coordinates in the GPS or check a map. Then hop in the car, gas up and go.


What do you need on your digital trip?

Are you traveling online on behalf of your company or simply searching for a new car? Do you want to contribute to a conversation through a social networking site or read up on the latest recipes? Perhaps you like to just hop on board and let the ideas flow freely.

Always on the record.

It's wise to have a social media employee toolkit for the trip to navigate the online journey and keep everyone prepared for what's down the road.

The level of social media knowledge is not the same across your organization. Many may not think they need to follow any rules of engagement or guidelines. Those assumptions can hurt your company.

Social media policies and guidelines should be linked directly to the company’s code of ethics. This will cause less confusion when Jim in HR decides to post those Vegas pictures on his Flickr account while company details are prominently displayed.

Doohickeys and thingamajigs.

The online world is no longer an add-on or tactic to use for advertising. It is an integral part of your company’s objectives. Your presence online is as important as your physical location. And without a map, accidents will happen.

Does your organization have a social media employee toolkit?

@knealemann
strategy. marketing. social media.

image credit: handycons