Is There a Doctor in the House? Or Free Your Mind

Posted by Admin on Apr 12, 2012 in Blog

They say confession is good for the soul.  So here it is:

“My name is Gavin and in my life I am Doctor A.  For a long time I was addicted to the quick fix, although I knew it was bad for me”

Funny, I thought that would feel better.  We are all works in progress so let’s forgive ourselves and move on.  This part of the process is a little painful but stick with it and I promise it will be worth it.  Nobody said change would be easy.

So, we agree that it is important to understand the real problem, not just the surface.  The next step is to write down the list of problems.  Why?   

Here is the cliché of the day: You can’t fight an enemy that you can’t see.  Think about that for second … By writing down the problems, you can begin understand them better and take action to fix them, to begin to understand and manage change.

Before you make the list, here are a couple of guidelines.  First, this is not a list of tasks – sign expense reports, put gas in the car, pick up the laundry etc.  Try to think of bigger stuff – increase market share, lose weight, improve my health and so on.  Second, think bullet points rather than paragraphs.  Use one page, one side.  And remember, this is not homework, more is not better.   

OK go!

Now look at each problem and think of the people that have an impact on it – either making it worse or better.  Again, it is important to be brutally honest with yourself – none is going to check your homework on this.  Change management at its core is a very personal thing. 

Let’s pause here for a moment.  This is not going to be a list of people to blame for the problem.  These are the people that are in the problem with you.  You can work against them and stay where you are, or find a way to understand them and improve the situation.  Are you Doctor A or Doctor B?

I grew up watching Sesame Street so please forgive me … “Who are the people in your problem neighborhood”?  You may find that some of them are part of more than one problem. Trust me, this is a good thing.  And a final cliché to justify writing all this stuff down:

The faintest ink is better than the finest memory – writing it down means you don’t have to remember it.  It frees your mind to think about other things.  One of the best things about this approach is that it is scalable.  In other words, you can chose to address just one problem or you may use it as the basis for change management in your organization or even as a tool for organizational development.  So, pick a size that suits you, and the time you have available to commit to this process.

Congratulations. You made it. 

 Magill, Lean Change Management …