What a SUPER cool day I have had here (in Australia). This morning I launched my very first e-book: The Transformation Treasure Trove: 40 Nuggets of Change Management and Communication Gold. And I was really nervous…what if nobody notices? what if nobody buys it? what if nobody likes it…

But they did. And they did. And they do!

I launched it with the specific pricing of a cup of coffee for the first 100 downloads — because so many times people say “Can I take you for a coffee and chat about this change issue”.  And I don’t always have the time to do this…but by buying the e-book it’s kinda like picking my brains for the cost of a cup of coffee (and for you overseas, without the airfare).

It’s doing really well and a number of the IABC community have provided the most wonderful feedback. Thank you so much.

When it hits 100 downloads, it will become the cost of a glass of wine. Still a bargain.

To see what people have said about it and or get your copy now head to this link…

If you already have a copy and want to leave your feedback or questions please do, love to hear them!

Enjoy — and let me know what you think…

Change Agents, change leaders and the babel fish 

Content curation for change

So a little bit of housekeeping!

A few people have been in touch of late to ask why I have stopped blogging. And I was a bit surprised. Because I hadn’t.  But then I realised that I didn’t let the regulars on xchange know that I had moved my online home to a new site which included a blog.

I’m sorry. My bad. Oh the irony. I changed something and didn’t communicate it. Let me take a step back.

So in August 2011 I launched a new website with my new business name - Conversations of Change.

Conversations of Change emerged as a new business name at one of my retreats at the end of 2009. It really appealed to me as it did a better job of explaining my business (than Jennifer Frahm Collaborations). It also allowed me to manage expectations over who would deliver communication, change and coaching services. It’s not always going to me!

So by way of providing an archive, here are the posts you may have missed. Each month I will post a summary of that month’s posts for you as well.

Of course you can always sign up for the fortnightly change nugget series or like my Facebook page. That way you will also be guaranteed of regular nuggets of change and communication gold, or longer posts rich in insight.

Anyway, thanks for checking in - I’d wondered where you went to, and forgot it was me who had moved ; - )

August 2011

Change Agents v Change Managers

September 2011

Change is Hard by guest blogger Julieanne Dimitrios

Perception is reality

TEDxCanberra: 28 take-aways for business and career change

October 2011

The tribe has spoken

TEDxMelbourne: Innovation 101?

November 2011

What one behaviour could you change?

Strategy - Is it the lost art?  by guest blogger Renae Jones

December 2011

Catapult

January 2012

Bricolage, Angry Birds and Semi-Structures

Social Business: 4 factors to ensure you do it right.

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog

Mark Twain.

or my Dad.

Last week my beautiful papa bear lost his fight with cancer.  We are heartbroken. But as anybody who has nursed a loved one with cancer will tell you, relieved. Relieved that the pain, and loss of dignity and pride will not continue.

My Dad was a remarkable man in so many ways. I reckon most of us think the same about our dads. But mine really really was.

Born into a relatively poor family with a father who took off when he was seven, Dad was the oldest and left school very early to work and provide support for the rest of the family.  With many entrepreneurial pursuits on the go as a little one, he got serious with a trade and went on to become a Master Builder. Later he would move into home improvements, and then the swimming pool industry.  He was still working when the disease (well two diseases struck actually, he was diagnosed with Leukemia (AML) and Lung cancer at the same time), and wound up his last business from a hospital bed.  And while many people will always associate Kerry Frahm with Kerry Frahm the Builder, the Pool Shop guy, the Pool Builder, these are not the identities that I wish to highlight here.

Kerry Frahm - the father

One of the bittersweet aspects of a cancer diagnosis is that you get time to have many conversations.  Dad was shocked and outraged by his diagnosis. He had not yet retired and had big plans. My generation makes the pursuit of pleasure and ongoing activity - instant gratification. His generation stored it up “for after“. And so sadly for me, Dad had many regrets and time to dwell on them.

I’m pleased he talked about them though, as we could refute or challenge his version of the events. One was that he was not a very present father, nor one of these “modern fathers”. Yet, my memories include a father who did the dishes every night and tested my brother and I on antonyms, homonyms, similes and spelling as we wiped the dishes. I also recall many nights him on bathing / shower duty - with the three of us singing Hey Jude and Little White Bull repeatedly as we did so.  If there was anything to regret I believe it should be the green eggflips he used to make us. Dad was also the provider of French toast, banana fritters and the best steak sangers. Although I must admit the steak sangers got a little bit poncey as he aged (blame the herb garden passion).

He was the most present of fathers and far more modern than most I meet. And never did a day, a phone call, or time spent together go past where my brother and I did not know how fiercely he loved us and how incredibly proud he was of us

Kerry Frahm - the lover of women

It’s not as saucy as it sounds. Dad was a lover of women, and while I am sure some could speak to his Casanova days pre-meeting Mum, I mean more of his proclivity to put the women in his life on pedestals.  He adored and worshipped my mother to his last day. Married 45 years last month, it could be suffocating to watch at times.  But I too had my pedestal, and soon so did my sister-in-law, Fiona. His adoration and pride in his three granddaughters (Jessica, Caitlin and Grace) was extreme.  He also adored his sister-in-law Joy, and of course his mother Jess was always revered by him. Even his mother-in-law Faye, had a special place in heart, and he would speak to her positive attributes frequently.  He encouraged feminism in all forms - and exhibited in it special gifts. Many of my feminist slogan fridge magnets came from him. Imagine my delight one Christmas Day with a special gift just from Dad, the book ” How to succeed in business without a Penis”. Noted. Thanks Dad.  But he introduced family friendly work practice when it was a rarity in small business for his staff members because he wanted women to feel they could work if they wanted.  I had assumed that coming from a working single mother family has influenced his respect and admiration for women greatly. Certainly he was not constrained by notions of gender rigid roles.

Kerry Frahm - the giver.

He may not have always been the easiest to live with, or work with, but he was exceedingly generous to all who were in his life. Sadly, his generosity and insistence on thinking the best of people was taken advantage of several times in his career and personal life, even while he was bedridden in hospital.  He was the embodiment of grace though, deeply disappointed he would simply let it go. Dad created opportunities for people who would not be employed by others, he gave of his time to build sporting communities and he gave his opinion to all regardless of whether it was asked for or not!

Kerry Frahm - the enthusiast.

Dad took to ideas and interests with unbridled enthusiasm and passion.  Baseball, tee-ball, amateur theatre, speedway, solar energy, water chemistry, bonsai, permaculture, the zodiac, salad dressings, ten pin bowling, big words and climate change to name but a few. With a skerrick of formal schooling, he taught himself on any topic he perceived as interesting. Taught and mastered. And lectured. On all. Frequently. One of his greatest joys in his last six months was the establishment of a massive backyard garden with the help of his brother Chris.  The delight and excitement of having five varieties of tomatoes striking would be known throughout the whole of the hospital.

Kerry Frahm - the legacy.

Dad was a man of extreme pride, and short of patience. He was hilariously funny and quick of wit and it didn’t matter how much morphine he was getting in the last days he was firing off one liners that snuck up on you, with a wicked glint in his eye. In his last days he was adamant that he didn’t want people coming up to the room and being morose and moribund (his words not mine).  Nor did he want people feeling pity for him. He focused intently on those who visited to make sure that all left with a good last view of him.

Everyone who has come across Dad, will have their own take-away message.  Obviously, some will not be as biased as mine.  The legacy lessons for me come from the breadth of my 41 years with him and certainly the last 7 months.

1)   Be enthusiastic. Find stuff to do that makes your eyes sparkle and makes people groan that you are still going on about it.

2)   Be expressive of your love, pride and appreciation of people.

3)   Don’t wait for later. It may not come.

4)   Try new stuff always.  Jobs, careers, recipes, sports.

5)   Give people the benefit of the doubt.  You never know what impact it will have for them in the long run.

Thanks Papa Bear, love you dearly and always.

Last Wednesday night saw the latest meet up of Melbourne members of the Change Management Professionals(CMP). CMP is a loosely organised community of people who work in change management. What unites us is a belief that you improve the practice of change management when you share stories and experience. We are very fortunate to have the patronage of SHK who provide a lovely environment in which to meet - board room, white boards, wine and snacks.

The topic of the evening was Sponsor Engagement. Deftly facilitated by Vicki Young, the group explored the reasons why Sponsor Engaement fails and what we can do to improve it.

I promised to blog on it, but the conversations were so rich and varying, branching off on divergent paths I’m not sure I can do that justice. Hopefully those in attendance can leave some of their thoughts in the comments if I highlight the key points!

Why does a lack of sponsor engagement occur?

• Relevance of change to the strategy is missing
• Insufficient business case for change
• Sponsor lacks courage and self awareness
• Sponsor has competing priorities - day job v project or change initiative
• Sponsor is not from the right area
• Lack of understanding of the role
• They have inherited something bad
• Do not understand good communication
• Insufficient guidelines / support for sponsor
• Lack of authority / credibility
• Sponsor is ahead of the change curve and doesn’t realise the rest of the employees are not with him/her

What have you done about a lack of sponsor engagement?

• Established KPIs
• Have regular one on ones
• Build a relationship
• Build rapport and trust
• Draw upon your experience
• Educate the Sponsor on change management
• Ensure sound governance
• Draw on data (eg PROSCI studies)
• Be frank and fearless

After brainstorming these topics the group broke up into five subgroups and picked a reason for lack of engagement and shared their stories. I’m going to hold off until next post to share my group’s discussion. Suffice to say, micro phrases and emotional toxicity will feature.

It was a terrific night - with a real generosity of experience shared in a very respectful setting. Next meeting we will be discussing stakeholder stereotypes  and the data and tools we use to influence them!

If you work in change management, whether it be from a Project perspective, or HR / L & D / OCM /OD background and you wish to join in drop me a line and I’ll put you on the mailing list.

So at the end of June, I got my first invite to Google +. Actually I got three simultaneously.  I had heard about the new offering a little earlier and understood it was Google’s approach to world domination via social networking and was here to decimate Facebook, and possibly Twitter, maybe LinkedIn

So I logged on / in and had a bit of a play.  Not much, because I couldn’t see much to play with.  I asked my connections what should I do with it. Mel Pay kindly pointed me to her analytic post on the benefits. It’s going to be a corker because it integrates with Google Apps. That didn’t work for me - I find Google apps a bit difficult to use. Don’t ask me why, I’m normally good with these things!

Jason Berek Lewis told me he liked it as it meant he could partition his different interest groups and differentiate the messaging.

More contacts mean better use of Circles to segment messages you send out over the Google+ network. That’s what attracts me to Google+ - I can easily send different messages to Family, Professional Contacts, Healthcare Comms/Social Media contacts, etc.

That made me sad. What group would I be placed in? Would I still see his Proud Papa messages, his geeky comic references? I don’t work in health care but I quite enjoy occasional posts on health care. They make me think and educate me. Ring-fencing by interest seemed exclusionary and well, not social.  As some-one who works with organisations I borrow from biologists, neuropsychs, sociologists and economists to do the things I do. Would being segmented into other people’s perceptions of what circle I should be in reduce my access to multi-disciplinary ideas?

Robert Scoble posts on how Google + won’t take off with “normal” people. It’s for serious geeks. And as some-one who has always been kind of an outlier, it’s kinda cool to be in the average range.

But he is right. The switching costs are simply too high for the average person. Because we have invested so much on other platforms. I’ve already segmented - business colleagues / acquaintances and tailored status updates on LinkedIn. Interesting people on Twitter. Real friends and occasional family members on Facebook.

Social media apostasy requires a step change innovation / benefit.

And I just don’t see it with Google +. It is incremental at best - for the average user. At least at this stage.

And I’m not seeing as much social behavior on Google +, it’s all very broadcast. I have to say all of those people who I don’t know who are adding me to circles? Freaking me out. Nothing social going on there. Which is very odd I know, because I don’t get freaked out by people following me on Twitter. Once again I feel the need to yell, ” I am not a baseball card to be collected!!”

Of course the parallels to the early stage adoption of Twitter, and if I recall, Facebook are similar. You have to use it more to get it. People were tweeting what they had for breakfast before they engaged in real conversations with followers.  Of course conversation is not the only valid social behavior online - there’s always room for observation and lurking.

People need to trust you’ll be around long enough to engage with you in a social fashion. And it is only in Beta stage.

But you tell me, what am I missing. What do you see as the step change innovation that will bring an average user along? Bring a business along. Change social media faith. Help me see the light. Because G+ whizz I just don’t see it for now…

A friend was lamenting recently the amount of time wasted in meetings. While the use and style of meetings is often culturally bound (both corporate and country culture), the manner in which they are carried out is often less effective than it should be. So here are seven points that I find contribute to more effective meetings. Perhaps it’s time for you to do an audit of your meeting practice?

1) Clarity of purpose

What are we trying to achieve here? Having shared agreement on the purpose and objective of the meeting keeps people on track.

2) Focus on output

What do we need to leave this meeting with to make it a valuable use of our time. Start with the end in mind.

3) Mindful of time.

Who will be the time keeper? Do you have allocated time points - or are you comfortable letting the meeting simply flow?

4) Mindful of process

Do you have a facilitator who will ensure that all voices are heard, draw out the quiet, dampen the dominant & drive the agreed outcome

5) Thoughtful composition

Is everybody who should be here here? Who is here who should not be? What roles will the participants play?

6) Anti-Groupthink

Do you have some-one confident enough to be the dissenting voice. Will your chair actively seek out opposing ideas?

7) Agenda or none?

This relates to first point - an agenda can be restrictive if not aligned to the purpose of the meeting. Some of the best meetings simply agree on the outcome and purpose and allow for emergent conversations.

If this all seems a bit overwhelming - just address the following: What one question could you ask to change the effectiveness of your workplace meetings? I’m willing tio bet that simply asking the question will improve your practice.

(and share in the comments of course!)

How do you start a Conversation of Change?When lunching with a colleague last week, we discussed the difficult conversations we sometimes have to have regarding performance. She was relating what she said and her approach and I was thinking about how it differed to a conversation of change. And so she asked me - well how do you start a conversation of change?

I find it useful to think about what you want to use a conversation of change for…is it to:

• Test an assumption?
• Explore a possibility?
• Identify a gap?

Whether it is at a personal level, a team level or a organisational level there are a number of phrases that can start and sustain a conversation of change.

• What if?
• Why is that?
• How would things be different if…
• Tell me more…

Not all conversations are easy ones to have. If the conversation is anticipated to be a difficult one then it helps to take stock before the conversation and ensure that you:

• are coming from a position of mutual respect,
• have a positive intent behind the conversation and
• retain a spirit of inquiry.

I am  influenced by the work of David Bohm, Peter Senge and Chris Argryis in this regard. But I would love to hear from you about the phrases that you find helpful in a conversation of change? Do share…

We were brainstorming a topic for the next CMP meetup and Vicki Young, of Planpower suggested:

as change managers and change leaders we often have to work to overcome resistance to change. In the situation where you are personally impacted by organisational change did you find yourself ignoring it, resisting it, filling the communication void with your own thoughts? What did you learn from your own reactions that you can apply to your Change Management and Change Leader work and what would you have done differently?

How apt. Some of you have noticed a distinct drop off  of the change nuggets, and blog posts. Twelve weeks ago, my father was diagnosed with two very serious illnesses (because Frahms never do anything by half!).  Suddenly the change manager had to manage pretty huge transformative change. Change that doesn’t lend itself to glass half full or a positive spin.  Shock. Loss. Denial. Bargaining. And then of course acceptance.

I, of course, drew process maps for the doctors (to improve the provision of information), facilitated complex decision making, researched alternative options and managed the family stakeholders. Celebrated milestones in a minor way. Because that’s what I do. And I worked the whiteboard.

But how did I feel when faced with the change. Pretty ordinary. When faced with significant change over which I have very little control I bunkered down to doing what had to be done. No overextending myself, no strategic visioning, no entrepreneurial pursuits, limited communication (comparatively).

And so to answer Vicki’s question - What did I learn from my reactions? 

When bringing in large scale transformative change that will incur loss and often emotional resistance:

• Tell it as it is - don’t spin
• Validate the emotions
• Repeat the information and provide additional sources where possible
• Keep the door open for questions.
• Don’t expect high performance for some time

For now, we’re holding steady, and I have accepted that I can’t plan or control my family’s future. It’s one day at a time, and will be until such a time some-body tells us otherwise.  I can plan and “control” the rhythm of change nuggets series and my blogging, and my intent is this shall resume on a fortnightly basis.

A huge thank you to the clients, colleagues  and friends who have been so wonderfully understanding and supportive during this time.