The door wide open
“Change is a door that can only be opened from the inside”. (Stephen Covey).
With the right keys – growth mindset, curiosity, intrinsic motivation- we can safely unlock it. And whether we end up in Oz, in Kansas or somewhere in the whirlwind, it’s up to how well we, the not-for-profits leaders, can surf on the waves of change.
At the beginning of March 2020, our Youth organization has been forced by the Covid19 pandemic to freeze all our international camps planned, for an indefinite period. We’ve seen donations drop, cash reserves dwindle, volunteers isolated, international partners frightened to plan their next move. We’ve felt initially caught by a smog cloud, navigating adrift for a few weeks, until we’ve realized that “We have to do things differently!”. It might well be the perfect time to take on a greater, disruptive, challenge – the one to reimagine who we are, what can we do better for our beneficiaries, and how our organization can engage in a transformational process.
Because some change processes can be rocky, some accelerated, the purpose of this essay is to serve as a compass for leaders of youth non-profits, familiarize them with the proper tools, and guide them in the process of thoughtfully and carefully re-align their NGOs with the current contexts of their local communities. In our globalized and interconnected world, NGOs should continually consider the appropriateness of the strategy and tactics they are employing toward their mission.
We start this endeavour by trying to define the concept of change. “Change can be defined as any planned or unplanned alteration of the status quo which affects the structure, technology, and/or human resources of a total system.”[1] The shift in our behaviours can happen on four different levels: individual, group, organizational, and societal. Based on our context and challenges, we can opt-out for 5 different types of changes:
- Restructuring the NGOs architecture and reporting lines. In our case, we’ve opted out for a flat organization and our newly launched Youth centre has been shaped in a way which the cooperation between management and staff level employees is highly encouraged. There is no dedicated office for top management, instead, we work in the available ones, or based on the current ongoing projects.
- Re-engineering the processes and the workflow – We’ve embraced and tested new digital apps to improve our productivity, project management flow, and cooperation. We’ve launched the Monomyths Learning platform to continue to provide remote learning opportunities for youth.
- Mergers & acquisitions – We’ve created an alliance with other 5 Youth NGOs to create a multifunctional space, with complimentary services for young people.
- Strategy change – We’ve asked our beneficiaries what their current needs are, we’ve designed new long-term programmes (including on much needed financial literacy) and we’ve focused on approaching new channels to deliver know-how to young people (micro-modules, challenges based on gamification, MOOCs, digital learning platforms).
- Cultural change – We bet on a High candour/high curiosity approach. In our organization, we value speaking and listening in a way that encourages meaningful dialogue, conscious communication, and cooperation. Weekly we implement a Start-Stop-Continue activity. (Start – What should we start doing? Stop – What should we stop doing? – Continue – What should we continue doing?) to encourage everyone to say everything they have to say (thoughts, judgements, opinions, beliefs, desires, and needs). We facilitate this activity with vulnerability, authenticity and humility. Moreover, we consider Monomyths a learning organization and our highest priorities in Wednesday meetings are learning, sharing methods, growing and transforming our programs. To do this, we use the Heart, Head & Hand method – “1) establish rapport and seek empathy with your listener (heart); 2) appeal to your listener’s — and your own — desire for proof points by offering supportive evidence (head); and 3) remember to ask your listener to take action (hand). This encourages a learning and collaborative mindset. “ [2]
Before proceeding with one of these directions, it’s recommended to understand in which phase of the lifecycle, your organization is: 1. Creativity (in the early phase) where a vision and leadership is strongly needed; 2. Direction (focus) where people can become autonomous; 3. Delegation (growth) – team members have the control; 4. Expansion through coordination leads to a revolutionary phase; 5. Collaboration in a system, structured way. Irrespective of which phase of the lifecycle your team is in, consider that the team members can be in different stages of changing process, they move at a different speed and respond differently to a variety of stimuli.
Our inner compass
“Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction” (Alice in Wonderland)
As Alvin Toffler said, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn”. Learning agility is the 21st-century asset and it’s expected that leaders of not-for-profit organizations could master its five dimensions: mental ability, people’s ability, change agility, results in agility, and self-awareness. This learning agility should be complemented by a permanent curiosity, an orchestrated creativity, a leveraged emotion and the ability to shape a broader purpose.
This learning agility is given by the intrinsic motivation and nourished by the growth mindset that leaders choose to follow by embracing challenges, building resilience while facing setbacks, consistently making efforts to achieve the mastery path, and accepting openly the feedback received.
Leaders with a growth mindset understand that their abilities can be developed and that building skill leads to higher achievement. They’re willing to take on new challenges, learn from their mistakes, and actively seek to expand their knowledge. And ultimately, “leave a legacy”.
“Fearless organization”[3]
“A team is not a group of people who work together. A team is a group of people who trust each other.” (Simon Sinek).
Saying “Yes” to a change process, facing uncertainties and accepting our interdependence involves firstly creating a secure base, a belonging feeling among our colleagues, a psychological safety within the organizations. In her Tedx Talk, “How to turn a group of strangers into a team”[4], Amy Edmondson, analyze why giving our colleagues a voice is mandatory for safety, innovation, and learning, and what are the three approaches that can support us to build the “team psychological safety”: 1. frame the work as a learning problem, not an execution problem; 2. acknowledge your own fallibility; 3. model curiosity. She describes psychological safety as “a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.”
In order to help people, resolve the defensiveness and “learning anxiety” they face at work, psychological protection is crucial, especially when anything does not go as they had hoped or anticipated. According to Edmondson speech, psychological safety “is not a personality trait or difference but rather a feature of the workplace that leaders can and must help create.” Psychological safety is not about being polite. Working in a psychologically healthy setting does not mean that, for the sake of being nice, people always agree with each other. It also doesn’t mean that with all you have to say, individuals give unequivocal praise or unconditional help. Psychological protection is about candour, about making constructive disagreement and the free exchange of thoughts possible.
There are 3 distinctive phases to build a psychologically safe workplace. In the “setting the stage” phase, our role as a leader is to set the expectations about failure, identify what’s at stake, why it matters, and for whom. In the next phase, we are inviting and aiming for participation. This is the moment to demonstrate humility and acknowledge the gaps, ask good questions and practice active listening, create contexts for input and facilitate the discussions. In the last phase, pro-actively react to express appreciation by listening, acknowledging and being thankful, looking ahead & giving assistance, or sanctioning apparent breaches.
As leaders, we could direct our energy and creativity to build an organizational culture of teachers and learners, where the organization become “the place where anyone can learn anyone and from anyone, the right things”.
A look at Change Management tools and theories
In this learning journey, NGOs leaders will explore five useful instruments: 1. Scarf Model by David Rock; 2. Kotter’s 8 step Change Model; 3. Lewin’s Change Management Model; 4. Nudge Theory; 5. VUCA.
The first instrument is the Scarf Model, based on the belief that our motivation to collaborate in groups is regulated by the principles of minimizing danger and maximizing reward. The SCARF model involves five domains of human social experience: Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness and Fairness.
In terms of status, our mind perceives as a threat a response triggered by conventional workplace practices (performance reviews, feedback conversations). Therefore, the reviews should be carried on and feedbacks should be given in a way that boosts the status of our colleagues, instead of threatening it. Status is “about relative importance, ‘pecking order’ and seniority.
When our decisions are taken in contexts of certainty, we recognize certain patterns which allow us to reduce the resources needed to anticipate our next moves. A mild uncertainty will generate the adrenalin and dopamine “to spark curiosity and energize people to solve problems”, while when facing excessive uncertainty, we tend to panic and make poor decisions.
Simultaneously, if we feel more autonomous, we find better ways to deal with stressful situations, while when we’re not in control, the same circumstances can feel overwhelming for our team members. Autonomy and certainty go hand in hand. More autonomy triggers a greater sense of certainty about our future.
The feeling of belonging is powered by the ability to feel trust and empathy about others. Oxytocin is generated by our bodies when we have stronger social ties and allows us to perceive the others from our tribe as “just like us”. Therefore, as leaders, we should encourage dynamics that brings to surface points of similarity and grow a sense of relatedness. In this way, the differences are more approachable and easier to solve.
Perception of an “unfair” situation will immediately activate a hostile reaction and undermine the trust. However, fairness in organisations is relative due to the differences in values, and perspectives. Actively listening to different points of view is critical to facilitate a fair exchange between employees.
The capacity to actively target the social brain of our team members in the service of optimum success will be an appreciated leadership skill. Moreover, every action we take and every decision we make either supports or undermines the levels of status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness in your NGO. As team coordinators, we can embrace the “healer” tole, encourage colleagues to feel good about themselves, offer them the opportunity to make decisions, build healthy relationships, convey their needs clearly, encourage creativity, to obtain a “reward” response. For instance, if we acknowledge that lack of autonomy and control enable a threat response, we can avoid micromanaging.
The second instrument to zoom in is Kotter’s 8 step Change Model. The author of “The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change their Organizations”, affirms that to successfully complete a change process, 75% of the practice team needs to “buy into” the change, to understand the reason for change. This model helps us achieve a holistic plan for far-reaching organizational upgrades in eight steps and three phases: creating a climate for change (steps 1 to 3), engaging and enabling the whole organization (step 4 to 6), and implementing and sustaining change (steps 7 to 8).
The first step is to create a sense of urgency. Only with the support of our team members, we can undertake complex organizational movements. Urgency is the heart, the engine of change. According to Kotter, we should “help others feel a gut-level determination to move and win, now”. To persuade them, identify and reveal what are the potential opportunities and risks of the current context, touching both the hearts and minds of the employees. The 2nd step consists in creating a guiding coalition with people who can take the lead of the change process based on mutual trust, autonomy, expertise, leadership skills, and a shared objective. Only after the previous step is completed, we can proceed on developing a change vision of the future that can become the compass for decision making, motivate the team to take action in the right direction when the path is tougher and help them coordinate fast and efficient. More important, a well-formulated vision provides meaning to the people. A great vision should be imaginable, desirable, feasible, focused, flexible and communicable.
The fourth step is to disseminate daily the newly formulated vision through storytelling. However, this is not enough to achieve cooperation. Leaders need to “walk the talk” to inspire and motivate employees to do the same and overcome any mistrust within the organization. To empower broad-based action, the guiding coalition should remove any barriers and ensure that the team members possess the skills, tools, and systems to implement the vision. Is the key to maintaining momentum, motivation and a sense of urgency from step 1. Baby steps are recommended to complete the change process. Meanwhile, our role, as leaders is to build upon the previous successes to encourage and promote change over time. By communicating the positive results of the process, there are greater chances to integrate change into the corporate culture.
Ultimately, at the heart of change lays the emotion. We can see, feel, change. We could reveal to our teams what the issues are and how to fix them based on eye-catching scenarios made. We can create a strong emotional reaction that motivates people through visual thoughts. Consequently, the new emotions modify or enhance their attitudes, motivating them to transform a positive vision into a reality.
The 3rd instrument is Lewin’s Change Management Model[5]. According to Kurt Lewin, three steps are essential to make a successful change: Unfreeze – Change (or Transition) – Freeze (or Refreeze).
During the Unfreeze stage, the leaders should prepare the team for the change, to understand and accept the urgency for change by undertaking a Current State Assessment (CSA). This is helpful to identify the current needs to be changed and to propose new ways of tackling the current issues. Next, approach the key people from management departments to outline the priorities and to communicate the vision for transformation. A Force Field Analysis with an evaluation of the pros and cons of change can become a great ally in this process.
As soon as the people are “unfrozen”, they can migrate towards the vision, but only if the leader communicate the effects and benefits of the transformation across the organization and community. By accessing the third stage, we can integrate the changes envisioned in the organizational culture, while supporting the employees to feel confident with the new ways of doing things.
The fourth instrument is the Nudge theory[6] proposed by Richard Thaler. Briefly, nudges aim to influence the choices we make, but without taking away the power to choose. Since most of our decisions are emotional and based on instincts, nudges help us take logical and conscious decisions. According to the theory, to instil a positive change in people’s behaviour, we need to tap into that instinctive way of thinking, while preserving the freedom of choice. According to the economist, there are three types of nudges. The first one, perception nudges focus on emphasizing the perceptions of organisational behaviour to bring about a change in understanding, and therefore, a change in behaviour. Motivation nudges can be introduced when you want people to care about a change. One way of doing this is to reference other people’s behaviours to highlight what is acceptable and desirable. The last category is ability and simplicity nudges. These can be used your team members feel that it is too much effort to carry out the desired behaviour, therefore we can remove small barriers or make changes simple.
How can we apply nudge theory in the not-for-profit sector in an ethical way? Considering there is a fierce competition between charities and in the current context the donors themselves have a scarcity mindset, it’s vital that we constantly communicate with vivid, and simple information about the specific benefits that donations and support in Youth work will bring. Make use of the Goldilocks effect[7] to encourage donors to choose the middle amount when donating, by taking advantage of our inclination to avoid extremes. Moreover, considering that people see an action as more appropriate when others are doing it, a joint effort of call-to-action and testimonials can be well-received. We should help people adopt the general end of improving the quality of youngsters’ lives, while still leaving the space to decide when and how they want to take specific actions in this respect.
The fifth instrument to be explored is VUCA (Volatility – Uncertainty – Complexity- Ambiguity). “The particular meaning and relevance of VUCA often relate to how people view the conditions under which they make decisions, plan forward, manage risks, foster change and solve problems.”[8]
From the grassroots challenges to the nonprofit board room, leaders have begun to realize that right now, their NGOs face a variety of challenges and dilemmas, new and unclear situations. In this context, the leader should wear the strategist hat, and excel at moving from one moment to the next one with a clear vision of priorities, but with a flexible strategy. During these delicate times, we must rely as much as possible on team’s intuition and experience, identify new opportunities in this unknowable journey.
“North Star” path
“The doors we open and close each day decides the lives we live” (Flora Whitemore)
At the beginning of every journey, we might assume that our colleagues will not jump with us on board, sharing our vision, or that we will have to face a team full of naysayers. After cooperating with more than 70 international organizations in the last years, in our world, few people will resist change just for the sake of being difficult. Instead, people will get frightened and caught in a crisis mindset, which will cause anxiety, a freezing mode, and an inability to act. It’s vital to take time to design a “North Star” path, that can encourage and energize people to focus on “what’s possible?” and “How can we make this possible?”. The path should be an invitation to conversation, an opportunity to enhance both rational and emotional storytelling, and to create momentum. This might happen if we bring the youth back at the centre of our mission and vision.
While it might be tempting to craft the path by yourself or solely with the support of the board, to be successful and broadly embraced, we could bring at the same round table diverse perspectives and expertise, including those of youth. This will help us achieve alignment, a lot more buy-in, creativity, and better solutions for the current challenges.
Remember that in any change endeavour, there will be early adopters who willingly accept to dive in headfirst – those colleagues of ours whose inner compasses are looking for opportunity amid challenges. These are the leaders we are looking for, regardless of their current job description. And with their help, we have higher chances to “leave a legacy”.
Bibliography
Books
“The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth”, Amy C. Edmondson,
Harvard Business School, Wiley, Nov 2018.
“Becoming more open to change: Recommendations for a Change Management Program”, Ashley Warner, May 2004.
Articles
https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/transforming-for-growth
https://pndblog.typepad.com/pndblog/2010/09/heart-head-hand.html
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldilocks_principlehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatility,_uncertainty,_complexity_and_ambiguity
Websites
https://orchestratingtransformation.com
Videos
https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_edmondson_how_to_turn_a_group_of_strangers_into_a_team?language=en
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2J-Y1ThvU8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoA8N6nJMRs
[1] “Becoming more open to change: Recommendations for a Change Management Program”, Ashley Warner, May 2004.
[2] https://pndblog.typepad.com/pndblog/2010/09/heart-head-hand.html, accessed on October 30, 19:23
[3] The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth, Amy C. Edmondson, Harvard Business School, Wiley, Nov 2018.
[4]https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_edmondson_how_to_turn_a_group_of_strangers_into_a_team?language=en, accessed on 30 October 2020, 16:38
[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2J-Y1ThvU8, accessed on October 29, 2020, 17:06
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoA8N6nJMRs, accessed on October 30, 20:30
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldilocks_principle, accessed on October 30, 20:11
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatility,_uncertainty,_complexity_and_ambiguity, accessed on October 29, 2020, 18:38
