As we start to reimagine what our world of work might look like post-lockdown, with the possibility of hybrid teams and flexible working, there’s one thing we know for sure. Uncertainty is here to stay.
If change and uncertainty are our new normal, here are three habits we need to foster, to create a more resilient culture in our organisations:
1. Lead with questions, not answers.
Conventionally, we’ve come to associate ‘knowing’ with competence, confidence and professionalism. We turn to experts who have the answers. We follow leaders who know where they’re going.
But when the path ahead is uncertain, untrodden and unexplored, our job is to discover and learn, rather than to know. To ask the right questions, rather than have all the answers.
Now, more than ever, we need leaders who are willing to say “I don’t know”. Because it’s only when we don’t know that we’re most likely to seek, listen, explore and learn. It’s only when we stop relying on what we know that we become open to what’s possible, new and surprising.
2. Raise the expectation of mistakes
One of the surprising benefits of the past year is that our collective tolerance for imperfection increased. So much was new that we had to learn, we had to learn to do it imperfectly.
Why is that a benefit? Because an environment where mistakes are normal and expected, is our best environment for learning. We can take the risk of trying something new, turning our hand to skills we need to develop, rather than relying on well-honed habits and expertise.
Some of our best innovations and discoveries come from our mistakes too, because our brains are biased to the familiar. Given the choice, we’ll stick to what we know. Improvement will simply be to do the familiar things faster. Sometimes it’s not until things go wrong, that we find the opportunity to truly innovate.
We all know that making mistakes is inevitable. It’s part of being human. But if we only see them as inconvenient necessities, our response will always be to avoid, shy away from, hide or deflect our mistakes. If we see them as normal and expected, then we can develop the skill of rethinking, rather than become entrenched in our blind spots.
3. Reward learning and growth, not just speed and efficiency
One of the reasons why we often don’t give ourselves space to make mistakes, is because our performance is largely measured on speed. Imagine you’re a junior team member, learning the ropes. You hit a problem you don’t know the answer to. Given some time to think, experiment, try a few different ideas you’d probably figure it out and learn how to solve a similar problem in the future. But your to-do list is growing, deadlines are looming and your boss is breathing down your neck asking when it’s going to be done. Your fastest route to delivery is to ask the question. So you do.
The person on the receiving end of the question sighs. It’s the fifth interruption of the hour. And the third time in as many days they’ve been asked that question. They know that if they sat you down and gave you the time to talk through the problem, you’d probably work it out, but they’re also on a deadline. And in the moment, it’s quicker to just give you the answer.
And so the problem perpetuates.
Many organisations set intentions around innovation, learning and creativity, but in how they measure and reward productivity, they stifle anything that doesn’t look efficient.
They praise and promote those who have a reputation for fire-fighting and responding to emails within nanoseconds, even when on leave. They delegate work to the trusted few who they know will get it done right and quickly, rather than to the ones who need and want to learn.
It’s in our everyday conversations that culture is set. And when those revolve around “how soon can you deliver” and “thanks for getting back to me so quickly” what we say is “what matters here is speed.”
We don’t say “Don’t take your time”, but we do say “Hurry up”
We don’t say “Don’t learn” but we do say “Is it done yet?”
Perhaps it’s time to steer our conversations more deliberately:
What are you learning?
Where are you developing?
What’s new?
That thing that went wrong. That mistake. Tell me more about that.
What do you notice?
How’s the wrestling?
How’s the wrangling?
Take your time, we’re here to learn.
About Grace Marshall
Author of the award-winning How to be Really Productive, Grace Marshall is known for her “refreshingly human” approach to productivity. Her work as a Productivity Ninja has taken her from Norway to New York, helping thousands of people – from startup founders to corporate managers, artists to engineers, students and CEOs – to replace stress, overwhelm and frustration with success, sanity and satisfaction. Her new book Struggle asks the question: what if we’ve got it all wrong about getting it wrong?
PlatoAi. Web3 Reimagined. Data Intelligence Amplified.
Click here to access.
Source: http://hrnews.co.uk/three-habits-to-foster-a-more-resilient-culture/
