Category: culture

The point of origin of change

FabrizioLeave a comment

If all the countries in the World would give up their military investments and gradually dismantle their military force, there would be no reason for any country in the World to invest in military and have a military force.

We agree on the fact that this will never happen.

There are many interests at stake, and most of all there is a trust issue. The general approach is “if my neighbour has one, I need one too”. Or going back to the paradox in the first paragraph, “if our neighbour does not stop investing in military, why should we?“.

Now, think about how many time throughout the day this is our approach to much more petty and fake disputes.

If the person sitting in front of me on the bus does not stand to allow an elderly person to sit, why should I?
If my sister does not call me, why should I (call her)?
If my colleague does not appreciate my job, why should I (appreciate her)?
If my community does not care about the ones who have less, why should I?
If my neighbour does not shovel the snow from the common spaces, why should I?

Sometimes change is difficult. And sometimes caring less about what the others do and being the point of origin of a change is easy and generous. And who knows the impact it can have on your and other people’s lives.

Stay still

Fabrizio1 Comment

One of the main things I am learning with meditation is staying still.

We are used to react to whatever happens around us and within us, all the time, every day. Many times, during meditation, I get pulled by a thought, an urge, a desire, a memory, my kids screaming, the computer notifying me that somebody requires my attention, a thousand other things happening in that very same moment.

My first instinct would be to let go of the posture, go check what’s happening, and perhaps come back later.

And yet, I don’t.

I just sit still, letting things around me take their course, taking note while simply caring about being present. It is liberating. Even more when you realise that this is a habit you can take with you wherever you go. You can even get to a point in which it is no longer a deliberate choice. It’s just the way you are.

Your language is your World

Fabrizio1 Comment

Sometimes organisations, particularly organisations that have a heavily technical component, develop their own internal language. It is a great way to build identity and even culture, and it is important that new members of the organisation get instructed on said specific language.

Nonetheless, there are two risks.

The first one has to do with belonging. As the company grows, more and more people will feel as outsiders, as they did not contribute to the vocabulary and the phrase book that is being used day after day.

The second one has to do with opportunity. The more specific and internally focused the language is, the more difficult it becomes to communicate with the external world. And people out there might feel that what the organisation is offering is not for them (even when it might actually be), that the opportunity cost to learn this new language is simply too high.

To mitigate the risks, a possibility is to take an outsider approach.

What is the impact the organisation wants to have in the community?
What are the shared values it stands for?
What are the things it seeks to improve?
Why should people (and employees) care?

And then, have reality checks around these topics with people that do not belong, but that should care (somebody would call them stakeholders). Do they get it? Do they actually care? If not, why?

The more the time passes, the more difficult it gets to do just this, so better start early in your journey.

Do you have anything to say?

FabrizioLeave a comment

Few things you might want to consider if you have something important to communicate inside your organisation over a certain amount of time. It might be a project, a change, a new tool, an improved process, a different structure.

First of all, be ready to reiterate the message. Do not expect everybody to be on the same page after you have sent out an email or updated the internal communication tool. It will take time, so prepare to have something to say about it in different occasions.

And (secondly), prepare to do so on different types of media. People absorb information in different ways. Some prefer to read, some to watch a video, some to watch an infographic. With modern tools, it is very easy to be creative in many forms, make sure you are considering the various ways you can reach your audience with.

Thirdly, pace your communication with a schedule. It’s not ideal to receive 27 notifications from you in 1 single day. As you are working on something that will take time, you should factor time in. What do you have to say today? What this week? What this month? What next month? After all, you’ll have different formats and occasions to talk about what you care, do not overload everybody on the starting line.

Finally, ensure some kind of space for feedback. Communication is never one way, as you progress in your journey, people will have things to say, questions to ask, doubts to raise. Set up occasions for this to happen, and be ready to follow up on what is said. Wait there: “follow up” does not mean “change your plans according to (what is said)”, I hope we are clear on that.

And since a couple of interesting words have (fortunately) crept in the paragraphs above, before you even start make sure you have very clear who your audience is (the whole company? for real?), and what the message you want them to get is (probably, not just how things are going with this or that).

Good luck!

A beautiful note

Fabrizio1 Comment

The way you treat people that gravitate around your business is as important as the way you treat people that are at the core of it.

This below costs nothing, is caring and generous. It is beautiful, and tells a lot about how this company does work.