Building Capacity for Public Sector Reform The Needs of Change Steve Clarke Tuesday, 14th January 2003

“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” Albert Einstein (Allegedly)

The needs of change To build public sector ‘systems thinking and practice’ (STSP) capacity People have to understand the need being met. Until the need is understood the solution will not be recognised. For change to be effective, people have to agree to change their “collective” mind

The power of belief The law of Intention and Creation; as we intend so we create Steve Clarke There’s a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things.” Stephen Covey ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ Leaders need to envision the future by ‘imagining the ideal’ and “intuiting the future”. Kouzes and Posner ‘The Leadership Challenge’

The needs of change Change evolves from dissatisfaction with the way things are On the one hand, we can celebrate this dissatisfaction for it is what brought humanity into groups, to cultivate and to organise On the other hand, where you start so do you end This means that if the originating idea is dissatisfaction, then the outcome will also be dissatisfaction - unless during the change process we change our mind, our belief.

The needs of change We need, therefore, to change to a more optimistic frame of mind So here lies a dichotomy. Discontent with the way things are both drives us to seek change and also denies us the benefits we seek How do we consciously move through the change cycle without inherent failure?

The needs of change We have to accept responsibility for what we believe SSM provides a vehicle that readily supports this transition of beliefs (Peter Checkland) Understanding brain dominance assists our communication (Ned Herrmann) The Necessary Art of Persuasion (Jay Conger) Effective project management is essential “The needs of change” is about how specific approaches support the transition that needs to take place in people's beliefs and attitudes to achieve successful change (Steve Clarke)

Five Principles of SSM Accommodations have to be reached between different people, views and interests Focus on purpose, build models of purposeful activity, and declare viewpoints Compare models with the real world and debate how situation should be improved Reach agreement on models of linked activity then ask questions of each activity Solutions must be driven by the activity to be served and not the other way round 5

“Any time we think the problem is ‘out there’, that thought is Stephen Covey

Herrmann Brain Dominance Ned Herrmann analysed responses to various behavioural questionnaires that he had devised and found 4 distinct types of behaviour. His interests in the functioning of the brain led him to identify a correlation between these 4 types of behaviour and the functioning of the various parts of the brain, blending of the left brain/right brain research (Roger Sperry) and the triune brain research (Paul Maclean). He was able to prove much of this correlation using brain activity measuring instruments such as the electroencephalograph (EEG) and positron emission tomography (PET scanning). As a result, Herrmann has developed a metaphorical model that maps the behaviours to the brain functions. There are four quadrants, that generally map to the halves of the cerebral brain (neocortex) and the halves of the limbic brain. The current HBDI is version 18 of the original questionnaire, and has been stable for some time. The database that backs up the research comprises over half a million respondents.

The Interconnected Brain System Cerebral Hemispheres A Upper Left BLUE D Upper Right YELLOW In the next few slides we are going to look at the model from a simple perspective — where each person has a preference for operating in only one of these quadrants (unidominance). This is so we can concentrate on the differences between the quadrants. Later in the section we look at how the preferences are actually distributed, and will be looking at individual profiles. ·         The cerebral quadrants have a tendency to be focused on now and the future ·         The limbic quadrants tend to be more guided by past experience. B Lower Left GREEN C Lower Right RED Limbic System

What does the HBDI measure? Personal Preferences in Thinking and Processing Styles

UPPER LEFT QUADRANT ANALYSIS FACTS DATA TANGIBLE FOCUSED FEASIBILITY CRITICAL ASSESSMENT LINEAR IMPACT CONCLUSIONS MATHEMATICS RATIONAL TECHNICAL FINANCIAL 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10

LOWER LEFT QUADRANT Operational Planning Implementation Procedure Detail Maintenance Administrative Ordered Methodical Systematic Routine Time Management Tidy, Organised Efficient, Reliable 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10

LOWER RIGHT QUADRANT Interpersonal Skills Feeling Sensitive Emotional Humanistic Communicative Empathetic Caring Interested In People ‘Sensory Intuition’ Instinctive 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10

UPPER RIGHT QUADRANT Strategic Thinking Lateral Thinking Broad View Abstract Concepts Approximates Keeps Several Mental ‘Balls In Air’ Explores Experiments Adventure Innovation Tangents ‘Intellectual Intuition’ 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10

Our four different selves Rational Self Analyses Quantifies Is critical Likes numbers Knows about money Technically aware Is logical / realistic Experimental Self Infers Imagines Speculates Breaks rules Likes surprises Is curious / plays Takes risks / impetuous Takes preventative action Establishes procedures Is reliable / timely Gets things done Is neat / plans Organises Safekeeping Self Sensitively aware Instructive Tactile contact Supportive Expressive Emotional Garrulous Feeling Self In the developed parts of the world, the educational techniques are very oriented to left brain functions.

Detrimental Political Behaviour Rational Self Over emphasis on finance e.g. dominance of the HM Treasury Experimental Self Over valuing ungrounded strategic plans e.g. The Dome Over regulation and restrictions e.g. Nanny State Safekeeping Self Over emphasis on the message rather than the content e.g. Spin Feeling Self In the developed parts of the world, the educational techniques are very oriented to left brain functions.

“No great improvements in the lot of mankind are possible, until great change takes place in the fundamental constitution of their modes of thought.” John Stuart Mill

Art of Persuasion One-shot effort Up front hard sell Four Ways Not To Persuade i.e. convincing & selling Secret lies in great arguments Resist compromise

Four Ways Not To Persuade Art of Persuasion One-shot effort (Persuasion is a process not an event.) Up front hard sell John Wayne approach. Persistence, logic, exuberance. (However, this sets the opponents something to fight.) Four Ways Not To Persuade Secret lies in great arguments Great arguments are important but other factors matter as much. Resist compromise See persuasion as surrender or a one way street. (People need to see persuader is flexible enough to respond to their concerns. Persuaders rarely change another’s point of view without altering their own or behaviour.)

i.e. learning & negotiating requires commitment & practice Art of Persuasion 1. Establish credibility (expertise, relationships) 2. Frame for Common Ground (mutual benefit) Four Essential Steps to Persuasion i.e. learning & negotiating requires commitment & practice 3. Use vivid language & compelling evidence 4. Connect emotionally (commitment, sense of audience)

Four Essential Steps to Persuasion Art of Persuasion Establish credibility 2. Frame for Common Ground i.e. over time. (This includes expertise, relationships: trusted to listen, strong emotional character & integrity, share credit, helpful & supportive.) Identify your objectives & tangible benefits to your audience (& be flexible about intermediate). (If not mutual benefits, adjust your position.) Four Essential Steps to Persuasion 3. Use vivid language & compelling evidence 4. Connect emotionally Show your own emotional commitment – delicately - to the position. Have a strong and accurate sense of your audience’s emotional state (& match it). Use examples, stories, metaphors, analogies to supplement numerical data.

The needs of change Be clear about our intention – our underlying beliefs People want to be heard SSM demonstrates people have been heard by capturing in rich picture, CATWOE or model Accommodations between perspectives (i.e. beliefs) encourages a change in belief The change process has to change our minds about ourselves and our objectives Move from discontent through participation, involvement, debate, and intellectual rigour into a enhancing confident belief.

The Change Cycle

The needs of change Because change comes about by the change in collective beliefs, the process of change is more critical to success than the actual target of the change Omit the process that invites the individual and collective beliefs of the individuals to be changed and regardless of how ‘correct’ the target the change-project will fail.