Today, almost without exception, companies must introduce changes not only to remain competitive, but also to survive. Then, companies go to a restructuring, to a reengineering, or they merge, or they acquire another or they are acquired, or they produce a change in their entire computer system to be up to date, or a deepening of quality management to be up to date. tone with the strong demand for quality from customers, or upgrade their electronic communication systems to respond to the speed of communications in this globalized and fast world of the new millennium. Now, why in many companies, after implementing one of these changes that were thought to solve problems, add more problems? Why were the expected results not achieved?
Changes do not occur harmoniously. Organizations are complex systems; the very procedures and structures that make them work resist, in turn, change. Those who put the changes into practice are people, people who come together, act together, share and bring into play what we call the human factor: their perceptions, their culture, their way of thinking, their beliefs and their values.
Changes cause uncertainty, the more uncertain the future, the more important people's values as a guiding principle.
The Elephant and the Five Blind Men
They were five blind. Each one was asked to make a description of an elephant from which they were taken, respectively, from one of its parts.
The first of them, who was clinging to the trunk, said that the elephant was "long and thick, flexible, wrinkled, and to some extent, I think… hmmm, it is capable of manipulating the world around it."
The second quickly exclaimed: «- I don't agree! - «, while running over the ears,«… it is smooth, it is not wrinkled, very thin, not at all thick, and it also flutters in the wind ”.
«- How do you say that ?! - »The third asked, touching a leg,» the elephant is a thick and round animal. Heavy and wrinkled. There is no wind that can move it.
«- Don't be stupid -«, said the blind room leaning on the long side, »it is big as a house and wide as a wall”.
«- They are all absolutely wrong! - ", shouted the fifth blind man, clinging to the tail," the elephant is flexible and tapered. It is not large and although it moves easily, it does not seem to have a definite purpose ”.
The five blind men argued all day without agreeing, and each one went home thinking how stupid the others are.
Points of View and the Company
In courses, conferences, talks or simple informal conversations, many people who hear this story affirm:
_ You were in my company _ showing a knowing smile.
Many see, reflected in the story, what happens in many companies and organizations, managers of areas, departments, or sections attached to their part of the company believing that they are the ones who see things as they "really are". Bosses and supervisors, see in their area the heart of the company, managers and employees, believe that others are responsible for things not going as expected. As in the story, they argue all day without agreeing, and many go home thinking how stupid the others are. Luckily tomorrow is a new day and we will have a new opportunity to finally realize that things "are like this."
Why does this happen in many companies?
Because no attention is paid to the connection between its parts; because it is understood as a series of isolated snapshots rather than as a process, straight lines are seen instead of circles.
Each individual, each organization, and each culture has its own model of the world. With some of them one will feel at ease, while others will seem strange and incomprehensible, despite the fact that other people are in them with great pleasure.
We believe that we act on the same reality of the other, that the other has the same references as us, and that he will draw the same conclusions.
Human beings have the unique and certain possibility of having our vision, it is not "the whole vision" or the "correct vision". We take it for granted that the way we see things corresponds to reality as it is. Healthy, good-hearted and intelligent people see it differently.
The mind imagines that a flat motif is a perspective representation of a set of cubes, this set can be conceived in two different ways.
Take a good look. Now that you have discovered that there are six, I invite you to turn your head slightly to the left and observe the seven cubes that are seen from there.
How many cubes are there six or seven?
When I present this exercise in public, the phenomenon occurs (the more numerous the audience, the more interesting it is) that many see six, many see seven, some see more, once they told me eleven. The discussion is very interesting, it can become very long if I do not intervene to cut it. It can become a discussion like the one between the blind men and the elephant.
Making one decision or the other is a very common scenario in our companies, and in life. Sales are down, what do we do? we change the sales force, we expand it, or we train it; there is a delay in delivery, what do we do? we hire more people for production, instruct salespeople about new delivery dates, or renegotiate with customers; The relationship between the general manager and the other managers is not good, what do we do? We change the general manager, we change the other managers, or we let everything remain the same; some franchisees do not understand the strategic line of the franchise, what do we do? we stand firm and threaten to terminate the contract or we gather them together and try to educate them. Our point of view leads us to suppose that things "are" as we see them,and based on that assumption we make a decision. Obviously it is not the same decision if we start from the assumption that there are six cubes or we start from the assumption that there are seven.
There are six and seven cubes, it depends from where you look at the figure. Within a company, what is at stake is not a geometric puzzle, but rather a significant amount of money, the destiny of people, the relationship with customers or suppliers, the fate of a partnership, an acquisition, or a merger, the success of planning or reengineering. It depends from where one looks at the figure.
The belief that my point of view is more point of view than the other's is an inexhaustible source of disagreements and misunderstandings that are at the base of the conflicts that are experienced in companies.
All the perspectives you can get are necessary. Some resist this either because they are afraid of being confused or simply because if one view is "correct" the others must be wrong. This way of thinking is a trap.
The assumptions
Now I want to introduce you to another exercise, the now classic and almost legendary problem of the nine points, the figure of which is below. What you have to do is very simple, connect the nine points to each other with four straight lines, without lifting the pencil from the paper. Try to do it on this same sheet that you are reading.
Take no more than five minutes to figure it out, and then read on.
The obstacles to finding the solution are to start from the assumption that the nine points form a square and that the solution must be found within the square. There is nothing in the nine points that indicates that they form a square, it is an arrangement in space that resembles a square but is not a square. But there is the assumption, we have it inside our head. Every decision we make from now on will be based on the square. The solution is outside the "square." You cannot find a solution to a problem from the same perspective that holds it.
Each having a point of view and dealing with assumptions makes one feel personally and strongly involved with "the" idea, "the" project, "the" choice of a person for a position, and so on. We become a little blind to certain things, and the story of the beginning happens: "… and each one went home thinking how stupid the others are."
Many change programs for companies become unbalanced because they leave people in the dark, they neglect the human factor, perceptions, culture, way of thinking, beliefs and values.
Our values have a silent and permanent effect, they determine our course of action and decision making.
Difficult decisions reveal a conflict of values. It is not that one option is good and the other is bad, but rather that both represent different values. Making a decision that corresponds to our values makes us feel good. On the contrary, taking it against them makes us feel bad. Making decisions within an organization that has a clear vision also makes us feel good and is much easier than doing it in one that lacks it. If we introduce change management, decisions made according to the old values will still look good, while those based on the new values will feel bad. The problem is that many change plans fail because the same people who are comfortable with the current situation are the ones who must make the changes.
A case
A services company, whose management is made up of a board of directors in charge of the strategic direction of the business and a staff of eight managers, a general manager and seven heads of departments in charge of implementing the strategy. The consultation was made after six months of a major restructuring, the result of which was the current organization that would serve to optimize and speed up the planning of activities and their execution. This was not happening. The work climate in the management group was tense, hostile relationships developed, based on mistrust. The optimization and agility sought did not materialize.
We held an individual meeting with each of the managers following a common protocol, which allowed us to have a record of what their points of view were, the assumptions from which they started. Some saw six cubes, others seven. Everyone saw a square and looked for the solution within it. He was playing the human factor. We developed a work program for the management group whose themes were: that different points of view could be accepted and at the same time legitimate and "correct", that they practiced intensively to get out of the assumptions and find solutions "out of the square". We did a work on the values of people whose result was the installation of respect for others as the basis of interpersonal relationships. This is how the good and necessary restructuring they had carried out began to work.
Synthesis
A process of change that does not take into account differences in points of view, perceptions, culture, beliefs, values has a great chance of failing and generating conflicts with very serious consequences for the company and its people. All strategies to achieve competitive excellence need technologically and humanly prepared people for their implementation, working as a team. Teams are the main elements to achieve objectives, those that work properly take into account the human factor: perceptions, different ways of thinking, culture, points of view, beliefs and values are respected.
The human factor in companies
Guide to take into account, of others and of oneself:
Respect for perceptions
Respect for ways of thinking
Respect for culture
Respect for points of view
Respect for beliefs
Respect for values
