Overview

In order to survive and grow a business today, organizations-people-must change. And yet change has become a threat as terrifying as a tiger for people battered by uncertainty.

Many companies realize that they have to change. The marketplace is churning with strategies like downsizing, rightsizing, reengineering, self-managed teams, etc. In fact, most companies using these strategies are merely laying off a good percentage of people and then expecting the people who stay to do more work.

This workshop explores the result of these strategies, namely, The Anxiety Factor. As organizations try to grow and change, they need to reduce this anxiety if they expect their people to participate in renewing the organization.

How 17 century science determines an organization's reaction to change 

• Newtonian science and organizations as machines 
• 20th century science perspectives on organizations

The Cycle of Organizational Attitude 

• Contentment, Denial, Anxiety, Renewal 
• Considering what your organization is "ready" to do

Skills demanded by The Anxiety Factor 

• 3 reactions to change 
• Relationship skills, Identity skills, Courage skills

Relationship/Team skills 

• Our tendency to be judgmental 
• Personality style insight as a tool to accept people

Building Identity through focus on the customer 

• The universal business value 
• New scientific perspectives on mission

Developing the Courage skills to face the tiger 

• What our culture teaches us about the tigers in our lives 
• Developing emotional muscle: the learned skill of attitude

Team learning and building community in the workplace 

• The need to think about learning differently 
• The direct and indirect benefits of learning in teams