Organizational Fitness and reality LO21156

Vana Prewitt (vana@PraxisLearning.org)
Sun, 04 Apr 1999 10:20:44 -0400

Replying to LO21143 --

Peter Pick wrote:

> ...snip...
> To quicken this pace we will have in two months a key speaker in our
> company. He is a brilliant person for all motivational aspects. I will
> invite the whole management of the company to listen to his words. My
> question is: how to transfer this 2 hours of talk into action that changes
> the company? I think most of the people will like his words and will say
> "yes, he's right". But how to learn that it needs not only "this words are
> good" but action to change something?

This is, as you say, typical behavior and concerns. We get motivated and
enthused, then the follow-through falls through the cracks of our
day-to-day schedules and firefighting. The only way I know to make real
changes in behavior around this type of event is to think of the speaker
as the kickoff.

Kickoff: motivational speaker followed immediately by action planning in
groups. The peer pressure to meet targeted goals will come into play
later

Plan of Action: these are made pretty, put into tables, and shared all
around. Everyone knows what everyone elses commitments and schedule for
implementation will be. This will help keep them honest. It is a little
like saying you will go for a run each morning. But if you run by
yourself, it is much easier to say....oh, tommorow I'll go. Then tomorrow
becomes next week, next month...and you never lose those 10 pounds. Run
with a partner. Peer pressure is absolutely a fascinating motivator.

Impelentation: someone has to take the lead in prodding individuals who
are falling behind and making a very big deal out of celebrating the
success of those who meet their goals. Public celebrations for everyone
who makes their commitments can again motivate folks to move forward on
their plans.

How you do this and all the particulars will depend on your organization
and the nature of your intervention. Hope this helps.

kind regards,

Vana Prewitt
Praxis Learning Systems
www.PraxisLearning.org

-- 

Vana Prewitt <vana@PraxisLearning.org>

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