Slide 1 Title Page, Future-Proofing your Workforce while Navigating Organizational Change
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16725757
Slide 2 - Key Objectives
There are three key objectives for today, to define continuous improvement, highlight the importance of continuous improvement skills and bringing that into balance, and hiring and training these skills.
Slide 3 - Previous work
Previous Work.
This was aimed at the research infrastructure community, but it has many transferable aspects that are in this presentation.
The DOI of the previous presentation is at DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.10010435
Slide 4 - Articulating the problem
Slide 5 - The only constant is change
Slide 6 - Technology skills quickly become outdated
In technology, skills quickly become outdated. AngularJS used to be the foremost programming framework to do front-end work, but has been surpassed by ReactJS. Even AngularJS 2.0 made the original AngularJS obsolete.
In business, this is also the case, but perhaps at not at such a breakneck speed.
Slide 7 - Wicked problems are solved collaboratively not competitively
Slide 8 - Covid-19 has changed how we live, work and play
Slide 9 - Key Objectives - Continuous Improvement
Slide 10 - Continuous Improvement
The underlying aim is for continuous improvement.
Slide 11 - Courage needed for continuous improvement
It is an attitude that relies on courage to highlight issues early
Slide 12 - Focus on the problem
Focusing on solving the problem and getting the most from people
Slide 13 - Key questions
Key questions include:
1. Is this a potential or current problem?
2. How do we fix this now?
3. How do we reduce the chanec of this in the future?
4. Are there any similar areas that need to be reviewed?
Slide 14 - Right people to get the right outcomes
You need the right people, with the right attitude and skills, to get the right outcomes
Slide 15 - Hiring process focuses on experience
The hiring process tends to focus on experience
Slide 16 - Easy to hire people who cannot change easily
But this makes it easy to hire someone who cannot change easily
Slide 17 - 10 years of experience means?
Are you hiring someone with 10 years experience of continuous improvement?
Or are you hiring someone with 1 year of experience that relied on that for the next 9 years?
Slide 18 - Red flag reactions
Red flag reactions when someone raises an issue
1. Deny that the issue exists
2. Dismiss evidence and claims
3. Delay solutions
4. Deny responsibility
Slide 19 - Senior leaders can make or break organisations
Senior leaders with these qualities can poison organisations
Slide 20 - The importance of continuous improvement skills
Key Objectives - the importance of continuous improvement skills
Slide 21 - Balance the hiring process with continuous improvement skills
Increase the focus on continuous improvement skills to balance the hiring process
Slide 22 - Key continuous improvement skills
Key continuous improvement skills are learnability, collaborative by default, adaptability, critical thinking, tolerance for ambiguity, and tolerance for complexity
Slide 23 - Learnability
Learnability is the ability to learn quickly from existing resources without much help
Slide 24 - Collaborative
Collaborative by default breaks down silos and shares horizontally
Slide 25 - Adaptability
Adaptability provides the ability to pivot based on new information
Slide 26 - Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is the ability to make accurate judgements,
based on first principles,
in a field that is not in your area of expertise,
using ambiguous information.
Slide 27 - Tolerance for Ambiguity
Tolerance for ambiguity is the ability to work effectively even though there may not be any ground truth
Slide 28 - Tolerance for Complexity
Tolerance for complexity is the ability to synthesise complex, high-dimensional problems
Slide 29 - Change is constant - solution
To handle constant change, you need people with learnability, critical thinking, and a tolerance for complexity.
Slide 30 - Skills become outdated
To handle skills quickly becoming outdated, you need people with learnability, critical thinking, and a tolerance for complexity.
Slide 31 - Solving wicked problems
To handle wicked problems, you need people who are collaborative by default, adaptable, and have a tolerance for complexity.
Slide 32 - Adapting to Covid-19
To handle adapting to COVID-19, you need people who are collaborative, adaptable, and have a tolerance for ambiguity.
Slide 33 - Positive reactions
Positive reactions when someone raises an issue
1. Take time to understand
2. Listen to evidence and claims
3. Prioritise solutions
4. Accept responsibility
Slide 34 - Key Objectives - Hiring and Training continuous improvement skills
Key Objectives - Hiring and Training continuous improvement skills
Slide 35 - How can you get these skills into your organisation?
So how can you recruit and train for these skills?
Slide 36 - Recruit vs training
Recruitment is easier as you can filter based on selection criteria.
Training is more challenging.
Slide 37 - Competency tables for recruitment
For recruitment and performance review, an organisation could create competency tables for each attribute that is appropriate.
This example of learnability can then be use in your selection critieria and for interview questions.
Applicants would be judged on this with the same or slightly heavier weighting than technical skills and much heavier than experience.
| Experience | Selection Criteria | Interview Question |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Can quickly learn skills within a mixed formal learning and informal methods | When did you learn a new skill for a project? How did you learn and use it in time? |
| Intermediate | Can learn complex concepts across multiple domains at a high level with mixed methods | When did you learn multiple new concepts for a project? How did you learn and use it in time? |
| Expert | Routinely learns complex concepts across multiple domains and shows a deep level of understanding | How often do you learn multiple new concepts? What methodologies do you use? |
Slide 38 - Competency table for Critical Thinking
| Experience | Selection Criteria | Interview Question |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Can make some accurate judgements in another field of expertise with support and limited information | When did you make a good decision that was outside your field? How did you identify and choose options? |
| Intermediate | Can make some accurate judgements in another field of expertise with limited information | When did you make multiple good decisions outside your field for one project? How did you identify options? |
| Expert | Routinely makes accurate judgements in another field of expertise with limited or ambiguous information | What methodologies do you use to make good decisions outside your field? How often do you surprise others? |
Slide 39 - Training, including modelling behaviour
Now we will go through some options for training in-ghouse, but it should be noted that the biggest factor in training is modelling the behaviour you want to see in others.
Slide 40 - Learnability training
Learnability
1. Embrace continuous learning by providing time for informal learning
2. Move to a learning mindset (understanding rather than rote)
3. Identify the learning styles of each employee and build on them
4. Reward learning by making it a Key Performance Indicator
https://allwork.space/2019/05/learnability-the-most-important-skill-to-succeed-in-the-future-of-work/
Slide 41 - Collaborate by default training
Collaborate by default
1. Have a clear overview of the organisation with team roles and responsibilities
2. Look at secondments to build relationships across teams
3. Setup virtual multi-disciplinary teams at a technical level
4. Reward collaboration by making it a Key Performance Indicator
Slide 42 - Adaptability Training
Adaptability
1. Focus on creating diversity in your teams so different perspectives are discussed
2. Take calculated risks via trials and prototyping aka. Agile management
3. Evaluate underlying assumptions regularly, to ensure they still hold
4. Reward adaptability by making it a Key Performance Indicator
Slide 43 - Critical Thinking Training
Critical Thinking
1. Identify and challenge underlying assumptions
2. Focus on creating diversity in your teams so different perspectives are learned and applied
3. Paraphrase questions to ensure the nuances of the problem are understood
4. Reward critical thinking by making it a Key Performance Indicator
https://essaydragon.com/blog/improve-critical-thinking-skills
Slide 44 - Tolerance for ambiguity training
Tolerance for Ambiguity
1. Build a culture where it is OK to not know the final answer straight away
2. Evaluate answers regularly, to ensure they still make sense with current information
3. Increase information available via trials and prototyping aka. Agile management
4. Reward tolerance for ambiguity by making it a Key Performance Indicator
https://www.idsa.org/sites/default/files/Tolerance%20for%20Ambiguity%20by%20Paul%20Skaggs.pdf
Slide 45 - Tolerance for complexity training
Tolerance for Complexity
1. Encourage documentation of complex problems at a high level and at a more detailed level
2. Encourage documentation of the engineering tradeoffs of complex problems
3. Build a culture where it is OK for senior staff to place trust in people who have this ability
4. Reward tolerance for complexity by making it a Key Performance Indicator
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222044201_Mentoring_and_the_tolerance_of_complexity
Slide 46 - Continuous improvement is the goal
The underlying aim is for continuous improvement
Slide 47 - The 'Enlightened' organisation
The 'Enlightened' organisation
This is how I see how to holistically create organisations that can survive and thrive in constant change
Slide 48 - Diversity & Inclusion
Mosbergen, Rowland (2021): Improving Diversity and Inclusion in Senior Leadership: A workshop to help recruit diverse senior leaders.
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14315846
https://www.rowlandm.com
Slide 49 - Intersectionality Spectrum
This graph is to show how someone's "degree of difficulty" increases as the number of marginalised groups they belongs to increases.
Slide 50 - Intersectionality Spectrum
Triaging to help those who need it most, similar to a hospital setting. There are three green arrows on the right here there is a high degree of difficulty to show we need to help those with a higher degree of difficulty first.
Slide 51 - Strategic Planning using a Change Management Framework
Mosbergen, Rowland (2020): Strategic Planning using a Change Management Lifecycle Framework.
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12199856
