Lights, Camera, Action

Managing change is like playing the Pied Piper to a herd of skittish rabbits along a fox-infested path. Sometimes pushing, usually enticing, certainly shepherding. Change in any organization is a monumental task of emotional labor.

Many change-managers have developed profiling tools to assist in the process. Profiling provides a baseline and measures progress. When properly executed, it also builds consensus, clarifies vision, and defines strategy.

“Lights, Camera, Action” was developed by Dr. Anabel Jensen, Six Seconds’ President, specifically to connect emotional intelligence skills and values with the change process. There are three parts to the assessment:

“Lights” identifies the readiness for change.

“Camera” explores people’s willingness/commitment to change.

“Action” assesses the organizations skills/tools to change.

With an EQ perspective, the questions point to relationship skills, self-awareness, vision, values, and particularly trust and communication. There are also questions about technical skills, leadership, resources, and attitudes.

A profile is basically a survey of everyone in the organization to find out areas of strength and challenge, attitudes, values, and skills. LCA is specifically designed to examine the culture of the organization. Six Seconds’ bias is that the real work of change comes from creating a shift in these relationship areas of trust, communication, and accountability. LCA also askes for anecdotal comments or “evidence” to help paint that picture.

To use the profile, Six Seconds’ process follows eight steps:

1. Customize the survey to the organization. This is important because a key result will be comparing the organization’s stated values with what staff really thinks.

2. Give everyone in the organization the survey. It can be completely anonymous, except different departments and levels should be identified. For a school district, for example, you might require the school name, department, and a check-box for management.

3. Tabulate the data. Compare departments, management vs. non-management, and sites. Select the “Key Questions” where there is a lot of disagreement, very high scores, or very low scores. Graph the results and synthesize the anecdotal data.

4. Perform interviews. While not strictly part of the profiling process, Six Seconds finds that interviewing a cross-section of staff validates the data, builds relationships, and greatly assists in defining priorities (step 6).

5. Present the data. Share the overview information with all staff, and explain it. Then ask if the information is accurate. “Do you feel heard?” In the process, Six Seconds also asks, “Is this okay with you?” And “Would you be willing to do something about it?” It is important that the data be shared as a question and dialogue rather than a fact. It also should result in staff feeling empowered, heard, and ready to move forward.

6. Define priorities. With a focus group or in the all-staff meetings, identify the 2-4 priorities for action. Most likely, issues around communication and trust will be paramount.

7. Take action. Develop a strategy and an action plan. Use the data as a guide, and start with the 2-4 priorities. Remember that changing structures does not change an organization. The culture is changed by enhancing 1:1 relationships, and nurturing each person’s positive beliefs, skills, and attitude.

8. Reassess. Repeat the assessment. It may be valuable to do a mini-assessment 4-6 months after the initial, then the full assessment a year after the first.

Since most change pivots on trust and communication, do not attempt to lead change unless your core team is ready to model that! Without a trusting, committed, and communicative team, you will not be able to inspire those rabbits to follow you along the fox-infested path.

The profile is a guide. You can create your own profile or use one like “Lights, Camera, Action” (or “LCA”).

Whatever process you use, start out with plenty of patience and forgiveness. The only guarantee is that managing change will challenge you and your team.

Comparing data from different groups shows alignment. In this example, there are several areas where staff and management agree. The places where there is difference leads the organization to ask why. Are there different beliefs? Is there poor communication? Is there a shared vision?

Areas with high standard deviation point to disagreement, and low SD mean agreement. It is empowering to discover that the staff generally agrees about many points.

LCA is ©2002 Six Seconds, All Rights Reserved. If you want to use these questions or receive help creating your own customized assessment, contact Six Seconds and ask about LCA pricing.