Co-authored by Elizabeth Gibson and Andy Billings

 Note in this excerpt you will see references to the following acronyms:
CIT = Change Implementation Team
SOP = Standard Operating Platform

Head, Heart, Hands

The outer challenges-the SOP and its implementation-were the focus of conversations among the CIT and the executives. The inner challenge they confronted was the feeling that they were losing what had made them and Best Buy successful, that is, acting independently, focusing on what was in front of them, and relying on speed to get short-term results. The CIT members had now been out of their former positions long enough that their replacements were well established. If they faltered or were discredited by the resisting culture, they might no longer have leadership positions in the company and they would experience failure. The team needed powerful tools and skills with which to take on their challenges.

The three arenas each have their unique challenges, and we have looked at some ways to meet them. As we worked through the change process at Best Buy, we realized we needed not only a conceptual framework, but also a toolbox of skills and techniques to address these challenges. We began to articulate these skills. They are so important to success that we call them "foundational skills."

The Head: Challenges and Levers for Changing Minds

The challenge of the head arena is to confront and break through the conventional mind-set and at the same time generate a new mental model for the future. With the new model must come the rational business reasons to commit to change. As we mentioned earlier, we found that three methods worked especially well in changing the way people were thinking.

1. New eyes. Help people see with a fresh, new perspective. Assess, gather data, and prompt questions that explore gaps between the "as is" and "should be" models of the world. Along the way, this requires understanding and challenging deeply held assumptions.

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3. Visioning. Create a picture of the future organization. We like to get people thinking about this by asking, What does "good" look like?

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5. Dialogue. Engage in conversations that create an environment of understanding and collaboration in which individuals can look with new eyes and see for themselves the new vision.

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The Head: Foundational Skills

As the CIT and consultants struggled to change mind-sets, we realized that the head arena put most demand on communication skills that were aimed at achieving two objectives: connection and influence. To achieve new eyes, visioning, and dialogue, one must communicate to connect with and then influence the audience. The following three fundamentals of effective communication can help you achieve the objectives of connecting and influencing.

1. Clarify and confirm. Also termed active listening, the technique of clarifying and confirming helps ensure that you understand and shows your audience that you are listening and understanding.

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3. Express appreciation. Noting good ideas and points in the conversation keeps up the energy and momentum of the discussion.

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5. Give balanced feedback. Note positives and points of agreement. Also note areas where change or improvement is needed.

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Remember, the underlying purpose of these skills is to connect you with your audience and seek to influence, rather than control, their mind-set. Table 28, Three Fundamentals of Communication, on the following page, synthesizes the use and benefits of these skills. Further discussion of each, with specific how-to´s, follows.

Clarify and Confirm

Use active listening to demonstrate that you hear and understand what is being said. You can also use body language that demonstrates attention, use prompts such as "go on" and "uh-huh," take notes, nod encouragingly, and apply many other techniques. Clarifying and confirming are ways of obtaining the information you need to gather information in the "new eyes" mode. These techniques also help to make the connection necessary for engaging in dialogue. As you clarify and confirm, assume there is value in what others say. Most people are rational and will not make suggestions that do not have some merit, even if their reasons are not immediately clear. Listening with a positive attitude is the basis for clear and open communication. If you have trouble seeing the value in another person´s remarks, you might not fully understand what is being said or why. Table 29 summarizes when you can most effectively use these skills.

 Misunderstandings are common in interactions between people. Remember, confirming ("So, my understanding of your idea is . . ." or, "In other words, . . .") does not necessarily mean you agree with what has been said, only that you understand what was said. When you use the skill of confirming, you keep channels of communication open and avoid discouraging the other person. Confirming is especially valuable before responding to proposals with which you disagree. Confirming demonstrates that you seek to understand the other person´s position. In turn, this tends to encourage the other person to keep an open mind when you respond with your own ideas.

Express Appreciation

Point out ideas and contributions from others that you find positive. Remember that recognition is important to all people, regardless of the work they do or their level of responsibility. Recognition builds self-esteem, gives people a sense of satisfaction, and increases the likelihood that they will repeat the behavior and thinking. Recognition for a positive idea, raising a difficult topic, or solving a problem helps a conversation retain momentum. The positive morale this builds leads to even higher performance in thinking and action.

Express appreciation to let people know how you want them to perform. When you express appreciation to someone, you increase the chance that the person will continue to exceed standards. Positive recognition can be spoken or written, planned ahead of time or given immediately. By being specific, you avoid possible misunderstandings about which behavior or idea is being recognized. Identifying and mentioning particular qualities that contributed to a successful performance will let the person know what qualities you like to see demonstrated. Mentioning the resulting benefits to the department and/or the organization enables the person listening to you to see the results of his or her efforts. This provides the person with a feeling of accomplishment and reinforces the link between the desired behavior and business goals. Table 30 provides a summary of when to express appreciation.

Giving Balanced Feedback

Providing feedback is an important component in the daily interactions among members of any work group. Without feedback people will not know how you feel about their behavior or what you would like them to do differently. Communicating feedback effectively is not always easy, because people often react defensively, making it almost impossible for them to hear and evaluate feedback objectively.

The most positive results occur when the way you suggest the other person change defuses his defensiveness by closing the potential gap between your constructive intent and your effect. You can reduce defensiveness through balanced, two-sided feedback. People can´t improve their performance if they don´t know what they´re doing right. Balanced feedback means that you recognize what´s positive and has merit along with what needs improving. What has merit and is worth preserving should be mentioned first. Then talk about what needs to change, how it needs to change, and what it will look like in its final state. The more specificity you put into the feedback, the more valued it becomes. Table 31 gives a reminder of critical times to provide feedback.

 When you itemize merits and concerns, be clear and specific. Remember, your intent is to provide information the person can use to upgrade or change her thinking and behavior. The person listening must be able to understand both what you like and what concerns you. Then explore ideas with the other person about ways to retain the merits and eliminate the concerns. Actively involving the other person brings the judgment and imagination of two people to bear on the issues and makes it more likely that the other person will be committed to carrying out the final course of action. Note that the impulse to reject or disagree is your clue to first clarify and

confirm and then move toward balanced feedback.

The Power of the Foundational Skills

Using the three foundational skills helps ensure powerful communication, which can create change. Powerful communication conveys empathy and acceptance, which are necessary precursors to change. A sense of acceptance often precedes the most dramatic changes in an individual´s thinking. Empathy creates a sense of acceptance and freedom to change. When challenged and pressured, the mind spends its energies defending instead of "unfreezing" and preparing to change. Beyond the communication fundamentals, some behaviors that the CIT used to convey empathy include the following.

• Suspend your need to be right in order to more deeply understand the other person´s perspective

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• Be patient, be respectful, and don´t interrupt

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• Try to be aware of your internal filters (mental models, assumptions, biases) that can block your hearing

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• Maintain good eye contact

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• Be responsive

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• Hear the entire communication before interpreting or judging it

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These skills can be used in two different ways: communicating to control or communicating to connect. Communicating to control uses all these skills, but its subtle message is one of direction and control, which decreases the readiness of your audience to change. Humans tend to resist anything that appears to reduce their choices or their freedom to make decisions. Communicating to control, at its worst, is sophisticated manipulation.

Communicating to connect, however, involves a more pure form of empathy and engagement. Understanding is its primary objective. This is the appreciative enquiry we mentioned earlier. A team or an individual who feels real connection becomes dramatically more ready to listen to new ideas, entertain them, and then implement change in all three arenas: head, heart, and hands.

(To be continued next week!)

Copyright 2003, RHR International Company. Reprinted with permission by the publisher, Davies-Black Publishing, from "Big Change at Best Buy: Working Through Hypergrowth to Sustained Excellence," by Elizabeth Gibson and Andy Billings. www.daviesblack.com, 1-800-624-1765.