CHAPTER 7 ACTION

“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.”

William B. Sprague¹

Action means doing something, a behaviour, changing something.² So, having identified core values and crafted 31Practices, what next? What are the actions that need to take place to demonstrate that each core value is lived, alive and part of “business as usual”? How can you bring to life those core values? Action is the second pillar of 31Practices. The 31Practice framework is designed to enable people to take action on a daily basis that is in line with the core values and organizational purpose.

Knowing what your core values are and what they would look like in practice is not the same as living your core values. To really know about something – to achieve something – you have to move it from an idea, from theory into action.³ Only then do you truly experience that idea – and deliver. “You can’t think your way there. You must act.”⁴ Joseph Badaracco explains that to experience growth as leaders and people, core values have to be played out in the messy reality of organizational life.⁵

“Talk doesn’t cook rice.”

Chinese Proverb

WHY IS ACTION IS SO POWERFUL?

Action is energizing. The physical benefits of exercise are clear, there is an impact on mental functioning too, including reduced fatigue, improved alertness and concentration. Even when our action does not involve physical activity, the very act of doing something and completing it gives us a sense of achievement and makes us feel good.

Action conquers fear according to Peter Nivio Zarlenga.⁶ Mel Robbins⁷ introduces the five-second rule: when you have an idea that seems a good one, take action to move it forward within five seconds. As we are hardwired to avoid loss and pain and to reduce risk, we’ll persuade ourselves to abandon that idea unless we act quickly.

“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”

Napoleon Hill⁸

Taking action builds habits, and building a broader repertoire of habits means we’ve got more choice about how to act in any given situation. It takes much repetition of actions or sequences of behaviours before we have integrated those actions into unconscious patterns of behaviour.

Individual action is one thing. Taking action as a group is particularly powerful.

When we see others take action, even when we’re not involved in the action, certain neurons fire that help prime us to understand and identify with those others. John Cacioppo, Director of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience at the University of Chicago, notes that when we see others take action, we mimic that action at a physiological level. He calls this “synchrony”. As social animals, synchrony is useful to connect us together. It’s often so subtle that we don’t realize it’s happening.

Imagine, across your organization, whether that is a site, multisite, national or global organization, you know that everyone is engaged in the same daily Practice. This level of coherence is engaging. In the words of one employee, “It feels good to know that we are all focused on the same thing”.

This social mimicking effect is further enhanced when it involves people we respect or admire, or people who have authority over us in some way. The action of leaders is magnified! This underlines why the behaviour of leaders is so important. We explore this in more detail in Chapter 24, Leadership.

“I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts”

John Locke⁹

Let’s use an example of a private healthcare organization where one of the values is Excellence and one of the Practices is “We display meticulous attention to cleanliness”. If the chief executive is being shown around a hospital and he/she picks up a piece of litter when walking down the corridor, this sends a strong message to everybody who sees the action (or hears about it subsequently).

Conversely, if a member of the cleaning team has just attended a workshop on the importance of values and living the 31Practices but they see the chief executive step over the piece of litter, they could not be blamed for coming to the conclusion that the whole thing is a waste of time – an equally strong, but negative message then takes hold.

Now it may not seem logical to draw such a conclusion from such a small incident and it may not seem very fair, but we know from our experience of large and small organizations that this is how things work. Inaction or silence can be interpreted as tacit approval and in organizations, senior leaders are role models so their actions and inactions are magnified in importance.

“The maxim is ‘Qui tacet consentiret’: the maxim of the law is ‘Silence gives consent’.”

Sir Thomas More¹⁰

The take-away here is to pay attention to what you don’t do as well as what you do in order to demonstrate what is important to you.

TAKING ACTION TO DELIVER THE 31PRACTICES FRAMEWORK

Having identified your 31Practices (Chapter 6, Identify), now it’s time to put them into operation day to day.

Getting started requires you to follow some simple guidelines:

Let people know what is happening, what’s expected and how employees are going to be empowered. You also need to give time and space to listen to concerns, adapt what is still adaptable, and answer questions.

Our way of doing this has been a series of employee workshops delivered functionally and cross-hierarchically by trained facilitators. Ensure that those involved in championing the roll-out are involved in the day-to-day operations.

Each Practice corresponds to a day of the month. Only one Practice needs to be practised each day. The starting point is to ensure that everyone knows what Practice it is on what day.

•     Make the Practice of the day visible: emblazoned across the entrance, in the rest room, on a desk cube, on the white board. Visibility comes from what people talk about, not just what is written down. Make the Practice visible at meetings and in conversation.

•     Make the best story about the Practice of the day visible: use the intranet and make it fun, especially early on – give some daily recognition for the best story.

We were running a session to design the operating platform with a client organization and discussing the sorts of activity that they would put in place to reinforce 31Practices. Somebody suggested that when people logged on to their PC, the Practice for the day would show as a screen saver. The rest of the group thought this was a good idea and one of the other members said they knew somebody in IT that would help put this in place the following week. The positive energy around this suggestion was far greater than if we had presented the idea as one of a list of things we were recommending.

Let people know what’s expected. This requires top teams in the organization to really model what is expected, so be visible and make your Practice of the day visible to others. Notice and appreciate those around the organization who are displaying the Practice of the day – ask people what they have done that day to “live the Practice”.

“Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others; it is the only means.”

Albert Einstein¹¹

Supervisors have a responsibility to model the Practices and endorse those who model them too. Supervisory-level people are the ones that are there day in, day out, side by side with their front-line colleagues.

Together with the top team, operational supervisors have a big influence on the 31Practices being “lived”. Which positions in your organization hold the most influence?

Embed the values and Practices into organizational systems. 31Practices needs to be integrated into the reward and recognition system; the learning and development system; and the communication system.¹² These systems are critical because they run from the beginning to the end of an employee’s relationship with the organization.

Scrutinize, alter and integrate as many opportunities as there are to get the message of 31Practices embedded.

Make 31Practices visible in the fabric of the organization.

For example: include 31Practices in interview schedules; the induction process; design of learning and development interventions; the procurement process; standard operating procedures; regular communications; daily buzz meetings; recognition programmes; and the newsletter.

Even in the case of sport, it’s action that leads to embedding.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Michael Jordan¹³

If the Practices and values are not built into the fabric of the organization, then as much as people are engaged by the ideas and by the possible impact, people forget. They will revert to older, stronger habits. It takes time for habits to develop, for a new way of operating to make sense. Making the values and Practices part of the organizational fabric keeps them at the front of people’s minds while habits become strong enough to develop and be sustained.

A leadership team event is part of the process to design and support the operating platform for 31Practices. Every organization is different and it is critical that 31Practices “fits”, is owned, and that leaders feel accountable for the effective use of the 31Practices framework they are creating. This powerful set-up process, together with planned reviews, keeps 31Practices fit for purpose, lived, and impactful.

BUILDING A FUTURE TODAY

“A dream doesn’t happen in a day, but it does happen daily, and what you do daily will determine what you are permanently”

Pat Mesiti¹⁴

31Practices, through daily actions, helps you develop habits of thinking, behaviour and emotion that support you to live your organization’s core values – how you behave, the patterns that emerge in the complex organizational system that you work in. The 31Practices framework puts the focus on “how” people act.

31Practices is designed to make individual and organizational success practical and achievable. Each individual employee decides how they will “live” the Practice of the day and what specific action they will take personally.

When actions produce results and we see ourselves performing, this experience of success is reinforced, creating a virtuous circle, and we are encouraged to do more. And even when our actions are not so successful, with the right support, the experience helps us adjust our actions going forward.

“Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.”

Peter Marshall¹⁵