Laura Stone's Blog

Ever notice that what we continually think about permeates how we feel and everything we do?  I have recently listened to the book, “Ask and It’s Given” by Jerry & Esther Hicks and the main premise of the book is about when our thoughts and feelings are aligned with our goals, the universe will provide. However, if our feelings are incongruent to our goals, what we want won’t transpire.  Think of a radio station frequency tuned into 99.5, but your goals are at 104.6, this creates a conflict within and outside ourselves.

Let’s expand this thinking to teams and focusing the direction.  When we are all moving in different directions and doing our best to do the right work, what happens naturally overtime?  We naturally drift, fan out and sooner then later realize that our team members are thinking incongruently, the actions no longer link together tightly.  Performance lags.

Having our personal and professional radio stations aligned takes constant and consistent effort. If only it were that easy to keep everything aligned.  Perhaps it is good to know that fragmentation is normal.  So what do we do?  Pay close attention to our thoughts and feelings and ask ourselves, “do these thoughts and feelings align with where we need to be going?”  Or, “are my thoughts and feelings serving me well to my desired direction?”  With regard to teams, have people think about where they are trying to get to.  Can each person on the team answer a central question like, “what are the results we are expecting a year from now?”  Try this out and have everyone write down their answer, collect them and share with everyone.  See what you get.  Some insightful dialog might ensue helping to align all your radio stations.

What is your experience with this?

“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”

- Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to John Adams (August 1, 1816)

The link below is a great follow on article to recent blog we shared.  In essence, we all take such care to the project mgmt zillions of details, do we ever map the coinciding emotional temperature or issues that parallels the work? What would happen if we did?

https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/ghost.aspx?ID=/Organization/Change_Management/Making_the_emotional_case_for_change_An_interview_with_Chip_Heath_2543

In a recently posted  HBR blog entry, editor Sarah Green made us think about what is really possible in terms of making major transformations happen.  On one hand, our experience has shown an organization only has so much bandwidth to make significant changes occur.  However, on the other hand, when companies and specifically teams focus on a small number of significant areas, amazing results can happen quickly.   What must be in place for it all to work really well?  Where do the most impactful changes start — wherever there is a committed number of focused people — at the top — with function heads?  We believe the answer is all of the above and there is no one right answer here.  What is your experience?  What has worked incredibly well in your organization when undergoing a massive change?

In a conversation today I realized once again the power we have to use our feeling to help guide our true self.  So what about this?  Perhaps it is an exploration to what work really needs to happen and ask, “How will I show up to be part of making a difference?”  How does it feel when we can truly BE with one another and feel we can say what we need to say. This is so much more efficient and effective in addition to allowing you and others achieve greater heights.  Talk about saving time and money!  Have a joyful weekend.

On a recent train ride from Boston to New York, instead of admiring the quaint Connecticut coast line, I found myself glued to a recent article in Inc Magazine, (one of my favorites!)  The Heath brothers have brought us more a-ha moments in their latest book, Switch: How to Get People to Change. I was surprised at how much this article resonated with the conversations we’ve been having with my clients as well as the parallels I began to draw between their research  and what we see everyday in the work that we do.

While many of their insights and anecdotal examples are seemingly filled with common sense, what I like to refer to as BFOs (blinding flashes of the obvious), I was intrigued by one of the key principles from their research highlighted in the article: the connection between our irrational and emotional mind and how this greatly impacts an individual’s ability to change.

In support of the above principle, our experience with clients in leveraging their emotions to surface the thoughts that will influence how they behave has directly impacted their business results.  Specifically in a transformation scenario or change situation, emotions are quickly overlooked due to the tactical work that becomes the primary focus – what the Heath brothers might refer to as the rational / analytical side of the work.  Examining people’s emotions and transparently using these emotions to empower a change process can be daunting for those involved.  However, this process is critical to successfully implementing and sustaining lasting change while also yielding desired results.

With slight skepticism, I’m looking forward to reading more about a technique referred to in the article as “looking for the bright spots” in which a deep focus on past successful results can enable people to shift away from pessimistic, depressed feelings about change.  In working with clients on a similar mind shifting process, we encourage our clients to acknowledge both the optimism and pessimism they may feel in order to honor the paradoxical conflict in our emotions we often have towards a change. I’m interested to see whether the Heath brothers’ research addresses the importance of emotional paradox (with respect to how to get people to change) or whether they have found measurable success with the aforementioned technique.

If you have already read Switch, we welcome your comments and insights.

This is definitely going to be in my travel bag as a must read for early 2010!

Hello readers!

I’m very excited to finally be joining the dynamic world of blogging.  While I’m fairly used to reading / commenting on certain blogs, I am new at being an active blogger until now. Your patience is much appreciated!  After chatting with my team at Stone + Company, the consulting firm that I run outside of Boston, they encouraged me to begin connecting with my colleagues, clients and fellow thought leaders through a blog.

2009 was quite a year and Stone + Company has partnered with many executive teams and leaders through some very trying times.  The past year has required our clients to undergo poignant changes to adapt, create nimbleness and leverage new opportunities.  But most importantly, our clients are having to change the way they think.

I look forward to sharing my experiences from the past, my current thoughts and insights pertaining to strategic change and the role of our thoughts, as well as offer nuggets that I come across along the way.  What I hope in return, is to engage and interact in an active dialogue with you.  I find in the work that I do at Stone + Company, it is the transparent conversations that allow people to gain clarity on the work only they should do in order to make a significant impact on employees, customers and business results.  I hope we can be open, transparent and candid with one another as we explore many topics and ideas in the coming months.

Please check back weekly for new postings.

Cheers!