Ten Reasons People Resist Change - Rosabeth Moss Kanter by Rosabeth Moss Kanter | 12:00 PM September 25, 2012 Leadership is about change, but what is a leader to do when faced with ubiquitous resistance? Resistance to change manifests itself in many ways, from foot-dragging and inertia to petty sabotage to outright rebellions. The best tool for leaders of change is to understand the predictable, universal sources of resistance in each situation and then strategize around them. Here are the ten I’ve found to be the most common. Loss of control. Excess uncertainty. Surprise, surprise! Everything seems different. Loss of face. Concerns about competence. More work. Ripple effects. Past resentments. Sometimes the threat is real. Although leaders can’t always make people feel comfortable with change, they can minimize discomfort.
Real Innovation: What It Really Is, and How to Really Do It (Really) Page 3 of 3 Here are the questions, and some examples of how they’ve been used for the greatest innovations in history… Benjamin Franklin looked at the American Colonies in a different way from everyone else, and as a result what he saw was a fledgling America, rather than a bunch of Englishmen struggling with their parent country. When the naturally occurring phenomenon of fire was used in a number of new ways, it became a source of heat and light, a powerful weapon, and a way to cook food–radically changing the world in the process. When the ancient Sumerians moved language from the verbal to the written context, they greatly amplified its power and importance, because now language could transcend time and space. Thomas Edison was one of many inventors working on the light bulb, but he set himself apart by turning electric light into a true innovation through its connection to the electrical grid. Louis Braille changed both the design and the performance of written language.
Self help: try positive action, not positive thinking | Science | The Observer For years self-help gurus have preached the same simple mantra: if you want to improve your life then you need to change how you think. Force yourself to have positive thoughts and you will become happier. Visualise your dream self and you will enjoy increased success. Take visualisation. In one study led by Lien Pham at the University of California, students were asked to spend a few moments each day visualising themselves getting a high grade in an upcoming exam. Why should this be so? However, when it comes to change, the message is not all gloom and doom. Working at Harvard University in the late 19th century, William James, brother of the novelist Henry James, was attracted to the unconventional, often walking around campus sporting a silk hat and red-checked trousers, and describing his theories using amusing prose ("As long as one poor cockroach feels the pangs of unrequited love, this world is not a moral world"). Take, for example, willpower. The same applies to confidence.
Revisiting why incompetents think they’re awesome In 1999 a pair of researchers published a paper called "Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments (PDF)." David Dunning and Justin Kruger (both at Cornell University's Department of Psychology at the time) conducted a series of four studies showing that, in certain cases, people who are very bad at something think they are actually pretty good. They showed that to assess your own expertise at something, you need to have a certain amount of expertise already. Remember the 2008 election campaign? The financial markets were going crazy, and banks that were "too big to fail" were bailed out by the government. Smug EU officials proclaimed that all was well within the EU—even while they were bailing out a number of financial institutions. In all of this, uninformed idiots blame the Greeks for being lazy, the Germans for being too strict, and everyone but themselves. This paper has become a cult classic.
Time to redefine "innovation" By Doreen Lorenzo, president, frog FORTUNE -- Despite the many case studies and op-eds you might read on the importance of "innovation" as a strategy, in real life many businesses are struggling to be innovative. It doesn't mean that they can't come up with enough new ideas or that they don't have creative people on staff. In addition, many of the barriers to corporate innovation are forces that are much bigger than internal ones. But perhaps the biggest dilemma that businesses face when it comes to innovation is that the concept of "innovation" itself must be constantly re-thought to remain relevant. MORE: Why conviction drives innovation more than creativity Of course, simply copying how a successful company does things "different," won't automatically ensure parallel results. These questions, which can be tough to confront and to answer, are not only good for innovating your offerings, but they're also generally good for business too. MORE: Are we living in a post-CEO world? 1. 2. 3.
Cool Jazz Chord Progressions for Guitar | LoveToKnow Are you looking for some cool jazz chord progressions for the guitar? Sometimes guitar players who are coming from a blues, folk or rock background think that jazz music is a cacophonous assortment of random notes. While such an argument could be made about some forms of free jazz, many jazz songs are based around standard progressions that aren't much different than the progressions found in other forms of music. Read on to learn more about some really cool jazz chord progressions for guitar. Get a Chord Chart Before you read on, you need to take a quick detour and download LoveToKnow's free chord chart if you haven't already. The chords employed in jazz music typically are more extended than they are in rock, folk and blues. Some Cool Jazz Chord Progressions for Guitar Now that you have your chord chart handy, you're ready to tackle some cool jazz progressions. This progression, known as the "one/six/two/five" is one of the most common progressions in jazz music. Find a Friend
Companion Animal Psychology: Are young children more interested in animals than toys? At what age do children develop a fascination with animals? A brand new paper by Vanessa LoBue et al investigates young children’s interest in live animals. A set of three studies looked at young children in a naturalistic play environment in which they could choose to interact with animals or toys. The animals were always in an enclosure, so the children could only look at them and not physically touch them. One obvious difference between animals and toys is that the animals move. The first study was an exploratory one involving children aged between 11 and 40 months. The results showed that children interacted more frequently with the animals than the toys, and spent more time interacting with the animals than the two most popular toys. The second study was similar, but this time as well as the fish and hamster there was a black Tarantula and an orange and black California Mountain King snake. The final study utilized a more controlled design. Infants aged 18 – 33 months took part.
Why conviction drives innovation more than creativity By Doreen Lorenzo, president, frog FORTUNE -- In business circles, "creativity" has become a buzzword to describe a desired trait among employees. It's widely believed that having creative thinkers on staff will boost overall team levels of innovation. Yes, creativity can lead to a surplus of original ideas. But when it comes time to sell those concepts internally, and then later take those ideas to market, creativity is not enough. More important is conviction. Look at the most-admired business leaders today. Consider how Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos asked the graduating class at Princeton University during his 2010 commencement speech there, "Will you wilt under criticism, or will you follow your convictions?" But it's not just company founders and CEOs or Ivy League grads that can benefit from having a strong sense of conviction. Organizations of all sizes can encourage everyone, from C-level leaders to junior hires, to pursue their convictions.