Colleagues,
​
I threw down this challenge last week on inauguration day, which was extremely poor timing. So, let’s try it again!
 
How long is 24 hours? I ask because I have a challenge for you.
 
Last week, I shared my reflections on my own cell phone habits. Based on those reflections I changed the way I interact with my phone and I am shocked at the magnitude of the impact. It has been a game-changer.
 
So today, I have a 24-hour challenge for you.
 
Do these four things for 24 hours:

1. Turn all alerts off on your phone.
2. Do not look at your phone unless you are making a call. This includes while you are in the bathroom, while you eat, etc… Better yet, leave your phone behind when you use the loo, get something to drink, eat, etc… No scrolling!
3. Replace your phone with your computer for as many functions as possible (email, calendar, etc…) 
4. Identify a specific segment of time during your workday that you need to be very focused and put your phone on “do not disturb.” 

 
Number four may be particularly traumatic for some of you, so just try it for 10 or 15 minutes. It doesn’t need to be a long time. The point of the exercise is to shut everything out long enough for you to have a meaningful chunk of completely uninterrupted time. Fifteen minutes is enough.
 
Twenty-four hours. What have you got to lose?
 
Do good and be well,
 
Frederick

​Yesterday, I was doing my morning reading and my feline friend, Wax, wanted some lap time. Don’t hate me, but I don’t like cats in my lap while I am reading. After several rebuffed attempts, Wax decided to accept being nestled between the outside of my thigh and a pillow.
 
Every now and then Wax would adjust himself with a half roll or stretch.
 
When I finished reading, and went to stand up, I noticed that Wax had about 70% of my lap! 
 
How did that happen? Wax simply applied the four principles of leverage:

1. Wax initially settled for something (next to me) over nothing (alone), which is like 0>1; something small right now is better than something big later.
2. Wax took an A-B approach by continually readjusting and incrementally gaining more and more lap real estate.
3. Wax’s readjustments were always minor, but always in the right direction. They were nothing complex, just minimally viable (MVP).
4. All of this would have been for not if Wax had not understood M=V/E. Wax knew I did not want him in my lap as it increased the effort it took me to focus on reading (high E). He also knew that this particular morning I wasn’t into his soft purrs and warm body (low V). So, he never asked more of me than I was willing to give. The small changes in his positioning necessitated only small accommodations by me.

 
If Wax can apply the four principles of leverage, I am confident that you can as well. 
 
Do good and be well,
 
Frederick

Colleagues,
 
Yesterday we looked at adjusting three variables (complexity, speed, intensity) to meet the needs of the organization during a change initiative. Unfortunately, Big Change is fraught with many other challenges:

​Colleagues,
 
My undergraduate degree in physical education taught me to differentiate drills for skill development based on three variables:

1. Complexity
2. Speed
3. Intensity

 
For example, in teaching someone to dribble a basketball, a beginner might stand in place and slowly dribble the ball.
 
We could increase the complexity by having them walk forward or change directions.
 
We could increase speed by having them move more quickly.
 
We could increase intensity by having a passive defender shadow them or an active defender try and steal the ball.
 
These aspects of differentiation can be applied to leading change. We can decrease or increase complexity, speed, and intensity to meet the capacity of the organization and its people. I rarely see organizations ask too little during change initiatives. Most of the time we try and do too much (complexity), too quickly (speed), without attending to roadblocks (intensity).
 

• Are you asking people to learn the next skill before they have mastered the first?
• Are you following a predetermined timeline instead of progressing when people are ready?
• Are you asking them to develop new skills on top of everything else they have to do?

 
Change initiatives often fail because we don’t make sure that people master one step before moving to the next, because we follow strict timelines that don’t account for external and internal forces, and because we undermine the importance of the effort by adding it on top of everything else.
 
If your Big Change initiative is foundering, consider changing the variables.
 
Do good and be well,
 
Frederick