{"id":4835,"date":"2021-02-27T00:12:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-26T16:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/darylchow.com\/frontiers\/?p=4835"},"modified":"2024-05-11T17:42:53","modified_gmt":"2024-05-11T09:42:53","slug":"caring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/darylchow.com\/frontiers\/caring\/","title":{"rendered":"Caring for People in Organisations Series"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Note: This is a compilation of Frontier Friday<\/a><\/strong>, a weekly Substack published, originally released on 27 Feb. 2021<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Caring for People in Organisations<\/strong> (PART I)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For better or for worse, the workplace is our second home. 

Given the amount of time we spend at work and the emotional labor involved, it would be prudent to think carefully on how we design environments of care as we care for others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. From My Desk:\u00a0How Do We Tell If a System is Sick?<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(Full Circles blog site). How do you tell if an organisation is sick?It treats the people who delivers the service solely as a means as to an end.It fails to notice that those who give care, also needs to be part of a community of care. (click\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for more).

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  2. Read: Culture Code by Daniel Coyle<\/a><\/strong>
    I love Daniel Coyle’s books. His last book Culture Code about organisational culture is brilliant. 

    “Culture<\/strong>: from the latin cultus<\/em>, which means care<\/strong><\/em>.” 

    Here’s an excerpt about a company, Wipro who was trying to solve hiring issues:
    ‘Instead of just telling them about the company, they also asked the employees about themselves. Simple questions: \u201cWhat happens on your best day? What happens on your worst day?\u201d They asked them, \u201cIf we were on this desert island and everyone was trying to survive, what special skills would you bring to that survival?\u201d’<\/em>

    “…Seven months later, they found out it had a massive impact: 270% improvement in retention. Why? Because of the signal that was sent in one hour. Safety gets delivered in small [moments] that send a signal of, \u201cWe are connected. I care about you. I\u2019m listening. I\u2019m curious about who you are.\u201d <\/strong>Sending that small signal at the right time can make a massive difference in how connected your people feel.\u201d<\/em>

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  3. Web-Read: How Performance Reviews Can Kill Your Culture<\/a>  <\/strong>
    I’m a big fan of Shane Parrish’s Farham Street blogs. Here’s one of them.
    In my past life working in a large institute, I’ve spoken up against blindly “valuing what we measure” instead of taking the time to “measure what is of value.”

    There is a huge cost of measuring meaningless things, and comparing against others. 

    When we are in “comparing” mode, we aren’t able to learn. We tip into “performing” mode and not really “learning”. (This is a theme emphasised  in our     Deep Learner<\/a><\/strong> workshops).

    Here are excerpts from this blog: 
    \u201cWhat matters is not what we do compared to what someone else does, it\u2019s what we do compared to what we\u2019re capable of doing. Both as individuals and in organizations, we need to pay attention to this gap\u2014the gap between where we are right now and what we\u2019re capable of.\u201d
    \u201cIf you must grade performances, do it against the past. Is she learning? Is he improving? How can we increase the rate of progress and development? Empower people to help and learn from each other. The range of skills in an organization is often an untapped resource.\u201d<\/em>

    See also a past Frontiers blog:     Measure Growth, Not Competence. <\/a><\/strong>
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  4. Listen: WorkLife with Adam Grant – The Office Without A**holes<\/a><\/strong>
    How do you deal with jerks at work? And is it possible to eliminate them altogether?

    Key grafs:
    – Working with an asshole makes you dumber.
    – A study in Israel found that a demanding teacher lowered the diagnosis accuracy by 15%.
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  5. Words Worth Contemplating:<\/strong>
    \u201cNature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> ~Lao Tzu.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Reflection:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Where are the places that I feel the safest and appreciated?
    What comes out from me being in these safe and growth promoting places?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Caring for People in Organisations<\/strong> (PART II)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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    1. From My Desk: Doubt<\/a><\/strong>
      Doubt is a good servant but a bad master. Many therapists are plagued with a doubts. In this new blog, I mused about my thoughts around this and my personal wrestlings with doubt (seems to come like the seasons). 
      p\/s: If you are a leader of a team, know that you some of your most caring therapists do struggle with doubts. And so would effective leaders…<\/em>
       <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. \u00a0From My (Other) Desk:\u00a0Tenderness is Not a Weakness<\/a><\/strong>
      Here’s from the archives of\u00a0      Full Circles<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0that is based on the wisdom of the late\u00a0Jean Vanier<\/strong>,\u00a0founder of the L\u2019Arch and Faith and Light communities.On Culture:<\/strong>\u201cIt\u2019s the realization of how to create a culture which is no longer a culture just of competition, but a culture of welcoming, where tenderness, where touch is important, and it\u2019s not \u2014 neither sexualized nor aggressive. It has become human.
      And I think that this is what people with disabilities are teaching us. It\u2019s, it\u2019s something about what it means to be human and to relate and to celebrate life together.\u201d<\/em>

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    3. Watch: Reflections on 2020<\/a>.<\/strong>
      Here’s a webinar with 3 other panelists and 200+ on the call. This is our reflection about 2020 and the road ahead. (My spiel starts around 17:30mins. Note: missing video at first).
      I really enjoyed the lawyer Lim Tat’s candid talk about family life and work life (starts around 48mins).
      Big thanks to Eagles Mediation and Counselling Centre (EMCC)<\/em> for letting us wonder out loud.
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    4. Read: Reducing Zoom Fatigue<\/a><\/strong>
      Who isn’t “zoomed out” by now?
      While I’ve been using videoconference for the majority of my consulting and supervision work for some years, I can certainly feel the effects of prolonged use of the screen for meetings.
      This article does a good job of looking at the issues and solutions around navigate videoconferencing tools.
      Uber writer, organisational psychologist       Adam Grant<\/a><\/strong> has a brilliant tweet that summaries the take-home pointers:
      (1) Increase mobility: give permission to walk around
      (2) Reduce eye contact intensity: sit farther away
      (3) Reduce mental load: hold audio-only sessions
      (4) Reduce self-consciousness: turn off the self-view<\/em>

      My biggest take-away:
      Reducing the video size and blocking video-feed of yourself.<\/strong>
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    5. Words Worth Contemplating:<\/strong>
      “In change is found another change that includes changing you.”<\/strong><\/em>
       ~ Bradford and Hillary Keeney, 2013, Creative Therapeutic Techniques, p. 211.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Reflection:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      What was a recent experience that moved you or changed you? <\/em>
      (Note: This could happen in a movie, a conversation, a happenstance, or even a 3 min song).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      Caring for and Learning with the People in Organisations (PART III)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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      1. From Our Courses: A Lack of a Learning System<\/a><\/strong>
        Here you get to go under-the-hood of the         Deep Learner<\/a><\/strong> course. In this particular module (a handful of embedded videos), I address why a learning system (cf a performing system) within an organisation is so vital in creating a thriving culture.

        Key grafs:
        – Aviation learns because it employs an open loop<\/em> for reporting and responding to problems. 
        – Healthcare, by contrast, typically uses a closed loop<\/em> where errors are swept under the carpet rather than used as learning opportunities.
        – We need to design an open loop learning system.

        Special note: If you are keen to become a better and deeper learner, be on the waitlist for the next launch of the Deep Learner course which kicks off in the coming months.
        Drop me an         email<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em>
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      2. Listen: Freakonomics Radio (How to Be More Productive<\/a>)<\/strong>
        From one of my favorite podcasts… so well produced. 
        There’s a big difference between being busy and being productive. 
        But then again, as Kevin Kelly once said, “Productivity is for robots.”
        Perhaps being productive is not the aim, but figuring out what<\/em> to be productive in should be the first port of call.
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      3. Read: The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker<\/a><\/strong>
        If you find office-meetings a drag, this one’s for you. It is an art-form on how to gather well. 
        “Figuring out your desired outcome brings focus<\/strong> to a meeting, and it does one more useful thing: It allows people to make better choices about whether they need to be there. It may even help a host decide whether a meeting is necessary for that outcome or whether an email will do.”<\/em>
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      4. Web-Read: Don\u2019t Confuse a Scorecard with a Scoreboard<\/a><\/strong>
        A Harvard Business Review (HBR) article. This one is especially useful if you are already using measures to guide your clinical practice: 

        Key grafs: 
        –  Metrics are starting points for dialogue rather than conclusions.
        – But all too many managers avoid or ignore this part of their job \u2014 either because it takes too much time, is too difficult, or will lead to uncomfortable discussions. So instead they treat scorecards like scoreboards, with black and white numbers that they think tell the whole story.
        – Unfortunately without dialogue, interpretation, and reflection, numbers on a scorecard often lead to a distorted picture of performance \u2014 with too much, too little, or misplaced credit given for achievement.<\/em>
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      5.  Words Worth Contemplating:<\/strong> 
        “Herein lies the core learning dilemma that confronts organizations: we learn best from experience but we never directly experience the consequences of many of our most important decisions.”<\/strong><\/em> 
        ~  Peter M Senge,         The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization.<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Reflection:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

        In your workplace, do you have a learning or a performing culture?
        What are some factors that impede a culture of real learning?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        If you would like to learn more topics that can help your professional development, subscribe to the Frontiers of Psychotherapist Development (FPD). On Frontiers Friday (FPD), we serve you directly to your Inbox highly curated recommendations each week.<\/em>
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