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Playing Poker in Lean Transformation

By Carrie Donovan posted 01-15-2014 11:43 AM

  

Here I am yet again to show my less than graceful entrance into the world of Lean Transformation, this time with an observation.  It begins with a story about my college days and a venture into gambling. 

Picture this…late at night in a low-rent mobile home on the edge of town, me and four or five college buddies gathered around a kitchen table.  My girlfriends lurking in the background afraid to disturb the drama being played out in front of them and in awe of the one girl who would give it a try.  Poker chips piled up here and there and cigar smoke choking out the view across the table of the men determined not to be showed up by a girl.  There I am, feeling like a minnow in a tank of sharks, cards clutched in my hand just trying to remember “what beats a straight?” I focus on the cards and place my bet.  The usual banter of bets ensues and soon it was just me and two other guys in the pot. I had nothing in my hand, no way to win and caught up in the moment.  Bluffing was my only option.  So I threw in more chips and went for broke. Needless to say those boys cleaned my clock and I left head hung low, the butt of their jokes for weeks.

Later one of them would take pity on me and explain just why I lost, not just one hand but all night long.  “We could read you like a book!” he explained.  “There was no way you could bluff or even hide the fact you had a good hand!”  I mumbled something about maybe having too much beer but in my heart I got it, I had a tell.

This odd lesson came back to me recently.  I have known for some time that change is difficult, we all know that and hear it almost daily.  I thought that when I began this work I understood change management and all the cliché phrases you hear like “it is a grieving process” and “you must have an end to have a beginning”.  Which are all true, but until you have lived them are simply words.

Months ago I had my core team of Executives built, sold on the transformation and supportive of the employees involved.  They said all the right things and showed the proper level of engagement.  But as we moved forward some of those Executives began to skip meetings, to gripe and complain, and to hint at not being so sold on the transformation.   I felt my heart sink!  Without them we have no transformation, no vision and no resources.  What to do?

Then I remembered my poker lesson.  Why do people have a poker tell?  I am no psychologist but my best guess is that during a card game when your money or your confidence or your ego is on the line you are under stress.  Stress causes anxiety and that anxiety will always find a way to express itself.  For some of us it is very obvious, and results in embarrassing losses of fake money. 

 This observation leads me to a new way of looking at my situation. My Executives were not jumping ship, they were releasing their anxiety.  They each have a tell, something that if observed carefully will let you know their stress level.  One of my Executives when under stress tends to monologue for hours while another slips into silence. Another even becomes verbally violent. Others skip meetings or don’t reply to emails and phone calls.  Each is unique in their tell. 

Now that I see this, rather than using it to their detriment as I would in a poker game I can use it to all of our advantage.  Instead of complaining about their bad behavior I can ask myself “What is causing their anxiety? Is it something I can help with?”  Sometimes I can assist with information or training and sometimes the cause is beyond my control and I must ride it out.  I also recognize my own tells and seek out the source of my own anxiety before it can cause harm to our progress.

So now when my Dad asks if his money was well spent on college days full of youthful misadventure I can easily reassure him it was, with a wink!

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