How I save you from the abandoned island
If you were lost on an abandoned island this is how a change manager/ interim manager would save you:
He would follow the 8 steps of recovery.
Abandoned island
Imagine you are living on an abandoned island, the weather is bad and every morning you wake up, the sea has taken a big chuck of your shore. Your supplies are running out, the storm last night wrecked your shelter and you are depressed. Part of you still believes recue is coming, but as the winds and rain keep coming somewhere you start losing faith and hope. After a while the only thing you see is the endless sea and you are giving up piece by piece.
We just talk
Then suddenly I walk upon you shore. I find you sitting in the sand, left alone with your problems, depressed. I am having a chat with you, from person to person and I am listening carefully. Soon I get submerged in your world where apparently everything one day went the wrong and after that everything has changed. You lay your head on my shoulders and part of you is happy and relieved that there is someone listening.
No one is going to save you
By the time you and I get alone well, I am telling you no one is going to save you. Unless you find a way out, you will die of starvation. Now the tone of my voice is hard and not to be misinterpreted. You will die here within 2 weeks because you run out of fresh water next week. You have 2 choices, die here or find a way out. Besides the bad news of possibly dying I also have good news: I am here to help you.
Make help visible
How can I help you while you are in these bad conditions is your thought. I hadn’t been there before, hadn’t lost everything like you, hadn’t been fighting like you the last months. This is crazy and you don’t believe you are being offered real help here. But then I show you something that will break you negative mind-set: I am building a fire by using materials I found earlier on the shore. Then I grab the two fishes I caught earlier with my self-made net. All the time these materials had been there, but you hadn’t seen it.
Plotting and planning
Slowly I begin to unfold my saving strategy while we talk warming ourselves at the campfire. You will have to find a new place to live while this place is gone in a few weeks. You have a lot of questions, where to go, how to move and when. Together we fill in the gaps piece by piece and make our plans more concrete. Still you are captured by fear. Part of the plan is to build a boat and to leave the island to the unknown. With all the risks of the journey of the sea! Difficult thought which brings you nightmares!
Kicking your ass
The next morning I hit the long balls. I am pushing you the whole day to find wood, ropes and anything you can find to build a boat. Sometimes you hate me but you can’t neglect me: I am there all the time. Now and then you still think the journey is hopeless, but I keep barking at you that you can do it. Every time you have a fall back, I kick your ass and threaten you with starvation. By the end of the day, surprisingly the draft of the new boat is ready. Now your mind can see the way out of this situation: the boat, the future!
Prepare to leave
The next morning I won’t have to chase you anymore: you want to finish the boat yourself. You want to prepare the journey. Now I can follow things relaxed from the side, giving once a while help and advice when needed. Because I had been here before, I recommend a large supply of fresh water on the boat, a shelter and fishing gear. Together we determine the best date to leave the island.
Leave the island
Then on the day of departure: second thoughts and severe doubt. I take you shoulder and turn your head so you can see the island: that is history. Then we look at the sea: there lies the future, a new great life! Together we move the boat of the shore into the water and the journey begins. Yes, full of danger, or should we say adventure? During the night, when the boat rocks, I gently support the hammock you’re sleeping in so you won’t fall or wake up.
I am gone
One day, you wake up and you are rubbing you’re eyes: land in sight. You made it! You look around and find yourself alone on the boat. My mission was completed, I brought you to a new place and convinced you to do something different. I left as quickly as I came. All the things happened so naturally as now it looked as if I was a ghost all the time and you had done it all by yourself.
Future
The sun is shining and within hours you find yourself among other people. Suddenly there’s food, water, work, happiness and above all a new future!
8 phases recovery:
In every restructuring project there are a 8 phases a recovery:
• Assessment of the situation: Listen carefully, build partnership and trust
• Confrontation with the cold and hard truth
• Convince with facts, look for quick wins to build motivation
• Plot and plan carefully together
• Push when needed hard, let them create quick results
• Prepare big steps carefully, don’t underestimate
• Guide and supervise while moving through rough water
• Make them think they did it themselves
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