Episode 5 - "How can I motivate my team to try something new?”

We've all been there – returning from an inspiring conference bubbling with ideas, only to face blank stares and polite nods from our teams. One listener shares their frustration after introducing concepts like autonomy and micro job crafting to teammates who seemed completely uninterested. What causes this disconnect between our enthusiasm and our team's reception?

In this episode, Dr Liv and Dr Emma discuss the leadership must-haves of building trust in a team and motivating people to try new things. 

(click here to contact / learn more about Dr Liv Oginska >>> )

(click here to contact / learn more about Dr Emma McConnell >>> )

In this episode, you will discover:

• the must-haves of building trust with your team
• the must-haves of igniting intrinsic motivation in people

Whether you're struggling with team buy-in or preparing to introduce your next big idea, this episode provides the frameworks and practical steps to move from frustration to successful implementation.

Click here to find more leadership resources connected to this episode >>>> 

Do YOU have a questions for Human-Savvy? 

Are you a leader or a professional in need for some interpersonal/team dynamics/leadership advice? We are here to help you! 

Please send your letter to info@behumansavvy.com with the title "Dear Human-Savvy..." and we promise to fully anonymise it and record an episode entirely devoted to tackling your challenge!

Also, we deeply value your feedback. Please email us your thoughts, ideas and suggestions to info@behumansavvy.com or follow and message Dr Liv on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-liv-oginska-53b345200

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Transcript

The Manager's Innovation Dilemma

Speaker 1 0:55

Hi Emma, how are you doing?

Speaker 2 0:57

It's good to see you. Hello, so lovely to see you, do you?

Speaker 1 1:01

have another letter for us to tackle today.

Speaker 2 1:06

I definitely do, and when I read this letter I thought, yes, I can definitely relate, and I think a lot of people listening today will be able to relate to this one. So I'm very excited to dive into this. Dear Human Savvy, I'm a manager in a 30-person practice in the UK. My job is to help the team coordinate their daily workload so that the day goes smoothly and the waiting time for clients is minimal. I recently went to your talk at Congress where you were discussing increasing team's well-being through autonomy, and you also mentioned the micro job crafting. It made me super excited. I could see how this could really benefit my team. However, when I came back from the Congress and started suggesting this new approach to my teammates, most people were not as enthusiastic as I was Worse. Some of them nodded, smiled and did nothing to follow up on my ideas. I couldn't believe it. I realized that this happens to me a lot. People ignore my ideas. What can I do to make people follow my lead and try out new things?

Speaker 1 2:19

what can I do to make people follow my?

Speaker 2 2:21

lead and try out new things. Oh, that's sad, I know, but you know that feeling when you go somewhere or you you know you hear someone speak, you listen to a podcast and you get something so valuable out of it and you're like this could be life-changing for me and my team and you go and you share it, which is always encouraged. Right, when you learn something new, you're always encouraged to share it and you share it and you get crickets and it's like hello. So I really feel for this person.

Speaker 1 2:53

And I feel for this person too, like I had moments like that, for sure, and then it can be taken very personally. But the thing in here and I really would love to talk about it today with you, because this letter really shows it perfectly it's not really something personal at the end of the day it shows us, first of all, how differently we see the world. So in our heads we heard about that idea. I went to that congress, we heard that speaker that by the way, thank you so much for joining my talk to this person who didn't listen we hear that we get inspired. So we have already the energy that is needed to put that into action. And then we try to convey that and the person who listens to us. They don't have the same thing, they see it very differently. It's kind of like telling this situational joke have you ever done that? It was just on there.

Speaker 2 3:46

People are just like I don't get why that's funny. It's like, yeah, you had to be there. I guess it is. That's a very good point, and I guess I have never actually thought about it. Is that when you are the person coming with the idea, if it is something you've heard, not everyone has had that same experience, so they're kind of coming in cold.

Speaker 1 4:07

Yes, they just see the world differently. They see that idea differently, and it's super important for the leaders to always remind yourselves, guys, because it's going to save you so much worry and trouble, that those people simply see the world differently and it's okay. There's nothing wrong with you. You have a job and a role there to bring them more of your perspective. That's great and beautiful. But if they don't see it straight away, it's cool, it's all right. Like you see the world differently than your mother-in-law, I suppose. So that's okay. But that's the first thing to be aware of, right?

Speaker 2 4:47

we see the world differently okay.

Speaker 1 4:49

so for this person, I'm just thinking. I'm just thinking what should we start with? What would be the best piece of idea? Um, okay, let's start this way.

Speaker 1 4:59

So I think, first of all, I love that you want to make the changes, our dear listener, that you want to give people more autonomy. Autonomy is absolutely key for our well-being in our private life and professional life. We can talk about that more, maybe in a different episode, because today I want to focus on actually helping that person. But autonomy power, giving someone new task it is a change. It is something that requires effort from both sides, so from the leader and from the employee. So you need to have some sort of engagement with them. They need to buy into that idea. It is hard, especially if we don't have the same level of enthusiasm like we just described. So one thing that we need to always consider before we even start offering and implementing any ideas is the level of trust within the team, and we did talk about that in one of the previous episodes. Do your people trust you? Because if they don't, do you think they're going to be keen to believe that amazing idea that you just brought.

Speaker 2 6:09

No, no, and I think that is the big one right, Like that's key critical 100%.

Why Teams See Ideas Differently

Speaker 1 6:17

So if we don't trust someone, we will not follow, because our instinct is to protect ourselves. First and foremost we want to survive and it has many different versions. It's. It's not that this person would create something dangerous to our life, but maybe dangerous to our needs, to what we want to get. So we are very suspicious. Naturally, that is our negativity bias. This is normal. So we need to think about the level of that trust. In a team, if you're a leader, you need to know what is happening. So before I step into kind of that realm of influencing people and convincing them so that they will follow you, I think we should talk a little bit about building that trust. We again mentioned that ever so slightly in previous episodes from the emotional perspective, as much as I remember. This time we can talk about other practicalities. Does this sound good, emma?

Speaker 2 7:11

what do you think Sounds good? Yes, let's do it.

Speaker 1 7:14

Okay, perfect. So that will just to make sure that everyone is clear on that. I love using the work of another researcher, another researcher, Brené Brown. She uses the acronym of BRAVING when we talk about trust, All those elements that are needed for the leader to create around them with their employees, so that employee will trust them, so that employee will trust them. So that acronym, the BRAVING, stands for boundaries, reliability, accountability, vault integrity, non-judgment and generosity. So let's talk about each of them, to put that actually in a context. So it makes sense Boundaries. What comes to your mind, Emma, when we think about boundaries? The first thing with your employees, when you think about professional life.

Speaker 2 8:06

I have none. Who else has none? Raise your hands.

Speaker 1 8:12

Raise your hands everyone.

Speaker 2 8:14

That's the first thing that comes to my mind when you talk about that. I mean, I think boundaries is a hot topic and again, I think boundaries are also something that maybe, as leaders, we maybe don't have great definitions or examples for or know how to truly set boundaries. So again, I think that's maybe something that maybe comes up in future episodes. I'm sure someone will write to us set boundaries. So again, I think that's maybe something that maybe comes up in future episodes. I'm sure you know someone will write to us about that, maybe I'll write a letter. So, yeah, I mean, I guess, with boundaries, I guess, as they pertain to trust, I guess it's that the thing that kind of comes to me is that sort of confidentiality, is that things that are discussed one-on-one with team members is confidential, and yeah, so I guess that's probably a big boundary. That's what comes to my mind first and foremost when we talk about that from a trust perspective.

Speaker 1 9:17

Absolutely, and it's very interesting because I didn't really think about it from like, immediately, about that from a trust perspective. Absolutely, and it's very interesting because I didn't really think about it from like, immediately about that aspect, but it is. You're absolutely right. So the boundaries of the information that we share, how we discuss what has been discussed with us, that is absolutely the boundary of how we operate with that information. But another thing that is very important is that and let's talk about the definition of boundary why not? Because this is really important here Boundary is all about having clarity on how we want to treat one another.

Speaker 1 9:52

It's a type of a social contract. So you and I, emma, when we started working together, when we decided let's do the podcast, we established that okay, this is the amount of time that we actually can devote to it. This is the headspace in which we need to be to be able to record this podcast together. If you had a terrible night and your little Daisy couldn't sleep at night, it's okay, because we established that before that. You messaged me, me and you say today is not a day, that today is not going to work. So we needed to establish that between one another. We have clarity on how we're going to treat one another, and this is what boundaries are. Bear that in mind.

Speaker 1 10:34

Now, when leader has interaction with their employee and there is a request from the leader towards the employee, someone might be worried that the leader will ask for too much or that they will have no support from that leader or that they will have no support from that leader. So, if they trust them, they have clarity on a boundary. They know that this leader knows how to treat the employee and employee knows how to treat the leader, that we know what is allowed between you and I and what isn't. So this is why boundaries allow us to trust the person. Again, it gives us that predictability, at least a level of it. So it's clear on how it's going to work between us. Okay, fantastic. So reliability the second one. I think that's quite obvious, right Reliability. We can rely on someone.

Speaker 2 11:33

Yes, and I guess along with reliability comes that kind of consistency, is that someone is going to react in a consistent manner is very important. Again, when it comes to clarity, you know exactly, like you know, what you're going to get. Yeah, 100%.

Speaker 1 11:56

So it's that again that we know what is going to happen, because we asked for help, we asked for someone to not reveal certain information. We can rely on them. We know that what they say will be put into action. Fantastic, yes, we want to be able to rely Accountability.

Speaker 1 12:25

It is something that goes both ways. So, yes, a hundred percent. You can see, probably, how employee let's put me in the role of the employee team member I need to be held accountable. And for people who really care about their jobs, they actually appreciate accountability. Anyone who wanted to do a good job, anyone who wanted to run a half marathon or something like that, anyone who goes for coaching, we like being held accountable because it just gives us structure and gives us motivation, things like that. But for the leader, do you think it's important for the leaders to be held accountable as well?

Speaker 2 12:59

Absolutely. I think that's like 100%. If they're not, how can they expect that from their employees? So you've got to lead by example. There's no getting away from that. So, absolutely, leaders need to be accountable and held to account.

Speaker 1 13:22

That's that. I think it's two things there. I think it's the role modeling that you mentioned. Also, again, from the human perspective, leaders are obviously humans. They are hungry, they pee poo and they have emotions. They're humans. They want to also be held accountable, because that gives them structure. It gives them energy and motivation to stick to things. So that accountability is important. It needs to go both ways. It needs to be something that is part of the boundary, I would say how do we hold each other accountable? We also need to have clarity on that. If we know that we can count on one another and we'll keep one one another accountable, we can trust one another much more as well.

Speaker 1 14:06

The next one is the vault, and that's the one that I think you mentioned before. Let's expand on that, because vault is um, is part of that acronym and it matches well. It means that confidentiality. So when you drop something into DEVAULT, it disappears. No one will ever have access to it. So it's all about keeping that information safe, and I don't know if you experienced that, Emma. Have you ever experienced because I did experience that that when your sensitive information was revealed by a leader?

Speaker 2 14:41

I guess I've been lucky. I can't say that that has happened to me.

Speaker 1 14:47

That's good, because that sucks, luckily, yeah.

Speaker 2 14:50

Yes, I was going to say, but I can imagine that actually I mean all trust would be gone. Yeah, 100%, if that occurred. So, that's a huge breakdown in a relationship.

The BRAVING Framework for Trust

Speaker 1 15:04

So it's a non-negotiable. Guys, my dear leaders, if you worry about keeping something confidential, about the level of confidentiality, it's very helpful and there might be a little tip from today. One one of the tips, uh, to, before you finish the conversation with someone the conversation was quite sensitive about something important check the level of confidentiality with those people before they leave their room. This is what I do every single time. I help teams to assess the level of psychological safety. So what I do?

Speaker 1 15:41

I ask a lot of people about their perspective, I have a lot of conversations with them and I assess the culture of the workplace and I ask every single person who gives me information, our little virtual coffee that we have together, is it okay if I bring that piece of information that you just said, put it together with other pieces of information that I get from other members of the team and I bring that to the leader? Are you comfortable with me saying that to someone? So that could be helpful with that when you are in doubt. Would it be helpful in your job, emma? What do you think? How would it look if you were to confirm that confidentiality level?

Speaker 2 16:20

Yeah, I mean, I think that you know team members would feel respected and I think it also kind of you know, I think in so many of our you know different professions there is that hierarchy you know, regardless what profession you're in, you know that it's stronger in some compared to others. It helps to remove that in that you are on an equal playing field with those conversations. But I think, yeah, confirming that with someone just lets them know that, look, I respect you and I respect the information you've given me and I'm going to treat it with care.

Speaker 1 17:02

Totally Beautiful. Yes, I can totally see that. Yeah, I actually never thought about it. It's such a good perspective that I respect you enough to make sure that you will be protected. Your information will be protected. Oh, beautiful. And that takes us to integrity, right? Can you see the connection? Big one?

Speaker 2 17:23

Straight away? Yes, absolutely Yep, and I think integrity in my experience, I think the best leaders that I have worked with and people that I really look up to and hope to be like one day, one of their biggest strengths is integrity. So I guess, for me, I just think it is the hallmark of a good leader and is just crucial for someone in a leadership role.

Speaker 1 18:01

Some people might be wondering what integrity really means, and there are a lot of complicated definitions of it. I think there are a lot of takes on integrity, but if someone would like to hear something like short and simple that I use with my leaders, it's basically choosing what is right instead of something that is easy, and doing that thoughtfully. A hundred percent, yeah, does it kind of like? Yeah, does it? Does it match with with your how you imagine integrity?

Speaker 2 18:29

Yes, yes, definitely, yep, and I, yeah, I think, just acting not so much like for the greater good, but I think it's just being intentional with the information and the situations and the resources that you have. And it's not about servant leadership, but it is about, I guess, not necessarily doing things for your own gain or to make you look good as the leader.

Speaker 1 19:11

And this is where, my dear people pleasers, there's a bit of a challenge for you guys, because if you have those tendencies for people pleasing, you might sometimes step away from your integrity in order to avoid disappointing someone or causing them trouble. So what comes with integrity comes a big, big chunk of courage, because sometimes people will not get why you're doing this thing. They will not understand your choice that is in line with your integrity, and they will have an issue and they will have some unpleasant emotions generated in them as a response to it, which which we hate when we want to make everyone happy. So does it? Do you see how that fits?

Speaker 1 19:57

together, yes, but I think the other key thing to integrity is transparency oh, such a big topic we need a separate episode and there's so many different myths as well there to bust and so many questions. Okay, definitely, well, you have a chance.

Speaker 2 20:18

Someone guys just ask us yes, yes, I mean we could probably leave it there for now, but I think that really plays into integrity in my mind. I mean, I'm not an expert, but for me I think it's incredibly important and something that is seriously lacking in a lot of, I guess, experiences I've had throughout my career, and I know a lot of other people have experienced that too.

Speaker 1 20:45

Okay, All righty. Well, hopefully we're going to talk about that in next episodes. Now let's move to non-judgment. I think that's obviously doesn't require much of a description, so the leader does not jump into conclusions. Someone is not judgmental. But there is a difference. I think we talk about that. If not, we definitely should talk about it. There's a difference between using your judgment and being judgmental.

Speaker 1 21:10

Obviously, we were given logical brains to use our judgment, which means to compute, to analyze, to digest, to come to certain conclusions, but also means that if we want to digest something, we need ingredients to be digested, which means we need information before we come to certain conclusions. So that non-judgment from the leader. So N stands for that. And then, finally, generosity, and it's generosity of attention, of time, of also space, that mental space and physical space, so for the leader to be very generous with all of those things. So here we are. This is the whole braving. So boundaries, reliability, accountability, vault integrity, non-judgment and generosity.

Speaker 1 21:59

Many of you listeners would be thinking now, okay, so great, um, I think I'm doing all those things. I don't know if it works well, I don't know if my team really trusts me, I don't know if I have that foundation to even start implementing any changes. So I've got a challenge for everyone listening to ask your team whether all those elements work for them. Ask them about boundaries. Emma, do you want to have a list of questions? Maybe that could help with asking people.

Speaker 2 22:33

Yes, and I mean I think that could be a really uncomfortable challenge that you have just set and I guess it would be a really good stretch exercise for our leaders to do.

Speaker 1 22:50

Stretching your ego, stretching your self-esteem.

Speaker 2 22:56

Yes, so let's do it. Hit me with the questions.

Speaker 1 22:58

Okay, so with boundaries, what I would suggest to ask your team that will definitely tell you about the boundaries is asking the team on a scale from zero to 10, how much clarity do you have on how we want to treat one another? Simple as that Sounds good Easy, yeah, perfect. Simple as that sounds good easy, yeah, perfect. Reliability I think that could be put very simply zero to ten. How much do you feel you can rely?

Speaker 1 23:33

on me as simple as that accountability. Let me think for a second. How could we phrase that? So accountability is definitely making sure that we will probably safely, psychologically safely, hold each other accountable. I will put that even in two questions, so zero to 10, how certain are you that I will make sure that I will motivate you and hold you accountable in a psychologically safe way? First question and then another question would be how comfortable do you feel keeping me accountable?

Speaker 2 24:12

as a leader.

Speaker 1 24:14

Zero to 10. Again, 10 meaning 100%. Right, those two elements? Yes, volt, very simple. So do you feel that I keep the, the confidential information, actually confidential? So zero to ten. Again, integrity do I follow my words? So do I walk the talk? Basically, zero to ten. Non-judgment do you ever feel judged again can be zero to ten, kind of it would be the reverse than in that situation, um, by me, obviously, by the leader. And then generosity, uh, we could divide it into three things. So do you feel like I give you enough attention? That's one. Do I allow you enough headspace or physical space? Do I give you enough time? So it could be those all aspects. How does it sound?

Speaker 2 25:10

altogether. Yeah, I think that's great. How would you ask those questions? So, like, what kind of forum? Like, would you do that as a survey, or would you have, like, direct one-on-one conversations with your team members? Like, how would you actually glean that information?

Assessing Team Trust Levels

Speaker 1 25:29

I would always recommend to start with that anonymous survey. Again, it's better to have someone to perform that survey for you. So when the questions come from the third party someone who's completely external research shows that there is a better response to it People feel a little bit less scared because they know the external person performs that assessment, even though the leader will get the results. But still they feel psychologically more safe. This is actually what I do regularly for different teams around the world and I am in the process of doing that right now and I can see that I like the fact that I'm completely detached from that organization and they can tell me what they really think.

Speaker 2 26:10

So survey anonymous. They feel like it's not going to be linked back to them. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1 26:16

And another thing is that once you have your results and you see a trend in there so you see that most people, a lot of people, had similar answer to that then we need to pay more attention to it. We need to ask more details, and this is what we would do in the individual meetings. Um, again, to keep it confidential, what I would do is probably maybe meet five people um, some of them I know they really like me, some of them, I think they dislike me Someone kind of neutral and ask them the same question. Listen, this is what my feedback showed me. I would like to learn more details. I really want to grow and it looks like, okay, I suck at this. How can I get better? Would you be able? Would you be so kind and help me understand it? But is there anything that you could tell me more about it?

Speaker 1 27:04

And actually, there's a very fresh, super interesting research on that that shows that when leaders share with their team and I think it was done by adam grant, but please don't fact check me on this one um when people in the powerful positions share their feedback to their team, and that feedback is unpleasant, is a negative feedback, it then allows other people to actually accept feedback better. So the team members will be more open to exchanging feedback. They can see that their leader is vulnerable enough to say, okay, this is not working within me, so what do do you guys think? Do you have something to add? And that flow of feedback is improved. Isn't that cool?

Speaker 2 27:48

Oh, I love that. That is very cool, but you could see how that does make a positive impact though. You know again so much of this stuff. It's got to come from the top right.

Speaker 1 27:59

Absolutely.

Speaker 2 28:01

It's why our leaders and yeah, exactly, but I think it's an uncomfortable exercise. I mean, nobody wants to hear negative things or like less than ideal things about them. You know, we all want to think that we're doing an amazing job, but if you don't, if you don't look, if you don't ask those questions, how can you grow as a leader? So what a valuable exercise Everyone should do it.

Speaker 1 28:31

I really hope so. I really hope. I wish all the leaders out there. It definitely would be great to talk about feedback specifically. It's a very important part of my job and that art of exchanging feedback is definitely a learnable skill. So if anyone out there struggles with that, just let me know, because there's so much growth that can be done around it, so that feedback is crucial. So once we know that we have a good degree of trust and we know about those elements that build trust, maybe we can detect that, oh, this is my area of growth, maybe I should work on, uh, setting my boundaries or on that accountability, whatever it is. Then, once we're happy with that, we're like okay, there's no trust issue, so we have a foundation to actually start building innovation. This is where I can start convincing people. That takes us back to our letter.

Speaker 2 29:24

Yes, so good. Yes, yes, I love that.

Speaker 1 29:30

So shall we just give someone, our dear listener and the author of this letter, just a tiny bit of kind of like steps, a bit of a recipe, obviously, if our situation would be different, but, yes, some sort of steps to implement.

Speaker 2 29:43

Yeah, absolutely I think a framework, yeah, would be perfect Because, again, I think I don't think this is an uncommon scenario. You know, I think that there are a lot of people out there that are thought leaders, and thought leaders in the making, you know, want to have some influence, and I guess influence is another whole topic that we talk about. But, yes, I think, a framework for sharing ideas, especially you know when they are, you know you've come from a conference or you know you've been to a meeting or listen to a podcast, you know it doesn't have to be something massive, but a new change that you're wanting to implement, yeah, I think let's go.

Speaker 1 30:26

So let's say you would like to create a new way of communicating with your team around the dangerous situations, when suddenly you need to let them know.

Speaker 2 30:38

Okay, yes, perfect, introducing a safe word.

Speaker 1 30:42

Introducing the safe word Love it Okay. So let's say, you work with people and there is some immediate danger. That is very common in the equine practice but in many other industries, especially medical industries. You need to have a conversation with people about that safety word and convince them that's a good idea to do it. Yes, we know that they trust you, so we have the foundation Fantastic. So the next thing that we want to do, and the first one of that framework, is to make sure that people actually see the value in it. But what I mean by that is not the value that you think that it's going to be good for you and you obviously think about the whole team, that it's going to be good for you and they obviously think about the whole team. We need to focus on the benefit to those people specifically.

Speaker 2 31:30

Yes, yes, okay, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Four-Step Framework for Implementing Ideas

Speaker 1 31:34

So let's think for a second. What is the direct benefit to, let's say, your interns, when they know that there is a safety ward and that does something to them? What is the thing that it does to them and is good?

Speaker 2 31:50

Well, I guess it would make them feel safe. So, again, if they're not as experienced, someone might see something that they don't see coming and they're going to get warned so that they can then remove themselves from potential danger. So, I guess, purely physical safety, making them feel physically safe.

Speaker 1 32:13

Beautiful. So physical safety I'm going to challenge you a little bit on this one. This is to the leader's perspective, because it's one of the most important things that you have at the back of your mind. We need that safety word because I want to keep them safe right.

Speaker 2 32:27

I just don't want them getting injured.

Speaker 1 32:29

That's a lot of paperwork she didn't just say that, guys, she didn't say that obviously we want people to be safe, fantastic. Another thing. Another thing there's more, there's more coming. Um, that would be really good for the interns themselves. And I I've been an intern I can tell you, when I have a safety word, I have my senior suddenly telling me something in a very abrupt, sometimes sharp way. It can be unpleasant at first, like we talked about it some time ago. It could be perceived as maybe offensive or just unpleasant. We might be thinking she doesn't like me. This is how she treats me that way. So if we have a safety word, I would say my dear team, my dear team of interns, when you hear me saying that it's important for you to actually have that safety word so that you know that I'm not pissed off with you, that I don't have any problem with you, that is literally informative and nothing else. You've got clarity, you don't need to worry and that's it. Make sense.

Speaker 2 33:31

Yes, yes, absolutely.

Speaker 1 33:34

The benefit for the person specifically. First, I think we need to vocalize that, we need to think about it really deeply, we need to prepare for that. The second thing is that if we offer a novelty, something that they've never done before, we want to co-create that with them. It's called actually the IKEA effect. You know, when you assemble the furniture from IKEA and we are not that willing to throw it away because we put some effort into building that thing?

Speaker 2 34:06

Yes, absolutely.

Speaker 1 34:11

The same works with ideas. The same works with ideas, the same works with innovation. If we create that together, we are less likely to throw it away or to ignore it. So if you bring that idea, guys, we need that safety word. Then we want to co-create this whole idea. So I was thinking about the safety word. What could it be? Guys, give me crazy ideas.

Speaker 2 34:30

Lobster, yes, alarm, alarm, whatever it comes to yes, do you see the autonomy here yes, well then I guess they've got some form of investment in the idea. It's no longer just my idea. They are active participants, beautiful, exactly in the creation, like you said.

Speaker 1 34:52

Yeah, that would definitely need that step. So, okay, we make them see the benefit for them, we co-create that thing so that IKEA effect, and then we need to make it as simple as possible. We humans have a tendency to slip into being a little bit lazy. Let's put a d in different words. Which would be saving energy. It's not we're not gonna do something that is too complicated that we have to overthink. This is why we have sops for the procedures, so that we know how to how to operate, and we have those standard operating procedures there. And when it's easy, we avoid also procrastination because it doesn't seem so big for us. So in that case, right with the safety word, we probably need to kind of learn using that word so we immediately connect that word with the situation we might need to for example, rehearse.

Speaker 1 35:53

So what do you think? Let's create some sort of scenario in which we could then rehearse, so it becomes easy for those people.

Speaker 2 36:01

Yeah, I mean, I guess the other aspect would be that you could actually sit and sort of brainstorm times in which you would use that word.

Speaker 2 36:11

So, for example, you see and again, I work in academia with students and anyone that works with horses where you have students involved, this will have definitely happened to you when someone goes to inject the procaine penicillin through the catheter, that's a big no-no, right. Well, all I can say is, if you do that, you want to remove yourself from that stable as fast as possible because that horse is going to have a very scary neurologic excitatory event and you do not want to be in the same room when that happens. It's very dangerous, so very dangerous for the horse as well. So I guess you know you could talk through okay, when would you use this word? And you come up with a list of scenarios and that would be like I said, that would be a prime one. You see someone going to inject and you say lobster, and then they at least know stop what they're doing. Okay, now we can talk hey, put the syringe down, remember we don't put that IV. And then you could just talk about different scenarios.

Connecting Benefits to Individual Team Members

Speaker 1 37:25

Yeah, so that gives us. That actually takes us to the, the fourth element, which is it's um, we have clarity on how to use it. So you describe the type of situation in which we use it. We are clear on the situation. Just to translate that into different profession, I'm just thinking because sometimes it might be a sensitive not maybe dangerous, but a sensitive situation where we don't want the involvement from other people.

Speaker 1 37:48

Let's say you've work in the big organization and you have a meeting with a client and someone was supposed to join you, for example, but you are in a very, very sensitive moment where you don't need other people in a room. So you need to let them know, without coming across harsh or rejecting, that please don't come to the room, I don't need you here. Actually, you shouldn't be here because it's not good for our. You know our goal. You know it doesn't have to be physical safety. It can be the success of the organization. So it might be the little words like oh, it might be like coffee or something like that, but just to let them know they don't come in. So we need to be clear on that type of situation.

Speaker 1 38:37

Depending on your organization, you would then sit down with your team, say, guys, what are those situations where we actually need to communicate, with a bit of a safety word like a bit like a warning word, so that we protect the goal of our organization? So that clarity on when we use it, but also as specifically how. So, yes, we know that's this word we are, we know that we're not allowed to use it just for fun because it's gonna lose its importance. A lot of things that now very much depends on the situation. But have clarity how we do that thing. Any innovation really requires lots of clarity. So definitely that benefit to the person, co-creation, that easy implementation. We really make it as easy as possible and we are clear on how to do it.

Speaker 2 39:31

Yes, yes, absolutely yes. Love that framework.

Speaker 1 39:36

Okay. So, dear listener, dear author of this letter and dear all listeners, when you wonder, gosh, why do people not listen to me? What's wrong with me, what is happening and how can I convince that bunch of really stubborn human beings? Take into account everything that matters. Think about your relationship, which is the trust, and then think about how you convey that information. Is it going to benefit them? Are you framing?

Speaker 2 40:11

it correctly.

Speaker 1 40:13

And that, my friends, means being human savvy.