Category: Unit 3

Daneen,

Thank you for your post on Activity 2 really appreciated how well written it was and how you had applied it specifically in your field of healthcare.

It seems like in so many professions, I am reading and hearing the same thing, which is that society is so rapidly changing that most industries, businesses and ministries are being forced to learn to adapt and change. This is such a key time for leadership and why building skills of leadership are so important! The Christian ministry I am a part of is undergoing significant changes in organizational culture and structure also due to facing a rapidly changing environment. I agree with what you said, when you stated, “without critical thinking skills embedded into leadership processes, organizations will fail to respond to those rapid changes and challenges effectively.”

I am not familiar with healthcare as a profession, but I can relate to your question in my field of work, Christian ministry and wanted to share my thoughts. You asked the group this question:

Keeping in mind the leadership is a process theme, would you be satisfied with a group where 70% of the staff bought into that leadership style? Or would you strive to ensure all staff members believed in the process?

I think there is not a clear cut answer to this, but my thoughts because of currently undergoing a lot of change and leading in that are the following:

• I think 70% is a good amount of people bought in, so be encouraged, if that is the case in your field! However, 30% of people not being bought in will still be a “drag” on the process towards change. Personally, I would strive for everyone to believe in the process, because even though you have a good percentage, if the 30% are still stuck in the “old ways” and they are training up new people, than that number might grow to more than 30%.
• I would consider (if it is not already being done) communicating frequently the urgency of the necessary changes and the need for unity in those. I am learning communicating urgency and “the why” to be key factor when it comes to applying changes.
• Change is a process, so it will take time, but also it is good to have deadlines or goals where something is aimed for, so the staff are aware, that by this time things will be different and they can prepare themselves for that. E.g. We aim to have trained x amount of people in the new system by ________ (date).
• Allowing staff space to process the changes is important. In a healthcare setting, I have no idea how this would work, but maybe staff getting to process the changes on an online feedback form would work? That way, it is possible to see where people are at in terms of grasping the changes and how “on board” they are. It give insight to what the next step(s) could be, to help them get to 100% buy-in.

Hope these thoughts are helpful, really great question!

Monica

Norm, I appreciated your blog on activity 3. In his post, Norm talks about the Gino and Staats article, Developing Employees Who Think for Themselves. He points out that the article focuses on three things employers can do to help employees use critical thinking: process, identity and time (Gino & Staats, 2015).

I especially appreciated what was written about Process and found it really helpful. Gino and Staats (2015) state “managers punish their subordinates for failing to follow instructions” but then “complain that employees don’t think for themselves.”

I see this as a reason why my organization is struggling to embrace Adaptive Change, the leaders are encouraging us to think for ourselves and lead in change, but for so many years the staff have been taught to “follow instructions.” So the staff and leaders in my organization need to grow in embracing the shift of ownership and in the capacity to think for themselves. Also the leadership over us needs to give leaders and staff proper space and training to develop these skills.

I agree with what Norm points out at the end of his post that in today’s world the only way companies will thrive is to get employees to really think for themselves and not just follow procedure. One potential issue I see is when employee maturity is low giving that much ownership to how employees perform their job, act in their job and manage time is a potential danger. Low maturity can lead to low job performance or even going completely off-track from the company’s direction.

Any thoughts on how to apply these developmental principles to employees with low maturity?

Monica

References

Gino, F. & Staats, B. (2015, June). Developing Employees Who Think for Themselves. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/06/developing-employees-who-think-for-themselves

I chose the article by Cahalan (2017) on Integrative Knowing and Practical Wisdom because I studied theology in my undergrad and currently work in a ministry setting. This article was well written, insightful and I found myself tracing my steps of development as a minister through her descriptions.

Cahalan starts off by illustrating two different experiences she had observing ministers presiding over funerals and questions the process of how one priest turned out one way and the other differently(Cahalan, 2017). She asks the question: “How did this priest learn to be this kind of minister?” (Cahalan, 2017). She then goes on to describe an overview of what does developing “practical wisdom” entail under the title “The Intelligence of Practice” (Cahalan, 2017). This sets up her descriptions for the stages in development that she outlines afterwards (Cahalan, 2017). I chose to summarize the 4 titles after”Intelligence of Practice” in her article because it seemed the most fitting for this assignment.

In terms of ranking them in importance, I do not think with this particular article there is a place for that, as from what I understand all the stages Cahalan described are important to the growth of a minister and so I labelled them as Stage 1, 2, 3 and 4  in the order that they are written in Cahalan’s article. She defines the people in the stages of development as: novice, practitioner, professional and finally expert (Cahalan, 2017).

Stage 1: “In the Beginning”

To start novices have limited “practical wisdom” and rely on:  theory, rules, steps and mimicking others. They generally struggle with: being self-conscious and have limited ability to read dynamics (Cahalan, 2017).

Stage 2: “Advancing in Practice”

With practice and time novices become practitioners meaning they are less dependent on theories, models and rules and become more intuitive. They grow in reading and assessing situations through comparing other situational experiences (Cahalan, 2017).

Stage 3: “Competence in Practice”

Practitioners become professional with more time and practice and this takes the form of both skill and character development. Skill development produces more competency and character development produces authenticity (Cahalan, 2017).

Stage 4: “Another Kind of Competence: Expertise or Unknowing?”

Becoming an expert is not something everyone attains or strives for in their fields, but when pursued requires hours of practice in honing skills and it requires in some ways going back to the beginning and becoming a novice again (Cahalan, 2017).

Cahalan’s stages of development were very well-rounded and described and I see that process in my life as a minister. I guess I wonder though in relation to her article, what about those people who do not develop accordingly? Maybe they get stuck in Stage 1 or 2 and how much does personality, natural skills, background and deeper rooted unresolved issues have to do with it? Also for some, is it just that they chose the wrong profession and therefore are not advancing?

References

Cahalan, K.,Foley, E. and G. S. Mikoski eds. (2017). Integrative Knowing and Practical Wisdom in Integrating Work in Theological Education. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock.