The Power Of The Domino Effect in Organisations

The Power Of The Domino Effect in Organisations

Updated July 27th 2023

I was in Heathrow airport recently. I had just joined a fairly long queue to go through security to make a connection flight, when the man beside me gently alerted a passing staff member and asked “Excuse me, has the fast track through security been removed?”. The staff member responded defensively, and in an accusatory, bordering on angry tone “there were two escalators, you should have taken the other one!”. The man innocently responded “I wasn’t told”. The staff member looked at him, shrugged her shoulder in a ‘not my problem!’ fashion and marched off. The customer was left stunned! He had asked a valid question in a friendly manner and he might as well have been spat on.

From an observers viewpoint, this staff member treated the customer with disdain and disrespect. He looked embarrassed. Everyone in the queue who had been bored of queuing and had watched the interaction appeared to be likewise feeling embarrassed for or with him, with all of us looking at each other, wondering ‘what just happened there?’, ‘what’s her problem?’ or maybe ‘what’s wrong with queueing with us?’.

Now, this staff member might have been on the defense because she was sick to the back teeth of being asked this same question, or because a customer had previously been angry at her about the same situation, or perhaps she was just generally having a bad afternoon.

Either way she seemed to be making some sort of assumption, and living in a reactive mode in that moment. She had possibly assumed that this customer was going to be cranky or have some sort of problem; that he might in fact take out on her. The thing is, in her reaction, she turned a fairly content yet curious customer who simply wondered if there was a way to avoid a long queue (who wouldn’t?), into an irritated customer, who then took his irritation out on her colleagues as he moved through security. I watched, and I can tell you there was no more ‘Mr. nice mannerly guy’.

I see this and hear of this all the time in organisations. It’s like a domino effect until one of us takes action not to pass the blame, irritation, frustration or anger on. Are you taking responsibility and action to break the domino effect that cascades through organisations? If you can take responsibility for your own tendency to pass on the blame, or to put your own frustration and irritation onto other people, it will result in a large improvement in your general wellbeing, communication with others, and effective leadership skills! If you can get a few others to also take responsibility to be where “the book stops”, you will then work in a nicer and more successful space. Sometimes it’s that simple!

Why do managers go through leadership training and not improve?

Updated July 24 2023

On reading the 14th CIPD Learning and Talent Development Annual Survey 2012, I was delighted to see an emphasis on the need for new approaches to learning!

According to the survey, ‘nearly three-quarters of organisations see a deficit in management and leadership skills’. This means that despite years of management training and development, much of the skill base of managers remains unimproved. This survey indicates that senior managers are perceived, as much as line managers, to be lacking in management and leadership skills.

The report states that ‘Learning & talent development practitioners have a big role in using their insights on leadership and behaviour in making sure those leaders are developed properly’, and that ‘a lot of this activity is going to require a step-up in our awareness of a new and emerging evidence base from the sciences about how people think, act and behave.’

The report states that familiar models such as Myers Briggs, Kolb, and Honey and Mumford which have been used to generate insight on how people learn and develop are too familiar, and that the challenges we face now require different insights and a refreshed evidence base.

Yippee!! That’s what we at Adaptas™ have been arguing!! Yes, of course all of these theorists and measurements have their place in people development, but as the survey states ‘there is a low awareness of the emerging evidence base from neuroscience, cognitive research and areas like economics which could transform the way we think’. Yes, for most organisations and for most training providers there is a lack of awareness of all the new findings and the power of the brain. However, Adaptas™ combines approaches taken from these areas and which are monumentally important for adult learning and for organisational change!

The report states, ‘Understanding neuroscience issues such as how the brain codes, captures and cleans knowledge and memory, helps us to know much more about how to pace and develop our learning interventions.’

Agreed! The reason so many managers and leaders, who have gone through staff training are still not effective, is because the trainings they have received have not been cutting edge. They have not taken into account what we now know about the human brain! Are you ready to be one of the organisations who actually sees a change when your managers go through training? If so, get in touch with us….

 

Note: The 14th CIPD Learning and Talent Development Annual Survey 2012 was researched and developed by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (www.CIPD.co.uk) with Cornerstone OnDemand