The Tale of a Change Practitioner: The Art of Asking and the Cost of Inaction

🌆 The Setting: A Medium-Sized Financial Services Organisation

👤 The Character: Mart, a Change Practitioner

🌟 Chapter 1: The Gathering Storm

The atmosphere was electric, a palpable blend of anticipation and curiosity filling the room. I, Mart, a seasoned Change Practitioner, stood at the helm of our recent event, my eyes scanning the sea of faces—colleagues from various departments, each a cog in the intricate machinery of our financial services organisation.

Today was different. Today, we were introducing something that would shift the tectonic plates of our corporate culture.

🌟 Chapter 2: The Art of 'Topping and Tailing'

As the guardian of transformation, I knew that the key to unlocking untapped potential lay in the questions we ask. We had categorised these questions into four phases— for the Start, During, End, and Follow-up to some new learning in the Team- we called it 'topping and tailing' your learning. It was like seasoning a dish; the right questions could make or break the experience.

🌟 Chapter 3: The Question that Shook the Room

My finger hovered over the remote, and I clicked. The screen lit up with a question at the 'Start' phase:

🔥 "What's the Cost of Inaction?"

A murmur rippled through the room. If this question were a symbol on our BIG PICTURE board, it would undoubtedly be 'Money.' But where would it be most impactful?

"Think about it," I urged, my voice tinged with gravity. "Where on our BIG PICTURE board would the cost of doing nothing wreak the most havoc?".

🌟 Chapter 4: The BIG PICTURE Unfolds

One brave soul from the Sales department stood up. "If we attach the 'Money' symbol to 'Operations,' the cost of inaction could mean inefficient processes that bleed us dry."

Another chimed in from Customer Care, "What about attaching it to 'Purpose'? If we don't act on our core values, we risk losing customer trust, and that's a cost we can't quantify."

The room was alive, buzzing like a hive. The BIG PICTURE Board was filling up, each symbol and line connecting the dots between Purpose, Marketing, Sales, Operations, Customer Care, Suppliers, Partners—every facet of our business.

I was sat on the windowsill at this point as colleagues collaborated.

🌟 Chapter 5: The Epiphany

As I looked around, I realised that this single question had done what countless meetings had failed to do. It broke open conversations, shattered silos, and most importantly, it made us all ponder the cost of inaction. This was a pivotal moment for the impact I was able to make for the colleagues in the room.

"Remember," I concluded, "the cost of doing something is often eclipsed by the cost of doing nothing. By contemplating this, you're not just making decisions—you're making informed choices that contribute to the BIG PICTURE."

It could do the same for you as a Practitioner in your own field whether it be Change, or Learning, or beyond. It's all about making business better.

🌟 Chapter 6: The Takeaway

And so, as the room emptied and the screen dimmed, I knew we had achieved something extraordinary. We had not just engaged; we had collaborated. And in that magical confluence of minds and ideas, we had found our way to measurably "better business" outcomes.

I could see that we had created the conditions for the team to come together in the same room on the same page. Asking the right questions is an awesome way to push accountability out to the team- who love helping with the heavy lifting. Every business is unique and as a practitioner of Change or Learning helping out, why wouldn't we respect they know the business more than anyone else? The BIG PICTURE promise, carefully guided, provides you exactly that, Engagement and Collaboration, out of the box, with incredible consistent results.

💌 P.S: An Outcome

Oh! Remember that Customer Care colleague who mentioned quantifying the cost of losing customer trust? Post-meeting, rumour has it, they embarked on a discussion odyssey across the different business areas, nurturing a dialogue on the quintessence of trust in customer relationships. The outcome? A robust proposal to the leadership on four pragmatic measures to quantify customer trust, tailored for their mid-sized financial business. Here they are:

1. Customer Trust Index (CTI):

• Think of the CTI as a trusted thermometer. It gauges how warm customers feel towards us by looking at things like how open we are with them, how well we communicate, and whether we keep our promises. It’s about getting a number that tells us, “Hey, customers feel this warm or cold towards us” based on these factors.

2. Experience-led Metrics:

• This is about how smooth and enjoyable we make the customer’s journey. Are they finding it easy to interact with us? Are they happy with the tech tools, services or products we provide? It's like a smoothie bar - the easier and tastier we make the experience, the more they trust us to quench their thirst the next time around.

3. Direct Customer Feedback:

• Here, we simply ask customers, “How much do you trust us?” We can do this through easy-going surveys. It’s like asking them to be the judges of our trustworthiness contest, rating us on how well we’re doing in earning their trust.

4. Technology-Driven Trust Metrics:

• This is about using cool tech tools to understand our customer’s behaviour better. If they find our products or services easy to use and our website easy to navigate, it’s a thumbs up! It’s like having a heart-to-heart with our customers through technology, understanding what makes them tick, and how much they trust us based on how they interact with our tech tools.

The essence of these measures lies in their ability to not only quantify but also enhance the fibre of trust that binds the company to its customers. They reflect a deep understanding of trust as a multi-dimensional entity and provide a structured pathway to nurture and measure it, thus paving the way for enhanced engagement, collaboration, and robust business outcomes ..