'Challenge the Status Quo'- Turn Resistance into Opportunities for Excellence

Curious about how you can transform resistance to change into a force for improvement? Pull up a chair and join me, Nancy Nouaimeh, as we challenge the status quo and redefine the path to excellence. Drawing on my personal managerial experiences, we explore the journey of encouraging an open culture where questioning the norm is embraced. Fueled by commitment, courage, imagination, and a dedication to learning, this culture of curiosity can be a game-changer in fostering continuous improvement. 

Beyond this, we delve into the role of leaders in carving this culture, where employees are empowered to question the status quo. We draw insights and offer actionable tips to strengthen your capability to disrupt the norm and lay a foundation of continuous learning. We also take a moment to reflect on the principle of seeking perfection and its relevance in the pursuit of excellence. Don't miss this thought-provoking episode that will surely fuel your drive to look beyond the ordinary, explore fresh practices, and collectively forge a brighter future. And don't forget to subscribe to our LinkedIn newsletter and join the Excellence Foresight community!

Chapters

• 0:13 Challenging the Status Quo
• 10:55 Culture of Challenging the Status Quo

Transcript

Nancy Nouaimeh: 0:13

Hello and welcome to the Excellence Foresight podcast. I'm your host, Nancy Nouaimeh, and my passion is to make excellence an everyday habit. Whether you're striving for organizational excellence or pursuing personal excellence, this podcast will bring you practices that matter now and for the future. In my Excellence Foresight podcast episodes, I will share with you a sequence of practices to focus on and which will help you on your journey towards excellence. In today's episode, I would like to share my views on challenging the status quo and why it's crucial as the first step towards achieving excellence. When I talk about excellence, I'm referring to the continuous improvement journey that leads to outstanding results. Today, we will discuss how you can challenge the status quo and make that challenge most rewarding. So let's dive in. Well, that's just how we do things here. It's how we've always done it. It's best not to rock the boat.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 1:15

Chances are you've heard these dismissive responses when suggesting changes in the workplace or even at home, when teaching your children new habits. Change will always face resistance. Ask any leader. You know, when I started my first position as a manager of quality 18 years ago, one of my initial tasks was leading an ERP system implementation. The most challenging aspect was convincing the team to review their current practices. Every time I suggested improvements, instead of showing interest, the team reacted with irritation and defensiveness. So what I've done? I set aside time to demonstrate that just because something has worked until now, it doesn't mean there's no need for reassessment or room for improvement. Gradually, the team began to see the value and the new way of doing and the new way of thinking that I was suggesting. Challenging the status quo and focusing on continuous improvement started to gain traction among the team members.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 2:12

I'm a Shingo alumni and my company is a licensed affiliate of the Shingo Institute. The Shingo model for enterprise excellence is based on 10 excellence guiding principles. Seeking perfection is one of these principles that we teach to support the transformation towards continuous improvement. Some people might argue that seeking perfection is not achievable and would prefer to use the phrase pursue excellence. I personally can easily relate to pursuing excellence, and I'm sure many of you can too. The riskiest thing we can do as leaders is maintain the status quo, which in Latin, means the state in which. So how can we escape the scenario where we're stagnant, not improving and content with where we are, whether in our professional journeys or relationships? Let's delve deeper into our podcast today with some tips that will help you challenge the status quo, and we look at it from two angles how can you, as an individual, strengthen your abilities to challenge the status quo and, if you are a leader, what you need to do to support the culture that enables employees to challenge the status quo?

Nancy Nouaimeh: 3:18

I like this quote by Marshall Gans, which summarizes much of what I want to discuss today. He says challenging the status quo involves these four key elements commitment, courage, imagination and, above all, dedication to learning. Commitment is a commitment to improvement, looking beyond the current situation and exploring new practices and ways of doing things. Courage is the courage to take the necessary steps to do things differently, even when it involves other people, and finding ways to gain their buy-in, their involvement and get them to contribute. It means taking that first step, even if it's difficult or uncomfortable. It also means standing up for your beliefs and challenging the status quo, even if it leads to criticism or opposition. Imagination it's all about allowing your mind to think outside the box and consider new options. I would like to give this example the inversion or other way around principle Used in TRIZ metodology.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 4:18

The TRYZ is a theory of inventive problem solving which suggests doing the opposite of the current process. Think of a treadmill where the moving part is fixed bringing the activity indoors. What an invention isn't it? Being able to run and walk inside? Learning this is very important.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 4:35

Challenging the status quo means changing the belief that the current way of doing things is the best or only way. It's about learning and trying new approaches. To challenge status quo it's important to have a growth mindset and a willingness to learn and adapt. Let me pause a little bit here. I recommend to you reading Carol Dweck's book on growth mindset, which emphasizes that intelligence can be developed, challenges should be embraced and effort leads to mastery, and learning from criticism is essential. Growth mindset means being open to feedback and criticism, admitting when you're wrong and continuously seeking ways to improve. Many who have achieved great success have done so by being flexible, adaptable and always looking for ways to enhance their approach. Now here is your challenge for today, something which I want you to consider. Imagine looking at the future with fresh eyes, envisioning where you want to be and making that new reality your goal. Challenge your status quo. Challenge how your future is going to look like.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 5:33

I personally love challenging the status quo, something I've experienced in various endeavors, whether it's taking on managerial role at a young age or initiating a project that I believe needed a lot of improvement. It's about making a difference. Unfortunately, challenging the status quo isn't something leaders often embrace. According to a Harvard Business Review study, 72% of leaders admit they rarely or never challenge the status quo or encourage employees to think creatively. If you want to ensure your employees are set up for success and you want to foster sustainable growth within your organization, you must constantly seek ways to inspire change and focus on improvement.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 6:10

Organizations develop a status quo for various reasons, from time constraints, prioritization challenges to a culture of "if it's not broken, don't fix it. I think we've all encountered this. It's the leadership responsibility to create an environment where challenging the status quo is encouraged. So the key question would be how can you establish such a culture that empowers employees to challenge the status quo? In the beginning of this episode, I told you we're going to be tackling this from two angles. One is the individual angle and the other one is the company leader angle.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 6:39

Let's start with the first one. If you're an employee seeking to do things differently, here are three tips for challenging the status quo at work: Speak up, share your ideas and don't be afraid to express your opinions in meetings. Second, be creative and develop new approaches. Propose them to your manager or team. Third, take risks. Sometimes pushing boundaries is necessary to challenge the status quo and make a significant impact at work. So speak up, be creative and take risks, and believe it, anyone can challenge the status quo. So here are three ways to do so and start thinking differently. First is spend 10, 15 minutes a day asking questions to challenge your status quo. Instead of asking how, ask why. Seek out new experiences, attend events outside your comfort zone and engage with diverse perspectives. Third, surround yourself with people who think differently, as diverse perspectives can challenge your status quo and complement your skills.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 7:35

Now, the mindset to question the status quo relies on several qualities, and these are the three important ones, in my opinion: Be observant, have an agile mind and be courageous. Being observant helps identify problems, outdated habits and strategies that no longer work. It enables us to acquire useful information and apply it in new ways. An agile mind means approaching situations with an open slate, considering diverse view points and recognizing opportunities that may not be immediately apparent. It's essential for creativity and finding new solutions. Courageous is being courageous to have that empowerment being empowered to ask tough questions, engage in difficult conversations and think the truth, even if it's inconvenient.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 8:18

Now, when it comes to the second angle, if you really are seeking to do things differently and encourage employees to challenge the status quo, it's important to understand that challenging the status quo can lead to greater organizational efficiency and innovation. Sooner or later, you'll likely encounter resistance to change because the status quo feels safe and comfortable, w change can appear risky. However, you must encourage employees who aren't afraid to propose new ideas and take risks, as they are vital for driving innovation. Now let me share with you the three actions to create an environment that supports your employees in taking risks and challenging the status quo. First action: promote creativity and risk-taking. Encourage employees to share their ideas. Give them ways to do that. Second, allow failures and opportunities to learn and improve. Make sure employees understand that trying and experimenting is acceptable within limits, of course. And third, foster the culture of continuous learning and reward employees for innovative suggestions and for their engagement in continuous development programs. I'm learning something new if they do so. Now t hese three activities should be supported by effective systems to help employees embrace them. In my work with our clients at XcelleratE, I focus on implementing such systems like suggestions, schemes to gather ideas, brainstorming systems, regular meetings, R and D tools to facilitate experimentation. All of these helps employees put their creativity into work. While the previous three actions I've shared with you are enablers to a culture of challenge the status quo, I would like to share the simple, structured methodology that you could follow when you want to challenge the status quo effectively.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 9:52

Questioning the status quo involves seven key activities. Start by identifying an opportunity or need. Recognize when something isn't or working or could be improved. Ask questions. Research and ask questions to understand the issue and challenge the assumptions. After you have your questions answered, create a change statement. Clearly define what you want to change. To stay focused Once you have that change statement, explore ideas and weigh options.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 10:19

Generate ideas to address the issue and evaluate them. Once you have those ideas and those solutions figured out, gather allies. Partner with others who can contribute to and support the change. Once that is done, that is ticked, propose a change. Communicate your solution to your team and stakeholders. And the last but not least would be implement the change. Execute the chosen solution, which may be straightforward or complex, depending on the degree of change, but anyway it's something that requires implementation. With this roadmap to excellence and to challenge the status quo in a structured way.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 10:55

We come to the end of this episode of the Excellence Foresight podcast, where we shared actionable items on how you, as an individual, or if you're a leader in an organization, can enable a culture that focuses on challenging the status quo as a first step towards continuous improvement and excellence. I thank you for joining us on this episode of the Excellence Foresight podcast and hope you're inspired to challenge the status quo and embark on a journey of continuous improvement and excellence. Engage with us, be part of the Excellence Foresight community and subscribe to our newsletter on LinkedIn. Let's be the change we want to see in the world. Let's shape a brighter future together. Thank you.