Tabitha A. Scott's Blog, page 3

3 Sources of New Power From Existing Employees

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Untapped energy potential lies in every organization. These three management strategies amplify productivity and engage employees: 

Leverage Innovation Energy

Every employee has a natural predisposition towards either exploration or optimization. Companies can amplify creativity by identifying employees who are natural explorers and are energized by innovation. In recent history, psychometric models have expanded beyond communication styles to include ethology and cybernetics. That means that with new tools like the AEM-Cube, leaders may easily identify which employees are motivated by innovation. Identifying this “innovation energy” is the first step, then placing employees into roles where they have the freedom and encouragement to create follows next. All employees have the power to innovate, but some are naturally energized by it and can ignite a quick spark of new insights. 

Minimize Resistance to Change

Leaders act as either conductors or insulators for new ideas. As an efficient conductor of energy, leadership can create a culture where information flows freely and quickly. Being a good conductor means deploying: 

the use of agile teams to be close to each problem and accelerate decision making;  a strategic demographic and cognitive diversity mix that maximizes requisite variety; and  inclusion that values variety in the way employees, or AI systems think. 

Provide Directional Relevance

Electricity is created when direction is applied to the power contained in electrons. In the same way, employee adoption of change is guided by relevance and actionable steps. Turning energy potential into action requires clear direction. As SVP of Innovation for two global companies, I witnessed countless ineffective ideation programs, internal and external to our organizations. A common example of misalignment was the general call for employees to “Submit your big ideas!” 

Companies that encourage random ideas from employees run the risk of discouraging innovation because if the idea is not aligned to strategy, it is rarely implemented. With an already overburdened workload, irrelevant ideas are seen as a distraction. When seemingly good ideas are not put into practice, frustration, demotivation and disengagement predictably result.  In contrast, sustainable innovation starts with a thoroughly defined direction, this ensures ideas are relevant. Relevance accelerates implementation.

Basic Laws of Physics Predict People’s Reaction to Innovation

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What will your boss, colleague, or employee think of your brilliant new idea? As it turns out, reactions to innovation can be easily predicted using Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion. Expecting certain reactions lets us prepare for, and overcome, objections more easily.

Newton’s Law of Motion

Apply it at Work

Move Beyond Inertia

1: An object tends to remain at rest, or at its current speed, until acted upon by an external force.

”My team is already running as fast as it can.” Or “Why should I try something new—no need to fix something that isn’t broken.” Expect that majority of people to resist change. It takes effort (aka “external force”) to get people moving or alter someone’s existing direction and pace.If you like generating new ideas, get used to rejection! When asked to collect carbon metrics for an foreign based company in 2005, I first presented the idea to our U.S. site managers on its merits. We needed to track energy use to comply with the law, we could identify consumption patterns and find ways to reduce expenses, and we could lower our harmful GHG emissions. What I received was a resounding “No—we already have too much to do,” and “I don’t have the time or staff to comply.” 

The challenge was, our company would pay a financial penalty if data was not collected.

Incentives are the best way to get people moving, and studies show that recognition and acknowledgement are equally as powerful as financial incentives.Solution: Since collecting data was a legal requirement, we created an incentive for U.S. manager. Up to 5% of their base salary became contingent upon their collection of carbon metrics. Through the incentive, the company would either receive the data it needed, or if a manager failed to deliver, his portion of salary would be used to pay the penalty fee. 100% of metrics were gathered the first year of incentive implementation.

2: Force = Mass X Acceleration.

The “Force” is the impact of an idea on a company’s success. How much will your idea propel the company forward? That depends on two things:1.        “Mass” describes the significance of an object, and in business I liken it to relevance. Ideas with small effect will create incremental progress, but those that will create millions in revenue or provide entry into a new market will receive greater notice. The more an idea relates to business goals, the bigger its potential impact to a company’s bottom line. 

2.        “Acceleration”, in business terms, is our pace of change. Natural innovators make up only 2.5% of the general populous. In high tech corporate cultures (like Google), the pace of change is accelerated, so there will be a larger percent of innovators (and less resistance to change). In low risk cultures (like BBI), the pace of change will be slower—as we generally hire employees based upon their successful ability to identify and eliminate risks. The speed of change adoption defines a company’s corporate innovation culture.

Keep ideas relevant and aligned with Director goals. People are more likely to get onboard with change if it accelerates their performance goals. Even the greatest ideas will not be implemented if they do not solve a problem or opportunity important to leaders within an organisation.Solution: BBI’s second Innovation Lab programme had a greater force or impact on daily business because it focused on an existing problem, chosen by leaders. The outcome was implemented immediately because participants applied to be involved—so the pace of change was welcomed, not intrusive.

3: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

From a young age I learned to expect that actions caused reactions. In sports, in relationships, with siblings, in nearly every aspect of our lives, the things we do cause people to react.When first contracted to work for an international company with properties across the U.S., we proposed a solar investment at a Key West concession. The energy costs were high and although it was a mere $4 million investment, it would pay back in 5 years and produce healthy returns. The deal was a new business model and a tiny investment, so it was not something that fit the current investment risk profile at the company.

Be prepared that nobody will love your idea as much as you do! Use your “pitch” to gain experience and intel about what leaders really want.Solution: We understood the capital investment was an unknown risk barrier, so we worked to develop a third-party ownership model. This decoupled operational savings from financial investment, and removed risks. The world’s largest solar powered community was created and the new business model has since been rolled out to several more of the company’s properties.

 

Amp Up Your Power Anytime, Anywhere, and at Any Age

Use This Fun Activity to Recharge Your Energy Using Your Body’s Own Electricity! 

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An event like the coronavirus pandemic can leave our energy levels feeling drained or disconnected. But don’t worry, what you’re experiencing is 100% normal, and we can leverage the laws of electricity to recharge our “batteries” and feel better. Quantum science proves that everything about us is energy-based. Energy is the source of all living things, including people, animals, and plants. It is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at no cost, is self-healing, and serves as the ultimate “renewable resource” to amp up our mental, physical and spiritual power. 

 

Recharge your energy naturally! 

I worked professionally with the energy sector for 15 years and also have several human biofield energy healing certifications. This background allows me to observe emotional states from an electrical perspective. Due to the shock of rapid, unexpected changes from COVID-19, we may feel drained or disconnected. This occurs because our positive energy (high vibration) is being consumed to fill the “gap” created from the increased negative energy (low vibration) around us. 

This energetic draw can be visualized by the circuits in the following diagram. The lightbulb on the left is not receiving electricity from its source of power because the circuit is not connected. Like the lightbulb, we are feeling “burned out” because the unexpected, negative disruption has caused our bodies to short circuit. 

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In our natural, balanced, energetic state, we are more like the circuit on the right. Our internal power source pushes positive energy currents throughout our bodies via meridians like the brightly lit bulb. We can actually use our own hands to reconnect our body’s electrical circuits, returning our energy levels to a healthy flow, igniting our power and restoring our brilliance once again.

We can recharge our power anytime, anywhere, and at any age—this activity will help anyone link his or her own electrical circuits, with connection points called “chakras”. Chakras are natural energy vortexes that act as electrical power points in our bodies. The chakra connections in our human circuitry are similar to the lightbulb in the image above. By creating a complete “electrical circuit” with your hands, the chakras will fill with energy and help you “light up” again. 

Our healthy energetic state is like the closed circuit.

Activity: Recharge Your Energy Using Your Body’s Own Electricity! 

Sit comfortably with legs slightly separated. You don’t have to assume a complicated yoga pose, just sitting in a chair will work fine.                              
Place your left palm a few inches away from the area directly between your legs (Root Chakra) and your right palm against your lower abdomen (Sacral Chakra), a few inches below your belly button. See the diagram below for locations. 

Sit quietly and breathe slowly so you can pay attention to any tingling feelings in your palms. Imagine the left palm drawing out power and connecting the circuit with your right palm. You have now connected and energized your two lower chakras! Hold this position for a few minutes or until you don’t feel any tingly sensations in your palms. 

Move your left palm up to a few inches above your belly button on top of the Solar Plexus Chakra, while keeping the right one in place on the Sacral Chakra. Again, you have connected and energized another chakra, congratulations! Hold this position for a few minutes or until you don’t feel any sensations in your palms. 
Continue moving the lower palm up to the next chakra, as shown in the diagram below. After you are finished connecting the Third Eye Chakra (forehead) and Crown Chakra (top of head), the final connection is between the top of head and up into the sky. Imagine you are connecting that last hand, and your electrical circuit, into the ultimate Source of power and light in the universe. 

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The 7 Primary Chakras 

Image Source: https://www.yoga-anatomy.com/the-chak... 

There are 72,000 chakras in the human body, but we are only using the 7 primary ones in our activity. Chakras are interrelated with Chinese meridian lines and the body’s subtle vibrations and forces. Each of the primary chakras corresponds to different functions or emotions, so when they are disconnected or drained, we tend to feel off-balance, drained, or disconnected. Our activity is based on a simplified version of a healing technique called “Chakra Connection and Energizing” by Dr. Brugh Joy, a successful medical internist who became an expert in ancient biofield practices. (For more information, visit: www.HealingBeyondBorders.org.) 

Remember, it’s natural to feel drained, distracted or disconnected amidst the chaos of a pandemic. Don’t feed the negative energy. Instead, recharge yourself by giving the simplified chakra connection activity a try. Positivity brings light. And, if nothing else, it will give you something interesting to do for a while. Remember, we are all made of the same energy and are all ultimately connected. You are not alone. 

About the Author: Formerly CEO of Cole Scott Group and Military Assistance Company, and SVP of Innovation & Sustainability at global companies Balfour Beatty Investments and Lend Lease Americas. She helped develop net zero energy communities (producing as much energy as they consume) and the world’s largest solar community. Scott is also a credentialed Certified Energy Manager (Assn of Energy Engineers), Blockchain Certified (MIT), and has numerous certifications in human biofield practices (ranging from modern techniques to ancient methods of the Far East and Native American Hopi Tribe).  Scott is an international advisor and speaker on energy, change management, and innovation, with several published works.