Create Micro-moves for Organizational Change

Summary

In this talk, Jane Dutton introduces Karen Golden, a prominent researcher in organizational change and identity, who discusses the concept of 'micro moves' as a tool for positive leadership. Golden emphasizes the power of small, often unnoticed actions to foster meaningful change within organizations, using examples from education and healthcare to illustrate her points. She highlights the importance of being outward-facing and forward-looking to discover new possibilities for transformation and the role of these subtle actions in generating collective enthusiasm and momentum for change.

Takeaways

• 🌟 The importance of positive leadership and its impact on organizations was emphasized, with the session focusing on how to be a positive leader.
• 📚 The session was based on a book about positive leadership and aimed to build on the knowledge shared in previous sessions.
• 🙌 Attendees were encouraged to express gratitude and support for each other, highlighting the community aspect of positive leadership.
• 🎥 The use of live-streaming allowed for a wider audience to participate, showcasing the accessibility of positive leadership education.
• 🤝 Participants were invited to build high-quality connections with others they didn't know, fostering a sense of unity and collaboration.
• 🏢 The Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship was introduced as a hub for researchers, leaders, and students to engage in generative dialogue and knowledge creation.
• 🎓 Karen Golden Middle, a renowned researcher and professor, was introduced as the speaker, bringing her expertise in organizational change and identity.
• 📈 The high failure rate of change initiatives was discussed, emphasizing the need for new approaches to organizational change.
• 🔍 Micro moves were introduced as subtle, less disruptive actions that can lead to significant change within organizations.
• 🌐 The concept of facing outward and being forward-looking was highlighted as a key aspect of micro moves, encouraging leaders to explore new possibilities for change.
• 📚 The session concluded with a call to appreciate the power of micro moves to create macro impact and lasting change for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship?

The Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship focuses on promoting positive leadership and creating a vibrant, dynamic community at the intersection of researchers, leaders, and students. It serves as an engine for transformative knowledge creation and a reservoir of grounded hope, inspiration, and practical ideas for positive change in work and organizations.

How does the speaker, Jane Dutton, describe the concept of 'micro moves' in the context of organizational change?

Micro moves are small, often barely noticeable patterns of action and interaction that engage people meaningfully and respectfully for change. They are consequential in generating collective enthusiasm, energy, and momentum, building palpable hope, and fostering transformation within organizations.

What is the significance of the 'high-quality connection' exercise during the session?

The 'high-quality connection' exercise is designed to build meaningful relationships in a short period of time, demonstrating the impact of positive interactions and emphasizing the importance of human connection in creating a positive organizational environment.

What are some examples of micro moves in action mentioned in the transcript?

Examples of micro moves include first-grade students at Oakhurst Elementary School researching and recommending changes to make their community more accessible, and healthcare clinicians and administrators walking with patients to experience firsthand the difficulties of the care system, leading to the development of a collaborative care model.

How does the speaker, Karen Golden Biddle, connect her research and experience to the concept of micro moves?

Karen Golden Biddle's research and experience as a qualitative researcher and a Dean in a major university have led her to understand the significance of subtle and less disruptive actions in creating change. Her work emphasizes the importance of micro moves in fostering positive change within organizations, especially in dynamic and challenging environments.

What is the role of leaders in facilitating micro moves within an organization?

Leaders play a crucial role in facilitating micro moves by encouraging and supporting small actions and interactions that foster change. They should create an environment that promotes meaningful engagement, respect, and collaboration among members, and they should also be open to experimenting with new ideas and approaches to drive positive transformation.

How does the concept of 'discovery' relate to micro moves in organizational change?

Discovery in the context of micro moves is about generating new and meaningful possibilities for change. It involves being open to learning, exploring, and understanding the experiences and needs of others, which can lead to insights and actions that drive positive change within the organization.

What are the benefits of focusing on micro moves in organizational change?

Focusing on micro moves in organizational change can lead to more sustainable and positive transformations. It engages individuals meaningfully, respects their contributions, and builds collective enthusiasm and energy. This approach can also lead to a more adaptable and resilient organization that is better equipped to manage change effectively.

How does the example of the first-grade students' project at Oakhurst Elementary School illustrate the impact of micro moves?

The first-grade students' project illustrates the impact of micro moves by showing how a small group of individuals can make a significant difference in their community. Through their research, engagement with local experts, and firsthand experience, the students were able to identify areas for improvement and recommend changes that could make their community more accessible and inclusive.

What is the role of 'collaboration' in the context of micro moves and organizational change?

Collaboration is a key aspect of micro moves in organizational change. It involves working together across differences to transform possibilities for change into reality. By fostering a collaborative environment, organizations can leverage the diverse perspectives and skills of their members to drive positive change more effectively.

How can the experiences and insights gained from micro moves be adapted to other organizational contexts?

The experiences and insights gained from micro moves can be adapted to other organizational contexts by identifying the core elements that made the micro move effective, such as meaningful engagement, respect, and collaboration. These elements can then be applied to different situations, modified as needed, and used to foster positive change in new environments.

Outlines

00:00

🎤 Introduction and Gratitude

The speaker, Jane Dutton, introduces herself as a co-founder of the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship and the organizer of the series on positive leadership. She expresses gratitude to the Joneses for their support, which has enabled the session to be live-streamed and has helped the center dream bigger. Jane also welcomes virtual attendees and encourages in-person networking among participants. She briefly describes the center's mission, emphasizing its role as an engine for transformative knowledge creation and a source of inspiration for positive change in organizations.

05:01

🌟 The Joy of Collaboration

Jane shares her experience working with Karen Golden Biddle on a book about using a positive lens to explore social change in organizations. She highlights the joy and creativity of collaborating with diverse researchers and appreciates the productive partnership. Jane praises Karen's contributions as a researcher, teacher, and qualitative researcher, and introduces her as the speaker for the session.

10:01

🚀 The Power of Micro Moves

Karen Golden Biddle discusses the concept of 'micro moves,' which are subtle and less disruptive actions that can lead to significant change within organizations. She emphasizes the importance of these actions in generating collective enthusiasm and energy for change. Karen shares her research and experiences, particularly from her time as a senior associate dean, to illustrate how these small actions can create positive impacts. She introduces the idea of micro moves in the context of discovery, collaboration, and sustainability, focusing on the first aspect in the session.

15:02

💡 Fostering Discovery Through Micro Moves

Karen delves deeper into the concept of micro moves of discovery, challenging traditional models of organizational change. She argues that these small, often unnoticed actions can engage people meaningfully and respectfully, leading to change. Karen invites participants to share their experiences of change at their tables, focusing on small actions that fostered engagement. She outlines the process of examining these micro moves, understanding their components, and exploring how they can be adapted for use in different organizations.

20:03

📚 Inspiring Education through Micro Moves

Karen shares an inspiring example of micro moves from an elementary school in Decatur, Georgia, where first-grade students embarked on a project to understand what one little person can do to create positive change. The students researched historical figures, identified differences in their community, and engaged with local experts. They then ventured into the community to see firsthand the accessibility issues and presented their findings to the city commission. This project exemplifies how micro moves can lead to tangible changes and fosters a sense of agency and hope among students.

25:05

🏥 Healthcare Transformation through Micro Moves

Karen presents another example of micro moves from the healthcare sector, where clinicians and administrators at a hospital system in Wisconsin walked with patients to experience the care system firsthand. By leaving behind their professional roles and directly accessing patient experiences, they discovered the difficulties faced by patients and identified the need for a new model of care delivery. This led to the development of a collaborative care model that significantly improved patient and staff outcomes and received international recognition.

30:07

🌈 The Impact of Micro Moves

Karen concludes her talk by emphasizing the effectiveness of micro moves in fostering discovery and leading to organizational change. She outlines the design elements that make micro moves impactful, such as having a clear purpose, directly accessing experiences, and stepping out of familiar roles. Karen highlights the positive outcomes of these micro moves, including a shift in clinical care focus, the cultivation of insider's belief in their ability to make a difference, and the facilitation of insider-led change. She encourages leaders to view micro moves as tentative experiments that can lead to macro impacts and lasting change.

35:08

🎉 Closing Remarks and Q&A

After Karen's talk, the session concludes with a Q&A where participants ask questions about the impact and measurement of micro moves. Karen emphasizes the importance of trying micro moves to see their potential impact and using them as a way to tentatively test ideas. She also addresses the concern about the sufficiency of micro moves, arguing that they are a necessary starting point for achieving macro impacts. The session ends with a formal thank you to Karen for her insightful presentation and contributions to the field of positive leadership.

Keywords

💡Positive Leadership

Positive Leadership refers to a leadership style that focuses on fostering a constructive and optimistic work environment to encourage the growth and well-being of individuals and teams. In the video, this concept is central as it is the theme of the series that the speaker, Jane Dutton, is organizing. The idea is to explore how leaders can create positive change within their organizations.

💡Micro Moves

Micro Moves are small, often barely noticeable actions and interactions that can engage people meaningfully and respectfully for change. In the context of the video, these are highlighted as critical for initiating transformation within organizations. They are seen as less disruptive and more human-centered compared to traditional, large-scale change strategies.

💡Organizational Change

Organizational Change refers to the process of altering the structure, culture, or functioning of an organization to improve its performance or to adapt to new conditions. The video emphasizes the challenges of traditional change initiatives and advocates for a more human-centered approach through positive leadership and micro moves.

💡Grounded Hope

Grounded Hope is a concept that refers to a sense of optimism and expectation for positive outcomes that is rooted in practical ideas and actions. In the video, the Center for Positive Organizations is described as a reservoir of grounded hope, indicating that it provides inspiration and practical solutions for positive change.

💡Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research is a method of inquiry that involves the collection and analysis of non-numerical data, such as words, images, and observations. It is often used in social sciences to understand people's experiences and the meanings they attribute to them. In the video, Karen Golden Biddle is noted as a well-known qualitative researcher, emphasizing her expertise in understanding and capturing the nuances of organizational change.

💡Collaboration

Collaboration refers to the act of working together with others to achieve a common goal. In the context of the video, collaboration is seen as a key element in the process of organizational change, where diverse stakeholders come together to create and sustain positive transformations.

💡Transformational Knowledge Creation

Transformational Knowledge Creation is the process of generating new insights and understanding that can lead to significant changes in thinking, practices, or culture within an organization or a field. The video positions the Center for Positive Organizations as an engine for such knowledge creation, fostering dialogue that leads to innovative ideas for positive change.

💡Positive Lens

A Positive Lens is a perspective that focuses on the potential for growth, strength, and the affirmative aspects of situations or experiences. In the video, the concept is used to describe an approach to studying social change in organizations, where researchers are invited to rethink their work through this positive perspective.

💡Community Engagement

Community Engagement refers to the process of involving and working with the members of a community to address issues and create positive change. In the video, the first-grade project at Oakhurst Elementary School is an example of community engagement, where students actively participate in identifying and proposing solutions for accessibility issues in their community.

💡Innovation

Innovation is the process of introducing new ideas, methods, or products to create change and improve upon existing conditions. The video emphasizes the need for innovation in organizational practices, particularly in the context of leadership and change management.

Highlights

Jane Dutton introduces the concept of positive leadership and the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship.

Karyn Golden Biddle is introduced as a guest speaker, an expert in organizational change and identity.

The importance of high-quality connections in 45 seconds to someone new is emphasized.

The Center for Positive Organizations is described as a triangle with researchers, leaders, and students at its hubs.

Chris White's image of the Center as an engine for transformative knowledge creation is shared.

Karen Golden Biddle's work on micro moves and their role in organizational change is discussed.

The traditional models of organizational change are criticized for overemphasizing top-down, disruptive strategies.

The significance of small, subtle actions in creating and sustaining positive change is highlighted.

A study estimates that 70% of change initiatives fail, pointing to the need for new approaches.

The concept of micro moves in discovery, collaboration, and sustainability for change is introduced.

An example of first graders in Decatur, Georgia, initiating change in their community is shared.

The impact of micro moves is discussed, including generating collective enthusiasm and hope.

The story of Satya Nadella at Microsoft challenging the organization to become better at innovation is presented.

The example of healthcare providers at SATA Care in Wisconsin experiencing the patient care path is shared.

The design elements of micro moves that make them effective are explored.

Three positive outcomes from the micro moves at SATA Care are discussed, including a new model of patient care.

Karen Golden Biddle emphasizes that micro moves, when tried, can lead to macro impact and lasting change.

The Q&A session begins with a discussion on the impact and measurement of micro moves.

Transcripts

good afternoon and welcome

I Jane Dutton and one of the cofounders

of the Center for positive

organizational scholarship and I'm also

the organizer of this series on how to

be a positive leader for those of you

who haven't been to some of the earlier

sessions this session is a one of

several it's actually the second to last

in the series that we've been running

all year sort of built on this book

about how to be a positive leader and

I'm really excited that Karyn golden

Biddle is here I'm going to introduce

her in a minute but I just want to do a

couple of other sort of warm up things

one of the first things again is to

express gratitude to the Joneses who

raise your hand Diane pomme what

everybody knows to really for many

mirrors have supported positive links

and have allowed us to dream much bigger

about what this session can look like

and I want to welcome those of you who

are listening to this from we're

live-streaming this this is again one of

the things that the Joneses funding has

allowed us to do and we appreciate your

presence for those who are here

virtually I also want to before I say

one thing about the center I want to

give you as is tradition and a one

minute connection opportunity so as is

tradition I'm going to ask you to turn

to people or get up and stand and go

build a connection to someone you don't

know and the thing is that my charge is

to not just build any old connection my

charge is for you to build a

high-quality connection in 45 seconds to

someone that you don't know and it's

going to be chaotic and that is great

because it's four o'clock and the energy

needs to come up so 45 seconds go

connect high quality go

please stop connecting

thank you I'm always feel bad inviting

you and then disconnecting you but

hopefully there is enough of a

connection that you'll want to follow up

and have a conversation with someone

when we have our healthy snacks after

this session just a word about the

center of positive organization so we've

been trying lots of different ways to

talk about it and I am completely

enamored with Chris White's

sort of one of his images of what the

center is so I'm just going to preview

and try it out here but the way Chris

talks about the center is in terms of a

triangle kind of with three hubs where

you have researchers leaders and

students and you have this this very

vibrant dynamic community that's at the

intersection of these these three

stakeholders and the way I like to think

about it the way Chris has helped me

imagine it therefore is in this triangle

there's a lot of generative dialogue in

this triangle it's a type of engine for

transformative knowledge creation

traditional things like articles and

books but some things that are less

traditional like blogs or other new

forms of social media types outcomes so

but beyond being a site for generative

dialogue an engine for transformative

knowledge creation we also envision in

this triangle that it's a deep reservoir

of grounded hope inspiration and

practical ideas for positive change

around work and organizations so that's

my my latest sort of communication about

another way to think about what the what

the center is but now it's my

opportunity this is my favorite part to

introduce our speaker karen golden

middle is a longtime researcher and

friend she comes to us from boston my

hometown she's the quest on professor of

management at Boston University and it's

particularly exciting right now because

she's just stepping down from a very

demanding Dean job associate dean job

you're Dean of research of a major

university that's a big job you're

basically managing all the faculty which

we know is a complicated job and she's

just about to be set loose which means

she's going to come back to being a

full-time researcher and teacher she's a

prolific scholar particularly in the

area of organizational change and

identity she's also a well known

qualitative researcher and I just have

to pitch this for those of you any of

you who are doing qualitative research

this is probably one of her best-known

books called composing qualitative

research any doctoral student in any

field that's doing qualitative research

will read this book but the way I got to

dance with Karen most recently as we put

together a book called using a positive

lens to explore social change in

organizations and you know you have some

of those projects that are you you sort

of look at they're kind of drudgery and

then you have those joyful projects

doing this project with Karen which

brought together really diverse

researchers who are studying social

change in very different ways and

invited them to kind of reinvent or

rethink their work in terms of a

positive lens wasn't incredibly I

thought creative and fun and I think

productive collaboration and never would

have been done without care and she's

just a wonderful colleague and I think

in that in doing that work I got a

little bit of a wisp of her evolving

perspective on the micro on microbes and

their importance in how we understand

how change is accomplished or how change

gets gets done in organizations so it's

my total pleasure to introduce my

wonderful colleague here in golden

middle

[Applause]

well I think Jane gives the best

introduction actually that book

conference that led to that book was one

of the highlights of my professional

career as well great great college ship

so it is wonderful to be here I've had

an incredible day already

what energy in the Center for positive

organizations amazing and I think I've

known it since 97 98 amazing the number

of people both here presently as well as

stream tuning in online it's great and I

had an especially inspiring lunch with a

group of the center's students known as

A+ lab are any of you here a few of you

might be here yes very cool right and so

please ask them what plus gram means

it's wonderful also thanks to Diane and

Paul very much had a great conversation

in advance that fueled my thinking on on

micro boobs and I think Diane and I

coined a new phrase I'm a micro mover so

we're gonna we're gonna kind of look at

that alright we're going to today look

at micro moves and we're going to share

a couple of examples around that and

work those examples at the table of

micro moves in discovery that did work

and we're going to kind of look at those

to see how can they work and how did

they work and how might we take those

into our own organizations to adapt and

to try them out I'll start on the other

side studies estimate that 70% of all

change initiative failed our traditional

academic models of organizational change

have offered few if any viable solutions

to improve these statistics focusing on

big strategies and particular sequences

of actions

they really overemphasize the origin of

change as being by necessity exogenous

externally driven and highly disruptive

disrupting people's lives disrupting

people's work highly disruptive and they

portray the process of changing

organizations as linear implemented

through top-down direction and very

prescribed steps as a result our

traditional models do not do justice to

the critical human component of change

and they provide little I might add

little precious little guidance for

positive leaders wishing to create

change there are some exceptions the

early work of Elinor Ostrom and her

colleagues demonstrates how can and do

achieve very stable self-governing

entities that sustain ecological systems

such as water basins and the work of

some organizational behavior scholars

many of whom are here at the Ross School

whose work in leadership issues selling

and positive organizational scholarship

draws important attention to how leaders

small actions have large and positive

impact my work enthusiastically joins

this latter group consultant and seeks

to enrich our understanding about how

people inside organizations work

together leaders front line across the

levels to create and sustain changes

that benefit patients students customers

clients and our larger communities in

particular it asks in part because I'm

just rotating off of a Dean's role how

is this positive change achieved

especially in organisations such as

healthcare or universities when their

external environments are in significant

flux today and their internal

environments consist of very

long-standing and often rigid

subcultures of expertise

my research analyses and my recent

experiences in creating change as a

senior associate dean really point to

the significance and our conversations

every conversation with practitioners of

change and thoughtful leaders of change

point to the significance of these more

subtle and less disruptive actions

enacted and I call these micro moves so

what are micro moves micro moves and

think as we're talking about this about

a time when you either enacted a micro

move or that you had some really good

mike remove examples in change and we'll

get to that in just a minute and ask you

to generate it at your table micro moves

are those small and often barely

noticeable patterns of action and

interaction in fact when people engage

in them they're often invisible and they

go unheralded but they are they barely

noticeable patterns of action and

interactions that engage people

meaningfully and respectfully for change

and they are consequential in generating

collective enthusiasm and energy that

builds palpable hope you can sense it

when you walk into an organization you

know you can feel it palpable hope and

momentum and now in the spirit of James

introduction with you when you created a

high quality connection in a short

period of time I'm going to ask you

right now at your at your table to

consider an experience of change in

which you felt meaningfully engaged and

to think about one or two small actions

that helped foster that engagement for

you and share that with your neighbors

we're going to take two minutes for this

45 seconds or so a minute for each

person alright so think about a time and

change and maybe one or two small

actions that really brought you in to

that change go so lots of different

kinds of conversations going on as I

wandered around it's really the warm up

to thinking about micro moves is what

this is if we think about

micro modes and we're going to start to

now delve into them analyses from my

studies and others that are grounded in

P end researchers who studied

organizations through direct

observations they go into study and they

look and they watch the action really

disclose what I'm calling three

different groupings of micro moves that

are oriented to the central work of

achieving change we can think about

micro moves in many other ways this is

that for the goal of achieving change

achieving desired change through

insiders in an organization discovery is

one grouping collaboration is a second

grouping and sustainability is the third

grouping so discovery is about

generating new and meaningful

possibilities for change so new

possibilities new lines of sight then

we've thought about this before that's

what we're going to work today

there's also a second grouping and there

is some interdependence obviously

collaboration collaboration is not

opposed to competition but collaboration

is more about collective about being

able to work together across our

differences whatever those differences

may be to transform possibilities for

change into reality and then third

sustainability is about opening up

institutional practices and systems to

accommodate the change so the notion is

opening up not merely adapting what

we're doing to the to the existing

institutional practices so how do we

make room for the new possibilities and

the change today as I said we'll focus

on the micro moves of discovery which

are critical for seeding transformation

and so we're going to work a couple of

these examples of discovery moves as I

mentioned very closely we're going to do

a couple things we're going to exam

examine them at the tables so I'll share

the stories and then we're going to

examine them by asking what are they

made up of what are the pieces that

together come together that make these

patterns of action work and what do they

generate right what what happens as a

result of them and second is to really

explore how they could be adapted to

foster change in our own organizations

so micro moves let's move to micro moves

of discovery

they challenge us to objectively see so

outside of us

they challenge us to objectively see and

then prepare to let go of our

traditional practices our ways of

interacting and definitions of how we

should go about our work this is not

easy to do yet letting go is central and

there's an example from Microsoft CEO

Satya Nadella who is challenging that

organization to become better at

innovation in an early interview just

after he was named CEO last year he

commented so how do you create that

self-organizing capability to drive

innovation and be focused culturally he

said I think we've operated in Microsoft

as if we had the formula figured out and

it was all about optimizing that formula

and its various constituent parts now

however he added it's about discovering

the new formula microscope discovery

Michael Lewis also asked us to become

outward-facing to others to our students

to our patients experience to our

consumers to the community and forward

looking to new possibilities so facing

outward for example involves listening

to our stakeholders and learning about

their perspectives and experiences

accessing their experiences and then

importantly using their input to prompt

us to see more clearly

needs to be changed in our organizations

so facing outward in this respect

provokes us it challenges us when we

start this external outward facing to

stop taking for granted how we do our

work as in the case of Microsoft to stop

acting as if they had the formula

already figured out then forward-looking

involves venturing forth beyond our

comfort zones

sometimes it's not comfortable and

notably venturing forth beyond our

territorial fences to actively pursue

new possibilities for changing

transforming how we deliver patient care

redefining the model for innovation in

business and industry and redesigning

our practices perspectives and vehicles

of teaching and learning in universities

so our first example that I'm going to

share is a fun example and it takes

place and so it's the first example of

the micro move of discovery and so I'd

like you to listen and as I share this

example there are some wonderful

colorful notes note pages on the on the

table and I'd like you to jot down notes

about two things about to it so I'd like

you to listen for two two areas and then

we're going to talk about those also at

the table what piques your interest what

resonates for you in this is in this

example what do you find interesting in

the example so generally it's all about

what resonates for you that's the first

one and then second is what clues do we

get about what makes this micromo move

effective in fostering discovery for

change so helping people see new

possibilities seeming lines of sight

right what makes this micro move

effective for discovery so what

interests us totally up to you and then

also what what clues do we get about

what makes this micro move effective in

fostering discovery and again there are

micro gestures there are small

actions we're looking for the pattern

what what comprises what goes into

making up this mic remove so this first

example takes place in a school

Elementary School in Oakhurst not

Illinois but a small village part of the

city Decatur Georgia at Oakhurst

elementary school first grade classes

undertook the project all first grade

classes undertook the project titled

what can one little person do I love

that title that when I read started

reading about that I'm like I got to

know more about this there's human

agency five six years old ahead of it

they first as part of this project

resource research historical figures in

America paying attention to the

contributions these people made to our

country following on that research they

then asked the question that was going

to guide the rest of their work what

contributions can i as an individual

student and can we as the first grade

class make to create and I'm not kidding

you a positive change in our community

stunning think about the transformative

possibilities in this project when

defined this way to explore this they

research differences of people in the

community of Decatur including vision

hearing mobility and learning

differences they invited experts into

their classrooms to share their

knowledge and experience about

accommodations that people with

differences might need in order to live

and thrive in their community then the

students ventured forth with their

teachers into the community guided by a

recommended longtime resident and

community volunteer who uses a

wheelchair to get around

they saw firsthand what had been done

and what needs yet

be changed to accommodate all residents

and visitors in their community as Nadia

one of the students commented we've been

going on field trips to look for things

in our community that we can change to

make things better for people who have

differences then in January of this year

they presented their findings and

recommendations for change to the

Decatur City Commission local changes

that would make their community more

accessible for all members there's a

Facebook page they have a video I would

have loved to have shown it with more

time and each one of them is laughing

jumping and noting their own differences

as as classes the class members at this

presentation during her time at the

podium a student named watts reflected

on the project we have been learning

about differences she said and what one

little person can do we're fixing stuff

in downtown ochres for people with

differences there are no ramps so people

with wheelchairs won't be able to get up

on the sidewalk it would really be

difficult for them to live here if we

don't make these changes that was the

closing statement stunning and

inspirational at your tables I'd like

you to work this story and work it

around what resonates for you and then

also what are the elements what did they

do what small actions what may be the

teachers do to help make this happen

this is all one big micro move for

discovery that is fueling the changes

they're recommending we're going four or

five minutes to have a conversation at

our tables I'll be circulating just

ignore me I'm going to be listening

okay go thank you so pleasing to the

years

thank you all for and gave her some very

interesting pieces all the way from how

did the teachers design this and the

teachers had to work together as well as

the City Council had to agree to here

the students right all the way along so

they're pieces to this that are

coordinated elements that fit together

and so if we think about this and then

what happened was it asks the students

and teachers in the most general way to

become outward-facing and

forward-looking the teachers needed to

entertain the idea that they wouldn't

stay in the classrooms only right and

they would venture forth so they heard

others experiences and their

difficulties and used it to prompt an

exploration of what needed to be changed

right at the most general level and they

ventured forth obviously they could have

stayed in their classroom they could

have read research on what do

communities need to accommodate people

with differences right and what was

happening in the most innovative they

went out to experience firsthand our

second example comes from health care

who in the room is in the health care

area okay so a fair number at each table

this is great as I share this example

I'm going to ask you now to jot down

those again similar to this one is what

piques your interest and also what makes

this story this example as a micro move

for discovery effective in fostering

discovery in enabling discovery to

happen and this time I'd like you to

also imagine in the what if way possible

how you might adapt it for use in your

organization are there pieces of it

could you assemble aspects of it that

would fit with some other things for

discovery whether you're in health care

or not

okay transformation began at SATA care

SATA care is a hospital system in

Wisconsin not too far from here when

clinicians and administrators walked

with real patients to experience

firsthand the difficulties created by

their system to prepare these clinicians

and administrators generated open-ended

questions to ask patients when they

accompanied them what would illuminate

their experiences they actually had an

OD consultant come in to do that to help

them questions such as would you share

with me what being a patient here is

like what was it like for you just now

when X happened a lot as they were

following them could you describe some

other experiences you've had here as a

patient in addition to those questions

they decided to leave behind their

medical frocks and suit jackets in order

to slip out of their expert roles as

they walked with patients the team was

surprised to discover how very difficult

the route through their care system was

for many patients and how truly arduous

it was for the elderly and the very ill

they had no idea they also discovered

many other burdens patients faced such

as having to return at a later time to

complete diagnostic tests who hasn't

been asked to do that or having to

repeatedly answer the same question as

different providers came into the room

these clinicians and administrators

realize that all it although individual

services and units may work well their

whole system of care for the patient and

the patient experience did not a

clinical leader commented

we became acutely aware at a deeper

level that the old process was oriented

to justifying patience stay in the

hospital we needed a different process

one focused on optimal recovery and

helping patients get well the result was

a forward-thinking innovative model of

patient care delivery named

collaborative care that led to

exceptional patient and staff outcomes

and international recognition you can

also read about it in Health Affairs

special issue today the physicians the

nurses work together across any

territorial fences and there's aftercare

as well and I'm glad to talk with anyone

about this particular example for us

right now it's the early stages of this

and the discovery micro move I'm going

to ask you again to take three to four

minutes or so at your table to share the

pieces like what really resonates with

you with this very short example that

I've shared in a healthcare system as

they were trying to improve the delivery

of their system they gather together to

improve the delivery of their system and

had no idea it would lead to seeing the

whole system needing transformed so what

piques your interest

what makes this micro move effective in

fostering discovery for change and how

might it be adapted for use in your

organization so these questions are up

on the slide for your reference

Wow some of the very interesting about

ways that you're trying to adapt this

for use in your own organization and I

do want to there were a couple questions

did they decide to do that themselves

you know were they how how authentic

were they in this process the group came

together first they are senior leaders

administrators and senior clinicians so

they're over units some of the

clinicians but they don't get to the

frontline often what they did initially

was walk the care path as if they were

patients and then realized there's some

stuff that didn't quite fit

something was niggling a little bit like

they needed to see more and they made

the decision to walk the care path with

patients and numbers so great

conversations I look forward as we

continue this and also afterward for a

conversation with you if we think about

this and I'm going to link to some of

the conversations I've heard there are

some design elements that come forward

with a micro move of discovery that

makes it effective first of all it's not

existing out of context there's a

purpose that gives it meaning I mean you

could walk with patients and not get a

thing out of it right that's not what

they did so there's a purpose it's

enveloped in a purpose of improving care

delivery and they change that purpose to

transforming care delivery as they went

through this process there's also the

importance of accessing patient

experience directly in order to really

understand the experiences whether it's

community members with differences

whether it's patients in the healthcare

system whether it's students and their

learning paths to add it it's there is

an importance of accessing their

experience not putting our experience or

expectations onto that experie

so they got out of their familiar roles

and they spent time with the questions

many of you talked about this left their

medical uniforms and suits behind and

then really did go to walk the Kerr path

with patients so we're starting to see

some design elements of micro moves that

then have major impact right so this is

the discovery pieces many more kinds of

things that went on in order for the

collaborative care model to be developed

obviously the CEO was right in the room

with the clinicians and administrators

they clear congruence so walking the

care path with patients conveys the

discovery micro move that enables groups

to gain insight into previously

invisible problems and foster momentum

for change the difficulty there's one

piece left in this case the team's

decision to walk patients paths led to

at least three positive individual and

organizational outcomes and let me share

those first it generated a new line of

sight for clinical care it moved it away

from justifying as the clinician talked

about justifying patient stay which is a

normal way of going about delivery why

they have to stay and why they can keep

getting insurance to helping patients

get well major shift in line of sight

for them that really affected the design

of the care system itself as they went

forward and they had teams together

physicians nurses social workers and

aftercare

that huddled after every before they saw

a patient second it cultivated insider's

beliefs that their efforts could make a

positive difference in improving care

they had hope that if they took action

it would matter

and it did matter so that whole notion

of hope that my action will matter and

that generated momentum to design the

new care system and it took a lot of

work to design the care system that

momentum helped energize it and finally

it did enable insider led organizational

change these insiders designed and

executed needed change in 2004/2005 long

before government changes in legislation

that stretched and they did it by

stretching that organizational culture

through the infusion of new ideas they a

lot they moved it culture became more

malleable that allowed them to and then

they infused these new ideas so I think

I'm going to end on this piece of it and

look forward to conversations and say I

hope today from today's session that all

of us can gain an appreciation that Mike

removes our critical resources for

positive leaders in change in both

examples of the discovery Mike removes

people are meaningfully and respectfully

engaged in what might be called

expeditions of inquiry whether it's into

the community or in with patients in the

care system into how to make a positive

difference they venture forth to see new

possibilities for change they see touch

and hear right sidewalks they themselves

stepped up to see they weren't

accessible they experienced the

difficulties of care paths for change

than the benefits patients communities

and society so on that notion I would

say micro moves

do add up to macro impact lasting change

that knits together the best of the past

with a desired alternative future that

benefits all of us

thank you we were hoping that for

questions five minutes for questions

four minutes I'll watch CJ back there

yeah all right question-it stop it if I

know it I've seen look this is so

wonderful one of you had a micro

movement generated the impact for

everybody else with it so would you like

to start yeah

yeah yeah what's mike remove is very

much that's a really great question

they have macro impact for sure and what

happens is as we take micro moves we

might even think about it as

experimenting all right can you imagine

the teachers together saying we want to

do a project where our students will

understand about agency right and then

go out in the community and actually

have the experience of creating change

so you can imagine the teachers huddling

together even thinking that is a micro

move right rather than we're not able to

do anything in this system right around

that now notably there is support for

this kind of learning that really is

catalyzing right so there's a there's

another group that are talking about

expeditionary learning here in Michigan

and elsewhere that's only in the

elementary and maybe up to k12 maximum

right that's kind of tapping in and

helping give resources and resource

these kinds of efforts right but getting

the City Commission to meet those kinds

of things right but you know a small

move would be to ask the City Commission

to meet all right great question I had

that a couple times as we went around

the tables great question so we can

think of these as as micro moves that

are kind of mini experiments to see

whether there's traction right we don't

know unless we try other other questions

yes

so I can't did you come you hear my

question please repeat it again okay

sure so did you found on measuring the

impact from unclear more difficult so I

look forward to many many more people

measuring the impact of micro moves

where I measure it right now the metric

I'm using is the palpable hope the

enthusiasm the energy and then the

students are getting those projects

implemented it is a new model of care

right and the interesting thing when you

start looking for positive change

examples if there are a lot of them

right there just under the surface and

they may not be large scale all of them

right I chose some better more large

scale on purpose to show that it can

have that kind of macro impact yeah but

definitely look forward to other kinds

of and broadening our metrics right

about what matters in terms of how do we

measure that

there I can tell you nurses are talking

in this about since graduation they

haven't been able to take hold of their

profession as strongly as they're

enabled to now right that's a metric

right so these are really helping staff

as well as patients and communities yeah

yeah

so as leaders we presumably have a range

of micro and macro moves that we could

take in any given situation how would

you counter an argument that says as a

leader a micro move is just not enough

when you know something needs to happen

and how would you make that decision as

a leader if we don't start with Mike

removes we're not going to get to the

macro impact yeah I think probably the

micro moves we don't know if it's not

going to be enough until we try it right

what we can do is we can really now that

there's a sense about micro moves try it

and see has energy been generated is

there momentum or others starting to

talk about it what what reactions do I

get right so that's kind of this mini

experiment under the radar to see who

picks it up now there are some micro

moves and things we may not pursue after

that right but others that just kind of

get moving that's why I think the plus

gram from the from the plus lab is such

a great example that went into the Ross

School it's just wonderful it moves it

you could just tell it's time was here

right and they did a lot to make that

happen right behind that so we think

about it as tentative testings right

tentative ways because otherwise we

won't know right so that's a helpful way

tentative waves moving forward okay I

have to stop you don't you stay there so

I I'm sure you're all feeling like I do

I'm going to formally thank Karen and

we'll all do so applause and then I have

two announcements I'd like tonight so

first as you know we love artifacts yes

I know everything simple you can take my

ruler if you really know business that I

know oh okay it's not it's not a blogger

but I think I'm gonna get one oh there

you are

yeah I'm gonna get my own okay I'll move

to me this has a positive spiral that's

the image that

but thank you so much for coming in

she's spending a couple of days here so

if anyone wants to follow up with their

discussion please join me in thanking

Karen for coming

[Applause]