Pepsi’s president and CEO Craig Weatherup, observed, “We believed that for change to occur, people had to do three things: Develop a conceptual understanding of the rationale and proposed direction of change; internalize and commit emotionally to the new vision; and acquire new skills to ensure that the vision would be realized. Get their minds around it, their hearts behind it, and hands on it.”

Hudson Valley businesses must create an atmosphere of challenge and dissent without allowing it to drift into hostility and fear. Bob Galvin, CEO of Motorola, challenged his officers to shift the organization to smaller, more focused business units.

Using deliberately vague terms, he said he saw a need for change and told the officers they would meet in two years and review the changes. Officers left the meeting asking, “What the heck did he tell us to do?” That was precisely the point. It led to a multi-year process of thoughtful positive changes.

President Kennedy used a different approach after the Bay of Pigs Invasion had failed. He changed the ground rules, suspending protocol to foster debate. All assumptions were to be challenged. He asked each participant to be a “skeptical generalist,” that is, someone who viewed the situation from a broad perspective rather than the narrow focus of a single agency.

Open communication is essential to the change process. Knowledge is useless unless it is widely available to everyone. That means intensive, often prolonged, discussion. Ernst & Young compensates consultants for their contributions and British Petroleum had a process call Peer Assists, which brings diverse experts together to solve problems.

Like learning, discussion must be led. Skillful questions can gently guide a discussion, or they can set the agenda to complete the work. Framing an issue helps. “Why don’t we consider that proposal in light of the likely responses of current and future competitors?” Questions can build bridges among participants and link ideas. “Aren’t Jim and Jayne really saying the same thing?”

The next step for leading learning is to listen. Don’t interrupt, jump to conclusions, or project your own thinking. Avoid being overly critical; don’t respond with a lecture. Respond positively, by offering either encouragement or constructive criticism.

Both GE and Emerson Electric use a combative style, but the battle is between ideas, not people. Pepsi-Cola and Serengeti Eyewear employ a more supportive style, but the support is for the person…the ideas are always fair game.

Individual learning is just as necessary for success as group learning. If Hudson Valley business owners are to lead learning, we have to start with ourselves. Be open to new ideas. For new ideas to find a home, old ideas must be displaced. Renewal requires constantly seeking out competing concepts and embracing unfamiliar ideas.

Be sure to solicit critical feedback. Harvey Golub, CEO of American Express said, “When you make a decision, you explain how you made it.” Superior insights may lie elsewhere.

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