1. Health Education East of England Launching our OD Network: Systems Leadership and Cultural Change Part 2: Framing and reframing Debbie Sorkin National Director of Systems Leadership, The Leadership Centre Debbie.sorkin@localleadership.gov.uk @DebbieSorkin2 Newmarket, 7 th July 2015

2. Basis of Framing and Reframing “A frame is a set of internalised concepts and values that allow us to accord meaning to unfolding events and new information.” Chris Lawrence-Pietroni, Systems Leadership Enabler Based in metaphor and how frames affect the way we think/make assumptions Frames are mental shortcuts to images and associations So reframing is one way of giving ourselves – and others – alternative options

3. Framing and Reframing Don’t think of an elephant!

4. Why Framing Matters Frames will trump facts every time They’re often shielding unspoken emotions/deeply held values Frames prime you for associations (e.g. You see one yellow car and suddenly you notice 15) Frames are like prisms – and can be like prisons So the thing to do is to reframe Once you’ve established a new frame and it’s become widely accepted, the previously unthinkable becomes “common sense” And it gives you the chance to put across arguments or evidence in ways that change established thinking and underlying emotions

5. Example: the UK General Election, May 2015 “Labour lost the election for reasons that any bus driver or part-time florist could diagnose in a sentence: its prospectus was too leftwing and its leader, Ed Miliband, was a liability. There is nothing structurally wrong with the left that leadership and moderation cannot fix.” Janan Ganesh, Financial Times, 19 th May 2015 “Am I angry at vain, arrogant Ed? Hell, yes. What more do you want, Len? You got your party back. You got the leader you wanted. You got the anti-business baby- talk you believe in. You got the job lot and it was a total, unbridled, unhindered fiasco. So belt up and leave the politics to people who know what they’re doing.” Philip Collins, The Times, 15 th May 2015

6. Example: the UK General Election, May 2015 “The Labour party should be disappointed, deeply so; but not disheartened. We lost. But there is nothing preventing us winning next time other than ourselves. This may seem odd to say but we have a huge opportunity. The country defaulted to the Tories. It didn’t desire them. That explains the difference between the polls and the result. We should be energised, not depressed.” Tony Blair, The Observer, 10 th May 2015

7. Exercise: Reframing your challenge/wicked issue Work in teams of 3 One person in the group: brief the others on your issue Assign a ‘perceptual position’ to your partners – e.g. someone from a CCG, or from an FT, or a local authority Describe how you see the other players, how they see you, the effects, your proposed next steps and your longer-term plans Partners listen for how the person is framing the issue and how they’re framing you – what’s going on Partners feed back on the frames they’ve heard and opportunities for reframing You reflect on the ways you may need to reframe/next steps

8. Discussion and Reflection Discussion and Reflection on exercise and on Systems Leadership in general: What might you do to engender and develop systems approaches in your organisation/place and in the wider network? what might it mean for you individually and as a community of practice?

9. Systems Leadership – more information www.localleadership.gov.uk Debbie.sorkin@localleadership.gov.ukDebbie.sorkin@localleadership.gov.uk @DebbieSorkin2 The Future will be Improvised - http://tiny.cc/revolutionhttp://tiny.cc/revolution Virtual Staff College research - http://tinyurl.com/VSCSEChttp://tinyurl.com/VSCSEC Pioneers One Year On report: http://tinyurl.com/olfozgxhttp://tinyurl.com/olfozgx Interim Evaluation – http://tiny.cc/LV-InterimEvalhttp://tiny.cc/LV-InterimEval Leadership for Change – www.leadershipforchange.org.ukwww.leadershipforchange.org.uk Sue Goss, A View from the Bridge – http://tinyurl.com/p9c4rv2http://tinyurl.com/p9c4rv2 The Art of Change-Making – http://tiny.cc/TheArthttp://tiny.cc/TheArt