1. © Woodside Institute, 2005. Not to be distributed or copied without permission. Change: The why, what and how of strategic change. Empowerment: The why, what and how of employee involvement. Innovation: The why, what and how of business innovation. Table 1 Management Issues Table 1 Management Issues Column 1 Management Beliefs Column 1 Management Beliefs Column 2 Shared Beliefs Column 2 Shared Beliefs 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Orthodoxy, n.: a belief or orientation agreeing with conventional standards. ObjectiveObjective To innovate, you must surface and challenge your deeply held beliefs. The goal of this exercise is to help you identify management "orthodoxies" that may limit your creativity as a management innovator. Selected management issue: Identifying management orthodoxies (1)

2. © Woodside Institute, 2005. Not to be distributed or copied without permission. 1.Produce a 2 foot by 3 foot copy of Worksheet 1 and 2. Produce additional copies if you anticipate having more than team working on this exercise. 2.Place Worksheet 1 in the middle of a large table or on a wall adjacent to a large table. (Worksheet 2 will be used later). 3.Convene a team of 4-8 individuals around the table. (Multiple teams can work at multiple tables on additional copies of Worksheet 1). 4.Make sure you have a good supply of "sticky" notes (at least 10 notes per team member). 5.Pick a management issue from those identified in Table 1 on Worksheet 1. Write the name of this topic at the top of Column 1. (Pick an issue that is timely for your firm, or is relevant to some particular management challenge your firm is facing.) 6.As an individual, reflect on your "core beliefs" about the chosen issue. For example, if the issue is "change," you may believe that "it takes a strong leader to change a large organization." 7.Make a list of 4-5 core beliefs you hold relative to the management issue under consideration. Record each belief (no more than 10 words) on a sticky note. When finished, place your sticky notes (4-5) in Column 1. 8.Have one team member read all the stickies in turn. If the meaning of any note is unclear to a team member, he or she should ask the author for clarification. 9.Now, work as a team to identify clusters of similar beliefs. You may want to rearrange the stickies in Column 1 so that similar beliefs are together. You can draw a circle encompassing clusters of similar beliefs.The goal is to identify 5 core beliefs that a majority of the group hold in common concerning the particular management issue under consideration. 10.Record your 5 common beliefs in the appropriate spaces in Column 2 on Worksheet 1. Learning to Challenge Management Orthodoxy: Worksheet 1

3. © Woodside Institute, 2005. Not to be distributed or copied without permission. Column 1 Shared Beliefs Column 1 Shared Beliefs 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Column 2 Underlying assumptions Column 2 Underlying assumptions Column 4 Unconventional alternatives Column 4 Unconventional alternatives. Assumption: How might you challenge this assumption (e.g. what is the "unconventional alternative" to the underlying assumption)? Assumption: How might you challenge this assumption (e.g. what is the "unconventional alternative" to the underlying assumption)? Assumption: How might you challenge this assumption (e.g. what is the "unconventional alternative" to the underlying assumption)? Assumption: How might you challenge this assumption (e.g. what is the "unconventional alternative" to the underlying assumption)? Assumption: How might you challenge this assumption (e.g. what is the "unconventional alternative" to the underlying assumption)? Identifying management orthodoxies (2) Column 3 C ounter Examples Column 3 C ounter Examples 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

4. © Woodside Institute, 2005. Not to be distributed or copied without permission. 1.Continue with the team or teams you convened for the exercise around Worksheet 1. 2.Make sure you have a good supply of "sticky" notes (at least 30 notes per team member). 3.Place Worksheet 2 on your table. Take the 5 commonly held manage beliefs that you listed in Column 2 on Worksheet 1 and write each belief in one of the five squares in Column 1 on Worksheet 2. 4.As an individual, think about the "underlying assumptions" to each of these commonly held beliefs. For example, some of the underlying assumptions to the belief that "it takes a strong leader to change a large organization," might be: "change starts at the top," "change is painful and most people prefer the status quo," "a leader needs a very clear change agenda," or, "to succeed, the leader has to 'sell' the change agenda to others in the organization." As an individual, write down 2-3 underlying assumptions, one per "sticky," for each management belief listed in Column 1 on Worksheet 2. Limit each sticky to no more than 10 words. Have each team member post his/her assumptions (2-3 stickies per team member) in the appropriate space in Column 2. 5.As a team, cluster similar underlying assumptions within Column 2. (Group similar stickies together). As a team, choose the one assumption (for each commonly held belief) that you think most deserves to be challenged. For example, you might decide that the assumption that "change is painful and most people prefer the status quo" deserves to be challenged. In choosing an assumption to challenge, team members may want to ask themselves what assumption, if challenged, would represent the greatest break with management orthodoxy. Having chosen an underlying assumption to challenge, circle the relevant sticky (or stickies). Within each of the five boxes in Column 2, draw a circle around the "sticky" or "stickies" that refer to the one assumption you think most deserves to be challenged. 6.As a team, think about each of the assumptions you circled in turn. For each assumption ask, can we think of any case or cases where this assumption has been proven invalid or hasn't held true. For example, if the assumption is that "most people are against change," you might ask, "can we think of examples where a large group of individuals have enthusiastically endorsed change?" The examples can be drawn from within your organization or without. Ask yourselves, what was it about this example that made it an exception to the general assumption? For example, maybe a group of people was deeply involved in developing a change agenda and, therefore, were more willing to embrace it eagerly. For each counter-example, try to find a key lesson or two and note each of these in Column 3. 7.As an individual, based on the insights listed in Column 3, and on your own imagination, think about what you company could do, practically, to successfully challenge each of the assumptions listed in Column 3. For each assumption, try to come up with one unconventional idea that might represent an alternative to conventional wisdom. For example, if one of the assumptions to be challenged is "change is painful and most people prefer the status quo," you might suggest that "a company's change agenda should be defined by employees, rather than being imposed upon them," or "a company should create incentives for employees to champion and lead change" or "if employees were much better informed about the external environment, they would know when the status quo was unsustainable." Write each of your assumption-defying alternatives (one per assumption) down on a "sticky" (not more than 10 words). Have each team member put his or her stickies into the appropriate boxes in Column 4. 8.Have each team member read his or her alternatives from the "stickies" he or she posted in Column 4. Having heard each of the alternatives, the team should choose the one alternative they think might have the best chance of being translated into practice (e.g., operationalized). Within Column 4, draw a circle around what the team regards as the best "unconventional alternative" for each of the "assumptions to be challenged." 9.Finally, discuss ways in which you might turn each of your unconventional alternatives into management practice. Learning to Challenge Management Orthodoxy: Worksheet 2

5. © Woodside Institute, 2005. Not to be distributed or copied without permission. 1.Change starts at the top. 2.It takes a crisis to provoke change. 3.Only a strong leader can change a large company. 4.To lead change, you need a clear agenda. 5.Most people are against change. 6.With any change there will be winners and losers. 7.Change management is a disciplined process. 8.Organizations can only cope with so much change. 9.You have to make change safe for people. 10.Changing too early is as dangerous as changing too late. 1.Change starts at the top. 2.It takes a crisis to provoke change. 3.Only a strong leader can change a large company. 4.To lead change, you need a clear agenda. 5.Most people are against change. 6.With any change there will be winners and losers. 7.Change management is a disciplined process. 8.Organizations can only cope with so much change. 9.You have to make change safe for people. 10.Changing too early is as dangerous as changing too late. What do you believe about change?