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Introduction
The new perspective that we've developed makes it possible for most
people to wind up with wholehearted agreement, even where it wasn't
possible before.
Now that this perspective has been developed, a compromise solution
— a solution that doesn't have the wholehearted agreement of
everyone involved — is no longer the best option we have when
people's viewpoints are diverse. Wholehearted agreement is.
The success stories included on this web site were chosen because
they clearly illustrate this.
Blue Cross Blue Shield
We taught the perspective to Jean Harris, Vice President of
Operations, and her managers in 1998. There were 700 employees in
their division.
When they began the program, they were not an integrated group.
There was defensiveness among some of the persons in the group, and
some of them were managing their departments autocratically.
By the end of the program, this group of intelligent people, with a
diversity of viewpoints and very strong individual attitudes, had
become integrated into a true team. They were individually so happy
with the results, they were hugging the trainer at the end of the
program.
They were functioning much more successfully as a team, and much
more successfully with their departments and other teams. And they
were enjoying the results they were getting immensely.
For the next ten years, the group's meetings were much shorter.
Problem solving was much easier. Solutions were more effective. And
individually they had much more time for other tasks.
At their annual strategic planning retreat, after the program, they
completed the planning successfully in half a day instead of the two
days they had scheduled.
After their program, they began formulating new policies and
procedures with this perspective which were much more of a fit for
the employees and customers they impacted.
These new policies and procedures made it possible to reduce
staffing by 13 percent, led to very high levels of employee
satisfaction, and increased customer satisfaction to 97 percent (in
an industry where customer satisfaction was declining).
The group was able to achieve and maintain this level of success
even as the number of customers their division was servicing was
growing rapidly.
The group remained together for many years after their Key to
Winning Program. But eventually, several of the original persons in
the group moved on and were replaced by new managers who had not
been taught the perspective.
Even though there were new managers in the group who had not been
taught the perspective, the team continued to maintain the same high
level of efficiency and effectiveness. This is because the original
team members with the perspective were having such a positive effect
on the new managers.
Dixie
This success story illustrates an important quality of the
perspective we've developed. When someone has this perspective, the
others involved tend to feel truly valued. It usually has a very
positive effect on an outcome.
Dixie was the Human Resources Director of a large midwestern
hospital system.
She had completed two days of The Key to Winning Program when she
learned that their longtime database manager — the only person
who fully understood their database — would be leaving in two
weeks for a new job.
His leaving seriously threatened the stability of the hospitals'
information systems.
He had been in charge of the database for such a long time, Dixie
and others were assuming he would always be there. Now that he was
leaving, Dixie realized that there wasn't anyone who knew the
database well enough to replace him.
At first, Dixie offered more money, but that didn't work. He had
other reasons for leaving. He had been managing their database for
many years and wanted to do something that was more
challenging.
Faced with what seemed like an insoluble problem, Dixie decided to
use the new perspective she was learning. Once she began using the
perspective, to her surprise, the database manager changed his mind
about when he was going to leave.
Dixie's new perspective was creating a much better dynamic between
her and the database manager. This is because Dixie was no longer
negotiating with him.
This change in Dixie's perspective led the database manager to
realize that he wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the hospital
system with a database that could soon become unreliable. So he
offered to delay the start of his new job for two months in order to
train a replacement and put together a knowledge base for his
replacement to refer to.
After he completed the knowledge base and trained the replacement,
he began his new job. Soon after, he contacted Dixie and told her he
wanted to return to the hospital system.
He told her that the new job was very rewarding, but when Dixie was
working things out with him, he had begun to feel especially valued
by her. He realized that being part of a group where he was truly
valued was more important to him than having a job that was more
challenging.
When Dixie reported this to us she was thrilled! The hospital system
had their experienced database manager back, a well trained backup
and a knowledge base too.
Dave
This success story clearly illustrates just how much our perspective
can affect the outcome.
Dave was the developer of a very well regarded software product in
the hotel voice mail industry. For years he refused to allow anyone
else in his company to have access to the code. The software was the
company's principal product, and he was genuinely concerned that if
other persons had access to the code they would damage it.
To be competitive, hotel voice mail systems had to be very reliable.
When a system at a hotel failed, it caused significant problems for
many of the hotel's guests. Dave knew that if the software's code
was compromised, it would undermine the reliability of his company's
systems.
Because Dave was the only person who had access to the code, he was
also the only person who completely understood it. So significant
amounts of his time were required to provide solutions for the
technical support team and for clients in the field.
These demands on his time prevented him from further developing the
software, and it was jeopardizing the company's competitive edge in
the industry.
Also, his company was gaining a reputation among its distributors
for being a "one person" business. Even though they were receiving
considerable industry recognition for their voice mail systems, the
"one person" reputation was hurting sales.
Over the years, no inducement the company had offered Dave —
and several were substantial — could change his mind. He just
couldn't see a solution that would also protect the software.
But soon after Dave's Key to Winning Program, he was able to see a
solution that both he and his company could truly agree with, ending
years of deadlock between them. After years of frustration for Dave
and his company, it was truly a win for everyone.
Why couldn't Dave and his company see a solution before he learned
this new perspective? Both he and his company were sincerely
interested in finding one.
The answer boils down to this: The perspective that he and his
company were using beforehand wasn't able to bring to mind a
solution that each of them could truly agree with.
Once Dave had the perspective that could bring to mind a solution, a
solution came to mind.
Sharon
When compared with the other success stories, the story below is
relatively minor in terms of its impact on the company. We included
it because it very clearly illustrates how much our perspective can
affect the decisions we make.
Sharon was an executive consultant in Chicago. During her Key to
Winning Program, she used the perspective with Andrea, who was
refusing to do a simple task. Other members of the company were
growing frustrated with Andrea and were threatening to replace
her.
Sharon talked with Andrea until she understood what was actually
happening. She discovered that Andrea had a condition that would
make her disoriented and dizzy if she did that task. With that
information, Sharon could easily come up with an effective solution
where Andrea was able to retain her position and the company didn't
have to incur the cost and uncertainty of replacing her.
Before Sharon talked with Andrea, no one had asked Andrea why she
was refusing to do the task. Instead they were making assumptions.
And Andrea never explained her condition to them (not an uncommon
event when someone is feeling protective).
One of the qualities of the perspective that we've developed is that
it's not logical to rely on assumptions. The logic of the
perspective is to bring to mind a solution that everyone involved
can wholeheartedly agree with, and for that, accurate information is
required.
So when a solution is needed, a person with this perspective isn't
likely to make an assumption. Like Sharon, it's going to be more
logical for them to get accurate information, which in this case she
was able to get from talking with Andrea.
It really is hard to imagine, isn't it, that Andrea could have been
terminated without anyone knowing the actual reason she wasn't doing
the task. But that's how assumptions work. As soon as someone makes
an assumption and begins to rely on it, the assumption — not
actual information — is shaping the outcome.
Sharon (2nd story)
We've included this success story from Sharon because it clearly
illustrates what a quick and positive impact this new perspective
has on group dynamics — even in very difficult
situations.
Before Sharon learned the perspective, she was often stressed at
work. There were so many different viewpoints among the executives
in her group, it was difficult, and sometimes impossible, for them
to form effective solutions.
Often she and others had to compromise just to keep things moving.
Or, she would try to force a solution she felt was absolutely
necessary, but then other members of her group would become less
cooperative with her and sometimes angry.
As soon as Sharon learned the perspective, she adopted an entirely
different approach. She began to bring to mind solutions that she
and the others in her group could truly agree with.
This radically changed the dynamics of the group. As members of the
group became confident that they were going to wind up being truly
in agreement with the solutions the group was adopting, their focus
changed. They felt sufficiently comfortable to shift to a more
explorative approach — working together as a team to come up
with the most effective solution possible.
Their meetings became more relaxed and more enjoyable. And the
solutions were often much better, making their jobs easier and their
departments more successful. |
