Mike's Jargon Buster
No, I know this is
far from a complete list of project, risk and change management jargon.
My intention is to explain terms I use in my website and blog (Shift
Happens!
- check it out).
For years, psychologists
studied why people went wrong. And then, Martin Seligman, author of the
classic textbook "Abnormal Psychology" started asking a different question:
"What makes people go right?". Positive Psychology is the growing
body of knowledge that is starting to address how we can lead happy, fulfilled
lives. Learn more: Check out my
Reading
List for Change.
See also: Flow, Appreciative Inquiry, Signature Strengths
", Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi describes Flow as a state of optimal experience, where we
freely invest all of our attention into a single endeavour - and seem to lose
ourselves in it. Time flows easily and work gets done effortlessly.
We enjoy the experience because it totally absorbs us.... stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming. What this mouthful means is that, if we use language skilfully, we can positively affect the way we and others behave. If we use language carelessly, then who knows what affect we'll have? It probably won't be good! Learn more: Check out my Reading List for Change.
More often known just as TA, this is a way of understanding the way people communicate and some of the psychology behind the repetitive patterns we get into in our lives and our interactions with others. This is a hugely valuable toolset for anyone involved in change. Learn more: Check out my Reading List for Change.
A project is an endeavour that stands out from your ordinary activities. It has a clear start and end point and a defined outcome. More importantly, you'll know it when you see it and the definition doesn't really matter - except to pedants. The key thing is to select the right tools for the job.
A risk is an uncertain event that can damage your project, your ambitions, or your wellbeing. It is therefore defined by two characteristics - its likelihood (or how uncertain it is) and its impact (or how much and what type of damage it will do). Risks do, of course, have other characteristics ...
The process of managing risks can be split into five steps: determine how much risk the project should incur; identify the risks; analyse the risks; put together a plan; take action. Then review and cycle back around.
In science, a stress is an external force, which causes a deformation - the strain. In people, Mike believes, it is not the external force (the stress) that does the damage: it is the way we respond to it. Learn more: Check out my Reading List for Change.
This is a powerful (and somewhat under-loved) tool for project managers. I breaks your project (the work) down into a structure of your choosing - so creating a well-ordered inventory of all of your tasks (that inventory is your scope), in a logical hierarchy.
Grief Model (Elizabeth Kübler-Ross)
Dr Elizabeth Kübler-Ross researched the way people deal with tragedy, bereavement and grief, and developed a widely used description of five stages of grief:
Denial
“This isn’t really happening to me”
Anger
“How dare you do this to me?!”
Bargaining “If I do
…, just let me live until …"
Depression “This is
real and I can't face it”
Acceptance “I'm ready now,
I’ll stop fighting it”
For more: An article
on
Scott Jaffe's change curve, originally published in Training Journal.
One of the most compelling models of how people respond to organisational change was developed by Cynthia Scott & Dennis Jaffe. Their model suggests we move through four stages. Initially, the meaning of the change fails to sink in: we act as if nothing has happened. This is Denial. Once we start to recognise the reality of change, we start to Resist it. We do this both at the emotional level, showing anger, anxiety, bitterness or fear, for example, and also by opposing the change actively. Organisations see increases in sickness and losses, and drops in efficiency and quality. When the organisation faces up to the resistance and engages with it in a positive way, people can start to focus on the future again. They will Explore the implications of the change and find ways to move forward. This can be a chaotic time, but also exhilarating – particularly when the benefits of the change are significant. Eventually people start to turn outward as they Commit to their future.
For more: An article
on
Scott Jaffe's change curve, originally published in Training Journal.
Appreciative Inquiry (AI)
An approach to bringing about change that focuses on the possibilities
available from the best "what is", rather than treating the organisation as
having a problem. Appreciative Inquiry proceeds by asking
unconditionally positive questions of the widest possible range of
people., to discover and appreciate the often-forgotten strengths and
capabilities of an organisation. It was developed by Dr David
Cooperrider. The methodology is supported by a wide practitioner base
and extensive resources, of which the
Appreciative
Inquiry Commons is pre-eminent.
Like Positive Psychology, in the personal domain, the focus of AI is not on healing what is damaged, but enhancing what is fine. The presupposition of AI is therefore that organisations and the people in them are fundamentally "healthy" and that the role of AI is to discover what might be and to make it happen by harnessing people's power to innovate.
Signature Strengths
Dr Martin Seligman, in "Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realise Your Potential for Lasting Fulfilment
Your Signature Strengths are the five of these which are strongest in you. When you use these strengths, you will feel a sense of satisfaction: when denied the opportunity to use them, we become bored and frustrated. You can find out your signature strengths by taking a free test on Seligman's website, Authentic Happiness. The price is that his research project will store your data - anonymously.
