Change

It sometimes seems that the only change that we warm up to easily is when it is in the context of money being returned back after we handed over more than the exact price for something purchased.  Unfortunately, other than that we are inclined to resist change in pretty much every area of life.  That is unfortunate because oftentimes change offers new opportunities and can make things better.  There are many instances of change that can be healthy:

Most of us could shed a few pounds;

Most of us could improve on our social skills;

Most of us ought to work on being a better neighbor;

Some of us ought to work on being a better employee; and

All of us should work on being better Christians.

But, in every area that we need to work, improve, and benefit, a change is required, and that is where we seem to struggle.  To shed the pounds, we have to push away from the table and exercise; to improve in our social skills requires that we learn some new things and that we change some old things.

My pal, Zach McKinney, is a bright young guy who is in a management/leadership position for Chevron.  Zach texted me yesterday saying that he is being required to read a book about “managing change.”  He said that the book pointed out that every change has three (3) parts and identified them as follows:

  1. What you are doing must stop;
  2. Migration from old to new; and
  3. What you are going to do has to start.

As I thought about Zach’s text, I recalled that time in my own life when I, like Zach, was a bright-eyed young professional in management and leadership and I had to learn about change . . . the need for it . . . and the struggle humans seem to have with change.  The reflection made me chuckle and it occurred to me that over the past 30+ years, I have taught seminars all across the Nation.  An important part of each seminar was trying to help and motivate managers to know how . . . and to be willing . . . to take new information and systems back home and implement them. In other words, to change what they had been doing . . .  

At that time in my life I was privileged to work with some of the brightest minds in the multi-family housing industry in the United States.  We were all about the same age and hooked up with a new 501(c)3 created under an Executive Order issued by President Nixon . . . the National Center for Housing Management (NCHM), Washington, D.C.  The Center was being led by a very bright fellow from Alabama named Roger Stevens.  Roger knew nothing about multi-family housing (except that it needed drastic change) . . . but he probably knew more about people than any person I have ever known.  Roger was a terrific people-person and he greatly influenced us. Prior to becoming the President of NCHM, Roger had been Director of Personnel for Polaroid Corp and worked directly with Dr. Land, who was also said to have been a very bright man and great people-person.  Together, Roger and Dr. Land developed some wonderful tools and systems for working with the thousands of employees of Polaroid.  Roger shared a great deal of that with us, and you can bet that every one of us realized how blessed we were to get to learn in this system, from this guru. We were learning and helping to develop profession management systems for the affordable housing program (which we would soon go across the nation teaching and helping to implement). The program was being administered by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  It was no secret that: (1) the program was in serious trouble all across the nation; (2) the government didn’t have a clue how to fix it; (3) it was extremely expensive for the taxpayers; and (4) in spite of the great sum of money being expended, it simply was not empowering poor families to live better . . . It has just become a concentration of socially and economically deprived people living in large numbers in small areas.  Even sadder, in so many areas it made those poor families become easy prey for criminals, and the projects became much like prisons.

I remember a late night think-tank session in early 1976, in which I really began the real process, personally and professionally, of thinking about change.  We were at the Center and had ordered pizza to be delivered.  As always, the conversation turned to our constant group focus of what could we do to facilitate change in this terribly broken system?  Roger told us about World War II . . . I recall him saying that the USA was both reluctant and late in engaging in the war . . . and the outcome might have been drastically different if not for the genius of a four-star General, known as Vinegar Joe Stilwell.   He was said to have had a caustic personality (hence Vinegar) and he was distrustful of our allies.  Yet, he showed himself to be a capable and daring tactician in the field.  Due to a constant lack of resources, he was constantly forced to improvise.  Based on his struggle, the General developed a 5-step process to facilitate change . . . and the result was so powerful, it changed the war and brought victory.  General Stilwell’s 5-step program was:

  1. Here is what the enemy is doing (an educated assessment of the enemy’s activity);
  2. Here is what we are doing (an honest assessment of our activity);
  3. Here is what we are going to do (a solid battle plan);
  4. Here is how we are going to do it (detailed steps); and
  5. This is the time-frame for us to do it (a reasonable time for each step . . . objectives not met by that time and date suggest that revision is in order with a new time/date).

We sat there wowed at the simplicity of the plan . . . yet also in awe of the genius in it.  Just to help you see the power involved in one of the steps: Dad says to his son, “You need to carry the trash out.”  Two hours later he repeats it, and then two hours later he repeats it again, while each time the son politely replies, “Yes sir.”  How long can that game continue?  What does it teach the son?

The dad thinks about it overnight.  The next morning he says to the son, “You can’t have breakfast until the trash is carried out.”  The kid sniffs the aroma of bacon and grabs the trash bag and heads out, and is back 3 minutes later and the dad smiles and says, “Thank You.”  No fuss, no squabble, and no hurt feelings.  Everyone wins and the kid learns something of the reward of obedience.  The timeline made all the difference.  I can’t even count the times I have told a tenant that they had to get rid of an unauthorized pet, or remove an inoperable vehicle from the parking lot only to be politely told, “Yes sir, I will get it done,” but a month later nothing had changed!  Once I gave him a written notice that said, “If you have not done this by Friday at 5 p.m., then we will do it for you and will send you a bill.  It is just genius . . . IRS has been doing it to us with April 15th for years.  Our compliance is not because we are fond of April 15th . . . nor is it because we love IRS . . . or that we enjoy paying taxes.  The IRS has done a really good job of educating taxpayers of the consequences of failure to comply.

In that session, we developed a wonderful system of our own.  It is simply called the Quad-System for Change, and it begins at the same place where God began to address the sin problem of humanity . . . with a Cross!  Here is the sketch:

Statement of the Problem

(A brief/honest assessment of the situation)

Desired Condition

(What is it that we want it to be?)

Cause(s)

(What got it in this situation?)

Steps we will take to produce the desired change . . . and the time-frame for it

This simple Quad-System for Change has been very beneficial and valuable to me in my life.  It has enabled me to solve many problems throughout my career, helped me in my family, in my relationships, and in my personal struggle to become who I am supposed to be.

Change really can be good . . . it honestly can open new doors . . . and bring new opportunities. Here is what we can always know . . . there will always be a river to cross (a problem/a challenge) . . . there will always be giants on the other side . . . yet, there will also be milk and honey.

What about the projects?  It is still a work in progress . . . but it is getting better.  Just a few of the things we have been able to influence and accomplish are:

Following Desert Storm, we worked with DOD and did a series of training seminars at Marine Base Quantico for guys coming out of the special-forces (Rangers, Green Berets, Navy SEALs) and taught them the necessary skills to manage a project.  We held job fairs to help several hundred of those dudes to get jobs at the inner-city projects.  After we spent 6-weeks with each class, we were convinced that the military had already prepared them to deal with the criminals that want to prey on poor residents.

We have had some influence in helping to get legislation passed . . . legislation that encouraged and rewarded private investors and firms to get involved and help solve the problems (Section 42 LIHTC).  It is amazing what this has been able to be accomplished in places like NYC, Boston, Atlanta, LA, Houston, Chicago, and other large cities

We have been able to influence and help increase performance standards . . . and to connect financial reward/penalty to performance at the local level

We have had great influence in empowering residents to serve on boards having oversight of the projects they occupy.  We conducted many seminars to prepare these residents to step up and become watchdogs.  When 20 residents of a project show up at a JP court to tell the JP that John Brown needs to get out of the project, it carries some weight

We have also had influence in tearing down many inner-city ghettos, and relocating the residents to smaller complexes in outlying areas, which allowed cities to clean up eye-sores that were full of crime and turn the site into high-dollar downtown property.  We saw great success in so many areas.  San Juan, Puerto Rico comes to mind as one the great successes in that effort.

If you want a glimpse of the struggles involved in public housing . . . do a Google search for Pruitt-Igoe, a project built in St. Louis in the mid 1950’s.  By the later 60’s the projects had become internationally famous for poverty, crime, segregation, and had proven to be the greatest social disaster in American history.  The criminals hung out on the roof of the hi-rise building, using appliances from the apartments for sport . . . trying to drop them onto pedestrians below.  It became so bad that the police, firemen, and ambulances would not even respond to emergency calls.

After months of preparation, the first building was demolished with an implosion at 3 p.m., on March 16, 1972.  The second one went down April 22, 1972.  Pruitt Igoe had consumed $57 million—an investment that could not be abandoned at one time.

 

 


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