The emotional roller-coaster ride that is associated with change, learning and improvement is called the Nerve Curve.
We are all very familiar with the first stages – of Shock, Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Despair. We are less familiar with the stages associated with the long climb out to Resolution: because most improvement initiatives fail for one reason of another.
The critical first step is to “Disprove Impossibility” and this is the first injection of innovation. Someone (the ‘innovator’) discovers that what was believed to be impossible is not. They only have to have one example too. One Black Swan.
The tougher task is to influence those languishing in the ‘Depths of Despair’ that there is hope and that there is a ‘how’. This is not easy because cynicism is toxic to innovation. So an experienced Improvement Science Practitioner (ISP) bypasses the cynics and engages with the depressed-but-still-healthy-sceptics.
The challenge now is how to get a shed load of them up the hill.
When we first learn to drive we start on the flat, not on hills, for a very good reason. Safety.
We need to learn to become confident with the controls first. The brake, the accelerator, the clutch and the steering wheel. This takes practice until it is comfortable, unconscious and almost second nature. We want to achieve a smooth transition from depression to delight, not chaotic kangaroo jumps!
Only when we can do that on the flat do we attempt a hill-start. And the key to a successful hill start is the sequence. Hand brake on for safety, out of gear, engine running, pointing at the goal. Then we depress the clutch and select a low gear – we do not want to stall. Speed is not the goal. Safety comes first. Then we rev the engine to give us the power we need to draw on. Then we ease the clutch until the force of the engine has overcome the force of gravity and we feel the car wanting to move forward. And only then do we ease the handbrake off, let the clutch out more and hit the gas to keep the engine revs in the green.
So when we are planning to navigate a group of healthy sceptics up the final climb of the Nerve Curve we need to plan and prepare carefully.
What is least likely to be successful?
Well, if all we have is our own set of wheels, a cheap and cheerful mini-motor, then it is not going to be a good idea to shackle a trailer to it; fill the trailer with sceptics and attempt a hill start. We will either stall completely or burn out our clutch. We may even be dragged backwards into the Cynic Infested Toxic Swamp.
So what if we hire a bus, load up our sceptical passengers, and have a go. We may be lucky – but if we have no practice doing hill starts with a full bus then we could be heading for disappointment; or disaster.
So what is a safer plan:
1) First we need to go up the mountain ourselves to demonstrate it is possible.
2) Then we take one or two of the least sceptical up in our car to show it is safe.
3) We then invite those sceptics with cars to learn how to do safe hill starts.
4) Finally we ask the ex-sceptics to teach the fresh-sceptics how to do it.
Brmmmm Brmmmm. Off we go.