As part of our involvement in the Bristol Media People Forum Event Series, we got the chance to catch up with Liza Hughes; Leadership Coach, Company Culture Specialist and Advanced Emergenetics Associate to chat with her about the topic of her upcoming People Forum Session about “Thriving through change”.

Liza has worked either in or with some of the UK’s most respected and innovative organisations for some 30 years. She retrained as a coach 13 years ago to bring her passion of helping organisations to deliver great culture through human excellence to life.

“This is the latest in a series of talks that the People Forum runs. With no let up in the pace of change and plenty on the horizon this seminar will address some topic issues and will be of great benefit to organisations” – Richard Roberts

We asked Liza for some practical insights and pointers about the topic of “Thriving through change” in a business context specifically, and how those attending the event can truly benefit.

ADLIB: For some background, could you share a little bit about the neuroscience and positive psychology at the core of your approach?

Liza Hughes: Neuroscience and positive psychology are vast subjects, but as we learn more about how our brains work, there is more accessible information available to all of us. I use a brilliant tool called Emergenetics which uses insights from a wealth of neuroscientists from Roger Sperry’s Nobel prize-winning split-brain research to the most recent developments in brain scanning like magnetoencephalography which enables us to see the brain in very close to real-time.

These advancements are helping us to understand more about how people view their worlds depending on their preferences for thought and behaviour. The brain is a certainty making device which is organised to minimise threat and maximise reward, so the more we know about it, the more equipped we are to handle important things like change.

ADLIB: Can you share some theories and tools that have successfully supported organisations to lead positive change in their working environments?

Liza Hughes: Marty Seligman is the godfather of positive psychology; his research has shaped the sector and is compelling reading. Even very simple theories around the ratio of the positive to negative thoughts that we have impacts on whether people are more likely to languish or flourish through change, just focusing on what is good about a situation can make a big difference.

We are living in a time of rapid change where technology and innovation are constantly shifting, so it’s important that we become comfortable with ambiguity. I’m a big fan of Martha Beck whose change cycle helps people to be more mindful of the four stages of change, it allows us to take more control over our relationship with change, rather than feeling that we have no choice. I’ve been fortunate to run workshops across entire organisations and 9 times out of 10, folk are more likely to reluctantly accept change and live with the unintended consequences which causes disengagement. A critical step to thriving through change is to give people access to these tools, so they feel empowered and have more personal control and choice.

ADLIB: Can you share your top 3 tips to lead positive change in one’s own working environments?

Liza Hughes:

1. Know what your strengths and preferences for thought are and consciously use them, as they will help you to understand how you prefer to deal with change. If you are a structural person for example then it’s important to have a plan to help you get through the change versus someone with a conceptual preference who will prefer to be more connected to the bigger picture and set goals to achieve it. Then, if you are a leader, make sure you adopt a whole brain approach to communicating change, think through your change from a conceptual, analytical, structural and social perspective so that you can communicate to all the brains in your business, this can reduce some of the unintentional consequences that often arise.

2. Always consider where you are in relation to the cycle of change. That gives you a sense of control back too, so you can create a more positive relationship with the change. Often leaders are much further down the line in their strategy before they start to talk to their teams and forget that they need to go back to beginning to bring everyone onboard.

3. Get better at handling imbalance. Dr Steve Peters says that successful people enter a process if they are balanced it will work, if they are imbalanced they will sabotage.

ADLIB: What are the key things you are hoping attendees will take away from your session?

Liza Hughes: I’m definitely a practical person, I think it’s my northern roots, so expect to get plenty of practical tips on how to best take advantage of change with a bit of theory thrown in for good measure!

The next People Forum Event “Thriving through change, developing the mindset for success” featuring Liza Hughes takes place at The Engine Shed, Bristol on Thursday 27th September between 8-10am. For some more information and to book your ticket head to Eventbrite.

We like to showcase incredible achievements of those around us and we provide a platform for those with experience to share their expertise and wisdom with their peers as well as the future generation. That’s what we are always about.

To do all of the above, we caught up with James Brake, Head of Client Insight at Hargreaves Lansdown. James grew a Data Science Team from scratch to introduce a Data Driven approach to Marketing, looking to roll this out across the entire business. 

Now, James, in an attempt to capture some of the wisdom you’ve gained as a professional so far, what are “5 stand-out things” you’ve learned within the past 11 years, while working within Data and Analytics, growing your Data Science Team from scratch and on your journey to introduce a Data Driven Marketing approach.

Over to you James…

1) Beware the hype of technology

Give a master carpenter a set of basic hand tools and they will create a masterpiece. Give a novice all the power tools in the world and they’ll likely lose a finger. (Keen novice woodworker here with way too many power tools!)

Back to the day job, technology alone is rarely the panacea and the people element is often overlooked. Finding the right mix of people with diversity of thought and skills is the most important element of any successful team.

Beware of bias in the way in which we think and approach problems and actively seek out people who see the world differently to you.

(Don’t get me wrong, the tech does make our lives a heck of a lot easier mind!).

2) Learn to spin a good yarn. (Know your audience and know what they can do for you.)

People don’t remember facts, they remember stories, and great analytics is all about the art of storytelling.

Always aim for a good narrative which will resonate with people, stick in their minds and hopefully help them to make better, informed decisions in the future.

Storytelling requires you to know your audience. No two people are identical, we all think, react and consume information in different ways and importantly we all have different knowledge and skills.

The best analysts/data scientists will go out and meet their audiences and start projects with them in mind. Think about how you can make the life of your audience better and how you can draw them into your story.

Language is so important but often overlooked. Something as simple as using the same language as your audience will have measurable impact. One of my pet hates is something we named “datasplaining” in the office. Avoid using data jargon or explaining complicated processes to your audience as it can alienate them and become a barrier to adoption or even sensible and vital challenge.

Instead use language that everyone can understand and focus on explaining outcomes rather than labouring the complicated statistical processes you used. But most importantly, make sure your output focuses on the benefits for your audience and how it will make their lives better.

Finally, don’t underestimate the importance of your audience’s’ knowledge of the business and how they can help with understanding the context of the data you’re analysing.

3) Focus on the use case

If there’s one thing you can almost guarantee, things won’t go to plan. It’s the way in which you deal with those challenges which ultimately determine success.

Being clear on what you’re trying to achieve will help you navigate problems. Focus on delivering value and have a clear idea about how you will measure that value.

At the end of the day, analytics is all about improving decision making or improving an outcome. If what you’re doing doesn’t achieve one of those aims then it’s probably time to re-evaluate.

4) Don’t ignore that little voice of caution in the back of your mind

Have you ever had one of those moments when something doesn’t quite feel right with a project but you choose to ignore it because you like the story it’s telling or you don’t feel you’ve time to investigate…?

That’s your future, more experienced self, warning you of an impending disaster. Don’t ignore that voice, it’s usually always offering good advice.

5) Think around the problem

We’re all hard wired to take shortcuts and ignore information in order to function. At the most basic level we’re constantly bombarded with information from our various senses which we actively try and block out. (Anyone else feel lost without earphones in the office?)

Another human trait is to try and find the familiar in all things, if it’s a bit like something you’ve done before, then you’ve an idea about how to approach it.

Both of these traits lend themselves to problem solving tunnel vision.. We jump to the tools and techniques that we’re most comfortable with and start seeing every problem as the same. Whilst not always a bad thing, you can end up trying to crack a walnut with a sledgehammer if you don’t think before getting stuck in.

If you take a step back and try and think around the problem, there’s a good chance it will go away.

Thanks James for sharing your wisdom!