change Archives - www.evolution-development.com

Evolution On The Move

We have moved into a new office at the Health and Wellbeing Centre in Truro.

Ten years ago we were incredibly proud to move into the truly iconic Engine House in St. Agnes. The newly renovated building was a flagship project for Carrick District Council and the development was considered by them to be a “positive contribution to the World Heritage Status site.”

We successfully bid for shared tenancy with UKnetweb and we all moved in: Two businesses, one big happy family. We loved (and still love) this wonderful building as did everybody who visited.

However, it is fair to say that the building did not come without its problems. Before the renovation it had been roofless for over 60 years and it was never designed to be sealed and enclosed. It has been estimated that the walls hold approximately 40 tons of water so it is no surprise that damp was an issue from the start and visitors may remember that the building appeared to have a bad case of dandruff as we struggled to keep the paint on the walls.

Despite replacement pointing and the addition of an expensive air circulation system, the damp problem has become worse over time leading to extensive mould growth and, during certain weather conditions, water actually running down the inside walls.

So it is with great sadness that we have had to concede that the building is no longer a safe or healthy place to work and we have all moved out whilst we negotiate the best course of action with our Landlords at Cornwall Council.

Evolution is now based in The Health and Wellbeing Centre at Treliske. It is lovely to be surrounded by other, wonderful businesses and particularly nice to be warm and dry. We are considering this to be a very enjoyable sabbatical and hope to bring you news about the future of The Engine House soon.

If you are in the building feel free to pop in and say hello (unless we are out working with clients) otherwise you can continue to contact us on the same telephone number and email address.

+44 (0)1872 555939

The big ‘Oh’. How to manage your mid-life opportunity.

30. 40. 50 or even 60. Birthdays with a zero in them seem to mark a watershed in our lives.

A day can pass in the blink of an eye, the years fly by, but the anniversary of another decade of life often makes us sit back and take stock of what we have done and what we would like to do. Do we need a new direction? Do we need a new goal?

What used to be known as the ‘mid life crisis’ is a common feeling and all too often seems to have a clichéd response; the sports car, the dramatic career change, the new partner.

Perhaps what those responses are doing is to change what is outside of ourselves, the symbols that we think define us to the world, when what we needed to do was to change what was inside.

Most of us face these life transitions on our own. It can be difficult talking about our anxieties and insecurities to family, friends or colleagues.

We often get the wrong answers and that is because we often ask the wrong questions.

NLP helps us to understand where we are, to see things clearly and accept situations without a feeling of failure.

NLP gives us the tools to understand how we think, how we communicate those thoughts to ourselves as well as to others and how that affects how we see our world.

Without that clarity of thought and vision, how can we hope to make the right decisions?

It’s only a crisis when we are confused. When we see things more clearly, it’s an opportunity.

These life transitions aren’t just driven by the calendar. It could be a feeling that you have hit a ceiling in your career; possibly you’re no longer sure that you are even on the right career path, or maybe you just woke up with the feeling that your life needed to change.

Change is good, but it needs to be managed, otherwise you can end up with chaos, or an unwanted sports car. We can help show you how to manage your mid-life opportunity.

Our online courses, in particular our NLP Business Practitioner and NLP Master Practitioner courses enable you to be objective and non-judgmental about where you are and how you feel about that.

They lead you to a clear picture of where you want to be and how you want to feel.

They will allow you to tell yourself what you need to do to get there.

So let’s get that conversation started.

Phone me on 0187 2555 939, send me an email to martin@evolution-development.com or fill out our contact form here.

You can also have a look at our range of online courses, designed to help you get the most out of your life, learn new skills, set goals – and achieve them – and successfully manage change, on our online learning platform here.

Using Cardboard to Start a Cultural Change Programme

I was recently involved in the introduction of a long cultural change project with a client in Cornwall.

Polymermedics Ltd. is a UK injection moulding company delivering high quality plastic products to the medical, hygiene and pharmaceutical market.

They are currently expanding and realise a need to work more effectively as a cross-shift/ Cross-departments team; recognising that the ‘silo’ approach to working which has been effective in the past will no longer meet their needs.

I spent a day with the Senior Management Team to help them articulate their vision for the future as the start of their cultural change project. We used the Navigator process which has proved to be extremely effective in a wide range of organisations and started to plan how to communicate this vision to the rest of the team and gain their understanding and support.

We took the whole company off site for a day (actually two days because we wanted to simulate the problems of cross shift communications).

Dave Yallop – operations director introduced the day with the vision for the future and described what would be needed to help Polymermedics achieve the vision of cultural change.

We spent the rest of the morning in a series of simple team tasks designed to get people from different teams/functions talking and working together – and competing.

Following lunch we set the whole company a task. They had to re-create the company logo in 3d using cardboard, tape, paint, tissue paper and various other simple materials.

The group on day one had to produce the first half of the logo – day two’s group then had to create the second half of the logo. It had to be 1m high and 15cm deep and completed by 4pm. That was the only brief the team had. They had to decide how to complete the task, allocate roles, design the logo and work together as a whole team rather than compete.

Very quickly one person took the lead (he was a packing operative – not a supervisor or manager) and organised the whole project, keeping an eye on progress throughout the afternoon.

The team decided late in the day that two of them would come back the following day to brief the second shift to ensure consistency of approach. The second group would not be able to see what group one had built before the end of the day.

Effectively briefed, the second group completed their part of the logo on time and accurately.

The workshop was a good metaphor for how the organisation is going to have to move from a culture of small, insular teams just focusing on their part of the process, to a more inclusive approach with everyone understanding their part in the big picture and being committed to success as a whole.

Following this extremely successful workshop starting the cultural change project, Polymermedics have introduced a mentoring programme for the Team Leaders, we are looking at developing a consistent approach to leadership across the organisation and we are already planning the next whole team event later in the summer to keep the momentum going.

Barriers to Transformational Change and running a marathon in under three hours

By Nik Green

Nik is a member of the Evolution Team, has worked extensively with adventure training in a schools environment and is an NLP Master Practitioner and certified NLP coach.

I bought a new pair of running shoes the other day and according to the sales bumpf these should have me running a sub three hour marathon on my first attempt, I’ve worn them once and they are currently in the box with that strange packet of silica stuff that no one know what it’s for. However despite the brochure sales patter I’m still running in my old shoes which despite the holes and lack of grip just feel more comfortable.

This brings me onto organisational change which is a favourite topic of mine and as Martin said in a recent article:

The only constant is change

Many of us would like the world to stay as it is today, well as it was about twenty years ago and to not have too many surprises in store for us tomorrow; in other words we filter for sameness.

Unfortunately if your organisation stays doing the same things tomorrow as it is doing today it will lose market share, lose customers and end up going the same way as Blockbusters who didn’t realise that walking to the video shop was not the highlight of anyone’s day.

How To Build A Cathedral

By Martin Crump.

Martin is a Director and co-founder of Evolution. He is a certified NLP Master Trainer with a wealth of experience of working with organisations of all sizes and types across the UK.

We have recently finished a really interesting piece of work with the Diocese of Truro.

The Church of England, like many old established organisations is currently going through a time of massive change.

We have been working with Truro’s Diocesan House to help them plan how they are going to help the Diocese manage this change and continue to thrive in the current climate.

We have so far used a mix of ‘Navigator’ (To develop the Strategy for change), coaching for the Diocesan Secretary, an Employee Survey (to set a benchmark and understand the initial level of employee engagement and a structured Away Day with the whole team to introduce the reason for change and the future approach to meeting the needs of the changing environment.

In the initial strategic sessions we used ‘Navigator’ to look at the current environment, behaviours, capabilities, beliefs and values and identity of the Diocesan House.

We then moved on to define the purpose of the team.

How To Change Your life

By Martin Crump.

Martin is a Director and co-founder of Evolution. He is a certified NLP Master Trainer with a wealth of experience of working with organisations of all sizes and types across the UK.

How many of us have wanted to change our life, or some aspects of it? Often this comes from a vague sense of dissatisfaction with our current situation.

There are two key questions following on from this desire to make a change:

1. What do I want to change?

2. How do I do it?

Over the last few years, I have seen clients make big changes in their lives. Among them, one left his job in an IT Company and started a Landscape Design degree, another moved to Peru, one found and bought a new house, another decided to move job, house and relocate to another part of the UK, one planned to have a baby and now has a lovely baby boy, another started a new relationship and has moved in with her new partner and one changed his work patterns to avoid weekend work.

How did they do it?

They completed the NLP Business Practitioner course.

One of the key messages from the course is that “you have all the resources you need to be able to achieve your goals”. The important thing is to have a goal in the first place and the NLP Business Practitioner course shows you how to set goals which you are much more likely to achieve.

The course also shows you how to analyse your situation and explore your options.

What Aspects Of Your Life Would You Like To Change?

1. Look at the Wheel of Life diagram.

2. Score yourself in all of the areas on the diagram as you are at the moment.

3. Score yourself in all areas where you would like to be – this helps you to prioritise your efforts.

4. Join the NLP Business Practitioner course and use the skills and techniques you learn.

As William James said:

“To change one’s life:
1. Start immediately.
2. Do it flamboyantly.
3. No exceptions.”

For more information click here

Tag: change