Change starts with belief in your influence

The book Expedition Agility includes various working methods to tackle changing to agility in a playful, light-hearted way. Each blog article highlights one working method to inspire you and to experiment with. This time it is ‘cross the line’.

Making beliefs visible

Our beliefs provide a powerful compass for how we approach change, both personally and within a team or organization. They can help us move forward, but they can also block us if we hold on to limiting thoughts. The ‘cross the line’ working method is a playful and interactive way to explore what we really believe about our own role in change. By literally taking a step across a line, participants make their beliefs visible and negotiable. It is a powerful way to discover where the doubt lies and where the trust lies, both in yourself and in the organization.

This exercise provides a safe space to reflect on what you think you can change and helps participants to adjust their mindset: from ‘I can’t change anything’ to ‘I have influence’.

Format: cross the line

Our beliefs can hinder and strengthen us. To find out what beliefs we have when it comes to changing the organization, you can do the following working method:

1. Divide the space in half imaginarily by drawing a line or make it with tape. Place a floor plate on one side of the line with YES on it and a floor plate with NO on the other side of the line.
2. Ask everyone to stand. Then you ask the participants: ‘Do you believe you can change yourself?’ Ask participants to stand on one side of the line, depending on their answer (either the YES box or the NO box).
3. Ask two or three people to explain why they are where they are. Usually it comes out, but you can also explain that you can continuously change and adjust your behavior.
4. Then ask the question, “Do you believe you can change the team you’re a part of?” Ask the participants again to stand in the YES box or the NO box. Some will now cross the line.
5. Ask two or three participants again why they are where they are or why they have changed subjects. Here too, it often comes out automatically, but you can explain that you can change the team by making an impact, setting a good example, holding retrospectives, making things negotiable, making proposals for other ways of working, etc.
6. Finally, ask the group, “Do you believe you can change the organization you work in?” Participants again choose to stand in the YES or NO box.
7. Again, ask two or three people to respond. Here too, if necessary, you can explain that it is about exerting influence and taking others with you. It’s like throwing a stone into the water: you can see the ripples in the water flowing wider and wider. That’s how it goes in organizations. But it starts with faith, the confidence that you can play a role in that.

At the end of the cross-the-line session, the deeper beliefs within the group become visible. The conversation that ensues not only shows where people have confidence in change, but also where they have doubts.

This method makes it clear that change starts with the conviction that you can make a difference yourself, no matter how small that difference may seem. Whether it’s personal change, influencing your team, or even transforming an entire organization – it all starts with believing in your own influence.

Like a rock thrown into the water, your actions spread and affect others. By raising this awareness, it becomes clear that everyone can play a role in change, if you only dare to believe that it is possible.

Source: Expedition Agility

By: Els Verkaik, Edwin Clerkx and Jeroen Venneman