• To understand the rapidly changing environment that we are currently experiencing.
• To understand the human reactions to change — both ours and those of our associates—and to develop skills to address these reactions.
• To develop the essential skills and strategies to address our own issues and guide others through the change process.

1. Strategizing skills to help my people and myself learn to decide direction and take action in a changing environment.
2. Self-management skills to deal with my own reaction to change — my fears and my actions.
3. Communication skills, both one-to-group and one-to-one.
4. Experimentation, or innovation skills — methods to both encourage and nurture new ideas.
5. Support skills — specifically how to listen to and respond to the concerns of associates during change.

• The pros and cons of looking at the "big picture" and being "closer to the action."
• The balance between planning and action in a changing environment.
• The new roles of leaders and teams in this environment.
• The need to generate new approaches and learn from them.

It is essential that we understand the differences between the "rules" of a stable environment and the "new rules" of a changing environment — and develop new attitudes and practices to help us survive in that environment.
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Module Two: Communications

• The nature of information in a changing environment
• The role of disagreement and dissent when delivering information
• The value of self-disclosure to the communication process
• What to include and what to leave out when communicating

Communication in a changing environment deals not only with the intellectual — the information itself — but must also address the emotional and interpersonal needs of the "audience." Only by addressing both of these areas will the communication be credible enough to foster trust and buy-in.
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• How to look at our own reactions and attitudes as the first step in managing change
• The importance of taking responsibility for our own attitudes and actions
• The value of self-disclosure
• The balance between self-reflection and action in a changing environment

Change begins inwardly and moves outward. Therefore, we need to look to ourselves — to our own attitudes, reactions and assumptions — before we can deal with change in any coherent and conscious manner.
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• The need to make creativity and innovation "normal."
• The need to develop a higher tolerance for ambiguity.
• The role of self-reflection in the innovation process.
• The balance between information-gathering and taking action.

Experimentation and innovation are needed in a changing environment at least as much if not more than in a formative or start-up environment. The trouble is that just when it is needed most, there are the largest number of organizational forces opposing it. Thus, it is essential to "normalize" the innovation process and make it an integral part of a changing environment.
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• The central importance of people's feelings and the need of people to be "heard"
• The value of confrontation and even conflict in defining issues and solving problems
• The value and techniques of empathic listening
• How to know when it's time to move from listening to providing tools

Support — the process of listening and allowing people to feel "heard" — is arguably the single most important skill or need in a changing environment. Without it, people tend to stay in a "Minus 1" state — resisting you and your attempts to help. But when people feel heard and supported, problems and issues that seemed insurmountable and intractable suddenly yield to movement and resolution.
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