I passed! Yesterday, after some months of preparation and hundreds of miles of driving, I passed the Institute of Advanced Motorists Road Smart (IAM RoadSmart) advanced drivers test. I even got a first!
Aside from being well chuffed at this, the whole experience has been quite enlightening from the viewpoint of training, trainers and being trained.
What is quite clear is that motivation is above all important. I opted to do this, I wanted to do it, and I was prepared to put time and effort into doing it. Although I may be able to get a discount on car insurance, this wasn't my reason for preparing and doing the test. My motivation was that after driving for over sixty years, it wasn't a bad idea to give some serious thought, time and activity to improving my driving, having reached an age when deterioration is, alas, inevitable.
Driving is a peculiarly personal activity, about which people (especially men) are very sensitive. I soon learned that I had a number of habits which needed to be abandoned or improved, starting with handling the steering wheel (two hands at all times) and going on to reading the road, anticipating by looking well ahead (Eyes on Main Beam to use the jargon) and generally pre-acting rather than reacting. Much stress was put on driving lawfully (i.e. Not breaking speed limits) and safely, but 'with spirit' (i.e. If it's safe to do so, driving at the speed limit, but not beyond it). Importantly, from the viewpoint of learning, I had to be prepared to take feedback and advice, and apply it. This, according to my Observer, is not what some trainees are prepare to do ("I always drive this way, so....")
There is a certain amount of jargon and acronyms: POWDERY and IPSGA, for instance. The latter relates to on the road behaviour: taking in, processing and giving out Information, Positioning the vehicle, Speed, Gears and Acceleration. And so on. The idea is that all of this stuff will become an automatic part of one's driving.
And therein lies the rub: converting the explicit to the implicit. As this almost invariably involves some measure of changing ingrained habits, doing so is really challenging, and involves a lot of self awareness, self observation and analysis over quite a long time. There's a big lesson there for training: don't expect people to change habits overnight and encourage self criticism, but not to the extend of demoralizing the trainee.
The role of feedback is also very important. My Observer (they're not called trainers) is very good eliciting evaluation of performance from me before offering feedback. She's also good at giving feedback while I'm driving; in other words, feedback during performance rather than afterwards. This provides an opportunity to alter behaviour during a training session and receiving feedback (and encouragement) when it improves.
Practice is also very important. I don't actually do much driving these days, so I made time to do some longish drives along a variety of road types in order to put lessons into practice. This demonstrated very clearly that without practice, old habits and new skills won't quickly change or become habitual. This is an obvious lesson which applies to virtually everything.
In my last session before the test, my observer did a demonstration drive (she'd done one or two at the start of my sessions) which proved very helpful. So, there's a role for modeling target behaviour -- and commenting on and explaining it.
Lastly, an important part of the training is doing a commentary on driving while driving. My Observer suggested that it's useful to think you're talking to a passenger who can't see, i.e you have a make believe interlocutor. The test includes doing a commentary, and I think it helped me as it shows the tester not only what you're doing, but clarifies why you're doing it. It also demonstrates your powers of observation(the I part of IPSGA) and what you're making of what you observe as far as decisions re your driving are concerned.
I wish I'd done this test years ago, not only because of its effects on my driving, but because of the insights it has provided for training. My conclusion is that it's a good thing for anyone involved in training to become a trainee from time to time (it doesn't have to be driving!) so as to be reminded of what is involved in training from the trainee's viewpoint. It really is quite illuminating!
Showing posts with label change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label change. Show all posts
Sunday, 15 January 2017
Saturday, 29 May 2010
Garden: major works & change
Having inherited someone else's idea of a garden -- together with some hard landscaping (the koi carp tank) -- we had to decide on what to tackle first, keeping in mind that the first priority when moving into a new house is to deal with the interior rather than set to work in the garden. In the event, both the exterior and interior proved to be the work of some years, from which a lesson may be drawn: deal with significant changes asap. For instance, the living area of the house had been decorated in a yellow of considerable vileness. (Why on earth anyone would choose yellow as an interior colour is beyond belief, but given the character of the ghastly vendor, her choice of colour was not all that surprising.) Anyway, we tolerated the dreadful colour for a year, until it reached a point when we could no longer ignore it. And much work ensued (interior decorating always proves to be more time, energy and £ consuming than envisaged, and is a bit like parenthood, with a similar mixture of pain and delight!)
As to the garden, we eventually filled in the tank (or at least, we employed someone to do it), repaved the upper patio and used the paving to pave the lower one, removed the lanky tamarisk, the overbearing cherry laurel (whose flowers exude a very nauseous scent), the energetic forsythia (whose upward and lateral growth required major trimming each summer), and miscellaneous other unwanted plants. Eventually the borders were more or less cleared for action.
Meanwhile, I planted three bamboo, two yellow and one black, in the bed which separates the lower patio from the lawn. These keep company with the cordyline and the fan palm, so all together form a vaguely exotic screen, beyond which the lower patio is visible. This has proved to be a useful spot for storing pots and bags of potting mixture, as well as an ideal location for potted hostas, which thrive in this semi shaded spot.
The planting of the borders was to be the next project, and it remains a work in progress. But then, all gardening is a work in progress. The main lesson to be taken from our experience of inheriting a garden is, firstly, allow a season for border plants to reveal themselves -- spring bulbs, for instance, had died back when we moved in, so it was wise to wait until next spring to see what surprises would be in store. Secondly, if there are big shrubs and trees which are beyond their useful life, including those which are now out of scale with the garden, get rid of them expeditiously. They are usually a problem, often being deep rooted, and will therefore take a lot of effort, as well as a need to remove the remains, and all of that is best done in one fell swoop.
I suspect that there are lessons for wider application in this. When moving into a significant management position in a new organization, spend some time (e.g. 100 days) sussing things out by doing a lot of listening and noting, and then, having identified areas that need change, go for it. Ultimately, and unfortunately, that may involve transplanting or even removing some plants/people. At best, it may mean having to do some careful cultivation and retraining because, of course, people like plants grow into certain attitudes and patterns of behaviour which can't be altered instantly.
As to the garden, we eventually filled in the tank (or at least, we employed someone to do it), repaved the upper patio and used the paving to pave the lower one, removed the lanky tamarisk, the overbearing cherry laurel (whose flowers exude a very nauseous scent), the energetic forsythia (whose upward and lateral growth required major trimming each summer), and miscellaneous other unwanted plants. Eventually the borders were more or less cleared for action.
Meanwhile, I planted three bamboo, two yellow and one black, in the bed which separates the lower patio from the lawn. These keep company with the cordyline and the fan palm, so all together form a vaguely exotic screen, beyond which the lower patio is visible. This has proved to be a useful spot for storing pots and bags of potting mixture, as well as an ideal location for potted hostas, which thrive in this semi shaded spot.
The planting of the borders was to be the next project, and it remains a work in progress. But then, all gardening is a work in progress. The main lesson to be taken from our experience of inheriting a garden is, firstly, allow a season for border plants to reveal themselves -- spring bulbs, for instance, had died back when we moved in, so it was wise to wait until next spring to see what surprises would be in store. Secondly, if there are big shrubs and trees which are beyond their useful life, including those which are now out of scale with the garden, get rid of them expeditiously. They are usually a problem, often being deep rooted, and will therefore take a lot of effort, as well as a need to remove the remains, and all of that is best done in one fell swoop.
I suspect that there are lessons for wider application in this. When moving into a significant management position in a new organization, spend some time (e.g. 100 days) sussing things out by doing a lot of listening and noting, and then, having identified areas that need change, go for it. Ultimately, and unfortunately, that may involve transplanting or even removing some plants/people. At best, it may mean having to do some careful cultivation and retraining because, of course, people like plants grow into certain attitudes and patterns of behaviour which can't be altered instantly.
Thursday, 27 May 2010
My Garden Blog: Change
Next door, Patrick, our neighbour has employed a gardener to make some significant changes to the garden -- changes which have some impact on our own. The division between our gardens consists largely of an unplanned mixed hedge, with bushes and climbing plants on both sides, including masses of ivy. Similarly, along the back fence, which overlooks the lane which goes out onto the footpath and road on Gravel Hill, there is a substantial array of ivy which over the years has formed a high, thick hedge which provides shelter and privacy. Our neighbour has decided to get rid of the ivy, and in doing so is reducing both the shelter and the privacy. So, the rather snug and private haven of our garden is being compromised. Worrying.
Ivy is, of course, a pest, and is best not invited into the garden at all. When she replaced the dividing fence between our gardens last summer, Pamela our other neighbour agreed that we must nuke all the ivy which had grown up along the old fence. It had, in fact, become a weed, and despite being cut back, kept vigorously reasserting itself and overwhelming other plants. Our attack seems to have worked, and on that side, we have an ivy free zone.
I shan't be sorry to see most of the ivy go on the other side, but am now considering the consequential changes, top of which will be installing a new fence. That, however, will have to wait until the end of the year, when there will be seasonal cutting back, and the garden will be in winter mode. Meanwhile, it looks as if we're going to have to get used to a new era of openness.
I've posted a few garden pix on my Flickr page. Visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gravelhill/
Ivy is, of course, a pest, and is best not invited into the garden at all. When she replaced the dividing fence between our gardens last summer, Pamela our other neighbour agreed that we must nuke all the ivy which had grown up along the old fence. It had, in fact, become a weed, and despite being cut back, kept vigorously reasserting itself and overwhelming other plants. Our attack seems to have worked, and on that side, we have an ivy free zone.
I shan't be sorry to see most of the ivy go on the other side, but am now considering the consequential changes, top of which will be installing a new fence. That, however, will have to wait until the end of the year, when there will be seasonal cutting back, and the garden will be in winter mode. Meanwhile, it looks as if we're going to have to get used to a new era of openness.
I've posted a few garden pix on my Flickr page. Visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gravelhill/
Change: the John Lewis case
In his FT column, Stefan Stern (24th May) commented on the success of the John Lewis organization in implementing some major changes, which included, for a notably paternalistic organization, some pretty hard nosed changes to its business model, with the loss of 250 jobs on the closure of a warehouse, and other redundancies linked to further changes. Significantly, the senior management decided to commission a consultant specializing in change management to advise them during the transition.
He reports that the consultant, Catherine Sandler, co-founder of the London based Sandler Lanz consultancy, advised that at times of great turbulence and uncertainty, leaders need to offer “psychological containment”. She explains that “There has to be congruence between what employees are feeling and how leaders behave.” And she lists four things which leaders have to do.
1. They need to be on the front foot, taking “prompt, visible and considered action”.
2. They have to communicate honestly, on the basis that people prefer to know the worst than fear the worst.
3. If possible, they need to find a positive and even inspiring message amid the bad news.
4. Last – and hardest of all – they need to convey empathy, “in a way that is authentic to them”.
Stern reports that the first time the MD suggested to senior managers that they discuss 'how all this feels', he was greeted with groans because these are people who are highly task focused, and displaying empathy isn't a high priority for people under considerable pressure. Evidently some of this approach must have rubbed off on them, however, and the company has managed to come through the transition very successfully, with sales up by 15 per cent for the first quarter -- comfortably ahead of the competition.
John Lewis is an exceptional organization, but is not above taking some tough decisions. However, it appears to have done so in a way which is congruent with its unique and long standing set of values, as established by John Spedan Lewis, who, on the verge of the great depression, established the partnership model of corporate ownership which is unique to the organization. Ensuring the survival of that model and of the set of values associated with it, not to mention the business itself, the current leadership realized that significant changes would be needed, and rather than shying away from them, they took good advice and went ahead. A salutary lesson in both recognizing the need for change and in managing it successfully.
He reports that the consultant, Catherine Sandler, co-founder of the London based Sandler Lanz consultancy, advised that at times of great turbulence and uncertainty, leaders need to offer “psychological containment”. She explains that “There has to be congruence between what employees are feeling and how leaders behave.” And she lists four things which leaders have to do.
1. They need to be on the front foot, taking “prompt, visible and considered action”.
2. They have to communicate honestly, on the basis that people prefer to know the worst than fear the worst.
3. If possible, they need to find a positive and even inspiring message amid the bad news.
4. Last – and hardest of all – they need to convey empathy, “in a way that is authentic to them”.
Stern reports that the first time the MD suggested to senior managers that they discuss 'how all this feels', he was greeted with groans because these are people who are highly task focused, and displaying empathy isn't a high priority for people under considerable pressure. Evidently some of this approach must have rubbed off on them, however, and the company has managed to come through the transition very successfully, with sales up by 15 per cent for the first quarter -- comfortably ahead of the competition.
John Lewis is an exceptional organization, but is not above taking some tough decisions. However, it appears to have done so in a way which is congruent with its unique and long standing set of values, as established by John Spedan Lewis, who, on the verge of the great depression, established the partnership model of corporate ownership which is unique to the organization. Ensuring the survival of that model and of the set of values associated with it, not to mention the business itself, the current leadership realized that significant changes would be needed, and rather than shying away from them, they took good advice and went ahead. A salutary lesson in both recognizing the need for change and in managing it successfully.
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