JUMP! Innovative Change Model™, Stage One, Step Two: If You’re In a Hole, Quit Digging!
The tool I use in this step of stage one relates to the approach I take in my facilitation. I like the metaphor of the elephant in the room. Why? Because elephants are big, hairy, smelly (at least to me) creatures who take up a lot of space and are hard to ignore. However, I encounter elephants in the room all the time that people are fully into denial about. Usually, elephants represent something that’s continuing to worsen, like attitudes, funding, product quality, etc.
In talking about elephants, I’m pretty direct. Okay, very direct. But I tell my clients that I’m “compassionately detached.” In other words, I tell them, “I feel your pain, but I have to tell you about it anyway.” I have to be clear here: To be an effective facilitator, you need to remain separated and objective from those whom you are facilitating (Just try—I dare you—to facilitate your teenaged children! I’ve tried on more than one occasion, and I always go down in flames. It’s not a pretty sight.), and you need to say what needs to be said in a purposeful, positive-energy, compassionate way.
So—talk about the elephants in the room. Name them. List them. Do something about them. Just stop them from being ignored any further.
