Talking Story

Starting new conversations in the workplace!

  • Rosa’s Books
  • ManagingWithAloha.com
  • RosaSay.com

Organizational Change and the Daily Five Minutes

December 13, 2004 by Rosa Say

Last week Kim Payton added his comments to our December Ho‘ohana, and I encourage you to take a look at his “human prism” of responses: when you encounter change, where might your colors be? Truth be told, I’ve had all three of the reactions he describes. However I have a new goal to always be the “response able” person — love the term and all it suggests.

However my first vote will always be for pro-activity versus re-activity: let’s all be “change drivers.” As Kim points out, this connection is way too good for us to pass up:

Positive change = new learning = new confidence with all kinds of change.

As Managing with Aloha makes its way from bookstore shelves to you, I’m able to feel like a holiday-enthralled child who gets to open early Christmas presents: my Christmas tree is my inbox, and I’m finding emails from new readers nearly every day — such a wonderful thing! So what does that have to do with change? Well, so far, there seems to be one tool suggested in my book getting the most affirmative votes once managers try it for themselves, and that’s the Daily Five Minutes. For instance, this story was just sent to me a few days ago:

“I’m into my second reading of your book and highlighting more things that are becoming significant to me and I must confess that after 27 years in the industry and thinking that I knew a lot, your book is like “going back to school all over again!”   It has really opened my eyes to how I’m interacting with my managers and employees and how our managers interact with one another and their respective employees.   I used your “Daily Five Minutes” today with one of our Guest Service Agents who is really in tune with the cultural significance of the area that we “occupy” and we talked story for well…more than 5 minutes.   Knowing his interest and the pride he has in his cultural heritage, I’ve asked him to do more research and to bring back his learning to the property.   I promised him the opportunity to share his knowledge with our other GSA’s and managers so that we can begin to understand “our sense of place”.


This is only a start, but it’s an exciting one!   Can’t wait for our next manager’s meeting when we just talk about the value of Aloha.   I’m blessed with a staff of managers and employees who take pride in what they do and who they represent and I believe that we can take the next step towards understanding ourselves better by incorporating some of the values you have shared in your book.” — Mike Tasaka

With the Daily Five Minutes in your manager’s toolbox, everyone in your organization can be groomed to be a good change driver. Over time (and not much time) the Daily Five Minutes grooms employees to be business partners, and it creates a healthy habit that grooms continuous feedback. “Taking Five” nourishes all three of the suggestions Kim shares, as things he’s discovered which really help people deal with organizational change:

  • Making leadership more approachable, and helping leaders themselves with daily practice in accepting feedback of all kinds

  • Providing a forum for essential, detail, and personal communication, a communication that flows two ways and not just top-down

  • Providing support in helping people talk about and deal with whatever they may fear with change, for the Daily Five Minutes is all about committing to relationships that are built on trust.

There was one sentence in Kim’s comments that jumped off the screen at me:

“I encounter many people who seem almost constitutionally suspicious of management, as if, to trust management, they have to become somebody else that they would not recognize.”

Sound all too familiar?

The Daily Five Minutes gives management a new persona, one that is familiar, safe, trust-worthy, and responsive. And yes, it does encourage employees to be somebody else they may not recognize within them — your new business partners. Try it.

For today, catch up with our Ho ‘ohana on Organizational Change. (First post, Kim’s essay, Second post, this is the Third Post.) Meanwhile, I’ll prepare another book excerpt on the Daily Five Minutes for you tomorrow. For those of you who already have Managing with Aloha, you’ll find I introduce the Daily Five Minutes on page 145 with the value of ‘Ike loa, to seek knowledge and wisdom. Read page 187 too.

Filed Under: MWA Key 5: Language of Intention Tagged With: change, Daily Five Minutes

Search Talking Story your way

RSS Current Articles at Managing with Aloha:

  • Do it—Experiment!
  • Hō‘imi to Curate Your Life’s Experience
  • Kaʻana i kāu aloha: Share your Aloha
  • Managing Basics: The Good Receiver
  • What do executives do, anyway? They do values.
  • Managing Basics: On Finishing Well
  • Wellness—the kind that actually works

Search Talking Story by Category

Talking Story Article Archives

  • July 2016 (1)
  • April 2012 (1)
  • March 2012 (6)
  • February 2012 (6)
  • January 2012 (10)
  • December 2011 (1)
  • November 2011 (4)
  • October 2011 (17)
  • September 2011 (8)
  • August 2011 (6)
  • July 2011 (2)
  • June 2011 (2)
  • May 2011 (4)
  • April 2011 (12)
  • March 2011 (16)
  • February 2011 (16)
  • January 2011 (23)
  • December 2010 (4)
  • November 2010 (1)
  • October 2010 (1)
  • September 2010 (4)
  • August 2010 (1)
  • July 2010 (4)
  • June 2010 (13)
  • May 2010 (17)
  • April 2010 (18)
  • March 2010 (13)
  • February 2010 (18)
  • January 2010 (16)
  • December 2009 (12)
  • November 2009 (15)
  • October 2009 (20)
  • September 2009 (20)
  • August 2009 (17)
  • July 2009 (16)
  • June 2009 (13)
  • May 2009 (3)
  • April 2009 (19)
  • March 2009 (18)
  • February 2009 (21)
  • January 2009 (26)
  • December 2008 (31)
  • November 2008 (19)
  • October 2008 (8)
  • September 2008 (11)
  • August 2008 (11)
  • July 2008 (10)
  • June 2008 (16)
  • May 2008 (1)
  • March 2008 (17)
  • February 2008 (24)
  • January 2008 (13)
  • December 2007 (10)
  • November 2007 (6)
  • July 2007 (27)
  • June 2007 (23)
  • May 2007 (13)
  • April 2007 (19)
  • March 2007 (17)
  • February 2007 (14)
  • January 2007 (15)
  • December 2006 (14)
  • November 2006 (16)
  • October 2006 (13)
  • September 2006 (29)
  • August 2006 (14)
  • July 2006 (19)
  • June 2006 (19)
  • May 2006 (12)
  • April 2006 (11)
  • March 2006 (14)
  • February 2006 (14)
  • January 2006 (7)
  • December 2005 (15)
  • November 2005 (27)
  • October 2005 (22)
  • September 2005 (38)
  • August 2005 (31)
  • July 2005 (34)
  • June 2005 (32)
  • May 2005 (27)
  • April 2005 (28)
  • March 2005 (36)
  • February 2005 (33)
  • January 2005 (35)
  • December 2004 (13)
  • November 2004 (24)
  • October 2004 (22)
  • September 2004 (28)
  • August 2004 (8)

Copyright © 2021 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in