“Your approach to change and service improvement has been impactful and your ability to see, and help others see, the ‘woods’ regardless of the number of trees is a super power!”
- Prof. Gary Hutchison, Assistant Principal, Edinburgh Napier University
Coaching | Facilitation | Innovation
When we are overwhelmed with complexity, focussing on the limited practical options at hand can help us lead change confidently.
Group assessment is often the most disliked element of an academic programme, raising complicated challenges, and provoking anxiety in both students and staff. Working with Dr Sarah Sholl I designed an approach based on the premiss that often there are a limited set of solutions, and when that is the case, focussing on the best of those options creates the way forward.
This structured problem solving approach proved helpful to academics and students in the management school at Edinburgh Napier University, and is applicable to people leading change anywhere.
Innovation | Co-creation
Leading change can be about spotting the gaps and being prepared to ask the uncomfortable questions.
Working with Dr Hazel McPhillips I developed a novel online tool for identifying colour in conversations between clinicians and patients, in relation to bodily fluids. While some colour charts had existed before, there wasn't a comprehensive guide to body fluid colour. The tool was featured in more than 200 news outlets worldwide, and is now in use globally. You can access the What Colour Is It tool online.
When leading change it can be challenging to ask the awkward questions, but, often doing so (as gracefully as possible!) can open the door to critical insights.
Coaching | Leadership | Co-creation
Using a simple tool in context can be a platform for managing change confidently during exceptionally challenging circumstances.
As she entered into a new leadership role I supported Dr Eva Malone to develop a matrix that mapped who in her department needed to undertake what activity, and when. Not only did this ensure she was able to confidently lead her team, but she cites the tool as one of the reasons her programme achieved the best student experience nationally - despite it being a real-world lab based class delivered entirely online due to the pandemic.
There are lots of great tools out there to support change management. Taking those and developing them further to your own context can enable transformational leadership.
Leadership | Facilitation | Innovation
Often the most significant way to lead change is through leveraging and scaling improvements simplifying complicated systems, and increasing trust.
To radically improve the examinations process started with realising technology was able to help. Automated counting of exam papers seems trivial, but adding up the time savings meant no longer needing to do any examinations on Friday evenings or weekends.
Focussing on how new technology can safely and appropriately create those scalable efficiencies is more important now than ever.
