Continuing on the same theme of how to balance and integrate the “above and below the green line”, this video tells a story of three unions and the management team of a major corporation in Australia and how the conversation balanced the “above and below the green line” to achieve a solution that was in the mutual interests of all parties.
Breakthroughs Almost Always Around Information
In our experience in working with Union/Management conflicts, the real breakthrough is almost always around getting all the vital and “secret” information on the table as quickly as possible. Often this can be identified in pre-conversations. The sharing of “secret” information demonstrates transparency and vulnerability that forms more willingness to have relationships and to find common ground around meaning and purpose.
Information, Relationships and Identity are interconnect
All 6 circles are interdependent and interconnected – one leads to the others and the exploration is cyclical. As people share information, this leads to a bit more openness that creates a bit more trust that leads to doing a small chunk of work. The work leads to results (results in changes of structures, programs, processes, etc. - above the green line) and it is the tangible results that moves people to share more information and so the cycle deepens and continues over the longer term.
Bottom Line is Getting “Above the Green Line” Changes That Work
It is important to realize that it is often the “below the green line” dynamics that create the breakthroughs, but it is the “above the green line” results that really matter in the moment and give credibility to doing the “below the green line” work as is evidenced through the story in the video.
Diagnosis: From Theory to Practice