Hot Hot Hot

Quick. 3rd grade science quiz. Do you know what the boiling point for water is? (And for those of you into details, water at standard pressure.)

212 degrees Fahrenheit.
(that is 100 degrees Celsius for those of you who did actually learn the metric system)

Now the interesting thing about that is that right up until that magic 212 mark, water things are going along, changing maybe… but not boiling. The boiling commitment point is 212 not a degree less.

You probably have heard the parable about the frog. For the few of you that may not have, the story goes that if you put a frog into boiling water it will react and jump out, saving it’s life. Now the other extreme would be that dropping a frog into a boiling pot of water would kill it. Either way the reaction by the frog, well it is immediate.

However, if you put a frog in a pot with relatively cool water, it will sit there, swim a bit, and lounge around. Ahhhhh. If you continue to turn up the heat, the frog won’t really notice, even as the water heats up to the boiling point. By then it will be too late. Result, boiled frog. Nice for those who like frog legs I guess but sucky for the frog.

We can learn a bit from both frogs.

During all the changes occurring with the strategic plan, with Activate America – specifically Gulick, we must be alert of immediate change and gradual change. Surely we have to be watchful of imminent changes that signal yowie, pay attention, perk up, react! But we also need to be alert for changing trends that occur over time. Those can sneak up on us as well and the moment to react may be lost.

As leaders we can also learn a bit from the water side of this parable. Think about it, you know, people are a lot like heating water. Until they reach some magic “boiling point” you may not even notice they are hot on a topic, truly passionate about an issue. And until conditions change (remember the standard pressure comment earlier), people may just go along with the flow.

But BAM! Change the circumstances a bit… say a spouse loses a job, a child gets sick, finances get tough, and job descriptions change… and people can boil quicker as the pressure increases.

Today, I had to “turn up the heat” a bit for our board of directors. It was not something I took lightly, and I only did so with the permission of our current board chairman. The results of that temperature rising are yet to be fully seen. Will people jump on the band wagon and become zealots for Campaign for Kids? Will they opt to jump out of the board now that expectations have shifted? We’ll see. But I do know this…

Teams can be a great thermometer for us as leaders. They provide a broader, diverse perspective.
We have to walk a line at times of turning up the heat – to say “we are serious;” “heads up, change is a comin’!” But we also have to listen to our teams to see if the temperature is too hot too fast.

Are we using the amazing range in thinking inherent in our teams for solving problems and looking for innovative ideas to tackle our new ways of work? Or are we so focused on just getting things done that we have become complacent as we and our teams are slowly warming up to the boiling point?

Keeping the balance for our teams between ever-vigilant observation and the “JUMP!” mode is tricky! There is no easy answer. Frog, water, leader…. Stay alert, speak up, align and we all succeed.