If your team is working hard but stuck in old patterns, they may be suffering from the Hamster-Wheel Syndrome. This syndrome develops when high anxiety in an organization prevents people from moving. Click here to download the full paper.

SIGNS OF HAMSTER-WHEEL SYNDROME:

1. More emails and paperwork than ever.

2. Meetings are long, wandering, and end with items tabled rather than action taken. Little, if any, followup.

3. People keep saying how busy they are.

4. Priorities are unclear.

5. Communication is obscure.

6. Elephants. There are clear problems everyone acknowledges, but which are rarely addressed and never solved.

7. Analysis Paralysis. Things are slow to move because “we need more information.”

This card is from The Change Leader’s Deck.

SIX STEPS TO STOPPING THE WHEEL

1. Get VP’s or regional directors to figure out priorities.

2. Examine meetings for purpose and outcome.

3. Question every email, piece of paper.

4. Simplify. Ask “why are we still doing this?”

5. Get action agreements at the end of every meeting and hold people’s feet to the fire.

6. Get bold. Speak up when you spot the wheel.

Congratulations on getting unstuck! Please click here for the full paper.