By Joe Grettenberger
joe@compliancecollaborators.com
During SCCE’s CEI last week, at 4:30 on Monday afternoon, I decided on a change of pace. Based on a recommendation, I made an impromptu decision to attend a session of a distinctly different sort by the folks at The Second City called “The Power of Story: Insights for Communicating Compliance and Ethics”. I’m so glad I did! After imparting three tenets from the art of improv (email me and I’ll send them to you), one of the presenters, Ronnie Feldman, reminded us that as compliance professionals we have options in the communication styles we use. Ronnie suggested the possibility that employee attitudes towards compliance could effectively be transformed, and a company’s culture positively affected, by compliance professionals choosing to communicate differently – more positively, more proactively, and more openly – in ways that engender trust. This idea of the organizational compliance professional being an approachable advocate has long been my ideal. They had my attention.
To illustrate a few possibilities, our other presenter, Colleen Murray, brilliantly guided over 300 participants through three distinct activity lessons in collaboration using principles from improv. To make it interesting and personal for everyone, we paired up (into twos) and were asked to communicate ideas (within our dyads) that were different from the ideas of our counterpart. In our first activity lesson, we were required to communicate using the words “Thank You” before making our points. The exercise demonstrated how an “attitude of gratitude” might be brought about. The second lesson, which required us to use the last word that came out of the other person’s mouth, was an exercise in listening. And the third – which had participants successively move from “no, because” and “yes, but” to a “yes, and” position – showed us that new ‘space’ can be created between opposing views and change employee mindsets. With an awkwardness that is characteristic of improv, all examples were “wonderfully disruptive” to the traditionally defensive postures of office politics and clearly demonstrated how powerful and transformative intentionally appreciative communication dynamics can be. Thank you Ronnie and Colleen!
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