About the Book
Book Overview
Stop! Shift the Energy at Work is about the human experience people go through together on the path to creating and implementing innovative solutions by working in a deeper, more relational way. It’s about connecting the energy each person brings to reach a higher level of insight and creativity than they would typically do at work.
This book offers an inspiring approach and framework for considering human energy in the workplace. As consultants with many years of experience, we have decoded what we do and how we enter and engage with human systems, through seeing and sensing the energy – things that multiply, amplify, or deplete it – to create the conditions for forward movement. This is not a step-by-step recipe, how-to book, training book, or traditional business book. Rather, the framework emerged based on 100+ years of engaging in real-world challenges in organizations.
This book provides a unique way for leaders to interact, through managing energy, reflection, insight and learnings to activate creative solutions. Our hope is to unlock the energy in organizations to create an energy shift that inspires people to solve challenges. By tapping into the wisdom of human energy, our intention is to make the Shift the Energy at Work approach accessible and bring humanity back to organizations.
Chapter List:
PART I
An Invitation from the Cape
Chapter
Introduction
- Our Intention
- About Our Voice
- Shift the Energy — Our Approach
- Leadership and Energy Are the Threads
- Defining Human Systems & Energy
- Energy at the Individual Level
- Energy at the Team Level
- Leading the Way
PART II
The Shift the Energy Approach
Chapter 2
Stop and Pause
- Story – High-Speed Growth Fatigue
- Story – Start-up and Stop
- Energy Clues to Stop and Pause
- Story – Stop to Let Others In
- Knowing When to Stop and Pause
- Story – Slow Down and Step Back Creating the Space
- Story – Shifting Mindsets
- Story – Stopping and Pausing Can
Bring Out Humanness - Questions to Help You Stop and Pause
- Key Takeaways
Chapter 3
See and Sense
- Why It Matters
- When to See and Sense
- Story – Driving Blind
- Readiness to See and Sense
- Story – Unwillingness to See and Sense
- Seeing Through the Fog
- Questions to Help You See and Sense
- Key Takeaways
Chapter 4
Make Meaning
- The Energy of Make Meaning
- Story – Gathering Influencers to Make Meaning
- Story – Finding the Root Cause
- Story – Make Meaning of the Micro- and Macroenvironment
- Recognize Resistance
- Knowing When to Make Meaning
- Magic Beans
- Questions to Help You Make Meaning
- Key Takeaways
- Contents
Chapter 5
Create Possibilities
- Taking Stock of Where You Are
- Story – Reinventing Creative Ways of Working
- Trust and Vulnerability
- Story – A High-Performing Team Creates
- Possibilities
- The Muck
- Small Interactions Can Move Mountains
- Powerful Moments
- Story – The Energy of a Powerful Moment
- Moving Forward
- Questions to Create Possibilities
- Key Takeaways
Chapter 6
Shape and Experiment
- What’s Different About Shape and Experiment?
- Story – Great Ideas with Unseen Consequences
- Questions for Shape and Experiment
- Key Takeaways
Chapter 7
Expand
- Pivoting from Experiment to Expand
- Expanding the Energy
- Resistance Is Not a Negative Thing
- Resistance Is a Powerhouse of Energy
- Fueling Momentum
- Develop Courageous and Vulnerable Leaders
- Tap the Power of the People
- Have a Compelling Narrative and Call to Action
- Stop! Shift the Energy at Work Share Quick, Bold Wins
- Story – Failing to Expand
- Closing Thoughts About Expand and Energy
- Questions as You Plan to Expand
- Key Takeaways
Chapter 8
Evolve
- A Commitment to Continuous Evolution
- Story – Building Trust and the Will to Evolve
- Questions to Support the Energy to Evolve
- Key Takeaways
PART III
From Concept to Practice
Chapter 9
One Step Ahead
- Story – Managing Self, Empowering People
- Anything Can Happen—It’s Messy Out There
- Story – Patience in One Step Ahead
- What it Takes to Be One Step Ahead
- Questions to Help You to be One Step Ahead
- Key Takeaways
Chapter 10
Putting It All Together
- Story – Putting It All Together—Stop! Shift the Energy at Work
Chapter 11
Principles to Live and Work By
- Core to Our Approach: Key Principles for Success of the Work
- Managing Self
- Managing the Process
- Leading People
- Manage the Energy of the Space
Chapter 12
Closing Thoughts
- The End Is the Beginning
- About the Authors
Appendix I
- Going Deeper into Tapping the Energy
- Human Energy
- Leading the Way
Appendix II
- Questions to Guide You to Shift the Energy
- Stop and Pause
- See and Sense
- Make Meaning
- Create Possibilities
- Shape and Experiment
- Expand
- Evolve
- One Step Ahead
- Tap into the Energy
- Bibliography