Leading Change and DR. GRAC

This week Nathan Ward spoke to us about leading change and taught us the steps to lead change through the acronym DR. GRAC. It stand for Desired Results, Guidelines, Resources, Accountability, and Consequences. When Nathan taught us these steps I thought of my uncle who recently took over El Azteca, our family Mexican restaurant, and how he went about leading change. He definitely had a vision for El Azteca. He changed changed the organization of the menu, added choices to the menu, completely redecorated the inside and outside of the restaurant, and put people in different positions. This didn't happen all at once, but it was his goal or desired result at the beginning. Next, he set employees guidelines and deadlines for when a certain change would happen. For example, he first tackled the menu and the new foods. After that he worked on painting and redecorating. He set deadlines for when he would finish and then he moved forward. Next, my uncle assessed his resources. He has a friend from LA that he brought from him to Utah. He takes care of the finances and checks. He used and organized human, financial, technical, and organizational resources. My uncle measures progress and accomplishment by often asking costumers about how like the food. He also has received feedback from newspapers and other food critics about the quality of the food. Finally, the way that he knows whether or not he is achieving his goal is by the amount of people and revenue that El Azteca gets. All in all, I thought DR. GRAC made a lot of sense. 

We also learned 8 steps of leading change in our lab that I thought was super helpful and I plan to use with my family when I move back home this spring and summer. First, one should create a sense of urgency, then pull together the guiding team. Next, develop the change vision and strategy and communicate it to others for understanding. Fifth, empower others to act and sixth, produce short-term wins. Don't let up and create a new culture. I want to talk to my parents about planning and having fhe and family fun night more regularly. My guiding team will include my parents, since they are the ones with most influence in our home. With them, we can come up with a plan and strategy. I've already been reading up on it and have some ideas for how it could work. I'm still working on the rest of the plan, but I feel real strongly about it. I'm planning on writing my final paper on how I'm going to implement this change. I know that it is important for my family, especially since I'll be moving out again next fall and my sister might as well.