These are my slides to my talk at t3con Europe in Munich in 2016. It is about what you can do, when there is an elephant in the room and what you can do to avoid these elephants.

1. ...of Elephants &
Butterflies
by
Sabine Wojcieszak

2. That`s me!
Chief Consultant
Trainer & Coach
Speaker
Author
@SabineBendixen
Sabine Wojcieszak
aka Sabine Bernecker-Bendixen
sabine@getnext-it.com

3. My first discovery in the world of tech...
People in #Tech love
ANIMALS!

4. The ZOO of #Tech
Horses
Monkeys
Donkeys
Cats
ElephantsGoats Unicorns
D
o
g
s
&
D
i
n
o
s

5. Sorry!
Nothing new to learn!

6. Common Sense

7. My intention:
Think about yourself
Motivate you for
Change
Remember the words
Talk about it

8. Who has / had an
Elephant in the Room
in the team / company?
With an unadressed
Elephant in the Room
you will stuck in
Mediocrity!

9. Let me tell you a story...

10. An Elephant enters the room...

11. I open the door:
Uh, an Elephant!
Come out here!
I open the door:
Uh, an Elephant!
I shut the door!
I keep my secret!
- seen me shutting the door!
A colleague opens the door, too.
- loyal to me.
- keeps my secret
Another one does the same!
- has seen me, too.
- not very loyal to me.
- starts to play
Chinese Whisper

12. Why?
Overstrained
with
the situation
No
trust
Fear of
consequences
Bad
experiences
Feeling of not
being
responsible
No
Team
No idea
what to
do
Feeling of
being the
wrong
person
Not
interested
Rely
on
others
Following
own goals
The Absence of
Transparency

13. The Elephant in the Room
is the issue of Transparency.
They don´t want you
to know anything,
So they don´t share anything!
Michael Froomkin / Professor of Law

14. Let´s play!

15. The result...
...a lot of time ...too many wrong
information build up...
...a Wall of Confusion!

16. As the time goes by...
...the Elephant costs resources &...
...starts to grow &...
...with growing the Elephant produces...

17. ...and the Elephant grows bigger...
...and makes more

18. ...and becomes a real grown up Elephant
producing...

19. This adult Elephant...
...needs a lot of resources
...smells because of all the shit
...is too big to leave the room
through the door

20. Bad example for all
Makes the situation even worse
To get the Elephant out of the room:
Break down the wall!

21. And now ...
...replace the word Elephant...
...with the word...

22. PROBLEM!

23. problem Challenge?

24. Name it!
When there is an
Elephant in the Room
introduce him!
Randy Pausch / Professor of Computer Science

25. challenge

26. SHIT
Bad Decisions
RESOURCES
Time
Money
Motivation

27. Peoplelove...
...to talk about problems!
other people´s

28. Overstrained
with
the situation
No
trust
Fear of
consequences
Bad
experiences
Feeling of not
being
responsible
No
Team
No idea
what to
do
Feeling of
being the
wrong
person
Not
interested
Rely
on
others
Following
on goals

29. Nomatterhowbad...
...be the active Game Changer
Sand
Wall
No view to pin

30. Most hated questions:
Why is the situation as it is?
What is your role in it?
What can YOU do to solve it?
Reason / Origin
Responsibility
Solution
!!!
CHANG
E!!!

31. Leaving the
Comfort Zone!

32. Trip into the Dark
We never know what is lying in front of us!

33. What´s wrong
with her?

34. Inflammation got worse
Local anaesthetic didn´t work very well
Will take a long time

35. When problems are neglected...

36. What kind of problems?

37. Consequences of rearing an Elephant

38. No „One-Size-Fits-All“ Solution

39. First Aid
Don´t close your eyes
Address the problem openly
Avoid blame games
Discover the origin
Address it ASAP
Ask `WHY`
Facts matter
Focus on solutions

40. If the Elephant is too big for you,...
...ask for help
from outside!
“...The transformation requires the view from outside!“
William E. Deming

41. Imagine...
...that a problem addressed...
asap
in the right way
openly
with a future-orientated focus
...will be the key to continuous improvement!

42. Prevention
Culture of Transparency
Culture of Trust
Feedback
Culture of values
Positive error culture
Common goals
Committment over consensus

43. You will never know if...
...the cocoon will
release...
...a beautiful
butterfly or...
...a moth!

44. Before you start your move...
...think about consequences!

45. Are you ready for your butterflies?

46. Be prepaired for this adventure...
...and discover new opportunities!
& leave Mediocrity!

47. Thank you for your attention!
Be brave!
&
@SabineBendixen
Thx to pexels.com