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Heather Stagl

Uncertainty is no longer the exception in business; it’s the rule. Whether it’s economic shifts, technological disruption, or organizational change, managers are often tasked with keeping teams steady in the storm. Yet for many, uncertainty breeds one common response: resistance.When people feel a lack of control, their instinct is to push back, protect the status quo, or retreat into familiar patterns. While this resistance is human, it can quietly stall progress, erode morale, and make the road ahead feel even harder.The role of a great manager is to transform that resistance into resilience, helping teams adapt, refocus, and keep moving forward with confidence. In Lead In 30, we call this creating movement: the ability to identify the scripts, narratives, and barriers holding people back, and then shifting them into new patterns that drive progress.So how do you, as a manager, lead your team from resistance to resilience?Acknowledge the Uncertainty Out LoudThe worst thing a leader can do in uncertain times is ignore what everyone already feels. Silence breeds fear and speculation. Great managers instead lean into clarity, acknowledging the unknowns while providing a grounded picture of what is certain.You don’t need to have all the answers, but you do need to communicate consistently. Even saying, “Here’s what we know today, here’s what we don’t know yet, and here’s how we’ll keep moving forward” creates confidence. Clarity reduces noise and allows people to focus on what matters most.Reconnect the Team to PurposeWhen uncertainty rises, motivation often falls. Resistance can look like disengagement, blame, or simply slowing down. To counter this, managers must help the team reconnect to the why behind their work.This is where Team Key Results (TKRs) come in. Setting a few measurable, relevant priorities and showing how they connect to the organization’s mission gives your team something solid to rally around. Purpose is the antidote to paralysis.Shift the Script From Victim to OwnerChanging the narrative is one of the most powerful ways to build resilience. Instead of letting the team fall into "The Excuse Trap, “We can’t because…”, great managers ask, “What’s in our control, and how do we own it?”This is where alignment becomes essential. Invite the team into the process: What obstacles are we facing, and what shifts need to happen to keep moving forward? When people participate in writing the new script, they become invested in living it out. Ownership transforms resistance into resilience.Model Optimism and EnergyHuman energy is contagious. If a manager projects fear, exhaustion, or pessimism, the team will absorb it. However, when you choose optimism, even in uncertainty, you create a different kind of culture.At Lone Rock Leadership, we often say optimism is a choice. It doesn’t mean ignoring challenges, but deliberately focusing energy on solutions and what can be influenced. When leaders show up energized and optimistic, they recharge their team’s batteries, giving them the resilience to keep moving.Learn to Guide Through UncertaintyResistance is natural, but it doesn’t have to be permanent. With clarity, alignment, and movement, managers can guide their teams through uncertainty and emerge stronger, more adaptive, and more resilient.Uncertainty will always be part of leadership, but great leaders don’t just weather the storm; they help their teams grow through it.

From Resistance to Resilience: A Manager’s Guide to Navigating Uncertainty

I think of designing learning in terms of architecture and construction. With that in mind, I am just going to jump right in and say it: Designing a learning program is very similar to building a doghouse. Yes, really.Both processes begin with some type of analysis, move into design and development, result in the implementation of a product, and require evaluation from the beginning of the process until well after the finished product is being used. In other words, they both follow the ADDIE model.Let’s look at the first phase: analysis. For example, when presented with a request for training, I uncover the client’s business goal. Then, I proceed by getting approval to collect data about both the performance gap and the performers. In terms of building a doghouse, Bassey—adorable pup extraordinaire—made it clear to me that a gap existed in her accommodations. Sure she had the run of my entire house, but she insisted she had to have her own place outside. After all, how could she properly guard the premises without trotting around the yard and then retiring to her own luxury “dogdoe” (like a condo only much smaller and spelled with an “e”)? At least this was what she, my client and dog, felt she needed.I thought about Bassey’s need. I did my initial analysis and recognized she could improve property management (she runs the place) and property protection by having a place of her own to use outside during the day and get out of bad weather when she chose to do so.  Although not a training solution, the luxury dogdoe project was set to run parallel to the five tried and true instructional design phases highlighted above.As trainers, sometimes we don’t have enough expertise for a particular training need. When this happens we require subject matter experts to help fill in the knowledge gaps so that we can proceed. Admittedly, I am not an architect or builder by trade, so I needed more information about how to proceed with the dogdoe. I filled my knowledge gap with lots of how-to-build-a-doghouse data. I also sought a subject matter expert—my architect friend. She agreed to supplement the information I had gathered with her own guidance and oversight throughout the project.I have to admit, Bassey is just a little bit pampered. You need to know that upfront before I continue and provide details about the dogdoe design phase. Although I made sure the design was based on sound architectural principles, as approved by my architect friend, I drew the design blueprint so that it included creative features. I wanted these additions to not only connect with the safety objectives of the project, but also support Bassey’s interest and enjoyment of the dogdoe.The porch included a special protected lounging area, safe from blowing winds and rain. The flower box would be low enough for her to stop and admire seasonal plantings (she loves to get her paws in the dirt). The water trough would offer her favorite beverage, as well as a place to wash up after gardening and running. The design for a heated interior was certain to recharge her in the winter after prowling the property for would be “perps.” The small door within a door could be pushed open by her—the larger door gave me access—and the window could be opened as needed.I thought the design was perfect, but I still ran it past my subject matter expert. She made a few recommendations. I corrected the design blueprint, and let my client review it. Bassey stepped on the blueprint with her paws, and jumped around. I took this as a sign of approval.The instructional design phase mirrors these same steps. I follow a standard approach to the design of a training program, while using creativity to bring the learning to life and support the learning objectives and business goals. The really enjoyable part of instructional design for me is the opportunity to think outside the box in ways that make the instruction even more performance-based and learner-focused. I want learners’ brains as well as their hearts to be open to the content. The design of a training program is a pivotal point and needs the client’s review before moving forward.After the dogdoe design blueprint was approved, I moved into the development phase. I had some help, in case you are wondering, but it still wasn’t a flawless experience. I went back to my subject matter expert a number of times, changed the design a little, evaluated, laughed, shouted, hurt my finger—twice—and got more and more excited as the project came together.Bassey trotted back and forth, anxious for me to be done. Do you recognize this type of client? Yes, we sometimes see our clients anxious for the instructional design phase to move into development. They want to see the tangible instructional product developed and ready to pilot with their targeted group of performers. I do not recall a single time when I piloted a course that adjustments were not needed. The same was true with Bassey’s lavish pad—it wasn’t perfect. Bassey was impatient to get into the dogdoe. She wanted to skip over the pilot and immediately start moving in her things—dog toys, favorite blanket, and the like. Still, I insisted we stage a little pilot run. Sure enough, the dog door spring needed adjustment, but otherwise it was ready.I tried to go over a few things with Bassey, but all she wanted was implementation. “Let me use it,” she barked. Bassey sniffed around her new place. I crawled inside too. Both of us seemed to think that the implementation phase went well. However, crawling back out, I stabbed my knee on a nailhead jutting out of the floor. It took little evaluation to see that I needed a hammer to fix it.The implementation phase of instructional design—that wonderful point when the instruction has gone live with a group of learners—can sometimes have parts that obviously need to be fixed too. This sounds a lot like evaluation, and it is. Instructional designers are constantly conducting evaluation throughout the entire instructional design process, not simply after a course has been delivered.I can tell you Bassey loved her completed dogdoe. I like to think she felt a bit of pride at having such a cool place to call her own. The original objectives for the project were met. She patrolled the property and barked away would be intruders— chipmunks especially—and I felt comfortable leaving her outside in a protected environment.Let me leave the little story about Bassey’s dogdoe, and shift to ATD’s Designing Learning Certificate course. Since the program’s inception, I have facilitated all of its iterations. Participants quickly recognize the course’s value and application opportunities for their upcoming instructional design projects. Their comments have reflected the relief found in learning a recognized methodology for instructional design, as well as pure joy in discovering that developing training programs can actually be a creative pursuit. Even content that seems unavoidably dry and potentially boring can be lifted into a design that creates energy and interest for the learner.I think the Designing Learning Certificate program provides a nice mix of established principles, new approaches to learning, and perhaps best of all, the chance to apply what you are learning to your own project. Succinctly put, this course is about creating the best design, developing a great value-added learning product, and meeting the desired objectives that support a stated business goal. It really isn’t about building dog houses, no matter how similar the two processes are.

Designing Learning Is Like Building a Dog House

Mobile Work Exchange, a public-private partnership focused on demonstrating the value of mobility and telework, has just launched its Telework Return on Investment (ROI) Toolkit. The Toolkit is comprised of a snapshot of federal agencies’ telework ROI best practices to date, which was composed in partnership with the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) HR Solutions. It also consists of the Telework ROI Calculator. Both the snapshot and calculator are designed to support agencies’ telework mission success. Answering the call from The Telework Enhancement Act of 2010, Mobile Work Exchange worked with OPM and key government telework stakeholders to develop the “Measuring Telework and Mobility Return on Investment: A Snapshot of Agency Best Practices” and associated calculator. The Toolkit comes on the heels of OPM’s 2013 Status of Federal Telework Report to Congress, which reveals significant gains in eligibility, agreements, and teleworking. The Telework ROI Calculator enables agencies to estimate ROI for the most commonly identified telework and mobility value factors, including transit subsidiesenvironmentalcontinuity of operations (COOP)productivityemployee retentionreal estate/utilities. To use the calculator, agency telework leads can enter basic information about their employees, agency telework agreements and telework frequency, office closures due to emergencies or inclement weather, employee turnover, and transit subsidy figures. The calculator draws from industry standard information, such as the average cost per workstation for a federal employee, to calculate agency savings for each value factor. Agencies can use the complimentary calculator to estimate RoI for actual scenarios or use it as a tool for outlining hypothetical scenarios. The associated best practice snapshot, “Measuring Telework and Mobility Return on Investment: A Snapshot of Agency Best Practices,” is a joint effort between Mobile Work Exchange and OPM. The report sets the stage for measuring ROI by defining telework roles, frequency, and goal setting. It establishes guidelines for what to measure and how to measure telework ROI, as well as outlines agency tools, resources, and best practices for measuring RoI for the most commonly identified telework and mobility value factors. “The snapshot report demonstrates OPM’s commitment to successful telework programs and to helping agencies meet their goals,” said Rebecca Ayers, manager of performance management solutions at OPM. “One of the greatest challenges for federal telework programs is the ability to accurately measure success. We hope this resource drives future success by serving as a model for agencies in different stages of telework implementation.” “To present a strong business case for telework and mobility, agencies need to identify specific, measurable value and cost factors to demonstrate how these programs either reduce current costs or avoid future costs,” said Cindy Auten, general manager at Mobile Work Exchange. “The ROI Toolkit not only provides concrete examples of agency best practices based on specific successes, but it also provides a way for agencies to easily estimate hard numbers for actual and hypothetical scenarios.” To download the Mobile Work Exchange Telework ROI Analysis and access the ROI calculator, please visit www.mobileworkexchange.com/measuringRoI.

Heather Stagl

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