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Collaborative Culture

March 31, 2012 admin No comments

To give credit where it’s due, I recently read a book written by a new friend, Robert Nitschke, titled, “Creating a Collaborative Enterprise.” (Nitschke, 2012) I urge anyone interested in culture improvement to read Bob’s book. There are a million ways to analyze organizational culture but Bob’s book helped focus a few key concepts in my mind. Without trying to take anything away from the book, the read inspired this blog post to consider the overlap of leadership, change and business process. Let’s look at each individually and then together.

Leadership

Over time, the word has become abused and yet still has an uplifting sparkle. From this practitioner’s point of view, leadership is critical, not because it’s the only thing but because it’s under-taught and under-used. The ability to think long-term and bring that perspective back to the present in a constant search for more complete paradigms is a critical, competitive advantage for any organization. All too often, it is easy to become used to “the way things are” and fall into a rut of doing like we’ve always done it … forgetting the original reasons why.

Leadership jars those of us in the status quo quagmire into new ways of thinking and doing. Jim Collins’ advice to “preserve the core and innovate everything else” is sage advice for the organization desiring to stick around. (Collins, 1994)

Change

I have come to believe people do not resist change so much as they resist senseless change. People must get an idea of what’s in it for them if they are to embrace or at least tolerate change. This allowance for change ranges from passionate “kool-aid drinkers” to the person who simply wants to keep getting a paycheck. Regardless of the motivation, most team members are naturally drawn to success and can be won over in time.

The interesting thing about change is it is both art and science. For example, one excerpt in John Kotter’s book, “Leading Change” suggests a scientific approach with eight steps to creating change. (Kotter, 1996) The how-to-execute these seemingly scientific steps is where art comes into play.

Business Process

Change is incomplete without considering business processes. The underlying, steady driver that keeps organizations running is the process machine (built partly by intent and partly by evolution). Without regular house-cleaning, business process can easily slow down an otherwise smooth running operation with unneeded obstacles and extra steps. In many cases, such problems occur between departments who unknowingly optimize their own areas to the unintended detriment of the greater whole.

Collaborative Culture

Far from being group-think without direction or coherent focus, collaborative culture is an engaging, dynamic entity … as it should be! This doesn’t happen by accident but is the intersection of humble leadership, change for the sake of vibrant business results and alignment of business process. Forget leadership and the destination is unknown. Take out change and any organization will eventually disappear regardless of how noble the purpose. Neglect business process management and find an organization driving like a car with two square wheels.

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Are there more important pieces to collaborative culture besides the above? How would you prioritize leadership, change and business process? What would you add, change or delete?

References

Collins, Jim (1994). Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. New York, NY. Harper Business.

Kotter, John (1996). Leading Change. Cambridge, MA. Harvard Business Review Press.

Nitschke, Robert (2012). Creating a Collaborative Enterprise: Retool Your Organization to Dominate Your Markets. Bothell, WA. Book Publishers Network.

Leadership Acumen

January 19, 2011 admin

What is leadership acumen? Leadership always yields tangible business results in the long-term. Since acumen is about insight and wise action, let’s consider it in context of great leadership and excellent business.

Insight

In many ways, leadership is about understanding self and others. A leader is not very effective at leading others without first leading self. Said another way, “Do as I say and not as I do” has fleeting success. What are some overlapping areas for leadership and business?

Fill Out the Team – A leader who is growing in understanding of self will know what type of people to add to the organization for a more complete team. All of us have strengths and weaknesses and bringing others in who have strengths not otherwise present in the existing group is essential for great leadership and measurable business outcomes. When looking for new team members, a leader will understand and consider a lot of personality traits, character attributes and leadership skills.
Watch for Falling Paradigms – A companion insight for excellent leadership acumen is recognizing the important role of mindsets. It is possible to force behavior changes for the short-term but this tension eventually resolves itself with a mindset change or someone leaving the organization. A sharp leader works to develop tools to help discover, look at and adjust personal as well as organizational mindsets. Only then, can behaviors change long-term with the resulting improvement in culture.
Demand Thinking – Leadership authority is not granted by a nameplate; formal power is – do not confuse the two. Leadership acumen demands innovative thinking be cultivated at all levels. This will require a measure of humility especially when a great idea comes from someone with a less-than-impressive title. (Here is an argument to reduce the use of titles but I digress.) The amount of decision-making authority to grant can be debated internally based on the desired culture but a healthy organization must have active thinkers with all their ideas popping out of the woodwork … consistently.
Allow for Mistakes – A culture that is a one-strike environment will clearly not inspire innovation. Self-awareness on mistake-mindsets will help the leader improve and then communicate this growth to others.

Wise Action

Assuming an organization is reasonably successful at fostering the preceding environment, what is the best way to sort through all the ideas and dialogue to take decisive action? While part of the answer is an art form, there are definite limits to consider. Here are three foundational ideas.

What is the intended, long-term destination of the organization (vision)?
Why does the company exist (mission, aim or purpose)?
How does enterprise intend to treat people inside and outside the organization (values)?

The answers to these guiding concepts should come through extended dialogue over months or even years. Part of the process of refining these overarching ideas thoughts will help make decisions on specific ideas in the environment. Everything must tie back to the vision, mission or values … hopefully to all three if possible.

Although a bit tongue-in-cheek, the next step is to simply make decisions. When a company is struggling, there is a tendency to slow or stop making conclusions. A certain amount of caution and analysis may be warranted if cash flow is tight but a leader must be careful to not stagnant out of fear. Procrastinate too much and your competition will eat your lunch.

One important measuring stick to help continue making decisions is the question, “What is the right thing to do?” Based on everything I know about our company, what is right? Listening to my conscience, what is right? What would those I most admire advise on what is right in this circumstance? What do others on the team think is right? The answer to “what is right” can vary depending on the environment but the discussion is healthy.

Build in whatever helps are necessary: write down the list of fears, form an informal advisory board (and use them), or specifically define what will happen with no decision. You can think of other ideas. Most of all, a leader must keep making intentional decisions … other people inside and outside the company depend on it. Anybody can make an easy decision; a leader will not run from the tough choices or allow other team members to shirk similar responsibilities in choosing. Remember, no decision is still a decision.

Results

Ultimately, results are what matter. Leadership acumen and process is great and informative but if it does not translate into action and measurable results, there is probably little linkage to business acumen. To repeat, true leadership acumen will link to tangible business results in the long-term. At times, this may take longer than the next quarterly earnings report but therein lies some of the art form: balancing the different time spectrums to have an organization that grows and produces at the same time.

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Four Steps to Choosing Better Values

October 30, 2010 admin

Personal development requires looking for, looking at and changing mindsets as needed. However, since it makes no sense to change mindsets in a vacuum, what should a person use as a guide? Part of the answer is having an intentional values system. Here’s an exercise to get started.

In your dealings with people (in general), what do you value most from the interactions? How do you prefer others approach you from a character standpoint?
What are the top three or four most important things you want from a friend or business colleague on a relationship level?
How do you think customers should be treated? How do you think fellow team members should be treated?
What is non-negotiable?

Now, before we get too far, not all values are created equal. A value is nothing more than a basic priority on which to base decisions.

For instance, let’s say I’m a boss and I think it’s important my employees do what I say … no matter what (obedience)! This may be fine as long as I am ALWAYS right and ALWAYS have the best ideas. On the other hand, this could be disastrous if I’m not the smartest person in the room.

So here’s a two-part test before we go on.

Do you think you are the smartest person in the room?

Do you wish you were the smartest person in the room?

If you answer ‘YES’ to either question, personal development will be difficult to impossible. Why? Either of these self-centered mindsets will block learning, short-circuit relationships or both. Continual learning and relationships are at the core of personal development work.

Realistically, the value of rigid obedience held by the boss in the above setting will work some times and fail at others. The point is some values have more substance than others. So then, the ‘best’ values are those that work the most consistently, not just some times. In fact, if we could choose values that ALWAYS work, that is ideal.

The GOOD NEWS … there are values that ALWAYS work! Here’s another exercise to help.

Let’s say Entrepreneur X is starting a company and already has 10 employees. At an early team meeting, one of the first agenda items is to define ‘how we will treat customers and each other.’ What do you suppose would be on the list?

Possible answers could include the following (you can add more).

Treat each other with respect
Value everyone’s ideas equally
Go the extra mile with customers and each other (consideration/patience)
Promote creative solutions that are good for us and the customer (everybody wins)
Do business with vendors who share our quality commitment

Notice the underlined words and how universal each sounds? It doesn’t matter if you are in the military, government, non-profit, for-profit or some other organization; any healthy person could buy into the list. Why? Regardless of the organization, “people are people.”

Here’s another great exercise created by a consultant friend of mine to help build or refine a stand-out values system.

Using one or two-word descriptors, what traits are required from a husband and wife to have a happy, life-long marriage? The results of this exercise are amazingly similar with widely different groups. Here are a few traits to get the brain juices flowing.

Love
Courage
Honesty
Humor
Fidelity
… and many more!

Notice how these traits really are values? Please also notice how these traits work in professional relationships. So here’s a 4-part test for ‘good’ values.

Is it timeless? (It would work centuries ago and will work centuries into the future.)
Is it universal (works for most anybody across cultures and religions)?
Is it obvious and certain if stated out loud?
Does it ALWAYS meet the needs … long-term?

Any value that fits these four pieces is an excellent candidate for your personal values list.

To develop a list of closely held values, do this …

STEP 1: Brainstorm a list of values. Write as many as possible. (Don’t worry yet if they pass the above values test.)

STEP 2: Now test each value based on the criteria above and drop those that do not pass the test. Rank order the remaining items.

STEP 3: Set the list aside and then revisit in a few days.

STEP 4: Boil the list down until you are rock solid with the top few. It’s not that the others don’t matter, it is just important to know your top three or four to make consistent, good decisions on mindsets.

When decisions are most difficult, you may bump into what we call “values conflict” where you must decide which value is of higher priority. The person who has defined the top three or four values will do better with difficult decisions.

Once you have a good values framework in place, looking for, looking at and changing mindsets becomes MUCH more meaningful, useful and satisfying.

Coming Back Stronger | Drew Brees (2 of 2)

October 23, 2010 admin

Let’s continue from last time by looking at a book by New Orleans Saints Quarterback, Drew Brees titled, “Coming Back Stronger.” (If you are challenged with your present circumstances, let me recommend Drew’s book to you.) You may recall that in this book, Drew talks about the mysterious value of adversity and how, “that which doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.” (Brees, 2010) He draws from his real life examples and suggests ways of finding the good in bad things that may come from just living life.

One of the intriguing concepts in the book relates to Drew’s acrostic on faith. ‘Keeping the faith’ so to speak is one of the required mental processes to excel in adversity. From a team perspective, Drew breaks down faith into five pieces so here is the diagram.

Fortitude

Attitude

Integrity

Trust

Humility

We will look at the final parts this time by combining thoughts from the book with my editorial comments.

Trust

Trust (or the lack thereof) is the natural outcome of integrity. If you want more trust in a relationship – be it personal or professional – work on integrity first. Don’t just try to force trust (it doesn’t work anyway). Trust is the glue that holds any group or organization together. Without trust, any team or family will fall apart because each member becomes an island.

In the book, “Expected End,” I call trust as one of the two super-principles. (Friesen, 2008) Any successful group excels because of cultivated trust. At the most basic level, I have to believe in you to some degree (and vice versa) in order for us to perform our respective team tasks together with excellence.

I can think of no better example than formation flying. The flight lead (#1 airplane) has certain duties and responsibilities as does the wingman (#2 airplane). Over time, as pilots fly with other pilots, they develop different amounts of trust based on how each performs their respective duties. In the fighter world, a high-trust formation is an incredible weapon. The opposite is true as well.

Ideas – How much do others trust me? Do I hang out with people I trust? What one relationship can I work on this week to improve trust by being a person of better integrity?

Humility

The second of two ‘super-principles’ is humility. (Friesen, 2008) Humility is so very powerful because is allows learning to happen. After all, as one great coach said (can’t remember his name), “None of us knows everything about anything.”

Let’s get one thing straight … humility is not weak! Humility is a practical view of life and does not over-value self. Yes, self-esteem is important and humility does not harm self-esteem. Humility keeps that big ego in check.

You may argue that you have not ego but I think most of us do to some extent. Ego is not bad as long as it is kept in check by humility. Ego can help people do great things. Ego can help a person persist in spite of adversity. Mis-guided ego can destroy relationships, however.

Humility recognizes I do not have all the best ideas or infallible perspective. Humility looks for insight from others and then genuinely considers this advice. The beauty of humility is it helps any willing participant gain mindsets that are closer to reality and isn’t that what we really all aspire to? Don’t we just want to right in the most objective way?

Ideas – With whom should I suspend judgment the next time this person gives an opinion on something I care about? What could I learn? By the way … humility builds trust at an incredible rate … try it!

Working through and benefiting from adversity is a tall order. I am not pretending it’s easy to push through. No matter how many times a person faces difficult things, it does not necessarily make future problems easier. However, the committed learner will pick up tools each time adversity rears its ugly head to be better equipped for life and to help others along the way.

References

Brees, Drew (2010). Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the hidden power of adversity. Carol Stream, IL. Tyndale House Publishers.

Friesen, Mike (2008). Expected End: What Culture Is, Why It Matters and How to Improve It. Adna, WA. Lulu Press.

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October 16, 2010 admin

I am reading a great book by New Orleans Saints Quarterback, Drew Brees titled, “Coming Back Stronger.” (If you are challenged with your present circumstances, let me recommend Drew’s book to you.) In this book, Drew talks about the mysterious value of adversity and how, “that which doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.” (Brees, 2010) He draws from his real life examples and suggests ways of finding the good in bad things that may come from just living life.

Fortitude

Attitude

Integrity

Trust

Humility

Let’s look at each piece in more detail. (Please understand my thoughts below are mixed with Drew’s views from his book.)

Fortitude

One part of getting through difficult things is simple grit. There is more to it than this but a ‘never say die’ outlook makes a huge difference. Think about most anybody who succeeds whether in business, sports, school, etc. Having a great heart that keeps going is important. At times, pushing ahead seems to take sheer will and a mindset that will not give up or give in.

Many years ago when I was in Air Force Pilot Training, there were days when I just wasn’t having fun. Once the romance of flying jets disappeared, becoming qualified was a lot of work (just like anything else worth achieving). There were days where other more qualified, more talented student pilots washed out of the program for a variety of reasons and I often wondered if I would be next. It was during these hard times that a simple determination carried me. Graduation day was sweet indeed!

Ideas – What area of your life could use more fortitude? Is there something that looks tough where a better mindset of fortitude will help you push through to achievement or success? Are you taking responsibility in all ways so fortitude is just the natural outcome?

Attitude

It is one thing to persist in the face of difficulty but it’s quite another to do so with a positive attitude. While a positive attitude alone is not enough, a super attitude combined with other important pieces (such as fortitude) is a remarkable combination.

I believe it’s General Colin Powell who says, “Optimism is a force multiplier.” I take his quote to mean there is energy and motivation with optimism. A positive attitude linked with a clear-headed view of reality is powerful and contagious.

Ideas – What area in your life could use a boost from optimism? Are you persevering in something but doing so with a lousy attitude? How will an attitude improvement strengthen your resolve to succeed in spite of obstacles?

Integrity

Being and acting as an integrated, whole person is one key part of happiness. It is also the pre-work to having great personal and professional relationships. If I look good on the surface but have problems with my integrity, I will never enjoy relationships as I otherwise might.

An important concept in reaching higher to personal success is first doing the inner work. This is all about integrity. Over time, I cannot have one area of my life where I do right and another where I do wrong. I can’t compartmentalize my character. You and I are whole people. Think about this …

Let’s say a hypothetical person named Joe wakes up in the morning. He remembers how badly he treated one of his family members over the weekend and is holding a grudge. Further, as he gets ready for work, he has a nasty argument with his wife due to selfishness and ego. How do you think Joe’s day will go at work? Will he be able to completely wall off his work life from his personal life day after day? Nobody is strong enough to compartmentalize this well.

This is why integrity is so important. If any of us wants a good life in one area, we must work to have a good life in all areas. This about living by timeless values and conscience. It’s about life-long satisfaction across the board. Working through adversity while improving integrity is a sure recipe for long-term success.

Ideas – How am I doing when nobody else is around? What areas could I improve by listening to my conscience more? What integrity advice would I receive from those I respect or love most?

Next time, we’ll look at adversity related to the last two areas of trust and humility.

Reference

Brees, Drew (2010). Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the hidden power of adversity. Carol Stream, IL. Tyndale House Publishers.

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4 Powerful Communication Strategies (2 of 2)

October 08, 2010 admin

Last time we looked at the first two of four effective strategies for effective communication. We defined effective strategy as an engaged, useful exchange of information. ‘Engaged’ is where two or more people are actively participating in the conversation through any means. ‘Useful’ is decided by the communicators, not by any observers.

We then went on to look at the first two of four key strategies. Here are the four.

Engage …

Compassionately
Logically
With Presence
Systematically

Now, let’s cover the last two strategies in detail along with some closing thoughts on methods and further application.

Engage With Presence

For more effective communication, here are two words of advice: ‘Be There.’ It is possible to be compassionate and logical and still miss the point. What is the meaning behind the meaning? What is the big picture? This is not trying to be deeply philosophical but about stand-out communication.

It is possible to care about the conversation and even have logical questions to ask and still have a wandering mind. It can be hard depending on what else is happening but effective communication demands … engagement! Engagement at its core is about being 100% in the discussion. Anything less needs work.

It can be harder to stay focused when the conversation is more important to the other person than to me so here is the pivotal question: Is this relationship important enough that I must genuinely engage even on a topic that is not as interesting to me as another? Think deeply about this from a values standpoint. Trust is never as good as when you need something from someone … later.

Engaging with presence includes the following.

Think ‘bigger’ than the conversation. What would a fly-on-the-wall view say about the exchange?
What are the hidden or implied meanings? What is unsaid but plain to a good observer?
Why are the other conversation participants discussing as they are and what do they need from me? How can I serve them?
How important is the relationship? If it’s important enough, banish all other brain-meanderings and focus on the topic at hand. If not, politely disengage for more pressing business.

Engage Systematically

One of the obstacles to effective communication is consistency. Most of us instinctively know how to communicate well in a one-time conversation but doing this day after day in good times and in bad is more difficult. What about the day you don’t feel so good? What about when you feel over-pressed with deadlines?

The intent of this section on engaging systematically is not to pretend any of us is perfect. Hopefully, the next several thoughts will encourage you to become even more effective in communication in a more consistent way.

Most of us already have the right intent; it’s just a matter of putting more effort in. We want to understand when we talk. We hope to have professional and personal relationships built on trust. (When I was a CFO several years ago, I would tell my staff that our most important commodity was credibility. That is another word for trust. This need is true regardless of the enterprise.)

The difficulty is life – whether at work or home – is not academic. It can be busy, chaotic, fluid, hard, confusing … and the list goes on. In short, there are many distractions to effective communication. (For example, a parent can understand how difficult it is to have an uninterrupted conversation with a spouse.)

The good news is it doesn’t take a lot of change to make a big difference in the consistency department. Engaging systematically requires a certain amount of discipline or – as the name implies – a system.

Here are few simple steps to application and you can think of more.

Send yourself a blind copy of an e-mail needing follow-up. Use a flagging system in Outlook or other software to revisit e-mails and follow-up. It is amazing how something as simple as, “Just checking in,” builds trust.
Have a way to write things down for follow-up. Always carry a small notebook or smart phone for notes.
Look at your list of key contacts and decide on an ideal schedule to visit in person or via video-teleconference (it’s free so no excuses). Schedule the visits. Keep the schedule at all costs!
Send someone a physical ‘Thank You’ card for an important contribution to a problem. This old method is new again.

Methods of Delivery

Before closing, let me focus a moment on methods of communication delivery. While the four strategies above are the foundation of great communication, the method of communication will definitely impact the effectiveness as well. Please factor this in when engaging compassionately, logically, with presence, and systematically.

There are certain types of communication that do just fine with e-mail (routine notes from a staff meeting for instance). There are others that will fail miserably (performance review – don’t laugh, it happens). A letter may work better for a resignation because it gives the sender a chance to refine thoughts and say everything just so. On the other hand, a letter is a lousy way to teach a new employee (don’t laugh, this gets done too).

There are certain places that work better for different types of in-person conversations. A public hallway might work fine for routine exchanges or planning. It’s a terrible place for talking about sensitive people issues. The corporate washroom might or might not be an OK place depending on its acoustics, ventilation ducts (someone hears in another room), and, most of all, the topic of conversation.

Here are questions to wrap up this article.

Engage compassionately: If I care, will I hold the conversation in this place and with this method?
Engage logically: How can I make our solution stronger?
Engage with presence: What is the whole message and what can I learn from the larger environment?
Engage systematically: How consistently am I applying the first three keys?

Effective communication is not only essential, it is critical for a group of any size to work well. Further, the business imperatives should be obvious that effective communication will help an organization learn, grow and thrive.

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4 Powerful Communication Strategies (1 of 2)

October 01, 2010 admin

Communication is a topic with many writers and speakers. Most people probably have at least one opinion on what matters most with communication. Perhaps that is because communication is a necessary skill for anyone wanting positive relationships or to get something done with others. Often, problems of many varieties boil down to nothing more complicated than a lack of effective communication.

Effective Communication

What is effective communication? For our purposes, let’s define this concept as an engaged, useful exchange of information. ‘Engaged’ is where two or more people are actively participating in the conversation through any means. ‘Useful’ is decided by the communicators, not by any observers.

Communicating is as old as time itself. Because people are very complex, just words alone are only a part of any message. This is why in-person, verbal communication is the best setting and method for truly understanding the whole message. Because circumstances vary, the communication environments and methods of delivery directly impact the effectiveness of the message. More on that later.

If you want to excel in communication, here are four keys to success.

Engage …

Compassionately
Logically
With Presence
Systematically

Let’s explore each area in turn.

Engage Compassionately

Some might scoff at compassion in business but I would argue there are practical reasons for engaging with compassion – even in a business setting. This is not about being overly emotional. Effective communication by its very definition requires a certain level of care. Whether an organization is engaged in offering a product or service, great business results come from great communication.

For two-way communication, I must care about the message you are sending or I must put value on your advice on a common concern. Either way, I must care about what you bring to the conversation. This is compassion.

In a more practical way, how is this done? Here is an example.

A parent of a small toddler must care to communicate with this child. Often, a two or three-year old is not completely articulate. If that child starts feeling ill, it can be challenging to specifically discover what is wrong. If we look at this communication process as an observer, notice how the parent will ask several questions and perhaps even repeat some to fully understand the problem. The healthy parent doesn’t give up until there is an answer.

Now, take this same intent to the workplace or with personal relationships. The compassion that says I must ‘get’ your message and must be sure of it before we move forward is critical to effectiveness.

Here are concrete ways for engaging compassionately.

Ask as many questions as needed to understand. Do not put an artificial limit on the number of questions.
Check if this is the right time to engage on this particular topic. Based on the environment, would there be a better time or place? Depending on all the pressures in the setting, will this conversation likely move forward? It is better to delay than do a mediocre job of communicating.
Use active listening in a common sense way (no parroting). At reasonable points in the discussion, check understanding … in your own words. It is amazing how often two or more people can think they are communicating and they are unknowingly defining words differently.

Engage Logically

Oh, to have piercing logic that never wavers and makes even the most difficult decisions easy. Most of us do not suffer from such a problem but engaging logically helps improve communication. Just as it is essential to engage with compassion, it is just as important to engage logically. Why? The one-word answer is ‘DATA.’

I can feel a certain way about any topic but there is something uncompromising about having evidence. If I am discussing something at work or home and we are genuinely trying to find a solution, engaging logically will help. Logic will ask the hard questions. (Logic with compassion will ask them in a nice way.) Logic will probe and be curious.

Because we have already explored compassion, logic in this case is looking for the weakness in an argument to either strengthen the shortfall or find a better solution. In short, this is about effectiveness!

Here is the summary for engaging logically.

Be curious (not obnoxious).
In your own words, ask things like, ‘How is that statement possible? What sources support your solution or point of view?’
Question your own assumptions to see if they stand up.
Go wherever the questions lead. In other words, ask a logical question and then ask a logical follow-up question and so on. Think of this as scientific exploration.
If you think it, ask it!

Next time we will finish with engaging with presence, systematically and a few last thoughts on methods of communication. Take care!

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The Performance Review

September 23, 2010 admin

Samuel Culbert posted an outstanding Harvard Business Review blog entry on September 21 titled, Why Corporate Leaders Won’t Abolish Performance Reviews. Several years ago, I would have scoffed at Mr. Culbert’s points on the weaknesses of performance reviews. No longer!

Diagnosis

As Dr. Deming said , ‘best efforts aren’t good enough.’ Working really hard in a mediocre system (i.e., organization) can only produce mediocre results. Most performance review processes honor the time-tattered status quo that completely ignore the common cause problems in stable – albeit dysfunctional – systems.

This is not to put people down in general. Most folks wake up in the morning determined to do their best and make a small difference wherever they are. The sad fact is many for-profit and non-profit corporate structures, policies and rules slow these well-intended efforts to a crawl. Almost without thinking, people organize themselves into personal pecking orders instead of looking out for the well-being of the organization.

Now, I am not down on corporate America (or on organizations in general). There are tremendous opportunities even now. The exciting news is, with courage, these problems described above are fixable! Here are some thoughts.

Prescription

Great Solution – Scrap the performance review for genuine, honest discussion … everyday! Managers should continually engage with their team members from a coaching frame of reference with the give and take of continuous feedback. Imagine that!

Lest you think I’m soft, companies should still measure things related to performance, it just should be different things. As Mr. Culbert suggests with the ‘performance preview,’ measure the results and hold BOTH the boss and employees accountable. The manager mostly creates the environment the employees work in. This collective output from ONE culture is responsible for the organizational results. With real enough discussion, system changes will start to happen.

As a former CFO, I remember being routinely surprised at things I would uncover simply by talking regularly with my team members. It was also rewarding to brainstorm and carry out solutions on the fly. As someone once said, “Nobody knows everything about anything.” Any manager who thinks system changes are for sissies (in this current economy especially) is very wrong.

OK Solution – Have employees complete a performance review on the boss … with similar authority as a top-down review. At least this would level the playing field somewhat. Obviously, this could foster adversarial relations but that is a natural byproduct in a just-OK environment.

Great or OK … the choice is ours. All the best!

How to Create Your Ideal (2 of 2)

August 27, 2010 admin

Last week we looked at how to create something better by using a method called “going out and coming back.” This uses imagination to define a detailed, desired future state in a personal or professional setting. Once the picture is alive, I suggested going out and being that painting! While this may sound mildly challenging to impossible, there are ways, in many cases, to make progress.

There are any number of possible problems you may encounter while trying to influence a stable environment (even if it’s dysfunctional). The responses to the following key questions are very important. Here are the questions.

How strong is the opposition?
How much does it matter?

Before we look at the possible answers, let me emphasize the importance of building and maintaining trust as much as possible … always. There can never be too much trust. Building trust is all about small kindnesses, making and keeping promises, considering others while being honest with them at the same time. Trust is built over t-i-m-e. Others need to see a pattern to decide that you or I are/am trustworthy. With that, let’s look at each one.

Low Opposition, It Matters Little – This is the easiest situation where the opposition is low and it doesn’t matter much anyway. The future looks bright!

Solution: Keep doing what you’re doing and accelerate your efforts to be the ideal painting.

High Opposition, It Matters Little – This is an area where you may not feel your job is threatened but life is uncomfortable or downright miserable. Chances are, the problems may stem from low trust in the environment. Work to improve trust with those in opposition.

On the personal side, the loud opposition may be from those who have less authority such as children. This does not mean their voices do not count but does mean “consider the source.”

Solution: Keep doing your good work and build trust with those who oppose you.

Low Opposition, It Matters a Lot – This scenario may be one where your job could be threatened eventually. Significant opposition, whether of a low or high amount, usually comes from a boss or other high-placed person in the organization. One important approach is to try to uncover unmet needs. Is the opposition from a lack of understanding? Are you being perceived wrong?

In a personal setting, a close friend or spouse may give some push-back. Again, can you discover unmet needs? This can easily include better two-way understanding.

Solution: Keep doing your positive work and look for unmet needs.

High Opposition, It Matters a Lot – Of course, this is the most difficult of the outcomes. You are strongly opposed and it matters a lot. At work, this could be your direct supervisor who is completely opposed to your efforts. If this is the case, you need to choose whether the environment is worth holding out for over the long haul. Have you mis-judged the organization and it’s possible to take another and better tactic? Is some of the opposition based simply on misunderstanding? Are there any allies in the setting from which you could gain advice?

If this is personal, you are in a tough spot. Not impossible, just tough. First, ask the question, is this setting valuable … long-term? Also, consider your commitments. A commitment to a spouse may be different from a commitment to a friend. Further, what is the current state of trust? If you have behaved in the past to hurt trust, it will take time to regain just an average level of trust. You may need to be patient.

Solution: Pull back, build trust, discover unmet needs OR look for another setting. If you decide to stick it out, be ready to work hard for an extended period.

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How to Create Your Ideal (1 of 2)

August 19, 2010 admin

Here is a way to create something better. In my coaching, I call it “going out and coming back.” Not very original or creative but it works. The idea is to move into the future, define as much as possible out there and then come back to reality and decide on ways to get to the desired future state. Here is a practical exercise.

Pick a setting. It could be in your personal or professional life. Let’s pretend you choose your overall work life. Using your imagination, what is the ideal? How do others treat you? What do customers say about your organization? What do they say about you? What do they tell their friends? What are people systems like? How is the teamwork? What is the creativity level? How are processes efficient and useful? Let your day-dreaming go and try to make the picture as real as possible in your head. Now, write down the details of your ideal. Be sure to include the typical behaviors when everything that can go wrong does. Be the best “fly on the wall” possible.

Now that you have created a pretend painting in your head, go out and “be” that painting. What?!? You might say, “You don’t know my boss … he’s a real jerk.” Or maybe the paperwork rules are killing us. Or … fill in the blank. The suggestion stands. Go out and be this incredibly, profound, amazing painting. It is easy to blame others (I’ve done my share of it) or make excuses why things are not as good as they could be. Within your circle of influence – not just your job description – start doing those things that will lead to the ideal over time. You may need to do this in many steps if current reality is very different from the future ideal.

Let’s address two possible scenarios with the easier one first.

Scenario #1 – In your imagined ideal, maybe you saw all members of the organization treat each other with respect, regardless of position, time with the company, education and so on. You can immediately start respecting everyone you meet and interact with in the environment. The challenge comes on how to deal with those who do not share your newfound attitude. If you want to influence positive change, you must persist even in spite of blockheads. (Sorry, that wasn’t very respectful.) The test of making positive behavior stick is to do so over time with consistency – especially when it is difficult. Do not be obnoxious about it, just do it consistently. Hint: One of your secret weapons is tasteful humor at key points of stress.

Scenario #2 – As you painted the picture above, you saw no unnecessary red tape in the paperwork war. In most companies, you cannot simply stop following policy or paperwork requirements without explanation. In fact, failing on the administrative side might lead to an early, prolonged vacation and the current re-employment environment is pretty tough. Remember to break the goal into manageable pieces. What small steps do you think could slowly move the setting toward the imagined ideal? Start with the least sacred in the environment and then talk with your supervisor about the process. Make suggested solutions – do not just throw rocks. You are trying to find an ally, not make somebody defensive. Make a genuine case for how this will help the profitability of the company or increase the quality of service to the customers. Hint: Make proposals that move toward your ideal AND help the other person do his or her job better (and look better too).

Next week we will explore potential consequences of your action plan and ways to change the plan to maximize the chances of success.

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