Tag Archives: organizational development consulting

Top 3 Change Management Mistakes

January 30, 2012   admin
Change Management Consulting

Change is a healthy part of any enterprise intent on thriving long-term. History, and even present day, is littered with countless examples of those who failed to change in timely response to the market and disappeared as a result. In short, failure to adapt eventually means irrelevance, regardless of the organization type. To successfully meet new demands requires anticipating customer needs and expectations because once market share begins falling off, the time may have passed for re-invention.

Here are two definitions to start.

  • Mistakes in technique – With any change management effort, plan on mistakes in technique. This is the ‘how’ of change, the specific methods and experiments to move toward the vision. One speaker (I don’t remember his name) compared a technique mistake to accidentally making holes in a boat above the waterline. While not ideal, the boat can take a few without too much trouble.
  • Mistakes in principle – Although techniques can evolve readily, there should be underlying principles that remain constant. For example, team members should treat each other with respect, even when there’s disagreement. To use the boat analogy again, ignoring a principle is like making holes below the waterline. This is much more serious.

While there are several contenders for serious change management mistakes, here are my top three. If left unchecked, each will become an error in principle.

Mistake #3 – Lack of Follow-through

Good intentions alone are incomplete. Wishing, discussing or even goal-setting for the expected change isn’t enough. One of the comfort zones during uncertainty is to stay busy with outdated activities or simply stay in a planning mode. This may not be from resistance so much as fear.

Most of us like to get As on our tests which means making few or no mistakes. In change management, it’s normal to make mistakes in technique but the follow-through must focus on the goals until reached.

Lesson – Repeatedly explain the ‘why’ of change and give reassurance about mistakes in technique. Be consistent about checking on goal deadlines and agreements. Find those who follow up naturally and appoint them as it makes sense. Lack of follow-through will kill a change effort.

Mistake #2 – Ignoring Current Culture

Periodically, senior managers mandate big change ‘or else.’ While the commitment is admirable, current culture may see the policy as a win for management and a loss for the workers. Bad move. As one wise mentor said, “Involve them.”

Please, do not under-estimate the status quo culture. Don’t be afraid but be intentionally wise. Here are some questions to help navigate the risky waters.

  • What are the values of the current culture and will they need to change to ensure success?
  • Where is the overlap between current methods and future techniques?
    What is the best way to capitalize on mutual goals?
  • What are the strengths and weaknesses of the change plan? Of the current culture? Pick battles where change is the strongest and status quo is weakest.

With any serious change movement, there will be setbacks, mistakes and unexpected obstacles. Activities that might have seemed trivial may suddenly become rallying points for the status quo culture. Keep going, carefully choose battles and take alternative paths as necessary.

Lesson – Be willing to change the change. In other words adapt to the dynamic environment in method while remaining committed to the goals in principle.

Mistake #1 – Lack of Timely, Informative Communication

I have yet to visit an organization where the majority felt management communicated too much. Ironically, management in the same organizations often feels they communicate well. Why the disconnect?

Consider this context. Most of us are accustomed to more data than we can digest. Do a quick Internet search on any topic and note the number of results (in millions).

Give the team members as many updates as possible and let them filter for their own needs. Formal and informal channels buzzing with information is the life-blood of any change effort. Continually adapt the communication to meet the receivers’ expectations, needs and demands. This dialogue alone can create a healthier work setting.

Lesson – Communicate more than you think necessary … and remember this is a two-way street.

What do you see as the top three change management mistakes?

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Here is a related article.

Process Design in Operations Management (business process management) – “We all know there’s design … and then there’s DESIGN! From beautiful houses and buildings to boats – you name it – design makes all the difference in a great or just-ok outcome. Organizations are no different … design matters … a lot.”

Photo Credit: Copyright by SFB579 on Flickr. Some rights reserved.

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Turning Business Owners Into CEOs

December 22, 2011   admin
Photo by InterContinental Hong Kong

One of the most fascinating topics is the area of small business. Our country has a rich history of many entrepreneurs over the 200+ years who have worked hard, failed, learned, succeeded and flourished. There are many obstacles and challenges for the successful small business but one especially hard task is when an owner wants to move beyond being an indentured servant to the business for other interests, retirement, growth, diversification, quality of life, etc.

Granted, many business owners are happy to stay fully engaged in the business operations and do not want to change or grow. This is a perfectly acceptable option. However, this article is aimed at those who want to move into a big picture oversight rather than keep the organization fully dependent on the owner for daily operations.

Before we go farther, let’s define a few terms for the sake of this article.

  • Strategy – Big picture and long-term. Which hill should we take?
  • Tactics – Small picture and short-term. How should we take the assigned hill?
  • Business Owner – A person who successfully starts and grows a business and is at its core. The business owner is mainly concerned with tactics with some attention to strategy as necessary. Take the business owner out of the picture and the business will die (slowly or quickly).
  • CEO – A person who runs an enterprise with the big picture and who delegates appropriately for the organization size. The CEO is mostly focused on strategy with attending only to the most important tactics. Change CEOs and the enterprise will continue operating (assuming the new CEO is qualified.)

Anyone who has started a business comes to see that organization as his or her baby. The entity is like raising a child and is very dear to the creator. With this in mind, it is then often very difficult to mostly disengage while keeping the business viable and successful. The loss of nuts-and-bolts control is scary for most entrepreneurs to say nothing of how and who to hire to make it happen. Not only that, what can an owner do to make sure customers continue to receive the quality and personality of service and product they expect?

So how does someone move from being a business owner to CEO? While each transition is unique, here are some basic parts that remain constant.

1. Make a decision – This is usually a hard call for the successful business owner as changing to CEO is not for everybody. I have worked with business owners who expressed an intention to disengage from the daily operations but when it came down to letting go, they just couldn’t take the plunge. Again, either way is OK … just be intentional. Talk to close friends, family and business associates. Seek perspective from anywhere you respect the advice.

2. Develop a charter – First, think big picture, big picture, big picture. Did I mention you need to look at the big picture? What do you want the enterprise to look like once the transition is complete? What are the core values that have made the business thrive and must continue? Boiled down to the essence, what do the customers expect? What do employees expect in terms of corporate culture?

3. Make a plan – What are the key, daily competencies the independent organization must master in order for you to pull back? What are the crawl-walk-run processes? What are the profiles of the needed key people? Perhaps most importantly, how will YOU develop to stay ahead of the transition? Define a rough time-frame for the entire transition as well as milestones to measure progress.

4. Select a transition person – This may be someone already on staff or you may look externally. Decide if you want this person to be a bridge or eventually assume greater responsibility long-term. If you intend for the individual to stay in charge, plan on spending a lot of time mentoring and coaching. If you see this person as a bridge, collaborate intensively to ensure the project moves forward.

5. Most of all … communicate – Transitions are rarely smooth. There are unexpected setbacks and problems as well as timing speed bumps. Over-communicate (if that’s possible) with employees, business partners, customers and other key people about what’s happening, the next couple steps and, most importantly, the big picture.

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If you would like help moving from business owner to CEO, contact Leading Strategies for a complimentary, initial consultation. We offer a wide variety of scalable solutions for the successful entrepreneur.

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Process Design in Operations Management

July 14, 2011   admin
Process Design Diagram

We all know there’s design … and then there’s DESIGN! From beautiful houses and buildings to boats – you name it – design makes all the difference in a great or just-ok outcome. Organizations are no different … design matters … a lot.

So what are ways to maximize the chances of great organizational design? Here are 4 keys: 1) Think like the customer, 2) Resist excessive department specialization (silos), 3) Promote the most inclusive metrics possible, and 4) Make money.

Think Like the Customer

At times, managers (and even leaders) become too focused on the internal organization and develop ad hoc systems or processes based on isolated problems. Invariably, this slows down the product manufacture or service delivery to the customer but it covers the managers’ back sides.

The manager should not be in the organization just for a soft ride. Sure, risk management is a necessary evil but it should never be an excuse for sub-par delivery because you can bet revenue and profit will suffer as a result. This is the opposite of elegant design. Here’s a test.

When was the last time you visited your company website or store strictly as a customer? How was the experience? How many extra steps did you find in completing your transaction? What annoyed you? What impressed you? How were you treated? Did you feel human or like a loose nut on an assembly line?

Ideas

  • At least monthly, test the major company services or products by walking through the maze to buy
  • Partner with a few customers to streamline the purchasing cycle

Resist Excessive Department Specialization (silos)

Someone once said, “Customer Service is not a department,” and yet the natural evolution in many companies can be where individual work areas become kingdoms to themselves. Everything within that department or division is about that department or division, not about the organization.

In order to have elegant design, department silos must be taboo. Notice I said “silos.” It doesn’t necessarily mean to go native in some sort of company commune but there must be healthy, working relationships between all areas. Yes, all. Let’s face it, customers can be mighty unpredictable at times. Excessive departmentalization increases the chances of an unhappy customer experience because the organization’s system cannot react let alone carry out the routine.

Ideas

  • Make part of department head ratings based on the ability to build and maintain healthy, working relationships between departments
  • Periodically trade workers (temporarily) between departments to learn the other area as well as bring new perspective.

Promote the Most Inclusive Metrics Possible

One of the large obstacles management unknowingly (or knowingly) puts in front of progress is excessive, specific metrics. Most times a department that uses very many measurements just for its area will assure that department does not have the best interests of the whole company at heart – the narrow metrics promote a department mindset and not an organization mindset. That’s not all bad but be careful.

The next problem this sets up is a department that will easily work at cross-purposes to other well-meaning departments who also have their overly specific measurements. The sad yield is sub-standard customer service because of the designed-in conflicts and the poor client is left muddling through this mess (or not if he or she chooses a competitor). Don’t leave this area to chance or natural evolution.

Ideas

  • Convene a metric-meld session. Have the department heads meet, compare specific metrics and figure ways to make more holistic measures that honor the department as well as organizational needs.
  • Hold an annual burn-the-metric meeting. Review all measurements and work hard to lower the number to the very most important.

Make Money

Making money is still the most important measurement for a business. Yes, principle-centered behavior should be expected but without profit, a business will eventually disappear.

It is entirely possible to be a profitable and responsible company. It is completely reasonable to be a fun and productive organization. It can be harder to accomplish both ends of the spectrum at the same time but isn’t it worth it to have higher employee satisfaction and great customer happiness? If you’re not making the level of profit that seems right for your company and industry, take a hard look at internal design.

How About You?

So … what questions do you have? What parts did or didn’t make sense? What added details would be helpful? Fire away in the comments …

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If you would like help designing a more customer-friendly company, contact Leading Strategies for a complimentary, initial consultation. We offer a wide variety of scalable solutions.

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4 Steps to Better Culture (2 of 2)

February 17, 2011   admin
Photo by SFO CP

Last time I talked about how each organization has a personality as a result of the collection of personalities within. Now let’s continue with the thought of improving that larger personality through a few common sense steps.

3. Interview any new employee within 7-14 days of starting work. People are smart and very quickly adapt to a new environment. This includes companies where a fresh face quickly blends into the culture. Many of us would like to change things but many cultural mindsets become invisible because, “that’s just the way we do it here.” The newest employee is more likely to wonder “why” and the smart cultural warrior will pounce on this information like the gold nugget it is. Oh by the way … act on the interview information.

Specific Take-aways:

  • The important part of this interview is to only do it when you are completely open and 100% non-defensive. The interviewee will take cues from your body language – good or bad.
  • Take good notes (and let the person know what and why you are writing vigorously.) Also, you must be committed to acting on this feedback or else the interview is actually a bad thing. Any boss who asks the type of questions as below is sending an implied message of coming improvement. Better to not ask and not change than to ask and then not follow through.
  • Here are possible questions.
    • What has surprised you about joining this company?
    • What has disappointed you since you started?
    • What processes seems cumbersome? What methods are really slick?
    • What is your favorite part of this job? Why?
    • Assuming the right skills match, would you try to get your best friend to work here? Why or why not?
    • What kind of training do you wish you would have more of?
    • What educational opportunities do you hope for in this organization?
    • What things would make you a raving fan of this organization for a long time?
    • If you were to describe this company as a person, what would that person look like and act like?
  • IMPORTANT: Follow up with the new employee in no more than two weeks about improvements you made based on the feedback. The more the better. Please, please follow-up. If this is not your strength, enlist the help of a colleague or sharp executive assistant.

4. Hire for a value system first before experience. See if this sounds familiar. The typical hiring process looks for X years of experience in this specialty or that. Throw in a college degree for good measure and maybe membership in some professional group. Once the hiring manager is satisfied the person has “been there, done that” long enough, the deal is closed.

All too often though, the same hiring manager will grow disgruntled with the employee in the coming weeks and months. Why the dissatisfaction? The problem is rarely a discrepancy in the experience level. (They said they had eight years experience and they only have six, for example.) The complaint is usually something about the lack of performance or some obnoxious personal trait. This is a classic case of aiming for the wrong target and hitting it! The company ultimately pays the price in lower morale, productivity and profitability. Don’t get me wrong, experience is important, it’s just over-emphasized in too many cases.

Specific Take-aways:

  • Identify the values most important in the ideal person for the position. If you can narrow the list to the top three or four, that’s best.
  • Conduct more than one interview … face to face. You can’t afford to mess up the hiring decision because it’s too painful and costly. Sorry HR, telephone interviews are terrible for making quality hiring decisions. Skype is bit better but still not as good as in person.
  • Conduct at least one interview at a local eatery or other public place requiring interaction with others. (I can’t take credit for this idea but don’t remember where I read it.) How does the prospective employee interact? Is this someone you want talking to your most valued customers?
  • Get into discussions about decision-making with the candidate to start to understanding their thinking process. What values do you think are most important to them? Would you let this person babysit your 4-year old? Would you be comfortable to introduce this interviewee to your mother?
  • If you don’t find the right candidate at first, start over. Don’t settle for second best or “just OK.” Resist the pressure to “just fill the position.” Take it from one with hiring regrets in a past life.

5. Learn to work outside the script. (OK, I fibbed a little … here is a fifth way to help build a stand-out culture.) Anybody can learn and run a business script. It’s not terribly tough to say, “Store policy is …” because it transfers the accountability to some nameless person deep in the company hierarchy. The clerk or low-level employee becomes the innocent face for a dysfunctional organization and this is doubly frustrating for the customer.

The first frustration is the restrictive policy that does not allow the customer to be completely satisfied or, heaven forbid, delighted! The second frustration is there is usually no way to give feedback on the dumb policy to the company because the person reciting policy has little or no influence. Too often, “company policies” arise out of a few isolated problems and rather than deal directly with the issues and the culprits, it’s easier to make a blanket rule and pronounce the problem solved. To the hapless consumer, it can seem as though some businesses work to find new ways of saying “no” like a “no-of-the-week” campaign.

I am not advocating anarchy or lawless minimum wage employees but surely it is common sense that team members be allowed and encouraged to think to delight customers (who are the life blood of any enterprise). After all, if the employees are that bad, why did you hire them in the first place? Why not communicate policy in a broader sense of timeless values such as respect, kindness, courage, fairness, justice, etc. This may prove difficult for the organization bent on hiring on experience alone – see the last section – but this type of employee is worth his or her weight in gold.

Specific Take-aways:

  • Resist the urge to have very many company policies. Yes, you need some rules to keep order but keep the number down and, by all means, review all the policies at least annually to cut the most annoying 20%.
  • Find a way to actively, genuinely ask for customer feedback so the lamest rules become painfully obvious … quickly!
  • Give the frontline employees some decision-making authority using broad values (respect, kindness, courage, fairness, justice, etc.).
  • Sorry to be repetitive but … ask customers, would you recommend your mother shop or work here? If yes, why? If not, why not?
  • Educate the frontline employees. Don’t just throw them into the ring and expect instant success. I have seen it and so have you. As one colleague used to say, “Pay me now or pay me later.”

All the best!

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4 Steps to Better Culture (1 of 2)

February 10, 2011   admin
Photo by SFO CP

Every organization has a personality and this personality is a result of the collection of personalities within. To this culture geek, the interplay of personalities that create a company persona is a source of endless fascination – not only from the what-is-it-now perspective but in the what-it-could-be department. I hope you’ll agree the possibilities are endless when we start imagining.

So what if you could make a few changes to improve this overall personality. Maybe you’re a manager who is both aware of your enterprise sacred cows and cultural improvement opportunities. As you know, culture progress will improve customer service and, more importantly, the bottom line. May I suggest the following four ideas? Perhaps they’re useful or will trigger other thoughts for your organization’s long-term good.

1. Give your receptionist a raise. Who is the first face or voice for many of your customers? Maybe it’s not a receptionist in your case. Maybe it’s an outside sales person or a repair technician, etc. Whoever this person or team, they should be rewarded on making a great first impression because this initial interaction can be very powerful.

What would you pay for customer loyalty? What would you pay for customer word-of-mouth advertising? Both of these items and more are influenced by the customer’s first contact with your organization. How much attention do you pay to the entry point of your company?

Specific Take-aways:

  • Identify who is usually your organization’s first face or voice.
  • What are the things you most want in your first customer contact beyond the traditional position description details? Communicate those expectations to the frontline employee.
  • In addition to their normal job duties, give pay consideration to this person or team for a critical public relations (PR) role. In the case of a receptionist, the duties are much more than just answering the phone or greeting a walk-in customer. Are you broad enough in the total compensation thoughts?
  • How well do you know this employee? Are there any other welcome considerations you could give for the PR role such as time off, education opportunities, cross-training, etc.?

2. Steal your senior executives’ office chairs. For a culture to grow and thrive requires activity. Not just busy work but engaged hearts and minds with the natural variety of perspective. A senior manager that asks multiple questions and does a lot of listening will learn much about what makes the culture tick and how it could be better. Most people are genuinely happy to give their opinions on most topics. Also, asking honest questions has a natural side effect of building trust; what company couldn’t use more of this commodity?

Although these conversations make look like small talk, the smart executive will be constantly on the lookout for cultural facts to include in senior level discussions. and decisions Look beyond the present discussion. What does it mean for your best customers, vendors, suppliers, and alliance partners?

Specific Take-aways:

  • Here are starter questions to ask. You are trying to discover what employees thinkabout their workplace, NOT just what they say.
    • If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be?
    • If you could make one policy/software/process improvement in your area, what would that be?
    • If you were the boss, what would you do? OR What do you think is the right thing to do in this case? (In response to a complaint.)
    • How could we lower the use of sick days?
    • What makes you run to work and walk home? What makes you walk to work and run home?
    • Would you recommend your mother work here? If so, why? If not, why not? (Thanks to Lee Hawkins for this question.)
  • As you talk to employees, tune into their body language. How open are they? What would a casual observer say about the conversation? What can you learn on improving the culture by this feedback? How can you improve the feedback?
  • Get used to asking “why” as a discovery question, not as a preface to an accusation.

Next time, we’ll explore the final two steps to a better culture. All the best!

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Leadership Acumen

January 19, 2011   admin
Photo by joye~

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?

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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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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!

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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.

  1. How strong is the opposition?
  2. 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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The Importance of Trust

August 10, 2010   admin
Photo by return the sun

With your indulgence, here is an excerpt on trust from a book I wrote two years ago.

Trust is At the Root

“The root of all effective human relationships is trust. All relationships have trust in some form or another or else the bond will not last. Trust is so pivotal to all human interaction and is a business imperative. Those who scoff at building and maintaining trust in a business or other setting do so at their own peril. Productivity and creativity are higher when trust is valued. If trust is not important, productivity and creativity will become sluggish and eventually disappear.

Most people know that treating others with trust and respect will bring very positive outcomes and yet how many of us struggle to do just this? Many of us could make an impassioned argument for the importance of great communication (to include deep listening) only to find ourselves moving too quickly past a conversation with a spouse, child or co-worker. What did she say? What did he mean? These and other questions are all important to process carefully in the moment.”

Why Does Trust Matter?

“Why is trust important to leadership and healthy cultures? Without trust, individuals are not open with each other. They hide behind a façade for personal protection. In spite of outward bravado, most people gravitate toward those they can enjoy on some level in a two-way exchange. In any healthy human relationship there is a basic question under the surface that says, “How much do you care about me?” Most people will not maintain a long-term friendship with someone who belittles them, tears them down or devalues them. We have all worked at some point for a boss who was impossible to please. You can be sure there was some sort of negative reaction going on first internally and then sometimes externally.

Think back to that boss who was always unreasonable and treated you poorly. What if he or she would have approached you asking for input on an upcoming project? If you knew your ideas were consistently not valued or used, how likely would you have been to contribute openly? You might have made some helpful comments depending on your personal values but probably stopped short of full input.

On the other hand, think back to working for a boss who brought the best out of you. This person consistently appreciated participation and implemented at least some of your thoughts into a final solution. Now, how likely would you be to offer thoughts on an upcoming task? It was probably hard to shut you up! Why the difference between the two scenarios? In one word: trust. Over time, most healthy people do not gladly go where uninvited in relationships.” (Friesen, 2008)

Here are some ideas for application.

  • Think of an individual you highly respect. What specific things does or did this person do to increase your respect? If you had a problem and took it to this person, what was the response? How do you see this linking to trust? Choose one behavior or principle you would like to model from your example.
  • List the top five to ten people in your life. In the course of daily life, practice deeply listening to each of the individuals on the list with any of your normal interactions with them (eyes off the computer screen or Blackberry, phone down, etc.). What do you learn? How does this build trust?
  • Choose one person with whom you would like to re-build trust. Without any defensiveness, apologize if needed with no strings attached. Give forgiveness without the other needing to request it. Now, start to extend small, consistent kindnesses over time. How does this repair the relationship weeks and months? Who’s next?

Reference

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

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