As anyone who has crammed for an exam can tell you, usually the number of hours we work without interruption is inversely proportionate to how much we accomplish. So how do these entrepreneurs manage to work so many hours without suffering from brain fatigue?
Well, first of all, it is because they truly love being an entrepreneur and are passionate about their enterprise. But, I believe, part of the answer is that they wear so many hats. They never get stuck doing the same kind of work for too long.
Here are some more brain-based tips that can work wonders and could be what helps propel entrepreneurs forward:
1. Buy a good office chair, or get a standing desk.
Focal Upright Furniture has a brand-new chair-and-desk combination on the market. Invented by Martin Keen, of Keen shoes fame, it uses a position between sitting and standing, and allows lots of movement as you work. It also helps those who use it remain attentive.
2. Do not multitask.
John Medina, author of Brain Rules, tells us the brain cannot multitask, period. What it does do is switch back and forth between tasks very quickly. Someone whose attention is interrupted not only takes 50% longer to accomplish a task but also makes up to 50% more errors. A study in The New England Journal of Medicine found that people who talk on the cell phone while driving are four times more likely to have an accident, because it isn’t possible to devote your full attention to both driving and talking at the same time. Hands-free calling offered no advantage. What’s the lesson to take away? Focus on one task at a time, and you’ll accomplish each better and faster–without killing anybody.
3. Use all your senses.
Work is more entertaining for your brain–and therefore makes you more alert–when you engage as many of your senses as possible. Use colored paper and pens. Experiment with peppermint, lemon, or cinnamon aromatherapy. Try playing background music.
4. Don’t make too many decisions in one day.
It sounds farfetched, but if you go shopping in the morning, then negotiate yourself out of eating a cookie at lunch, and finally try to decide between two job offers that afternoon, you might choose the wrong job because you didn’t eat the cookie, according to Scientific American. Making choices depletes your reserves of executive function, or “the mental system involved in abstract thinking, planning, and focusing on one thing instead of another.” This can adversely affect decisions you make later.
5. Take a quick break every 20 minutes.
A study in the journal Cognition reveals that people can maintain their focus or “vigilance” much longer when their brains are given something else to think about every 20 minutes. That’s the time when thinking becomes less efficient. This trick is called momentary deactivation. If your mind isn’t as sharp after a long period of work, it may not be completely fatigued. It just needs to focus on something else to refresh the specific neural network you’ve been using.
6. Work with your own circadian rhythms.
Are you an early bird or a night owl? Do you fade every afternoon, or is that when you are strongest? Don’t schedule an important meeting at a time when you will be operating on one cylinder. And don’t waste your peak work time at a doctor’s appointment.
7. Relax for 10 minutes every 90 minutes.
When you’re awake, your brain cycles from higher alertness (busy beta waves) to lower alertness (alpha waves) every 90 minutes. At that point, you become less able to focus, think clearly, or see the big picture. You know the signals: You feel restless, hungry, and sleepy, and reach for a coffee. Herbert Benson of Harvard, author of The Relaxation Response, recommends working to the point where you stop feeling productive and start feeling stressed. At that moment, disengage. Meditate, do a relaxation exercise, pet a furry animal, go for a quick jog, take a hot shower, pick up your knitting, practice the piano, or look at paintings. Allowing your brain to go into a state of relaxation, daydreaming, and meditating will reset your alertness.
Read full article via Inc.
The bottom line is the demand that managers tend to put on their people create a flurry of activity, yet little additional productivity. When in the end, being really busy in itself doesn’t pay bills, doesn’t foster innovation, and won’t strengthen culture. In fact, too much busyness may in fact yield the opposite. So with this in mind, try replacing busy with the following three things to yield greater results.
- Trade Clocks for Results: Time is finite, in fact it is one of the few things we can’t make more of. Talk to most employees about their vacation and they will tell you how important “Their” time is. Well, many employees would be inspired by the opportunity to create a little flex time. So perhaps instead of punching a clock, start focusing on what needs to be done each day, week, month, before someone has reached their targets. Once those targets are reached allow them to earn some personal time in exchange for their efficiency. This way everyone wins; the company is executing its objectives and the employee is getting something precious in return.
- Reward efficiency: Beyond just time, efficiency can be rewarded in many ways. When targets, objectives, and revenues are realized companies know they are making money. While sharing the wealth may be outlandish, most business owners would share a piece of a bigger pie all day long. Highly efficient employees tend to drive dollars to the bottom line, make sure they see that their contribution matters. Telling them will get you some bonus points, showing them will get you some bonus hours.
- Live The Message: This one is a life theme, it applies here and in so many other places. So ask yourself often, What does your team see when they see you? If they don’t see you living the message then you can bet they won’t be as likely to either. This means that you need to be on time (as much as possible), show respect and value for other peoples time (regardless of whether they are subordinates), consistently discuss the importance of goals, what they are, and where you and your team are in respect to meeting them.
Leadership is about change, but what is a leader to do when faced with ubiquitous resistance? Resistance to change manifests itself in many ways, from foot-dragging and inertia to petty sabotage to outright rebellions. The best tool for leaders of change is to understand the predictable, universal sources of resistance in each situation and then strategize around them. Here are the ten I’ve found to be the most common.
Loss of control. Change interferes with autonomy and can make people feel that they’ve lost control over their territory. It’s not just political, as in who has the power. Our sense of self-determination is often the first things to go when faced with a potential change coming from someone else. Smart leaders leave room for those affected by change to make choices. They invite others into the planning, giving them ownership.
Excess uncertainty. If change feels like walking off a cliff blindfolded, then people will reject it. People will often prefer to remain mired in misery than to head toward an unknown. As the saying goes, “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know.” To overcome inertia requires a sense of safety as well as an inspiring vision. Leaders should create certainty of process, with clear, simple steps and timetables.
Surprise, surprise! Decisions imposed on people suddenly, with no time to get used to the idea or prepare for the consequences, are generally resisted. It’s always easier to say No than to say Yes. Leaders should avoid the temptation to craft changes in secret and then announce them all at once. It’s better to plant seeds — that is, to sprinkle hints of what might be coming and seek input.
Everything seems different. Change is meant to bring something different, but how different? We are creatures of habit. Routines become automatic, but change jolts us into consciousness, sometimes in uncomfortable ways. Too many differences can be distracting or confusing. Leaders should try to minimize the number of unrelated differences introduced by a central change. Wherever possible keep things familiar. Remain focused on the important things; avoid change for the sake of change.
Loss of face. By definition, change is a departure from the past. Those people associated with the last version — the one that didn’t work, or the one that’s being superseded — are likely to be defensive about it. When change involves a big shift of strategic direction, the people responsible for the previous direction dread the perception that they must have been wrong. Leaders can help people maintain dignity by celebrating those elements of the past that are worth honoring, and making it clear that the world has changed. That makes it easier to let go and move on.
Full article via Harvard Business Review
While some may be impressed with how well you speak, the right people will be impressed with how well you listen. Great leaders are great listeners, and therefore my message today is a simple one – talk less and listen more. The best leaders are proactive, strategic, and intuitive listeners. They recognize knowledge and wisdom are not gained by talking, but by listening. Take a moment and reflect back on any great leader who comes to mind…you’ll find they are very adept at reading between the lines. The best leaders possess the uncanny ability to understand what is not said, witnessed, or heard. Warning: this isn’t your typical piece on listening – it isn’t going to coddle you and leave you feeling warm and fuzzy – it is intended for leaders and is rather blunt and to the point.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow theorized that people in all cultures have certain genetically-based, unchanging needs. He described these needs in a hierarchal fashion — with some needs being more basic or powerful than others. As these needs are satisfied, other higher needs emerge. The first four are:
- Physiological: not having hunger, thirst, bodily discomfort, etc.
- Safety/security: being out of danger
- Belonginess and Love: being affiliated with others and accepted
- Esteem: achieving, being competent, and gaining approval and recognition
After these are met, the second group of needs comes into play:
- Cognitive: wanting to know, understand, and explore.
- Aesthetic: seeking symmetry, order and beauty.
- Self-Actualization: finding self-fulfillment and realizing one’s potential.
- Self-Transcendence: connecting to something beyond themselves, or helping others find self-fulfillment and realize their potential.
Looking closely at these, it’s easy to understand why people need leaders? They do so because they believe those leaders will help them meet some or all of these needs. For example, a community may elect a mayor who will help bring prosperity to their town, while also going every Sunday to hear a minister who helps them along their religious path, while admiring the Chief of Police who keeps their streets safe, while all individually following leaders at work, and in school.
We follow people because we’re all looking for something more.
We’re looking for sincerity, for authenticity, for meaning and truth, for someone and something somewhere to believe in.
So, as a leader, if you don’t mean it, they’ll know. If you don’t really care, you won’t be able to pretend for long that you do. If you say one thing but do another, they’ll pick up on it. Quickly.
So, the first rule of leadership is to care. The second rule is to communicate in some way that you care – whether it’s in speeches, articles, webconferences, or simply the way you act in a meeting.
If you don’t care, don’t try to lead.
If you do care, make sure they know you do.
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Delegation is a critical skill. “Your most important task as a leader is to teach people how to think and ask the right questions so that the world doesn’t go to hell if you take a day off,” says Jeffrey Pfeffer, the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and author of What Were They Thinking?: Unconventional Wisdom About Management. Delegation benefits managers, direct reports, and organizations. Yet it remains one of the most underutilized and underdeveloped management capabilities. A 2007 study on time management found that close to half of the 332 companies surveyed were concerned about their employees’ delegation skills. At the same time, only 28% of those companies offered any training on the topic. “Most people will tell you they are too busy to delegate — that it’s more efficient for them to just do it themselves,” says Carol Walker, the president of Prepared to Lead, a consulting firm that focuses on developing young leaders. But both Walker and Pfeffer agree that it’s time to drop the excuses. Here’s how.
Watch for warning signs
You may not realize that you’re unnecessarily hoarding work. There are warning signs, however. “A classic sign of insufficient delegation is that you are working long hours and feel totally indispensable, while your staff isn’t terribly energized and keeps strangely regular hours,” says Walker. You may also feel that your team doesn’t take ownership over projects and that you’re the only one that cares. If they use phrases like, “I’m happy to help you with this,” it may be an indication that you’re doling out tasks, not handing over responsibility.Understand why you’re not delegating
There are plenty of reasons why managers don’t delegate. Some are perfectionists who feel it’s easier to do everything themselves, or that their work is better than others’. Pfeffer calls this “self-enhancement bias.” Some believe that passing on work will detract from their own importance, while others lack self-confidence and don’t want to be upstaged by their subordinates. No matter how self-aware you are, don’t assume that you’re immune to these biases, Pfeffer advises. Instead, you need to proactively ask yourself what you’re going to do to counterbalance them. Walker notes that letting go of these misconceptions can be extremely difficult and often organizational culture doesn’t help. “Giving up being ‘the go-to expert’ takes tremendous confidence and perspective even in the healthiest environments,” she says. “It’s even more challenging in the average company, where being a good manager is seen as a ‘nice to have,’ but where producing the core deliverable is what is truly esteemed.” But accepting that you can’t do everything yourself is a critical first step to delegating.
Writers can find inspiration anywhere. Because I write mainly about workplace environments and company culture, I turn to a fairly conventional source- the business sections of the newspaper. There’s usually something in every issue that gets me wondering. This week a business customs column inspired me to wonder about “what’s not spoken’.
Let me explain. In the column a reader asked what to do about cubicle-mates who participate so loudly on conference calls that he or she is seriously distracted. Thrilled to see a question so directly related to the types of interpersonal challenges I see as an Ombudsman, I raced to read the answer. Boy, I was disappointed.
The author offered these suggestions, which are reasonable but certainly don’t promote communication:
Ask your supervisor to tell everyone to be more aware of noise
Ask your supervisor to relocate you.
Listen to music as a diversion.
You see the problem? None of these strategies encourage collaboration. It’s almost implied that it wouldn’t be appropriate for the reader to make her colleagues aware of the situation or engage them in collaborative problem-solving. I wondered if there was a message in what wasn’t being suggested.
Here’s what I heard as the message: avoid talking = avoid conflict.
By not mentioning talking as an option for resolving things, the author is actually discouraging the use of talking. Talking directly to each other is still one of the best ways to solve problems, I think. Yet, the author chose to ignore that tool, saying “I prefer the path of least resistance whenever possible.’ Guess that means communication is the path of most resistance?
I bet many managers and employees across the country share a similar preference for avoidance and silence. The trouble with that stance is that old, unresolved conflicts eventually resurface, often at the most inopportune moments.
Don’t read me to say I think it’s wrong to ask for help to facilitate communications in sticky situations. I’m only saying that open discussion is a better first option.
Here’s my recommendation to the reader: Talk to each other.
Just like the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. The quickest way to end a dispute or disagreement is to talk directly and honestly with those involved. Talk is such an effective yet inexpensive tool I wonder why people don’t do it more often.
Dina Lynch
Here are four ideas that will help you become a more inclusive leader:
1. Let Them Build It. To construct and convey key messages, smart leaders don’t always rely on professional communicators or on elaborate messaging campaigns. Instead, they recognize that often it’s front-line employees who know best how to tell a given company story. (For an example of a grassroots project that resulted in an employee-generated book, see our earlier post on that topic.)
2. Lead by Following. The notion that senior executives might maintain a blog or a Twitter feed — one that employees, along with other company stakeholders, can follow — is fairly commonplace. In some instances, though, leaders reverse that equation: In a bid to share the digital limelight, they invite rank-and-file employees to become company-sponsored bloggers.
3. Send a Messenger (Not Just a Message). People today are skeptical of slickly produced brand messages. They’re skeptical of slick official spokespeople, too. Leaders who want to build public trust in their company brand, therefore, often recruit employees to serve as brand ambassadors. Training people who work for a company to speak for that company is a marketing practice that doubles as an engagement-building practice.
4. Lose Control. It’s hard to break free of the mindset that treats communication as a control function. But many leaders find that ceding control over what employees say on company channels — on an intranet discussion forum, for example — means gaining a new way to tap into the talent, the insight, and the passion of their people. They also find that self-policing by employees works to keep such discussion from going off-track.
For an inclusive leader, the term “employee communication” takes on a provocative new meaning. For generations, that term has referred to communication aimed at employees. Today, by contrast, more and more leaders are seeking ways to leverage the value of communication performed by employees.
In 2009 Steven Kaplan, Mark Klebanov, and Morten Sorenson completed a study called “Which CEO Characteristics and Abilities Matter?” They relied on detailed personality assessments of 316 CEOs and measured their companies’ performances. There is no one personality style that leads to corporate or any other kind of success. But they found that the traits that correlated most powerfully with success were attention to detail, persistence, efficiency, analytical thoroughness, and the ability to work long hours. That is to say, the ability to organize and execute.
John Bogle, founder and former CEO of The Vanguard Group, used that simple sentence to debunk the thought that there is a secret formula to becoming an influential business leader. But with the simple premise that business leaders can benefit from observing other leaders and using their observations to nurture their own leadership style, the 2004 book, Lasting Leadership, studied what a group of jurors from the Nightly Business Report (NBR) and Knowledge@Wharton identified as the 25 most influential business leaders of the past 25 years. Lasting Leadership wound up identifying eight attributes of leadership, each of which has its own chapter in the book, that are evident to varying degrees in these individuals.
1. They are able to build a strong corporate culture.
2. They are truth-tellers.
3. They are able to find and cater to under-served markets.
4. They can “see the invisible” – that is, spot potential winners or faint trends before their rivals or customers.
5. They are adept at using price to build competitive advantage.
6. They excel at managing and building their organization’s brand (which in some cases may be their own name).
7. They are fast learners.
8. They are skilled at managing risk.
In addition, the book includes essays describing a major challenge that each leader faced during his or her career, and detailed timelines of each leader’s life.
The authors of Lasting Leadership are Mukul Pandya, editor and director of Knowledge@Wharton, and Robbie Shell, managing editor of Knowledge@Wharton. Three others – Susan Warner, Sandeep Junnarkar and Jeff Brown – made significant contributions in reporting and editing.
Alfred P. Sloan, one of America’s first celebrity CEOs, wasn’t afraid to shake things up in the board room – which might explain how he was able to revitalize General Motions at a time during the 1920s when it was close to bankruptcy. At one meeting of his top executives, Sloan said: “Gentlemen, I take it we all are in complete agreement on the decision we’ve just made.” Everyone nodded. “Then,” said Sloan, “I propose we postpone further discussion until our next meeting, to give ourselves time to develop disagreement – and perhaps gain some understanding of what the decision is all about.”
Just as in Sloan’s time, most organizations today need less complete agreement and more constructive conflict. Rather than discouraging resistance and negativity, leaders should surround themselves with people who can debate passionately before a decision is made – and then unite behind the final decision.
Think that’s easy to do? Think again. An opposite set of dynamics is at work in most organizations. Too many people sit in meetings and keep silent, or gloss over the effect a given proposal will have on their department or co-workers. They sit quietly while the leader proceeds as if everyone is aligned. But this “consensus” is not real. Later (in “off the record” conversations) these same folks undercut or sabotage the proposal.
On management’s side of the equation, too many leaders are like Samuel Goldwyn (the fabled head of Metro Goldwyn Mayer) who once said, ” I don’t want any yes-men around me. I want them to tell me the truth, even if it costs them their jobs.”
Goldwyn’s comment underscores the concern that even if a leader sincerely wants to hear dissenting opinions, most employees — especially at lower levels of the organization — find it difficult and uncomfortable to speak up in a formal setting. They’re unsure whether the leader genuinely wants to deal with conflict. And they fear ridicule or retaliation for “being negative.”
Even a culture of teamwork, based on developing familiarity and friendly cooperation between employees, can result in congeniality taking precedence over the introduction of ideas that might prove unpopular. In an environment that values collaboration as the top priority, employees hesitate to take any action that causes tension or appears to be divisive.
If you want to take concrete steps to build constructive conflict into your decision-making processes, here are a few suggestions:
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Assign someone on your team to the role of “Devil’s Advocate” to ensure a critical eye.
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Ask part of your group to think like the firm’s competitors (or customers or employees) in order to surface and expose flaws in a set of core assumptions.
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Establish “ground rules” that will stimulate task-oriented disagreement — but minimize interpersonal conflict.
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Keep the proceedings “transparent” by making decisions based on what goes on in the meeting and not behind-the-scenes maneuvering.
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Make sure your team members represent a diversity of thinking styles, skill levels, and backgrounds. And if they don’t, invite people with various points of view to offer their perspectives.
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Start out with a question and don’t voice an opinion. Once you’ve said, “Here’s what I’m thinking . . .” you have already influenced your team.
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If you want honest feedback, then be the first person to admit mistakes.
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Listen (really listen) to everyone’s ideas. Let people know that you value their input and are taking into consideration what they have to say.
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Clearly state the behaviors you want during the discussion (constructive conflict) and as a result of the discussion (shared commitment to the outcome).
As a leader, you must understand that your followers are watching you, most every minute, most every day.
And they’re learning.
They’re learning if you care about them.
They’re learning if you believe in them.
They’re learning if you believe in yourself.
They’re learning if you believe what you’re saying.
They’re watching to see if you walk the talk or just crawl a little.
They’re waiting for you to slip up and reveal the man behind the curtain, or the phantom behind the mask.
Because they’ve been taught not to trust leaders lately.
Enron, WorldCom, Steroids and Corked Bats, American Idol, Sarbanes-Oxley, all the fine print, the word “virtually.”
All lies and manipulation, clouding their heads and wounding their hearts.
So they’re desperate for truth. Which is why they’re watching and listening.
Everything you say and do and write communicates. Everything you don’t say and don’t do and don’t write communicates.
So, yes, they’re watching you.
And, yes, it’s an awesome responsbility.
But, if you want to be a leader, you know all about responsibility.
They’re watching you… and learning.
Be aware of that.
And then forget it and just be yourself. Someone who cares. Someone with courage. Someone who gets it.
They’re watching… and I’m guessing they like what they see.
Jim Warda
A woman from the audience followed me into the hallway. “I think we’re married to the same man,” she said. Successfully fighting the urge to fire off the snappy reply, “Could be. I travel a lot,” I simply smiled back. I’d heard this before.
I’m introduced as a change-management expert – married to a man who refuses to change anything. So, during my speech, I tell humorous stories about the resistance my husband puts up – and how I learned, from managers I’d interviewed, different ways to handle his protests.
After every speech, audience members come up to me to comment on my husband. Many people recognize their co-workers or loved ones (or themselves!) in him, and some (like the woman who’s own spouse’s behavior so resembled mine) jokingly commiserate with me. The thing I find most intriguing about this phenomenon is that in my twenty years of professional speaking, no one has ever approached me after a program to say they most appreciated my fifth point. That’s because they don’t remember what my fifth point was. But they do remember my husband and the lessons about handling change resistance that they learned through my stories.
As a communicator, stories can be your most potent allies.
Social scientists note that there are two different modes of cognition: the paradigmatic mode and the narrative mode. The former is rooted in rational analysis; the latter is represented in fairy tales, myth, legends, metaphors, and good stories. Good stories are more powerful than plain facts!
That is not to reject the value in facts, of course, but simply to recognize their limits in influencing people. Stories supplement analysis. Facts are neutral. People make decisions based on what facts mean to them, not on the facts themselves. Facts aren’t influential until they mean something to someone. Stories give facts meaning.
Here is the difference: Trying to influence people through scientific analysis is a “push” strategy. It requires the speaker to convince the listener through cold, factual evidence. Storytelling is a “pull” strategy, in which the listener is invited to join the experience a participant, and to imagine herself acting on the mental stage the storyteller creates. Stories resonate with adults in ways that can bring them back to a childlike open-mindedness – and make them less resistant to experimentation and change.
Compared to facts, stories are better for building community, capturing the imagination, and exerting influence. Stories about the past help employees understand the rich heritage of an organization, stories about early adopters offer successful examples of dealing with change, personal stories are powerful leadership tools for building trust, humorous stories can ease tension and, if you interview key staff, stories can capture their wisdom.
Stories can address universal human themes
Michael LeBoeuf, author of How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life, illustrates the power of making people feel important with the following story:
Jane, recently married, was having lunch with a friend, explaining why she married Bill instead of Bob.
“Bob is Mr. Everything,” Jane said. “He’s intelligent, clever and has a very successful career. In fact, when I was with Bob, I felt like he was the most wonderful person in the world.”
“Then why did you marry Bill?” her friend asked. Jane replied, “Because when I’m with Bill, I feel like I’m the most wonderful person in the world.”
Stories can show how to approach your work
I once asked Sanjiv Sidhu, the CEO of i2 Technologies, what kind of attitudes he encouraged in his work force. Although his is a high-tech company, he told me a story about cleaning houses. It’s the same story he tells employees.
“Most people would think that cleaning houses for a living was a pretty boring job. But I believe that if you had the right attitude, cleaning houses could be intellectually stimulating. Let’s say it takes you four hours to clean a house, and you’re doing three houses a day, six days a week. That’s 72 hours of really boring work and a pretty sure recipe for burnout somewhere down the line. But if you redefined the job, said to yourself that you were going to do each house in two hours, there’d be an innovative component in the work suddenly. You’d need to do a study that asked, for example: ‘Am I going to vacuum the whole house first and then go back and polish the furniture, or am I going to do everything in one room before moving on to the next?’ And if you added to that goal the goal of being the best house-cleaner ever, then you really would be stretching your mind, the job wouldn’t feel boring anymore and you probably wouldn’t burn out because your own innovative thinking would keep you interested.
But then suppose you shifted gears again and said, ‘Okay, now I’m going to clean each house in ten minutes!’ That’s where the real fun would begin for someone like me because I’d know I couldn’t hit that target by merely tinkering with spatial tasking. I’d have to start thinking about new kinds of house-cleaning equipment–or maybe even new kinds of houses that cleaned themselves. That’s the kind of thinking we’re encouraging in our employees all of the time.”
Stories can make values come alive
Nordstrom is one organization that does a remarkable job of using anecdotes about its sales force to communicate its value of impeccable customer service. There is, for example, the often-repeated tale about the saleswoman who took her lunch hour to drive from downtown Seattle to the airport to make sure that her customer received his new business suit. The customer had purchased the suit that morning to wear at a meeting in another city the next day — and then discovered the garment needed alterations. The Nordstrom saleswoman had promised to have the suite altered and delivered to him before he left town. She kept her promise.
Stories can become the symbol of change
There is a story I tell in the book, “This Isn’t the Company I Joined” – How to Lead in a Business Turned Upside Down: Buckman Laboratories has been in the specialty chemical business since 1945. Under the leadership of Robert H. (Bob) Buckman, it also became a world-class, knowledge-sharing organization. Bob would tell you that converting a command-and-control organization into a networked one was not without its challenges and setbacks. Still, by 1994, Buckman Labs had jumped into full-bore knowledge sharing: new software and connectivity had been installed, most of the associates were equipped with laptops, and online Forums were up and running. To honor and reward the top 150 people from around the world who had done the best job of sharing knowledge with the new technologies, a “Fourth Wave Meeting” was held in Scottsdale, Arizona. The meeting was three days of fun, celebration and work – specifically, critical discussions about business trends and strategies. It was also the setting for the following story:
Through the entire conference, a man wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and sandals sat at the back of the room, chronicling the meeting on his laptop and sending live messages onto the Forum for the rest of the company to read. His name was Mark Koskiniemi. About midway through the meeting, one of the organizers (a manager) approached Mark and asked him to stop sending out notes on the meeting. Mark refused by saying he didn’t feel that was appropriate. When the organizer suggested that the request to cease came from the top, Mark countered by saying he’d appreciate hearing it personally.
A few minutes later, a break was called, and Mark found himself face-to-face with Bob Buckman. Here is how Mark recalls the conversation:
Mark: Hello, sir.
Bob: Mark, I understand that you have been posting notes from the meeting on the Forum. I have to say that I have not read them, but are you sure that is such a good idea?
Mark: Do you trust me?
Bob broke into a big smile, nodded slightly, and nothing further was said about Mark’s continued reporting of the events.
As Mark later said: “If knowledge sharing is built on trust, then to me this moment over any other demonstrated that Bob Buckman really trusted the associates of Buckman Laboratories to take the company forward.”
There were two results from Koskiniemi’s reporting:
1. In all, he sent more than 50 Forum or e-mail messages related to the reports coming from the meeting.
2. Koskiniemi (who is now head of Buckman’s operation in Australia and New Zealand) told others the story – and it came to symbolize the desired culture change.
I talk with many companies each year, and have found that high-performing organizations (the “agile” ones) manage people differently. They have embraced the new definition of work:
1. They reward results and expertise, not position.
Accenture rewards its consultants based on a 7-level capability model, which people are expected to focus on over many years of their career. People are evaluated based on the “internal demand” for their skills, not just their manager’s assessment of performance.
Intel regularly rewards and moves top engineering talent around the company to promote and build their expertise.
2. They break down functional silos and facilitate work across business functions.
One of Pfizer’s greatest organizational breakthroughs was the company’s focus on “science teams” which collaborate and share information on various body systems, organs, and molecules – across different product teams.
IBM regularly creates global action-teams which take people from functional groups and brings them together to work on large client projects.
3. They reward continuous learning and “learning agility.”
The Federal Reserve and even the IRS now reward people for contributing knowledge to others becoming better teachers and learners. Some academics call this a push for “serial incompetence,” meaning people are regularly moved into new roles to expand their breadth of experience.
The best tool for leaders of change is to understand the predictable, universal sources of resistance in each situation and then strategize around them. Here are the ten I’ve found to be the most common.
Loss of control. Change interferes with autonomy and can make people feel that they’ve lost control over their territory. It’s not just political, as in who has the power. Our sense of self-determination is often the first things to go when faced with a potential change coming from someone else. Smart leaders leave room for those affected by change to make choices. They invite others into the planning, giving them ownership.
Excess uncertainty. If change feels like walking off a cliff blindfolded, then people will reject it. People will often prefer to remain mired in misery than to head toward an unknown. As the saying goes, “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know.” To overcome inertia requires a sense of safety as well as an inspiring vision. Leaders should create certainty of process, with clear, simple steps and timetables.
Surprise, surprise! Decisions imposed on people suddenly, with no time to get used to the idea or prepare for the consequences, are generally resisted. It’s always easier to say No than to say Yes. Leaders should avoid the temptation to craft changes in secret and then announce them all at once. It’s better to plant seeds — that is, to sprinkle hints of what might be coming and seek input.
Everything seems different. Change is meant to bring something different, but how different? We are creatures of habit. Routines become automatic, but change jolts us into consciousness, sometimes in uncomfortable ways. Too many differences can be distracting or confusing. Leaders should try to minimize the number of unrelated differences introduced by a central change. Wherever possible keep things familiar. Remain focused on the important things; avoid change for the sake of change.
Loss of face. By definition, change is a departure from the past. Those people associated with the last version — the one that didn’t work, or the one that’s being superseded — are likely to be defensive about it. When change involves a big shift of strategic direction, the people responsible for the previous direction dread the perception that they must have been wrong. Leaders can help people maintain dignity by celebrating those elements of the past that are worth honoring, and making it clear that the world has changed. That makes it easier to let go and move on.
In a recent post, 12 Common Traits of Companies With Successful Corporate Planning, we examined common patterns of companies experiencing success in their corporate strategic planning efforts. This week and next, we will will examine 12 common mistakes made in corporate strategic planning.
This week, let’s look at the first six common mistakes.
1. The timeframe of the plan is too long
While business strategies should be expected to be steady and relatively unchanged for a longer period of time, strategic plans need to remain sharply focused on accomplishing strategic priorities in a timely manner. The plans also need more frequent refreshing to keep them from becoming stale and to keep the organization energized on plan execution. Long-term planning certainly has its place in a corporate world, but shorter operational plan horizons, going only 12 months out, allow organizations to utilize valuable current information and remain engaged in delivering to the plan milestones. A rolling 12-month plan that is updated on a quarterly basis offers more value to the organization in several ways. As long-term plan goals are partially or fully met, the operational component of the plan moves forward and is refreshed with more accurate and updated information for the coming 12 months. New objectives and sub-initiatives move up as others are completed and move out. This provides actionable data for managers to work from during budgeting and gives executives a more realistic sense of actual plan momentum and progress.
2. Too many strategic goals
Organizations often have a long wish list of goals, ranging from pie-in-the-sky to mundane. Dreaming up goals is generally not an issue. Instead, the issue is having the discipline to narrow down prioritized goals to a manageable and achievable level. Five goals is a good number to consider as a maximum. When you consider that each goal will lead to a sequence of programs, initiatives, activities and deliverables that will need to be managed and implemented throughout the organization, it’s easy to see how a long list of goals can inhibit implementation success.
3. Goals not tied to measurable outcomes
Organizational goals should be constructed in terms of outcomes that will mean something tangible to customers, employees and the organization’s markets served. Likewise, goals should be defined in such a way that they can be measured and managed throughout the layers of the organization. Goals should help propel action and achievement from the managers and workers who will be involved in accomplishing them.
4. Employees are unaware of the goals
Believe it or not, this can be a huge problem in many organizations. When the corporate planning process fails to consider the individuals who will actually implement the plan, breakdowns happen and desired outcomes are rarely attained. Detailed plans of action are needed for each initiative and goals should be carefully communicated throughout the organization so that everyone knows and understands not only the “big picture”, but what is expected specifically of them.
A colleague of mine can do wonderful things on a computer – except fix it when it jumps up and bites him. That’s why a trusted associate is often needed. More often than not, his co-workers hear a wailful “Dominick!” when the biting, or crashing, or whatever else a finicky computer decides to do, occurs. I can relate to my colleague, well aware of my own technological shortcomings and the fact that both of us – perhaps a great many of you, too – still use only a fraction of our computers’ potential.
Along the same lines, I see very few organizations using more than a fraction of their employees’ creative potential – and fewer still that really understand how to nurture corporate-wide innovation.
The problem starts with the definition of creativity. Often innovation is thought of as the bold new invention that wins fame and fortune. But creativity isn’t only about coming up with the “next big thing.” The thousands of small improvements that come from successfully tapping into the organization’s collective creativity are the sustaining source of competitive advantage.
Take Technicolor Corporation in Detroit, for example. They use Quick and Easy Kaizen – a system designed to encourage creativity by empowering all employees to submit and then implement two improvement ideas each month. This past February, 1,320 employees submitted suggestions and within 48 hours half of them were already being implemented.
One employee built a cutting box that both prevented people getting cut while splicing tape and also reduced the spoilage on wasted tape. A small improvement, sure, but little things can add up. The new cutting box was estimated to save the company $27,000 per year. Imagine the accumulated savings when virtually everyone in the company is submitting and implementing two ideas a month!
In today’s economy, creative ideas aren’t just good for business, they’re essential for success. Then why do so many organizations falter when trying to encourage company-wide innovation? Because it means taking these four big steps:
Step 1. Have faith in the creative potential of all employees. Often the people you expect to be the innovators aren’t the ones who come up with the best ideas. Everyone in an organization – from accounting to operations – has innate creativity just waiting to be tapped. At American Airlines, two mechanics in Tulsa, Oklahoma invented a drill bit-sharpening tool that saves the company $300,000 to $400,000 annually. Another worker idea saved $675,000 by reusing the parts of obsolete DC-10 coffee makers from other AA airplanes.
Step 2. Assess the current state of creativity in the organization. If you really want to know what inhibits creativity, ask your employees. Guidant, Inc., a Silicon Valley and Midwest manufacturer of medical equipment, used focus groups to identify barriers to innovation behavior. (Obstacles included too many people involved in every decision, failure too risky, company leaders not listening, etc.)
Step 3. Benchmark organizations with a reputation for ongoing innovation and compare your company’s C.Q. “creativity quotient” with theirs. (Sony, 3M, Disney, W.L. Gore, Fresh Express, Dell Computer, and Cirque du Soleil are among those frequently cited as highly innovative enterprises.) Although these companies have various structures and business models, they share similar strategies for encouraging creativity:
* Reducing unnecessary controls
* Encouraging fun and playfulness
* Fostering an environment of experimentation
* Expressing and embodying values
* Focusing on the larger goal or mission
* Encouraging risk and learning from failure
* Communicating candidly about business obstacles and opportunities
* Publicizing, recognizing, and celebrating innovations
Step 4. Invest in training for everyone. A culture for innovation requires new roles and accountabilities at all levels. Guidant developed a series of seminars, attended first by senior leaders, then by the next 450 managers. The programs were designed to help change leadership from command and control to creative collaboration – asking for, listening to, and implementing the ideas of others. Additional seminars involved everyone in a particular business group learning to take responsibility and to think more creatively.
There is tremendous latent energy in the imagination and dreams of your people. Find ways to tap into your organization’s collective creative potential – and you will blow the competition away!
The social network – those ties among individuals that are based on mutual trust, shared work experiences, and common physical and virtual spaces – is in many senses the “true structure” of an organization. Because leaders are beginning to realize the economic implications of these networks, organizations are having them analyzed and mapped.
Capital: Accumulated wealth, especially as used to produce more wealth.
Social capital: Wealth (or benefit) that exists because of an individual’s relationships. The value created by fostering connections between individuals.
Xerox Corporation in the 1980s was looking for a way to boost the productivity of its field service staff. An anthropologist from the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) traveled with a group of tech reps to observe how they actually did their jobs — not how they described what they did, or what their managers assumed they did. The anthropologist discovered that the reps spent more time with each other than with customers. They’d gather in common areas like the local parts warehouse or around the coffee pot and swap stories from the field. An old model company manager would have viewed the time spent socializing as a “gap” to be eliminated for higher productivity, but the anthropologist saw the exact opposite.
For Xerox, the informal gatherings didn’t represent time wasted, but rather money in the bank. For it was here, within these self-organized communities of practice, that the reps asked each other questions, identified problems, and shared new solutions as they devised them. And it was through conversations at the warehouse — conversations that weren’t part of any formal business process or reflected in any official organizational chart – that people really learned how to do their jobs.
The Xerox story is an example of social capital in operation. Here is another that Tom Stewart, the editor of Harvard Business Review, likes to tell: In a customer service call center, a new software was installed to help employees fix problems. When the call-center operator typed words spoken by a customer, the software searched its memory bank of diagnoses and then offered a variety of possible solutions. Trouble was, employees weren’t using the new software. So management held a month-long contest in which employees earned points whenever they solved a customer problem, by whatever means. Managers were hoping that the benefit of using the new system would become self-evident. That wasn’t, however, what happened.
The winner of the contest was Carlos, an eight-year veteran with loads of practical experience who almost never used the software. And, while his success might have been expected, the second-prize winner was a real shock. Trish was so new to the company that she didn’t even have the software – and she had no personal experience to rely on. But she did have one unique advantage: She sat next to Carlos. Trish overheard his conversations, she took him to lunch and asked questions, she persuaded him to help her build a personal collection of notes and manuals about how to fix problems. Trish won because she utilized her social network.
The social network – those ties among individuals that are based on mutual trust, shared work experiences, and common physical and virtual spaces – is in many senses the “true structure” of an organization. Because leaders are beginning to realize the economic implications of these networks, organizations are having them analyzed and mapped.
A social network analysis consists of a survey of the individuals in a “network” (a group or an organization) asking who they rely on for information, for learning, or for specific knowledge needed in decision-making. Then visual maps are created showing who goes to whom – revealing knowledge flow, powerful connections, and potential blocks.
But you don’t have to map social networks to realize the importance of personal connections. Every work group or team has potentially two positive outcomes: 1) achieving the team’s objective and 2) building the social capital of team members. That’s why the most successful offsite meetings encourage participants to socialize at meals, during breaks, in the workout room, and at the bar. The “war stories” and insights shared informally build trust and nurture relationships, and that in turn foster a more creative, successful, and engaged work force.
them?
In some circles they’re also called “Millennials,” and today’s Gen-Y’ers come to the workplace with a markedly different perspective than past generations. Having grown up during the dot-com boom and the “war for talent,” they recognize the potential to make a significant impact in the business world. At the same time, as eyewitnesses to the corporate, institutional, and even journalistic scandals of recent years, they are also highly skeptical.They have in common many other shared experiences that will create bonds among them – and distinguish them from your current workforce. Consider, for example, that television was the defining technology for Baby Boomers and drove a culture of homogeneity. For this new generation, the defining technology has been the Internet – which drives diversity.
They’ve grown up in a digital, networked, mobile world. They’ve been in school when kids were killing kids at other schools. From Blackberry to Bluetooth, from cell phones that are cameras to eyeglasses that are cell phones – for this techno-savvy generation, these will continue to be “must haves.” They’re hip, they’re aware, and long familiar with AOL, IM, ATMs, PCs, VCRs, and DVDs. Toss in TCBY, for that matter.
They’re pragmatic. They’ve witnessed organizational restructuring and layoffs, often involving their own families, which means they don’t believe security is guaranteed. They want to acquire the skills and networks that will make them more marketable now – and in the future. And they’re idealistic. As they search for meaning, volunteerism among 16- to 24-year-olds is way up. Family and religious values are central, and “jobs that matter” hold great appeal.
There’s more you should know about them. They have a high tolerance for change and innovation and aren’t afraid of being fired. They’re more afraid of being bored. The high number of college graduates among them don’t expect to stay with their first employer for more than two years. They have been told they will have many jobs in a variety of organizations over the course of several different careers.
They represent the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in history. They come, as well, from a different social and cultural environment than past generations. One in four comes from single-parent homes. Three in four have working mothers. And forget about that long-gone era when children were “seen and not heard.” Members of this generation had their own cell phones – and credit cards – as pre-teens. Their opinions were regularly sought in family decision-making (especially when it came to buying and setting up the latest technology).
From scholastic tutoring to music and sports, Gen-Y’ers have been overscheduled by parents trying to keep them out of trouble and make up for time lost to the family by working parents.
They have, in short, become older younger.
All of this is important information for Gen Y recruiters, who would be wise to follow several tips.
Tip #1: Be candid. Gen-Y’ers come to interviews prepared. They’ve been “sold to” all their lives and their “BS barometer” is finely tuned. They also tend to believe one another, which is why some companies are using satisfied Gen-Y’ers as resources whom candidates can talk to.
Tip #2: Recruit to the culture. It’s amazing how people want to join an organization whose culture reflects their own values. That’s why companies like Disney and the University of Colorado Hospital have applicants watch a video that explains their standards, rules, dress code, and expected behaviors – and, even before filling out an application, are asked, “Can you uphold our values?”
Tip #3: Upgrade internship programs. IBM’s Extreme Blue internship program makes sure that interns don’t end up making coffee and photocopies. Instead, it mixes MBA students with computer developers in research labs around the world.Tip #4: Use your website. A well-structured and easily navigated web site is a must for recruiting.
Tip #5: Mind your CRM. Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) is a mindset that understands the importance of the relationship between the recruiter and the potential recruit. The way a candidate is treated by recruiters sets the tone for his or her initial impression of the organization. CRM tactics include responding quickly, making each candidate feel unique, and keeping them informed.
So if you get them, how do you keep them? Here is what research says Gen-Y’ers most want in a job:
Want #1: Great bosses and relationships. They want people who will get to know them personally as well as professionally and care about them as individuals. And encourage personal relationships between employees. This generation thrives on them, and people are reluctant to leave companies where they have friends.
Want #2: Frequent feedback. The days of annual performance reviews are over. Gen Y employees want constant, informal assessment of how they are doing.
Want #3: Recognition. “Catch people doing things right.” Instantly recognize and reward outstanding efforts, build reputations within the company, show people that you appreciate their contribution.
Want #4: Collaboration and teamwork. Command and control tactics don’t work with the Gen-Y’ers, who are looking to exchange knowledge and be treated as a valuable team member. Bring employees into the planning process of anything that affects them. Address their concerns and co-create goals and strategy.
Want #5: Access to information. Computers have given this generation the experience of always having information “at their fingertips,” and they are adept at using different data and technology to blend seemingly unrelated elements when solving problems.
It should come as no surprise that they want much more, as well. Gen-Y’ers put great store in education, and they want to be encouraged and supported to create personal growth and development plans. They want the challenge and excitement of getting on board and getting up to speed quickly. The worst thing you can do is leave them sitting around waiting for something to happen. Give them a task or responsibility they can own and offer a wide range of projects to work on.
They work to live, not live to work. Younger employees want control of their time, whether it involves organizationally structured arrangements such as flex-time or contractual work, or management philosophies and practices that stress results over “face time.” They’re also looking for meaning in their lives, so help new employees make a “values match” between their personal values and the organization’s vision/mission. Let individuals know specifically how their work fits in and contributes to the goals of the enterprise.
Competitive salaries and benefits? Of course they’re part of the equation. But as one executive told me, “If they come just for the bucks, they’ll leave for the bucks.” Retaining Gen-Y’ers will depend more on building their engagement – with challenging work in a nurturing environment – than it will on salary.
They’re ready for you. Are you ready for them?
n preparation for the workshop I’m presenting at ResidentialDesign 2005, a conference for residential architects in Boston, I interviewed solo/small firm practitioners to discover what types of conflicts plague them. One of the most difficult challenges, they reported, is working with clients who fail to appreciate the value of architectural services.
Not a Value-Add
According to these professionals this type of client, often called a ‘bad client’, seeks them out as a last resort when a project becomes too difficult. These clients want a quick fix and a low bill.
Figuring any client is better than none, an architect may agree to do the work. The relationship starts off strained and gets steadily worse. In fact, things got so bad in one situation that the distraught architect had to withhold services until he received payment from his bad client.
So, that got me thinking, how can you react to a ‘bad client? What’s the proper approach?
Avoid Tough Clients
As my grandma Janey used to say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Start by not attracting tough clients in the first place.
1. Define your ideal client clearly and specifically for yourself and others.
I decided long ago only to work with clients- companies and individuals-who actually want to improve their conflict management skills, are ready to do it and appreciate the value of my work!
Realize that the clients you give up will find another expert in the field to work with and ultimately be better served. And, no your practice won’t suffer because now you’ll have energy for clients and projects that are meaningful and exciting to you.
2. Remain true to working with your ideal client, even when your bank account says otherwise.
I know. I know. That’s easy to say and very hard to do. I’ve been there myself. I once turned down a consulting job that had the potential to create almost $150K in revenue for one year. But the client was very, very difficult and far from my ideal client. I agonized over all the business-building could do with that money.
So how did I turn all it down? I realized that no amount of money was worth the nervous turn my stomach took whenever the client called. My standard safeguards my health, sanity and passion for my work. Compared to those, the money didn’t seem like a great bounty anymore.
Handle the Tough Clients You Have
So what happens if you already have the client from hell? Handle it professionally.
1. Be Open. It’s easy to get off track and think evil thoughts about a disrespectful client. But those thoughts translate into actions on an unconscious level and may impact your work. You know, the project gets delayed, or you miss some detail because you were rushing to get onto something more pleasurable.
Find ways to reclaim your self-esteem. Recall past work that went very well, or compliments from other clients. Don’t give in to denial (it’s their entire fault) or self-criticism (I always screw this up).
2. Be an educator. Educating clients about your process and the hard work it takes to get a quality result can be essential in shifting a client’s perception of you.
Mediating seems very easy at first. It doesn’t look like more than sitting, listening and asking questions. In fact, I’ve had a client ask what am I paying you for. But once I start explaining the process, the way I help to facilitate deeper understanding and the results achieved, clients appreciate my expertise.
As a professional you bring your expertise, experience, intuition and energy to your client’s work, all of which save time, aggravation, mistakes and money. Enlighten your clients.
3. Set boundaries and expectations. We all teach others how to treat us. Help your clients understand what behaviors will not work in their favor and why.
A simple statement like, “I know you’re upset about this problem. I’d like to help but I can’t until we can have a reasonable conversation with no yelling. Can we do that now, or is later better?”
This statement does three things:
- · acknowledges the client’s feeling of frustration;
- · reinforces your expectation (yelling will not result in their desired outcome -getting help)
- · shows respect (offers a choice as to when the conversation can happen)
You may have to repeat your expectations but eventually the client will get it.
Your Value is Greater Than You Think
Don’t forget that your value as a human is equal to, if not greater than, your value as a professional. Your worth rests in the care and love you show to yourself, others and your work. You may be just one person in the world, but to one person you may just be the world. Now, that’s a value add.
Dina Beach Lynch, J.D. is a Mediator and Ombudsman that specializes in workplace conflict. To read more articles, visit http://www.workwelltogether.com
Recently, I have been quite close to a few major change initiatives and I’ve noticed how certain basic principles associated with making change work are routinely overlooked.People support what they help to create – Here’s a basic question for the leaders of change: Have you consulted the people who will be most impacted by the change? Leadership experts like Meg Wheatley and others have taught us that “people support what they help to create.” A simple and powerful truth about human nature. If you want the buy in of people in your organization, you must treat them with respect by inviting them to discuss the change. Listen to their concerns, and to their ideas. There’s a great quote from Warren Bennis on this: “Good leaders make people feel that they’re at the very heart of things.”
Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater – How often have you seen this scenario? A CEO gets fed up with something in his organization that he perceives as dysfunctional and says “Shut it down.” No discussion, no debate, and certainly no consultation with the people working in the system. The reaction of the people? Surprise, dismay, anger, hurt. When such organizational bathwater is tossed out, the baby often goes out the window too. Is it any wonder people resist change? Ask yourself, What gets lost?
Be careful to preserve what’s working now – The “baby” we were just referring to represents what is now working well, even in a process or system that needs major change. There is always something that is working well now. This is where change agents would do well to study Appreciative Inquiry and use its methods to find out the current strengths of the as is process. If change makers are not careful to preserve what’s working now, the intended improvements may actually cause setbacks.