The adage today is that people switch careers the way their parents switched jobs.
Are there any young people today interested in working for the same company for life?
Not many I talk to are interested in that...but look at this.
Today employee commitment is dramatically less strong then it was for our grandparents. 1 in 2 full time working adults believe that the management team they work for does not have them at their best interest. Besides a few examples of Japanese companies having workers for a lifetime, not many young people seriously consider working for a company for a lifetime.
There's a real disadvantage to that too. Think about how many young people take jobs that IN NO WAY give them relevant skills for their dream profession. What does 5 years working as a waiter do for you if you want to be an analyst? Why work in retail during college, if your goal is to become a doctor. Of course, people want to make money, and they are in college to find the skills to be relevant to an organization.
Here's the example I want to discuss. A little company called Lincoln Electric showed guaranteed employment is possible, and that it has been possible through several recessions and depressions. Frank Koller in his book "Spark: How Old-Fashioned Values Drive a Twenty-First Century Corporation", writes about how the 3,300 employees at Lincoln Electric survive with this unusual system. Workers here make roughly $55,000 dollars a year, and yearly bonuses are about $30,000. Most of these workers are involved in piecework, laboring in a factory setting to create manufactored parts.
This is frankly unheard of today!
Consider this. Not one employee has ever been laid off (yes, some have been let go for performance reasons), and the company continues to hire great workers even today. In 2010! John Lincoln launched the company in 1895, and early on espoused a philosophy of valuing the worker.
Koller writes "At his core, James Lincoln believed every company had to earn the right to expect hard work from its employees, but at the same time he was absolutely convinced that no employer could expect to motivate his employees to work hard just by paying money. He would argue, passionately, that first and foremost employees wanted to be respected as human beings who were engaged in a process of creating a worthwhile product."
Lincoln Electric continues to maintain it's principles. They did not collapse during the Wall Street chicanery of the late 1990s, 2000s. They did not have to unionize because of distrust between the workers and management. During times of hardship workers would have hours reduced to 32 a week. Consider that the CEO would make only 16x more then their lowest paid worker. That a huge difference from the inequality of pay between most fortune 100 companies whose CEO makes over 300X what the the lowest worker makes.
Is there a lesson to learn from Lincoln Electric today?
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
From Partnerships to Culture
Partnerships can be great, and a great leadership on top, where partnerships are strong, and there is positive energy can lead to a fantastic culture.
Why is it great companies, sometimes fail? Why is it you can hire some of the brighest people, from ivy league schools, and still have companies that flop?
The answer might be culture. From my favorite book of 2009 "Tribal Leadership", here is one of the finest TED Talks available on youtube. When you think about your attitude, and your partnerships, and eventutally your culture. It leads to a whole new understanding about what an organization is capable of.
The video speaks for itself.
Why is it great companies, sometimes fail? Why is it you can hire some of the brighest people, from ivy league schools, and still have companies that flop?
The answer might be culture. From my favorite book of 2009 "Tribal Leadership", here is one of the finest TED Talks available on youtube. When you think about your attitude, and your partnerships, and eventutally your culture. It leads to a whole new understanding about what an organization is capable of.
The video speaks for itself.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Trust Earned, Trust Broken
There isn’t an easy to answer to the question:
What do you do when trust is broken in a partnership.
As Wagner and Muller (2009) state in their book, the positive and gushy feelings we have toward our partner almost completely reverse themselves at a major trust breach. The behaviors you might see in someone who has been violated would be situtational of course, but probably some form of withholding praise, neglecting situations, a breakdown of communication, and other resistance behaviors that could easily tear that partnership apart would be present.
In a business, the tension of a broken relationship can have dramatic consequences. Consider a merge of companies or an acquisition, and the divided cultures already in place. Othen the bought out company (acquisition) is going to their management fired, and the dominant culture will take place, unleashing lots of negativity. In other situations, companies can be divided up into camps of people. It makes the company inefficient, and it’s a drag to be there.
This simple experiment in psychology has shown the implications of trust and fairness. Let’s say you are paired with a stranger in a room, and you are both given $100. You are told that in this scenario, if you and your partner exchange the $100 bills, then you both get $150. A positive outcome for both. However, if one partner gives his share, and the other partner does not, the unfair partner gets $200 dollars. They can also choose to keep their original $100. In this situation, how would you choose? How much do you trust a stranger? How do you know you won’t be robbed?
This is a very simplified understanding of game theory, but as pointed out by (Wagner and Muller, 2009), this is the same mindset used in the cold war. One side could nuke the other, and essentially win if they struck quick enough, and many brilliant people thought that was correct. Luckily, whew, our world avoided that devastation.
Now here's what happens 18% of the time with a stranger. Both exchange money in a fair trade and get $150 each. These respondents say they felt the other person ‘looked like a good person’, or ‘seemed genuine’. Maybe these instincts are correct, though they require much self-discipline and trust in another.
There is no easy way out of the pit…
If you have violated trust, consider making amends quickly as possible. The world does turn, and so does bitterness. Make amends, and show some behavioral change. Show that person you are genuine. If you have reasonably tried for amends, and the partnership falls apart, allow it, and move on.
A final thought:
Living life authentically means you will have misunderstandings and possibly severe breaches of trust. As difficult as these things are, you are so much more powerful of a person if you decide to take the higher road. Forgiveness, kindness, understanding others from their short comings is not easy for anyone, but it is a mark of an enlightened person.
What do you do when trust is broken in a partnership.
As Wagner and Muller (2009) state in their book, the positive and gushy feelings we have toward our partner almost completely reverse themselves at a major trust breach. The behaviors you might see in someone who has been violated would be situtational of course, but probably some form of withholding praise, neglecting situations, a breakdown of communication, and other resistance behaviors that could easily tear that partnership apart would be present.
In a business, the tension of a broken relationship can have dramatic consequences. Consider a merge of companies or an acquisition, and the divided cultures already in place. Othen the bought out company (acquisition) is going to their management fired, and the dominant culture will take place, unleashing lots of negativity. In other situations, companies can be divided up into camps of people. It makes the company inefficient, and it’s a drag to be there.
This simple experiment in psychology has shown the implications of trust and fairness. Let’s say you are paired with a stranger in a room, and you are both given $100. You are told that in this scenario, if you and your partner exchange the $100 bills, then you both get $150. A positive outcome for both. However, if one partner gives his share, and the other partner does not, the unfair partner gets $200 dollars. They can also choose to keep their original $100. In this situation, how would you choose? How much do you trust a stranger? How do you know you won’t be robbed?
This is a very simplified understanding of game theory, but as pointed out by (Wagner and Muller, 2009), this is the same mindset used in the cold war. One side could nuke the other, and essentially win if they struck quick enough, and many brilliant people thought that was correct. Luckily, whew, our world avoided that devastation.
Now here's what happens 18% of the time with a stranger. Both exchange money in a fair trade and get $150 each. These respondents say they felt the other person ‘looked like a good person’, or ‘seemed genuine’. Maybe these instincts are correct, though they require much self-discipline and trust in another.
There is no easy way out of the pit…
If you have violated trust, consider making amends quickly as possible. The world does turn, and so does bitterness. Make amends, and show some behavioral change. Show that person you are genuine. If you have reasonably tried for amends, and the partnership falls apart, allow it, and move on.
A final thought:
Living life authentically means you will have misunderstandings and possibly severe breaches of trust. As difficult as these things are, you are so much more powerful of a person if you decide to take the higher road. Forgiveness, kindness, understanding others from their short comings is not easy for anyone, but it is a mark of an enlightened person.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Partnerships: 1 + 1 = 10
In the business, finding someone who complements you may be the single biggest difference between success and failure.
One of the cautionary partnership tales, my personnel favorite of the stories in
"The Power of 2" (Wagner and Muller, 2009) is about the charmed company Disney. Disney in 1984 was looking for a new CEO, and no candidate was more impressive then Michael Eisner. He is portrayed as creative, quick thinker, impulsive and also well versed in business. However, there was another canidate that impressed the board but in a different way. Frank Wells - an astute business man, intelligent scholar, calm, collected, measured and focused. Disney couldn't pick 1, so they got the pair. Together Eisner/Wells would take Disney into something of a golden age. Movies classics: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and the Lion King were made. The disney amusement parks thrived, and merchandise was selling very well. All this time, the Eisner/Wells bond was incredibily strong and they made millions for themselves and Disney.
Everything changed in 1994. Wells was killed on impact in helicopter crash during a retreat. Eisner mourned the lost of his beloved partner, and rather then take on a new partner tried to forgo the Disney CEO path alone. Disaster was at every turn with Eisner at the helm. His impulses turned to something of a mania, and having no person to balance him in his decisions, the Disney franchise started to take severe financial hits. Wells was forgotten. Eventually Eisner's poor decisions and impulsive behavior had the Disney board questioning if he was ever responsbile for the Wells/Eisner success. Eisner was fired in 2004.
It's not that Eisner was a bad CEO. It's just that what he brought to the table was not enough by itself. The same might have been true for Wells, if the roles were reversed. Sometimes 1 person has the the power of 1 person. But take two people together who can form something greater then themselves, and you can have a whole new creation.
So what are the elements that make a good partnership.
Below are the 8 competencies needed (Wagner and Muller, 2009), and i've written out individualized paragraphs about each section.
1. Complementary Strengths - We need people different then us. Consider the dynamics of a pair when the strengths are divided up unevenly. An example a lot of Americans might be familar with is the President/Vice President strengths that make the pair a lot stronger. For instance, in the early 2000s, George W. Bush's 'compassionate conservatism' was complemented by the hawkish attitudes of Dick Cheney and it made for a strong conservative team. The Obama/Biden ticket strengths have Biden characterized as solid reputation and experience, and Obama has the youthfilled, dynamic, change agent persona.
2. A Common Mission - The mission has to be the same. If one of us wants to climb a mountain, and the other wants a straddle up a hill, we got a problem no matter how much the too like each other. The mission does not need to be sought after for the same reason. Again with the mountain climber example - one may climb the mountain as a way of conquering a personal goal, and the other may climb the mountain because they want the bragging rights of accomplishing such a task. The end result has to be agreed up, and more detailled and well communicated it is, the more likely that partnership will be strong.
3. Fairness - I'll go into it in detail with the next post - when partnerships fail, but, fairness is a critical element.
4. Trust - We form partnerships because we can not do it alone, or prefer not too. Trust is the glue that holds the partnership together. Where trust is questioned, there is no trust. Again i'll have more to say in the next post.
5. Acceptance - Indie rock band, the Postal Service said it best "everything is perfect from such great heights". As you work with the partner, and get to know him better, you might see things that are turn offs. Big egos, dependability, sharp-tongued, risk adverse - you name it, you'll see problems. Accepting the person as they are goes a long way in making a partnership more tolerable for both parties.
6. Forgiveness - How much of a breach can be handled, that's hard to say. Only 18% of strong partnerships ever forgo a serious breach of contract. Poor partnerships will see more breaches of trust. Whether or not the pair goes forward is what is most critical.
7. Communicating - One of the best chapters in this book is about communication. I think one of key things here is that communication "builds" collaboration. The more communication there is, and the higher quality it is, the more bridges that pair can cross together. Communicating well is ultimately an act of being vulnerable enough to be open to others and being authentic
8. Unselfishness - Egos will kill it.
Next blog posting - when partnerships unravel.
One of the cautionary partnership tales, my personnel favorite of the stories in
"The Power of 2" (Wagner and Muller, 2009) is about the charmed company Disney. Disney in 1984 was looking for a new CEO, and no candidate was more impressive then Michael Eisner. He is portrayed as creative, quick thinker, impulsive and also well versed in business. However, there was another canidate that impressed the board but in a different way. Frank Wells - an astute business man, intelligent scholar, calm, collected, measured and focused. Disney couldn't pick 1, so they got the pair. Together Eisner/Wells would take Disney into something of a golden age. Movies classics: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and the Lion King were made. The disney amusement parks thrived, and merchandise was selling very well. All this time, the Eisner/Wells bond was incredibily strong and they made millions for themselves and Disney.
Everything changed in 1994. Wells was killed on impact in helicopter crash during a retreat. Eisner mourned the lost of his beloved partner, and rather then take on a new partner tried to forgo the Disney CEO path alone. Disaster was at every turn with Eisner at the helm. His impulses turned to something of a mania, and having no person to balance him in his decisions, the Disney franchise started to take severe financial hits. Wells was forgotten. Eventually Eisner's poor decisions and impulsive behavior had the Disney board questioning if he was ever responsbile for the Wells/Eisner success. Eisner was fired in 2004.
It's not that Eisner was a bad CEO. It's just that what he brought to the table was not enough by itself. The same might have been true for Wells, if the roles were reversed. Sometimes 1 person has the the power of 1 person. But take two people together who can form something greater then themselves, and you can have a whole new creation.
So what are the elements that make a good partnership.
Below are the 8 competencies needed (Wagner and Muller, 2009), and i've written out individualized paragraphs about each section.
1. Complementary Strengths - We need people different then us. Consider the dynamics of a pair when the strengths are divided up unevenly. An example a lot of Americans might be familar with is the President/Vice President strengths that make the pair a lot stronger. For instance, in the early 2000s, George W. Bush's 'compassionate conservatism' was complemented by the hawkish attitudes of Dick Cheney and it made for a strong conservative team. The Obama/Biden ticket strengths have Biden characterized as solid reputation and experience, and Obama has the youthfilled, dynamic, change agent persona.
2. A Common Mission - The mission has to be the same. If one of us wants to climb a mountain, and the other wants a straddle up a hill, we got a problem no matter how much the too like each other. The mission does not need to be sought after for the same reason. Again with the mountain climber example - one may climb the mountain as a way of conquering a personal goal, and the other may climb the mountain because they want the bragging rights of accomplishing such a task. The end result has to be agreed up, and more detailled and well communicated it is, the more likely that partnership will be strong.
3. Fairness - I'll go into it in detail with the next post - when partnerships fail, but, fairness is a critical element.
4. Trust - We form partnerships because we can not do it alone, or prefer not too. Trust is the glue that holds the partnership together. Where trust is questioned, there is no trust. Again i'll have more to say in the next post.
5. Acceptance - Indie rock band, the Postal Service said it best "everything is perfect from such great heights". As you work with the partner, and get to know him better, you might see things that are turn offs. Big egos, dependability, sharp-tongued, risk adverse - you name it, you'll see problems. Accepting the person as they are goes a long way in making a partnership more tolerable for both parties.
6. Forgiveness - How much of a breach can be handled, that's hard to say. Only 18% of strong partnerships ever forgo a serious breach of contract. Poor partnerships will see more breaches of trust. Whether or not the pair goes forward is what is most critical.
7. Communicating - One of the best chapters in this book is about communication. I think one of key things here is that communication "builds" collaboration. The more communication there is, and the higher quality it is, the more bridges that pair can cross together. Communicating well is ultimately an act of being vulnerable enough to be open to others and being authentic
8. Unselfishness - Egos will kill it.
Next blog posting - when partnerships unravel.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Partnerships
I heard a speaker say recently - ‘When we’re young we have big dreams and no resources to accomplish them; when we’re adults we have pitiful dreams and all the power in the world to accomplish them’. Often time we can accomplish our dreams with the aid of a partner. Sometimes it’s a mutual goal, sometimes not. Sometimes the two parties are equal in status, sometimes not. The next two weeks I’m going to write about professional partnerships.
Often we think about partnerships a boyfriend/girlfriend or romantic partner. Those relationships are important, but for sake of this blog, consider these partnerships: mentor/mentee, teacher/student, sales lead/salesperson, manager/artist and head coach/ junior coach. Many experiences are available for two people to work toward a goal and create an amazing experience.
In my own college/graduate experience, I’ve had an amazing opportunity to work on research with distinguished professors. While an undergrad at Northern Illinois University (NIU), I worked a semester doing cognitive psychology research. My influence was minimal at first. But, just sitting on weekly meetings and discussing an reading tool/game for kids was an amazing experience. At NIU I also had the experience of coding data for an I/O psychology professor, which lead me in a whole new direction in psychology.
In graduate studies, I also developed research, this time working more independently, and eventually designing my own thesis on the study of ‘efficacy and workplace commitment’. Here I had the opportunity to have unique experiences with a host of different professors with individual research focuses in the field of I/O psychology. In graduate school, the level of discussion and engagement is much deeper, and much more fulfilling . All of this started as a small idea with me just wanting to get involved in psychology research.
The funny thing is, I know so many people who say. Well, I’m just an undergraduate. Or, the thinks 'the things i'm interested in are “too out there”, “too boring”, “too non-academic”, fill in the blank!'
Not even a step is taken before people start retreating at the idea. So don’t let being inexperienced stop you from forming partnerships – none of us would ever grow we just stopped there. You don’t have to go it alone. There are all types of organizations to be a part of, things to do, connections to be made, and yes, partnerships to be created.
In these next two weeks, I’ll share antidotes pertaining from the bestseller “Power of 2: Elements of Great Managing” by Rodd Wagner and Gale Muller.
Often we think about partnerships a boyfriend/girlfriend or romantic partner. Those relationships are important, but for sake of this blog, consider these partnerships: mentor/mentee, teacher/student, sales lead/salesperson, manager/artist and head coach/ junior coach. Many experiences are available for two people to work toward a goal and create an amazing experience.
In my own college/graduate experience, I’ve had an amazing opportunity to work on research with distinguished professors. While an undergrad at Northern Illinois University (NIU), I worked a semester doing cognitive psychology research. My influence was minimal at first. But, just sitting on weekly meetings and discussing an reading tool/game for kids was an amazing experience. At NIU I also had the experience of coding data for an I/O psychology professor, which lead me in a whole new direction in psychology.
In graduate studies, I also developed research, this time working more independently, and eventually designing my own thesis on the study of ‘efficacy and workplace commitment’. Here I had the opportunity to have unique experiences with a host of different professors with individual research focuses in the field of I/O psychology. In graduate school, the level of discussion and engagement is much deeper, and much more fulfilling . All of this started as a small idea with me just wanting to get involved in psychology research.
The funny thing is, I know so many people who say. Well, I’m just an undergraduate. Or, the thinks 'the things i'm interested in are “too out there”, “too boring”, “too non-academic”, fill in the blank!'
Not even a step is taken before people start retreating at the idea. So don’t let being inexperienced stop you from forming partnerships – none of us would ever grow we just stopped there. You don’t have to go it alone. There are all types of organizations to be a part of, things to do, connections to be made, and yes, partnerships to be created.
In these next two weeks, I’ll share antidotes pertaining from the bestseller “Power of 2: Elements of Great Managing” by Rodd Wagner and Gale Muller.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Great Speeches
Toastmasters Plus! former president Dave Burrage gave an insight to our group recently about 'great speeches'.
What are some of the great speeches?
Well here are a few, with a tag to identify the exact speech
Martin Luther King - I Have a Dream
John F. Kennedy - Inaugural Address
FDR - We Have Nothing To Fear but Fear Itself
Ronald Reagan - Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down this Wall
Barrack Obama - A More Perfect Union
What makes these speeches great?
As a group we came up with a list of these attributes:
Relevant to their Time
Elegantly Written
Impactful
Concise - the excerpts we know are short, but impactful
Inspiring
Authentic
Occuring in times of Crisis
It's important to be familar with great speeches. These speeches may have been spoken as far back as 1932 (FDR's address to the nation), but they are relevant to the people alive today. Great words inspire, and these words from our world leaders have left an impression that will not be forgotten anytime soon.
Even if we do not have the world stage...maybe our words are as impactful in someone else's life
Excerpts from Great speeches:
FDR - First Inaugural Address (nothing to fear but fear itself speech)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amNpxQANk0M
Ronald Reagan - Brandenberg Gate (tear down this wall speech)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtYdjbpBk6A
Winston Churchill - We Shall Fight on the Beaches (War cry against Nazis)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkTw3_PmKtc&feature=related
What are some of the great speeches?
Well here are a few, with a tag to identify the exact speech
Martin Luther King - I Have a Dream
John F. Kennedy - Inaugural Address
FDR - We Have Nothing To Fear but Fear Itself
Ronald Reagan - Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down this Wall
Barrack Obama - A More Perfect Union
What makes these speeches great?
As a group we came up with a list of these attributes:
Relevant to their Time
Elegantly Written
Impactful
Concise - the excerpts we know are short, but impactful
Inspiring
Authentic
Occuring in times of Crisis
It's important to be familar with great speeches. These speeches may have been spoken as far back as 1932 (FDR's address to the nation), but they are relevant to the people alive today. Great words inspire, and these words from our world leaders have left an impression that will not be forgotten anytime soon.
Even if we do not have the world stage...maybe our words are as impactful in someone else's life
Excerpts from Great speeches:
FDR - First Inaugural Address (nothing to fear but fear itself speech)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amNpxQANk0M
Ronald Reagan - Brandenberg Gate (tear down this wall speech)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtYdjbpBk6A
Winston Churchill - We Shall Fight on the Beaches (War cry against Nazis)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkTw3_PmKtc&feature=related
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Curry International: Cultural Differences in Branding
India food is one of my favorite cuisines. I love asian food in general: Thai, Korean, Japanese, Chinese; but Indian food is notorious for it’s foods' variety of spices. The Indian subcontinent with the fertile plains of the Indus and Ganges river ( Sen, 15), and the rich cuisine of plants and spices have given its people one of the richest cuisines in the world.
So what’s your opinion of curry? Well maybe it depends on the type of curry we’re talking about. Purists in the curry market exist, but everyone seems to have a different opinion of what spices to use, and how much to use. Curry is different everywhere you go in the world. In fact, curry is so global, that it is hard to even get a solid definition of what a curry is. “Curry: A Global History” by Colleen Taylor Sen defined curry as “a spiced meat, fish or vegetable stew served with rice, bread cornmeal or another starch”. This is a much broader view then the Americanized view of curry being a distinctively Indian food.
Think of all the dishes across the world that are curried: American curried chicken salad, thai mussasmum beef curry, rending daging (Indonesian), buoi phuc trach (austrailian), nyama choma (east African), khichri (british). The global food ‘curry’ is branded differently across the world.
This applies in exactly the same way as organizations will brand themselves to the culture they exist in. Restaurants are the easiest example to explain, but any organization with multiple locations is going to have cultural differences across different nations.
Maybe by understanding this, we can have an appreciation of how culture shapes the products we use each and every day. How we brand ourselves, may be contingent on our cultural identities. Being an American, concepts like – individualism, assertiveness, standing out and questioning authority are very attractive. This could be significantly different in an east asian culture that values uniformity, group action, and harmony.
Even if India is largely responsible for the distribution of curry throughout the British empire and into neighboring territories, there is no true curry dish. Anyone who can appreciate the difference between northern Indian and southern Indian food can vouch for the intercultural differences of Indian food in general.
With that said, may the world continue to enjoy curry in it’s wonderful forms and fragrances.
So what’s your opinion of curry? Well maybe it depends on the type of curry we’re talking about. Purists in the curry market exist, but everyone seems to have a different opinion of what spices to use, and how much to use. Curry is different everywhere you go in the world. In fact, curry is so global, that it is hard to even get a solid definition of what a curry is. “Curry: A Global History” by Colleen Taylor Sen defined curry as “a spiced meat, fish or vegetable stew served with rice, bread cornmeal or another starch”. This is a much broader view then the Americanized view of curry being a distinctively Indian food.
Think of all the dishes across the world that are curried: American curried chicken salad, thai mussasmum beef curry, rending daging (Indonesian), buoi phuc trach (austrailian), nyama choma (east African), khichri (british). The global food ‘curry’ is branded differently across the world.
This applies in exactly the same way as organizations will brand themselves to the culture they exist in. Restaurants are the easiest example to explain, but any organization with multiple locations is going to have cultural differences across different nations.
Maybe by understanding this, we can have an appreciation of how culture shapes the products we use each and every day. How we brand ourselves, may be contingent on our cultural identities. Being an American, concepts like – individualism, assertiveness, standing out and questioning authority are very attractive. This could be significantly different in an east asian culture that values uniformity, group action, and harmony.
Even if India is largely responsible for the distribution of curry throughout the British empire and into neighboring territories, there is no true curry dish. Anyone who can appreciate the difference between northern Indian and southern Indian food can vouch for the intercultural differences of Indian food in general.
With that said, may the world continue to enjoy curry in it’s wonderful forms and fragrances.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Feedback Roles
The book used to discuss feedback for this blog post is Mel Siberman's "The Consultant's Big Book of Organizational Development Tools: 50 Reproducible Intervention tools and Activities to Help Solve Client's Problems."
There are multiple roles you can take as a feedback giver, consider:
1) Critic - This role is one where you take a questioning role. It is deconstructionist perspective, that points out flaws and problems with the current situtation.
There are definately appropriate times to take on a critical role, but keep in mind that unwavering criticism will probably lead to demotivation.
2) Image Maker and Scribe - In this role you take the dicussion to a visual plain. Take the ideas and chart them, or graph them, or draw them. Often having someone in the group take charge of visualizing the ideas is going to help get all the ideas noticed and accounted for. Could lead to really good organization of ideas.
3)Ideas Threader - In this role you help connect ideas to each other. As often happens, people come will have 'their ideas' advocate them. By having someone take on a 'ideas threader' role, you can connect ideas together, and possibly have a stronger or more creative solution. This role takes good listening and also leadership to help fit people's ideas together
4) Critical Reviewer - In this role you can summarize the ideas, you can vocalize the direction the group is going in and lead the group through the decision process. It is different from a 'critic' perspective, because at this stage you already have decided on ideas, and direction. You are making decisions to finalize, and tweek the group decision so that it is the optimum decision
5) Facilitator and Time Keeper - Make no mistake this is a huge feedback role. This role is where you are concerned about participation. You may not give feedback on the group decision, but you are keeping the group focused and on point. How much time does the group have to make a decision? How many people in the group are engaged in the decision making process?
Thanks again to Mr. Silberman for his fantastic book and providing these roles that I could expand on.
There are multiple roles you can take as a feedback giver, consider:
1) Critic - This role is one where you take a questioning role. It is deconstructionist perspective, that points out flaws and problems with the current situtation.
There are definately appropriate times to take on a critical role, but keep in mind that unwavering criticism will probably lead to demotivation.
2) Image Maker and Scribe - In this role you take the dicussion to a visual plain. Take the ideas and chart them, or graph them, or draw them. Often having someone in the group take charge of visualizing the ideas is going to help get all the ideas noticed and accounted for. Could lead to really good organization of ideas.
3)Ideas Threader - In this role you help connect ideas to each other. As often happens, people come will have 'their ideas' advocate them. By having someone take on a 'ideas threader' role, you can connect ideas together, and possibly have a stronger or more creative solution. This role takes good listening and also leadership to help fit people's ideas together
4) Critical Reviewer - In this role you can summarize the ideas, you can vocalize the direction the group is going in and lead the group through the decision process. It is different from a 'critic' perspective, because at this stage you already have decided on ideas, and direction. You are making decisions to finalize, and tweek the group decision so that it is the optimum decision
5) Facilitator and Time Keeper - Make no mistake this is a huge feedback role. This role is where you are concerned about participation. You may not give feedback on the group decision, but you are keeping the group focused and on point. How much time does the group have to make a decision? How many people in the group are engaged in the decision making process?
Thanks again to Mr. Silberman for his fantastic book and providing these roles that I could expand on.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Feedback to Push Groups Forward (Part 2)
We're working on the 'Five Tips Everyone Can Use to Give Feedback'
3. Ask the person your giving feedback to about their skills and behavior. Make it a conversation. Inviting the person into the feedback discussion is just good sense. It is going to make everyone feel more comfortable. It will make the tone of the meeting more conversational. Also, it's going to build repore with the two people to build a stronger relationship.
Here's an example a sales manager could use when talking to one of their saleswomen.
1) What techinques did you use this month to maximize your total sales?
2) What methods did you use to most effectively use the sales leads?
3) How could we improve the team performance for next month?
4. Be Open and Impartial to Possible Outcomes - When you give feedback, you have to let the person respond the way they want to. Any attempt to use manipulation, or try to have a person be 'forced' to use a new behavior is only going to cause more difficulties in that relationship.
You can not control the consequences, you can only really influence the behavior. Of course we all have goals and expected outcomes that would be great. First, planning for consequences is not always practical. Secondly, there are ethical considerations if the only concern is the consequences.
5. Create the possibility for how individuals, groups and systems can improve. If your in a position to give feedback, be able to show where growth can take place. There is always room for improvement, so be a vehicle for positive change. We all have blindspots, and differing perspctives; so take the time to genuinely help others improve.
Book Recommendation - "Other People's Habits" by Aubrey Daniels.
This is book gives fantastic advice about organizational behavior management. Concise, clear, and very practical advice. It's applicable to many areas outside of the workplace, and is a great addition to your bookshelf.
3. Ask the person your giving feedback to about their skills and behavior. Make it a conversation. Inviting the person into the feedback discussion is just good sense. It is going to make everyone feel more comfortable. It will make the tone of the meeting more conversational. Also, it's going to build repore with the two people to build a stronger relationship.
Here's an example a sales manager could use when talking to one of their saleswomen.
1) What techinques did you use this month to maximize your total sales?
2) What methods did you use to most effectively use the sales leads?
3) How could we improve the team performance for next month?
4. Be Open and Impartial to Possible Outcomes - When you give feedback, you have to let the person respond the way they want to. Any attempt to use manipulation, or try to have a person be 'forced' to use a new behavior is only going to cause more difficulties in that relationship.
You can not control the consequences, you can only really influence the behavior. Of course we all have goals and expected outcomes that would be great. First, planning for consequences is not always practical. Secondly, there are ethical considerations if the only concern is the consequences.
5. Create the possibility for how individuals, groups and systems can improve. If your in a position to give feedback, be able to show where growth can take place. There is always room for improvement, so be a vehicle for positive change. We all have blindspots, and differing perspctives; so take the time to genuinely help others improve.
Book Recommendation - "Other People's Habits" by Aubrey Daniels.
This is book gives fantastic advice about organizational behavior management. Concise, clear, and very practical advice. It's applicable to many areas outside of the workplace, and is a great addition to your bookshelf.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Feedback to push groups forward
The book used to discuss feedback for this blog post is Mel Siberman's "The Consultant's Big Book of Organizational Development Tools: 50 Reproducible Intervention tools and Activities to Help Solve Client's Problems.
This is a fantastic book for organizational develoipment practioners (a.k.a. OD practioners). It involves addressing the practical problems of organizational behavior in teams. Chapters focus on group formation, conflict, coaching and feedback.
Feedback is critical to the millenial generation. According to Abanet.org, millenials need "supportive work environments" and have "demands and high expectations". So whether as a manager, or a peer, be prepared to give feedback to your younger bretheren.
Five Rules of Giving and Recieving Feedback Everyone Can Use (From Silberman's book):
1) Recognize Strengths - As my cousin pointed out to me recently, "Nothing motivates a person like praise." Strengths are not always obvious, but after repeated interactions with someone, you get some indicators about particular behaviors that make them effective in their position. Use any word you like: motivator, listener, organizer, creative force, flawlessly excecutes, or free-thinking maverick. There are all sorts of labels for strengths we have.
The importance of positive reinforcement can not be overemphazied if you want a workplace where people enjoy their work and perform at their best. Recognizing people's strengths can remind people of their contributions to the group or organization. This isn't too say there won't be conversations that require disipline or difficult topics that need to be discussed. Simply put most conversations requiring feedback should have positive reinforcment, and there is no better place to start then strenghs.
2) Describe Behaviors - People can alter behaviors. Framing things as "behaviors" gives responsibility to the individual to improve a behavior. If we frame something as personality factors, the criticism is virtually unchangeable.
Consider this example
1. "Bob, you are coming to meetings 5 minutes late"
2. "Bob, you are a tardy person"
By showing a person a behavior that is disruptive, they can then use the information to change. They either will or won't make a change. In a fair way, it forces the person to own that behavior.
Telling people they are this, or they are that is not only going to cause reactive behavior (probably more disobedience, or lack of concern), but ultimately may cause that person to negatively view themselves because of the reinforced frame words. Consider the negative impact of name calling or objectifying people.
Part 2 Later This week
This is a fantastic book for organizational develoipment practioners (a.k.a. OD practioners). It involves addressing the practical problems of organizational behavior in teams. Chapters focus on group formation, conflict, coaching and feedback.
Feedback is critical to the millenial generation. According to Abanet.org, millenials need "supportive work environments" and have "demands and high expectations". So whether as a manager, or a peer, be prepared to give feedback to your younger bretheren.
Five Rules of Giving and Recieving Feedback Everyone Can Use (From Silberman's book):
1) Recognize Strengths - As my cousin pointed out to me recently, "Nothing motivates a person like praise." Strengths are not always obvious, but after repeated interactions with someone, you get some indicators about particular behaviors that make them effective in their position. Use any word you like: motivator, listener, organizer, creative force, flawlessly excecutes, or free-thinking maverick. There are all sorts of labels for strengths we have.
The importance of positive reinforcement can not be overemphazied if you want a workplace where people enjoy their work and perform at their best. Recognizing people's strengths can remind people of their contributions to the group or organization. This isn't too say there won't be conversations that require disipline or difficult topics that need to be discussed. Simply put most conversations requiring feedback should have positive reinforcment, and there is no better place to start then strenghs.
2) Describe Behaviors - People can alter behaviors. Framing things as "behaviors" gives responsibility to the individual to improve a behavior. If we frame something as personality factors, the criticism is virtually unchangeable.
Consider this example
1. "Bob, you are coming to meetings 5 minutes late"
2. "Bob, you are a tardy person"
By showing a person a behavior that is disruptive, they can then use the information to change. They either will or won't make a change. In a fair way, it forces the person to own that behavior.
Telling people they are this, or they are that is not only going to cause reactive behavior (probably more disobedience, or lack of concern), but ultimately may cause that person to negatively view themselves because of the reinforced frame words. Consider the negative impact of name calling or objectifying people.
Part 2 Later This week
Thursday, April 1, 2010
The Best Coaching Advice You'll Ever Get
Marshall Goldsmith, is one of the leading executive coaches today. He is a faculty memeber at Alliant University and founder of The Marshall Goldsmith School of Management.
Marshall has written some fantastic books including "What Got You Here, Won't Get You There" (2007) and his latest success "Mojo" (2010). He is really a brillant man, and just a fantastic guy. He even emailed me back about a request I had for one of his personal growth exercises - what a cool dude.
Anyway, here's the best coaching advice you'll ever get, from the master - Marshall Goldsmith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1HUJ0yE6ys
Marshall has written some fantastic books including "What Got You Here, Won't Get You There" (2007) and his latest success "Mojo" (2010). He is really a brillant man, and just a fantastic guy. He even emailed me back about a request I had for one of his personal growth exercises - what a cool dude.
Anyway, here's the best coaching advice you'll ever get, from the master - Marshall Goldsmith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1HUJ0yE6ys
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Lessons in Self-Promotion: Toastmaters Monthly “How Is Your Social Media”
Lessons in Self-Promotion: From Toastmaters “How Is Your Social Media”
This April 2010, Toastmasters had an excellent article titled “How is Your Social Media Etiquette?” The article is essentially a 2 ½ page bulleted list of key points about using Facebook and LinkedIn effectively.
There were two important lessons that I took away here
Be Real - The social media is a bundle of tools to get to know other people better. Right, it’s not like we want to connect with robots. Weinberg writes “Social media mimics real relationships in many cases. Would you do the following in real face-to-face relationships”. Absolutely true. Now, I think there is better access to old friends, new friends, family, and all sorts of things on facebook. Just as in real life, there are varying degrees to the depth of these relationships. So I think it’s critical to keep private messages private, and public messages uplifting.
My sister and I were talking about this some time ago how people jump quicker into relationships, do not take the time to let them develop, when they are from online partnerships (think dating sites, message boards, online chats). The real danger here is someone never getting to know you, because you’ve thrown everything you can onto the wall, and want it to stick. What a mess.
Self Promotion –
What I want to expand on here is the idea of self-promotion. I completely believe in the importance of promoting your skills, values, and your causes. This is what is important to you. However, it is easy to distribute ideas (videos, blogs, notes) and forget if it’s appropriate to the audience. Sure you can tell everyone on your network about your romantic successes…but do you want that going out to your tech-savy grandma who uses the computer all day? You want to meet lots of people, why not. But don’t go inviting everyone and their ten cousins to your facebook if you’ve never met them, especially if you don’t disclose the reasons for the invitation. Great ideas can stand on their own. If you have an event you want people to come to – invite with grace. Personalized invitations, announce sometime before, be honest about the atmosphere and expectations. People want to help people..and they will help you too. Just do it in a way that is true.
Be real and self-promote, and do it with grace.
This April 2010, Toastmasters had an excellent article titled “How is Your Social Media Etiquette?” The article is essentially a 2 ½ page bulleted list of key points about using Facebook and LinkedIn effectively.
There were two important lessons that I took away here
Be Real - The social media is a bundle of tools to get to know other people better. Right, it’s not like we want to connect with robots. Weinberg writes “Social media mimics real relationships in many cases. Would you do the following in real face-to-face relationships”. Absolutely true. Now, I think there is better access to old friends, new friends, family, and all sorts of things on facebook. Just as in real life, there are varying degrees to the depth of these relationships. So I think it’s critical to keep private messages private, and public messages uplifting.
My sister and I were talking about this some time ago how people jump quicker into relationships, do not take the time to let them develop, when they are from online partnerships (think dating sites, message boards, online chats). The real danger here is someone never getting to know you, because you’ve thrown everything you can onto the wall, and want it to stick. What a mess.
Self Promotion –
What I want to expand on here is the idea of self-promotion. I completely believe in the importance of promoting your skills, values, and your causes. This is what is important to you. However, it is easy to distribute ideas (videos, blogs, notes) and forget if it’s appropriate to the audience. Sure you can tell everyone on your network about your romantic successes…but do you want that going out to your tech-savy grandma who uses the computer all day? You want to meet lots of people, why not. But don’t go inviting everyone and their ten cousins to your facebook if you’ve never met them, especially if you don’t disclose the reasons for the invitation. Great ideas can stand on their own. If you have an event you want people to come to – invite with grace. Personalized invitations, announce sometime before, be honest about the atmosphere and expectations. People want to help people..and they will help you too. Just do it in a way that is true.
Be real and self-promote, and do it with grace.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
The Dip - Part 2
Big Idea 3:
“Never quit something with great long-term potential just because you can’t deal with the stress of the moment”
Questin 1: Am I panicking?
Question 2: Who Am I Trying to Influence
Question 3: What sort of measurable progress am I making?
It’s really that simple, and that’s how Godin lays it out.
What did we learn:
Winners Quit – we quit all the time. We quit what is not essential to our goal. Your goal should be valued to you – whether it’s having a balanced life, making lots of money, finding peace in a spiritual path, or saving up money for an Ipad.
The Dip – When an activity becomes repetitive or hard, and it will, you are expericing the dip. The dip is a drop in motivation and excitement. It doesn’t last forever. If you ride it out, you’ll get to mastery.
Don’t Quit what you Want – Its your goal, its no one else’s. Don’t sacrifice it, unless you want to sacrifice it.
“Never quit something with great long-term potential just because you can’t deal with the stress of the moment”
Questin 1: Am I panicking?
Question 2: Who Am I Trying to Influence
Question 3: What sort of measurable progress am I making?
It’s really that simple, and that’s how Godin lays it out.
What did we learn:
Winners Quit – we quit all the time. We quit what is not essential to our goal. Your goal should be valued to you – whether it’s having a balanced life, making lots of money, finding peace in a spiritual path, or saving up money for an Ipad.
The Dip – When an activity becomes repetitive or hard, and it will, you are expericing the dip. The dip is a drop in motivation and excitement. It doesn’t last forever. If you ride it out, you’ll get to mastery.
Don’t Quit what you Want – Its your goal, its no one else’s. Don’t sacrifice it, unless you want to sacrifice it.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Seth Godin's "The Dip" - 3 Big Ideas
This is a review of the book
The Dip: Little Book When to Quit and when to Stick by Seth Godin
Seth Godin gives readers challenges. In his past works such as “The Purple Cow” he challenges readers to find different ways to market, different ways to stand out. No one forgets a purple cow, right?
In this fantastic mini book (just slightly larger than your hand), Godin gives us a new challenge. When do we stick with something and when do we quit.
Big Idea 1:
“Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time
Many marketplaces and businesses profit from people not knowing when they should quit”
Let’s face it. If your going for a job a lot of people want you need to do something to stand out. You need to do what no one else is doing. Hannah Smith is a supreme court law clerk, 1 of 39. You know how many applied – 42,000.
Winners win big. But what you probably don’t know is that winners lazer –focus on what it is they want to accomplish. They demonstrate a defined commitment, and do not let petty things get in their way. Winners DO quit. They quit the things that don’t get them closer to their goal.
If your goal is to run a 5k marathon. You might need to STICK to exercising. You might need to STICK to eating nutrious foods. You might need to QUIT drinking. What sacrifices are you willing to make? If you want to win, your going to make sacrifices, and you will need to stick to it. Don’t forget - there is going to be a jackpot for you at the end of that rainbow.
Big Idea 2:
‘Almost everything in life is worth doing controlled by the Dip’
What is the Dip. Well the dip is that span, between when something stops being fun, and when we get what we want.
When we start something its fun. We start a new sport. Take only public speaking as a hobby. Go out with a new boyfriend. You could be take golf or acupuncture or piloting a plane.
Rapid learning takes place in first few weeks. At this point, its easy to stay engaged.
The Dip is long slog between starting and mastery. It works to set of artificial screens to keep people out, who aren’t in it for the long-haul. You can think of it as a downhill graph. Your motivation is the line, and it curves up the first couple of experiences. Then you get use to what your doing, and motivation declines. Here comes the dip.
Here’s a work example.
Most CEOs endure 25 years in dip before getting position.
For a quarter of a century he needed to suck it up, keep his head down, and do what he was told. He had to put up with meetings he didn’t want to go to. He had to waste time with employees who were not giving their all. He had to endure all office days.
But he got what he wanted. What is it you want, that is worth going through the dip.
Once the dip comes up, you’ve mastered the goal, the skill, the passion. You have arrived.
Strategic Quitting is not the same as failing
S.Q. is conscious decision, great way to avoid failure
Failure – dream is over, giving up, no other options, no time or resources
(Pt. 2 - next week)
The Dip: Little Book When to Quit and when to Stick by Seth Godin
Seth Godin gives readers challenges. In his past works such as “The Purple Cow” he challenges readers to find different ways to market, different ways to stand out. No one forgets a purple cow, right?
In this fantastic mini book (just slightly larger than your hand), Godin gives us a new challenge. When do we stick with something and when do we quit.
Big Idea 1:
“Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time
Many marketplaces and businesses profit from people not knowing when they should quit”
Let’s face it. If your going for a job a lot of people want you need to do something to stand out. You need to do what no one else is doing. Hannah Smith is a supreme court law clerk, 1 of 39. You know how many applied – 42,000.
Winners win big. But what you probably don’t know is that winners lazer –focus on what it is they want to accomplish. They demonstrate a defined commitment, and do not let petty things get in their way. Winners DO quit. They quit the things that don’t get them closer to their goal.
If your goal is to run a 5k marathon. You might need to STICK to exercising. You might need to STICK to eating nutrious foods. You might need to QUIT drinking. What sacrifices are you willing to make? If you want to win, your going to make sacrifices, and you will need to stick to it. Don’t forget - there is going to be a jackpot for you at the end of that rainbow.
Big Idea 2:
‘Almost everything in life is worth doing controlled by the Dip’
What is the Dip. Well the dip is that span, between when something stops being fun, and when we get what we want.
When we start something its fun. We start a new sport. Take only public speaking as a hobby. Go out with a new boyfriend. You could be take golf or acupuncture or piloting a plane.
Rapid learning takes place in first few weeks. At this point, its easy to stay engaged.
The Dip is long slog between starting and mastery. It works to set of artificial screens to keep people out, who aren’t in it for the long-haul. You can think of it as a downhill graph. Your motivation is the line, and it curves up the first couple of experiences. Then you get use to what your doing, and motivation declines. Here comes the dip.
Here’s a work example.
Most CEOs endure 25 years in dip before getting position.
For a quarter of a century he needed to suck it up, keep his head down, and do what he was told. He had to put up with meetings he didn’t want to go to. He had to waste time with employees who were not giving their all. He had to endure all office days.
But he got what he wanted. What is it you want, that is worth going through the dip.
Once the dip comes up, you’ve mastered the goal, the skill, the passion. You have arrived.
Strategic Quitting is not the same as failing
S.Q. is conscious decision, great way to avoid failure
Failure – dream is over, giving up, no other options, no time or resources
(Pt. 2 - next week)
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