Posts Tagged ‘Leadership’

We’ve all heard this many times in our workplaces – “The customer is always right” and “All customers are equally important”. Well… I am going to challenge these in this post and will focus more on the latter one. This topic came up in one of my recent conversations with a publishing industry thought leader, Gordon Tibbitts, President, Atypon Systems where both of us were talking about the capacity of individuals and the choices we, as individuals, have to make in order to utilize our limited capacities effectively. At a point in the conversation Gordon said “You know what Himanshu, before you fight them… you have to choose your battles wisely”. One might ask how do you qualify what’s wise Vs. what’s not and the quick answer is – One that you think will produce the results you are after is the wise one to take.

Not all customers are made equal. Some customers are very rewarding, whereas some are pretty much a drain on your resources. For instance, I had a customer once who did not understand the value of Quality Assurance; as a result of that they did not have a clear QA management, a QA team or even any QA processes. The impact of that alone was that the project had many delays and not only impacted the customer in a negative way but even the vendors (us being one of them) felt the reverberations of the impact to a point where it affected (negatively) our bottom-line. If someone were to ask me about if the customer was a beneficial one for us as a vendor, the answer would, most unequivocally, be a resounding NO. These are the kind of customers that you don’t want!

Another very insightful point that Gordon made during our conversation was that it is a good thing not to ruffle any feathers if you see your competitor serving a high cost client. What made this insightful for me was the observation that Mr. competitor would face a lack of capacity if they are busy servicing high cost clients, and you don’t want to burn the midnight oil to get these clients from your competitors as this would almost be counter-intuitive to your productivity (and you’d be helping Mr. Competitor, too).

This also reminds me of a quote by Napolean Bonaparte:

“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake”

I’d like to acknowledge Mr. Tibbits for the pearls of wisdom he shared with me and I am more likely (than before) to think twice (or maybe even thrice) before I choose where I invest my resources… and I suggest you do, too!

This article was contributed by Himanshu Jhamb, co-founder of Active Garage and co-author of the upcoming book "ProjectManagementTweets". You can follow Himanshu on Twitter at himjhamb.

Tagged as: active garage, atypon systems, battles, clients, competitors, customers, equal, gordon tibbitts, himanshu jhamb, leaders, Leadership, wise, workplace

Ever wonder who is in charge when you repeatedly try to change business rules and nothing happens? It can be maddening! You call the meeting, everyone agrees to make the change and then nothing happens. It feels like Sisyphus rolling that huge rock up the organizational hill only to have it roll back down again and again and…

The solution has two components – what to do and how to do it. The “what to do” comprises integration of three sets of business principles. The “how to do it”  balances all the solutions from the previous five posts in this Change Management Series.

What To Do: Align Business Principles

Three sets of business principles are tiered and integrated. They include:

• Business Modeling describing the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value in a holistic manner.
• Business Process Management aligning all aspects of an organization with the wants and needs of clients. Specifically, integrating the business rulesets (see below) from the various disciplines.
• Business Rules and Rulesets include the individual rules defining or constraining some aspect of the business and the rulesets that are a collection of individual business rules focusing on the same business activity across the organization.

For example, an outsourcing approach (business model) is chosen for a particular project. The management of vendors will involve both engineering and purchasing. The interplay between engineering, purchasing, and the vendor must be defined (business process management). Success lies in the detailed management of the situation.  Engineering and purchasing must combine their criteria (business rules) into a cohesive set (Business Ruleset) keeping the vendor consistently focused on providing value.

Notice how when we get to the most detailed level, Business Rules and Rulesets, they circle back to the most strategic level, Business Modeling. Let’s put that to use in determining “How To”.

How To Do It: Changing The Business Rules

Performance on this project is akin to mud wrestling! At one moment it feels like there’s a grasp on the situation and then the next moment – whoops – either stance, grip or both are lost.

The solution is learning how to referee and let the people in your organization produce the results. Specifically, take the recommendations in the previous 5 posts and perform them in the reverse order.

To produce a sustainable, stable set of business rules and processes focus on quality and risk as mentioned in the fifth post, “Projects: Three Tips to Avoid Creating Frankenstein”.

Is it easy? No. You are dealing with human nature. Use the solutions from the fourth post, “People: Building a Team with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” to gauge the limits of people and resources available, decide on trade-offs, and finalize goals.

If technology is part of the process implementation remember the remedies in the third post, “Technology: Too Good To Be True…Two Deadly Misconceptions and Their Remedies”

Keeping the project from becoming a chaotic mess requires a balance between letting people “go at it” and settling down to build some results. Act as described in the second post, Morphing Organizations: The Executive Samurai and Complexity Theory

Finally, you must be unshakable Do this by knowing your goals, values and beliefs. It sets the context. Lead the way as described in the first post Leadership: Navigating With an Executive Map and Compass

All this is done for one simple reason: to present something of value to the customer. In the seventh and final post of this series we will look at the product.

If this has been beneficial, if you have any comments, or just find this as fascinating as I do then send me an e-mail at gwmonti@mac.com or visit www.ctrchg.com.

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With over 30 years experience, Gary Monti consults/teaches/mentors/speaks in change management and project management with a focus on compassion and respect in the workplace. The work is grounded in project management, chaos and complexity theories combined with Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Tagged as: active garage, business, Business Management, business planning, Business Strategy, Change Management, Leadership, management, possibilities, Strategy, www.activegarage.com

Is your change leadership transforming your company into a front-runner in your market niche or turning it into aversion of Dr. Frankenstein’s monster? How do you even go about answering this question? What’s your reference point? Is it reliable?

Mary Shelley’s protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, combined with three project management principles, scope management, quality management and risk management, can help answer these questions and keep you and your organization on the right track. By following these principles your organization’s performance will have two important characteristics – Sustainability and Stability.

Frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein suffered from an extreme case of hubris. He was caught up in appearances. He wanted all the glory. He pulled pieces and parts together to create something that breathed and moved and ended up being a demented testament to his limited genius. The monster lacked human spirit. In the end, his creation was the source of his downfall.

Scope Management

The human spirit that was missing in the monster stands out clearly when examined in terms of leadership (see the Leadership post, the first in this series.)

From that blog you may recall the magnetic north for the executive compass comprises the leader’s beliefs and values. For Dr. Frankenstein they were ego, pride, and vainglory. The team (society) was shut out. His only worry was about what he would get from the situation. With that attitude no matter how hard he worked failure was certain.

To be successful the needs of all relevant stakeholders must be included when creating a scope of work that is going to transform your company. This includes competitors as well as clients. Knowing the competition is just as important as knowing your customers.  Success also includes your needs being met as part of the outflow of providing opportunity for others.

Quality Management

So how do you know if changes are moving in the right direction? The answer is simple. Your work must be sustainable. A synonym for “sustainable” is “quality management.” With quality management deliverables are defined in measurable terms consistent with the scope of work. This is the same scope of work that includes all stakeholders.

Going back to the Leadership post, the plan is the arrow on the executive compass that points the way. Quality underpins the plans credibility. It is incorporated into the overall change strategy as well as day-to-day management.

Dr. Frankenstein’s compass was useless. It was unable to provide meaningful direction. His plan was unsustainable.

Risk Management

The final component needed is stability. A synonym for stability is “risk management.”

Dr. Frankenstein’s work lacked stability. He worked in isolation. He lost his connection with society. All his work was self-referencing.

Why is this so important? Recall the dancing terrain from the Leadership post. Complex situations have a terrain that is constantly shape-shifting. There is too much for one person to map reliably and keep current.

Success requires everyone in the organization to be eyes and ears for new, changing information that can keep the map current.

With an accurate map the organization, under your leadership, can plan how best to deal with threats and opportunities present. This is risk management. Executing the risk management plans provides stability.

In the next blog we will look at process management’s place in change management. If this blog has been beneficial and you would like more information or care to comment send me an e-mail at gwmonti@mac.com or visit www.ctrchg.com.

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With over 30 years experience, Gary Monti consults/teaches/mentors/speaks in change management and project management with a focus on compassion and respect in the workplace. The work is grounded in project management, chaos and complexity theories combined with Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Tagged as: active garage, business, Business Management, business planning, Business Strategy, Frankenstein, leaders, Leadership, management, possibilities, quality, Quality Management, Risk Management, Scope Management

Your journey through change can have a great deal in common with the experiences of Dr. Jekyll’s friend, Mr. Utterson from Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Like Utterson, you see strange behaviors emanate from areas managed by people whom you’ve come to know and trust. At first there is a wondering if some outside force is affecting the person. A concern, a desire to check in and offer help sets in. Eventually the awareness develops that the strange behavior is coming from the trusted person himself.

Your plate was already full with external challenges. Now the human terrain in your organization is changing as well! (For more on terrain changes see the Leadership blog ). Let’s briefly explore this human terrain and examine Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, their dilemma, and possible solutions.

Dr. Jekyll

Normally, we all want to do well and fit in socially. We are wired that way at birth. An interesting twist to that wiring is it varies from person to person. We each are whole and have free will but we have a neurological bias towards how we see the world and process information. This means some tasks we take to naturally and others are more challenging.

For example, one person may be great with big ideas while another person excels at running things on a day-to-day basis. If we are lucky the parts of our psyche where we excel are consistent with what our parents, teachers, etc., consider good and get emphasized. That is Dr. Jekyll. He feels complete.

We launch our career and settle down to a particular life style through which we move as Dr. Jekyll. But what about those other parts? Do they just lie around? Hmmm…let’s explore.

Mr. Hyde

While Dr. Jekyll is developing, the undesirable or more challenging parts get pushed into the shadows as if they never existed. That is the Mr. Hyde. The longer Mr. Hyde is pushed down the greater the fear associated with using those traits.  Remember, Dr. Jekyll feels complete and in control. To compound things, the developing Mr. Hyde takes extra effort since traits are weak from under-development. The stage is set for the dilemma.

The Dilemma

People tend to migrate to positions emphasizing their Dr. Jekyll. It can be very upsetting when the business demands complex changes requiring Mr. Hyde to be invited to join the team.

Take the Dr. Jekyll examples from before. A team member may simply want to know what the rules are and his eyes glaze over at the thought of a strategy meeting. A manager excellent at strategizing gets bored with details.  Neither cares much for how the other operates. This aggravates you because with complex terrain changes you need associates to understand and work with each other – to at least see things through the other person’s eyes.

The Solution

The solution lies in your leadership. You may recall the executive map, compass and navigation method from the previously-mentioned Leadership blog. Navigating changing business terrains require everyone’s eyes and ears to build a credible map and plan. There is no telling what will be the source of valuable information. Blind spots are the kiss of death. Cross-training will help immensely.

Using the magnetic north of your executive compass, values and beliefs, can help. If associates have the same magnetic north then tap the bond present. Use the positive stress of what they can achieve to encourage them to overcome the negative stress of bringing Mr. Hyde out of the shadows.

Timing is important. Decisions must be made. Similar to the samurai in Morphing Organizations post your best decisions flow from a detached, empathetic awareness of the overall picture.

Determine the limits of what you can risk. With limited resources the solution will probably comprise some combination of:

• Supporting individuals in bringing more of the positive aspects of Mr. Hyde’s skills to the table;
• Adjusting the timetable for achieving goals to match the rate of change people can sustain;
• Bringing in outside resources to replace or augment current team members;
• Deciding to cancel or delay achieving some goals because the terrain is shifting too fast or the opportunity will disappear by the time the team is ready to work;
• What could be most harrowing and exciting, jumping to a new business terrain.

There are threats and opportunities associated with all these strategies. By sticking with your values and beliefs a plan will show itself.

In the next blog tips will be presented for creating a successful project.

I find this topic fascinating. If you do too and would care to comment or would like more information send me an e-mail at gwmonti@mac.com or go to www.ctrchg.com.

With over 30 years experience, Gary Monti consults/teaches/mentors/speaks in change management and project management with a focus on compassion and respect in the workplace. The work is grounded in project management, chaos and complexity theories combined with Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Tagged as: Action, active garage, business, Business Management, business planning, Business Strategy, Dr. Jekyll, leaders, Leadership, management, Mr. Hyde, possibilities, Strategy

Social Media ROCKSTARS!

by Deepika Bajaj, Feb 1, 2010

Social media ROCKSTARS are no different from traditional ROCKSTARS. They possess the same characteristics – Talent par excellence, Performance and Energy. They continuously produce new material, perform brilliantly that crowds love them and energize their audience. People like Kevin Rose, Matt Inman and bloggers like Chris Brogan or Marshall Kirkpatrick are the genuine social media rockstars! more…

BLOGTASTIC!: Make more friends in the blogosphere fast!

by Rajesh Setty, Feb 1, 2010

Face to face conversations are valuable for networking, but this strategy has some constraints. Online conversations on the blogosphere gives you the ability to start and engage in multiple conversations with people far and wide, asynchronously. Rajesh leveraged this for his “Quought for the Day” project. Leverage your blog to communicate, collaborate and utilize your blog as a catalyst to enhance your relationships. more…

Change Management #2 – Morphing Organizations: The Executive Samurai and Complexity Theory

by Gary Monti, Feb 2, 2010

To take your organization through change, you need to be a “samurai” who is an expert at even-tempered decision-making. You need to be a martial artist in the sense that you need to adapt your methods to circumstances while maintaining core principles. Then, like Zen practitioners, be imperturbable. Now, you can take a tip from complexity theory on how to best organize: let the people do it themselves. more…

BLOGTASTIC!: What you don’t know might hurt you

by Rajesh Setty, Feb 2, 2010

If you are in the blogosphere, you need to keep abreast of the happenings in this arena. This is not any different from other domain like hardware, software, etc. Considerations for your blog should include SEO, RSS feed, mobile accessibility, etc. There are numerous resources like Squidoo: Blogging Starter Checklist that provide you the information – you just need to look for it. more…

Lessons From Our Past

by Guy Ralfe, Feb 3, 2010

A wise man learns from others’ experience, while a fool does not learn even from his own. In the latter case, history repeats itself. Guy narrates his travails with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). Over the past five years, rates have increased and service has degraded in some areas. All indicators point to a repeat of what happened in 1897. It would be interesting to see when MBTA wakes up to reality. more…

BLOGTASTIC!: The right tools

by Rajesh Setty, Feb 3, 2010

We all need need the right tools to excel in our professions and blogging is no exception. Some areas where you need to consider using good tools are infrastructure, tracking, subscriptions and optimization. If you don’t consider yourself a geek who is fascinated by tools, get professional help. more…

Information: The Most Precious Thing Your Company Has

by Robert Driscoll, Feb 4, 2010

Cloud computing is one of the most hyped technology currently. Computing is usually compared with electricity as a utility, but that is not a valid comparison. Electricity is a dumb commodity and who cares if it is stolen. But data on the on the other hand is immensely valuable. When moving your organization towards cloud computing, move slowly and start with applications and data that are not the lifeline of your business. Move at the pace of your comfort and not at the pace the providers recommend. more…

BLOGTASTIC!: Blogging stats can be addictive

by Rajesh Setty, Feb 4, 2010

Though it can be addictive to keep watching the traffic stats to your blog grow, that metric is not where the value is. You need to dig deeper and understand where your visitors come from, what posts they are reading, where they click through, etc. These analytics will help you understand your readers better and enable you to position your blog for greater success. more…

Author’s Journey #7 – Who can help you write your book?

by Roger Parker, Feb 5, 2010

When writing non-fiction books, understand that you don’t have to write every single word in your book! You can get help from a variety of sources. Consider co-authors, ghost writers, assistants and crowdsourcing. They provide key benefits of providing a different perspective and efficiency. Before you make the choice, identify your goals, choose the right option and structure the relationship appropriately. more…

BLOGTASTIC!: More help than you will ever need

by Rajesh Setty, Feb 5, 2010

We all need help with everything we do. Same holds true for blogging. Your blogging success depends upon what you are willing to invest in getting help. Your investment could be time to learn it all by yourself, or you could spend money to get good help. Irrespective, don’t forget the opportunity cost of your time or money. The old adage “when the student is ready, the teacher arrives” fits brilliantly with the blogosphere. Are you ready to leverage your blog and open new doors? more…

Magesh is an accomplished software professional focused on building enterprise value through creative use of technology. Magesh enjoys working with people and is passionate about bringing out the best in everybody to achieve results that are larger than the sum of individual accomplishments.

Tagged as: active garage, blogging, BLOGTASTIC!, Business Strategy, Communication, deepika bajaj, Guy Ralfe, Leadership, Magesh Tarala, management, Rajesh Setty, Robert Driscoll, www.activegarage.com

Taking your organization through change requires the skills of a samurai knowing when to make changes, when to leave things as they are, and staying centered through the entire process. Do this in an ever-changing environment with moving targets!

Like a samurai you can use the principles of martial arts and Zen, combine them with complexity theory, and develop an approach to changing your organization.

The Samurai

The word “samurai” has interesting roots. It means, “to serve.” More specifically, it means to serve something or someone higher than oneself. The samurai looks at the broader picture and chooses specific actions accordingly. To aid in this they practiced many arts with some samurai being great poets and artists. They worked to understand the principles of life beyond fighting. This led to even-tempered decision-making. This approach is critical when making organizational changes, some of which may be enjoyable and others painful.

Martial Arts

Martial Arts can teach us something about technique when changing an organization. Methods vary with circumstances but evolve from solid principles. In Aikido there is a proverb that goes something like this, “When you come upon a rock; be water and flow around it. When the ground is shifting; be a tree and establish roots.” This knowing when to flex and when to hold your ground is critical. In World War II Henry Kaiser revolutionized shipbuilding by restructuring the manner in which Liberty ships were designed and assembled. He turned naval construction on its head. Once new methods (flexing) were established and integrated they were pushed to the limit (holding ground). The time to build a ship was reduced from 245 days to 45 days with some being completed in less than a week. Some of those construction methods are still in use today.

Zen

So how do you pick from all different ways to organize? What order should they be used in? There are so many methods and types of advice one can get overwhelmed. The key is establishing and keeping an eye on your goals and values and choosing the appropriate method.

Zen offers some good advice: Be immovable. Now, this doesn’t mean be stubborn. It also doesn’t mean being stuck. What it does mean is be imperturbable. Have all decisions reflect movement towards desired goals while keeping values in sight. For more on this see a previous blog, Change Management – Leadership: An Executive Map, Compass and Navigation Method.

Complexity Theory

Now you can take a tip from complexity theory on how best to organize: let the people do it themselves. With everyone understanding the goals and values do something very interesting: take the organization back-and-forth between equilibrium and disequilibrium. When things are moving well – let them be (equilibrium). When a change is needed shake things up by pointing to the challenges and let the team decide how best to organize or reorganize (disequilibrium).

Andy Grove used a two-step process at Intel.

1. He instilled the belief that change is needed and left the organization alone so the stress would build.
2. When the stress was high enough he would then lead people through “The Valley of Death” to achieve the next chip design. (Adapted from “Surfing the Edge of Chaos,” Richard Pascale, et. al.)

In the next blog we will look at some deadly misconceptions regarding technology and change and how to remedy the situation. If you are as interested as I in these topics send me an e-mail at gwmonti@mac.com or visit www.ctrchg.com.

With over 30 years experience, Gary Monti consults/teaches/mentors/speaks in change management and project management with a focus on compassion and respect in the workplace. The work is grounded in project management, chaos and complexity theories combined with Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Tagged as: active garage, business, Business Management, Business Strategy, Leadership, management, Martial Arts, possibilities, Project Management, purpose, Samurai, Strategy, Zen

Welcome! to the first post in the Change Management Series. This blog is a simple user’s guide to a change management map, compass, and navigation method. We will look at their make-up and how they work. Later blogs will go deeper into how they work.

In leading your company through change you have a lot in common with Medieval explorers who studied their maps and ventured into the unknown: On the edge of the known world cartographers wrote, “There be dragons!” The environment is exciting and scary. Like those explorers you need your own map, compass, and navigation method in setting a successful course through an ever-changing environment.

Introductory work helps since the three tools have a surrealistic aspect and take some getting used to. There are two reasons for this:

1. The tools function as a set. There is no one lead tool. Working well with one requires familiarity with the other two.
2. The simplicity of the tools can be deceptive. Leonardo da Vinci’s statement, “The sophistication is reflected in the simplicity,” sums it up well. There is much that needs to be taken into consideration and balanced. Progress isn’t linear and at times it can be frustrating. It’s not enough to see it all. It has to be seen differently.

Similar to early explorers, by keeping a steady eye on the goals while being persistent you can succeed…with the risk of becoming totally lost ever-present! The risk is worth it.  The success is not just more of the same. It is a success that is different in kind. A whole new frame of mind emerges.

Those Medieval explorers broke out of the Middle Ages and helped lay the foundation for the Renaissance. That’s the type of change you and your organization can make. Break into the unknown and thrive! Besides, you know that death is inevitable with standing still. So let’s begin.

The Map

In complex, changing environments the map is like something out of Alice in Wonderland. It is always changing. Anytime someone does something the shape of the map changes. The terrain is dancing – never sitting still. Just look at Napster and the music industry terrain. A student writes a peer-to-peer file-sharing program. Traditional CD music sales drop. People become used to getting only the songs they like. The iTunes store appears and legitimizes some of the change to the music environment. The terrain just keeps on dancing. Having up-to-date terrain information is critical. Now, here’s the most important point in making and using maps: everyone in the organization becomes part of a sensing organism watching and listening at different frequencies, feeding information to everyone else, and updating the map. A rigid, top-down, command-and-control approach will fail.

The Compass

You have a map, know where you are and where you want to go. Moving towards the goal requires the organization to orient itself and track its progress. A compass is needed. Like any compass it has 3 components:

1. A stable reference point- a magnetic north;
2. A device pointing consistently towards the stable reference point as position changes – a compass needle;
3. An indicator of the desired direction of travel – the arrow fixed on the front of the compass housing or the front of the ship.

In a changing situation the “magnetic north” of your executive compass comprises your values and beliefs. They need to be rock solid and visible to all. As the organization moves on the changing terrain this stable reference will help them orient and decide what the next action should be.

Your compass needle is the consistent aligning of actions with values and beliefs. As the terrain shifts you modify your behaviors to hold your bearing and stay on course. Those around you shift their behaviors accordingly. You can be trusted because you are walking the walk.

The compass arrow is the plan. It points the way. This plan is tied to the map and changes with the terrain. How fast the plan changes is critical. If the plan changes too fast and too frequently the organization drifts aimlessly. If the plan remains unchanged while the terrain shifts it becomes irrelevant. So, like something from a Salvador Dali painting the arrow changes with the terrain.

The Navigation Method

Moving on an ever-changing terrain requires unique skills and traits. A complex, changing situation has a unique characteristic, i.e., there is no one best path to get to the goals. Rather, there are multiple paths and some are better than others, for now, on this terrain.

Instead of marching in a straight line there is probing in different directions to see what works. Tactics change with the landscape. Where there once was a hill there now is a flat surface and movement is now unobstructed. The organizational structure shifts accordingly.

Here’s an example. Social networking increases the speed and simultaneity of disseminating information. Some organizations are adopting a more distributed structure where the speed and accuracy of local responses to customers’ requests increases while everyone maintains needed connections within the organization. In complexity theory this is called complex adaptive behavior.

Navigating towards goals in this manner requires a constant evolution. Here is where things can again become surreal with another unique characteristic of navigating a complex terrain surface. Taken to the extreme, the goals themselves can change if the organization is to survive. Monsanto shifted from being a supplier of commodity chemicals to being a biotech firm. It saw it was on a barren terrain and jumped to another!

This is not for the faint of heart. In fact, one might wonder why anyone would work this way and how the organization holds together. It has to do with the compass. By publishing your values and beliefs team members can compare it to their own. If they see a fit then they align their behaviors with yours. This is the glue that holds everything together as the organization goes through the stresses and strains of working towards the goals. It is called self-similarity.

Think of a couple bringing the first child home, then the second. A promotion occurs. A recession hits. Their lives can change in ways unimagined. It’s the self-similarity, the alignment of beliefs and values that holds them together. The organization continues in an almost constant state of flux.

In the next blog we will look deeper into the structure and operation of an organization undergoing change.

This introduction to the tools of change management can be taken further. In addition to being beneficial in business I find it quite fascinating. If you do too, send me an e-mail at gwmonti@mac.com or visit www.ctrchg.com.
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With over 30 years experience, Gary Monti consults/teaches/mentors/speaks in change management and project management with a focus on compassion and respect in the workplace. The work is grounded in project management, chaos and complexity theories combined with Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Tagged as: active garage, Alice in Wonderland, beliefs, Business Management, business planning, Business Strategy, Change Management, Communication, Leadership, Leonardo da vinci, management, possibilities, Social Media, Strategy, values

The marketplace in 2008 and 2009 was unlike any other in the past 70 years.  Businesses saw their top line revenue drop overnight.  Access to capital dried up and continues to be difficult to get.  While organizations had to trim their workforce, they continued to “protect” their top talent.  I put the word protect in quotes because while businesses kept their top employees, they expected them to do more with less.  While the top employees cannot wait for the market to get back to “normal”, they are still hungry for opportunities, but still need a break from overwork and pressure.

Everyone is working hard to survive, but businesses need to be careful not to put too much pressure and strain on their top employees because when the economy recovers and companies start hiring again, if businesses aren’t careful, they will lose their top talent as they accept offers from competitors.  A company’s top talents are important assets and will help the company achieve its short-term goals during this recovery period, but just as important, during the growth period after this recession.

Most employees today are burned out as they’ve taken on more work, stress and responsibility.  Because of this, employees’ loyalties to their companies have diminished as they are looking, more now than ever, to take care of their concerns.

In a recent report by Gartner, senior executives identified retention of top talent as a key concern.  In a 4Q09 survey done by Gartner, they asked senior executives to identify their top 5 concerns for 2010, and attracting and retaining top talent as number four on their list.

In the report conducted by Gartner, they made the following recommendations for companies:

-          Clearly define your “top talent” – profiles, behaviors and skills

-          Assess the state of the top talent from (2) perspectives:

• Identify business areas where the top talent is sufficient to achieve short-term plans for recovery and return to growth.  At the same time, identify talent gaps or misalignment with business plans.
• Assess the attitudes, expectations and “climate” of your top employees.  Determine positive and negative attitudes, people and business functions at risk, and the nature of the risk.

-          Address your findings head-on and discuss these issues with your top talent.  Design incentive and reward programs to address any of these issues.

-          Conduct periodic assessments and adjustments to actions until your top employees and risk return to normal levels.

Whether you are a manager or senior executive in a large company or an owner of a small business, remember to take care of your top employees.  If you don’t, your employees will take care of their concerns which may not include you or your company.

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This article was contributed by Robert Driscoll, co-founder of Active Garage. You can follow Robert on Twitter at rsdriscoll.

Tagged as: active garage, business, Business Management, business planning, Business Strategy, Communication, execution, http://activegarage.com, Leadership, management, Robert Driscoll, sales, Strategy, www.activegarage.com

As we enter this jobless recovery in 2010, it won’t be big business that will pick up the economy.  Once again, it will be the small business entrepreneurs.  News agencies and financial firms follow what the CEO’s of major firms foresee for 2010 to see when the light at the end of the tunnel will become visible.  What many people don’t realize is that small businesses employ over half of all private sector employees and generated 64 percent of net new jobs over the past 15 years.  It is small businesses and entrepreneurs who will bring us out of this slump.

While the days of working for one employer during your professional career are long over, big business continues to squeeze more perks out of their employees to cut expenses. Almost a third of Fortune 1000 companies have now frozen their pension plans in an effort to control expenses. US wages and salaries rose at record lows according to the Labor Department in 2009.  Over the past 12 months, wages and salaries only rose 1.5 percent making it the lowest increase since the figures started to be collected in 1982.

Wages for non-managerial workers have fallen by 1.4 percent so far this year, according to an article in USA Today, and are on track for even further declines. The official unemployment rate has reached 9.8 percent, and when one takes into account discouraged workers and people who are underemployed, it is at 17 percent, possibly higher.  And for 2010, while more employers state that they will be hiring more employees, it’s nothing to write home about as it’s not much higher than 2009.

With the marketplace now changing faster than ever and forcing businesses to adapt more quickly, more employers will have to rethink their hiring efforts as they look to their employees to be more flexible as well.  This request from big business employers to employees for flexibility will be: increasing and decreasing work hours depending on demand; the continued request to do-more-for-less; continue to learn new skills.  How do you think employees are reacting to this?  According to a survey of 2900 companies done by Careerbuilder.com revealed that nearly a quarter of them rate their organization’s morale as low.  So what can you do during these tough economic times?  You can be thankful that you have a job and suck it up or you can make a change.

Recently a good friend of mine told me that he was considering quitting his corporate job in the northeast and moving to the mid-west to help a family member of his grow his small business and take it to the next level.  While he would initially be taking a pay cut, the opportunity for growth and exceeding his income today is enormous, but he worries about leaving his “comfortable” corporate job.  He called me to ask me for my opinion.  I told him that there are risks in working for a small business, or for that matter, helping to start one, but in today’s uncertain economy, there aren’t any more uncertainties working for big business as there are working for a small company.  The difference, I told him, is that there will be nothing more fulfilling than creating something that is his and being in control of his financial destiny.  I asked him what he’s waiting for and when he’s leaving to start his new journey.  I hope it’s soon.

So ask yourself, “Am I happy?” or, “Is my career/job fulfilling?” If not, then what are you waiting for to change it?

This article was contributed by Robert Driscoll, co-founder of Active Garage. You can follow Robert on Twitter at rsdriscoll.

Tagged as: Action, active garage, business, Business Strategy, Communication, destiny, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, execution, http://activegarage.com, Leadership, management, possibilities, purpose, Robert Driscoll, Strategy, www.activegarage.com

How we use words in our day-to-day life, both in our personal and professional world, are very important.  Through language, we use words to convey our thoughts and feelings.  As we communicate with others, we need to be cognizant of how others are interpreting our words to ensure our message comes across the way we intended it to and get the reaction we want.  “Partner” and “opponent” are words that can used to describe the relationship between two individuals or companies in the marketplace, but their meanings are very different.

When most of us think of the word “opponent”, we think of our competitors or rivals in the marketplace.  We think about victory and defeat or winning and losing.  In the marketplace we are constantly trying to “beat up” our opponents.  “Aggressive” is the key word here.  Very few people can handle a tough marketplace and become successful.  The strong take advantage of the weak and the majority will quit never quite realizing what they could have made of themselves or their company.

For many in today’s marketplace, the attitude is, “Only the strong survive.”  Too often though we forget to ask ourselves if the goal is really to survive or is it to grow and use the knowledge you’ve gained to evolve?  With an adversarial attitude, the only thing that grows is yours and your competitor’s ego.  You could say that a person who has a “take no enemies” approach to business and has “accomplished” a lot, when in reality they might be over-stressed and are sadly unfulfilled as they are never satisfied and want to “conquer” the next task.  Succumbing to this opponent attitude is futile as your struggle is always with yourself.

Now, think of the difference in both your personal and professional life if you shifted from an opponent or adversarial role to a partner role.  When you do this, you stop looking at life as every man for themselves and instead you look at the skills you bring to the table along with those of your partners, whether they are your colleagues at work or other companies you work with.  The environment becomes one of increasing progress versus a mindset of kill or be killed.

A great partner learns to adapt to the environment they are in and recognizes the skill level of the other people they are working with and encourages everyone to work at their greatest potential.  Pushing and challenging your partners will be just as intense as when you were looking at the marketplace as full of opponents.  The difference though, is that instead of creating an offer by yourself, you learn to partner with others to create offers in the marketplace that have marginal value and that make you unique in the marketplace.

Changing your mindset from an opponent to a partner one can help in making you a trusted advisor to your clients as you seek to create solutions that are specific to their concerns and not developing solutions that differentiate you from the competitor who is bidding on the same contract.  A partner mindset will allow you create uncommon offers without having to think about what the competition is offering.  Addressing your clients specific concerns will make them feel like they are in a win/win situation and your clients will want to return to you again and again.

This article was contributed by Robert Driscoll, co-founder of Active Garage. You can follow Robert on Twitter at rsdriscoll.

Tagged as: active garage, business, Business Management, Business Strategy, execution, http://activegarage.com, Leadership, management, marketing, opponent, partner, possibilities, Robert Driscoll, sales, Sales and Marketing, Strategy, www.activegarage.com