Category Archives: Learning Organization

Thursday Thought – Sunsets

Posted on by
2

Note: Each Thursday I will post a little something to inspire us to finish the week strong. These Thursday Thoughts will be a quote, piece of music, artwork, or inspirational video.  Congratulations, you made it over the hump and let’s finish the week together.

A critic once commented to Cézanne, “That doesn’t look anything like a sunset.” Pondering his painting, Cézanne responded, “Then you don’t see sunsets the way I do.”

Lauren Sunset

You stop and watch the sunset. So beautiful and clear.  The light changes colors and dances for you.  Brightness fading to darkness.

She stands next to you.  She experiences the light and dance of color.

It is the same for both of you.

Or is it?

You want to understand. “Tell me about your sunset.” A wise question indeed for you know her experience may be different.  She talks of different colors, different movement.  How it makes her feel. Her understanding is hers alone.   Yet you asked and listened.  You now share an understanding.

Same view, two interpretations.  In art as in life.

Let the sunset each day serve to remind you as a leader.  Each of us sees the light and dance different.  Seek to see through other’s eyes.  Then share the detail, the colors, of your vision.

Such a challenge, but as leaders we are artists as well as analysts.  Strive to paint that shared understanding.  Only then can WeMoveTogether

Note: Inspiration for this post from Reframing Organizations. See my resource list,

CezanneMtStVictoire1902-4Philadelphia2B web

Cézanne – Mts. Victoire 1902

Happy Birthday Mother Earth

Posted on by
3

earthToday is Earth Day.

Today is also my mother’s birthday.  Earth Day may not be viewed as our planet’s birthday, but let’s do so anyhow.  My mother serves as a good stand in for the Earth through her wisdom, strength and always the teacher.

Some quick thoughts reflecting on Earth Day and lessons for our organizations:

  • Focus on sustainability.  We need short-term goals, but they need to serve the long-term vision.  As leaders focus on building something that lasts.  Sustainability is not standing still.  It builds on itself and grows.
  • There will be endings … and beginnings.  Rivers dry up. Rains return and water flows again. Life finds a way.  Organizations too are born and do eventually die.  As people we find a way, rebuild and new organizations emerge. Indeed life finds a way.
  • Notice the connections, the systems at play.  Nature is all connected.  So to are our organizations.  As leaders be wary of drilling down to deep.  A wide view is often best.  Watch the space between the parts.
  • The natural world is good for us.  Go for a walk today.  I pray there is a park and trees near you.  Even better, a forest … with running water. Personally I dream of working at the edge of a forest.   Balance and renewal outside my door.
  • Nature and people will amaze you if you let them grow.  Trust and nurture those around you.  Watch out for those entrusted to your care.
Happy Birthday Mother Earth and Mother of mine.  For today, one in the same.

forest_stream

Death to the BHAG

Posted on by
2

Recently I read a post where the author used the term, BHAG.  My stomach turned when I read the post.  I thought of years ago when I attended a big company meeting listening to my senior leaders use that term, BHAG.  They spoke like they invented the term.  The BHAG will lead us to success.  For a period of time BHAG was the word at my organization. 

I admit it. At the time I loved it.  “Bring on the BHAG!”

Now I wish the BHAG to die a quick death.

bhagWhat is a BHAG you ask … Big Hairy Audacious Goal. 

Goal setting is important for leaders.  We know this.  Yet, these days I stop short of the BHAG.  If I never hear the term again, I will be a happy person. 

As I strive to be a better leader, I want to understand why the term bothers me so much these days.  Am I being too harsh on the BHAG?  I do love the word, audacious.  I think not, but let me do a Google Search and see what hits I get for “problem with BHAG”. 

Well, 2,720,000 results for my search - really?!  BHAG has its own Wikipedia site.  I see references to the original authors of the term, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras – the authors of one of my favorite business books, Built to Last.  I see other bloggers writing on the topic of the BHAG.  I do not know if most are yea or nay on the BHAG and I have no time to read the countless sites. 

Fortunately the first search result turns out to be the only one I need to read.  It is from one of the best on leadership and business success, Tom Peters.  His post is titled, From BHAG to CCAG. Or From Big Hairy Audacious Goal to Clear and Compelling Audacious Goal. 

Tom keeps the audacious term … marked by originality and verve; daring, bold.  Yea, I do like that word. 

I invite you to read Tom’s post here.  I share Tom’s view as it gets to the heart of my problem with the BHAG.  A stated BHAG is not enough as often the leader is more interested in stating the goal (with much fanfare) than clearly articulating how we will get there. The path is not important, just get me there. 

The bigger, the hairier, with extra audacious sauce … the better the goal. 

This is wrong.  I know it now.  Those I work with and all those who no longer work for my company know it too.  Yes, an organization needs goals.  Goals that indeed stretch and grow the organization.  Yet goals need clarity and involvement.  We must take that big goal and create the path to get there.  That is leadership.

If leaders turn a blind eye to everything but the BHAG then an organization can behave in such a way as to get there under any circumstance … and lose sense of self along the way.  Once one states a BHAG, the most important step is not the last step where one reaches the BHAG.  The most important step is the first one. 

I have learned this lesson the hard way, but ultimately the only way to learn … from life experiences.    I will continue to have goals for myself and my team.  I do dream of returning to a spot where we discuss big goals.  Even audacious goals.  Yet always clear and compelling.   WeMoveTogether. 

goal setting steps

Starbucks Leadership Lab

Posted on by
1

starbucks-logoThis morning while drinking my Starbucks coffee (supplied at work) in my cool Starbucks mug (supplied by me), I read a great article at Fast Company magazine about the leadership practices at Starbucks. 

Late last year Starbucks held a conference in Houston for nearly 10,000 store managers and 5,000 live coffee plants (more on the plants later).  From what I read this is an annual conference and one that is quite different from other companies. 

Here is a link to the article and the video that shows the conference in action (click here).  Starbucks works hard to send their message out through its employees or what they call, partners.  This conference is set up to energize and educate the store managers so they are ready to head back to their little corner of the Starbucks world and lead their store, sell coffee and so much more. 

Yes, Starbucks is a business in search of profits, yet one has to admire their approach.  Their mission statement sets the right tone:

 To inspire and nurture the human spirit–one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.

While struggling back in 2008 with sales and morale dropping, Starbucks still held a similar leadership conference including the large price tag.  They now say that conference was the beginning to the improved results at Starbucks.  A strong tenet of leadership is to know when it is time to galvanize the troops or as Starbucks calls the employees (oops, partners), Brand Evangelists. (note: just a thought, but maybe this is underway at Yahoo)

One partner at a time inspiring one customer at a time.  Hey from my corner of the world, it is working.  I do feel better when hanging out at a Starbucks.  From the staff to the community centered environment and of course, the coffee, it works.

Here is a link to a more in-depth article (click here) from Fast Company associated with the Leadership Lab conference.  I do admit, I wish I was there.  As an outsider one can learn much from this approach to leadership and the set of believes lived at Starbucks. 

Back to those 5,000 coffee plants attending the conference.  Do watch the attached video to get the full effect, but here is the question for all of us … in how many companies does the leadership team in total understand the full process?  In other words the plants helped educate the Starbucks leaders to understand the full process, from bean to cup.

Does that exist in your organization?  Do all your leaders across a variety of departments, truly understand the process, from bean to cup? 

Starbucks gets the WeMoveTogether Award (hey, just made that up) for the week.

Here is a short video of the conference in action.  If interested though, do check out the attached links for more information.

Peripheral Vision

Posted on by
Reply

Peripheral Vision: Side vision. The ability to see objects and movement outside of the direct line of vision.

On my daily bike commute I pass a middle school.   If I leave at a certain time from home I ride by the school just as the students arrive.  The bike path I use moves right along the back entrance to the school – the perfect spot for kids to enter the school using the same path I ride along.

The kids ride bikes, scooters and skateboards.   When not using a vehicle appropriate for a 10-year-old, they walk … preferably three or more across, blocking the full path.

Why can they not see me?!   I am riding along and clearly just want to pass and get past the school.  I ride at a snail pace.  Kids have turned right in front of me somehow not noticing my presence.  I swear these kids have no peripheral vision.   

Hum, that got me thinking…  It is important to have a strong sense of peripheral vision, where you can see, understand and react to objects outside of your direct vision.  For my musing today I am not focused on the physical ability, but instead I am pondering the need for a strong peripheral vision metaphorically for leaders. 

I have worked for and with leaders who are great at deep focus on the job at hand.  They get into the detail in front of them, but often miss the important information sitting right there within sight, but not in direct view.  In their peripheral vision so-to-speak. 

Indeed leaders need to develop a strong sense of peripheral vision for their environment.  The need or opportunity so often is not in our direct sight line.  Once noticed we can put that deep focus directly where it needs to be.

While a leader needs to build on experience, which helps the deep focus needed at times, a leader needs to also maintain that “beginners mind”.  With a beginners mind everything is new and I believe, allows us to notice what is hanging out there … in our peripheral vision.  This goes beyond the physical.  In this sense our peripheral vision can be emotional and/or conceptual.

When we talk about a leader having “vision”, maybe it is time to really expand what we mean by vision.  

I certainly hope the children I pass everyday grow and develop that sense of peripheral vision and everything it applies.  It will be important for them in this increasingly complex world.

comp_vision_teaser_by_kirkh

source

The Goldilocks Zone

Featured

Posted on by
Reply

I have a coworker in search of the perfect chair.  With the state of my organization these days, there are plenty of chairs to choose from.  Recently I watched him roll chairs by my office, one-by-one in his search. Each chair got an audition and an eventually rejection.

As of today he is back to his old chair.  One that is not too hard or too soft.  A chair that fits just right.

As I watched the chairs wheel by I thought of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  You know the fairy tale … Goldilocks visits the empty house of the three bears.  She first tries their porridge and rejects one as too hot and another as too cold.  One bowl of porridge is just right and she eats it.  The same for three chairs. Only one is just right.   In need of a nap, Goldilocks tries the three available beds and picks the one just right for her, neither too hard or too soft.

My coworker, a Goldilocks of sorts, was that girl looking for the perfect chair. 

Recently I heard the term, Goldilocks Zone, while listening to commentary on the Kepler Space Telescope.  This device allows Astronomers to search for planets orbiting distant stars.  They search especially for those planets that sit in the so-called Goldilocks Zone, not too hot and not too cold orbiting their own Sun.  A perfect place for life to exist.

Hum … love this term.  How can I apply it to my writing on leadership observations?  There has to be more than searching for the perfect chair.

exoplanets 1As the Astronomers are doing, we in leadership roles are looking for that “habitual zone” in our organizations.  We strive to create a culture and environment that thrives, as a planet would in that perfect orbit. 

That space outside of the habitual zone should also be our concern as leaders.  If our environment is too hot or too cold we all suffer.  On a more personal level, we know it is an issue is we lead with a hot or cold approach.  In fact I remember using those words to describe previous bosses.  We all know it is not a good place when you boss runs hot or cold.

Along with hot and cold we get soft and hard as further problem areas for a leader.  A soft, pushover leader is ineffective.  A hard and overly demanding leader is out of touch and will never get the best from his or her employees.

Just some musing today.  While I look up to the heavens and dream of far away planets existing in that Goldilocks Zone, I remember where I stand.  As leaders let’s create and nurture that space … not too hot or cold, not too soft or hard.

Work From Work

Posted on by
Reply

yahoo-logoEveryone is talking, and writing, about the Yahoo announcement yesterday.  The head of Human Resources at Yahoo sent an email to all staff essentially eliminating work from home programs.  In other words, for your job, show up in an office … and have a nice day.

Yes, a big and juicy topic for a blog on leadership and organizational effectiveness.  Where does one start?  Of course, do I agree with Yahoo or not. 

What do you expect me to say?   Do you assume I am against this decision along with the majority of articles and other blog posts?  

Well … while I am surprised by the decision by Yahoo, I am supportive and say good for them.   One immediate reaction though is the message should have come from the new CEO, Marissa Mayer directly instead of the head of HR.   She is changing Yahoo and this is one big decision she must own. 

I reproduced the staff email below.  You got to love the internet.  Employees could not wait to share this with the world.  (source: All Things D).

Yahoos,

Over the past few months, we have introduced a number of great benefits and tools to make us more productive, efficient and fun. With the introduction of initiatives like FYI, Goals and PB&J, we want everyone to participate in our culture and contribute to the positive momentum. From Sunnyvale to Santa Monica, Bangalore to Beijing — I think we can all feel the energy and buzz in our offices.

To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side. That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices. Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings. Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home. We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together.

Beginning in June, we’re asking all employees with work-from-home arrangements to work in Yahoo! offices. If this impacts you, your management has already been in touch with next steps. And, for the rest of us who occasionally have to stay home for the cable guy, please use your best judgment in the spirit of collaboration. Being a Yahoo isn’t just about your day-to-day job, it is about the interactions and experiences that are only possible in our offices.

Thanks to all of you, we’ve already made remarkable progress as a company — and the best is yet to come.

Jackie

In my support of this directive, it does help that I am not a Yahoo employee.  I can imagine that if I was working from home regularly and then told to get into the office, that would cloud my thinking on the bigger topic.

Nor am I against work from home programs.  My own staff has this available and most work from home a couple of days a week.  We have several staff members working full-time from home.  It works for us.  That is one of my points – for me yes, for Yahoo, maybe not.  It is too easy to stand outside their organization and throw rocks.  I respect them to make their own decision, based on information, observation, and vision that we, as outsiders, are not aware.

As an outsider and a social scientist of sorts, I welcome the laboratory that Yahoo set up here.  I have talked about Anthropologists in the workplace … here is a great example of why.  This is action science where an organization (Yahoo) has set up a specific set of expectations.  They will be wise to monitor it closely and stay open to the further learning.  This decision by Yahoo is not the problem.  The next decision by Yahoo is the key.  They created the laboratory.  Let’s put on our lab coats and sharpen our pencils as we observe this play out. 

Yet let me go deeper why I support this move by Yahoo.  It gets to the core of my website and writing … WeMoveTogether.  As I read the message as presented to the Yahoo staff, I see the desire to bring the staff together and create the new Yahoo.  To do this well people need to gather. 

A gathering is a challenge when people are not present; communication goes beyond voice and words.  Technology can do only so much.

Time for work.  Time for personal.  Good timing that this hit the news right after my last post titled, A Culture of Availability.  Our work lives and personal lives are blending together, especially for those of us working for larger companies. 

It is not inevitable that our work and personal time will further blend.  This culture of availability needs a significant emotional event.  Well we just got one thanks to Yahoo.  I and all of us will be watching the next steps closely.

Leadership Development Model

Posted on by
Reply

Back in Graduate School (Organizational Behavior and Development) I took a class on leadership.  Specifically the class focus was on leadership definitions and models.  Our only assignment for the semester was to create our own Leadership Model.

I recently reviewed the leadership model I created for that class nearly 15 years ago.  I thought I would update my model with my real-world leadership mileage in mind.  I have used the various elements in my career, but it has been a while since I thought of the model as a whole.   

Funny thing though … I think my model still holds up.  So, it is time to publish it (of sorts) right here on my blog concerning leadership and organizational effectiveness.  I welcome your feedback and comments.  My hope is you can take something from this model, in part or in whole, and apply it to your leadership practice.

Over time I will write in more detail on the various components of the model, but for now here is an overview.

Leadership Development Model

  • The Model is a Field: there is space between elements.  Energy and balance hold the model together.  It is the same for a higher-order leader … using energy and balance to influence others. 
  • Relationship With Self: We start with self.  No leader can be effective without a strong understanding of self.  What are your ethics, character, principles, purpose, and motivations?  Do you leverage your talents?  How do you manage your weak areas?  Where do you draw energy (introversion or extraversion)?
  • Relationship With Others: A leader assures his or her relationships are strong and there is an understanding with those with authority over you, peers, and those you work for (your employees).
  • Pushing Forward: With our relationships in order, we push forward to accomplish our goals.  We understand our boss’s needs.  We work effectively with our peers, and we are clear with our staff.  We follow-up as needed and push harder as needed.

Yet there is more.  Pushing forward as a leader demands tremendous energy.  It can be done, but truly effective leaders strive for more … a place where only a gentle push works and where people are pulled forward to accomplish more.  As such we use less energy.

  • Discipline: How can one create an environment that operates almost on its own, using less energy?   It starts with discipline – the ability to make and keep promises and to honor commitments … to self and others.
  • Strength: Our capacity for effective action and our ability to maintain a position firmly.  We tap into the power of the four intelligences: emotional, mental, spiritual, and the physical to expand our strength. 
    Through Discipline & Strength we link back to the relationship with self and take ourselves to a new level as a leader.   We are set to pull people forward.
  • Trust: How can one lead well without trust?  It is possible, but one would need to PUSH HARDER almost without pause. To get to the next level one needs to operate with integrity, provide disclosure, and maintain an openness to new ideas.  In other words, be trustworthy. 
    People want to follow a trustworthy leader and the trustworthy leader requires less energy to pull people forward. 
  • Alignment: is the point where any member of the group can state the purpose, values, goals, and vision of the group.
  • Push and Pull:  This is the center of the model and became my focal point.  Leaders are set up to push forward to accomplish goals.  Effective relationships are the foundation to allow us to push forward.  
    Yet so often that push is into the unknown.  When we develop our discipline, strength, trustworthiness, and alignment we (1) use less energy, (2) help others move into the unknown and I would argue, (3) we get the very best out of people.

Let me know what you think of this model.  Over time I will write more concerning this model and detail more on the influences that helped me bring this together.  Remember, leadership development is not a solo journey.  WeMoveTogether

Knights of the Round Table

Featured

Posted on by
4

I attend two standing meetings each Thursday.  The first is my weekly staff meeting with my three direct report managers.  The second is a cross-departmental meeting focused on operational issues.

Both meetings are remarkable and I look forward to attending.  Yes, poor meetings abound in the business world.  Yet these two meetings work and for very similar reasons.  Here are my observations on why each of these two meetings works so well:

  • Small talk is not small - Each meeting typically starts with small talk about topics far away from the work at hand.  A leader needs to know when the time is right to allow for, and even encourage, small talk.  Small talk is the warm up.  Often we do not notice when the small talk stops and the business talk begins.  Small talk builds the container for a safe discussion ready for all to take part.
  • Focus on learning – The people in these meetings are damn smart and know our business inside and out.  I focus on learning in these meetings.  I notice others are learning from each other as we talk.  How cool to hear, “I do not understand, can you tell me more?”  Learning leads to understanding.
  • We can solve any problem - We talk about the little items and the big items.  We even venture into deeper waters occasionally and discuss the bigger issues at hand in our business.   The thought that pops into my head is that we can solve this issue.  We can solve that issue.  We can solve any issue.
  • We are smarter together - Synergy is an overused business buzzword that is poorly understood.  Track me down and slap me silly if I mention the work “synergy” again.  Yet, we know those times when a group comes together, discusses issues, listens, and taps into the collected knowledge and experience.  Yea, we are smarter together in these meetings.
  • Leadership is fluid – Each person in both meetings is a leader with staff and process responsibility.  We need the person closest to the topic to lead the conversation. My job is to facilitate and allow the leaders to lead the discussion and continue to decision-making.  I do not forget my role as the boss in the room.  Yet, I am glad that most decisions are group decisions and only infrequently do I have to decide on my own.
  • There is something about a round table - Both meetings take part in my office at a round conference table.  The table holds six people comfortably.  This setup is so different from a larger conference room.  In these conference rooms we sit around a rectangular table where we can not see each other well and often there are empty chairs scattered through the room.  A round table generates energy and focuses it toward the center where it belongs.  Our meetings work because of the items I list above, yet do not forget the power of a round table to bring people together in unity and purpose.

Hum, maybe I have it wrong.  My two Thursday meetings are not meetings at all.   They are a gatherings.    You know the difference.  How bold to start to call them as such … let’s start.

WeMoveTogether

I Believe, I Behave

Posted on by
Reply

Behavior.  It is what we witness every day in our work environment.  What are people doing?  What are we doing as observed by others?  

Why do people behave the way they do?   Under the best circumstances behavior flows from core beliefs.   We take action based on what we believe to be true.   Beliefs can change.  It is important though that we behave in line with our beliefs.

At times core beliefs and the witnessed behavior are not aligned.  Short-term this may work, but certainly not long-term.

For leaders, especially those who manage people, the link between one’s behavior and deeper beliefs is very important.  We expect leaders to be authentic and act in a consistent way.   This is who I am.  This is what I believe in.  This is how I choose to act.   When the pressure is on, I do not lose grip on my beliefs. 

I recently read an article from Inc. Magazine titled, 8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses.  At first I loved what I was reading.   Here are the beliefs listed in the article. 

Business is an ECOSYSTEM, not a battlefield.

A company is a COMMUNITY, not a machine.

Management is SERVICE, not control.

My employees are my PEERS, not my children.

Motivation comes from VISION, not from fear.

Change equals GROWTH, not pain.

Technology offers EMPOWERMENT, not automation.

Work should be FUN, not mere toil.

 Yet, as I thought about it more I realize that we need to be careful.  The article author, Geoffrey James, interviewed “some of the most successful CEOs in the world”.   From those interviews he compiled this list. 

Great.  As I said earlier, I like the list.  Yet, is it real?   Interviews with successful people are one thing.  Follow them around with a notebook for a while and observe their behavior.  Only then do you know (once again my inner anthropologist). 

Business leaders commonly speak to espoused values (or beliefs).  In other words, what they want to see for their organization.  Too often these espoused beliefs are mistaken for actual behavior.  If the CEOs interviewed truly behave in line with the listed Beliefs, then wonderful.   If not, well … then just talk.  Talk that does damage. 

Read the article (link here) and see how the author details how an average boss and how an extraordinary boss works with each of this beliefs.      If the behavior matches these beliefs then all good.  I do worry though that smart leaders may talk-the-talk, but do not follow through.  Their behavior gives them away.  You have seen it.  I have seen it. 

For all of us, be authentic and behave as you believe.