Lessons from the Road

When I venture out from my stomping grounds it’s generally with anticipation, and the general belief that I’ll discover something intriguing and my trip to Denver to attend a The Alternative Board Conference didn't disappoint.

I try to bring something interesting to read for those times when I’m deprived of my Blackberry like when I'm actually airborne. With that in mind, I embarked on a search for something worthy. I cruised blogs. I checked out best seller and recommended buy lists. I was getting quite discouraged when I finally stumbled upon “it”. A research based book with statistics to back it up: “Happiness at Work, Maximizing your Psychological Capital for Success” by Jessica Pryce-Jones.

It boasts that the happiest people:
• Are 180 % more energized
• Are 180 % happier with life
• Are 155% happier in their jobs
• Are 108% more engaged at work
• Love their job 79% more
• Are 50% more motivated
• Have 40% more confidence
• Achieve their goals 30 % more
• Contribute 25 % more (which means a whopping 1 ¼ days more productivity/week)

The book identifies the key factors as Contribution (where setting and achieving goals is important), Conviction (motivation is intrinsic), Culture (liking your colleagues is important as is fairness and having control), Commitment (you need 5 to 6 “pathways” or alternatives because there’s generally only about a 20% probability of any one being successful), and Confidence (getting things done, self belief, and understanding your role). It’s full of interesting information and I’d highly recommend it.

Back to the trip: Having learned my lesson not to skimp on time to get through the airport I got there early enough that the lines were virtually non existent and ended up sitting at the gate with a significant amount of time on my hands. I had my trusty Blackberry to keep me productive and amused but became intrigued by a “nice, young man”. (How did I ever reach the age where I think of someone as a nice, young man?) We quickly got into the serious business of solving all the world’s business problems and I think by the end of it both of us felt like we’d made some pretty good progress. Turns out he does marketing events and that Bud Camp is real. “Pour the perfect Stella beer” competitions are also real. I came away from it with a deep appreciation for how powerful eliciting deep emotional responses about a brand/product can be through an event. Might not be quite as good as the Old Spice social media coup but still pretty remarkable. If you haven’t seen the Old Spice You Tube come backs for questions posed on Facebook and Twitter you should check them out. Not only are they quite entertaining but Old Spice sales are up significantly for the first time in a long time.

There was also the intriguing drive to the hotel with the Ethiopian immigrant. It turns out he came to the U.S. with $ 300 and built up a ½ million/year Dry Cleaning business only to lose it all during the “crash”. “Money comes, money goes.” Obviously he had no trouble with acceptance. We started into the “ethics” talk that opened with the ever obvious, “Rich people are greedy” and concluded with what I’ll summarize as the, ethics are more important than money, perspective. He was a fascinating man but in retrospect, if we had more time, we could have expanded it to the importance of power relative to survival. I think in times of plenty, power becomes less important because it doesn’t affect survival significantly. There’s also the issue of the age old adage that power corrupts which I think is generally true but I also suspect that it’s more complicated than that. That it’s related to “roles”. For example, the Dalai Lama is powerful but not considered corrupt. He believes he’s a re-incarnation. His role identity is very strong. Does his belief in being compassionate get reinforced by that? I think so. And for the record, it’s my observation that one of the requirements for long term success is high ethics.

There was too much to summarize from the conference but one of the highlights was the session on coaching excellence. The focus is always on the coachee and what they want. Specifically, how to help them clarify what is important to them, establishing their goals, figuring out how best to achieve them and finally, supporting them to make it happen. Another way to think about it is it’s about facilitating acceptance so the coachee will adapt in a positive way. It’s most effective when it reflects the coachee’s language, opinions and agenda; not the coach’s. It sounds simple but in practice can be quite challenging.

There was also the old argument for personality assessments which was strongly supported. Personally, I have a tendency to think of personality assessments as a way to categorize people. They help with understanding and relating to each other but think that can also be achieved through quality, effective conversation. And conversation has the benefit of being quicker and cheaper. But to be fair personality assessments can also be key in evaluating fit, for example; will someone be good at sales? And sometimes people exaggerate, are biased about themselves or those they care about, or are simply in denial and assessments can help negate that. Still, I believe being a good communicator is a really powerful skill. It is our most used method to inspire, coach, direct, clarify, evaluate or to assess. And most of us could be a lot better at it.

It would be really wonderful if everyone would communicate using a coaching methodology as the focus would be on helping each other to develop in a supportive, non invasive, non coercive manner and personally, I’d really like that and think others would too.

Implementing, Executing and Project Management – Getting It Done

It occurred to me that our businesses aren’t much different than our daily lives in that it’s easy to get caught up with whatever is demanding our attention. There are things that we typically don’t let slip such as sleeping, eating, and taking care of our hygiene. And sometimes we’ll even tackle things like a nagging ingrown toe nail given it’s going to affect our ability to function. The mainstays of living (sleeping, eating, and hygiene) can be seen as providing employees with the tools to do their job, pay and being clear about expectations. The equivalent of a nagging ingrown toe nail would be something that negatively affects productivity.

So what can business owners do about those nagging problems? First, they must understand what it is they wish to accomplish, which sounds simple but often isn’t. There are always lots of permutations and combinations to ponder. Then they need to achieve the resolve and commitment to take action, and decide how to get it done. Even those with the best intentions get sidetracked or frustrated, which erodes resolve and commitment and is why borrowing some Project Management concepts can be helpful.

The value of Project Management is best realized when applied to the complicated and unique, versus something that’s done repetitively such as with manufacturing. In its highest form there are PMP (Project Management Professional) certifications and PMBOK’s (Project Management Book of Knowledge) to study. Being a good problem solver is always a great asset because the probability of the unforeseen occurring is virtually certain. More time is always spent implementing than planning, so it’s really no surprise that surprises happen. The question is how to find them while you still have time to devise a fix that’s affordable, and effective in support of the objective. And while it might be tempting to think in terms of error proofing its usefulness is in application to re-occurring processes.

Understanding scope is crucial. How do you get there if you don’t know where you’re going? The more you understand about motives, objectives and limitations the easier it is. Sales people typically think in terms of identifying “the need” but I think a better paradigm is understanding the job a person is trying to accomplish. It facilitates more creative solutions versus limiting choices to what’s available “off the shelf”. That said leveraging proven and readily available solutions makes sense whenever it reduces risk.

Discovering issues or road blocks is always better done sooner rather than later. There are a myriad of tracking techniques (Microsoft Project is pretty standard) but sometimes simple tools work fine. An example would be regularly reviewing a list of milestones and issues. It’s about uncovering problems while they can still be addressed effectively. Being able to ask the right questions is key. What could affect the budget and schedule? What options and alternatives are available?

A common problem is drift. Wouldn’t it be cool if we did, or had…? Yes, it would be cool to do a lot of things but what if it doesn’t fit within the budget? Staying cognizant of limitations can be difficult. It’s easy to get lured away because we always want it to be perfect even though, we know nothing is. The best way to manage “Wouldn’t it be cool if…?” is to qualify it via the motives, objectives and limitations. How does it fit? For example, wouldn’t it be cool to drive the latest muscle car? But what’s important is getting from “A” to “B” within budget. At the end of day that muscle car might not be worth not the expense and the increased probability of ending up in the ditch during inclement weather. Understanding how important the budget is, and how important the cool factor is relative to what you’re trying to accomplish helps to make the choice easier. What fits the functionality requirements? What fits within the limitations? Keep in mind that in business it’s typically the ones that don’t have to pay the bills that propose the, “Wouldn’t it be cool if…?” It’s like your child saying, “Can I have whatever?” They might not be as enthused if they were paying the bills and could think beyond their own personal, short term gratification.

It’s also normal to have to negotiate with others to get things done where overcoming objections can be draining and time consuming. A common objection is: “I don’t think it will work” An appropriate response might be: “What do you think will work?” Another common objection is “I’m too busy” To which “When would be a better time?” can be effective in facilitating the acceptance that there frequently isn’t a better time. Another option is: “So given that you agree that the benefits are worthwhile what can be done to get it done?”

Persistence and patience are always needed because no matter how much you believe it should be simple and straightforward, it rarely is. If it was easy anyone could do it, and the fact that it isn’t makes it more worthwhile.

In summary:

Be committed (but understand it isn’t always enough).
Understand scope:

• Motivations, need
• Objectives, the job to be accomplished
• Limitations

Find problems:

• Hold regular reviews
• Ask questions about:
  • Status, where you’re at
  • Suitability in terms of function
  • Ability to meet requirements (such as the budget and schedule)

Solve problems
Explore alternatives and options
Proactively deal with drift by testing ideas against criteria/scope.
Proactively address objections.
Be persistent and patient

And if all else fails, ask for help!