Effort to Align
I feel excited most mornings on my way to work. Yes or No Work in 2009 will be different than the past few years. There will be fewer people with much more to do. Teams will likely be smaller and asked to produce faster. Everyone will be required to rethink how they work. Individually or as a team, people will need to improve performance by being fully engaged and focused on the right things together more than ever before. In his new book, “Great Business Teams” Howard M. Guttmann states that for an organization to raise its level of performance,
Career Examen
Do you ever wake up at night wondering, “Is what I’ve been doing in my career really what I want to do? While also asking, “Do I have enough time left to do something else I really want to do?” Since none of us knows the answer to the “time left” question – at least not from this side of heaven. I’d like to offer an idea to help you get a clearer answer to “What do I really want to do?” by illustrating a simply process ,which seems especially appropriate, as we approach Thanksgiving Day. The process is found
Choosing Hopefulness
Bill was promised an ownership position if he could turnaround the failing profit center. He had the smarts, the experience, the enthusiasm, and a plan. First he removed incompetent staff, then hired good people and improved the service. Sales increased and profits grew. Team spirit lifted. All the while, the owner acted as his top cheerleader. Suddenly the boss started to find fault in any mistake Bill made. He went around Bill to the staff and micro-managed everything. After a while Bill succumbed. Like a caged lion stripped of his pride, he crouched silent in the shadows to avoid the
Rule of Three
Over the ages great leaders have used the rule of three to change their world. Writers, officials and revolutionaries have successfully applied the rule of three to move people toward a vision. “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” “Government of the people, by the people, and for the people,” “Friends, Romans, countrymen,” “Blood, sweat and tears,” “Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” “Faith, Hope and Charity,” “Mind, body, spirit,” “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Jon Stewart is a comedian and the infamous TV news anchor on “The Daily Show” . Here is how Jon relies, as effective joke tellers
Signs for Success
Back 20 years or so ago I sat in a dull green room attending my first and only traffic school. I was part of an unmotivated group comprised of fifteen people with one- too- many traffic tickets and a very upbeat traffic cop. He was our teacher. We had just finished viewing a video of the largest traffic accident in the history of America , a 196 car chain reaction pile-up on a freeway in Lansing , Michigan . Our positive policeman asked this pointed question, “So what was the cause of this accident?” The room was silent. He answered,
Complexity Crisis
“They asked us to automate 92 reports for their company. They didn’t even have 92 employees”. I heard this personal account from the president of a successful computer service company. We were standing in the hallway discussing our shared observation that mid-level managers are feeling run over and run down by the extensive reporting being required in today’s high tech business environment. Managers are being told that their job is to grow the business and develop people, but they can hardly find time to do their job. In many organizations the majority of work days are spent attending meetings, writing
Having it ALL
His hard hat and heavy tool belt was conspicuously out of place in the plush elevator that frigid winter morning. A well dressed lady with a shiny briefcase asked how he felt about working outside in the bitter cold. “I’m lucky today,” he said “I’m doing repairs inside.” The door opened. As he stepped out, he stopped and said, “I really don’t mind working in the harsh weather. We do what we need to do for the ones we love.” Standing behind the cash register in a busy garden shop she moved methodically amid the potpourri of plants and garden
Hope & Hotdogs
A man lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs. He was hard of hearing so he had no radio. He had trouble with his eyes so he had no newspaper. But he sold good hot dogs! He put up a sign on the highway telling how good they were. He stood by the side of the road and cried, “Hey mister, buy a hot dog.” And people bought. He increased his meat and bun orders and he bought a bigger stove to take care of his increased trade. Then his son came home from college to
Rhythm
The road to ruin circles your comfort zone. For the first time in her life, she walked away from the security of a real job to start her own competing business. At first it was difficult for Mary, especially adjusting to the lack of the structure imposed by others each work day, but she had made a commitment and was sticking to her plan. About six months into this new venture Mary hit her stride, or as she put it “I’ve found my rhythm.” We experience a different rhythm when we move outside of our comfort zone. Like a talented
E-sabbath
Do you ever get worn down by being always available via a PDA, Blackberry or a plain old cell phone? Do you marvel at how some people thrive in this high-tech 24-7 connected world? How do they do it? One young man suggests an old idea for managing himself in a high tech world. “I send and receive hundreds of text messages a day,” says the University of New Hampshire freshman Griffin Kiritsy in a Reader’s Digest December 2007 article. Kiristy feels totally natural being electronically tethered to friends most of the day. A text message is a virtual shoulder
The Vital Two
Modern legend holds that President Ronald Reagan said something to this effect to his executive staff, Smart people can focus on one thing. Brilliant people can focus on two. I believe each one of you is brilliant. So here are the two things: bring down communism and lower taxes. If you are not working on one of these two strategies everyday you are not working on my team.History shows that his clear focus steered a busy world his way. Phil Jackson led the Chicago Bulls to win 6 NBA titles in 10 years. As head coach, he recruited and retained
Failure Can be Hard to Stop
The tire was almost flat when we loaded up the big farm tractor that warm autumn morning. Too busy to take time to repair the tire, we quickly aired ‘er up and marched forward, confidently armed with the certain hope of a productive day working the overgrown hunting land. The day did not progress as we had hoped. In summary, we accomplished about 45 minutes of real work in our 10 hours of activity. The remaining 9 hours and 15 minutes were spent in the following comedy of blunders: tire totally flat; stuck in a ditch; repaired the tire; tractor
Noodle Management
When Momofuku Ando passed away recently at age 96, he left behind one of the greatest modern inventions: Ramen Noodles. According to The New York Times, he also left us a great motto to live by: “ Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a life time. Give him Ramen Noodles, and you don’t have to teach him anything.” It is easier to change a structure than to change a person. Have you every experienced an employee you didn’t have to teach? By luck or intention they got in the right spot at the right time and
The Next Shot
I’m not much of a golfer, but I occasionally watch the closing holes of important events like The Masters and The British Open. This year’s British Open held a lesson that really hit home. On the 18th hole, Sergio Garcia needed to make an eight foot putt to defeat Patrick Harrington and win The British Open. The crowd sat pin drop still. Garcia’s ball rolled around the edge of the cup and out. He missed. With disbelief draping his otherwise upbeat demeanor, he tapped the ball in. The tournament was tied. In the moments that followed, a wide angle camera
