Internet Addiction in teens can lead to higher Depression Risk
Today's entry focusses on an interesting article I read August 2010 about Internet addiction with teens. It showed that teens have a 2.5 percent higher risk of becoming depressed when addicted to the internet.
An interesting quote from one of the researchers is : "The results of the study indicated that young people who use the Internet pathologically are most at risk of mental problems and would develop depression when they continue with that behavior." - lead researcher Lawrence T. Lam
Many claim that the internet creates new mechanisms of connectedness, after all just look at how many Facebook friends most of us have. I found it interesting that 2 possible culprits for the increased risk of depression may be "isolation and alienating". Funny that a technology that is suppose to "increase connectedness" could be doing just the opposite for teens.
You can read the article here : link
The steps to achieving greatness
Regardless of your chosen field of expertise, you most likely want to be great at it. When coaching individuals, I am often asked “What takes someone from average to good to great?”. Putting aside your field-specific characteristics, there are some immutable laws of success that I want to share with you.
The first golden rule comes from Stephen Covey’s book “7 habits of highly effective people” and is “start with the end in mind”. Regardless of how YOU define great, spend some time to think about it. Get specific. Close your eyes and imagine how it feels to be great and what you are doing when you are great.
The devil is in the details
When was the last time your GPS failed you? Did you ever get lost using it because of the GPS? Most likely the answer is a resounding NO! When you are planning a road trip from Point A to Point B, you plug the information into your trusty GPS and it plots a very specific turn by turn route. After all, we expect nothing less from our GPS. The reason it works every time is because if plots a specific set of actions (turns) that are designed to get you to your destination. The same can be used in your quest for greatness. When setting a goal for greatness, define exactly what that means. Define all of the parameters.
Don’t just say, “I want to lose weight”. Say “I want to lose 20 lbs in 30 days following the slow carb diet and exercising for at least 30 minutes, 4 times a week.” Which of these has a greater chance of success?
Time management
Most people manage their time without a specific framework. The last loudest request gets their priority. This is more common than you think. 80% of people I work with do not have a formal time management strategy and this is deadly to your success.
How do you know you are spending your time wisely when you don’t know everything you have on your plate? How do you prioritize the activities that generate the biggest bang for the buck (the 80/20 rule)? Spend the time to learn a time management framework and implement it for every aspect of your life (work and personal). Years ago, I started learning the Getting Things Done methodology thaught by David Allen and have customized it for myself.
The next time you forget to make that important phone call, send that important email or exercise, ask yourself if you really were too busy. Was there something else that should have been skipped?
Life gives each of us plenty of opportunities to rise above the crowd and shine if we are equipped to see it and act upon it.
Honest introspection
Very early in my career, a boss explained to me the importance of periodic, planned and honest introspection. Think about how quickly life passes by. Set a defined schedule to conduct honest self-assessment.
Every 6 months, I take a weekend and conduct this very valuable activity. I write down my assessment and use it as a baseline for my next self-assessment. Am I where I thought I would be by now? If not, why? Where did I deviate and how can I get back on course? Also knowing where I am today, I can determine where I should be at the next assessment?
Generally my planning horizons are 6 months, 12 months, 24 months, 5 years and 10 years.
Enthusiastic realism
The old adage holds true “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Introspection is critical but I want to spend some time here talking about the adjective I used, “honest”. When evaluating yourself or planning your future, be enthusiastically realist. IT is important to run after the BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal – from the book “Building Your Company's Vision”) but always be realistic.
“ A true BHAG is clear and compelling, serves as a unifying focal point of effort, and acts as a clear catalyst for team spirit. It has a clear finish line, so the organization can know when it has achieved the goal; people like to shoot for finish lines.” —Collins and Porras, 1996
It is a stretch, something achievable but just beyond your current reach. Belief in yourself is critical to success. Ensure all of your planned goals are achievable with the right commitment of time, effort, desire and money.
Remember that the BHAG is a stretch
Some people unconsciously set goals that prove their abilities. Remember that the purpose of your goals should be to exceed your current potential and doing so requires constant improvement. Always set your next goal a little higher than your current skill set (physical, mental, knowledge, etc).
When I attended an Anthony Robbins seminar many years ago, he had the firewalk experience at the end of the first day. They basically layed down red hot coals and you were expected to walk over them, without getting burned. Impossible you say, and so I believed until the end of the first day. Once you push yourself to do it and realize you achieve something you thought was not possible, it triggers a whole new set of thinking. I know that my thoughts can limit my abilities or unlock them. I understand the power of belief and how it can cause self limitation.
Find your own way to break free from your self-imposed limiting beliefs. A friend of mine was afraid of heights so after careful planning and work, we went skydiving. Sure he was terrified the minute he made the decision to jump (which he made, it was not forced) but the unbelievable feeling of freedom that followed was worth it. Face your demons and push yourself to conquer them.
Perseverance
Like a broken record, let me restate that which you have heard a thousand times. Perseverance and patience pay off. We have become a society that demands instant gratification and that is simply not how life works. Most of the time, you will not immediately benefit from your hard work and determination. When you graduated from university, you weren’t immediately given a senior manager job right out of the gate. It took time and hard work. Most likely it took many years. But eventually you were richly rewarded for your hard work.
When you drive a motor vehicle, you are likely calm, confident and in control. But think back to the first time you got in a car, how was the experience? Was your control of the speed smooth? What about turning or merging with fast oncoming traffic. You kept at it until you “got good”.
The law of attraction
I am not going to ask you to believe in some esoteric superpower that grants your every wish. I am asking you however to focus on what you will do rather than what you won’t. Your brain has an amazing ability to make things happen and will make happen what you think about. If you constantly think about “not getting into an accident”, you will likely find yourself in one then tell yourself “you knew it was going to happen”.
When planning to lose weight, I don’t constantly think about “not eating a doughnut” but rather on what I will do next to lose the weight (eat the right food, exercise, etc). I would be lying if I said I don’t think about doughnuts but when the thought comes up, I acknowledge it (don’t blame yourself), I write it down on a list of things to consider eating on my next cheat day and I move on to the positive.
Don’t beat yourself for having a “bad” thought. Acknowledge it, handle it calmly and then tell yourself it’s time to move on to a positive goal-enhancing thought.
Conclusion
Implementing all of the above takes time. Give yourself the permission to embark on YOUR journey of greatness and remember that the longest trip starts with the first step. Plan your goals, learn the skills and achieve what you were meant to achieve.
Real Twitter Usage Statistics
Edison Research/Arbitron Internet and Multimedia Series released an interesting report entitled “Twitter Usage in America: 2010”. What really sets this report apart is the fact that they spent 3 years collecting and tracking usage.
The most interesting conclusion is the fact that “twitter is a broadcast channel” contrary to what many marketers believe. The majority of twitter users are lurkers and rarely post.
The report is filled with useful and actionable information but some interesting highlights include:
- In 2 years, American’s awarness of twitter has increased from 5% to 87%
- Although the level of awareness of Twitter now matches that of Facebook, the latter has significantly more active users. 7% of Americans actively use Twitter compared to 41% for Facebook.
- Surprisingly 2/3 of Twitter users access the service from a mobile device.
- The majority of Twitter users are passive information gatherers
- Twitter users seem more likely to follow Brands/Companies than users of other social networks (51% of users)
You can read their quick blog entry about their report here:
http://www.edisonresearch.com/twitter_usage_2010.php
Download the full report here:
Corporate Fraud's shocking statistics
The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACDE) published an interesting report in 2010 entitled "Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse".
They break down their operational analysis into 3 distinct categories :
- Asset Misappropriations
- Corruption Schemes
- Financial Statement Fraud
Interestingly, they were able to show correlation between the rank of the fraudster and the value of the fraud (aka the higher the rank, the higher the value of the fraud.) Numerically, a fraud perpetrated by an owner/general manager is usually 3x more costly than that perpetrated by a "basic" manager and 9x more than a fraud commitment further down the chain of command.
86% of fraudsters in the report did not have prior fraud convictions. 8% of fraudsters were administratively punished by previous employers and 10% had been terminated by a previous employer for suspected fraud. This calls into question the effectiveness of conducting background checks as it relates to fraud prevention.
The 2010 report this shows that men are the primary offenders. It is expected however that the number of frauds commited by woman will increase as more and more of them move up in the ranks and hold positions of power.
The impact of low cost competition
Think about how low cost competition has dramatically changed how we work, live and think.
It is now common for many professionals to work thousands of miles away from home because of low cost airfare. We have seen doctors from eastern Europe holding part time jobs in the UK to fill the gap.
Walmart's low prices have allowed millions to buy products that would otherwise be out of reach.
Low prices have forced companies to rethink how they provide services. Forced optimization which could lead to huge new markets. How have you jumped on this bandwagon?
Why you should you allow working from home and how to do it right
What are the benefits of teleworking?
Before we talk about how to do it properly, I want to take a minute and quickly brain dump some of the benefits of teleworking. Not every organization will identify with every one of the items on this list but you should be able to pick out a couple that are applicable to your reality.
- The environmental benefits Whether you believe in this point because of your commitment to the environment or simply because of the monetary savings it provides, this is a reality most organizations will highlight.
- Transportation savings Whether your employees use cars, busses or trains, it is easy to see how not having to “come in” to work presents obvious savings. Savings related to fuel, oil changes, discarded parts (i.e. tires, belts, etc). It is widely believed that if more people teleworked, road congestion would also drop, significantly alleviating traffic.
- Energy consumption The local branch of a worldwide computer consulting company in Montreal (Quebec) had a huge office capable of comfortably housing 4000 employees and thousands of servers. Costing thousands to heat, cool and keep running. Over the years, they started implementing a telework policy that saw the number of in-office employees dwindle to less than 35. This meant they could move into a much smaller office thereby consuming less energy (which in turn meant less costs). Employees already have to heat and cool their homes so the actual benefit to the environment was also huge.
- Land savings As much as companies want to encourage their employees to use public transportation, it is not practical for the great majority of North Americans. As such, most choose to take their vehicles in to work, which not only impacts the above points, it also means companies now have to plan for parking. Buildings and parking facilitates have to get bigger, consuming lots of valuable real-estate.
- Work-life balance is key and increased productivity I have rarely met someone who is less stressed today than they were 10 years ago. Top of most people’s lists is the balancing of their personal and professional lives. Until recently, few employees could work from home without severely impacting their productivity but recent technological advancements mean most could do it today and actually be more productive.
Here is a great video of why people rarely get work done at work:
It allows the employee to work in a way that is most efficient and productive for them instead of forcing them to become mindless office drones.
Reduced stress usually means healthier employees. Having implemented telework strategies for dozens of companies, I have found that the employees become much happier and much more productive. Instead of wasting time in traffic, they can start working sooner. Instead of leaving earlier to beat the rush, they tend to work later. At lunch, they can work while eating. When they are sick, they are likely to still check-in and get some work done.
- Reduces employee turnover Telework makes employees happier. Happier employees are less likely to “jump ship” as they place a high value on the benefit of freedom. In turn, this means more consistent productivity for the company, with less training costs and the ability to retain their most valuable people.
- Choose the best A consistent complaint most companies have is the lack of qualified resources to fill their key jobs. Often they settle for 2nd or 3rd best because of this. Telework means you could hire the best people regardless of where they live. The world is your oyster. Also, by spreading your employees, you reduce your company’s exposure against natural, political and human risks (aka all your eggs aren’t in one basket).
I’m sold! How do I implement it properly?
The companies that successfully implement telework are those that understand that it is more than just buying “some technology”. See technology as more of an enabler and not the means to your desired teleworking end.
A successful implementation requires a redesign of the work arrangement and related processes, it requires a paradigm shift within management and a very senior corporate executive who is committed to “making it work”.
Your senior sponsor will champion this cause. He or she will need to ensure the technology is ready, the processes are optimized and that people understand the how, what, when and why.
- Have a vision of how you will mesh the technology, people and processes together to ensure the success of your telework initiative. Do not let technology limitations define your go-forward strategy. Define the strategy, then find the technology that meets your requirements.
- Conduct a SWOT analysis to clearly define where telework will help and leverage this to sell the idea to management and the employees.
- Most industries have started implementing telework strategies so you can study their strengths/weaknesses when designing your plans. If you are in an industry where there is little or no adoption of telework yet, you may want to wait. I rarely encourage being the “guinea pig”.
- Understand and accept that there will be unforeseen issues. Be prepared to quickly identify them and implement corrections. My operations management mantra has always been “plan for the worst and hope for the best”.
A high level walkthrough?
Part of your analysis will revolve around defining which jobs to actually enable for telework. Ask yourself how moving this position offsite will impact the business, coworkers and the customers? It is important to understand that not all jobs can be done via telework and not all jobs can be done 100% via telework. Decide early on how you will handle the jobs that require partial presence.
Once you have identified the positions you will enable telework for, you need to look at the human aspect. Determine what profile of employee you believe can telework successfully. Turn your attention to the ideal telework employee.
- Define what characteristics your ideal telework employee will possess. This is a great activity for your senior HR experts. Think in terms of personality, belief and principle.
- I can’t tell you how often I have heard managers say “If I can’t see them, how do I know they are working”. This dated ill-thought belief bothers me to no end. Make sure your managers are progressive and open-minded. Then make sure you define how you will identify employees with strong work ethics and integrity.
- What skills will make the chosen employees successful? Think in terms of being autonomous and self sufficient. Another trait you may want to spend time on is communications. Telework presents some communication challenges which require some skill and panache.
- How will you train your managers on how to make teleworkers feel like part of the team? How should they schedule and run meetings? How do they communicate news and changes in an equitable fashion (onsite and telework)?
- How will you make your telework employees feel part of the team? You have to find a way to make them feel connected? This may include some onsite meetings, special hands-on training, events, etc.
- Determine what metrics you will use to judge the performance of your telework strategy and how you will equitably measure the performance of your onsite/telework teams.
- Define an exit strategy for employees who want to return to the more traditional work model. As beneficial as telework is (to both the company and employee), some will want to come back to the rigor of the traditional model. Define a mechanism for employees to do this without “losing face”.
Just as I ask you to choose employees with integrity, so to must your process show this trait. Every employee must understand why they were chosen or why they were not chosen. Be careful not to create resentment and poison the work environment. Be clear and communicate often to everyone.
Train… Train… Train…
- The most obvious is to ensure the chosen employees understand how to use the technology and processes.
- Less obvious but just as important is to help your employees define how they will draw the line between work and their personal lives when it all happens in the same place. This is critical since failure here may destroy the entire process. Successful implementation of the work-life balance means dedicated, highly productive employees that will be very hard for your competitors to steal. Badly implementing this means poisoning the employee/employer relationship and pushing them to find other jobs.
- Provide extensive help designing, acquiring and installing their home work environment. Do not try to save money by forcing your employee to manage. Pay for the proper work environment including desk, lighting, office supplies, etc. This is not the place to be cheap.
Ongoing
My most successful implementations have been environments where the companies have implemented telework coaches. These are senior extravert employees that can be relied on to carry the torch and help their fellow employees.
They will:
- Provide ongoing “on the job” training and support related to telework. I usually like to have them organize weekly touch points to ensure the connection is there. They should also be ready to provide one on one support when required.
- Provide unbiased feedback to the executives about what works and what doesn’t. There needs to be an easy mechanism for this 2-way communication between these key players and the sponsors.
- Provide social proof to sell the idea to other managers and employees. These people will become company evangelists not only to existing employees but to potential ones.
Conclusion
Experience and planning leads me to believe that as you find more ways to connect the employee to the company (telework, mobile devices, etc), they will actually spend more of their personal time working. The younger generations are already used to building virtual social networks, which makes your job much easier. Parents with children will be less absent because they will be able to balance their personal responsibilities with their jobs.
Your managers need to understand that the increased connectedness does not give them the right to impede upon the employee’s personal time or life. The employee needs to know that being connected is a freedom they have and will not turn into an expectation by their manager.
You will not have a choice but to implement a telework strategy if you are to remain competitive. You can either start early and plan properly, or get dragged in and risk negatively impacting your business.
Empower your people to perform
Over the last couple of month, I have written many articles extolling the benefits of empowering your employees. In case you have not read them, the Coles Notes version of the concept is that you are no longer a manager but a coach. Your job is to train and support your people. Your success is determined by their success.
So what should you do to ensure their success?
Growth Most of your employees should be knowledge workers and they want a clear path for growth. For some, growth means going up the corporate ladder and for others it simply means developing new skills. Determine the skillset of each of your players then develop a plan to help them achieve it.
Give Responsibility After coaching and working with your people, you will quickly determine who has the capacity for additional responsibility [after growth and development]. Who is ready to move to a higher level of performance? Find those people and give them the responsibility and accountability.
Give Accountability Once you have given these select few more responsibility, you need to give them the accountability to deliver. Accountability means they have to find creative ways to “make things happen”. Make them accountable.
Get out of their way Nothing kills creativity and spirit like a manager that second guesses everything an employee does. Unless they give you a reason to doubt your decision to give them the responsibility, butt out. Read my articles on delegation.
Keep it simple
Go to the bookstore and check out the management section. You will be overwhelmed by the hundreds of authors hawking their latest and greatest “management breakthrough”. After years of work as a management consultant, I came to the realization that often the most powerful tools are the simplest and time-tested ones.
Remember to treat your people like you would like to be treated. Recognize the good, and coach when things go bad. Nothing is more powerful than loyal employees willing to go out of their way to support you. Support your people and they will support you.
Remember to lead with honesty and integrity, two character traits that cannot be faked.
When should you confront a co-worker?
The Rule of 3
Over the years, I have had the opportunity to participate in many interesting activities, from parachuting and bungee jumping to traveling and trying new exotic cuisines. A long time ago, I learned a simple trick called the rule of three. The basic breakdown is:
- First time Just do the activity
- Second time Learn how to do it properly
- Third time Do it again to determine if you like or enjoy it
In a professional setting
This has served me well, and over the years I have started to use this for other aspects of my life. One good example is related to a question I get asked very often by colleagues and employees “When should I confront an annoying colleague?”
Obviously before you confront someone, you want to ensure the annoying habit is actually a habit and not just a one off incident. So think of it with the “Rule of three framework”.
- First time This is the first time you notice this action or behavior
- Second time This time you notice exactly what is being done and confirm that this was not a one off anomaly. Think of exactly what the other person is doing and why it bothers you. What is motivating the other person to do this?
- Third time This is the time you confront the offender. You now know that this is a habit, it has happened multiple times and you now understand exactly why it troubles you.
Power in simplicity
In his book “Getting Things done”, David Allen uses imagery to explain the concept of being cool and in control: “Mind like water”. He explains that when you throw a pebble in a lake, water always reacts with the appropriate level of response; it never over or under reacts.
In our hectic lives, we sometime overreact when having a bad day and later regret our actions. Using the rule of three will force to you react calmly and only after having carefully considered the situation. Your cool confidence will be noticed and usually responded to more favorably than simply belching out what comes to mind the first time something happens.
Think of other aspects in your life that can benefit from this rule.
Creating the paperfree work environment with Evernote
The Brilliant Idea
The fine folks at Evernote came up with a brilliant idea. They created a hybrid cloud-based solution to store all your personal digital information, making it available everywhere, on any platform and completely searchable.
I call their solution a hybrid-cloud solution because it is based on an offline-online model. All of your data is downloaded and available offline on their Windows, Mac and Linux clients. At the same time, it is available via their web interface or dozens of other mobile devices like Android, Iphone, Ipad, Nokia, RIM, etc. Your information is always synchronized across these clients and always available.
Evernote also gives each user a unique email address. Anything you send to that email address is uploaded to your default notebook and available within minutes.
What is a note
All information in Evernote is stored in a capsule called a Note. A note can be as simple as a line of ASCII text or as complex as a collection of Office files, videos, pictures or any other type of digital media you can throw at it.
Unlike other systems, Evernote provides a bunch of organization tools but doesn’t specifically force you to use any of them. You decide how to store your information and make it available. Their tools include:
- Notebooks A notebook is a collection of notes.
- Tags A tag is a way to logically group related notes together making them easier to find later. Evernote supports sub-tags, which means you can even associate one tag as a subordinate of another.
- Saved Searches If you find yourself performing a particular search over and over then why not save it as a Saved Search?
- Attributes Evernote automatically saves a lot of attribute information with each note (which can be used to fine tune searching). They save things like creation and modification dates/time, geotag information (when available), type of information the note contains (i.e. word file, picture), etc.
Did someone order some OCR
OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition and it’s on the Evernote menu. They have a sophisticated OCR engine that detects text in images and makes it searchable. As an example, you can take a snapshot with your smartphone of a wine label and upload it to Evernote. Their elephants will analyze the image, detect the text and make it searchable. I take a picture of every business card I get and upload it to Evernote. It makes the text searchable so it creates a digital Rolodex. If you have decent handwriting, it may even be able to understand it.
note: In this case OCR does not mean it converts text in the image to usable text you can copy and paste. In Evernote land, OCR is only used to make content searchable
As you can imagine, they prioritize detection for their premium users over the free ones. In my testing, a premium account had a new image indexed within 5-30 minutes (often almost immediately). In free mode, I once waited about 24 hours to have an image indexed which is really acceptable.
If you create a PDF from a word type program then it automatically makes the PDF searchable and Evernote includes this in your “in document” search results. If you scan a page and then convert it into a PDF, it usually does not have a searchable index (since it is a picture imbedded in a PDF container). Premium users also enjoy the benefit of their PDFs being searchable.
The Trunk
A discussion about Evernote would not be complete without mentioning The Trunk. The guys at Evernote realized that their users had lots of feature requests and that they would never be able to meet every requirement, so they built an API that partners could use to interface with Evernote.
There are already dozens of partner created products that work with Evernote and according to numbers presented by the company, many more are on the way.
The freemium model
In addition to the OCR differences between the free and paid users, there are also some other benefits to upgrading (which costs $5 per month):
- 1GB per month Upload Limit (instead of 60MB for free users). This is not a total data size limit, it is how much new data you can upload. They do not limit total data size.
- More filetypes. Free users can upload PDF and image fines. Premium users can upload any type of digital file from Office documents to videos and more.
- More powerful sharing Every Evernote user has the ability to share a notebook with a group of users. Free users can only share notebooks in read mode whereas Premium members can share notebooks in READ/WRITE mode.
- Priority Processing As mentioned above, priority for OCR processing is given to paid users. Paid users are also given support priority.
To be honest, most users will find the free version more than adequate for what they need to do. Even as a free user, you get 720MB of free cloud-based, searchable data storage per year (60MB per month).
My only wish is that they revamp their iPhone client to make it more powerful and intuitive. Overall, I give Evernote two thumbs up and a hearty endorsement. I am moving my digital info to their service and I strongly encourage you to take a look.
LINKS:
-Evernote Link
-GTD Using Evernote Link
-Evernote Essentials Link
Power Decision Making
I encourage all of you to write in and share you concerns and opinions about the business world. I also enjoy receiving requests for possible future articles. This entry is a response from one of my readers in Dubai.
The request
The reader wanted guidance on decision making. How to “make” a decision, how to defend it and what to do when it is wrong.
The decision making process
I have coached hundreds of people and decision making seems to stress out many of them. Before we start talking about the process, I want you to take a step back and realize you already make dozens of decisions each day. From the time you wake up until the time you go back to sleep, you are constantly making decisions.
What is decision making?
Decision making is the process of choosing a course of action based on available information, the desired outcome and personal preference.
We all know that perfect information is not available each time we need to make a decision. Every decision also involves the process of risk management. The less perfect the information, the more risk management will be required.
In its simplest form, risk management is the act of balancing the desired outcome against the slew of possible negative occurrences, the impact of each and the likelihood each may occur.
No such thing as perfect
In a perfect world, you would be given all of the required information and plenty of time to make your decisions but that isn’t usually what happens in the real world. Generally we are asked to make decisions with imperfect information because we are short on time (to consider all the alternatives or to collect additional information), money (the cost of delaying the decision or the cost of obtaining it) or expertise (we don’t have access to counsel for educated guidance).
No matter how you slice it, there are always two sides.
Decision Insight
We often get caught up with the actual decision at hand and forget to look at the bigger picture. What is the desired end result? How will making this decision help you reach that target?
What you find may surprise you. Sometimes you may realize that the decision is not relevant and doesn’t even need to be made. Other times you may realize that by looking at the bigger picture, new options may surface. Never accept the fact that your decision has to be limited to options A or B. Always demand options C, D and E.
How much information is required to take the proper decision? Too little information means you are guessing. Too much information may lead to information overload and brain lock.
Our decisions are rarely made in isolation. Each decision impacts the other one and this has to be considered. Will approving this project mean the other project gets cancelled? Also, what is the impact of a bad decision. If the impact is minimal then make it quickly and move on. If it is severe, maybe you need to look at it more closely.
Knowing the desired outcome means that sometimes the best decision may not be the cheapest but the fastest to implement. It may not be the fastest to implement but the most reliable one.
Time constraints also play an important role in decision making. How much time do you actually have to make the decision?
Understanding your intuition
You make decisions on a daily basis and often never realize the process you use.
There are several different decision frameworks, here are some of the more business relevant ones:
-Optimal Outcome Framework This is the process you use when the only acceptable outcome is the best one available. This framework is not always possible because it requires time to make the decision and lots of support information.
-Quickest Outcome Framework This is the process you use to choose the first outcome that satisfies your minimum requirements. This is a time saver since you search for outcomes until you find the first one that meets your minimum criteria.
-Maximization of Outcome Framework This is the process you use to choose the outcome with the best payback.
-Minimax Framework This is the process where the worst case loss is minimized when considering all available outcomes.
Common sense prevails
By knowing what the ideal desired outcome is, you can choose the appropriate decision framework. It will also dictate how much information you should consider at minimum before taking a decision.
The rule of thumb is to collect as much information as financially and reasonably possible. Remember that too much information will cloud your judgment.
For each alternative, consider the best and worst case scenario. Rate the risk of each possible option along with the various outcomes. How much risk are you willing to accept?
As an example, the one outcome may have the biggest payoff and the biggest chance of success but failure with that choice could wipe out your company. Are you willing to take this risk?
The last and final step is to make your decision. The best decision will be part methodical analysis, part gut feeling. Some of the most successful business people say they make their selection using “gut instinct”.
Analysis models
By now you know your desired outcome, you have collected the right amount of information and have decided on the optimal decision framework. You can use one of the business analysis models to further guide your decision making.
-Pareto analysis This is the 20/80 rule you have heard countless times. It states that doing 20% of the work should yield 80% of the desired results. You can read up on it here: [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pare...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_analysis)
-Grid Modeling The easiest way to understand this is to think of a spreadsheet. You use a column and row type layout to illustrate the options and the impact of each.
-Plus, Minus and Interesting You draw 3 columns on a piece of paper with the headings “Plus, Minus and Interesting”. Each row becomes one possible outcome. For each row, you write down the positive aspects in the Plus column. You write the negative aspects in the Minus column. You write down the implications and possible outcomes in the Interesting column. It is a way to consider each outcome fully.
-Forcefield analysis Is a tool to analyse and understand the pressures for and against change. There is a great write-up and free worksheet for this technique here : [www.mindtools.com/pages/art...](http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_06.htm)
-Six Thinking Hats This is a tool that helps you look at the decision from all points of view. It helps you move outside of your comfort zone and make a well rounded decision. You can read up on it here : [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six)ThinkingHats
-Cost Benefit analysis No enumeration of decision models would be complete without this mainstay in the business world. It is simply the act of adding up the value generated from each option, subtracting associated costs and choosing the one that makes the most mathematical sense.
Remember that
Remember that every decision involves some level of risk. There is no such thing as a risk free decision.
Most people will feel a certain amount of fear when making decisions with moderate risk. This is completely normal. Decision making means you are “getting out of your comfort zone” and this too is sometimes uncomfortable and may cause anxiety.
As long as you make a decision based on fact which is congruent with your ethics and morals, you will be fine. I find that imagining the various possible outcomes sometimes helps make the choice easier. Use the power of visualization. When visualizing it, does it feel right?
Once you have considered “enough” of the possibilities, make a decision without delay. Waiting too long often becomes paralyzing.
Not every decision you make will be the best one. The important is to learn from each decision to ensure the next one is just a little better. We all make mistakes.
An end to multitasking?
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“1200”]
Image by John Ragai used under Creative Commons License [/caption]
Many years ago, I got to the point where I felt overwhelmed by my jobs and all the tasks I had to perform. After a long search, I learned and implemented the concept of Getting Things Done promoted by David Allen. One of his beliefs is that a person cannot multi-task and he built his entire system around this one concept. He preaches undertaking tasks one at a time sequentially.
Working in the computer industry, I could not easily accept this. After all, my Operating System allowed me to run multiple applications simultaneously for a reason. Right? Well not really... Each computer core (think of a core as an individual brain) can only handle one thing at any given time. Manufacturers have implemented time division techniques to make it look like the computer is processing multiple items per core by slicing the time each process has to fractions of a second. This gives the allusion of multitasking.
The Steeve Jobs alarm
In 2010, during a presentation, Steve Jobs presented features the upcoming version of his Operating System called Lion (to be released mid 2011). The one feature that stuck out for me was full screen application support. In this case, full screen does not mean maximized (like in Windows), it means the apps takes up 100% of your screen real-estate. Whether you like or hate Apple, you have to agree that they spend an unholly amount of money conducting usability research. Why would they implement something that seems backwards? That would prevent you from multi-tasking?
The Research The truth is that when we attempt to multi-task, we become much less effective. Modern cognitive research clearly demonstrates that when people multi-task, they perform less work and miss information. Researchers discovered that re-orienting yourself to the task at hand, after a distraction, takes 10-15 minutes. Quantifiably, performance for multi-taskers can drop as much as 40% along with a marked degradation of memory and creativity.
Distractions There are 2 types of distractions :
- Active disruptive: Distractions you cannot control like someone walking into your office.
- Passive disruptive: Distractions you cannot control like n SMS, Email, Instant Message, telephone call, etc
This is the reason why many people are more efficient and effective at home. If re-orientation takes 10-15 minutes and you keep getting distracted by Active disruptive then you experience a severe loss in productivity. Working from home means Active disruptive intrusions completely disappear.
Passive disruptive can be controlled and allow you to decide when to engage with them. You can send calls to voicemail, ignore emails and Instant messages, etc. Ignoring these means you are completely dedicated to the task at hand. Go around and ask people where they go to get their most important and productive work done. I have very rarely seen people says the office.
As technology develops, we are seeing more and more companies add technology that is classified as Passively disruptive and this is a good thing.
Practical How To - Find a Time Management Framework that fits your needs and apply it to your everyday life. All of them will bring stability and control to your chaotic life which will in turn allow you to concentrate on one activity at a time.
Remember that most people can only concentrate an a specific task for 18-30 minutes before their mind starts to wander. Determine what your personal threshold is and plan accordingly. You may want to create intervals between your productive times by checking emails, picking up voicemails, etc. These are good times to engage with the disruptive activities (pick up voicemails, check emails, etc).
Use the closed door policy. Let people know that there are times when you should not be bothered. Close your office door or post a Do Not Distrub sign on your cubicle entrance. Send calls to voicemail and shutdown Instant Messaging and Email. There is a time for all of these but not when you want to be productive.
Learn more efficient note taking techniques like Mind Mapping. This means you will spend less time trying to write down notes and more time concentrating on the discussion at hand. Remember we can only do one thing at a time. When writing, you are not listening.
Now go get productive!
Rule 2 of delegation
QuickTip - Setting the right expectations
Early on in my career, I was committed to perfection. Everything had to be done perfectly and methodically. Although the idea of perfection is admirable, you quickly realize that waiting for perfection often means you miss incredible opportunities.
It is often better to get started on the right foot and get it done rather than aim for perfection and miss the bus. How does this apply to delegation? Simple, if you expect perfection from yourself, you will expect it from others. This means you will likely not be satisfied with the quality of the work being performed and will find yourself redoing it all yourself. This will not only frustrate you but steal important time from more important tasks you could be doing. It will also frustrate and demotivate your employees.
If you find yourself questioning the quality of the delegated work, take a moment to perform some introspection.
- Are your expectations realistic?
- Are you aiming for perfection?
- Is the work bad or good? Most often good is the watermark you will have to use to judge most of the activities. Demand perfection only when absolutely critical.
- Did you properly communicate your expectations?
- Is the person qualified to perform the work you assigned?
Rule 1 of delegation
An important tenet of efficient and effective time management is the art of delegation. Anytime I talk about delegation with an executive, they either support it or avoid it like the plague. Their reaction is predicated on past experience.
When delegating a task, executives often forget the first golden rule of delegation: training and communication. In order for the work to be performed to your satisfaction, you need to ensure that you communicate your requirements and expectations to the other person clearly and concisely.
Taking some time upfront will save you tons of frustration and having to redo the work in the back end.
A ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
When choice cuts into profits and margin
Until recently, most executives operated under the impression that consumers demand choice and lots of it. You could walk into any electronics store and see 5 different versions of the same computer system (each with only minute differences). But is this really what the modern, educated and busy consumer is demanding?
Early this year, I read a research paper by Forrester Research (1) that discussed the experiential difference between the typical Personal Computer and the iPad. The author discusses the fact that the iPad has a “curated” experience. On a typical PC, you can download and install almost any app, configure it the way you like and use/abuse it to your heart’s content. The choices and options are endless. Because of the limited real-estate on the iPad and iPhone, Apple has carefully chosen and designed every aspect of the device and its interface. When you want a specific functionality, you buy a pre-configured and vetted app from their application store (which is itself carefully “curated”.)
Because of the device’s phenomenal success, we can assume that consumers accept and like this model of limited, carefully controlled functionality. This is the quality over quantity debate. It places a heavier initial burden on the manufacturer since the customer expects everything to “just work”.
This new model not only simplified the use of these devices but helps customers that may have decidophobia (2). We are seeing more and more companies moving away from the “Choice is king” mantra with the aim of:
- Simplifying their own production and supply chains
- Simplifying their support processes
- Simplifying the customer decision process
- Simplifying portfolio management
Companies are seeing marked reductions in their costs and improvements in their margins. A great example of this is GM. After their unfortunate bout with bankruptcy, they shed many of their brands and emerged stronger and better for it.
As you start planning for 2011, think about your product or service offerings and determine if they can be streamlined. Do you really need as many SKUs? Do the additional products really add value for your customer? What would be the impact to your company if you cut your lineup by 40-60%?
REFERENCES
(1) [forrester.com/rb/Resear...](http://forrester.com/rb/Research/apples_ipad_is_new_kind_of_pc/q/id/57008/t/2)
(2) [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deci...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decidophobia)
Marketing to the different GENERATIONS
Long term strategic planning is one of the most important tasks a business executive must perform. Properly determining market direction can mean the difference between becoming number 1 or edging on the precipice of bankruptcy.
There are 5 distinct generations alive today in the United States.
The GI Generation
This group of the population was born between 1905 to 1924 and at one time accounted for as much as 57 million live births in the USA. This number has now dwindled to less than 5 million. This generation lived through a World War and the Great Depression.
Considering the age of this population, it may not be the best investment of your marketing dollars.
The Silent Generation
Generation waves are classified by their numbers and more large ones are followed by smaller less important (from a marketing perspective) ones. The smaller ones generally adopt many of the characteristics of the previous stronger generation.
This group was born between 1925 and 1944 with an estimated 52.5 million live births in the USA. A rather small group, they adopted many of the characteristics of the GI Generation including art, music, attire and culture.
This generation lived modestly and believed in the value of saving. This group lived during a growth spurt of the economy and experienced very little unemployment.
Companies have successfully markete dto this generation by offering products/services that allow them to maintain their independence longer. This group does not have a fear of aging but would rather not be infirm or reliant on their kids.
The Baby Boomers
The Boomers were born between 1945 and 1964 with approximately 78 million live births (with the peak being from 1957-1961). We all know that they had different ideas from the previous generation and as such developed their own music, art, attire and culture. They believe that they can change the world.
Boomers born in the peak are now around 50 years old and we know that individual spending tends to shrink at this age. They may be a good group to market to because of their numbers. Ideal would be products or services that:
- Make their lives easier
- Save them time
- Feel genuine (not like the establishment is trying to rip them off).
They respond well to traditional marketing mediums such as radio, TV, newspapers, billboards, magazines and direct mail. Your message must be simple and the typeface should be larger.
We know that 40% of boomers are overweight and like everyone else will respond positively to possible solutions. This generation experimented with all kinds of drugs and would rather treat an ailment with a natural products rather than conventional medicine.
Although many will reduce their consumption as they pass the 50 year mark, they are not prepared to give up on the comforts they have become accustomed to.
Generation X
Members of this generation were born between 1965 and 1984 with an estimated 69 million live births in the USA. This is a smaller generation that followed the boomers and most in this category want to “break the mold” and “change the world”.
The boomers consider most GenXers underachievers. As a smaller group, they adopted much from The Boomers such as art, culture, music, etc. The main fiscal concern economists have is that this generation will not be able to support the huge fiscal burden of paying for local, state and federal governments [on their own].
Companies are facing a particular challenge filling their critical senior positions with GenXers because of their small numbers. When the boomers retire, many expect a huge workforce shortage for senior positions.
Many marketers specifically targeting this generation are disappointed because their small numbers result in smaller sales. Unlike the Boomers, this generation does not respond to traditional marketing mediums. Your best bet is to leverage the power of the Internet and try to target them. A caveat here... Some marketers I know disagree with this statement and believe TV may still be effective for this generation but I’ll let you be the judge ;-)
Generation Y
This is a new generation and we are still discovering their characteristics. The first batch of them are now entering adulthood and the indication is that they share little with their previous generation. They have their own interests.
By the end of 2010, they are expected to number in the 100 million range.
From a numbers perspective, they outnumber Generation X and are also expected to easily pass the Boomer generation. As a marketer, you have to realize that even though their numbers are large, we won’t really see the impact of their spending until they reach the Boomers’ income level.
They are a marketers dream because they seem to be spending at a rate of 5 times that of the Boomers (in adjusted dollars). We expect a large number of them to be unemployed leading to potentially more crime. The burden of unemployment will lead many to entrepreneurship.
We know that many will own homes because of higher paying tech jobs, successful business or help from their Boomer parents. They are green “fanatics” and many believe this will be their legacy.
Most generational specialists believe that the Generation Y spending rate will grow with their age thus setting new sales records. They are willing to spend more money on expensive items (think Ipad, iPhone, cameras, etc).
Analysis of this group shows that you will have to tie your product/service to a green or humanitarian story, in order to be successful with this group. This is the most technologically astute generation thus far and they have an uncanny ability to discover “fakers”. Some generational specialists have gone as far as claiming that this generation may be trouble for poorly made Chinese products manufactured using “slave” labour.
Their use of the Internet is fragmented and targeting them will be difficult. They do not respond to traditional media. One particularity of this group is their love for “snail mail” and coupons.
Tickle your way to better organization
I found my information management solution and will be writing articles about them in 2011. The first topic I am covering is something called a Tickler File. It is a super simple concept that can be immediately implemented without “practice”. Once you learn about it, you can use it immediately.
What is a Tickler File
A Tickler File is a series of folders labelled by days and months. It allows you to file documents, bills, letters according to a future date at which they will have to be handled.
The daily folders are numbered from 1 until 31.
The monthly folders are from January to December.
How do I sort a Tickler File
Let’s say the date is January 1, 2011. January has 31 days so I would place all of my folders labelled with days in the front and then the folders labelled with the months right after. Since we are already in January, you would sort the folders from : February to December and place the one labelled January right after.
How do I use a Tickler File
Since it is January 1, the first thing you would do in the morning is open the folder labelled “1”. You take out all of the items from that folder, place it in your inbox for action today and move the [now empty] folder after the one labelled February.
Anything you take out of the folder should be handled that day. Pushing an action back should be an exception.
Now on January 2, you would do the same except with the folder labelled “2”. If you are going on vacation or won’t be in the office for a couple of days, look ahead in the folders (for the days you will be missing) and make sure you either take off the items or “reschedule” them to a later date.
Let’s say it is now January 31, you should have used all of the day folders (which are now behind the month folder labelled February). On February 1, you first take a look at the Folder labelled February and must decide on what to do with the items in it. Once you have taken care of those, you move the folder labelled February to the back (exposing the daily folders you moved here in January.) Since you are February 1, you open the first folder labelled “1” and moved the folder behind March.
What goes into the monthly folders?
The contents of the daily folders are easy to understand but you may be asking yourself what goes into the monthly folders.
You use the monthly folders for tasks that must be handled in a future month but do not necessarily have a drop dead date. Let’s say you have a software license that expires in March but you know it will take you a couple of weeks to renegotiate it and you tell yourself you should look at it “sometime in February”. Then you would place the contract with a note in the February folder. When you get to February 1, you open the February monthly folder first, find the contract and decide which day it should be handled within that month. You sort it in the day folder and you’re done.
What about digital?
What we have just talked about can be done physically for paper type work (invoices, contracts, etc) and/or can be implemented digitally. It is so simple, you can easily implement this on any platform using the Operating Systems folder structure. Just create the appropriate folder structure and voila.
After years of searching, I use a tool called PersonalBrain (http://www.thebrain.com) for all my digital filling and time management. I have actually implemented a tickler file in there in addition to a customized version of the ‘Getting Things Done’ methodology. I will write about PB and GTD in a future article. Right now the important thing is for you to understand that you can implement this without any expensive or fancy software.
The challenges
The system itself is super easy to implement and use. After reading the above, you are a pro at it already. The real challenge comes from starting it and committing to use it. Old habits die hard. At first you have to remember to put info into the system and remember to check it every morning (first thing).
Having taught this to hundreds of people, I noticed that the more people used it, the more useful it became and the more committed they became to maintaining it. So the important step is to use it. Use whatever mechanism you want to remind you [at the beginning] that you need to check and maintain the system. Some people have put Post-it reminders on their coffee mugs, others have set-up reminders in their calendaring system, etc.
The tickler system should be easily accessible yet not in the way. I have both a physical tickler and a digital one. I maintain both because not everything I work with can be digitized and kept digitally yet (legal reasons). My physical one is in a filling cabinet that I can access by swivelling my work chair and my digital one is in a top level structure in my main Digital Brain (i.e. PersonalBrain software).
Maximizing the power of your professional network
In the 50s and 60s, you built a career with your chosen company. There was a silent agreement that if you took care of the company, the company took care of you. Does anyone think that this still applies today?
Even if you have a full time job, you need to realize that you are a consultant. You are selling your services to your company and a guaranteed job no longer exists. Everything you do in your professional life must be helpful when searching for your next job.
What can your professional network do?
“You get out of it what you put in”. To get any benefits, you must be willing to do some legwork. Your network requires some attention and caring for.
We all know that most jobs are filled without being advertised (what HR specialists call the hidden job market). These are positions that are filled internally or through references. Obviously, if your contacts see a job you may be interested in, they will let you know.
Linkedin.com, the best known professional networking site, offers the ability to request and then showcase recommendations. This can be an excellent differentiator when competing for a position.
These sites allow you to stay in touch with long lost colleagues even if they move around. If you ever need them for a reference, these sites make them much easier for find.
Competition is heating up and most organizations are receiving 5-10x more candidates per post than they did just 5 years ago. This means that you need to stand out. As your network grows, so too will your access to information. Before going for an interview, why not have a preparatory chat with one of your contacts that works (or has already worked) there.
Make new connections through your contacts. If I wanted to get in touch with a managing partner in the old days, I would have to harass that person via messages, letters and emails. Most of which that person would likely ignore. In the new world, I can ask one of our mutual contacts to connect us. This type of a request is much more likely to get a warm welcome.
Treating your job search as if it were a sales process
When planning a sales initiative, you work through a well-defined set of processes such as:
- Clearly define your objective. Be concrete and as specific as possible.
- What is your positioning? Positioning in sales means how you get your idea through, your written elevator pitch. You generally want to create 2 different versions: a one-liner and then a 3-4 line one.
- What criteria would a prospective customer use?
- Define your competition and how you rank against them? How are you different? How are you better? This can include recommendations, references, special skills, track record, etc.
- Identify your ideal target customers. Spend some time researching companies to find the ones that are most likely to need someone with your services.
If the above seems like a lot of work, it is. Finding a job these days is very challenging and you need to do everything to put the chances on your side. The more work you do now, the easier the process will be later. Don’t be lazy. The above will need to be done and then reworked dozens of times. Use friends, contacts and family as sounding boards. Allow them to provide constructive feedback.
The mutual scratching of backs
You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. This is a fundamental truth of networking. Everyone of your contacts is willing to help you and in return expects you to help them when they call.
If you feel like asking your contacts for help is a burden on them, you will be left behind. Understand that this is a mutually beneficial arrangement so don’t fret about asking for help. If you ask for a recommendation, give one in return. If you ask for them to help you make a contact, expect that they may do the same in the future. Don’t feel bad about asking.
My cousin is a recent graduate and was willing to work his way up the corporate ladder. He asked me for help and through my network of contacts, I found him an opportunity (which he would likely not have found on his own). My contact found an employee he needed and my cousin found a job he needed. They both benefited from my match-making skills.
The above also implies that you will be honest and go to your network when you need something. If you are looking for a job, tell your network you are looking and ask them for help. If you need to learn a specific skill, ask your network and you will be surprised at how many offers of help you get.
Break through the urge of sterilizing the relationship
Most people prefer to deal with their network via the online communities and the online tools they offer (chat, messaging, etc). Most people find this impersonal contact much easier to manage. Sometimes, you need to pick up the phone and speak to your contacts. If someone in your network holds the key to your next opportunity, invite them to lunch and ask for their help. This is not the time to be shy. How badly do you want that contact or opportunity? The only thing that matters is the end result and there are no prizes for second place.
Grow that network
The bigger your network the more opportunities it will provide. Find ways to grow your network. These may include trade shows, conferences, business meetings, etc. Build a plan and follow it. Make it a commitment to grow your network every week with relevant fresh new contacts.
The Introduction
Let’s say you have done everything and now you need to get in touch with someone through a mutual contact. What do you do?
- Simple … just ask.
But be prepared and make sure you have done all of the work ahead of time. Before requesting an introduction, get in touch with your contact and tell them what you will be requesting and why. Your contact needs to make sure that your request is appropriate for the other person and that you are not SPAMing him/her.
Back to your positioning statements. Explain why you want to get in touch with that person and why you think they would want you to get in touch with them.
Once your contact agrees then you need to make small changes to your statements and make them relevant for the other (target) contact.
My Linkedin network is now at +1000 and I receive about 5-6 requests a day for introductions. If the request is clearly explained and looks professional, I will forward it off. If it looks sloppy, unprepared or like a form letter, I will refuse it.
We spoke about the fear of building your network but some people have a fear of being introduced to an unknown person. Again this is something you will have to get over. Read my previous entries about conversational hypnosis and rapport building. Remember that the road of a thousands steps starts with the first one. A good way to start is always hello. Be sincere and professional. Have confidence in yourself since lack of confidence will show and is contagious.
You need to overcome your fear of rejection. Remember that ‘No’ is not the end of the world. It is nothing more than a 2 letter word. Use a rejection as an opportunity to study your approach and make fine-tuning changes.
Network credibility
You are selling your own services. You are a brand. Market yourself accordingly. Think of ways to differentiate yourself. Get recommendations from peers, contacts, friends, bosses and employees.
If you have any industry awards, list them on your profile. Share the good news with your network. Think of ways you can be seen as a valuable asset and market it to your network.
Employee ideas may save your company
Most organizations are now powered by knowledge (in contrast to the manufacturing era of the 70s). Ideas are the engine of growth in the new global knowledge-based economy and executives are always on the lookout for the next big one. Many of the larger companies are so committed to finding the next big thing that they spend unconscionable amounts of money renting high-priced consultants.
Most organizations I work with don’t realize the goldmine they are sitting on. There is a huge fountain of fantastic ideas right under your nose and you probably don’t even realize it. Best of all, accessing it is free. What is this untapped resource? Your employees.
Paradigm Shift
The first obstacle you may have to tackle is the long standing and deep rooted belief that ideas come from managers and employees are there to execute. This old command style approach is going the way of the dodo bird.
Understand that every employee in every function sees a part of your business that may be improved. In the airline business, many ignore the front line workers at the airport. Some companies realize that these employees can provide valuable insight into the “customer experience” and often see dozens of process optimization opportunities that you would otherwise never discover.
There are dozens of frameworks that could help you implement an employee idea collection and management system (e.g. Quick and Easy Kaizen, Lean, etc). I will keep this article framework agnostic, providing easy to understand tips.
Decentralized knowledge
F.A. Hayek was a pioneer and proponent of the concept of distributed knowledge. In his article “The use of knowledge is society” (published in 1945), he discusses the benefits of decentralized knowledge.
In short, he breaks down knowledge into 2 categories:
- Aggregate (centralized)
- Particular (decentralized)
As you go up the corporate ladder, the data you get is more and more aggregated. Examples are “% of cost increase”, “% efficiency gain”, etc.
Particular data is exemplified by the airline example above. This is “in the weeds” knowledge. This type of data held by your workers can be very powerful. More and more executives are realizing that they need to find ways of funnelling this data to them. This is so popular that there is even a reality show called “Undercover Boss” where CEOs of major companies work in their company’s front line operations (undercover) to get a real pulse from their customers.
Both categories of information are required to optimize your operations. The Aggregate data is useful when defining corporate strategy. The more detailed ‘particular knowledge’ is a way to continuously improve your business and strive for excellence.
Quick and Easy Kaizen concept
This was a framework that asks every worker to come up with small, easily actionable, ideas and empowered them to implement those ideas.
The root of this methodology can be found in 1898 at Kodak when an employee suggested that they “Clean the Windows”. In this model, the employee made the suggestion but someone else implemented it.
In the 70’s, many Japanese companies recognized the power of their employees and modified the Kodak approach to empower the employees to also implement their idea. Research shows that in the Western World, an employee typically submits an idea every seven years. In Easy and Quick Kaizen companies (like Toyota), an average employee submits 2 suggestions a month. Some researchers have even suggested that these companies save about $4000 per employee per year based on the implementation of these small ideas.
I want you to realize that the simple ideas in this entry are powerful and translate to cost saving through reduction of waste, improvement of performance (efficiency) or increased market share (increased customer satisfaction).
The small idea advantage
There are many reasons why small ideas are often more impactful than bigger ones.
- Small ideas implemented consistently over time will have compounded benefits. Easy ideas will improve on the previous one driving a synergy of efficiency.
- Small ideas are easier to manage and implement. They usually present less risk so companies are more likely to implement them without red tape.
- Each idea is too small to be noticed by your competitors “from the outside”. By the time they realize the compounded improvement, it is too late for them to make the leap.
- Employees who come up with ideas and see them through generally are more engaged in the workplace and happier. This leads to smaller turn-over and increased productivity.
Implementation of your idea system
I will show you how easy it is to implement this in your company regardless of size. This works for the 2 man burger joint or the 100 000 global conglomerate.
- Create a safe and nurturing environment for ideas. The biggest obstacle to this process is the fear of rejection and nonchalance. Employees must believe that the company is willing and ready for this program. Good ideas welcome.
- Cut down on paperwork. Nothing kills a process like formality and paperwork. The process of submitting ideas must be simple and straightforward. The process of validating ideas transparent and speedy. Let the people closest to the issue validate the idea and provide a go/no-go.
- Quick implementation. Make sure that approved ideas have the resourced (personnel and financial) to get implemented quickly. If employees feel the process is taking too long, the idea well will dry up.
- Accountability and recognition. Make sure every employee is accountable to document and implement their idea. They should also be publicly recognized for their contribution. Some companies have even implemented a wall of recognition listing the idea, their benefit and the owner.
Kick off the process
Make this a mandatory part of every employee’s job. It must get ingrained in your corporate culture. Everyone from the front line employee to the CEO, executives should be expected to participate in this program. Make everyone’s ideas public and visible.
Analyze the flow
For every idea that you implement, ask the following questions:
- Can this be implemented elsewhere in the business?
- Are there any follow-up improvements that this idea highlights?
- Is there a pattern that is coming to light with these improvements? Is there a larger issue that may require your attention
Encourage the right way
Some companies believe that they can get better ideas and better participation by offering a pay for idea model. This is a wrong approach. Understand that humans want to improve their situation and that this is a natural reaction. Recognition and implementation of their idea will be far more rewarding than straight cash.
A reward model that has proven to work is a benefit sharing bonus model where a percentage of the benefits are redistributed to the employees as a bonus (overall not per idea/per employee). This reinforces the concept of “working together to succeed together”. Benefits are distributed fairly and openly to all employees (management is not prioritized because they are management).
Deep rooted change
Over the years, you will notice a deep-rooted change in your corporate culture. Excellence will be demanded not only by managers but also by peers. The rewards will keep coming and the benefits will keep compounding.
The sooner you start, the sooner you will see the benefits !!!
How to build a top performing team
As a manager, you will be judged on the performance of your team so it is in your best interest to build the best, highest performing team possible. You have undoubtedly heard the aphorism “Nice guys finish last” coined by Leo Durocher in 1939. This is a golden truth that you should recite every morning while enjoying your morning cup of coffee.
I had the privilege of working for a GE company under a CEO who had been indoctrinated in the Jack Welch system of management. A saying I heard over and over was “we are here to make money, not friends”. This approach may seem harsh at first but it has proven to be very efficient.
Let me spend some time describing how I interpreted this framework and my preferred method of implementing it.
What is corporate niceness
Corporate niceness means many things. This can be interpreted as:
- employees not providing honest feedback
- complacency related to efficiency
- being more concerned with keeping people happy than being efficient and productive
- sugarcoating everything to keep people happy
- making sub-optimal decisions because you don’t want to upset people
- conflict avoidance
- etc.
I’m not sure if my sarcasm is coming through but it should....
Team Development
Bruce Tuckman defined the stages in group development as:
- Forming -- This is the first stage where the team is assembled. Individuals have a desire to be accepted by others and thus try to avoid conflict. This is where people try to define roles and responsibilities, define team capabilities, team structure, etc. People may look busy but are not actually very productive yet.
Members are fairly autonomous and group efficiency does not exist yet. You will see your experienced and mature members starting to model desired behaviours already. Bruce recommends his “team development model” to be shared with the team as a catalyst.
In this stage, members are building their impression of each other and may start to build friendships.
- Storming -- This is the normal second stage where ideas compete for consideration. This is where the real important decisions are made about leadership, independence and teamwork. You will start to see members challenging each other’s ideas.
The mature employees will be the ones that guide the team out of this stage and into the next one. Lacking strong mature employees or not having enough may mean your team gets stuck here forever (not what you want to happen).
Some members will handle this very well while other conflict averse ones will find it painful. As a manager, try to instill tolerance as a value and let this process take its natural course with your guidance. Stay professional and make sure people understand the buck stops with you. PERIOD. Let them manage their internal issues under your supervision.
Getting stuck in this phase means the team will be a low performer, with low motivation and overall toxic.
- Norming -- This is the stage where the team has agreed on leadership, their general team goal and go-forward strategy. Understand that in order to have this united view, many other ideas have to die. Some people may not like the fact that their idea was not the “winner”. Overall though, the team now works towards the one goal.
- Performing -- This is the stage few teams reach but this should be your goal. This is where you produce a high efficiency team that finds creative ways to reach the team goals. Members understand that they succeed together or they fail together. They are inter-dependant.
In this stage, the team operated without the need for supervision. They are each motivated and have the knowledge to perform their jobs with the utmost efficiency. The team will handle conflict internally very well.
Some managers can’t deal with this phase as the nature of their participation changes. They are no longer the master of the team but a value adding participant. The team is equipped to make important decisions on its own.
If your team has reached this point, do everything you can to keep it intact as-is. Even the slightest change in leadership can destabilize it and bring it back to the storming phase.
More Nice team bashing
Where do you think nice teams fit in? They like the comfortable non-confrontational stage of forming. They will do everything to prevent moving into the storming phase.
Now to avoid and break-up nice teams, you need to identify these pansies.
Remember that everything they do is meant to keep things positive. So if they provide feedback, it is only done when positive. Their lack of planning is camouflaged as staying focused on task.
They avoid conflict internally and with other teams so they are the proverbial yes-men. Saying yes all the time means you can’t prioritize. They avoid conflict at all cost even when it festers negative internal emotion.
My GE experience
To the external participant, our GE team seemed hostile, brutal, unfriendly and unworkable. But it wasn't. It was a finely tuned machine of utter productivity. Unlike the external view, we weren’t the anti-nice team. Some people found the push for absolute honesty too much but it made for a better team. The values we were all expected to share was personal performance, team performance and truthfulness.
The real anti-nice is an anti-employee culture that encourages individuality and constant conflict to “weed out the weak” and keep people on their toes. We were far from this. What made us different? The mindset.
First, we hired the best possible people who met our expected personality profiles. We wanted strong leaders who were confident in their abilities without being cocky or arrogant. We wanted people who were solid enough to accept and provide constructive feedback without getting offended.
They had to understand work-life balance. This meant they could intelligently say no and knew how much to accept before being put in an unworkable situation. These employees were happier, more motivate and much more creative. No one was “over-worked”.
They were prepared to accept accountability for their work and that of their colleagues. These were star performers who understood that the team made them stronger, more efficient and therefore helped them succeed.
These people were solid enough to accept constructive debate and were well-equipped to handle conflict. Conflict wasn't avoided or encouraged. It was just handled and then they moved on.
In a well oiled team, you will notice that different people play different vital roles. You will have people who specialize in conflict resolution, others will work as mentors or be detail-oriented and keep the team’s work in top shape. Some will bring huge amounts of energy and encouragement, others will take on the role of protecting the team from external threats, etc. Let each person find their role and let them thrive. These various specialties are what will make the team great.
Your job as a manager
So what is your role in all of this? Critical.
You are responsible for the selection of the right people and ejection of wrong hires quickly. Install values of patience, respect, honesty. See yourself more as a coach and mentor. If you find yourself doing too much “management stuff” then you probably need to revisit your team membership.
Clearly communicate that truthfulness and honesty are absolute requirements. No sugarcoating, no protecting, if there is an issue, raise it and find a solution.
Provide employee feedback. Your team should be mature so do it honestly, do it quickly (when in response to a situation), be open about your interpretation (do not criticize or judge until you have heard both sides of the story) and do it in private. Teams that don’t make mistakes are teams that don’t take chances. Teams that don’t take chances aren’t challenging the status quo enough. Accept mistakes and move on.
Manage conflict. If your team is mature, they will be able to handle conflict efficiently without needing escalation. Usually the team will coach junior members, but if that falls on your shoulders, here are some guidelines. Any conflict must be framed based on the purpose. What is the nature of the conflict and is it really worth it? Make sure the motives are clear and honest. Encourage people to respect one another and allow each person an appropriate amount of time to explain and speak. We are not children and they should not be boiling in their seat thinking of their comeback. Guide the conversation to ensure it stays factual and to the point. Explain that conflict or disagreements are normal and should not be taken personally. Help them find some common ground upon which they can build their agreement.
Remember that you too must adhere to this rule. Everything you expect of your team, they expect of you.
Should you reward the good or punish the bad?
The old management mantra says “Reward the good and punish the bad”. The fact is most of you have limited time and often have to prioritize tasks. So which one would you prioritize?
The pre-eminent academic paper on the topic is called “Bad is stronger than good” and can be read here : http://www.csom.umn.edu/Assets/71516.pdf
They methodically walk you through the research and clearly demonstrate that negative information, experiences and people are far more impactful than positive ones.
The ideal situation is where you reward and accentuate the positive and get rid of the negative. The real world being less than perfect, if you had to chose one, go with the latter. In my previous article, I spoke about my time at GE and how they methodically got rid of the bottom 10% of their employees annually [during my time there]. This was their way of purging the system.
Researchers Felps and Mitchell define negative people as “those who don't do their fair share of the work, who are chronically unhappy and emotionally unstable, or who bully or attack others.” They found that “a single "toxic" or negative team member can be the catalyst for downward spirals in organizations.” - http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleID=30464
Felps and Mitchell warn that one bad apple can spoil the barrel but caution not to lump “out of the box” thinkers into the negative pile. Sometimes they can rock the boat but this is done for the benefit of the organization and not because of bad intentions.
Different researches come to different impact results, but all are negative. Whether you read the one that says one bad employee impacts the others 5 times more than a positive employee or the one that claims a bad employee can sap team productivity by 30-40%, the common denominator of these results is to get rid of the bad.
I advocate coaching employees and if you feel you can turn him/her around then give it a shot but don’t waste too much time. The more time you waste, the bigger that person’s impact on your team.
One thing is clear, you must have a zero-tolerance policy towards these “bad apples”. Try to weed them out during the interview and if they somehow weasel their way into one of you teams, quickly show them the door.