May 21, 2011
The Information Blanket
May 20, 2011
Purpose Drives Productivity
Purpose Drives Productivity
May 17, 2011
Know What's Right, Do What's Right
And at one point, he says straight-out, integrity takes two things:
1) Know what's right
2) Do what's right
And I'm loving it!
Straight-forward and simple--know and do what's right.
Then he tells me about Gus Lee, a nationally recognized ethicist (and Chair of Character Development at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point) who wrote this book Courage: The Backbone of Leadership.
I was inspired by what I heard and since went back to learn more about his philosophy on the subject.
Lee believes that "leadership is grounded in high character" and that "we think we are looking for managers, but in fact, we need principled leaders."
To drive our "moral courage", Lee says we have 3 powerful resources:
1) Conscience--"that moral, inner voice."
2) Discernment--this is where you work to discern "the higher right" getting past "fear, feelings, and wishful thinking" and of course, our own self interests.
3) Discerning Advisors--we seek the counsel of "the most courageous, high integrity, high character, and principled person or people" you know.
And I would add a fourth important resource, which is religious teachings that can be a steadfast guidepost (especially when coupled with the others as a personal litmus test of whether you are applying them correctly).
Finally, I like Lee's observation that there are three type of individuals when it comes to issues of integrity:
1) Egotists--those who are self-serving.
2) Pragmatists--those who "serve results" or what I would call serving a specified cause.
3) People of Courage--those who "act in the right regardless."
Doing the right thing is not easy (it means putting aside your own interests)!
That's why it takes tremendous courage to be the type of moral person that we all ultimately admire and respect.
Those leaders who act with moral rectitude, these to me are the few and the amazing!
Know What's Right, Do What's Right
May 15, 2011
Hooray For Motivation
Already in 1964, Frederick Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory differentiated work satisfiers (aka motivators) such as challenging work, achievement, and responsibility, from dis-satisfiers (aka hygiene factors) such as the absence of status, job security, adequate salary/benefits, and pleasant work conditions.
In other words, motivation is driven primarily by the underlying meaningful and the productive work, not by the context of the work such as the money and fringe benefits.
In that vein, Harvard Business Review in "A Spotlight on Productivity" in May 2011 describes how poor managers "unwittingly drain work of its meaning"--in essence destroying their employees motivation and their productivity.
1) Trivializing Your Workers Input--"managers may dismiss the importance of employees work or ideas." In a sense, this one is about marginalizing employees, their creativity, and their contributions and is extremely destructive to the employees and the organization.
2) Decoupling Employee Ownership From Their Work--"Frequent and abrupt reassignments often have this affect." Also, not assigning clear roles and responsibilities to projects can have this affect. Either way, if employees don't have ownership of their projects, then the productivity will suffer amidst the workplace chaos and lack of ultimate accountability for "your work."
3) The Big Black Hole--"Managers may send the message that the work employees are doing will never see the light of day." In other words, employees are just being forced to "spin their wheels" and their is truly no purpose to the "shelfware" they are producing.
4) Communication, Not--Managers "may neglect to inform employees about unexpected changes in a customers priorities" or a shift in organizational strategy due to changes in internal or external market drivers. When employees don't know that the landscape has shifted and moreover are not involved in the decision process, they may not know what has changed, why, or feel invested in it. Without adequate communication, you will actually be leaving your employees blind and your organization behind.
So while it is tempting to think that we can drive a great work force through pay, benefits and titles alone, the lesson is clear...these are not what ultimately attracts and retains a talented and productive work force.
The magic sauce is clear--help your work force to know and feel two things:
1) Their work--is ultimately useful and usable.
2) That they--are important and have a future of growth and challenge.
When they and their work mean something, they will get behind it and truly own it.
In short: mean something, do something.
To get this outcome, I believe managers have to:
1) Make the meaning explicit--Identify your customers, the services you are providing, and articulate why it is important to provide these.
2) Determine strengths and weaknesses of each employee and capitalize on their strengths, while at the same time coach, mentor, and train to the weaknesses.
3) When workers go "off track," be able to give them constructive feedback and suggestions for improvement without demeaning and demoralizing them.
4) Find the inner strength and self confidence not to be threatened by your employees actually doing a good job and being productive--that's ultimately what you've hired them for!
5) Recognize the importance of everyone's contributions--It is not a one-person show, and it takes a bigger boss to recognize that other people's contributions don't take away from their own.
6) Be a team and communicate, honestly and openly--information hoarding and being the smartest one in the room is an ego thing; the best leaders (such as Jack Welch) surround themselves with people that are smarter than them and information is something to be leveraged for the team's benefit, not weaponized by the individual.
There are more, but this is just a blog and not a book...so hopefully more to come on this topic.
Hooray For Motivation
May 13, 2011
Who's On First
We've all be to "those" kinds of meeting. You know the ones I'm talking about: The cast of characters has swelled to standing-room only and you're beginning to wonder if maybe there's a breakfast buffet in the back of the room.
It seems to me that not only are there more people than ever at todays meetings, but meetings are also more frequent and taking up significantly more hours of the day.
I'm beginning to wonder whether all these meeting are helping us get more work done, or perhaps helping us avoid confronting the fact that in many ways we're stymied in our efforts.
Read the rest of the article at Government Technology.
Who's On First
Reading is Love
Reading is Love
May 11, 2011
To Infinity and Beyond
To Infinity and Beyond
May 8, 2011
Happiness Is Not The End
Happiness Is Not The End
May 7, 2011
Beyonce Moves Us
Beyonce Moves Us
SEALS - Going Beyond The Veneer
SEALS - Going Beyond The Veneer
May 6, 2011
Avoiding The Ultimate In Surprise
Avoiding The Ultimate In Surprise
May 4, 2011
"Sexual Healing"--Marvin Gaye Wasn't Kidding
Ok, so the only topic that can compete with the killing of Osama Bin Laden (OBL) this week is an an article about sex--what???
"Sexual Healing"--Marvin Gaye Wasn't Kidding
May 1, 2011
Social Networking the Pepsi Way
It's a touch screen, networked machine that aside from enabling the purchase of soft drinks and the provision of nutrition information online, it also enables users to "gift" a drink to a friend by entering the recipient's name, mobile number, and a personalized text message (and even has an option to personalize it with a short recorded video).
The recipient of the Pepsi gift simply enters the redeem code at a pepsi social vending machine to get their soda. They can also return a thank you gift to the sender or "pay it forward" and give a gift to someone else.
In addition, the machine makes use of advanced telemetry to remotely measure and report on inventory, manage delivery scheduling, and update content on the machines. This machine is alive with changeable content and interactive communication between users.
As the Chief Innovation Officer of PepsiCo Foodservice states: "Social vending extends our consumers' social networks beyond the confines of their own devices and transforms a static, transaction-oriented experience into something fun and exciting they'll want to return to, again and again."
Additionally, Mashable reports that in phase 2, Pepsi is planning to integrate their Social Vending concept with other social media such as Facebook, extending the reach of product placement and gifting even further through cyberspace and social networking.
While many companies continue to struggle to figure out how to integrate social networking into a companies operations and make it profitable, PepsiCo has a simple formula for how it engages it's customers, promotes sales, and makes it all seem completely natural to the whole transaction--like it belonged there all along.
Great job PepsiCo!
Social Networking the Pepsi Way
April 30, 2011
Life Building 101
Life Building 101
April 29, 2011
A Place for Answers
First there was Wikipedia and now there is Quora.
A Place for Answers
April 27, 2011
Smartphone Apps For Shopaholics
In the old Ginsu commercials, they used to say "In Japan, the hand can be used like a knife...but this method doesn't work with a tomato."
Smartphone Apps For Shopaholics
April 26, 2011
Doomsday In Style
Doomsday In Style
April 25, 2011
Turning IT From Frenemy to Friend
Fast Company (December 2008) describes Frenemies as a "thrilling intricate dance" of friend-enemy relationships.
Turning IT From Frenemy to Friend
April 24, 2011
Brain Sharing is Eye Opening
Brain Sharing is Eye Opening
April 23, 2011
Information-Free Is Invaluable
Information-Free Is Invaluable
April 22, 2011
Never Lose Faith; Never Give Up
Never Lose Faith; Never Give Up
April 20, 2011
Domain Names Demystified
It's so hard to come up with just the right domain name, especially when the landscape already seems so busy.
Domain Names Demystified