Simplicity, Steve Jobs, and Org Behavior

May 16, 2013 By 2 Comments

KISS

Here’s one for you org behaviorists out there.

I’ve been thinking about this for awhile: An organization’s values, strategy, culture and competency model should all be the same.

When asked their opinion of the above, a smarty I know said they thought it too extreme. He sees the organization as a tree and the values, strategy, culture, and competencies as different branches. Different branches of the same mighty oak, all contributing to the organism’s growth but not exactly the same. Made sense to me.

But then I came across the HBR article from awhile back, The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. It described Jobs’ famous devotion to simplicity. He constantly pushed until the essence of whatever product Apple was developing was reached and anything unnecessary was eliminated. Cutting clutter was always a focus, resulting in elegant devices that include the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

What else needs to be said?

Now I’m even more convinced that an organization’s values, strategy, culture and competency model should be boiled down, de-cluttered, clarified, and yes, be the same.

Simplify.
Align.

Your thoughts?

Filed Under: For Managers & Supervisors, General Management, Human Resource Management, Leadership Development, Organization Behavior Tagged With:

Leadership Kaleidoscope

April 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment
kaleidoscope

view of a kaleidoscope

The other day we tried a nearby restaurant that recently opened. The manager greeted us when we entered and then he walked to the back and chewed out the waitress in plain sight. We stood there embarrassed, trying to figure out if we needed to be seated or order at the register. The waitress ran right past me with big tears in her eyes. Later, after we sat down, I heard the manager in the kitchen yelling “I’m not being mean; I’m a good teacher and coach! Nobody wants direction anymore”. I wrote it on a napkin so I wouldn’t forget his exact words.

The Ohio State Leadership Studies of the 1950s identified two main factors or leadership behaviors – initiating structure and consideration. This restaurant incident is an example of initiating structure – a manager defining actions and how tasks should be accomplished. Consideration refers to interpersonal and relationship behaviors such as being friendly, approachable, treating others as equals, and showing concern for people’s welfare. It was not demonstrated.

In terms of emotional intelligence, one of the most popular leadership concepts today, this manager seems low in social skills (i.e., managing relationships to achieve desired outcomes) as well as empathy (i.e., understanding other’s feelings). These are two of the five original dimensions of EQ identified by Daniel Goleman.

A long history of leadership research exists. I see the various theories, models and frameworks building on each other, providing different perspectives, and serving as mirror pieces in the kaleidoscope for analyzing it. The value is that defining the behavior is a good first step to improving the behavior. It is handy to know a variety of ways to conceptualize leadership because situations differ and one size does not fit all.

Would love to hear your thoughts on leadership and its development.

Filed Under: Career Invention, General Management, Human Resource Management, Leadership Development, Organization Behavior Tagged With: , , , , , ,

non-stereotypical thinking

April 10, 2013 By 2 Comments

 

birthdays

age – what does it mean?

Last week I wrote about the stereotype out there that old people are not tech savvy. I want to go on record saying I believe this to be false. Most of the savviest techsters I know are around my age, meaning their 40s, 50s, and 60s. I do know plenty of brilliant younger techies as well – my fabulous tech master Victoria Potts Keale just one of the many.

But, I believe the stereotype that all young people are tech savvy is also false. Here’s my experience with the college-age crowd. While teaching at LSU, I gave a bonus point to students who connected with me on linkedin. I did it because many did not know what linkedin was and I thought they should. Very often I would be their first connection. As that was several years ago, I figured students were probably more current now. However, I recently met a new college grad who was in the job market and had only just discovered linkedin. She told me it wasn’t something covered in her degree program.

Now linkedin is not the be-all-end-all of tech knowledge, but it’s pretty useful if you’re looking for a job.

So many people just don’t ‘fit’ the stereotype that it’s hard for me to see age and tech hipness as related. It’s also more evidence that judging another based on a demographic characteristic is a bad idea.

Just sayin.

Would love to know your thoughts on age, technology and stereotypes.

Filed Under: Career Invention, For Managers & Supervisors, General Management, Human Resource Management, Leadership Development, Organization Behavior Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Mindset, Downton and Your Career

April 1, 2013 By 2 Comments
JB + UK_Planet

Downton Abbey

As a Downton Abbey fan I am fascinated by the underlying theme – the question of adapting to change and modern technology. The show’s producers are meticulous about getting every detail of history correct but to me it’s a study of contemporary times.

Lord Grantham is actually that person who can’t get the hang of voice mail or e-mail or smartphones and texting. The Dowager Countess is simply appalled by facebook and twitter. Maybe the new way is crass or common or not proper but failure to adapt may be much worse. Do you really want to be the one responsible for the loss of Downton?

Last week I wrote about Carol Dweck‘s work on mindset and here’s a quick review.

  • People with a fixed mindset believe basic qualities, like intelligence and talent, are fixed traits. They spend time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. In addition they think talent alone creates success—without effort.
  • People with a growth mindset believe that abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work and that brains and talent are just the starting point. They also love learning and possess the resilience necessary to accomplish great things.

I bring this up again because having a growth mindset is important to successfully dealing with today’s rapid change. As a coach, I have clients in their 40s and 50s trying to figure out where they fit into the new world of work. They are concerned about their age and being perceived as old. I have to say that the stereotype of old people not being tech savvy is alive and well. And the reality is that most employers want job candidates who are fluent in technology.

So if you are > 35 and not already a stereotype buster, how do you develop that fluency?

Get out there. Create a profile, page, account, whatever. Connect. Lurk around social media sites and observe how people interact. Go to forums or other virtual places where people discuss what you don’t know. Listen to podcasts. Read the FAQs. Take classes. I guarantee you there is a free teleclass or webinar on whatever bit of technology you don’t understand.

It’s not always easy. People who ‘get’ technology and benefit the most aren’t necessarily blessed with some special tech ability. They just have the mindset to figure it out. They don’t dismiss and reject it or throw up their hands and wail ‘I don’t understand’. They keep at it until they figure it out. They just do it.

Hmmmm. Could that be the tagline for an entire mindset (in addition to Nike of course)?

Would love to know what you think about mindset or Downton Abbey.

Filed Under: Career Invention, For Managers & Supervisors, General Management, Human Resource Management, Leadership Development Tagged With: , , , ,

Mindset

March 25, 2013 By Leave a Comment
the mind

what is your mindset?

Every now and then someone says to me “you are just so smart you can do anything” and that really irks me. I know it is meant as a compliment but the logic of the statement seems to discount all the hard work I’ve done as well as the reality of failure which has happened before and will certainly happen again.

For a long time, I could not articulate why this bugged me so but the work of Carol Dweck and the idea of mindset provides the framework I’ve needed to explain it. Dweck is a researcher at Stanford and based on twenty plus years of research has identified two distinct mindsets – fixed and growth. For a good overview of the concept, listen to an interview with Carol Dweck here.

From her website:

  • People with a fixed mindset believe basic qualities, like intelligence and talent, are fixed traits. They spend time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. In addition they think talent alone creates success—without effort.
  • People with a growth mindset believe that abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work and that brains and talent are just the starting point. They also love learning and possess the resilience necessary to accomplish great things.

Someone who says “you are so smart, you can do anything” likely has a fixed mindset and attributes success to a fixed trait. They believe people have it or they don’t. People with a growth mindset believe talent can be developed, know they can improve, learn from mistakes, and almost get a buzz from the challenge.

I’ve been thinking a lot about mindset because last week I participated in New Orleans Entrepreneur Week. The crowd was a great mix - old, young, black, white, Asian, Hispanic and pretty much every other facet of diversity out there. I talked to artists and fashion designers and musicians as well as attorneys and MBAs and yes, even academics! A VERY diverse group indeed. Monday’s keynote speaker, Walter Isaacson, traced the history of entrepreneurship in NOLA and eloquently pointed out its relationship to diversity and creativity.

NOEW brought many diverse types together but we were all connected by a common mindset – a growth mindset. People were there to learn, develop, and connect. Some had failed before, many knew failure was a distinct possibility, but everyone was on fire about their idea. It was great to be part of such a gathering.

One final thought – mindset can change. Someone with a fixed mindset when young can absolutely develop a growth mindset later in life.

Would love to hear what you think about mindset.

Filed Under: Career Invention, For Managers & Supervisors, General, General Management, Human Resource Management, Leadership Development, Organization Behavior Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

No Time to Write

March 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
whoosh - it's gone

whoosh – it’s gone

Whoosh. Another week gone and no time to write. So instead of my thoughts, I’m sharing the thoughts of others that have stayed with me. Hope something from this list makes you think too.

Would love to hear what you think about any of these.

Filed Under: Career Invention, Community Service, For Managers & Supervisors, General Management, Human Resource Management, Leadership Development Tagged With:

That Very Moment

March 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Lucky

escapee #1

My heart is still pounding. I just drove past my sister’s house on the way home from Wal-Mart. Her dogs had escaped the yard and were running down the very busy street. I stopped, ran, grabbed and returned them to inside the fence. She was not home

This right place, right time situation happened because while at the store I decided to slow down, to not rush through like a maniac, to smile at people and endeavor to have a pleasant grocery shopping experience. I even chatted with the cashier for an extra minute because no one was in line.

That’s why I was there at that very moment. If I had passed by 30 seconds before or 30 seconds after I would not have seen nor saved the pups because those two are very fast.

Rose bud

escapee #2

Sometimes when you focus on making the most of things, even a mundane task, you end up where you need to be at the exact right time.

Whew.

 

Have you ever had a right place/right time experience?

Filed Under: Career Invention, Community Service, For Managers & Supervisors, General, General Management, Human Resource Management, Leadership Development, Organization Behavior Tagged With: , , , , ,

Understanding

February 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment
pink princess phone

Life was so simple in the 70s.

Gee whiz, communicating with people is so complex nowadays. I can think of more than half-a-dozen channels right off the bat: phone, e-mail, direct message, fb, twitter, linkedin, text and the US Mail.

I am no communication expert but want to share my thoughts anyway.

You have to understand all these channels if you want to effectively communicate across the spectrum. Communication preference may be the newest facet of diversity.

Businesses should communicate with customers in the customer’s preferred mode, especially if it’s about a problem they are having with your service or product. If your customer fb messages you, reply via fb message. If they e-mail you, reply by e-mail. If they call you, call them back. I spend a lot of time on the phone while working so my preference is to deal with other matters by e-mail.

I’ve never seen this one written up but often hear people voice frustration because of it. Contact someone once and then wait for their response. Unless it is a real emergency, multiple messages can be very annoying.

The complexity is driven by technology and technology is constantly changing. You know the drill – be nimble, adaptable, flexible, and open to change.

 

As always, I’d love to hear what your thinking on this is.

Filed Under: Career Invention, For Managers & Supervisors, General Management, Human Resource Management, Leadership Development, Organization Behavior Tagged With: , , ,

Tom Peters

January 31, 2013 By Leave a Comment

In the early 90s, my major professor Karl Kuhnert introduced me to the work of Tom Peters via Peters’ Leadership Alliance video featuring Harley-Davidson, GM, and Johnsonville Sausage. In turn, I showed this video to my Org Behavior students at LSU for years.

Because it included such simple and classic lessons of leadership, I continued to use it even after the video seemed dated. One I’ve always remembered is Pat Carrigan, the first female General Motors assembly plant manager, walking around and introducing herself to all the employees on the factory floor and shaking their hands. What a powerful gesture.

I listened to a podcast of an excellent interview with Peters on Dan Pink’s Office Hours where he talked about experiences that influenced his management thinking. I also found out about his free resource - dozens of management lessons comprised of thousands of slides for studying and teaching management.

Who says a great education has to be expensive?

Filed Under: For Managers & Supervisors, General Management, Human Resource Management, Leadership Development, Organization Behavior Tagged With: , , ,

What I love

January 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment

mac and cheese at cochonYou know what I love? I love interacting with employees who really know their stuff - like the other night at the bar of Cochon, a fab restaurant with a sophisticated menu of complex items. We could not decide what food to order and it was wonderful that the bartender could describe specifically what the different dishes were and how they were prepared.

Contrast this with another recent dining-out experience when we were served by a waiter who couldn’t tell us what beers were available. Or my credit union where I am learning a lot of employees don’t know the correct answer to customer questions.

How do those places with the great employees do it? I believe that kind of service comes from smart, conscientious, trained and motivated employees whose skilled supervisors pay attention in an engaging and alive organization culture.

So many variable and challenging pieces to get right. It is tough because each part must be managed both separately and in combination. Some of these moving parts need to be tightly controlled and others should be handled like you would hold a baby bird.

When you leave a place talking about the cool and helpful service, you’re usually not thinking about the great managers and supervisors. But they were there.

And, an operation that makes it look easy? Wow.

 

As always, I’d love to hear what you think.

Filed Under: For Managers & Supervisors, General, General Management, Human Resource Management, Leadership Development, Organization Behavior Tagged With:
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