Leading Change With Integrity

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Al Watts

Most of you have witnessed (and perhaps been victims of) disappointing or even disastrous organizational change efforts. A 2010 IBM comprehensive global study of organizational change initiatives revealed that 60% of them fail; JCP (the retailer formerly known as J.C. Penney) is the latest high profile example.  Yet we live and work in times when the capacity to lead change effectively has perhaps never been greater. Let me add my perspective to the oceans of advice about leading organizational change.

First, let’s consider what the criteria for successful organizational change should be. I  Organizatonal Integrity Model 0413propose that there are three:

  • Effectiveness – changes should accomplish their desired effect.
  • Engagement – changes should build the commitment and loyalty of those we hope will execute desired changes.
  • Ethical – change processes and outcomes should be fair and honorable.

Definitions for “integrity” include “wholeness” and “soundness.” Leading change with integrity, then, implies considering the whole; consciously or unconsciously attending to only one of two of the “3 Es” is unsound, just as a one or two-legged stool is unsound. In my book Navigating Integrity – Transforming Business As Usual Into Business At Its Best, I outline four factors that leaders and organizations can leverage to craft effective, engaging and ethical cultures; they are the same factors to leverage for leading “integrious” “triple-e” change initiatives:

Identity – Identity includes an organization’s history, stories, core principles or values, and strategic intentions. Here are some ways that sound change initiatives can leverage Identity:

  • Know the organization’s culture, including its core strengths and vulnerabilities. Build on core strengths and beware of weaknesses that will undermine change efforts.
  • Tap pride in the organization and what it stands for; how will change initiatives build on founding principles or core values?
  • Be clear about organizational change goals and strategic direction; communicate, communicate, communicate.

Authenticity – Authenticity is about “trueness,” truth-telling and transparency.

  • Be true to an organization’s foundational purpose and values. Universities and colleges have come under fire as questions arise about whether changes serve fundamental educational goals or are just about growth and money. Comparable concerns are being raised by health care practitioners as the trend toward integrated and accountable health care organizations forces many mergers and acquisitions.
  • Be real. Part of JCP’s demise is due to retail strategies that looked good in theory but had never been tested in Penney’s market. Another aspect of being real is “not biting off more than can be chewed.” As Thomas Edison said: “Vision without execution is hallucination.” Change initiatives that are too much of a stretch or unsupported by necessary resources and training are unsound.
  • Model desired cultures and changes. Members are loyal to organizations and engaged with change initiatives largely to the degree that they trust leadership. Hardly anything undermines trust more than “do what I say, not what I do.” For example it’s hard to get enthusiastic about a stated need to increase efficiency when executive pay gets fatter while rank and file hours are increased or their pay decreased.
  • Research reveals that change initiatives driven by small secretive groups are bound for failure. Certainly not every detail of all change initiatives can be shared; in general, however, most would benefit by erring in favor of more transparency. “Nature abhors a vacuum;” rumors abound when there is inadequate communication about change initiatives.

Alignment – To paraphrase Upton Sinclair, “It’s hard to understand something when our Change dial flickr marsmet546pay depends on us not understanding it.” Incentives, organizational structure (or lack thereof,) training, performance appraisal and other organizational systems need to send consistent messages that are aligned with organizational intentions and change initiatives. Here are some alignment change strategies:

  • Form should fit function. Carefully define what purposes should be served, or criteria should be met if reorganizing; generate alternatives and evaluate each against those purposes and criteria.
  • Audit talent management, compensation and other human resource management practices to determine how well they reinforce a desired culture or change initiatives.
  • Successful cultures and successful change initiatives make use of what Jim Collins (From Good To Great) calls “adaptive mechanisms.” Adaptive mechanisms are vehicles for assuring that an organization stays sufficiently aligned with customers, competition, markets and the environment to adapt as needed.

Accountability – Peter Drucker helped us realize that “what gets measured gets done.” Assuming that there has been clear communication about strategic direction, desired changes and their rationale, measures should be in place to help all know if they are on course. Here are some strategies for succeeding with change initiatives by leveraging accountability:

  • Start with smaller targets and celebrate little victories to build confidence and momentum.
  • Integrate “The OZ Principle” (as outlined in the book by that name) where everyone has responsibility, regardless of job or function, to  “see it,” (see what needs doing,) “own it” (take responsibility for getting it done,) “solve it” (identifying not just problems but solutions to those problems) and “do it” (getting it done.)
  • Institute measures that reinforce what is most important paying attention to, and eliminate measures that just add clutter.
  • Assure that everyone has objectives and measures relevant for them that are connected to the bigger goals and changes that you are trying to achieve.

Sustainable, “triple-e” organizational change is not the product solely of strong-willed, lone authority figures. Would-be change leaders will serve themselves, their organization and its stakeholders well by engaging those affected by change, learning from best practices and evidence-based change research, and partnering with experienced guides.

Fundamentally, change is about people. It’s people who will execute desired changes (or not) and their engagement that will drive success. In the same IBM global study on change cited above, the greatest challenge reported by executives was changing mindsets and attitudes (60%, followed by culture at 49%.) Participation, communication, trust and “encouraging the heart” practices (in Kouzes and Posner’s book by that name,) coupled with the above will go far fulfilling the promise of desired change and building an organization’s change management capacity.

 

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. – Niccolo Machiavelli

 

People don’t resist change. They resist being changed! – Peter Senge

 

All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward. – Ellen Glasgow

 

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Does Your Organization Need A “Root Canal?”

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Al Watts

Early on the second day of a client engagement, I found myself at the dentist’s. The nagging tooth ache that we thought a filling fixed had gotten worse; I needed to be “on” in a couple hours, and was leaving town early the next morning. X-rays were inconclusive about whether a root canal might be in order, so in the time available the dentist got busy grinding and polishing, both of us hoping that adjusting my bite would solve the problem. To distract myself, I got to thinking about how my situation is like some organizations – in pain, and uncertain about what it will take to make the pain go away and be healthy again.

Symptoms

A slight wheel vibration, squeaky part or strange engine sound usually gets worse and causes greater, more expensive damage if ignored or untreated.  I have to admit, I dislike the prospect of dental work enough that I engaged in some magical thinking when my tooth started aching: “Oh, it’s probably nothing serious and will go away.” It didn’t, and that’s why I scheduled an emergency visit to my dentist. Customer or employee complaints, unwanted turnover, declining quality or chronic cost overruns are likewise potential symptoms of systemic problems. It’s better and less costly long term to face problems squarely than to engage in magical thinking in hopes that they will go away.

Diagnosis

It’s tempting, and sometimes makes sense, to start addressing problems with easier, quicker and less expensive options than might be required. Maybe ibuprofen or chewing on one side for a while will solve a toothache. Maybe a training program or time off will alleviate problems at work. When ibuprofen for a toothache or time off in the case of work problems doesn’t do the job, it’s time to consider the likelihood of more serious problems and more effective solutions.  I couldn’t correctly diagnose my toothache, just like it’sSurvey report page sample difficult for managers by themselves to determine root causes of their organization’s ills. The operative term here is “root causes.” I can’t count the number of times that a client initially describes why I’m involved as a “communication problem.” Objective assessment work has revealed disagreements about strategy, old “scars” or resentments never addressed, critical skills gaps, unfair treatment, and in some cases bona-fide personality disorders. In-house or outside organization development practitioners are options for objectively diagnosing organizational pain; valid survey methodology is also an effective organizational diagnostic tool.

Treatment

The longer a serious tooth problem goes untreated, generally the more decay that sets in; eventually one could be dealing with an abscessed tooth – really bad news. Continued neglect often leads to health problems elsewhere, and in worst cases can be fatal; the American Academy of Periodontology has correlated poor oral health with rheumatoid arthritis, some cancers, diabetes, respiratory infections pregnancy problems and heart disease. Untreated organizational issues can likewise spread – from group to group and from morale to the balance sheet. More often than not organizations are victims of their own weak spots or untreated dysfunctions than of external forces.

Addressed early, many organizational issues get resolved; communication improves, personnel “rough edges” are smoothed out, appropriate structural changes are made, strategy is adjusted, etc.  Fortunately the dentist’s bite adjustments resolved my toothache; if it hadn’t, a visit to the endodontist for a root canal would have likely been the next step. When might a “root canal” be right for an organization, and what would that look like?

A conventional root canal is oral surgery.  An organizational “root canal” is surgery of sorts too; it must be properly diagnosed and executed. As it turns out, our tooth roots are pretty deep and complex; decay must be “rooted out” wherever it exists, otherwise problems persist and get worse. An organizational root canal requires changing enough so that Roots flickr mmmwolffbefore long it’s not back to business as usual. Tough decisions and choices need to be made and executed. That could involve a radically different strategy and re-designing an organization to execute that strategy; it might involve eliminating or replacing personnel who are very valuable otherwise but too disruptive or disrespectful; it might involve wholesale changes to systems and processes that require further significant organizational re-tooling.

Perhaps long-term organizational health requires a well-planned and executed culture change, transitioning from one that no longer works or won’t work for long to new mindsets, systems, practices and personnel. That is a daunting and long-term process, and a subject for a separate article.

Just like regular care and attention to oral health minimizes the likelihood of need for oral surgery, regular care and attention to organizational health will likely preclude the need for an organizational “root canal.” Prevention is the best medicine.

 

A healthy outside starts from the inside.

Robert Urich

 

A wise doctor does not mutter incantations over a sore that needs the knife.

Sophocles

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Design Integrity

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Al Watts

“Design is inevitable. The alternative to good design is bad design, not no design at all.” (Douglas Martin)

I recently had the opportunity to participate in an excellent webinar about “Service Design” by John Wooden and J Hruby of Fredrickson Communications. Many of the principles that were shared for designing excellent service experiences correspond with my work positioning integrity as a practical strategy for organizations:

Use a whole perspective. John Wooden, Fredrickson’s Director of Usability Services, discussed the importance of designing service experiences with not just customers and service users, but those who deliver the service, in mind. If processes are easy for one group but not the other, outcomes will be less than optimal and likely even fail. Similarly, if a process has a slick front door via a website or application, but is really just a digitized version of a process that is outdated or otherwise inefficient, there’s only so much that can be done to make the experience a good one.

design overlobeThe best product, service experience and organizational designs appeal to us physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually, or artistically – to the whole person. Apple product success is due not only to functional excellence, but to artful design and its “coolness” factor. If we must wait in line for a service transaction, an experience that is appealing – or at least not unpleasant emotionally and aesthetically is preferable.

Merriam Webster’s definitions for “integrity” include being “whole”, or “complete.” Those are important characteristics of not only design integrity, but of leadership and organizational effectiveness. How many times have organizations or leaders missed the mark because they neglected to adopt a “whole” perspective? Examples include neglecting key stakeholders, overlooking or discounting contrary opinions or missing critical market signals.

Form follows function. Whether designing a product, service experience or organizational structure, first be clear about intended use and outcomes. What purpose or purposes do we want a product, organization or service experience to serve? When embarking on a service redesign, it’s important to keep the ends in mind; likely they are some combination of improving user or provider satisfaction, increasing efficiency and reducing costs.

A large part of architectural integrity is whether a design suits intended purposes for a design pic 1 Falling Waterbuilding or office. Likewise, an organizational structure or chart reflects integrity when it serves intended purposes. An early critical step when I help clients consider organizational structure changes is to thoroughly articulate what the structural changes should accomplish. Alternative structures can then be evaluated against those desired goals. Using intended purposes or outcomes as design criteria will guide creative thinking into the most productive channels and contribute to design integrity

Think alignment. A great product design and experience can be either reinforced or not reinforced by a service design and experience. Together, they determine perceptions of how a brand fulfills its promise. For example, my perception of an automobile brand is determined by not only the vehicle itself, but by how it is serviced by the dealer. The design SOCIALisBETTER picquality of that experience is in turn determined by multiple interfaces, including a web site to schedule maintenance, the service desk, quality of the mechanical work, billing, car delivery and more. All of those interfaces need to be seamlessly connected in ways that consistently reinforce fulfillment of the brand promise. And a failure (as perceived by the customer) at any one of those points can adversely affect their perception of the entire brand experience. Just ONE sub-optimal interaction can lead to a lack of trust or some other form of dissatisfaction.  I don’t know if this is really and truly grasped by many businesses.

Apple was one of the first, if not the first, to pay attention to ALL of the service interfaces, including packaging – another customer touchpoint. Pay attention to Apple packaging; it’s as elegant as the product inside.

Merriam Webster’s definitions of integrity also include “seamless”, “connected” and “united.” Steps and players all along a service or supply chain that demonstrate unity, connectedness and seamlessness in service to desired ends display design integrity. In the public sector especially this can be a HUGE issue, driven by silos and improper alignment of incentives with customer service.

Be authentic. Authenticity is a critical dimension of integrity; for products that includes uniqueness and originality. In the context of service design, Wooden and Hruby discussed design Dublin Cities Public Librariesanother important aspect of authenticity: being real about what is true about customers. That means not assuming what service users or providers need and want, but actually asking them and collecting objective data. While it’s true that customers can’t always articulate what they really want – sometimes they don’t know until you show them – the use of interviews and various ethnographic tools can help shed light on this. Whether designing a product or service experience, and for most other endeavors, we need to be careful about assumptions and test them. As Mark Twain said: “It’s not what we don’t know that will get us in trouble so much as what we think we know that just isn’t so.”

Be accountable. Being accountable includes accomplishing our objectives and fulfilling promises. As they say, “what gets measured get’s done”; that means that to accomplish service design objectives and any intentions, we need to collect appropriate measures. If the goals of service redesign are improved customer satisfaction and cost reduction, we need to measure results accordingly. Going back to the first principle, we also need to collect balanced measures that reflect a whole perspective. Achieving increased customer satisfaction and reduced costs while burning out service providers would not demonstrate integrity.

Things change. Design integrity of products, services and organizations requires attunement to changes that suggest modifications, and processes for revisiting designs to accommodate those changes.

How might you apply these principles for design integrity to:

            Product design?

            Service design?

            Organization design?

            Your life?

In my book Navigating Integrity – Transforming Business As Usual Into Business At Its Best, you will find many more ways that integrity in its broadest sense contributes to leadership and organizational excellence.

 

Design is the application of intent – the opposite of happenstance, and an antidote to accident. (Robert L. Peters)

     

The design process is really just Iterate, Iterate, Iterate. (Chris Clark)


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Out With The Old, In With The New

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Al Watts

A new year lends itself naturally to reflection and planning, leading for some to make resolutions. My reflections and resolutions revolved mainly around what to let go of and what to make room for – what’s “out” and what’s “in.”  Of course organizations and their leaders need to make comparable decisions on a regular basis, often coinciding with yearly strategic planning and budgeting.  Fundamentally, such decisions answer questions like these:

  • What practices, processes and traditions still serve us well, and which do not?
  • If there is a need to “lighten our load,” what criteria should we use for what to keep and what to jettison?
  • What are our goals; what will we need to accomplish those goals? What will likely no longer be needed or may just drag us down?
  • How should we organize to achieve our goals? (Personally, this could be as simple as reorganizing our office and files; organizations need to look at things like organizational structure, roles, systems and processes.)
  • Whom should we associate with? Who shares our goals and values, and whom should we consider partnering with? Whom should we part with?

It dawned on me that some of the same framework that’s helpful making these decisions at a personal level is also relevant for organizations and their leaders:

First, reconnect with our foundation – at a personal level, that includes any mission, goals, values or principles. As Roy Disney said: “It’s easier to make decisions when we know what our values are.” It is valuable for organizations to do the same, especially when facing the likely need for significant change. “Form follows function,” so it’s a good idea to Main Thing imagebe clear about our function or purpose at the outset as a basis for decisions that follow. For example, health care organizations of all stripes will continue experiencing significant turmoil in coming years as they merge, reorganize, seek greater efficiencies and otherwise adjust to their radically changing landscape. Sustainable change and engagement of caregivers that populate those organizations, however, will depend significantly on not losing site of their original mission and core values; as Steve Covey reminded us: “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” Change management initiatives commonly focus mainly on what to change; sustainable change management focuses at least equally on what should not change – chiefly our core purpose and values.

Second, do not confuse core purpose with ways that we traditionally accomplished that purpose. Most of the physicians whom I’ve worked with are deeply committed to providing Polaroid imagethe best care for their patients. However some are very resistant to modifying their own personal care-giving style, or to fully adopting electronic medical records. Yet common protocols and more accessible patient records across their whole care-giving institution would likely result in higher-quality care overall. The Polaroid camera folks couldn’t imagine “instant photography” any differently than via their initial proprietary technology; otherwise, they might still be achieving that mission by powering our smartphone cameras today. We all need to open our eyes and take our blinders off so we can imagine new and better ways to accomplish our aims; even if we don’t, our competitors will.

Third, reflect on whom we want to undertake our journey with. In my own new year sorting-out process, I decided that life is too short to waste on people who don’t follow through, don’t return emails or calls and in general contribute to negative energy; it’s better to move on and focus on brighter prospects. Jim Collins (Built To Last and From Good to Great) was right when he said that “first we need to get the right people on the bus.” (I’m a sailor, though, so my version is “get the right people in the boat!”) Whether bus or boat, it’s good to occasionally take stock of where we’re headed, what will be required to make the journey, and if everyone is still up for it.

In addition to whom we make a journey with, we need to consider what resources will be required. I have to admit, this is a challenge for me. My bookshelves and files are bulging with books, articles, client files and materials that I think I might want “some day.” My resources are limited though, as are organizations’ resources; we have to decide what to keep, what to discard and where to reinvest.  Here are a few questions that help:

What is still relevant? There are a few books lining my shelves that are as relevant today as when first published years ago; I’ll keep those. Many materials useful for clients in the past, as much work as went into them, simply won’t be useful again; the world has moved on. Organizations too can be burdened by traditions and practices that have lost their relevancy.

Is there another or better way? Altering our practices or introducing technology can lighten our loads. At a personal level we can scan older important documents or photos and store them electronically; likewise, we can replace many hardcover books with their electronic versions stored on our e-readers. Technology investments or reworked processes can also replace more costly work methods, and unfortunately some workers.

What is hardest to replace? It might be more efficient to discard some objects in our home or office, but for whatever reason they are part of what makes our home, home. Care should likewise be taken when considering who may no longer be needed in organizations. Are they part of what makes a community that community? Do they possess legacy skills, wisdom or contacts?

In case of fire . . . Of course we hope that it won’t come to pass, but if a fire broke out in our home or office, what’s at the top of our list to take? If we had to start out again in business tomorrow, what and whom would we need most?

If you’ve participated in any “Lost on the Moon,” “Lost at Sea” or related survival simulations, you probably remember that group consensus rankings usually score higher than individual rankings. ‘What’s in and what’s out” decisions at the organizational level aren’t democratic, but benefit from participation; others see things differently or see different things than we do, and that usually yields better decisions. As long as rules about how decisions will be made are clear up front and opinions are respected, participation buys more ownership of outcomes.

In my book Navigating Integrity . . ., I make a distinction between “alignment” the noun and “aligning” the verb. Alignment the noun suggests a kind of permanence, or fixedness; Time for Change imagethere are some things like core purpose or principles that rarely if ever change, with which to align most everything else. Aligning the verb suggests movement and adaptation. The world is diverse and ever-changing; we can get as lost by not sufficiently adapting or flexing as we can by losing touch with our foundation. We will benefit by engaging in variations of this “out with the old, in with the new” process on a continual basis, and not just at the beginning of a new year.

What’s on your “out with the old” list? What habits, practices, materials or relationships no longer serve you well?

What’s on your “in with the new” list? What new disciplines, practices, resources or relationships will you adopt to move forward?

How might you and others in your circle engage in the practice of making sound decisions about “what’s out” and “what’s in” in a systematic way?

 

“A modern view of the processes of growth, decay and renewal must give due emphasis to both continuity and change in human institutions.”

John W. Gardner

“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”

Thomas Jefferson

 

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What Is Your Values Proposition?

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Al Watts

Yes, I really do mean values proposition, not value proposition. We’re accustomed to thinking of an organization’s or business value proposition – the degree that it meets the needs, wants and requirements of target markets and customers. We pay less attention to how the values of an organization, its leaders and members add to the bottom line.

Authentic, clearly articulated organizational values can contribute value in multiple ways:

  • As Alexander Hamilton put it: “If we don’t know what we stand for, we’ll fall for anything.” Solid values serve to steer us away from actions that lead to trouble.
  • Clearly articulated values can serve as beacons for employees that we want to attract, and discourage others from applying or staying.
  • Recent studies reveal that understanding an organization’s values and recognition that reinforces those values contribute significantly to employee engagement.
  • Values aid decision-making and problem solving; as Roy Disney put it: “It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.”
  • Organizational values can serve as meaningful differentiators in crowded markets.  Increasingly, CSR – corporate social responsibility – is playing a significant role in consumers’ buying decisions.
  • Foundational values contribute to effective change management; when it seems that everything else is changing, they serve a steadying role.

For reasons like these, the research of Jim Collins and Jerry Porras (Built To Last, 1994) demonstrated how organizations with a strong core ideology (purpose + values) significantly outperform those without one. A values proposition doesn’t just happen when a small subset of an organization – even its executive team – publishes five or six values that they hope will serve as guiding principles. Here is what drives the value of values:

Resonance – Do stated values resonate with customers, potential customers, employees and key stakeholders? I prefer to work in an organization that stands for something and with values like mine, don’t you? For most, motivation is higher when working for something that we identify with and believe in. Likewise for customers; increasingly, customers are more likely to factor an organization’s or suppliers’ values and ethics into buying decisions. Social media have multiplied this dynamic; consumers can hardly ignore news today about overseas garment factory fires and criminally unsafe working conditions, for example.

Authenticity – Employees and customers easily see through lists of values that are just that – lists of politically correct values statements or principles to look good or satisfy compliance requirements. Genuine values statements can come from deeply held founding beliefs or principles reinforced over time; they can also be crafted via an organic process that mines what employees, customers and stakeholders already hold dear. Most important, actual values are those in practice, not just espoused, by an organization and its leaders. Gaps between employees’ or customers’ actual experiences and organizations’ professed values are among the biggest detractors from employee engagement and customer loyalty. Howard Schultz, Starbuck’s Chairman, captured it perfectly when he said that “winners see challenges as opportunities to reinforce their values; losers see them as reasons to abandon them.”

Communication – An interesting study by Burston Marstellar in 2010 demonstrated that effective communication of organizational purpose, including values, positively impacts financial performance by up to 17%. Elements of effective communication strategies include communication by senior leadership, alignment of internal and external messages, integration with existing systems and practices (like performance appraisal, orientation and training,) repetition and redundancy. Values clarity is critical, as is a process for achieving it. The actual labels for values are not as important as what they actually mean operationally; for proof consider the different meanings attached to “pro-family” or “family values.”

Again, most important is that actual practices, especially senior leaders’ behavior, do not send conflicting messages; in those cases, as Ralph Waldo Emerson put it: “Your actions speak so loudly, I cannot hear what you’re saying!”

Alignment – inTEgro’s Organizational Integrity Survey identifies disconnects between stated values and actual practices. Sometimes disconnects are between espoused values and leadership behaviors; sometimes disconnects are between stated values and systems or processes like compensation, performance evaluation, training or measurement. There could have been no doubt that BP claimed to value safety; safety messages were plastered everywhere. Investigation of their Gulf oil platform explosion, however, revealed that speed, efficiency and cost reduction trumped safety; it was yet another example of “profit over principle,” like so many of the contributors to our 2008 financial market meltdown. As Upton Sinclair reminded us: “It’s hard to get someone to understand something if their salary depends on them not understanding it.”

Perhaps it’s time for a values audit in your organization:

  • Does your organization have clearly stated values or principles?
  • Do your stated values resonate with what’s important to your employees, customers and key stakeholders?
  • Does everyone know how stated values translate in their roles – what to do and what not to do?
  • Do your senior leaders especially consistently model your organization’s espoused values?
  • Are your stated values useful making critical strategic and operational decisions?
  • Do any of your organization’s systems, policies and practices – especially compensation, recognition, promotions, performance management and training – reinforce organizational values, or do they send mixed messages?

I hope that these guidelines help you craft your organization’s values proposition. Email me at awatts@integro-inc.com, and I will be happy to send you a pdf excerpt from my book about how to leverage the value of values.

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Does Work Make You “Seasick?”

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Al Watts

Recently a colleague shared her distress with the turmoil, continuous change and what seemed like unrealistic expectations at her workplace. As she described the conditions and her reactions, I couldn’t help thinking how similar they were to those of mates I’ve sailed with who suffered from seasickness. The more I thought about it, not only were the symptoms of what she described like seasickness, but some remedies apply to both as well:

We’re better off above than below-deck. I’m not just talking about higher in the hierarchy here; although conditions up the organization chart may be better in some ways than in “steerage,” that poses its own set of problems. The worst place to be when seasick is below-deck. It’s close-quarters, the air isn’t as fresh, one can get banged around and it’s hard to stay balanced. It’s amazing what simply “getting above it all” for a period can do to restore spirits and reset our “gyroscope.” Every once in a while at work too we need to get above it all to gain some perspective and regain our balance. That might mean taking a break (outdoors preferably,) taking deep breaths and trying to connect with the bigger picture. In his book Leadership Without Easy Answers, Ronald Heifitz used a similar analogy about how leaders can gain better perspective by viewing the “dance” from a “balcony” above.

Focus on the horizon. When sailing in rough conditions, focusing on the horizon or distant shore is immensely helpful countering seasickness. The horizon provides a more peaceful looking focal point, distraction from much of the immediate commotion, and a steadier platform for stomachs. It’s also much easier steering to a distant point or by a star in rough seas than by any wildly swinging compass needle. When things get rough at work, it’s also important to focus on the horizon – our vision or big picture. We can “check our bearings,” remind ourselves of our larger purpose and why we’re doing what we’re doing. Perhaps we need to look up from some of the details to refocus on larger goals.

Do something! There is usually much to do when sailing in rough weather – if nothing else, keeping one’s balance and staying in the boat! Seasickness is often not as likely with wild waves as with swells in calmer weather – high, gentle rollers that rhythmically raise and lower the boat all day. Many times then it’s helpful just finding something to do – trimming sails, coiling loose lines, stowing gear or practicing knots. Doing something, anything, at least shifts our attention away from getting sick (aboard or at work.) For me, I know that when there’s a long list of “to-dos” getting me down at work – especially if not my favorite activities, just starting on one can get me back in the game.

Take care of yourself. The best preventer of seasickness is taking care of one’s self. That means resting, eating, hydrating and staying fit as best one can; for some it also means taking medication (for actual seasickness, Bonine works well.) That goes for “motion sickness” at work too; when body, mind or spirit is off, one usually affects the others as well as the journey. (And remember, “hydrating” means water!)

Rely on crew mates. It’s important for crew members to take care of themselves as well as each other, and to accept help when it’s offered; as Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “No crew members should be praised for the rugged individuality of their rowing.” Aboard or at work, check in with each other from time to time. Offer advice or assistance, or just give someone space who needs it. Remember that our own and others’ reactions will be different when fearful or stressed, and compensate accordingly.

Know when its time to change course or haul anchor. As the saying goes: “If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’ll keep getting what we’re getting.” Actually, at sea or at work, if we doggedly hold an untenable course, things will likely get worse; we might capsize or end up on the rocks. We need to know our own limits, the limits of our vessel (organization) and the limits of our crew. A change in course, sail trim, anchorage or even destination can make for a much happier crew and far better outcomes.

Remember, it’s temporary. Rough weather subsides, we can alter course, change our destination, or even return to port. Sometimes, conditions don’t get better but we do by riding them out. It takes a while for new crew to get “sea legs.” On one cruise off Central America, one crew member had a rough time of it for two or three days, displaying various shades of green. Some of the above helped, but mainly it just took him and his “internal gyroscope” time adjusting to the new realty at sea; after crossing that threshold he was the best crew mate one could hope for.

When do you feel “motion sick” at work? Can you try some of these tactics?

  • Get “above deck” or on the “balcony.”
  • Focus on the “horizon.”
  • Do something – anything!
  • Take care of yourself.
  • Ask for help and respond to it.
  • Change course or haul anchor.

What else do you recommend for those feeling “seasick” at work?

 

“No one would have crossed the ocean if able to get off the ship in a storm.”

Charles F. Kettering

 

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”

William Shedd

 

 

Posted in Adventure, Leadership, Performance, Personal development, Sailing and outdoors, Teamwork | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Adventure Learning in the BWCA

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Al Watts

As summer transitioned to fall not long ago, it was time for our annual adventure in the BWCA. (For those farther afield, Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area is over a million acres of waterways and forest on the Canadian border, virtually as it was when the glaciers retreated 10,000 years ago.) I’ve been fortunate to make the BWCA trek almost every year for nearly 30 years with the same men. This year I wanted to view the experience through the lens that I often adopt for sailing adventures: what leadership and teamwork lessons are there to be learned? Here are a few:

  • “An adventure is an inconvenience rightly understood; an inconvenience is an adventure wrongly understood.” (Gilbert K. Chesterton) We have two ways of looking at most uncomfortable situations: an inconvenience to merely tolerate, or an adventure to make the best of – whether a rain storm in the BWCA or a momentary setback at work.  Are we making the most of our challenges – to learn and build our capabilities?
  • “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” (General Dwight Eisenhower) The odds of a rewarding and safe BWCA adventure are much higher with careful planning, including permits to gather, routes to plan, provisions needed and what to pack. Likewise, the chances of succeeding competitively are higher with careful planning. Reality intervenes, however; just as we needed to alter our BWCA plans because of fires in the area, strategic and operating plans need to accommodate shifting realities. Since all members of our party were involved formulating plans and contingency plans, execution went smoothly; plan ownership pays dividends elsewhere too. Are we failing to plan, or failing to build ownership for plans, and therefore planning to fail? Are we sufficiently flexible in order to adapt plans as needed?
  • Be aware of your surroundings. Like sailing, wilderness camping sharpens the senses. Perhaps that’s because there can be real consequences for not paying attention – from drifting into dangerous rocky rapids (see “Distractions” newsletter) to the discomfort of locating one’s tent directly over a sharp rock. Organizations that don’t practice careful awareness of potential opportunities or threats – external or internal – will also likely find themselves “down a creek without a paddle” or in uncomfortable situations.  Are we practicing situational awareness, and does our organization have mechanisms for staying on top of potential threats and opportunities?
  • “The map is not the territory.”  Actual portages look different than they do on paper; in fact to me after a while they all look pretty much the same. Likewise, a camp site that looks great on a map – perhaps on an island or facing the sunset – could actually be very unwelcoming – wind-swept and / or devoid of fire wood. Life and work are messy, and don’t neatly fit elaborate theories or models. Are we carrying around limited or outdated models or theories that limit our possibilities?
  • Experience and local knowledge count.  Partly because “the map is not the territory,” it helps to travel with others who know the way – or where the fish are, or which campsite is best. Our group has no designated leaders; or rather, leadership shifts depending on what’s needed. We’re all experienced by this time in the BWCA, but some have a particular knack for navigation, “creative cookery,” finding Walleyes or splitting wood. Are we sufficiently tapping the experience and unique capabilities of our team mates? Are we shifting leadership roles depending on who is best qualified to lead when?
  • There are always new things to learn. Most of us were already fairly accomplished campers when we started annual treks way back. What’s great is observing how much we’ve learned from each other since then – better ways to pack, fish, cook or whatever. Of course that means we have to set our egos aside occasionally – enough to recognize that the ways we’ve always done things aren’t necessarily always the best ways. Claude Bernard was right: “It is what we already know that prevents us from learning.” Does what we or our teams already know get in the way of our learning and growth?
  • Humor helps. It’s amazing how a little humor and well-intentioned kidding can make even setting a tarp up in a downpour or a “fishless,” damp cold morning more enjoyable. Are we taking ourselves too seriously? Do we lighten team mates’ loads occasionally by putting smiles on their faces?
  • Responsibility and good stewardship are much of what the BWCA is about. That the BWCA exists today is due largely to the stewardship of conservationists like Ernest Oberholtzer and Sigurd Olson. Preserving it for the benefit of future campers and generations requires faithfulness to Park regulations and to the spirit of those regulations – disciplines that at times seem in short supply reading headlines today.  Are we good stewards of our resources? Do we engage in “upstream” and “downstream” thinking – conscious of material sources and the impact of our actions?
  • To paraphrase Jim Collins, perhaps it’s most important to “Get the right people in the canoe.” An experience with the right people, even if hard, cold or uncomfortable in other ways, is vastly more enjoyable and rewarding than one with the wrong people under the best of circumstances. Life is too short to spend it with undesirable characters or with others who don’t share our values and goals. Are we traveling with others who add to the experience and who share our values and goals? How can we spend more time with those kind of people?

Perhaps the most important lesson from wilderness camping or sailing is the value of taking time for an adventure and away from our usual routine. Not long after returning from our BWCA trek I participated in the launch of Kevin Cashman’s new book The Pause Principle. It’s a wonderful reminder of the power that pausing has for renewal, creativity and growth; as Kevin puts it: “Paradoxically, pause powers purposeful performance.” I hope that you are able to pause from your routine for an adventure soon.

One of our camping party was Steve Wilbers, a good friend, talented writer and exceptional writing coach. We were celebrating the release of his latest book: Canoeing The Boundarywaters Wilderness: A Sawbill Log; I highly recommend it!

 

The distinguishing mark of a true adventure is that it is often not fun at all while it is happening.

Kim Stanley Robinson

One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.

 Andre Gide

It is good to have an end to journey for, but it is the journey that matters in the end.

Ursula K. Le Guin

 

 

Posted in Adventure, Leadership, Personal development, Self Awareness, Teamwork | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Clouds at Work

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Al Watts

Do you remember laying on your back as a kid, looking up at the sky and figuring out what the clouds looked like? Here are some “clouds” to figure out – word clouds formed by about a hundred LinkedIn connections in response to this question: “What 3 words would you use to describe what it’s like to work in organizations today?” About half of the group are currently employed by organizations (“Inside View,”) and half are consultants (“Outside View.”) The third picture blends all responses.

I’m still forming my own impressions, but would like to know your interpretations as you scan all three images; leave me comments on your take-aways.

What’s it like to work in organizations today? (View from the inside)

What’s it like to work in organizations today? (View from the outside)

What’s it like to work in organizations today? (All responses)

A big “thank you” to my LinkedIn associates who took the time to respond. Also, thank you to “Wordle” – a slick free web tool for converting any text to word clouds. This was fun and revealing. It also comes as close as I’ll likely get to a fantasy that I’ve had of recreating Studs Terkel’s work that culminated in his 1974 book, Working. It was a compilation of his interviews with workers in dozens of professions in his search for the meaning of work, and an early influence in my career. Studs was a Pulitzer Prize winner who would have been 100 this year; I wonder what he would think about the state of work today?

It might be an interesting experiment to create your own organization’s or client organization’s word cloud in answer to a similar question; I’d love for you to share it.

 

“The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.”

– Arnold Toynbee

“The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.”

– John Ruskin

Posted in Culture, Leadership | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Paying Attention To What Matters

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Al Watts

We were on a nice port tack, but Raspberry Island was coming up fast; we needed to come about. I coached my nephews – one at the wheel and one at the winches – how to execute the maneuver, so soon we were “hard-a-lee,” turning through the wind to begin our starboard tack. There was only one problem: a giant cabin cruiser was bearing down fast, on a collision course. Rules of the road dictated that we had the right of way and should hold our new course; fortunately the cruiser’s skipper was paying attention and quickly altered direction; all we had to contend with was a pretty decent wake.

Reflecting on what had just happened, or could have happened, I thought about the “Accountability” chapter in my book Navigating Integrity – Transforming Business As Usual Into Business At Its Best. A large part of accountability is “paying attention to what matters.” In some cases that means just that – we are accountable when we pay attention to circumstances and factors that impact our ability to execute a strategy or reach our goals. I was not as accountable as I should have been by failing to notice that tacking just then would put us on a collision course with the cruiser. I was distracted while explaining the mechanics of coming about. (See “Distractions.”)

That got me to thinking about how organizations and their leaders can also be blind to hazardous developments. For organizations, the “cabin cruiser “ could be a surprise move by a competitor, game-changing technology or a non-traditional competitor that “comes out of left field.” Kodak was caught flat-footed when digital technology overtook traditional photography; not paying sufficient attention to e-publishing and Amazon contributed to the demise of traditional publishing and book stores; traditional retailers that mainly competed with other traditional retailers are all still scrambling to compete against internet sales channels. Leaders who focus only on their immediate areas or on operational details can likewise be blind-sided (See “Watch Your Blind Side”) by adverse power shifts or surprise external developments. Like our tacking maneuver, we are vulnerable when focused only on day-to-day execution and blind to developments outside our standard field of vision.

Accountability also means paying attention to the measures that matter, as we discovered earlier in our sailing trip. LOON is equipped with a wind gauge that reports wind speed and direction. One way of maintaining speed is slightly altering course to keep sails in their “sweet spot” or best angle to the wind. As one nephew soon discovered, however, focusing too much on the wind gauge can also detract from seeing the bigger picture and take us off course. The “good news” is that we were going fast; the “bad news” is that it was in the wrong direction! Organizations and leaders too can get off course by focusing on only one measure. Of course organizations must be cost efficient and profitable, but if those are the only measures that they really pay attention to, and especially if the focus is short-term profitability, they are likely to end up on the rocks. In my work and writing I talk about “triple-E” leaders and organizations – those that realize sustainability requires attention not only to effectiveness (including efficiency and profitability,) but also ethics and employee engagement. There is usually no shortage of measures for organizational efficiency and profitability, but almost always deficiencies paying sufficient attention to ethics and engagement.

Here are some suggestions for improving accountability by measuring and paying attention to what matters:

  • Commit to measuring engagement and ethics in addition to efficiency and profitability. Pay attention to trouble signs or declining indicators in equal measure for all dimensions.
  • Make sure that everyone knows what your key measures are, and make results visible.
  • Pay attention to “leading indicators” as well as “lagging indicators.” Summary measures of customer satisfaction, for example, are lagging indicators. Measures of what contributes to customer satisfaction (call response time, for example,) are lagging indicators.
  • Engage others determining what useful measures should be, and determining responses to measures that are unsatisfactory.
  • Focus on a few key measures at a time, and eliminate measures that just consume time and add little value.
  • Establish mechanisms and disciplines for improving awareness of potentially game-changing developments. Examples include deliberate scanning of seemingly far-removed technologies or competition, recruiting team members with new or different perspectives (and listening to them,) and “blue-sky” strategy sessions.
  • Every once in a while, step back and make sure that you’re still “seeing the forest for the trees” and basically on course. Operational indicators may all look healthy, but are you still making progress toward your big goals and fulfilling your mission?

Our sailing trip ended well. We reached our destination and returned safely, we became more proficient sailors, and we all learned something about accountability.

In your life and work, are you paying attention to what matters? What are your indicators or measures to know if you’re on course

Is your organization measuring and paying attention to what matters? What actions should it take, or measures should it adopt, that would help assure it is on course and not likely to be surprised?

 

Many of the things you can count, don’t count.  Many of the things you can’t count, really count.

Albert Einstein

No man can tell if he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger.  It is the heart that makes a man rich.  He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.

Henry Ward Beecher

Some favorite expressions of small children: “It’s not my fault. . . They made me do it. . . I forgot.”  Some favorite expressions of adults: “It’s not my job. . . No one told me. . . It couldn’t be helped.”  True freedom begins and ends with personal accountability.

Dan Zadra

 

 

Posted in Ethics, Integrity, Leadership, Performance | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Compounded Errors

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Al Watts

Once again this season, our sloop LOON is serving up life and leadership lessons, and in unexpected ways.  The first this year began when a charterer reported a small fresh water leak at the base of LOON’s toilet – by itself not serious as long as the head’s seacocks were closed, one of which draws in Lake Superior water for flushing.  The charterer assured me that he had closed the seacocks, so I put the small leak on a list of items to attend to the next weekend.  After asking a friend at LOON’s dock to check on her, he called to inform me that she was taking on water – at that point several inches over the cabin floor.  As it turns out the head seacocks were open, which had allowed lake water to seep in over several days.  Compounding the problem, LOON’s electric bilge pump never kicked in; the float switch for triggering it had apparently been disconnected for years.

Any one of those factors alone would not have caused a serious problem; all at once they could have swamped LOON.  I thought of other well-known compounded error tragedies, including the Titanic.  In that case, too much speed and inattention were compounded by an insufficient number of lifeboats, poorly handled lifeboat deployment, the ship designer’s and captain’s hubris, and assumptions that the Titanic was actually “unsinkable.”  Compounded errors also caused the second worst U.S. air disaster in history in 2001.  The NTSB concluded that pilot error, compounded by poor design and inadequate training, caused the jumbo jet’s tail section of American Airlines flight 587 to break off, killing all 260 passengers on board and five on the ground.

Compounded errors also contribute to leadership and organizational failures. It was bad enough that a Penn State University football coach sexually assaulted underage boys in its own athletic facilities; troubles mushroomed when the behavior was concealed from authorities for fear of tarnishing its football reputation and jeopardizing funding.  In the case of our great recession and 2008’s economic meltdown; speculative investments by banks, compounded by a significant decline in home values, highly leveraged homeowners, credit restrictions and yes, hubris, contributed to the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression.  Missed market signals, flawed design, service outages and missed deadlines were among the multiple failures contributing to RIM’s demise.  A combination of equipment failure, rushing and not following safety protocols led to BP’s Gulf oil spill, the largest in history.

Here are some ways that we can limit compounded errors and their damage:

  • Clarify priorities and expectations.  Whether around core values, safety protocols on an oil rig or explicit instructions for closing seacocks, make sure that everyone understands what to do and how to do it.
  • Trust, but verify.  Especially when stakes are high, verify proper execution.  A mountain rescuer once shared how if he hadn’t checked a safety line that a crew member said was secure, he would have fallen to his death.
  • Challenge assumptions – your and others’.  Is this ship really unsinkable?  Are we really too big to fail?  What if our assumptions about market and technology direction or consumer preferences are wrong?
  • Pay attention.  In the Coast Guard Auxiliary we called it “situational awareness;” what is happening around me, and how might that affect our mission?  Have conditions changed, and do I need to make any adjustments?
  • Check your work and thinking – or better yet ask someone else.  I’ve learned that it’s good practice to have another double check my lat and long calculations before entering them into GPS; ‘better to swallow a little pride than end up on the rocks!
  • As Will Rogers said, “When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging!”  Whether investing good money after bad, doubling down to recoup losses, staying in a bad relationship or telling another lie to cover prior mistakes, we need to know when to cut our losses.  It’s easier said than done, but look at the better outcomes for those who “come clean” early vs. late (David Letterman vs. John Edwards, for example.)
  • Know yourself and your limitations.  I use a survey in my work (Hogan Development Survey) that reflects potential career derailers, one of which is “boldness ‘ – a propensity for over-confidence and excessive risk-taking.  Knowing that in advance will likely help us at least question whether excessive boldness may contribute to failure.

LOON is ship-shape again, and as usual I am wiser for the experience.  I’ve had a chance to think about how compounded errors contribute to leadership and organizational failures, how to recognize them earlier and ways to limit them.

What has your experience with compounded errors been?  What can you add to the list of ways to avoid them or limit their damage?

Might you or your organization be in any danger of succumbing to compounded errors now?  How can you reverse direction or limit the damage?

 

“No matter how far you’ve gone down the wrong road, turn back.”

 (Turkish Proverb)

 

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.


For want of a shoe the horse was lost.


For want of a horse the rider was lost.


For want of a rider the message was lost.


For want of a message the battle was lost.


For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.


And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

 

Posted in Leadership, Personal development, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments