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BlogLeadership

Perspective

by Ron Potter

We’ve talked a lot about perspective lately.  Then I saw a short video by Barry Hall II.  I thought it was great and decided to make this a short blog by sharing.

Barry started with a video of a person spray painting some graffiti on a building that said

 

Just Do Nothing

That’s often a perspective that people take.  They think “If I ignore it, it will go away.  Just do nothing.”

Problems don’t go away.  Innovation doesn’t happen.  Nothing good comes from a perspective of “Just do nothing.”

His next frame was another person painting more graffiti on the wall around the corner that says

 

It is Impossible

Of all the possible perspectives, I may have seen this one the most often.  It’s just not possible.  If this is your perspective than there is no reason to try.  There is no reason to search for alternative perspectives.  Innovation will never happen.  It’s more than being difficult, it’s the belief that it’s impossible.

His final frame steps back at an angle so that both walls can be seen at the same time (an entirely new perspective).  Now the viewer sees a much different message than was provided by the first two sketches.

 

 

Just Do It, Nothing is Impossible

Step back, take a look at your situation from a different perspective and new possibilities might be seen.

The next time you’re faced with a difficult situation, listen.  What are you hearing?

  • Just Do Nothing
  • It is Impossible

More importantly, don’t just listen to voices outside your own head.  Pay attention to what you’re saying to yourself.  Do you start with Do Nothing or It’s Impossible?  It’s OK that we start there.  I think it’s part of our human nature.  But don’t leave it there!

Start thinking about how you could do things differently.  What perspective would be entirely new?

There are a few books that can help on this front.

Just do it, nothing is impossible.

 

 

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Perspective and Memory

by Ron

We’ve been introducing and preparing ourselves to walk through the elements that make great teams. The first of these is Truth. Great teams can tell each other the truth. But truth needs some special understanding.

Memory

How well do you remember that event? Is it seared into your memory? If so, brain science tells us that it’s very likely wrong. The more intensely we remember something, the more the memory has been modified by our brain to align with our beliefs and assumptions and therefore the “surer” we are of its accuracy.

The day after the shuttle Challenger blew up, a professor in Florida asked his class to write down everything they remembered about the moment and following hours of the Challenger explosion. The accident had happened only 24 hours before the class. The professor gave them some guidelines to write about:

  • What were their emotions at the moment they saw or heard about the explosion?
  • Who were they with? How did the other people react?
  • Where were they at the moment of the explosion and for the rest of the evening?
  • How did their emotions shift over that time? What was the focus of the conversations they had with others?

The students spent a couple of hours of class writing about these questions and other thoughts.

A few years later, the professor tracked down as many members of that class that he could find. In each case, they were handed their hand-written papers and asked how it fit with the memory they have of the explosion.

In all of the cases, their memories were different from what they had written that day. In some cases, the students rejected what they had written and told the “truth” about what happened that day. Their memories had been modified over time and solidified about the “story” they would tell of the events they “had experienced” on that fatal day.

Because computer hard drives and “memories” have been around for over four decades now, we have this belief that just like computer hard drives, we put things in our memory and then when we retrieve them, they are exactly what was put into our memory the moment the memory was created. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Our memory is modified from the moment it is created by events and experiences along the way. We are constantly modifying our memory.

Perspective

Perspective changes everything, even the things we’re observing at the moment. Again, brain science has shed a great deal of light on how we observe the world around us and “remember” events.

I’ve written other blogs on this topic, but the essence of the matter is that we assume what we are observing is the “truth” while everyone who has a different conclusion is simply expressing their “perspective.”

Science tells us the once an image enters our eye, the image itself is broken into at least 127 million bits of information and run through several processing centers of our brain. These centers include (but are not limited to) values, emotions, goals, ideas, memories, stress, pain, experiences, etc.

It’s easy to understand that each of us has different values, emotions, goals, ideas, memories, stress, pain, experiences. It should then be easy to understand the each of us will have a different view of what the “truth” is, based on what we just observed.

Realize that your perspective may be one of many. Each perspective is valid based on the persons processing centers.

Truth

Being part of a team means that we respect each other’s perspective of a given situation and work hard at reaching a collective perspective that will help us move forward and stay united and committed to an action plan.

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Idiots and Nobodies: Gaining New Perspective

by Ron

“I’ve learned more from idiots and nobodies than from professionals of this or that.”
–Henry Miller from his book, On Turning 80

Photo Credit: Matthew Hoelscher, Creative Commons

Photo Credit: Matthew Hoelscher, Creative Commons

I certainly don’t work with idiots or nobodies. The people who are successful at the top of corporations where I work are energetic, and highly motivated. But I find something very interesting about Millers quote.

The etymology of the word “idiot” says: “From Ancient Greek’s idites, a private citizen, one who has no professional knowledge, layman.”

If we put Miller’s quote together with the etymology, it suggests that we learn more from the non-professional non-expert than we will from the pro.

Now on the surface that’s ridiculous. Our experts and pros spend years and careers understanding aspects of our business world. There are times when I feel like I need every brain cell I can muster just to hang on to a casual conversation between two experts on a given topic.

But here’s the kicker: our world is changing, shifting, and evolving rapidly. The things that I was an “expert” in 20 years ago in the computer industry are essentially worthless and meaningless today. Now, that’s not to say that our experts and pros don’t grow and develop and evolve as well. They do. But by becoming experts we’ve seen it all; We know what to expect; We know how things work. And therein lies the problem.

We may need Innovation more than Experts

When we need innovation or change or we’re facing a disruptive event in our industry, we often have to take new perspectives or think about our business in totally new ways. Experts become victims of their own knowledge. When our brain has an expectation of what we’re going to see, we miss all kinds of interesting things going on around us.

There’s a wonderful experiment where the participants are asked to view a video of two teams in a gym bouncing and passing a basketball. The participants are given the assignment of counting how many passes are made by one of the teams. While watching the video and accomplishing their task, the majority of participants miss the fact (completely don’t see it) that a man in a gorilla suit walks right through the middle of gym. They were too focused to see the bigger picture.

To see things differently and gain new perspective, bring in some idiots (not professional knowledge) and nobodies and listen to them. They’ll see the gorilla in the room when the pros won’t.

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BlogLeadership

Perspective Changes

by Ron

In my executive coaching work, both with individuals and teams, one of the most useful techniques is bringing alternate or multiple perspectives. We so easily get entrenched in our own perspective, it can be difficult to see solutions or other possibilities.

I recently experienced heart bypass surgery. During one session in the post op process, I was lying in the hospital bed with the doctor on my right, his physician’s assistant on my left with my two nurses at the foot of the bed, and my wife over my shoulder.

At one point when the pain was severe, even the nurses had to look away. I thought, “I’m not sure how much the human body and psyche could stand more pain than this.”

But my mind immediately shifted to my father, lying in a muddy field hospital, (I’ve seen some of the hospital photos.) 4,500 miles away from home with no family around, with doctors and nurses who I’m sure cared very much, but had no time to spend comforting a patient, having his leg amputated.

Image Source: Ulf Klose, Creative Commons

Image Source: Ulf Klose, Creative Commons

My conditions, while seeming extreme, were nothing compared to what my father had experienced during WWII. My change in attitude and experience at that moment were such that even the doctor noticed and later asked me about what happened.

Nothing really, just a change in perspective. Perspective is very powerful. It can even change the level of pain we’re experiencing.

The next time you’re in that extremely “painful” corporate situation, see if you can help yourself and your team gain a different perspective. It often takes a jarring experience or question. “What would this look like to a chimpanzee? How would this be viewed from a four person jazz band? How about a 100 person symphony orchestra?” None of these questions make sense or they certainly are all out of context. But that’s the point! Get out of your context. Look at this from a new perspective, not just a different point of view from the same context; “How would our competitor view this issue?” Shake it up! Gain a new perspective.

Tell us about the last time that four year old child asked you a question that shook your perspective? Share with us a story or two.

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How to Remember What You Read

by Ron Potter

How much do you read?  I guess by most standards I read quite a bit.   I read almost everything on my Amazon Kindle.  Every year Amazon sends me statistics on how much I read in a particular year.  In my most prolific year, I read 50 books.  That’s an average of a book per week.  I guess I do indeed read quite a bit.

How do I remember

So how do I remember what I read?  I highlight what I read and then I write up my highlights.  I started that practice when I was reading hardcover books.  I would highlight with a yellow marker than when I was finished, I would go back through the book page by page and type all of my highlights into a Word document.  Very time-intensive.

I love the fact that Kindle keeps track of all my highlights and puts them in one location.  Now I go to that app once I’ve finished a book and simply copy all of my highlights into a Word document.  Very time-efficient.   However, because I don’t type my highlights, I find that I don’t remember as much as I used to remember when I was typing.

So when Shane Parrish of fs.blog wrote an article about remembering what you read, I was very interested.

I believe Shane is one of the best bloggers in the business.  He reads an abundance of books.  He interviews people who are influential in may topics.  He has deep thoughts and has an interesting perspective on those thoughts.  He does not get caught up in the daily news or social media.  They are short team.  He is interested in the long term.

I cannot remember the books I have read

Shane starts his article with a wonderful quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I cannot remember the books I have read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.” (Italics are mine)

If you are actively engaged in the books you read, they will make you.  It’s not what you read, it’s how you read.

Here are a few highlights from the points Shane makes in his blog.  I hope they change how you read.

  1. Quality matters more than quantity.  Reading a bad book doesn’t add much to your life or understanding.  I used to think that if I started a book, I should finish it.  Google says there are somewhere between 600,000 and a million books published per year in the US alone.  Believe me, they can’t all be good.
  2. Speedreading is bulls**t.  The only way to read faster is to read more.
  3. Book summary services miss the point.  Even as I’ve thought about providing me readers with more in-depth notes from the books I’ve read, I realize that the highlights are from my perspective.  So are the summary services but I believe they’re written from an even more elementary perspective.
  4. Don’t read stuff you find as boring and finishing a book is optional.  See note #1 above.

Filter your reading

This isn’t school as Shane says.  Focus on some combination of books that:

  • Stand the test of time
  • Pique you interest
  • Resonate with your current situation

Intelligent Skimming

I’m really bad at this aspect.  I just don’t seem to gain any knowledge or understanding by skimming the index or other lists of subject-matter.  I don’t see myself getting much better with this one.

Know your why

Shane encourages us to understand why are you reading this book?

  • Entertainment?
  • To understand something or someone you don’t know?
  • To get better at your job?
  • To improve your health?
  • To learn a skill?
  • To help build a business?

Any one of these reasons are valid.  In fact I’ve had the experience multiple times where I’ll read something that will help me get better at my job, only to see the same subject in an entertainment book, only to see an article in WSJ or Forbes or some other source.  But none of that happens if you don’t read.

Notes for remembering more

Shane finishes his blog with seven things that will help you remember what you read.

  • Take Notes
  • Stay Focused
  • Mark up the book
  • Build a vivid mental picture
  • Make mental links
  • Keep Mental Models in mind
  • Stop when bored

As I said at the start, I believe Share Parrish is one of the best bloggers in the business.  But there is one major piece of advice for remembering what you read.  That advice is to start reading!

If you feel like you need to improve your life or environment, start reading.

Read for your life!

 

 

 

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BlogLeadership

Oxygen III

by Ron Potter

 

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve looked at the Project Oxygen findings at Google related to high-performing teams.

This list is from the book Work Rules by Laszlo Bock who is the person at Google that has helped shepherd the project.

The eight findings that help teams perform at their peak include:

  1. A good coach
  2. Empowers the team and does not micromanage
  3. Expresses interest in and concern for team members’ success and personal well-being
  4. Is productive and results-oriented
  5. A good communicator – listens and shares information
  6. Helps with career development
  7. Has a clear vision and strategy for the team
  8. Has key technical skills that help advise the team

In this week’s blog, we’ll cover the last three findings.

6.  Helps with career development

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs on this topic, it’s difficult for me to distinguish between Leadership issues and Team issues.  This has mainly to do with my Mental Model of Team, Leadership, Culture.

This is not to say that Laszlo’s approach is incorrect, it’s just that I come at it from a different perspective.

In my mind, it’s difficult for a team to help a member in their career development.  Teams can certainly contribute but it is often the leader who is in the best position to help with career development.  What comes to mind is the lack of career development.  I have often been hired as a consultant to work with an individual who has “gone off the rails” in the mind of their leader.  The leader will tell me that unless this person deals with the issue, they will no longer have a position at the company.    In every case, the individual has held a senior position in the company, often they have been Vice-Presidents.

Shocking News

When possible, I have looked back over several years of performance reviews.  It’s always been amazing to me that if the person has worked for the company for any length of time, their annual performance reviews mention the issue I’ve been hired to help them deal with.  And yet, when I mention to the individual that unless they correct this issue they will no longer have a position with the company, they’re shocked.  They’ll say to me something to the effect that “no one has ever mentioned to me that my continued employment depends on me fixing this problem.”

People Pleasing

Why is there such a disconnect?  The person dealing with the issue says “no one” has ever told me it could cost me my job.  The person hiring me to tell the person will say, “I’ve put this issue in every performance review for the last several years.” Why the disconnect?  I believe it’s because almost everyone wants to be a people pleaser and believe that giving people bad news counters that desire.  Managers will say to an employee “you must fix this issue.”  They might even say “unless this issue is fixed I can no longer keep you in this job.”  But, because people don’t like to give bad news, they’ll almost immediately shift their conversation to tell the person all the things they do well.  The bad news never sinks in or is dealt with.  Think about that for a minute.  My boss says to me: you must fix this issue.  It can’t go on like this.

Yet almost immediately they will say: but I love how you handled such and such or you’re great at dealing with certain kinds of problems.  What does the employee hear?  Blah, blah, blah, but I love how you handle this or how you deal with these issues.  You’re doing great!

If there is an issue that must be dealt with

  • state the issue
  • don’t accept excuses
  • don’t move on until the is a plan in place
  • make sure there are milestones to fix the issue
  • make sure the consequences are clear if the issue is not fixed
People Caring

The way to be people-pleasing is to be people caring.  If people feel they are being held accountable with caring and support, they’ll be the happiest.

7.  Has a clear vision and strategy for the team

Once again this sounds more like a leader issue than it is a team issue.  However, while a leader should have a clear vision and strategy for the team, it should never be used to dictate to the team a course of action.

Team members need to be bought into the strategy/vision

If team members don’t have a shared strategy or vision, the team will never grow and develop together.  I’ve worked with too many teams through the years that didn’t take the time or make the effort to develop a shared strategy/vision.  In every case, competition develops as managers try to implement their own vision at the expense of others.  It becomes a tremendous waste of resources.

Leaders must have a strategy/vision but leaders must also be humble enough to see beyond their own vision and they must have enough grit to bring the team together around a joint vision.

8. Has key technical skills that help advise the team

This final “Oxygen” is true at both the leader and the team member levels.   Trustworthy teams and members must have both character and competence.  It never works to have one or the other, there must be both.

Information Technology

From a leadership standpoint, I believe the Information Technology (IT) area of the business is the most vulnerable.  The IT portion of the business is:

  • Complicated
  • Fast-moving/changing
  • Many faceted

I’ve seen too many IT leaders that fall short on one or all of these issues.  When that happens, the IT department can buffalo the leader.

Tyranny of Competence

With team members, I have more often seen what Robert Quinn calls the “Tyranny of Competence” in his book, Deep Change. This happens when an individual has so much competence in a given area that it is felt the competency must be protected at all costs and therefore, the individual may have a lack of character and there are no consequences.

Character and Competence must be present for teams to thrive.

Project Oxygen

This covers the eight elements found to be meaningful in building great teams.  Think about them.   Incorporate them.  Discuss them.  The more you can build these into your own makeup or a team’s makeup, the more success and satisfaction you’ll experience in life.

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Riding it Out or Reinventing

by Ron Potter

“U.S. Companies Lose Hope for Quick Rebound From Covid-19”  This was a headline in the Wall Street Journal the other day.  Buried in the body of the article was the statement, “Executives who were bracing for a months-long disruption are now thinking in terms of years. Their job has changed from riding it out to reinventing.”  On the same day (unrelated to the WSJ article) this cartoon appeared

I thought the cartoon was very appropriate because I’ve seen so many companies in my consulting career say they’re innovative but act like the cartoon.

Leaders Support Innovation

Leaders are not usually the innovators!  Good leaders support the innovators on their teams.

Let’s take a look at how innovation happens from a Team Leadership Culture framework.

Team Innovation

Team innovation can be the most difficult to pull off but at the same time the most rewarding as well.  However, it does take a few prerequisites for it to work.

Team Size

Many studies have determined that the best size of a decision-making team is seven, plus or minus two.

Once you get above nine people on a team, the ability to reach commitment on any given topic is greatly diminished.  There are just too many factions possible with 10+ people.

If you have fewer than five team members, it’s too easy for the team to form factions of three people vs. one person.  Even though that one person may have the most innovative idea, they will feel outnumbered and it’s too easy for the faction of three to treat them as an outlier or put pressure on them to go along with the majority.

Either way, the dynamics may be killing the innovation.

Keep decision-making teams to seven people, plus or minus two.

Team Attributes

TREC is the outline that brings the right attributes to an innovative team.

Truth.  Being able to speak the truth to each other without fear of reprisal is necessary for innovative teams.

Respect.  Each team member must be self-aware enough to know that their perspective is only a perspective.  It is not “the truth”.  It is not the only way of looking at an issue.  It’s only their perspective and each member has a valid perspective.  If the team trusts that all perspectives are valid, innovation is more likely to happen.

Elegance.   Coming up with an innovative solution that is also elegant (simple, understandable, actionable) is the best solution.

Commitment.  If the team is able to share the truth with respect, commitment can happen.  Even if your perspective was different (or even opposing) to the final direction, commitment means that no matter what, you express your commitment to the solution.  You’re able to do this because you were a member of the team that took all the perspectives into account and “committed” to a team solution.

Team Dynamics

If innovation is the goal, team dynamics becomes extremely important.  Teams have been conditioned to come together for a given amount of time (usually an hour), encouraged to follow the agenda, and finally, make decisions depending on the discussion or reports.  This feels very structured and efficient.  It’s just not good for innovation.

Innovative teams have a different dynamic.

  • They will start as a whole team to discuss the areas of possible innovation.
  • All the perspectives are shared, at least in an outline form.
  • The team then breaks up into smaller teams.  These can be as small as two individuals but should never be larger than three.
  • Deep Work is required.  Deep Work requires spending distraction-free time on the topic, pushing your cognitive capabilities to the limit.
  • Return to the full team with this new Deep Work perspective to hear what we’re learning and then discuss directions we could possibly head.
  • Rinse and Repeat.  Continue this large team, small team (maybe different small teams with each iteration) dynamics until the team begins to zero in on an innovative approach.
Team Decisions

Remember that the word “decide” means that you narrow your options down to a small number of choices (preferably two) and then you put one of those options to death.  You kill it.  You eliminate it.  You stop spending resources on it.  The commitment to the team direction should be powerful enough to put all of your resources towards the chosen innovative approach.

A Culture of Innovation

Moving the culture of an organization towards innovation usually centers around one word.

Decide!

As we’ve talked about the word “decide” lately, I hope it has become clear that the word decide means that you put one option to death in order to put your resources toward a different option.

Leaders and leadership teams will often decide on a direction but neglect to let the organization below them know that they’ve decided not to spend resources on other options.

Organizations are full of people who love the security of their job.  They’ve spent years learning the job, getting better at the job, and feeling secure that they can go to work every day and do the job.  They’re “secure.”

But, if you are now saying to them, “We’re heading in a different direction and we don’t know yet where it will all lead.”  They can often feel scared or at least insecure.  They may or may not mention this insecurity but they will wonder

  • Do I have the skill set to do the new job?
  • Will my job, group, division be eliminated?
  • Will I be asked to relocate to a different department or location?
  • Am  I back to ground zero in terms of my skills and worth to the company?

Without any clarity on these and other topics, people will tend to come to work every day and continue to do what they’ve always done.  They’ll seek security in doing the known rather than be lost in the unknown!

Open, Transparent, Humble

In times like these (which means now, in our current environment) it’s important that leadership is open with the organization.  Let them know everything that you know.

Be Transparent.  If people feel like they’re not getting the whole story, they’ll either go back to what they’ve always done or abandon ship.  Your best people, the ones you need the most will abandon the ship first.

Be humble.  Don’t give them the impression that you have all the answers when you don’t.  Let them know that you and the team are doing their best with uncertain circumstances.  Taking this approach will also bring forth more innovative ideas that you wouldn’t otherwise hear.

 

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BlogCulture

Mental Models (Part II)

by Ron Potter

Because the first blog on Mental Models was running long, I decided to break it into Part I and Part II.

We’ll finish up the concept in this blog with:

  • Inversion
  • Occam’s Razor
  • Hanlon’s Razor and a final meaningful topic
  • So What?

Inversion

In general, the inversion model is a tool to improve our thinking.  It simply means to turn our thinking upside down.  Approach the problem in reverse order.  Most of us move forward through a problem.  Inversion indicates that we should work the problem backward.  I’m also going to suggest that it can be particularly powerful to start with an end that we wouldn’t normally expect.  Or start with the conclusion that was suggested by someone that you would never have thought of or may even think it is the wrong conclusion.  However, starting with that end in mind and working back through the problem may reveal a perspective or mental model that you have never thought of or used before.

Occam’s Razor

The powerful point of Occam’s Razor is that simple solutions are more likely than complicated ones.  The fewer moving parts the better.

Hanlon’s Razor

Simply put, Hanlon’s Razor says that we should assume ignorance rather than malice.  Another way of putting this one is to assume the right explanation is the one that contains the least amount of intent.  Our human antenna picks up quickly if we think someone is making an argument simply because they have an agenda (or intent).  The least amount of malice and intent will often lead to the best solution.

So What?

I can hear many of you now saying “Ok Potter, what’s with all this drivel about Mental Models anyway?  You’ve wasted two blogs going on about something that is interesting to you but has been boring trivia to me.  So, what’s your point?”

Emotional Quotient

My answer goes back to a blog a wrote a couple of weeks ago titled Success. In that blog it was noted that there is no correlation between success and IQ but there is correlation between Success and EQ.  If you want to be successful, increase your EQ.

High EQ people have a great deal of self-awareness.  I don’t really care if you know what the mental models are or what they mean.  But I really care that you realize there are multiple, legitimate mental models and you can really limit yourself if you are ignorant of which model you use or if you believe the model you use is the only one capable of coming up with the right answer.  This last point can lead to alienation, distrust, and dislike of your teammates.

Be Self-Aware.  It’s the first step of increasing your EQ that will lead to your success.

 

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Divided

by Ron Potter

I hesitated to use the word Racism in the title of this blog.  Many would say there is no way I could understand because I’m a gray-haired white male.  I’m sure there is some truth to that statement.  But, I was a young adult, going to college and living in southern Michigan when the Detroit riots occurred in the late sixties.  Those riots left me confused, hurting, and even angry.  I wasn’t sure what I should do.

Pastor of local Black Church

When the riots hit the city where I now live, many of those same feelings of confusion, hurting, and not knowing what to do surfaced again.  Turning into a gray-haired, old white male didn’t seem to help much.

Then I had an opportunity to listen to a teaching pastor at a local black church.  I really wanted to learn from what he had to say.  I found it interesting that he was “struggling, frustrated, angry, and hurting.”  He was not gray-haired or white but he expressed the same feelings I had been experiencing.

Five things that will help

It turns out that the scripture passage we were studying was about being peaceable.  When the local pastor was asked what it took to be Peaceable he gave a well thought out and knowledgable answer.

  1. Slow to Judge
  2. Quick to Listen
  3. Eager to learn
  4. Willing to identify
  5. Ready to speak up and act.

Slow to Judge

In today’s social media, internet-based, global world, it’s very easy to judge and too many people judge too quickly.  Maybe it’s a liberal or conservative making the statement and instead of listening what is said, people instantly write it off because it was said by the “other side”.

Maybe it’s a statement made by a European or Asian and people in the US judge it quickly as meaningless because they “don’t understand” how things work in the US.

The list would be too long to identify all of the times we’re quick to judge.  When you’re quick to judge, you leave no room for learning.

Quick to Listen

Do you listen with the intent to respond?  Or do you listen with the intent to understand?  Most of us, most of the time are listening with the intent to respond.  While the other person is talking (or shouting) we’re keeping track of each point made and creating our “checklist” of either reinforcing or countering the point being made.

How does that make the other person feel?

  • You’re not listening.
  • You’re stupid (or at least ignorant).
  • You want to win the argument which makes me want to say it louder and more forcefully.
  • The louder voice “wins.”

But, how does the other person feel if you demonstrate your desire to understand?

  • You’re truly interested in what they have to say.
  • You’re trying to expand your knowledge base to understand where they’re coming from
  • You’re not trying to win a shouting match.
  • Maybe we can reach a mutual understanding because they now may want to know what you have to say.

Eager to Learn

Socrates believed that knowledge was the ultimate virtue, best used to help people improve their lives. “The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance,”

Notice that Socrates said knowledge helped improve lives.  Ignorance is (not stupidity) is the lack of knowledge.  Why do some people remain Ignorant?  They refuse to learn.

Each person is coming from a perspective that is real and “true” to them.  For instance, I grew up in a small town.  But in my adult years, my business took me all over the world.  That changed my perspective.  I now saw the world differently than my friends and family who remained in that small town.

That doesn’t make it wrong, it just gives them a different perspective.  The best way to develop relationships and understanding is to understand someone’s perspective.  This requires the first two elements, Slow to Judge, and Quick to Listen.

Psychology tells us that cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous quote says “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”

The world is full of opposing ideas and perspectives.  Don’t hold on to yours to the point of stress and discomfort.  Learn!

Willing to Identify

In my mind, this may be the most difficult.  Not because we don’t want to identify with the other person but because our perspectives become so strong in our lives.  I don’t have the same experiences as someone else.  They also don’t have the same experiences that I have.  We can identify by hearing their story, listening to their experiences, and finally relating it to some experience we’ve had.  Then we begin to identify.

Don’t take the position that “You just don’t understand!  You haven’t had the experiences I have!”  That’s true.  I haven’t had the experiences you’ve had.  But I’ve had good and bad experiences.  And I can empathize with what you’re experiencing.  It’s how we grow together.

Ready to Speak up and Act

There are a lot of forces in our lives that tell us to just be quiet.  It actually starts in elementary school.  The teacher often told us to sit down and be quiet.

We’ve also been told by people (with different perspectives) that our ideas and words are stupid.  So we sit quietly because we don’t want to look stupid.

In today’s world of social media, we can quickly be criticized for our thoughts and ideas.  In this anonymous and divided world, it can quickly be labeled as hate language.  There is a fear of being labeled for our thoughts.

I experienced it writing this blog.  What if I push a wrong button and it is all of a sudden seen as hateful rather than helpful.  I just want to speak up in an effort to help.  But I have this fear of pushing the wrong button.  One I’m not even aware of.

And what about unconscious bias?  We hear that phrase a lot today.  And people are being accused of having unconscious bias as if it’s a flaw.  But what do the words mean?  Unconscious: the part of the mind which is inaccessible to the conscious mind.  It’s inaccessible!  It’s ignorance, not stupidity.

I’ve chosen through the years to keep this blog focused on building team, leadership, and corporate cultures.  I didn’t want to venture into politics, religion, or racism because of this fear of being misunderstood.  But the pastor’s five steps ends with “Be ready to speak up and act.”

I don’t’ know if he intended to put them in order but I do suggest that we don’t speak up until we’ve progressed openly through the first four steps.

Teams

And just to get back to more familiar ground, these five steps also help grow great teams.

  1. Slow to Judge
  2. Quick to Listen
  3. Eager to learn
  4. Willing to identify
  5. Ready to speak up and act.

Learn and practice the five steps to address division.  They help us become better people and build better teams.

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BlogCulture

Open vs Closed Minded

by Ron Potter

Why is it that some people seem to make constant progress in their professional and personal lives, while others appear to be doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over?

While the answer isn’t cut and dry, I’ve noticed an interesting mindset difference between these two groups: they approach obstacles and challenges very differently. It comes down to mindset.

Successful people tend to approach life with an open mindset — an eagerness to learn and a willingness to be wrong. The other group digs their heels in at the first sign of disagreement and would rather die than be wrong.

—Shane Parrish, Farnam Street Blog

Business journalist and television personality, Suzy Welch talks about two qualities necessary to get ahead:

1. Grit
Inevitably you’re going to receive some tedious assignments. Completing them with a positive attitude, Welch says, is something your boss will notice.

“Grit is getting the job done without complaint,” Welch says, “especially in challenging situations.”

To show grit, don’t give up when the simplest solution isn’t an option. Be creative and show resolve in completing the assignments you’re given. Welch says a boss can identify grit in an employee who demonstrates “perseverance, resolve, creativity, and the ability to just figure it out.”

“Grit is a willingness to commit to long-term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty.” was the definition given to us in last week’s blog by author, Heidi Grant Halvorson.

2. Gravitas
The second trait, gravitas, is all about presence and the way you carry yourself.

Welch describes this elusive characteristic as a mixture of “seriousness, maturity, thoughtfulness, wisdom” — traits that are tough to fake, and that will lead your boss and colleagues to respect you and give your perspective greater consideration.

You can also cultivate gravitas, Welch says, through the behaviors you avoid, like gossiping, being unprepared for meetings, interrupting others, or improvising important presentations.

Grit

Of the two, grit seems to be the one that can be developed over time.

  • Getting the job done without complaint.
  • Don’t go with the simplest solution.
  • Commit to long-term goals
  • Creativity

The attribute that is more difficult to learn over time is creativity.

Some personality types are more prone to “doing it by the book”.  Others feel that creativity requires coming up with complex and completed solutions that no one has thought of.  Both are wrong!

Creative Types

One exercise I’ve run with teams has been about creativity.  Unbeknownst to the team, I divided them into the personality types that naturally tend to be more by the book and those who tend to be more creative.  I give them the same exercise that requires creativity and measure the results.  The “creative team”

  • Shows the most creativity in the first round.
  • On the second round there may be some creativity but at a much lower scale.
  • By the third round, the “creative’ types are generally out of ideas.

By the book types

This type performs at a much different cadence.

  • In the first round, these types often complain that the creative types somehow “broke” the rules.  Although most of the rules are in their head.
  • In round two, once they realize that the rules are more flexible than they imagined, the come up with a substantial about of creativity.  However, it is usually less creativity than the other team achieved in the first round.
  • By round three, the creativity continues at a pace similar to the last round.
  • And for several subsequent rounds, the pace of creativity continues.

The other issue I see with the “By the Book” types is feeling that a creative solution should be complex and complete.  The best and most creative solutions are simple.

“Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful” – John Maeda

Both types are Creative

It’s simply a matter of pace.  Creativity types seem to exhibit the most gain early.  But burn out quickly.

“By the Book” types may demonstrate more creativity over time.  It just takes more time.

Gravitas

Too me this seems to be the trait that’s harder to develop over time.

It’s dependent on the mindset of Creative vs Victim.  I’ve written a few blogs on this concept and it seems to strike a chord with many of my readers.

If you’ve adopted the Victim mindset, there is no way to project Gravitas.  Remember that Welch describes these as “seriousness, maturity, thoughtfulness, wisdom.”  Being a victim projects none of these traits.

If you’re serious about developing this trait of Gravitas, then it requires a trusted, truthful mentor.  This type of mentor tells you the truth, both good and bad.  This type of mentor also helps you get to the root of the victim issue rather than simply adjusting the traits that look like gravitas.

Open vs Closed mindset will make all the difference in your career and life.  Grit and Gavitas: develop them for your own well being.  Others will also notice.

 

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BlogTeam

The Illusory Truth Effect

by Ron Potter

Not everything we believe is true. We may act like it is and it may be uncomfortable to think otherwise, but it’s inevitable that we all hold a substantial number of beliefs that aren’t objectively true. It’s not about opinions or different perspectives. We can pick up false beliefs for the simple reason that we’ve heard them a lot.”

This is a quote by Shane Parrish, blogger at Farnam Street.  Shane was the first blogger that I followed and one reason I turned to him is his focus on critical thinking.  What I mean by critical thinking is his ability to examine where his own thoughts start and progress.

Illusory truth effect

Shane points out reasons.  “The illusory truth effect is the reason why advertising works and why propaganda is one of the most powerful tools for controlling how people think. It’s why the speech of politicians can be bizarre and multiple-choice tests can cause students problems later on. It’s why fake news spreads and retractions of misinformation don’t work.”  I don’t intend to turn this blog into a political statement but his point is a good one.  We can get caught up in the belief of the day very easily.

Why does the effect exist?

“As with other cognitive shortcuts, the typical explanation is that it’s a way our brains save energy. Thinking is hard work—remember that the human brain uses up about 20% of an individual’s energy, despite accounting for just 2% of their body weight.

The illusory truth effect comes down to processing fluency. When a thought is easier to process, it requires our brains to use less energy, which leads us to prefer it.  That means that processing them was easier for their brains.”

Cause of misinformation

This can become a harsh reality on business teams that must be guarded against.  Why does it happen in the first place,  especially when team members are smart and well-intended?  “It’s the result of people being overworked or in a hurry and unable to do due diligence.  The signal to noise ratio is so skewed that we have a hard time figuring out what to pay attention to and what we should ignore. No one has time to verify everything.”

Cure for misinformation

As a business that must make decisions based on the truth, how do we sort it out and make sure we’re making good decisions?

SHARE!

First, understand that this susceptibility to illusory truth is very natural.  It happens to everyone.  Agree that no one is above the siren call and all are susceptible.  There is no one (except GOD) who knows it all!

Second, share your illusory truth and label it as such.  It’s not that any person on the team knows the truth and all others are working with a handicap, even the boss.  It’s that we all work with our illusory truths.

Once the illusory truth is shared by each member we can

  • Begin to understand where that person is coming from
  • Begin to form the truth (or at least a team illusory truth)
  • Make some action plans

While it’s natural that every person has their illusory truth, it’s also natural that every team has their illusory truth as well.  You may make a team decision or commitment to an illusory truth and that’s OK.  As long as you know it’s based on illusory truth and not what’s true or false.

Get all the illusory truth on the table by sharing.  Make a team decision and commitment.  This may be based on real or illusory truth.  Make sure it’s identified properly.  And no matter which type of truth the decision is made upon, make sure there is a team commitment to the decision.  Commitment is what’s important.

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BlogCulture

Culture: Consistency Summary

by Ron Potter

Consistency

Image result for Image of give me a lever long enough

The last quadrant of the Denison Culture survey is Consistency, “Does your system create leverage?”

We first introduced the mechanical image of leverage when we introduced the “fulcrum” of Consistency.  Most people have seen or heard the quote from Archimedes when he said: “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”  As a side note, he also said “Eureka!” which meant “I’ve got it” or “I’ve found it.”  Leverage is what he found.

In the post about Coordination and Integration we talked about the lever and how that looks different in each part of the organization.

Together these two create “Leverage!”

The three sections of the Consistency Quadrant talk about achieving leverage.

Consistency is about Results

Dan Denison and his team at Denison Consulting may disagree with me, but in my mind, this quadrant is about results.

My belief is that if you’ve worked hard at each of the other three quadrants of Mission, Adaptability and Involvement, the results are great Consistency.

Take a look at some of the words within the individual questions related to each of the three segments:

  • practice what they preach
  • a distinct set of practices
  • a clear and consistent set of values
  • accountability
  • win-win solutions
  • we reach agreement, even on difficult issues
  • clear agreement about the right way
  • share common perspectives
  • coordinate across the organization
  • good alignment

These issues are results.  The organization has and develops leverage.  It creates a highly productive culture.

  • Should you set and live by a clear set of core values?  Yes.
  • Should you work hard at reaching agreement across the organization?  Yes.
  • Should you coordinate and integrate across and between divisions of the organization?  Yes.

But, if you try to accomplish these things without first establishing Mission, Adaptability and Involvement, they won’t amount to much.  There is no foundational work.  The structure will crumble without the needed foundation.

What is Culture?

We introduced the Culture Series many months ago with this start:

A dictionary definition says “the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an organization.”

Exciting environments come from leaders and teams developing people to face difficulties and obstacles in innovative thoughtful ways that utilize the skills and experiences present.

Productive environments exist when teams learn how to elegantly use the resources they have to get the most out of an organization in a simple way.

Why Build a Great Culture?

I’ll go back to the name of my company, Team Leadership Culture (TLC).  These are not distinct issues that you face and corrected one at a time.  Great companies and great leaders are always working on all of these issues.

One of the biggest mistakes that I see leaders make is to assume they’re high-level managers.  One of the more difficult transitions is to shift from being a great manager to a great leader.

Great Managers
  • Work in relatively stable environments
  • Have long-term views and line-of-sight
  • Usually have clearly defined direction and strategy
  • And because of these issues, have a limited need to re-direct themselves or those who work for them.
Great Leaders
  • Spend the bulk of their time on vision
  • Develop and lead teams that manage more of the detail
  • Constantly scan the environment both internally and externally to spot the need for change early
  • Tend to be more risk-takers and have a higher tolerance for risk.

Great leaders and leadership teams create great cultures.  Cultures outlast leaders and teams.  This applies to both good and bad cultures.  Make sure you and your team are focused on a great culture.  It’s the only thing that lasts.

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