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Conquering Our Fears

by Ron Potter

It was a beautiful sunny day.  A light breeze was blowing and I was walking along a sidewalk.  What conditions could make it better?

Well for one, it would have been great to have some safety equipment.  My walk wasn’t exactly on a sidewalk.  I was about 140 forty feet in the air (fourteen stories) walking on an 8″ I-beam with no safety equipment.  To further hamper the situation, for those who know me, you already know that I’m extremely knock-kneed.  When my knees are tightly together, the inside of my feet are still 5″ apart.  This makes it even more difficult when you walking on a “sidewalk” that is only 8 inches wide.

I was just out of engineering school and this was in the day prior to safety equipment.  No belt tied off to anything.  No net to catch me if I fell.  If I missed a step, it was 140′ straight down to a concrete slab.

Encouraged to Overcome Fears

At the end of that first day, I went to see the chief engineer and said I just couldn’t do that job.  I spent the whole day terrified.  His come back was “Give it three weeks.  If at the end of that time you still can’t do it I’ll give you another assignment.”

I’m sure he had worked with other “rookies” through his career and had learned about facing your fears and then overcoming them.  Who knows, he may have gone through the same experience in his early career.

Facing my fears

So the next day I was back in the structural steel doing my job the best that I could while dealing with my fears.

While I was up 140′, the Ironworkers were another 20 feet above me continuing to put the entire structure together.  We topped out at about 200 feet.  These Ironworkers ran around grabbing beams being lifted to them by cranes and loosely bolting them together.  They were running around as if they were on that sidewalk on a breezy, sunny day.  I could tell they were watching me with amusement as I carefully picked my way through steel 20 feet below them.

Discipline and Focus to Overcome Fears

I began to learn a technique that worked for me and helped me move across that 8″ I-beam approximately 40′ in distance.  I would stand at one column with my back wedged in as tight as possible so that I felt secure and then I would begin focusing on the column 40′ away that I had to walk to.  As I focused more and more, a flaw or mark in the structural steel began to become visible to me.  It was something I could look at and keep my focus on.

The next move was to step out on the beam, never losing my focus on my spot, and begin walking.  If I looked down I would fall.  If I moved my focus left or right, I would step off the I-beam.

I stayed focused and disciplined to keep walking forward.  Eventually, I reached the other side and the “safety” of another column.

Distractions Throw Off your Focus and Discipline

After a couple of weeks, the Ironworkers thought I had become more than a curiosity to watch and was now something to be played with.

After slowing my breathing, locking in my focus, and stepping out to walk my next I-beam, I was nearly halfway across when an Ironworker slid down the column where my focus spot was and began walking toward me.

One of the first things they teach you before going into the steel was the technique for passing someone in the middle of a beam.  You were to stand toe-to-toe with the other person, grasp each other’s wrists tightly, and then lean back until your weight was balanced.  Then you would slowly swivel 180 degrees, keeping your toes on the beam and your weight balanced.  After the swivel was completed, you turned and continued walking the other way.

After we completed our little dance, the Ironworker turned and walked away from me chuckling.  I was left standing in the middle of the beam trying to settle my brain, my fear, and regain a focus point.  I finally captured a focus point on the column I had just come from and walked to it.  It took me several minutes to calm my heart and breathing to get the fear in my brain to subside while clinging to the column —the one I had just come from.

All the while there was a chorus of laughter coming from the ironworkers overhead.   On the way down in the construction elevator that night one of the Ironworkers said quietly how proud he was of me for handling such a scary situation.

Distractions: Outside and Inside.

Distractions will come at you from anywhere.  The outside world is constantly throwing distractions at you.  I really don’t like the word “busy” because it indicates to me that you’re letting those outside distractions rule your life and are not facing the fears and difficult situations that you need to face to be successful.

The inside distractions are maybe even worse.  They’re excuses!  Seemly valid reasons for not facing your fears or developing the focus and discipline to overcome them.

Fears are natural and they are powerful.  But they are just fears.

One definition says that fear is “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that something is dangerous, likely to cause pain.”  Notice that it’s based on a “belief”.  Just because you fear something doesn’t make it a real threat.

Get focused.  Be disciplined.  Make the decision to face your fears and overcome them.

I was fortunate to have that fearful experience just a few weeks into my work career.  It set the tone for a lifetime of facing my fears directly.  You may not have had that early experience but it doesn’t make any difference.  Starting to face your fears at any point in your life will make the rest of your life much better.

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Reality Is Constructed By Our Brain

by Ron Potter

Neuroscientist Patrick Cavanagh says that “It’s really important to understand we’re not seeing reality, we’re seeing a story being created for us.”

Brain Stories

What actually creates these stories?  It’s our backgrounds, beliefs, assumptions that have been formed throughout our lifetime.  Dr. Cavanagh says that “Our brains bend our perception of reality to meet our desires or expectations.  They fill the gaps using our past experiences.”

Our brains see what we expect them to see.  I’ve talked before about how our backgrounds and experiences form our belief systems so that we see what we want or expect to see.  Remember the professor in Florida who had his class write down everything they could remember about the shuttle explosion that had occurred the day before? He collected all of their handwritten reports and then tracked down as many of them as he could several years later.  Not one of them agreed with what they had written because their memory was different.

One student actually read his 14 written pages very carefully and then totally rejected it.  He said the report was not correct then proceeded to tell the professor what “really” happened that day.  His mind had created its own reality in spite of what he had written down at the moment.

Curious About Our Brain Stories

If we know that our brain tends to make up stories so that we see and hear what we desire, shouldn’t we be curious enough to explore what the reality is compared to our brain story?

It’s when we don’t have that curiosity about our brain story and simply accept our perception as the reality that creates problems as leaders and team members.

Intellectual Humility

In a Vox article, Brian Resnick said “Intellectual humility: the importance of knowing you might be wrong.”

This is a great statement: knowing that you might be wrong.

The first part of that statement is “knowing”.  We all assume that our view of the world and circumstances is “correct”.  However, if we mature in our thinking we begin to understand that our view or opinion is firmly rooted in the experiences and history that we have lived.  Having respect for others indicates that we’re beginning to learn that their view or opinion is also firmly rooted in their experiences and history.  And just like snowflakes, no two human beings have exactly the same experiences.

The second part of the statement is knowing that we might be wrong.  I don’t believe that one set of experiences is right and one is wrong.  I simply believe they are each unique.  Building great teams starts with this premise.  With full respect, we start sharing the different opinions and beliefs that we each hold.  Once we’ve shared and understood, it’s then possible for the team to develop a unique response to the situation that belongs to the team.  Not an individual.

Team Unity

It’s when a team reaches this unity that they really begin to become a team.  They made the decision together.  They each had a different view coming into the discussion.  But they come out with a decision that the entire team supports.  Even when others remind us that we had a very different opinion going into the team discussion we can honestly say, “that’s true, I did have a different opinion but as I heard each of the different opinions and listened with respect, we were able to make a team decision that I completely support.”

Team decisions that are made after each person has been listened to, understood, and respected for their opinions are the strongest types of decisions.  Team members all support the decision and people around the team can easily see the commitment to the decision and the trust and respect they have for each other.  This kind of team can lead a company to new heights.

Try it.  It really works!

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Is Criticism Slowing You Down?

by Ron Potter

As you’ve probably noticed in my blogs, I’m a fan of Aristotle’s philosophy.  One of his quotes makes a great point about criticism:

“There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.”

I have seen and met those people.  They are so afraid of what others think that they tend to not do anything in fear of criticism.  Therefore they say nothing that could be constructed as critical or even innovative.  In doing so they become nothing.  They become invisible.  They are never considered for promotion.  They are never considered to lead a team.  Their thoughts are never considered when looking for innovative ideas.  They are nothing.

Criticism Happens

If we think about Aristotle’s quote in reverse:

  • Do something
  • Say what’s on your mind (in a constructive way)
  • Be something.

You are a unique human being.  You bring something unique and different from every other person.  Recognize the value in that uniqueness.

Do Something

Doing nothing can be the result of a boss who is all-controlling.  If that’s the case, look for another position, look for another job, look to a new company.  Being in a position of never doing anything other than what you’re told and how to do it, will suck the life out of you!  You will find yourself a greatly diminished human being that will destroy your self-esteem and it will be noticed by your loved ones.

But doing something will almost always bring criticism.  If you step back and view the situation almost from a third-party position, you’ll often see that the criticism comes from people who themselves have low self-esteem.  The criticism comes in an effort to make themselves look better or feel better about themselves.  It never works.  Healthy people see right through that maneuver and discount the other person, not you.

Say What’s on Your Mind

This one must be accomplished with good self-esteem.  When you’re in that state of mind, you’re not criticizing, you’re just trying to look at things from a different perspective.   Remember that we are all unique.  We all see things from a different perspective.

Teams that can listen and respect each other’s points of view are the healthiest and strongest teams. 

Always stay in a respectful position.  Acknowledge that everyone has a unique perspective and it’s best if we all hear and understand that perspective.  Great teams are not “group think” teams.  We’re not lemmings blindly following the herd off the cliff.  Someone needs to say “I see us heading for a cliff and the results aren’t good”.  Just that simple statement will often get others sharing “you know, I’ve been wondering the same thing.  This just doesn’t feel right”.

Be open, honest, and respectful.  Understand what’s on everyone’s mind.  It can save the team

Be Something

What do you want to be known for?

  • The one who gets the team thinking?
  • The respectful one who always brings the best out in others?
  • The Jerk?
  • The non-existent, silent one in the room?

This is your choice.  Get to know the other team members as human beings.  Help them get to know you as a human being.  We are all unique.  We become the best team when we understand, respect, and use that uniqueness to build a great teams and reach great team decisions.

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Curiosity Killed the Cat

by Ron Potter

My first reaction is that I’m glad I’m not a cat because I’m very curious.

The saying originally meant don’t be too nosey!  It was related to the term “busy body”: someone who seemed to be nosey about everyone else’s business.

But in 1912 the saying was altered to say—

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back

While curiosity may harm you, the satisfaction of finding knowledge or the truth is worth it. So be curious, strive to find the truth and gain knowledge!

I liked this addition much better.  Curiosity that seeks knowledge and truth brings great satisfaction.  So how do we be curious to seek knowledge and truth while not being nosey?  I think there are two ways of accomplishing this goal.

Blame Game

People who are seeking enough information so they can assign blame (to anything or anyone other than themselves) are nosey.  That’s the kind of curiosity that killed the cat and will kill open and honest discussions.  We know these people.  They want to make sure that it’s never their fault.  They are always looking to shift the blame as an excuse for their bad behavior or poor decisions.  It’s never their fault.

Avoidance Style

Human Synergistics has a leadership assessment titled Life Style Inventory (LSI).  In this assessment, they identify a style they call Avoidance that has similar characteristics.  Their list includes:

  • A strong tendency to deny responsibility for one’s own behavior.
  • Fear of failure
  • A preoccupation with one’s own concerns
  • Lack of self-disclosure that eventually leads to emotional isolation.

If you’re interested in this assessment, find out more on their website.

Being Curious without being Nosey

The other way of satisfying your curiosity for knowledge and truth is to practice Listening with the Intent to Understand.

You’ve seen this concept in many of my blogs.  But the fact that I keep coming back to it is a testament to how important this is as a skill.

When you listen with the intent to understand, people notice.  You’re truly curious about what they think, what experiences they’ve had, and what would lead them to their conclusion.  People not only notice, they feel respected and empowered and want to share to great depths.  And in addition, they become much more curious themselves about what you think.  It’s a two-way street.

Be Curious

Be curious, but be curious to learn, grow, and understand.  If you’re genuine, this will keep you from being a busy body.  Learn, grow, and Listen with the intent to understand.  It brings great satisfaction.

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Thinking on 3 Thoughts Together

by Ron Potter

My mind is a little bit crazy.  I often find that three very different ideas come together in my head at a particular moment. I have learned to pay attention to and think more about these three things.

It happened to me recently when three thoughts came together:

  1. Commute times.  Working with companies in New York, Boston, and California exposed me to commute times that I was unfamiliar with living in Michigan.
  2. American Express Travelers Cheques division moving from New York City to Salt Lake City
  3. Hearing leaders talk about the increased productivity they’re experiencing in the new virtual world

Commute Times

The first time I worked in New York City as a consultant I showed up at the office on east 42nd street at 8:00 am assuming that was the normal start time.  The office was empty.  People didn’t really start settling into their office until around 9:00.  As I got to know some of the team I would be working with I found out some of them lived in Pennsylvania.  They would take a bus from their community to the rail station, take the train to New Jersey, take the ferry to Manhattan then either cab or walk from west 42 Street to the office on east 42 Street.  It was nearly impossible to arrive before 9:00.

Then the office would begin to empty out by about 3:30 pm as the reverse commute took place.  I had similar experiences in Boston, Chicago, and California.  I always found it amusing in California when I would ask how far it was from one location to another.  The answer was never explained in distance (4 miles) is was always explained in time (2 to 4 hours depending on the time of day).

American Express

I was living in Salt Lake City when American Express moved their Traveler Cheques Division from New York City to Salt Lake City.  As I was reading about the move in the local papers, an American Express Official expressed how impressed they were at the increased productivity that came with the move.

Let’s think about that for a minute—

  • New York City business day: 9:00-3:30.
  • Sale Lake City business day: 8:00-5:00.

And you’re acting surprised by the increase in productivity?

Virtual Meetings

I’m having the same reaction about all of these articles from business leaders (most in major corporations in major cities) expressing surprise and pleasure about the increased productivity they’re seeing from working virtually.

Let’s see—

  • Commute times even in reasonable locations: 30 to 60 minutes.
  • Commute times for a virtual meeting: 3 to 6 minutes.

Increased productivity?  I don’t think so.  Just increased availability.

Teamwork

While this virtual world that we now find ourselves in may seem to be or even be more productive, it still takes more than that to build the kind of teams that will be trusting and innovative.

A client the other day asked me how to build a better team in this virtual environment.  I didn’t have a great answer.  It’s very difficult.  There is something very real about the shaking of a hand or sitting down to talk face-to-face and being able to look into each other’s eyes.

Virtual One-on-One

I believe we can do some of this in a virtual environment but it takes planning and commitment.  I have often done an exercise called “Assessment-Commitment”.  This exercise can be accomplished in the virtual world but it takes time and commitment.

Each pair of people on the team must commit to spending virtual time one-on-one.  Once this is accomplished, the team needs to meet (virtually) to discuss together the learnings that were accomplished in the one-on-one sessions.  This means that the virtual meetings can’t be all about productivity, assignments, and getting things done.  There must be time spent building the team!

Because we now find ourselves in this virtual world, don’t forsake the effort and time it takes to build great teams.  It may take a bit more effort but it will reward you and the company many times over down the road.

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Thankful and Discouraged

by Ron Potter

Today is the last day of 2020.  It has completely changed the meaning of 20-20 hindsight.  In fact, I hope it continues to fade in the rearview mirror.

Almost all of our Christmas cards described the rough year that was 2020.  It was a joy to hear the comments about how thankful and grateful people were through all of the difficulties.

Thankful

The things I’m thankful for include my family (all healthy and living around the world), the Lord and his personal love and forgiveness, and all the things that make life bearable or easier.   We are warm, have a roof over our head, and people beyond family around us that love and care for us as well.

Discouraged

The thing that discourages me the most from this year is the loss of human contact.  In public, we have masks between us, are able to elbow bump at the best, and have nowhere to meet.  I used to arrange to meet people for coffee on a regular basis.  And so we rely on video conference.  It’s just not the same.

All of my grandchildren do well with their video schooling.  But what they talk about the most is not being able to be with their friends.  They need human contact.  I went to a small rural school system where most of my classmates were together all the way through graduation.  We still get together annually and I truly do love these people.  We didn’t know each other in the work world where you’re measured on your productivity.  We knew each other because we were together.  We shared our life dreams together.  We share the difficulties with each other.  We encouraged each other.  We were human beings together.

What We Used to Know as Teams

Highly effective teams got to know each other as humans.  We shared together.  We journeyed together.  We accomplished outstanding things together.  If you saw someone on the team who seemed to be struggling, it was easy to take them aside, shake their hand or put a hand on their shoulder and ask, “Are you OK?”  Human touch!  None of that is possible in a video conference.

Today I hear leaders talk about how productive teams are because there is no time for this kind of thing during a video call.  It requires that you get to the topic at hand, receive updates if necessary, set the next goals, and assign the people who will be responsible.  The productivity is great!  But “team-building” is not.  Productivity may remain high for a period of time, but a highly-effective team needing to tackle very complex or innovative solutions will never be built.

Technical Solution

There are no technical solutions to solve this problem.   However, a team I’ve been working with has formed an app called GPS4Leaders to help overcome some of these issues.  While we’ll never solve the lack of face-to-face issues or overcome the need for human touch, we have focused on where the team is starting to breakdown and how to overcome that issue.  The system offers guidance in terms of where-to-look for helpful hints and offers what’s called a “Coach in a Box” to help guide the users in solving the problem they face.  But, there’s still nothing like a true human connection to build trust and overcome issues.

Best Solution for the Moment

While I’ll stand by my statement above that there is no technical solution to this problem, there are some things that I believe could help.

Let’s start with understanding the purpose of the various forms of communication we have available today.

Email

Email is the oldest and possibly the most used communication software.   However, email was intended to pass on information from one person to another or even several people at once.  It was not intended to provide psychological understanding or even humor.  It is a fact-based tool.

Text Messaging

Text messaging has likely taken over as the most used communication software.  I have to convince my grandchildren that it is not universally used and it is probably worse at providing understanding or humor… hence emojis.

Social Media

I believe that social media was originally intended to share thoughts with lots of people but it seems to me that for the most part, it has allowed people to vent and make outrageous statements that they would never consider making when they are face-to-face with someone.

None of these technical solutions is good at building trust and understand.  So what is a person supposed to do in this socially distanced world?

Pick up the Phone!

While a phone is still a technical solution that’s not quite as good as being face-to-face, it does allow for listening.  Listening for emotional clues.  Listening for understanding.  Listening to show respect for the other person.

GPS4Leaders

This is where GPS4Leaders tries to help.  Once issues are identified in the data, GPS4Leaders will encourage the team to talk through their beliefs about the issue or have one-on-one conversations for understanding, respect, and trust.

 

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The First Failure of Socialism

by Ron Potter

We have just finished Thanksgiving, or what we experience as Thanksgiving in this age of Covid.  It is a time, rightfully so, for each of us to talk about what we’re thankful for.  However, let’s not forget that the pilgrim settlement in plymouth in the early 1600s may be socialism’s first failure

Needs vs Work

In the settlement, all that was needed by individuals was provided from them, having been either produced or paid for by the collective-owned farms.  The “accounting” system was determined by what the individuals needed rather than how hard they worked or earned their way.

Discontent and Starvation

The strongest colonists who worked hard in the fields all day began to resent those that received the same amount for doing nothing while the able-bodied provided all of the hard work to supply the goods.  In addition to the discontent, nearly half of the colonists died during that first winter because too many people took advantage of the supplies provided by the few.

Nearly 400 years later, Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister of the UK said, “The trouble with socialism is that eventually, you run out of other people’s money.”

Socialism Abandoned

About two years after the famine brought on by the socialism approach, the pilgrims decided that enough was enough, a new approach was undertaken that required each family to provide for themselves.  It required hard work.

Work Application

If you’ve followed my blogs, you know that I’ve tried to stay away from politics for the most part.  So how do we look at our own and other’s failed attempts at socialism?

How does socialism disguise itself in the workplace?  It’s not all that hard to see.  Some people are there simply for the paycheck.  No motivation.  No extra effort.  No innovation.  Unfortunately, those people are left in place for various reasons even though it’s obvious to their colleagues and others they’re not pulling their weight.

What happens when that attitude is allowed to continue?  Other people either:

  • Begin to exhibit the same traits: “Why should I put in the extra effort, create my own motivation, look for innovative approaches when others are not and no one seems to notice?”
  • Leave for new employment: If a person is hard-working, motivated, innovative, they begin to look for a different place to work.  Just like our pilgrim’s failed effort, it leads to starvation.  Starvation is the sense that productivity begins to dwindle and those left tend to wither on the vine.

Winston Churchill (where are all these UK quotes coming from all of a sudden? 😉) is quoted as saying, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those others that have been tried.”

Don’t put up with it

This form of socialism in the workplace leads to failure.  Every time I’ve seen the “deadwood” taken out of the system, I’ve seen productivity increase.  Not just for a moment, but long-term.  Pulling together a team of highly motivated, hard-working individuals will always lead to long-term productivity gains.

Build a Team

Build a team of highly motivated people, each being productive, and you will experience long-term growth like you’ve never seen before.

Radar

Recently I watched a documentary on the development of radar that is credited with saving England during the Nazi air blitz of London.  Many times individuals wanted to quit but they were always reminded that they were part of a team that was bigger than any individual.  It took a team to accomplish the goal.

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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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Overused Teamwork

by Ron Potter

Team Leadership Culture: Teams first.  I’m a big fan of teamwork.  However, when it creates an overcommitted organization and conflicting priorities it is counterproductive.

The foundation of this post was inspired by a Harvard Business Review article, The OverCommitted Organization, written by Heidi K. Gardner and Mark Mortensen.

The Overcommitted Organization

In the article, they talk about the dysfunction that can happen when people are assigned to too many teams at the same time.  They break it down to the following pros and cons:

PROS: By assigning people to multiple teams at once, organizations make efficient use of time and brainpower. They also do a better job of solving complex problems and sharing knowledge across groups.

CONS: Competing priorities and other conflicts can make it hard for teams with overlapping membership to stay on track. Group cohesion often suffers. And people who belong to many teams at once may experience burnout, which hurts engagement and performance.

Increased Pros or decreased Cons

So now we face the question: Is it worth increasing the PROS at the expense of decreasing the CONS?

My answer is a clear NO!  Look in more detail at the expense of the CONS.

  • Difficult to stay on track.
    We have looked at the cost of distraction many times in this blog.  Our social media and instant communication can and will negatively affect productivity.
    In fact, we can become so distracted on a regular basis that it reduces the brain’s ability to concentrate and think deeply.  These are two features that we need more today than ever!
  • Group cohesion often suffers.
    Without group cohesion, there is no team!  Teams that tell each other the truth with respect and fully commit to team goals (regardless of personal or department goals) is at the core of great organizations.  Group cohesion is essential!
  • Burnout.
    People who experience burnout experience reduced energy, brainpower, commitment, drive, and many other aspects that make them top performers and good team members.  Avoid burnout!

PROS

In my mind and experience, the list of pros is actually cons.

  • Efficient use of time
    It’s been proven that the only people capable of multi-tasking are highly trained fighter pilots.  And even these highly trained individuals are not capable of transferring the multi-tasking beyond the cockpit when their life depends upon it.
  • Brainpower
    It’s also been proven that teams function better when multiple brains are open about a problem or situation.  However, using “one” brain across multiple teams does not increase multiple team’s “brainpower.”
  • Solving Complex Problems
    Complex problems are solved with deep thinking and moving in and out of team subgroups.  Complex problems are not solved by having one brain on many teams.  In fact that leads to burnout and reduces the ability to solve complex problems.

The Overcommitted Organization

Don’t misunderstand, I’m not opposing what Gardner and Mortensen are stating in their article.  In fact, they use experience and solid research to prove their points.  And, they reach the same conclusion that I did.

One paragraph right near the middle of their article says

Launch the team well to establish trust and familiarity. When fully dedicated to one team, people learn about their teammates’ outside lives—family, hobbies, life events, and the like.  More important, it forges strong bonds and interpersonal trust, which team members need in order to seek and offer constructive feedback, introduces one another to valuable network connections, and rely on one another’s technical expertise. (Italics are mine)

This is a powerful conclusion that reinforces everything I have learned and experienced.  Teams that establish trust and have an environment of constructive feedback are the most beneficial.

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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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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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GPS4Leaders

by Ron Potter

Over the last couple of years, I have been working with a team of people to bring some of our (myself and other coaches on the team) experiences to users in an app.  I would like to share a video with you about that journey.

GPS4Leaders

Good GPS devices perform three functions:

  • Show you where you are
  • Show you where you’re going
  • Give you the best route to get there.

GPS4Leaders performs the same functions.  It will show you where you are as a team through

  • Personal Assessments
  • Team Dynamic Assessments

It will show you where you’re going through

  • Models of great teams, leaders, and cultures

It will give you the best route to get there

  • By talking team dynamic assessment, showing you where to focus and progress towards becoming great teams, leaders, and culture

Cost-Effective

GPS4Teams (including two of the four modules of GPS4Leaders) is very cost-effective.  At $150/year/person it will cost only a fraction of a good executive or team coach.   However, our goal is not to replace the good executive or team coach, it’s to help them be much more effective by focusing their work and requiring less of their time to help you grow teams, leaders, and cultures.

Visit GPS4Leaders.com

Join us today to help grow your organization.

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