Ideas-to-Action

Leadership that Enables Innovation

I have been struggling with how to come back to blogging after being on a hiatus for about 12 months.  What started as a short diversion to focus on a new position at a new company in a new industry ended up being a full-time hiatus to "get dirty" while building a marketing organization.  It has been challenging, exciting and a whole lot of fun.

During the course of work over the past year, I have often reflected on the leaders I have encountered that really knew how to execute and deliver real innovation. 

So, I penned a few thoughts about these leadership qualities that enable innovation in a column for this month's BP Trends Update.

I hope you enjoy the column while I am mapping out some new blog ideas.  And, feel free to come back here and leave comments.

14 Words that will Change Your Life

Please.

Thank you.

I was wrong.

Forgive me.

I forgive you.

I love you.

The "Best Idea Ever"

I met the most amazing person earlier this week.  Jennifer Hale is a true expert in organizational development, leadership development, facilitation, and coaching.  Her joy and passion for helping people improve their lives and organizations radiates from her facial expressions, to the words she uses, to how she engages with people individually and as a group.  She has the unique ability to leave people in a better place than where they started.

In one of our training conversations this week, she told us about the "best idea ever".  I have thought about this idea, done some of it mentally, but never put the pen to paper. 

Life is about relationships.  We know that networking is critically important (both personally and professionally), but we often don't take the time to prioritize and invest in the relationships we want to build.  Now, we have technology like LinkedIn and Facebook to keep engaged with a variety of people who enter our lives, but...

Do you have your Top 20 list? 

Have you identified (i.e. written down on paper) the top 20 people who you want to build relationships with?  Notice, I did not say get something from (like a job recommendation or a work contract).  These are people that you are truly interested in and want to build a relationship that has 1) mutual enjoyment, 2) respect, 3) shared experiences, 4) trust, and 5) reciprocity (signs of a solid relationship from John Maxwell's "Talent is Never Enough").

You will find that your Top 20 will change over time.  Some people who were in the Top 20 will fall out, some will be added.  Always be open to new relationships.

For some people, getting to 20 is hard...stop reading right now, take 3 minutes and simply write down the Top 10 people that you want to develop deeper relationships with.  Was it who you expected?  Was it hard to find 10?  Who did you have to trade-off to get your top 10?  What are you doing today to invest in those relationships?  Do you have a plan to build the relationship?  Are your actions effective?  What could you do different?

One thought that was going through my mind as Jennifer was facilitating this week is that some people seem to treat the number of connections on LinkedIn as a "badge of honor" while others treat individuals with great honor and value.  We love to make connections through current technology.  They are easy and fast.  LinkedIn and Facebook are good tools to connect people, but then we must individually decide if we want to invest time and effort with specific people to build solid relationships.  We must take time to have conversations, not simply link to each other in the digital world.

How are you approaching networking and relationship building?  Are you investing in building solid relationships or simply created an on-line Rolodex?  Who is in your Top 20?

Jennifer, thanks for the spark...

Courageous Leadership

I am currently reading John Maxwell's new book "Talent is Never Enough".  First, I am a big fan of Maxwell's work (my disclaimer).  Second, I am really enjoying this read.  I particularly like his list about courageous leadership (pg 164)...

Courageous Leadership Simply Means I've Developed:

1. Convictions that are stronger than my fears.
2. Vision that is clearer than my doubts.
3. Spiritual sensitivity that is louder than popular opinion.
4. Self-esteem that is deeper than self protection.
5. Appreciation for discipline that is greater than my desire for leisure.
6. Dissatisfaction that is more forceful than the status quo.
7. Poise that is more unshakable than panic.
8. Risk taking that is stronger than safety seeking.
9. Right actions that are more robust than rationalization.
10. A desire to see potential reached more than to see people appeased.

Powerful.  Courageous.

Decrease in unsatisifed customers?

I am sitting here watching the news (or what is supposed to be news) and keep hearing about this poll and that poll regarding the different presidential candidates.  It reminded me of this quote from Evan Esar,

"Statistics: the only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions."

While it is almost humorous to watch the political pollsters argue over a few percentage points, we don't have that type of latitude in our organizations.  Data is the lifeblood for making sound business decisions.  Decisions that could lead to business growth and job creation or decisions that could lead to business decline and headcount reductions.  The data needs to be accurate and precise, and communicated in a way that it clearly represents the facts (or true truth).

I once heard heard some analysts talking about increases in customer attrition rates and they jokingly defined it as "a decrease in unsatisfied customers".

Please be careful how you collect data and communicate information.

...and speaking of pursuing your passion...

Maxine Clark has a great passion behind Build-a-Bear.  This story in BusinessWeek online is a wonderful little reminder about the joy you can receive (and help others create) by pursuing your passion.

I particularly like her closing comments:

Finally, you should always allow yourself to dream—and dream big—it's only through such thinking that great things happen. Don't limit yourself because you don't think your dream is attainable. You must start by believing you can truly achieve whatever you set your mind to, no matter how big it might seem. Not dreaming big enough is one of the biggest mistakes you can make—if you can't see your dream, how do you expect others to?

I have always been a strong proponent of dreaming big...or making your goals hilarious.

Doing

Hello everyone!  I am back from my unintended 6-week sabbatical.  What started as a simple delay in blog writing to "do" some work led to re-prioritization (my to do list was already long when I woke up in the morning) which ultimately led to procrastination (as I got a chance to take a breather).  Thanks for hanging with me during this time away.  Also, thanks to my friend Mark for holding me accountable to my blog commitment.

This has been a great 6-week journey of learning for me, particularly around the concept of "doing".  "Do" is a critical step in the knowledge building process.  "Do" is a key part of the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle, aka the Shewhart cycle or Deming cycle.  "Do" is where work is performed to execute the ideas and hypothesis defined during "Plan".  There is no substitute for "doing".

However, I have talked to many people that get stuck "doing".  They wake up each day, go to work, do the job, then get paid every other Friday.  They have a good job.  They are competent, hard workers, and the boss loves them.  Life is satisfying. 

Sounds like a great gig...here's the problem:  The world is constantly changing and we must spend time growing, developing, learning something new, and continuously improving our skills and knowledge.  Today's highly sought after skill is tomorrow's entry level position (or outsource opportunity).  We must actively manage our growth and career to continuously move up the value contribution curve.  It is about finding and pursing your passion with every ounce of vigor you have.  It is about growing yourself and helping to grow others.

Early in my career I was told that I had a choice to 1) live to work or 2) work to live.  I have come to believe that is the desperate choice of desperate people who have not found or do not pursue their passion.  A few weeks ago I was asked about the most critical characteristic I look for when hiring someone.  For me, it is easy:  passion.  A person with passion is determined, pursues excellence, is willing to learn.  Skills can be learned, but passion is fundamental to growth and adding value.  Pursuing passion nullifies the desperate choice of desperate people.

If you are struggling in the rut of "doing" and desire more, here are some questions to ponder:

• How much of your time is spent "going through the motions" of your job? 
• What have you done in the last month to grow your knowledge and skills? 
• How much protected time do you set aside each month for professional development? 
• Who is your mentor? 
• Who are you mentoring?
• What excites you?
• What do you want to do next?
• What type of work environment do you want in the next few years?
• What do you love?  and...What do you hate?

"Doing" is important, but if you find yourself trying to answer the question of "live to work or work to live", make up your mind that you don't have to make a choice.  Instead, vigorously pursue your passion and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Inspiring

I was extremely privileged and blessed to hear Nick Vujicic speak last Sunday.  Nick was born without arms or legs and offers an amazing, inspiring story and message.  It is impossible to hear Nick and walk away without some self examination about where we put our trust, what we do to put our faith into action, and how we let meaningless things steal our joy. 

You can get more information about Nick at Life Without Limbs.

Experience profound joy in your life and live a life without limits.

Create an Atmosphere of Innovation

In our ongoing series on business innovation, Clay Richardson and I just posted a new column on BP Trends.  In previous columns we explored creating value through customer-centric innovation and creating agility through disciplined, collaborative business process management (BPM).  This month we turn our attention to the human side of innovation and present a conversation about things you can begin doing today to  create an atmosphere of innovation in your organizations.

Read more about 1) stimulating creativity, 2) setting hilarious goals, 3) making your box bigger, and 4) executing faster...

We hope you enjoy the column.  Oh, and feel free to come back here and give us your thoughts.

Give Praise to Make Joy Complete

I came across this juicy piece of wisdom fruit from C.S. Lewis about how praise makes joy complete; and it made me take a strong look at what I am doing to make joy complete...

C.S. Lewis from "Reflections on Psalms" (pg 93 - 95):

"But the most obvious fact about praise - whether of God or anything - strangely escaped me.  I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honor.  I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it.  The world rings with praise - lover praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game - praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians and scholars ... My whole, more general difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can't help doing, about everything else we value.

I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses, but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.  It is not out of compliment that lovers keep telling one another how beautiful they are, the delight is incomplete till it is expressed."

...Delight is incomplete until it is expressed.

It is so easy to get caught up in the daily "doing" of life and work that we forget to give praise to the people and things that are the delight of our lives.  What do you take delight in?  What do you treasure?  What are you holding back?

Take some time, sit back and reflect on the joys in your life.  Is it your spouse, kids, parents, work, hobbies, God?

Give praise.  Complete your enjoyment.  Complete your joy.

Make Your Goals Hilarious

Here is a wonderful nugget by Mark Fusco at Squint.  He makes a really good point that your dreams and goals should be hilarious.  Live big.  Break the constraints of rational, logic thoughts and ideas.  Stretch.  Grow.  Change.  Innovate.  Transform.

Why wait to dream big...Great things are accomplished by people with hilarious goals.

Thanks Mark!

Quickest Way to Develop Leadership Skills

I am a strong believer that leadership can be learned.  While you may be born with personality traits that can help you be an effective leader, most of the skills are learned and honed through years of "doing leadership". 

The Problem:  Companies (generally) do a poor job of developing leaders.  Yes, your company may have the requisite training classes that you attend as part of your development plan...then you go back to your day job with little ability to hone the skills you learned because of the scope of your current position.  Also, companies tend to be reactive, focusing leadership training on individuals only after they have attained a level of management responsibility.  (Sidebar: leadership in companies tends to get attributed to the organization chart.  Whoever is at the top of the pyramid is the leader.  Don't confuse positional management responsibility with the ability to lead people and organizations.)

The Solution:  What you can do to develop your ability to lead people and organizations:

1. Check your motivation.  It is OK to be ambitious, seeking and desiring leadership.  Your leadership ambition should to serve others.  Selfish ambition is wrong - don't seek great things for yourself.  If you believe leadership is getting others to serve you, then you will always fall short.
2. Find problems to solve. Your company is full of problems that people don't want to touch.  Seek out high risk problems and volunteer to solve them.  Do this as a special project, outside the scope of your day job and, preferably, for an executive that is not your current manager.  Build a coalition of volunteers across your company (not just in your work group) that are willing to tackle the tough issue.
3. Lead volunteer organizations or projects.  Look outside your company and get involved in community, charitable, religious, or other local organizations.  It is one thing to manage people that work for you (i.e. get a paycheck from you), but it is entirely different to lead people who volunteer their time and talents.  Personally, I think this is the best way to develop and hone leadership skills and develop people acumen because the people serving with you can walk away at anytime.  Employees must do the work.  Volunteers don't have to serve.
4. Spend more time doing.  There is no substitute for doing, but "do" with a focus on application of what you learned, predicting outcomes, studying the results, and making plans for next actions (hmm, sounds like a PDSA cycle).  Grab a good leadership book (John Maxwell has a bunch of them), do a little reading, then build and execute a plan to develop a specific leadership skill.
5. Get a mentor.  A key skill of leaders is to reproduce leaders.  Leadership training is best suited for one-on-one relationships.  Leaders are produced one by one, not mass manufactured from a top-tier MBA program or a company leadership training program.  A good leader will take time to instruct, enlighten, discipline, and nurture an aspiring leader on an individual basis.  Find one.  Get engaged.

There is nothing holding you back from quickly developing the skills and preparing the opportunities to lead.  What actions are you taking today to build your leadership skills?

"Change" is meaningless

The "change" word seems to be everywhere.  Barack Obama seems to be making a lot of headway touting "change" (not a political endorsement).  While the word "change" may play well in during the political season, "change" by itself is meaningless in our personal and business lives.

Here is the problem:  Change does not mean improvement. 

Associates in Process Improvement have a simple and straightforward model that I have found useful to frame improvements in my personal life and business life.  The model is based on 3 questions:

1. What are we trying to accomplish? (Set aims)
2. How will we know change is an improvement? (Establish measures)
3. What change can we make that will result in improvement? (Select changes)

It seems so simple...and it is.  But, it is also very powerful.  Powerful enough that the Institute for Healthcare Improvement uses it as their base improvement model in their 5 Million Lives Campaign.

Peter Kim recently posted his resolutions for 2008.  He did a great job of identifying what he wants to accomplish (be more green, lose weight, save more money), identifying key measures to determine if he actually improves, and creating some hypotheses about what he can do to make an improvement.  He is also searching for expert knowledge (see his green resolution) on other ways to make an improvement.  There is no substitute for expert knowledge.

As you move forward into 2008, making resolutions and vows to change something about your life, I encourage you to move beyond the desire to change and take real action to improve.  Use the 3 questions to frame your improvement, then start testing your changes to see what works and does not work.

Remember, improvement requires making changes, but not all changes result in improvement....

Don't just change.  Improve.

Key Principles for Business Transformation

I am fortunate enough to attend and speak at the IIR BPM Conference this week.  There has been a tremendous amount of good information exchanged at the conference and I am very happy to see that BPM is making the transition from IT organizations to business organizations.  However, one thing that seems to be missing is the importance of leadership and guiding human change.  The more I learn about the difficulty leaders face to manage and improve their organizations, the more I appreciate the value of Deming's 14 Points as key principles to transform business:

1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and to stay in business, and to provide jobs.
2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.
3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place.
4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.
6. Institute training on the job.
7. Institute leadership The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets to do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul as well as supervision of production workers.
8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.
9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, to foresee problems of production and in use that may be encountered with the product or service.
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.
11. a) Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute leadership. b) Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers, numerical goals. Substitute leadership.
12. a) Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to joy of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality. b) Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to joy of workmanship. This means abolishment of the annual merit rating and of management by objective.
13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.
14. Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody's job.

No, the 14 Points are not prescriptive.  They don't give you the how to guide for business transformation.  There is not a formula.  But they do give great guiding principles so you can make transformation real for your own organization.

Humility in Action

I just came across this great little post at Church of the Customer Blog that demonstrates true humility in action.  Capt. Denny Flanagan shows what it means to think of others as more important than himself.  He seems to have struck the fine balance between thinking less of himself than he ought to and thinking more of himself than he ought to.  He is not doing it to "market" United Airlines, he is doing it because he loves to serve.  He has a healthy ego.  He knows himself, he accepts himself, and he is being himself.

However, I do think McConnell and Huba missed the mark by recommending his techniques be taught as part of a pilot's regular training schedule.  It is not about skills and techniques, it is about heart.  It is not what you do, it is who you are.

"The final estimate of men shows that history cares not an iota for the rank or title a man has borne, or the office he has held, but only the quality of his deeds and the character of his mind and heart." Samuel Brengle (1860 - 1936), Commissioner of The Salvation Army

Rethink all the rules

I have been working on this post for several weeks.  Writing, rewriting, re-rewriting.  I still don't think I have my thoughts centered, or really getting my point across, but decided to move my "thoughts in process" to my blog and let nature take its course.  Fair warning before continuing:  these are my tragically uncool, but authentic thoughts...

The "bug in my shorts" is that there is way too much data and information available today to be consumed by the typical person...for that matter, even by the extraordinary person.  Everywhere you turn, there is data on the web, new information on wikipedia, a new blog, new business books.  There is good information.  There is bad information.  What is the basis for discerning the two apart?  Experience?  Knowledge?  How do I get information that is relevant to me and helps me solve problems, develop knowledge, and gain wisdom?

Is the answer technology?  I have 10GB of information in the knowledge base on my laptop.  Google Desktop helped me organized.  But it is still too much.  Technology is too linear.  Seth recently touched on a couple software breakthroughs that are closer than the horizon:  1) programs live on the web instead of your desktop and 2) desktop software that is truly web aware.  The data exists and is getting more rich everyday.  Our current bottleneck is the software.  However, as the software evolves it will stress and break the all the boundaries and rules by which we operate today.  We are moving at an exponential pace from a linear model with foundational business rules and delayed local connectedness to an nth-dimensional euclidean model with instantaneous global connectedness, where the rules are created, broken, and rewritten - not by us, but by the machines that have learned from us.  We can no longer feed at the trough of data overload.  The machines become us, constantly learning and choosing the data we are fed.  Technology has been linear.  Life is not linear.  As technology embeds more into our lives, it will need to become more like our lives.  Less linear.

Or, is the answer in simply turning the channels off?  Quietly disconnect to reconnect.  Focus.  Have you ever sat quietly, reflectively, with no disturbances for an hour?  For 30 minutes?  10 minutes?  Clarity.  Peace.  Depth. Understanding.

The Truth remains constant.  Everything else changes.

Postlog on technology:  Michael Wesch does an astounding job showing the evolution and impact of technology. A quick "hat tip" to my cousin Bryan Davidson for turning me on to this video.

Quality is Essential

McKinsey recently posted an interview (registration required) with Armand V. Feigenbaum, noted quality guru.  There are some good nuggets of knowledge in this short interview that marketing leaders should listen to as they consider implementing process improvement methods (especially Six Sigma) in marketing.

Some of his specific comments that are particularly important to marketers include:

"Improvements in quality lead to improvements throughout the organization.  Above all, quality must be understood as a management style, and an infrastructure has to exist that supports both the work quality of the individual and teamwork between departments."

"Some companies have an outdated idea of quality and how to improve it.  Managers think of quality as minimizing defects...This aspect has long been an entry-level requirement in competition, but is no longer enough from a customer perspective."

"Many companies don't understand that new market conditions require extensive changes in management methods."

Generally, here is my interpretation of these comments:

There is consistency with with W. Edwards Deming's Chain Reaction that shows how improvements in quality lead ultimately lead to staying in business and providing more jobs.  Building quality has a flow through effect throughout the organization.  Quality is not necessarily a function or something that a "highly trained Six Sigma Black Belt" can do.  Quality is something that must be a part of the fabric of management, part of the company's DNA.  If you are establishing a quality program or effort in addition to your existing work (or creating special categories of leaders to review and approve projects), you are creating "shadow work structure" that is unsustainable and will ultimately collapse under it own weight.  Quality must be a part of everyone's job.  Not a special function.  If you are waiting for a Six Sigma Black Belt to come fix your processes, quit waiting.  Take ownership and start improving.  If you need a guide to get you going, check out The Improvement Guide.

Be a Systems Thinker.  Too many people and companies try to work according to the organization chart.  This is not how work gets done.  Silos.  Barriers.  Frustration.  Politics.  Understand the white space.  Understand the processes.  Throw away the org chart and look at how work actually gets done in your company.  Look across business unit and function boundaries.  As marketers, we need to clearly understand the value chain so we can optimize how we go to market. 

Understand your company through the lens of your customers.  Quality of products is not enough.  Customers expect quality products.  What about their experiences?  How are you bringing customer knowledge back into your company?  How is it used?  How does it shape marketing?  Design customer experiences that expand their expectations.  How do you do it?  Quality.

Finally, as marketers, managers, and leaders in companies, we must always learn, grow, and improve our management methods.  Over the years, I have interacted with a variety of leaders that woke up one day and found their organizations being leap frogged in the market, backsliding, or stuck in a quagmire of operational ineffectiveness.  "We have always done it that way"..."We do it like this because we a different"..."our market is unique and we can't change it"..."we tried changing it once, but it did not work, so we went back to our old way"..."our industry is just too complicated for us to change"..."that would create too much pain in our company"...all words that lead to organization destruction and death.  Be willing to step out, test new ideas, try new concepts, reinvent some old ones.  Sitting still is sliding backwards.

Accelerating Business Innovation

Clay Richardson and I just posted a new column on BP Trends about "Accelerating Business Innovation".  If you missed our first column, "Business Innovation - Creating New Value with Ease and Grace", we are writing this column to explore both the business (Victor) and technical (Clay) sides of innovation.  Our aim is to motivate business and technology leaders to develop knowledge about business innovation and take action to guide innovation processes in their organizations.

In this month's column, we discuss how BPM has emerged as a business discipline and technology platform that allows companies to reduce innovation cycle time and "get to market" quickly.  Specifically, we explore the following five traits that enable this acceleration:

1. Shared development between business and technical teams
2. Flexibility to accommodate changes to requirements and customer demands
3. Reuse of existing business services
4. Rapid prototyping and stakeholder buy-in
5. Streamlined testing and deployment

We hope you enjoy the column.  Oh, and feel free to come back here and give us your thoughts.

Talent Spotting - Look Beyond the Resume

Finding great talent "is like finding a needle in a stack of needles."  I love the "understated" style of Harry Joiner at Marketing Headhunter.

The reality:  There are just too many sources for available for managers to locate talent...and then, there is a lot of chaff among the wheat.

The problem:  How do I find pools of great talent and how do I know if that talent is really great?

The bigger problem:  Most all managers have done it, and I know I have done it.  In the absence of the right talent, we hire a "body" to fill the role.  Resist the urge to simply fill the role.  This almost always leads to bigger problems for you, the person you hire, and the organization.

The solution:  The solution comes in two parts.  First, get to a short list of candidates based on knowledge independent of resumes, blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.  The method that has been most successful for me is to reach out to my trusted network and let them know the type of person I am looking for.  Recommendations and referrals from a trusted network tend to be solid fits.  Depending on the urgency and level of your need, you can also engage professionals...like Harry.

Next, after you get a short list, drill down beyond the resume to get to the internal essence that drives the talented individual.  Last week, Sam Decker wrote a little post on looking beyond the resume to find competent, curious, creative and entrepreneurial people.  Sam created a tidy package, but I tend to look at some elements beyond his list.  Here is a short list of items I like to assess:

• Can the person be trusted?  Will the person do what he/she says?  Integrity?
• What level of passion does the person hold regarding convictions and ideas?
• Does the person strive for excellence (not necessarily perfection)?  What are the key motivators?
• Does the person know how "to get things done"?  How do he/she do it?  Does the approach build up and edify or leave bodies in the wake?
• Is the person a problem-solver or a role-filler?
• Does the person understand how to gain leverage from cooperation?  Psychology?
• Does the person appreciate a system?  What is the level of understanding regarding interdependence.  Does the person know how to optimize the system, not just the parts?
• Is the person coachable?  Do they know how to learn, then apply that learning?
• How will the person react to problems that cannot be solve with a linear approach?
• Do the person understand the impact of variation?

These items are not in any particular order - except trust.  Trust trumps everything.

Happy Talent Spotting!

Best Consulting Firms to Work for...

 

As many of you may know, I recently left a very long "industry-side" career in marketing and operations management to join the consulting ranks at North Highland.  Last week, I received tremendous validation for this decision as North Highland was ranked #4 in Consulting Magazine "Best Firms to Work for in 2007".  In a year when the competition for this honor is more difficult, North Highland is sitting with the classic consulting powerhouses of Bain, BCG and McKinsey.  Wow!

It was a long and difficult decision to leave a career path I have been cultivating since becoming a marketing major at Texas A&M, but one that got easier as I discovered and learned more about North Highland.  As I became more "mature" in my career, I found that I truly enjoyed and had passion for helping people and organizations overcome problems that hindered performance.  Incidentally, this is also why I started this blog. 

What I found in North Highland was a company purpose and a lot of mature consultants and leaders that wanted to do the same thing I wanted to do.  In addition to a culture that supports a holistic approach to work and life (i.e. no travel, employee owned, eat dinner with the family, go to the school play, etc.), there is an overriding passion to change the way people think about consulting.  No consulting glitz or glamor.  Simply mature, very real, highly skilled people with a strong desire to help companies and help people. 

I spoke with Dan Reardon a few weeks ago on how strategic decisions get made at North Highland.  He stressed the importance of assessing decisions through the lens of culture impact.  Growth is good, but not at the expense of culture...not at the expense of what makes us who we are.  Great effort has been made to build the North Highland caring, relationship-based culture; and great care is being taken to ensure its sustainability...something far too many leaders forget as their companies enter high growth phases.

Earlier tonight, I had to help my daughter with kindergarten project to "describe the type of work her parents do".  How do I describe my new job as a consultant?  Wow!  There are some great $50 words that are often used to describe consulting (most of which end in "ize") -- I really wanted to impress the 5-year olds!  Finally, I went back to North Highland's idea of changing the way people think about consulting and told her "I help sick companies get well".  She said, "Oh, you're a doctor."  In a way, yes.

Congratulations to all the people of North Highland that came before me, and thank you to the current leaders who put their faith and confidence in me to help carry this torch forward.

Facing Conflict

Conflict is part of our lives.  You can try to run from it, but you cannot avoid it.  You can try to hide, but it will find you.

Much of the strife in our personal and work lives is created by trying to avoid conflict.  Rather than embrace the resolution process, we bully (to get our way), we cover up (to save face), we ignore (hoping it will go away), and we appease (trying to make everyone happy).  In the end, the only path to joy in our work and personal lives is to face the conflict and do the hard work of resolution.

While not being prescriptive (there are plenty of books for that), here are some foundations that are essential for true conflict resolution:

• Start with the right attitude.  Begin with the belief that conflict can be resolved to everyone's benefit.  Your attitude is the compass that sets the direction for the conversation.
• Seek to understand.  Don't be too hasty to argue your case.  Too often we immediately go to "I'm right, you're wrong" and seek to win the argument.  Instead spend time exploring perspectives.  Why are certain beliefs held that contribute to the conflict?  What are those beliefs?  How do different experiences create different views of the conflict?  Example: In the corporate world, how do you seek understanding in the ongoing war between marketing and sales?
• Explore yourself.  How are you contributing to the conflict?  Are you trying to fix someone else, when you yourself are broken?
• Seek friendship.  Find areas of commonness to establish friendship, then work resolution from that friendship.  Otherwise, you may create an enemy, escalate the conflict, and end up publicly or legally exposed.
• Be transparent.  The frequency and tenor of conflict can be greatly reduced by simply being transparent in your everyday life so people know you, your beliefs, your perspective, your opinions, and your desires.  Don't play politics.  Don't operate with hidden agendas.
• Keep short accounts.  Accept the fact that you are not perfect and can be wrong.  Admit when you are wrong and ask forgiveness.
• Forgive.  At the same time, you will be wronged and hurt.  Be willing to forgive.  This does not mean that you are a "doormat" - you may need to protect yourself from harmful people.  However, it does mean that you demonstrate grace in trying circumstances.

Above all, be the peacemaker.  Don't run from conflict.  Don't hide.  Engage the resolution process and speak the truth in grace and love.

"Make Your Box Bigger" Opportunities

For those of you in Houston on weekends beginning Sept 8 & 9, Dr. Ed Young at Second Baptist Church is starting a series called "Business by the Book".  This series will take a look at the biblical principles found in some of the leading business books of the day.  If you can't be in Houston, look for the video and audio feeds here.  This should be a great series.

Also, as a follow up to my previous post on the Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman, be sure to sign up for the PMBA member forums.  This looks like a great place to interact and learn from others in the business world.

How big is your box?

I've been there.  You've been there.  There are people there right now.  The always hyped, sometimes glamorous workshop designed to create breakthrough ideas to solve an important business problem.  A room full of flip-charts, Post-It notes, markers, and whiteboards.  A witty facilitator kicks off the meeting with a few logistics for the day, and then turns it over to the sponsor who uses a variety of business cliches to rouse the participants into a frenzied froth of innovative energy. 

"Today more than ever, we are at a critical juncture in the life of our company.  We need to become a leading provider of {your product or service here}.  Our competition..blah, blah, blah....The future of our existence hangs in the balance.  We need to have a paradigm shift, use best practices, and grab the low-hanging fruit...Let's gain some synergy, maximize our leverage and, at the end of the day, be innovative to push the envelope for seamless integration across the enterprise.  Going forward, think win-win.  Focus on the 80% we can impact...." (create your own cliched speech)

Then comes the dreaded phrase, "Let's all think outside the box".  Blank stares.

The problem with "thinking outside the box" is that everyone has a box and each person has a box for a reason.  Each individual's box is the cumulative effect of experiences over a lifetime.  It is individual perspective.  It is the lens through which each person views life, work and the world.  Thinking outside the box is an extremely difficult, daunting, and painful task for most people.

So, what do you do?  Instead of thinking outside the box, work to "make boxes bigger".

How do you make a box bigger?  In the long-term, it is straightforward...more and varied experiences.  From reading different types of books to work assignments in different cultures to employee swaps among strategic partners, the more varied your experiences, the bigger your box will become.  Be a student of the world, soak in the unusual, stimulate your curiosity, and search for new ideas off the beaten path.

In the near-term (e.g. for a workshop or meeting) it is more difficult, but not impossible to expand boxes.  First, you will need to redirect minds away from solving the presenting problem and towards observing the world around them.  Staring at the problem too long will blind people to creative alternatives.  Next, get people to "overlap" their boxes through collective interaction and building on ideas.  Collective action and building on ideas creates a much larger footprint for alternatives.  The best answer is rarely a new idea created from scratch.  More often, it is maturity of an idea that has been built upon by many people and made relevant in ways that are truly valued by those we serve.

How big is your box?  What are 3 things you can do today to start making your box bigger?  What can you do to help others make their box bigger?

Nothing New Under the Sun

Companies are aflutter about innovation, but is anything really new?

• Twitter is the evolution of the telegram...
• Blogs are the evolution of cave drawings...
• Facebook is the evolution of "hanging out with friends"...
• Six Sigma is evolution of quality and statistical methods...
• Bionic is the evolution of the artificial limb...

Yes, there are many "new" technologies or configurations of existing technologies that enable us to live our lives and do our jobs better (according to the outcomes we specify), but nothing is being created that did not already have the potential to be created by man.  There is definitely dependency on previous discoveries and innovations, there is definitely sequencing of discoveries (i.e. Facebook could not have existed before the Internet), but there is nothing new that did not, or does not, have the capability to exist at its appointed time in human history.

Everything that is new today was simply waiting to be discovered.

What does it mean for us in our work and lives?  While there is nothing new under the sun, there is the opportunity to discover, configure, and innovate.  All the tools of innovation are available for everyone.  Everything that you need already exists.  Actively observe your surroundings.  What are people doing?  What problems can you solve today with a little observation, thinking and creativity?

The Problem with Corporate Marketing

Working in a corporate, or centralized, marketing functions can be painful -- particularly in organizations that are matrixed or organizations that separate strategy and execution.  Marketing can become the central function vs. the region, the business unit, or the field office.  Marketing can become less about accomplishing growth for the company and more about managing the politics of the company.  Marketing may spend more time "staring at its belly button" instead of learning and acting in the marketplace.

A key problem tends to be an alignment mismatch between the corporate function engagement model and the level of authority for execution and results.  My friend, Scott Ellis, showed me this matrix a few years ago, and I use it often as lens to begin understanding alignment mismatches and options for corporate functions to deliver value.

{Click image to enlarge}

Ineffective & Frustrated:  Pain is created when corporate marketing operates with an engagement model designed to "push" programs, standards, policies, campaigns, strategies, etc. to localized marketing organizations without the level of authority that makes corporate marketing accountable (e.g. "buck stops here") and responsible (e.g. perform the task, obligation to do the work) for execution and results.

There are two basic ways to alleviate the pain: 

1. Secure accountability and responsibility through a Sr. Executive directive.  This model is efficient and effective, but is often engaged through an effort to centralize the marketing function (i.e. reorganization).  It creates major organizational, structural, and process changes throughout the organization, and may take years to implement effectively.
2. Change the engagement model to one that operates in a consulting, shared service, or center of excellence capacity.  Instead of "pushing" work to internal marketing groups, find their points of pain and help them solve their problems.  Take the lead from the "regional" marketing groups and use the central marketing group to create value through a collaborative and participative process.  This engagement model requires a service delivery mindset for corporate marketing personnel.

Questions for action:  Where is your organization on this matrix?  Is your corporate marketing group ineffective and frustrated?  What actions can you take to become "effective & efficient" or "collaborative & consulting"?

Side note:  This is a simple lens to frame problems and begin understanding how to make a corporate marketing function more effective.  It is a demonstration of the matrix, or the 2x2 diagram at work.  Paul Williams does an excellent job explaining the 2x2 in this post.

Expand with LinkedIn

My "virtual" friend Adam Salamon makes a really good point today in his post "Connect with me on LinkedIn".  Use LinkedIn to grow, not just manage, your network. Sometimes we work really hard to constrain rather than grow our network.  LinkedIn is simply a technology that should help us grow.  The real leg work (yep, the 4 letter word called "work") is actively engaging, investing time and energy in getting to know people.

I will take his lead.  Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn also. 

However, I will make one addition to his comments.  When sending a LinkedIn connection request, don't simply use the canned LinkedIn request wording.  Customize your request to the person.  Especially if you don't know the person, give a couple simple bullets to let him/her know why you want to connect.

The New First Impression

In the "golden oldie" days (circa 1991), first impressions were established with a firm handshake, direct eye contact, a sharp suit, polished shoes, and a resonate "good to meet you".  Your physical first impression may have been preceded by a strong resume or a defined letter of introduction from a colleague.

Today, first impression are established by blogs (posts & comments), Google searches, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Slideshare, MySpace and a host of other social media outlets.  Resumes come later, introductions occur quickly via email or IM.  Face-to-face meeting may never occur, but if they do, you only have 30 seconds to establish yourself.

We have more opportunities to shape and manage our personal brand than ever before, but we also have more opportunities to be careless. From your elevator pitch to your blog to your YouTube videos, take great care to establish and nurture your new first impression.

Personal MBA - A little jewel in a cluttered world of business education

For the longest time, "earning" a traditional MBA seemed to be the "Holy Grail" of the business world.  Get the much coveted MBA from a prestigious school and you've written your ticket to success.  However, I have had the long held belief that most MBA programs simply teach people to be good employees.  Real learning (the type that develops knowledge and realized value) occurs on your own time, on the job, through mentors, and through a continuous flow of reading and application.

So, today, I glanced at my feed from Seth's Blog and found a curious post on The New List.  What I found was a little jewel called the Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman.  I may be the last person to the party on Josh's manifesto (alternate view at ChangeThis), but I am sure glad I found it.  Inspired by Seth, Josh has passionately undertaken a mission to show people how they can develop business knowledge and work effectiveness by investing time and effort in a few of the leading business books today.  He has a great list of books -- many which I have read and are listed on my site, some which I need to get to continue my learning journey!

Hot Topic - Social Media, Micro-Blogging, MicroMedia

There is an interesting stream of consciousness occurring right now regarding social media, micro-blogging, and MicroMedia.  Check out these blogs and posts to get caught up on the action:

• MicroMedia Trendwatch at Web Strategy by Jeremiah
• When Less is More and More is Less at Micro Persuasion by Steve Rubel
• 3 P's of Personal Social Publishing by Peter Kim
• Platform Convergence Enabling the 3 Personas at Marketing Excellence by Eric Kintz

These blogs seem to capture the essence of this technical evolution in digital connectedness. 

At the core of this trend is the more fundamental driver of human connectedness.  We are social and relationship-driven beings.  These relationships and the frequency/depth of our connectedness exists on a continuum.  At one end, we have very deep, "carbon-based", 1-on-1 relationships.  These relationships are our anchors.  At the other end, technology has allowed us to be connected in a lighter way to a much broader community.  Facebook and blogs gives platforms to shape our public personas and create multidimensional channels of communication.  But engaging through each of those platforms take time (away from other endeavors) to develop, grow, and maintain.  Twitter gives us the ability to accelerate our connectedness.

I find myself in general agreement with the blogs listed above.  However, because we are social beings, I believe they missed the 3 R's of social media:

• Real:  As people are searching for greater connectedness, they want reality.  They will want to know you and me.  They will willingly share themselves.  There will be less patience for fakes, frauds, or companies just trying to push another product.
• Relevant:  Technology that speeds the cycle of relationship building is nice, but the content will need to be relevant to peoples lives.  The speed of communicating will lead people to communicate too quickly with thoughts, ideas, and observations that have little meaning to impact, shape, change, or improve lives. 
• Responsible:  Most of us in this realm of social network are striving to build relationships.  Hence, we need to "leave the place better than we found it".  We have an inherent responsibility to work toward improving lives and society.  The speed of communication could lead to carelessness that creates irreparable harm.

Here is a Twitter post (original story) from about the I35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis that demonstrates the 3 R's in action.

What do you think?

Screen Door on a Submarine

Over the course of 17 years in business and marketing, I have seen a variety of training and development programs with aims to improve skills and capabilities for individuals and companies.  However, what I find most perplexing is that training and education is often pursued without an approach to apply new learning.

The pursuit of knowledge without the application of what you learn is a fruitless endeavor.  It creates very little realized value.  Great potential is never realized.

Company programs tend perpetuate this problem with their approach to measuring training performance (i.e. # of people trained or % compliance to required training).  Which is more beneficial, measuring the number of certifications or measuring the changes in behaviors that lead to improvement?

I am a firm believer in constantly learning and improving yourself, your company, and society.  Each day is a new opportunity to learn, grow, and improve.  Here are some practical learning and application guidelines that constantly work to follow:

• Approach learning from the perspective of "how/where I can apply new knowledge", not from the perspective of "what will I learn?"
• Integrate learning and application with everyday life.
• Apply small bits of learning at a time.  Be iterative.  Test.
• Take responsibility for self-development.  Don't count on a company or others.
• Learn through relationships.  Get a mentor.  Be a mentor.
• Read at least 2 books a month (1 profession related, 1 non-fiction/personal/fun).
• Look for adjacencies and how you can apply learning from one area of life to another area of life.
• Be holistic.  Grow as a person, not just as a business professional.
• Be moldable.  Be coachable.

Learning without application is as valuable as a screen door on a submarine.

Engage the Naysayers

Why does it seem to be an accepted norm that initiatives to improve [a company, a process, an organization, etc.] will always experience resistance to change?

As owners and/or employees of organizations, we have a vested interested in the continuous improvement and sustainable profitability of those organizations.  Yet, when everyone should be motivated to bring unity and focus to productive change, naysayers seem to rise to the surface to distract and destroy.  Rather than focus collective energy, individuals resist change because of:

• Human pride
• Desire to retain power over others
• Attempts at self justification

Seth Godin did a glancing blow on this topic as he addressed toxic employees and toxic bosses (those who have trouble working and playing well with others).  In the simple eloquence that is Seth, he neatly described the "me first" attitude that can derail change.  He also commented that great marketers have both humility and confidence.  IMHO, I believe humility nurtures great confidence, and thus great leadership.

If you are leading a change, or even participating in a change activity, you must address the psychology of the individual stakeholders.  As much as you may want to keep the conversation and topics on the business case for change, you must realize that you cannot remove emotion from the conversation.  Very few times will change occur because a strong rational case has been presented.  You must become a student of psychology.  You must deal with the human factor.  Understand individual motivations and develop strategies to engage the naysayers.  Attract them to the change and make them part of the conversation.

Address Both Sides of Change

Leading change involves addressing both physical change and human change.  While physical change deals with processes and technology and human change deals with psychology, the interdependency of these change components can make or break success on a project.  Unfortunately, too many improvement projects focus mostly on the physical change and discount the human factor.  As outlined by Sam Decker, effective change happens before change occurs.  Successful change is critically dependent on a clear plan to engage and shepherd both the human side and the physical side of change.  Miss either side and you will be unbalanced.  Ultimately you will incur great expense to clean up a mess or experience significant failure.

Break away from "not invented here"

 

Uncle Sam wants you -- to invent a miniaturized battery pack for soldiers.

Earlier this month, the Department of Defense Research & Engineering launched a contest for inventors across the U.S. to find a way to reduce the weight of the battery pack a soldier carries on a typical day in the field.  First prize is $1,000,000.  In a related CNN story, retired Army Brig. Gen. James Marks admits "It's a challenge we've had in the military forever."

The DoD is reaching beyond it stable of internal research teams and contractors to inspire creativity and engage non-traditional inventors to solve one of it's ongoing problems.  This contest is evidence the DoD is moving towards the idea of Open Innovation promoted by Henry Chesbrough.

With constrained and reducing R&D budgets, the hyper-accelerated cycles to get new products to market, and the shortened life expectancy of products in market, more businesses need to take the lead from the DoD and open some of their biggest innovation problems to a broader audience of experts.  Unfortunately, companies want to "own" their creations and work so hard to protect intellectual property, but can purchase only a very minute percentage of the knowledge and expertise available in the marketplace.  Break away from the "not invented here" syndrome...it is a sure pathway to innovation stagnation.

My prediction:  The DoD contest will be wildly successful and the solution will far surpass the expectations and criteria.

Strength in Humility

Sam Decker had this post about a Navy Seal yesterday that reminded me of the importance that humility plays in the integrity we carry in our professional and personal lives.  So often in today's world, we work very hard to project a positive image.  The world seems to force us into a mode of constantly "selling" ourselves (actually, there is no coercion from the world, it is simply a choice we make - a topic for a different post).  From interviewing for a new job, to jockeying for position on the corporate ladder, to measuring parenting abilities against our friends, conversations tend to be led with the greatness of achievement and the puffing up of pride, but not with the humility to develop authentic relationships.

"Image is what people think we are.  Integrity is what you really are." (John Maxwell)

How much more powerful would it be to simply be who you are and let your achievements be discovered?

How much more can be achieved through a person who is humble spirit?

Which is more important?  To be "loud" about a little success or to quietly accomplish that which others think is impossible.

Spend some time thinking about the relationships and conversations you have each day.  Which are more rewarding?  The ones where you get constantly bombarded with greatness of an person or the ones that allow you to peer into someone's soul and understand the complete person (failures and all).

The Easy Trap - Chasing the Metric

I am a very goal-oriented, results-driven person.  I like to win.  Hence, I can sometimes be easy prey for the "chasing the metrics" trap...

Yesterday, I caught up with this post on Harry Joiner's Marketing Headhunter blog regarding the different lists that rank blogs - Todd Andrlik's Power 150 and Mack Collier's Viral Garden Top 25 Marketing Blogs.  There are some awesome blogs on these list.  Many of which are in my "People to See" list.  Immediately, my results-driven mind went to "what do I have to do to get on one of those lists?"  I started investigating how each of the list get scored.  What do I need to do to improve my Google PageRank so I can compete with Sam Decker?  What do I need to do to compete with the John Moore at Brand Autopsy?

It took a while (actually a long-time thinking about it, some sleep, then some coffee) before I realized what I was doing.  I fell into the same trap that so many companies and marketing organizations fall into.  I started chasing the metric and mentally moved away from why I started in the first place.  In my mental quest to improve my numbers, I discounted the foundational principals I used to establish this blog. 

I also realized that (for me) blogging is not about competing.  It is about building an interconnected stream of ideas and expertise that can improve the whole.  One blog does not necessarily "win" over another blog...but these lists can create that competition, especially when an industry publication like Advertising Age gets involved.  Now that I have gone through my mental calisthenics, I am happy that Seth reaches 5 gazillion people a day.  Maybe one day Ideas-to-Action will have relevance to that many people.  Until then, I am happy helping the people I touch everyday.

Have you fallen into this trap at work or in your personal life?  How have you defined winning?  What did you do to get back on track when you went off course?

Another Reason I am a Dog Person

A little off the beaten path for me, but I caught this story while getting ready for work this morning:  Oscar the Cat Predicts Patients' Deaths.  Here is another interesting view of day in the life of Oscar.

So, my first thought was "Wow, that is really wild.  This cat can predict time of death more accurately than anyone in the medical profession."  Then I quickly turned to some more "off the wall" (you may think more morbid) thoughts:

• Do the other residents of the nursing home get worried when they see Oscar walking their way?
• What an interesting value proposition for the nursing home.
• Here is a way to reduce the cost of healthcare. 
• Can we train more cats to do this? 
• Will this create a pandemic scare as cats jump on beds and curl up with people who are sick?
• How many cats may die because of the scare it creates?
• I wonder if we can bid for Oscar's services on eBay?

Yes, I had not had any coffee yet.

How to Engage a Mentor

It has been several weeks since my last post.  Wow!  Time flies when you are on vacation.   I'm back, recharged and ready to go. 

While on vacation, we took some long drives to Florida and Arkansas, which gave me a lot of time to think about a variety of things - most of which were fleeting lost on miles of country roads.  But, I kept coming back to the idea of mentoring and how most people don't realize the real value that can be achieved through an effective mentoring relationship.

Why engage mentoring?  The primary reason is for guidance and feedback.  Mentoring gives you the opportunity to take a more active role in shaping your professional future.  While companies may have training and development programs, they no longer help you manage your careers.  Your career is your responsibility.  Some companies may have mentoring programs, but these are often only formalized for the "tip-top" of the talent pool and are structured for succession planning, not for individual professional growth (that is truly your responsibility).

Based on my own success and failures (and observing other's success and failure), here are some simple rules I have put together for mentoring relationship:

Define your objectives. It is critically important that you can clearly articulate what you want to accomplish and develop an understanding of why you want/need a mentor.  Look 3 year, 5 year, and longer objectives.  A mentor relationship has a purpose, it is not just a time to get friendly advice over lunch.

Establish a time frame for the relationship.  Mentoring is a holistic, strategic approach to improve your professional life.  Therefore, you should plan on the relationship lasting from 18 months to 3 years.  Don't expect on an open-ended relationship.  This will likely scare away potential mentors because they will see it as too big a commitment.  At the other end, anything less than 18 months makes it difficult for you to get guidance that will result in strategic improvements.

Identify a mentor.  Start by finding someone you admire.  Someone who will be helpful in achieving your goals.  Someone you enjoy spending time with.  Start with one person, then you can build to 2 to 4 mentors that can help you achieve your goals, as needed.  Choosing someone in your own company is an easy place to start, but don't discount the value someone outside your company can provide.  Look inside your network, in your professional associations, in your church, and in your community organizations.  The mentor should be willing to give you guidance and feedback.  A mentor is not your friend, he/she is your mentor.  Important Note:  Don't choose your boss.  Your boss is your boss, not your mentor.

Formalize the relationship.  Formally ask the person to be your mentor.  This should be done in person not via email, although it is OK to send an email to schedule a meeting (be sure to mention that you want to discuss establishing a mentor relationship in the email).  Schedule time and formally ask the person to be your mentor.  Convey want to accomplish (high-level) and your target time frame for the relationship.  Answer any questions and get a verbal acceptance.  Then target a date for your first meeting.  (Side note:  If they decline, simply say "thank you" and move on.  Don't work to "convince" or "sell" your potential mentor - this moves the relationship down the value scale from the beginning.)

At the first meeting, confirm the logistics and discuss your background.  The more disciplined and prepared you are, the more comfortable the mentor will be and the more value the mentor will place on the relationship.  An agenda is highly recommended to facilitate the conversation.  For logistics be sure to discuss time and place of face-to-face meetings, interim phone calls and email, sacred time, etc.  Prepare a background packet for your mentor including 1) your resume, 2) examples of work, 3) performance appraisals, 4) examples of the problems and challenges you face.  Also, be proactive in discussing your personal life. Plan about 1.5 to 2 hours for this meeting.  Combining it with a lunch or early morning over coffee is a good idea. 

Operationalize the relationship.  Regularly schedule face-to-face meetings.  Quarterly meetings with periodic phone calls and emails seem to work best.  Monthly meetings can be difficult to maintain and you will find that you or your mentor may begin pushing meetings off the calendar due to conflicts.  Meetings that occur less often than quarterly do not allow you to develop the depth of relationship where your mentor can get good insight and provide sound counseling.

Stick with strategic topics.  Your mentor relationship is a highly-valued, strategic relationship.  Engage your mentor on the big topics where you need feedback and guidance for the long-haul.  Do not diminish the value of your mentor by engaging tactical feedback (i.e. PowerPoint proofreading).  Don't confuse strategic counseling with peer review or advice from a friend.  If you mentor does not feel he/she is providing strategic value, then the relationship will fall down on the list of priorities and decay quickly.

Follow Up.  Appropriate managed, your mentor will take an active interest in your progress.  Be sure to follow up and let your mentor know a) what happened when you applied specific advice, 2) what else is going in your professional life, 3) what is going on in your personal life.  Remember, your personal life has great impact on your professional life.   

Be Ready for Feedback.  You are engaging this relationship to get feedback and guidance.  Take what the mentor gives you.  Don't argue, defend or explain what you did.  You engaged the mentor to learn from them.  Listen, take notes, reflect, and change.  Take the feedback and improve.

Write Thank You.  Don't just tell them thank you, express it in writing.  Spoken words are fleeting, but a written note can be kept and cherished over time.  Take a few minutes to write a simple and specific thank you card and mail it (yes, the U.S. Postal Service, NOT email).  A little old fashioned, but amazingly powerful.

Since your growth is your responsibility, you will need to take personal accountability to establish, maintain, grow, and end mentoring relationships.  Unfortunately, most people don't understand how to do this.  A person is not your mentor simply because you respect him/her and ask for advice periodically.  A mentor is a person that provides strategic value to your career or your life.  The relationship should be formalized and actively managed by you.  Done right, it will be one of the most powerful and rewarding relationships in your professional life.

Leading with Influence

Brand Autopsy (one of my favorite blog reads) has a little ditty from Wesley Clark on being a leader.  They seem to like the quote, but I find it a little mundane.

Wesley Clark on Leadership:  "Leaders don't boss. (Not if they are good.)  They persuade."

I believe it is more important for leaders to have influence vs. simply persuade.  At first glance, you may say these are the same thing, but they are not.  There are degrees of difference that separate the terms. 

Influence is a capability.  Persuasion is an act.

Influence is the ability to obtain followers.   Persuasion is getting people to do what you want.

To influence, a leader must be able to persuade, but persuasion is just one tool in the arsenal of a leader.  Operating only with persuasion people may follow you only because they have to or they want to.  Both influence and persuasion can be developed and nurtured.

John Maxwell, one of my favorite authors, states "Leadership is influence."  In his book Developing the Leader Within You, he identifies 5 levels of leadership (this is a really good book and I highly encourage you to get it and use it to grow you leadership skills):

1. Position:  People follow you because they have to
2. Permission:  People follow you because they want to
3. Production:  People follow because of what you have done for the organization
4. People Development:  People follow you because of what you have done for them
5. Personhood:  People follow because of who you are and what you represent

Leadership occurs at many levels and in many situations.  We tend to think of leaders in the realm of business and politics, but there are leaders all around us in our families, in our network of friends, and in our social organizations.  Spend some time thinking about people whom you respect and influence you respect.  What are their leadership characteristics?  How is their influence manifested?  What can you learn from them to improve your leadership?

Applying Analytics: Start transformation with a simple measurement & hypothesis to test

Analytics is a hot topic in almost every area of business today.  From marketing's emphasis to show ROI to rigorous analytics in Six Sigma to improve processes, everyone seems to be on the analytics bandwagon.

Personally, I am an analytic person and a true believer in the use of analytics to innovate, transform and improve companies. (Side note, if you are new to the use of analytics or managing analytics in your company, Tom Davenport has a good book you should read - Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning)

However, I have seen analysts and managers across industries go overboard on measurement - the much needed kissing cousin of analytics.  Marching forward with "if you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it" or "we must find the root cause", companies will create a multitude of measures - many which will sit in a report and add no value to understanding the business or solving any problems at hand.

I love this quote from Lord Kelvin (created the Kelvin scale of absolute temperature measurement):

"When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced it to the stage of science."

How do I interpret and apply this quote?

1. Find facts, not opinions.
2. Improvement can start with a simple measurement and a hypothesis to test.
3. You may not have a complete understanding of the situation or how to control it.
4. Knowledge will need to be developed through testing or finding people with detailed knowledge.

Let's look at this in action:

During August of 1854, there was a cholera outbreak in London. At the time, it was commonly accepted that cholera was airborne and people would contract it by breathing mist or vapors.  However, John Snow, a British physician, believed that cholera entered the body through the mouth.  He plotted the cholera cases on location check sheet and found them clustered around the Broad Street water pump.  He had the pump handle removed and the cases of cholera stopped. 

John Snow did not completely understand the bacteria, but was able to stop (i.e. control) the cases of cholera starting with a simple measurement and hypothesis to test.

What can you do today to transform your business with a simple measurement and hypothesis to test?

Do Unto Others

In the past 16 years, I have owned 7 Hondas (4 Accords, 1 CRV, 1 Pilot, 1 Odyssey).  You would think I am loyal to Honda automobiles.  Actually, I am loyal to the service provided by John Eagle Honda...specifically, to the personal attention and service provided by Richard Rainoshek.  Richard takes a personal pride in his work and in the service he provides, one person at a time.  He makes me feel like I am his most important customer, takes time to explain things to me, and always has a friendly word and tone of voice.   I spent time watching him with other customers and he did the same thing with them!  It was awesome to see a "service master" at work.  For the few moments he was working with a customer he gave his full and undivided attention, connected with them personally, and left them with a sense that each one of them was important.

While the tone, processes, and policies of service delivery are set by John Eagle Honda (the company), it is delivered by the individuals that touch customers each day.  Richard lives and delivers service by "The Golden Rule".  It is not about just solving the problem, it is about making people feel important.

Because of the loyalty created by the service I receive at John Eagle Honda, I have influenced at least 4 Honda purchases by my family and friends.  Now, John Eagle Honda services Acuras.  Hmmm, so many choices?

New Growth through Adversity

Adversity is the catalyst for new growth.  Through adversity you develop perseverance and through perseverance, you develop character, and through character, hope.  I would love to take credit for this thought, but it comes from a much more profound source.

How do you handle adversity?  Do you embrace it and grow through it?  Do you shrink and contract into a shell?  Do you lash out and get ready for a fight. Do you overcome the impasses and dead ends?  Are you willing to explore new paths?  Are you negative or hopeful?

Embrace adversity as it comes into your life.  It is your most rich opportunity learn and grow.

Why I Started Blogging

Over the past few weeks since launching the Ideas-to-Action blog, many of my colleagues have contacted me with words of praise and support.  They also have many questions like:  What made you want to start blogging?  How do you have time? Where do you get your ideas from?

I have been happy to answer each person individually, but after reading a couple posts (Pro Bono and Just One Post) on Seth Godin's Blog, I hit myself in the head, said "DUH", and decided to write my comments in my blog.

My objectives for this blog were outlined on Day 1, however, my individual motivations were not.  Basically, I wanted to start a blog for the last couple of years, but just never did it.  Was it fear?  Was it laziness?  I really don't know.  I just did not start.  However, I wanted a creative outlet to express ideas and grow professionally; and I wanted help people explore ideas and grow themselves. I had been speaking at conference and working to get published, but craved a more consistent outlet to share, learn, and grow.

Finally, a good friend challenged me just start some thing with a simple post and see where it goes.  So I did.  I decided to build a blog around my professional passion, it took about 5 minutes to get a Typepad blog registered, then a few hours (over a few days) to figure out what I wanted it to look like (they make it really easy).

Then came the hard part...actual content.  What could I write that would have interest.  Timing is everything.  My first column was coming out on BPTrends, so I decided to make it easy and launch my blog with the launch of the column.  Whew!  First major post done...what next?!?!?!  I started observing the business environment closer to see where there were intersections with my list of ideas and hot topics in the marketplace.  Then I just started writing.  It really is that simple!

Where does the time come from?  5 minutes here, 10 minutes there, and hour late a night.  It is amazing, once you get past the initial launch and a few posts, it becomes more natural.

Ultimately, if this blog stays true to it stated aim, I hope it a) gets used as a "pro bono" source of inspiration and information and b) makes me a better business leader, marketer, influencer, and person.

If you have not started blogging.  What is holding you back?  You have great ideas that are ready to be shared and unleashed.  It does not have to be on business.  It can be on anything.  Check out my good friend's blog on his passion.  People want to hear you.  I want to hear you.  Just start.   One post at a time.

Is Six Sigma Falling from Grace?

From my recent post, you might think I am an antagonist to Six Sigma.  Actually, I am not.  However, I do believe in the pragmatic use and integration of methods and tools to achieve greater outcomes.  Business Week just published two articles that are very antagonistic towards Six Sigma.  Check out "At 3M, A Struggle Between Efficiency And Creativity" and "Six Sigma: So Yesterday?".  Interesting, a few high profile "failures" and people are willing to put a bullet in it.  So, I find myself asking, is Six Sigma falling from grace, or is it simply maturing and will become one methodology in an arsenal of formal approaches for improving processes?  Will it keep its identity or will it be morphed into something else?

Last April, I took the pulse of BPM and process improvement practitioners at the Shared Insights BPM Conference.  The informal feedback I received was that people are tired of hearing about Six Sigma and think it has probably peaked as the methodology du jour.  The focus is turning toward broader business process management, inclusive of business strategy, technology enablers, and operational efficiency.

In the debate about Six Sigma, what we tend to forget is that it became the "rock star" of process improvement when Jack Welch drove it throughout GE, but what works at GE will not necessarily work at other companies.  Six Sigma is an "easy" choice for business leaders because of its heralded success at GE and other companies.  But errors in judgment occur when leaders think they can simply install Six Sigma in their company - which probably has different customers, different markets, different strategies, different purposes, different cultures, different people, and different processes than GE or Motorola.

Some things for process improvement practitioners to consider:

• Don't get stuck on one methodology - continuously learn and integrate tools, methods, and skills into your portfolio.
• Don't lead with methodology.  First understand the situation and what you are trying to accomplish, then configure an approach that will help you find a solution.
• If you learn new information that alters the problem definition, don't force fit a bad solution simply because you have a project plan and time line.  Do what is right, not what is expeditious.
• Transfer knowledge, help people grow and become self sustaining.

To leaders considering Six Sigma or some other methodology, here are my 2 cents:

• You must find the balance between operational efficiency and innovative growth.  Too much focus on one side of the ship will tip it over and leverage either near-term performance or long-term sustainability.
• Any program legalistically applied will ultimately collapse under its own weight.
• If you are measuring the number of people trained, you are probably measuring the wrong thing.
• Methods and frameworks exist to make the work more efficient.
• People will adopt new ways of doing work, if it delivers perceived incremental value over the way they do it today.
• To create sustainability, any program, method, or framework must become part of the culture of the company.
• Take responsibility and active participation in results.  Don't create a "shadow management" structure to manage the improvement project portfolio.

The bottom line is spend time understanding what your organization needs to accelerate process improvement, and then design, customize, or adopt the right approach.

Will Six Sigma Kill Marketing?

Six Sigma has reached the world of sales and marketing with full force.  Everywhere you turn, you will find books, articles, conferences and seminars focused on implementing Six Sigma in sales and marketing.  It may be easy for marketing leaders to read the press and consider Six Sigma as the "savior" for marketing effectiveness and efficiency.  However, as a marketer and process excellence practitioner, I firmly believe marketing leaders should approach the Six Sigma bandwagon with a healthy dose of pragmatism about what it can and cannot do for marketing.

Let's explore some of the characteristics of Six Sigma:

First, marketers should understand that Six Sigma was created and exists as a process improvement methodology designed to reduce variation and defects in existing processes.  This may be highly applicable to higher volume, repeating processes in CRM, lead management, customer data management, or some e-business processes.  But, it is probably an over-engineered method for improving PR, advertising or other marketing communications.

Second, Six Sigma has heavy utilization of enumerative statistics to assess variation in processes.  Market researchers are often experts in enumerative statistics - things like ANOVA, t-tests, descriptive stats, etc.  The purpose of enumerative studies is to provide an estimation of the results (i.e. significant or not significant).  The problem is that marketers must make predictions about the future and enumerative statistics provide no degree of belief about prediction of future performance.  Marketers must use information as a rational basis for decisions and actions.  Enumerative studies focus on the judgment of results.  On the other hand, analytic studies are designed to support decision around actions to be taken on a system or process to improve performance.  Enumerative studies are not predictive, analytic studies are predictive.  It is the difference between analyzing a pond vs analyzing a roaring river.  I venture to guess most of our businesses are dynamic like roaring rivers, not static like ponds.

Third, the DMAIC project roadmap is often deployed as a linear approach to process improvement.  Many of the challenges marketers face could be considered "wicked problems" (check out this excellent paper on wicked problems by Jeff Conklin).  With "wicked problems", attempts to create a solution changes the understanding of the problem.  The complexity of finding & tapping new markets, creating new channels of customer interaction, and bringing innovative products to life are great examples of "wicked problems".  A linear approach will ultimately deliver suboptimal results because the solution is based on the original problem definition (it does now allow for altering the definition based on new knowledge).  What marketers need is a more "multi-lateral" approach that utilizes constant feedback, learning, and small-scale testing that improves the probability that changes or innovations will result in improvement and incremental value.

Now, will Six Sigma kill marketing?  Given the primary purpose for Six Sigma, it has the potential to squelch innovation and creativity if it is applied legalistically and as the "silver bullet" solution to solve marketing's problems.  As with any methodology, Six Sigma is only as good as its ability deliver the same or better results with greater efficiency.   The bottom line is the potential exist for Six Sigma, or any methodology, to reduce the effectiveness of marketing.  To reduce this potential, marketing leaders should ensure any process improvement methodology:

• Improves the ability to achieve desired outcomes without creating extra burden for getting work done.
• Supports and integrates with the culture of your company and marketing organization.
• Provides the appropriate information to make predictions about the future and a rational basis for action.
• Becomes a sustainable way of doing business that helps to grow the company and create new value.

Here are some warning signs to watch for when implementing Six Sigma in marketing:

• Are you measuring people trained vs. growth outcomes (i.e. revenue, profitability, market penetration, customer acquisition & retention, product innovation, etc.)
• Are marketers complaining about the new method being "too burdensome or too heavy"?  Does it get in their way of doing their work?
• Have your marketers become too internally focused and less focused on markets and customers?
• Have you created a "shadow management" structure to track and report on the outcome of Six Sigma projects?  In other words, shouldn't improvement be part of your ongoing operating model?

Marketing as a discipline was effective before Six Sigma and will be effective after Six Sigma goes to the methodology graveyard.  As a marketing leader, the question you will need to answer is "how can I use the appropriate elements of Six Sigma to improve the ability to create value for our customers and my company?"

The Power of a Passionate Consumer

Call it what you want - Word of Mouth, Buzz, Consumer-Generate Media, Social Networking, or User-Generated Content - there may be nothing more powerful than the testimony of a passionate consumer.

Last November, my wife (in tears) called me to let me know about a video a friend has just emailed her.  The kcmillerfamily posted this video on YouTube to let parents know about the importance of a 5-point harness car seat.  The powerful video is a tribute to their son, Kyle, who was killed in a car crash while sitting in a seat belt booster (not a 5-point harness).  In the video, they claim seat belts are known to fail and a 5-point harness would have saved their son; they specifically identified the Britax Regent as the car seat to buy.  We had just moved our child to a seat belt booster, so that afternoon we went straight to Babies R Us to buy a Britax Regent (price did not matter).  They were sold out and the sales staff commented "you must have seen that video".  We tried USA Baby.  Same response.  We check on-line stores.  Everyone was sold out of the Britax Regent - and every retailer knew about the video.  Finally, we called Britax.  The person we spoke to said the video had taken them by surprise and they would be out of stock for at least 4 to 5 months.  Britax was not prepared to respond to the positive buzz in the marketplace.

Why was the Miller family video so powerful?

1. It has high perceived legitimacy.  With its raw, intense emotion, the legitimacy of the video was never in question.  People even reached out to the family through caring and thankful comments on YouTube.  The Miller family's emotion broke through the Internet clutter and disengenuous marketing efforts to establish a real and honest conversation with parents of toddlers.
2. The important child-safety message generated a high propensity to share.  Could you really be a good friend if you did not share this safety message with your friends?  On YouTube, there have been 1,969,427 views and 1,304 comments since October 26.  This video is one of the top (#29?) videos viewed in the People & Blogs category.
3. The video drove viewers to take immediate action to purchase a Britax Regent for their toddler.  After viewing the video, what loving parent could justify not purchasing that car seat?  Viewers are called to action at 3:17 into the video, "The investments you make TODAY are the only thing that will be there to save your child when an accident happens."  Thus, every retailer and online merchant was out-of-stock for at least 4 months.

While perceived legitimacy is table stakes, high propensity to share and the drive to take immediate action are essential for Word of Mouth to have dramatic impact, good or bad, on a company. 

Some things to consider for your company:

• Don't fool yourself and think you can control it.  The consumer is in control - and will be in more control in the future.  Make plans and be prepared for it.
• Consumers are wielding ever increasing power to shape a brand, message, and customer experience.  How engaged are you in actively monitoring consumers and understanding the "buzz" in the marketplace?  Do you have "listening posts" on the web that constantly gather feedback and input?
• Agile processes should be in place that can respond quickly to changes brought on by a single customer.  How would your supply chain and manufacturing react to product demand similar to Britax?  Would a run on your product take you by surprise?  Do you have alternatives in place to engage highly motivated consumers…especially if you cannot fill their demand?   Can your company respond as an integrated system, or do you simple let PR handle consumer comments?

The story continues...The Miller family established a foundation to spread the word about the importance of 5-point harness car seats.  They take donations to help families that cannot afford to purchase these seats on their own.  The life of Hamilton Duncan was saved because his parents viewed the video and took action.

Britax Regent is now in stock.  We own a Britax Decathlon and will buy a Britax Regent soon.

Our hearts, prayers, and thanks go out to the Miller family.

Innovation - Creating New Value with Ease and Grace

What an exciting day!  Today, Clay Richardson (Project Performance Corporation) and I launched a new column called "Business Innovation - A Balanced Approach" in the BPTrends Monthly Newsletter.  We hope this column motivates people to learn more about innovation and take action to guide it in their companies.  Over the next year or so, we plan to explore business innovation concepts and approaches, and connect people to generate dialog in the business community.  We need your feedback to help us shape the direction of the column.  Please go to www.bptrends.com and download our new column, then come back here and let us know what you think.

In our first installation of the column, "Creating New Value with Ease and Grace", we begin a discussion on the following three intertwined concepts imperative to understanding and guiding innovation:

1. Creating new value in untapped opportunities
2. Improving jobs and outcomes that customers are trying to accomplish
3. Achieving business agility through discipline in the innovation process

business innovation, business, marketing, bpm, customer experience, blue ocean, voice of the customer, process management, six sigma, process innovation, business strategy

Welcome to Day 1 of Victor Howard's "Ideas-to-Action" Blog

Welcome to Day 1 of Victor Howard's "Ideas-to-Action" blog!  Whether you meant to find this blog or found it by accident, thank you for taking the time to stop by for it's first day live.  I hope you find the content interesting and relevant, and that you will become an active reader and commenter on "Ideas-to-Action".

Below are a few tidbits to describe what I hope to accomplish for the life of "Ideas-to-Action"...

What will be posted on the blog?
I plan to post thoughts, ideas, articles, insights, links, and observations about marketing, customer-centricity, customer experience & engagement, measurement & analytics, operations, business process management & improvement, and business innovation that ignite the desire for readers to develop more knowledge, discover new ideas and take action to improve their businesses and lives...but I may take periodic creative license if I find something else interesting or "get a burr under my saddle". Sometimes I will be serious, sometimes light-hearted, but, at a minimum, I hope to be relevant more often than not, without taking myself too seriously.

Why is this blog called "Ideas-to-Action"?
"Idea-to-action" is the process of discovering, integrating, and implementing new ideas in an organization, resulting in positive change and business improvement.  It is more than a particular method, and how it is done may be unique to an individual or to an organization.  But, for continuing success and sustainability, it is imperative to identify and integrate new ideas into organizations to bring about change and deliver valued outcomes.  Most of my career has been spent championing and implementing new ideas to deliver business, marketing, and customer improvement - I guess you could call it one of my fundamental passions in business.

What is the aim of this blog?
My desired outcome for this blog is that you get inspired to find new ideas, make them relevant for your company (or life), and take action to make them reality.  Along the way, I hope we can explore some interesting ideas, generate some dialog, and build a community to connect people with experience.

Plan to Learn...
I have a basic plan (and high hopes) for this the "Ideas-to-Action" blog, but will be learning with each post, comment, and TrackBack...my own set of PDSA cycles to ensure relevancy to the community.  Learning will not occur without feedback.  I appreciate all comments and feedback.

Disclaimer...
This blog reflects my professional passions, opinions, and experiences and does not reflect the opinions of my former, current, or future employers.