Post 539 - Sachin Agarwal learned a lot about Apple's management style during his days as an engineer. He worked at the company for six years, before leaving to start the simple blogging platform, Posterous. When he left, he made sure to take a few important management lessons with him, and these have helped to make Posterous successful as well. Here are some of Sachin's management lessons:
- Apple is completely run by its engineers. It doesn't have a lot of product management. Most of the project teams are really small, and they’re all driven by the engineers. On top of that, most of the managers are engineers as well, not product people or MBAs. That means that the people overseeing projects understand the technology, what's necessary for the project to succeed, and can really relate to the needs of their team members.
- Because most of the managers have strong engineering backgrounds, there isn't a big division between product managers and 'code monkeys.' There's a lot of respect between the two tiers.
- If employees use a product and find an issue that bothers them, they have the freedom to go and fix it without having to deal with layers of bureaucracy to get approval. All projects are driven by long-term goals, but the best ideas come from the engineers acting on their own initiative.
- Management really challenges people by giving them tasks that are a little beyond their current capabilities. So they learn quickly and many get to manage projects within six months of starting employment. Apple is really good at developing their employees, and giving them the skills they need to rise up within the company.
- Apple requires absolute deadlines, and they never miss them. It doesn’t ship products that aren’t of 'Apple quality,' even if that means cutting something that doesn't make it in time. Especially at a startup, it's easy to keep building and never launch anything. It's better to stick to deadlines and ship, then iterate later.
- Apple doesn’t believe in playing the "feature game" with its products. The company focuses more on its goals for its own products, rather than comparing itself to competitors' and trying to outdo them on the same levels. That mission is deeply ingrained in the culture. Employees aren't focusing on copying what the competition is doing – instead, they're driven to innovate and come up with products that challenge the status quo.
- The people who work at Apple really, really want to be there. That enthusiasm is a key element of the hiring process. Management looks to attract people who are really passionate about the company, its products, and its overall style.
- Apple puts a huge emphasis on work/life balance. Employees are expected to work hard, but the company lets then enjoy their time off on their own. From excellent healthcare to generous office holidays around Christmas and Thanksgiving, people love the type of environment the company provides for its employees.
- Apple keeps winning because it's a giant startup. From its lack of bureaucracy within projects, to its engineer-focused culture, to its emphasis on passionate and loyal employees, the huge company has maintained the corporate culture of its startup days. And that culture is a huge part of what makes it so successful - and, not surprisingly, a good place to work.
Showing posts with label Leadership. Reinventing management.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leadership. Reinventing management.. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Understanding how a company grows.
Post 527 - In the beginning, the company is just an idea. A need or opportunity has been identified and initial discussions about the idea are filled with enthusiasm and high expectations. The focus is on the future and the air is full of “convincing talk.”
Infancy.
Here, the initial steps have been taken. The idea has become a reality and now requires time and resources to bring it to life. The emphasis is on making things happen, selling and producing results. Each day brings new challenges. There’s little planning and few formal systems. Energy is high, consistency is low, and firefighting is a way of life.
Go-Go.
The company has learned to produce results and is beginning to expand its sense of what it can do. A new product here, a new market there, it sees opportunity around every corner. Bigger is better and nothing seems out of reach. However, rapid expansion brings risk and vulnerability. The company is so optimistic and confident in its ability that it often takes on more than it can handle and constant expansion creates continual crises. People are spread too thin. Standards become lax and excellent performance is sometimes compromised.
Adolescent.
Too much is promised. Too many projects are started, and mistakes are made. Confusion and conflict between people, departments and cliques often characterize the company at this stage. Leaders aren’t always in agreement on direction or on the risks that should be taken. Entrepreneurs are often at odds with their more conservative colleagues. Teamwork suffers. Rapid expansion can lead to a loss of focus, confusion about the mission of the company, the markets it serves, and how it should be organized. To get under control, the company moves into a period of rethinking, consolidation and reorganization. Here, the firm is born again as an entity separate from the founder.
Prime.
Here, there’s a strong, shared sense of strategy, purpose and achievement. Performance is generally predictable and processes are continuously improved. Challenges are faced and resolved efficiently and effectively. The culture is one of open communication, honesty and accountability with a norm of high-performance. Reward and recognition systems are aligned with the company’s strategy and culture. The inherent danger in this phase is complacency. Finding and developing enough capable and competent managers for new growth is often a problem. The biggest challenge for organizations in their Prime is to be able to stay there.
Stable.
When a company ceases to stretch for excellence, complacency sets in as the leaders slow down and become comfortable. Aspirations for growth and improvement begin to fade. This is the first stage in the aging process and it’s difficult to notice because the changes are very small and are spread over a considerable period of time. The company’s still profitable, and may still be viewed as an industry leader but it’s losing its energy. Honest criticism is less tolerable as politics becomes more prevalent. There’s more focus on how things are done rather than what’s actually being done. The emphasis is on activities rather than on results. The company no longer goes after what it wants; instead, it settles for what it can get.
Aristocracy.
As the drive to produce results declines, it’s replaced by a more easy-going attitude, including a tolerance for poor performance, and an culture of “don’t make waves.” The aristocratic company may still be profitable and have a good balance sheet. However, the most common behavior is denial about problems, and denial that customers aren’t as satisfied even though fewer come back each year. The drive for profit now focuses on reducing costs, or raising prices. This is the beginning of a decline.
Early Bureaucracy.
If the company doesn’t recognize these symptoms and makes no effort to re-energize itself, it'll continue to decline. When results worsen, complete denial is no longer possible. People begin talking openly about “the problems” and try to identify who’s responsible for them. Eventually, scapegoats are found, the culprits are removed, and the management team rejoices. However, because the problems are systemic, the removal of a couple of people isn’t the answer and soon the witch-hunt begins again. As people turn inward and point fingers, they turn their backs on customers. Service levels fall. Customers complain. After this point, the company generally self-destructs unless there’s an immediate and significant effort to turn the business around.
Bureaucracy.
If the declining company is big and essential to the nation’s economy, the government intervenes, driving it into full-fledged bureaucracy. When this happens, employees focusing on form rather than function, paper work abounds and customers are left crying in the wilderness.
Knowing where a company is in its life cycle helps you to understand and put its problems in perspective. It also helps to set priorities for avoiding and solving problems and for knowing what to change.
Now, answer the following three questions:
1. Where is your company in its life cycle?
2. What does it need to focus on to continue its drive to Prime?
3. What's your role in making this happen?
Infancy.
Here, the initial steps have been taken. The idea has become a reality and now requires time and resources to bring it to life. The emphasis is on making things happen, selling and producing results. Each day brings new challenges. There’s little planning and few formal systems. Energy is high, consistency is low, and firefighting is a way of life.
Go-Go.
The company has learned to produce results and is beginning to expand its sense of what it can do. A new product here, a new market there, it sees opportunity around every corner. Bigger is better and nothing seems out of reach. However, rapid expansion brings risk and vulnerability. The company is so optimistic and confident in its ability that it often takes on more than it can handle and constant expansion creates continual crises. People are spread too thin. Standards become lax and excellent performance is sometimes compromised.
Adolescent.
Too much is promised. Too many projects are started, and mistakes are made. Confusion and conflict between people, departments and cliques often characterize the company at this stage. Leaders aren’t always in agreement on direction or on the risks that should be taken. Entrepreneurs are often at odds with their more conservative colleagues. Teamwork suffers. Rapid expansion can lead to a loss of focus, confusion about the mission of the company, the markets it serves, and how it should be organized. To get under control, the company moves into a period of rethinking, consolidation and reorganization. Here, the firm is born again as an entity separate from the founder.
Prime.
Here, there’s a strong, shared sense of strategy, purpose and achievement. Performance is generally predictable and processes are continuously improved. Challenges are faced and resolved efficiently and effectively. The culture is one of open communication, honesty and accountability with a norm of high-performance. Reward and recognition systems are aligned with the company’s strategy and culture. The inherent danger in this phase is complacency. Finding and developing enough capable and competent managers for new growth is often a problem. The biggest challenge for organizations in their Prime is to be able to stay there.
Stable.
When a company ceases to stretch for excellence, complacency sets in as the leaders slow down and become comfortable. Aspirations for growth and improvement begin to fade. This is the first stage in the aging process and it’s difficult to notice because the changes are very small and are spread over a considerable period of time. The company’s still profitable, and may still be viewed as an industry leader but it’s losing its energy. Honest criticism is less tolerable as politics becomes more prevalent. There’s more focus on how things are done rather than what’s actually being done. The emphasis is on activities rather than on results. The company no longer goes after what it wants; instead, it settles for what it can get.
Aristocracy.
As the drive to produce results declines, it’s replaced by a more easy-going attitude, including a tolerance for poor performance, and an culture of “don’t make waves.” The aristocratic company may still be profitable and have a good balance sheet. However, the most common behavior is denial about problems, and denial that customers aren’t as satisfied even though fewer come back each year. The drive for profit now focuses on reducing costs, or raising prices. This is the beginning of a decline.
Early Bureaucracy.
If the company doesn’t recognize these symptoms and makes no effort to re-energize itself, it'll continue to decline. When results worsen, complete denial is no longer possible. People begin talking openly about “the problems” and try to identify who’s responsible for them. Eventually, scapegoats are found, the culprits are removed, and the management team rejoices. However, because the problems are systemic, the removal of a couple of people isn’t the answer and soon the witch-hunt begins again. As people turn inward and point fingers, they turn their backs on customers. Service levels fall. Customers complain. After this point, the company generally self-destructs unless there’s an immediate and significant effort to turn the business around.
Bureaucracy.
If the declining company is big and essential to the nation’s economy, the government intervenes, driving it into full-fledged bureaucracy. When this happens, employees focusing on form rather than function, paper work abounds and customers are left crying in the wilderness.
Knowing where a company is in its life cycle helps you to understand and put its problems in perspective. It also helps to set priorities for avoiding and solving problems and for knowing what to change.
Now, answer the following three questions:
1. Where is your company in its life cycle?
2. What does it need to focus on to continue its drive to Prime?
3. What's your role in making this happen?
Thursday, June 10, 2010
How to be more persuasive.
Post 503 - The authors of Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive, share these top five ways to increase your influence and persuasiveness with others:
- Be the first to give.
Studies show that we’re more easily persuaded by people who’ve done something for us first. We’re more likely to help colleagues with their projects if they’ve helped us with ours in the past. And personalized requests are the most persuasive of all. When researchers randomly sent out surveys, they were able to double the response rate when they personalized the requests by including a handwritten note with each one.
- Don’t offer too many choices.
Too many choices often frustrate people whether it’s the number of products you offer or the number of benefit plans you allow employees to choose from. For example, companies offering a small number of retirement plans have far greater enrollment than similar companies that offer a large number of plans.
- Speak against your self-interest.
Trust is a critical component to persuasion. The surest way to be seen to be honest is to admit to a small weakness in your argument, product or business immediately before presenting the strongest positive argument for your product or service.
- Losses are more persuasive than gains.
Instead of telling your audience what they stand to gain from taking your advice or buying your product, research shows that people are more often persuaded if you tell them what they stand to lose if they don’t take your advice or buy your product.
- Let people feel they’re already making progress toward a goal.
A car wash offering a loyalty card nearly doubled customer retention by changing their offer from “Buy eight washes, get one free” to “Buy 10 washes, get one free - and we’ll start you off by crediting you with two washes.”
Robert Cialdini's six universal principles of social influence are very similar:
- Reciprocation.
We feel obligated to return favors performed for us.
- Authority.
We look to experts to show us the way.
- Commitment/consistency.
We want to act consistently with our commitments and values.
- Scarcity.
The less available the resource, the more we want it.
- Liking.
The more we like someone, the more we want to say yes to them.
- Social proof.
We look to what others do to guide our behavior.
Some people have the ability to convince the undecided and others don't. However, persuasion isn’t just a skill that a chosen few are born with. Researchers have developed rules and guidelines for moving people in your direction and learning about these can help you become a more effective influencer.
Finally, here's what Napoleon Hill has to say on this subject.
"Your view of yourself will greatly influence how others perceive you. If you are a confident, cheerful, positive person, your co-workers, friends, and family will be attracted to your personality. If you are unhappy, negative, and always complaining about your situation, others will be repelled. Even when at times you don't feel very happy, by forcing yourself to behave in a positive fashion, you will find that you soon feel genuinely upbeat, because your subconscious mind doesn't know the difference between an artificial emotion and the real thing. When you behave positively, you will positively influence everyone around you-including yourself."
- Be the first to give.
Studies show that we’re more easily persuaded by people who’ve done something for us first. We’re more likely to help colleagues with their projects if they’ve helped us with ours in the past. And personalized requests are the most persuasive of all. When researchers randomly sent out surveys, they were able to double the response rate when they personalized the requests by including a handwritten note with each one.
- Don’t offer too many choices.
Too many choices often frustrate people whether it’s the number of products you offer or the number of benefit plans you allow employees to choose from. For example, companies offering a small number of retirement plans have far greater enrollment than similar companies that offer a large number of plans.
- Speak against your self-interest.
Trust is a critical component to persuasion. The surest way to be seen to be honest is to admit to a small weakness in your argument, product or business immediately before presenting the strongest positive argument for your product or service.
- Losses are more persuasive than gains.
Instead of telling your audience what they stand to gain from taking your advice or buying your product, research shows that people are more often persuaded if you tell them what they stand to lose if they don’t take your advice or buy your product.
- Let people feel they’re already making progress toward a goal.
A car wash offering a loyalty card nearly doubled customer retention by changing their offer from “Buy eight washes, get one free” to “Buy 10 washes, get one free - and we’ll start you off by crediting you with two washes.”
Robert Cialdini's six universal principles of social influence are very similar:
- Reciprocation.
We feel obligated to return favors performed for us.
- Authority.
We look to experts to show us the way.
- Commitment/consistency.
We want to act consistently with our commitments and values.
- Scarcity.
The less available the resource, the more we want it.
- Liking.
The more we like someone, the more we want to say yes to them.
- Social proof.
We look to what others do to guide our behavior.
Some people have the ability to convince the undecided and others don't. However, persuasion isn’t just a skill that a chosen few are born with. Researchers have developed rules and guidelines for moving people in your direction and learning about these can help you become a more effective influencer.
Finally, here's what Napoleon Hill has to say on this subject.
"Your view of yourself will greatly influence how others perceive you. If you are a confident, cheerful, positive person, your co-workers, friends, and family will be attracted to your personality. If you are unhappy, negative, and always complaining about your situation, others will be repelled. Even when at times you don't feel very happy, by forcing yourself to behave in a positive fashion, you will find that you soon feel genuinely upbeat, because your subconscious mind doesn't know the difference between an artificial emotion and the real thing. When you behave positively, you will positively influence everyone around you-including yourself."
Thursday, May 27, 2010
How to coach star performers.
Post 497 - Among the people at Bell Labs and its competitors, Kelley and Caplan found that 85 to 90 percent of the extremely talented people hired never rose beyond average when it came to productivity. They also found that the 10 to 15 percent of hires who rose to “star performance” status were eight times more productive than the average or mediocre performers. The key to converting average or mediocre people to star status lies in determining and then coaching their competencies in nine areas. According to a Bell Labs study, here are the nine strategies of highly productive workers:
- Taking initiative.
Star performers go beyond just informing someone of an error, they correct it. The mediocre don’t.
- Networking.
Star performers establish their anticipated needs for outside input prior to beginning a project. The mediocre wait until there’s a need, and then look for help.
- Self-management.
Stars know that self-management goes beyond time management and includes management of effort and knowledge. The mediocre feel that time management is all that’s needed.
- Teamwork effectiveness.
Star performers are comfortable with being either a follower or a leader. The mediocre tend to push too hard for leadership roles.
- Leadership.
Star performers know that small leadership roles are as important as the bigger, more visible ones. The mediocre are often disappointed with smaller, less viable leadership assignments and, as a result, perform at that level while expressing their displeasure.
- Followership.
Star performers are aware of the value of following as well as leading and understand the need to contribute to the leader’s and the team’s performance. The mediocre are often difficult to work with in a team setting and focus more on getting credit for themselves.
- Perspective.
Superior performers are able to see how their immediate work factors into the big picture. The star performer seeks out other view points, like those of the customer, manager or other team members. Mediocre workers often seem to live in a world defined by the length of their own reach. They tend to have difficulty accepting thoughts and ideas from anyone other than themselves.
- Show-and-Tell.
Star performers are master presenters. The mediocre are PowerPoint specialists.
- Organizational savvy.
Star performers understand how they contribute to the overall performance of the firm and are able to navigate through the competing interests of an organization. The mediocre are often perplexed with organization politics and hide behind the mantra of not being a “political person.”
When coaching someone, start by asking four questions:
- What do I need to know about you and your role in order to be helpful?
- What do you need to know about me, and about my role?
- How should we best keep in contact with one another?
- How shall we address obstacles and challenges with one another when they occur?
Look for these three signs that someone is "uncoachable":
- He has no problem. If he doesn't want to change, he won't be able to. Don't waste your time trying to persuade him to see the error of his ways.
- He's in the wrong job. Ask him, "If the company shut down today, would you be relieved, surprised, or sad?" If he says "relieved," help him to figure out what's next. There's no use coaching someone who's truly unhappy about his job.
- Everyone else is the problem. It's impossible to help someone who blames everyone else for his problems. Move on — find someone who's ready to admit his problematic behaviors and accept your help.
Just before his retirement, the late Alabama football coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, observed: “I’m just a plowhand from Arkansas, but I’ve learned how to put and hold a team together. I’ve learned how to lift some individuals up and how to calm others down, until finally they’ve got one heartbeat, together, as a team. To do that, there are just three things I’d ever have to say: If anything went wrong, I did it. If it went semi-good, then we did it. If anything went real good, then you did it! That’s really all it takes to get other people to win for you.”
- Taking initiative.
Star performers go beyond just informing someone of an error, they correct it. The mediocre don’t.
- Networking.
Star performers establish their anticipated needs for outside input prior to beginning a project. The mediocre wait until there’s a need, and then look for help.
- Self-management.
Stars know that self-management goes beyond time management and includes management of effort and knowledge. The mediocre feel that time management is all that’s needed.
- Teamwork effectiveness.
Star performers are comfortable with being either a follower or a leader. The mediocre tend to push too hard for leadership roles.
- Leadership.
Star performers know that small leadership roles are as important as the bigger, more visible ones. The mediocre are often disappointed with smaller, less viable leadership assignments and, as a result, perform at that level while expressing their displeasure.
- Followership.
Star performers are aware of the value of following as well as leading and understand the need to contribute to the leader’s and the team’s performance. The mediocre are often difficult to work with in a team setting and focus more on getting credit for themselves.
- Perspective.
Superior performers are able to see how their immediate work factors into the big picture. The star performer seeks out other view points, like those of the customer, manager or other team members. Mediocre workers often seem to live in a world defined by the length of their own reach. They tend to have difficulty accepting thoughts and ideas from anyone other than themselves.
- Show-and-Tell.
Star performers are master presenters. The mediocre are PowerPoint specialists.
- Organizational savvy.
Star performers understand how they contribute to the overall performance of the firm and are able to navigate through the competing interests of an organization. The mediocre are often perplexed with organization politics and hide behind the mantra of not being a “political person.”
When coaching someone, start by asking four questions:
- What do I need to know about you and your role in order to be helpful?
- What do you need to know about me, and about my role?
- How should we best keep in contact with one another?
- How shall we address obstacles and challenges with one another when they occur?
Look for these three signs that someone is "uncoachable":
- He has no problem. If he doesn't want to change, he won't be able to. Don't waste your time trying to persuade him to see the error of his ways.
- He's in the wrong job. Ask him, "If the company shut down today, would you be relieved, surprised, or sad?" If he says "relieved," help him to figure out what's next. There's no use coaching someone who's truly unhappy about his job.
- Everyone else is the problem. It's impossible to help someone who blames everyone else for his problems. Move on — find someone who's ready to admit his problematic behaviors and accept your help.
Just before his retirement, the late Alabama football coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, observed: “I’m just a plowhand from Arkansas, but I’ve learned how to put and hold a team together. I’ve learned how to lift some individuals up and how to calm others down, until finally they’ve got one heartbeat, together, as a team. To do that, there are just three things I’d ever have to say: If anything went wrong, I did it. If it went semi-good, then we did it. If anything went real good, then you did it! That’s really all it takes to get other people to win for you.”
Monday, May 17, 2010
How to deal with dilemmas.
Post 489 - As F. Scott Fitzgerald has pointed out, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” This is the essence of the problem many managers face today when dealing with dilemmas. A dilemma is a pair of apparently contradictory goals both of which are valuable to the organization. These goals are in tension in that moving one goal ‘up’ tends to move the other goal ‘down.’
Many dilemmas are improperly characterized as problems. Geoff Ball and Jerry Talley at Edgewise Consulting suggest that some 25-50% of all organizational conflict is caused by unacknowledged and unmanaged dilemmas. The results is blaming, whining, finger pointing, and threats, but no positive acknowledgement of how these conflicting goals are connected together. So, unmanaged dilemmas fuel interpersonal conflicts and heighten interdepartmental friction. People caught up in dilemmas are likely to feel that some other group in the firm routinely undermines their best efforts. Yet, they’re unaware that their own efforts also often lead to someone else's setback and pain.
People tend to believe they must choose one goal or the other, as if they’re polar opposites. Yet, since both sides of a dilemma are potentially valuable and necessary, it’s a mistake to sacrifice one for the other. For example, what company can continuously avoid longer-term investments in order to assure short-term profits? Or visa-versa?
When dilemmas are managed poorly, some of the costs are:
* Time spent arguing with other departments with no useful outcome.
* Employees feel unappreciated.
* Productivity is reduced because of lowered morale.
* Departments take unilateral action leading to confusion and resentment.
* The company appears disorganized to customers.
* Lost sales and lost referrals.
On the other hand, if dilemmas are managed well, companies experience:
* Synergy of efforts between departments.
* They beat the competition with breakthrough ideas and products.
* There’s high customer satisfaction for quality work delivered on time.
Here are some typical business dilemmas:
- Innovate or Conserve.
If you don’t invest in innovation, current business will eventually decline. However, if you invest too much too soon, this may endanger the continuity of your current business.
- Do It Yourself or Outsource.
Do you handle production by yourself or do you leverage the capability of third parties? Internet marketplaces are successful examples of the latter. Both approaches require different competencies. If you choose to focus on your core business, where could you benefit from outsourcing to third parties?
- Support or Lead.
You could choose to be the leader of the market or you could be happy supporting others. And there are many possibilities for each.
- Cooperate or Compete.
Many companies value teamwork, but they organize people’s activities in a competitive way by setting individual goals and targets. Can you find a way that balances both?
- External or Internal Focus.
This dilemma is present in most organizations. Marketing and sales tend to be externally focused, while IT and administration concentrate on streamlining the company’s internal activities.
- Consumer or Specialized Company.
This dilemma is less important for managers if their context is already set. It’s more important for startup entrepreneurs. Dealing with twenty clients is very different than attracting 20.000 demanding consumers to your business. It’s important to make this choice upfront.
It’s best to be open about the way you manage dilemmas. Therefore, some companies have issued statements that clarify their position in a number of difficult areas to provide guidance in dealing with these situations.
Many dilemmas are improperly characterized as problems. Geoff Ball and Jerry Talley at Edgewise Consulting suggest that some 25-50% of all organizational conflict is caused by unacknowledged and unmanaged dilemmas. The results is blaming, whining, finger pointing, and threats, but no positive acknowledgement of how these conflicting goals are connected together. So, unmanaged dilemmas fuel interpersonal conflicts and heighten interdepartmental friction. People caught up in dilemmas are likely to feel that some other group in the firm routinely undermines their best efforts. Yet, they’re unaware that their own efforts also often lead to someone else's setback and pain.
People tend to believe they must choose one goal or the other, as if they’re polar opposites. Yet, since both sides of a dilemma are potentially valuable and necessary, it’s a mistake to sacrifice one for the other. For example, what company can continuously avoid longer-term investments in order to assure short-term profits? Or visa-versa?
When dilemmas are managed poorly, some of the costs are:
* Time spent arguing with other departments with no useful outcome.
* Employees feel unappreciated.
* Productivity is reduced because of lowered morale.
* Departments take unilateral action leading to confusion and resentment.
* The company appears disorganized to customers.
* Lost sales and lost referrals.
On the other hand, if dilemmas are managed well, companies experience:
* Synergy of efforts between departments.
* They beat the competition with breakthrough ideas and products.
* There’s high customer satisfaction for quality work delivered on time.
Here are some typical business dilemmas:
- Innovate or Conserve.
If you don’t invest in innovation, current business will eventually decline. However, if you invest too much too soon, this may endanger the continuity of your current business.
- Do It Yourself or Outsource.
Do you handle production by yourself or do you leverage the capability of third parties? Internet marketplaces are successful examples of the latter. Both approaches require different competencies. If you choose to focus on your core business, where could you benefit from outsourcing to third parties?
- Support or Lead.
You could choose to be the leader of the market or you could be happy supporting others. And there are many possibilities for each.
- Cooperate or Compete.
Many companies value teamwork, but they organize people’s activities in a competitive way by setting individual goals and targets. Can you find a way that balances both?
- External or Internal Focus.
This dilemma is present in most organizations. Marketing and sales tend to be externally focused, while IT and administration concentrate on streamlining the company’s internal activities.
- Consumer or Specialized Company.
This dilemma is less important for managers if their context is already set. It’s more important for startup entrepreneurs. Dealing with twenty clients is very different than attracting 20.000 demanding consumers to your business. It’s important to make this choice upfront.
It’s best to be open about the way you manage dilemmas. Therefore, some companies have issued statements that clarify their position in a number of difficult areas to provide guidance in dealing with these situations.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Using the principles of social influence.
Post 459 - Robert B. Cialdini lists the following six universal principles of social influence:
- Reciprocation (we feel obligated to return favors performed for us),
- Authority (we look to experts to show us the way),
- Commitment/consistency (we want to act consistently with our commitments and values),
- Scarcity (the less available the resource, the more we want it),
- Liking (the more we like people, the more we want to say yes to them), and
- Social proof (we look to what others do to guide our behavior).
Another way of looking at this is to think of the following seven Cs as proven ways to influence behavior - caring, coaching, correcting, confirming, collaborating, clarifying, and conciliating.
Caring.
Caring is contagious. It develops trust and is the foundation for the remainder of the seven Cs. A few ways to show care and concern in the workplace include: sending get-well cards when employees are out sick, greeting people by their first name and with a handshake, and being available to listen to personal problems.
Coaching.
If people are taught to care, coaching will follow. The most effective coaching involves demonstration and repetition - "show and tell" - through a trial-and-error process. The door is always left open for questioning and feedback. When employees feel supported, they're more open to learn directly and by observation. They also more likely to coach each other.
Correcting.
When people aren’t corrected, and employees realize that supervisors and peers will look the other way, dysfunctional unwritten norms are established and bad behavior continues. Managers and peers must learn how to stop dysfunctional behavior so it doesn’t continue.
Confirming.
When employees are corrected regularly, they need to repeatedly hear words of praise as well when they're observed to be working effectively. Managers need to be "hero-makers." This is also true for supervisors and peers.
Collaborating.
When employees are regularly involved working together, there’s a greater sense of ownership, accomplishment and pride, especially when they’re successful. It follows that they must be given the knowledge they need in order to function as an effective group.
Clarifying.
Goals and objectives should be regularly and clearly communicated as employees are more likely to work for what they've "bought into." Additionally, by clarifying their individual values, they can better align their own behavior with what's really important to them.
Conciliating.
Unresolved conflict is distracting. It interferes with communications and drains individuals and organizations of energy. Strained working relationships lead to a decline in morale and work performance. Conflicts need to be identified and agreements met in order to establish unified direction toward a common goal.
These seven principles need to be continually emphasized so that in time, they become an ingrained practice, a part of the culture. In addition, as Dale Carnegie notes in the opening chapter of How to Win Friends and Influence People: "If you want personal happiness, and if you want to create great relationships, avoid the following three Cs - don't criticize, condemn, or complain."
- Reciprocation (we feel obligated to return favors performed for us),
- Authority (we look to experts to show us the way),
- Commitment/consistency (we want to act consistently with our commitments and values),
- Scarcity (the less available the resource, the more we want it),
- Liking (the more we like people, the more we want to say yes to them), and
- Social proof (we look to what others do to guide our behavior).
Another way of looking at this is to think of the following seven Cs as proven ways to influence behavior - caring, coaching, correcting, confirming, collaborating, clarifying, and conciliating.
Caring.
Caring is contagious. It develops trust and is the foundation for the remainder of the seven Cs. A few ways to show care and concern in the workplace include: sending get-well cards when employees are out sick, greeting people by their first name and with a handshake, and being available to listen to personal problems.
Coaching.
If people are taught to care, coaching will follow. The most effective coaching involves demonstration and repetition - "show and tell" - through a trial-and-error process. The door is always left open for questioning and feedback. When employees feel supported, they're more open to learn directly and by observation. They also more likely to coach each other.
Correcting.
When people aren’t corrected, and employees realize that supervisors and peers will look the other way, dysfunctional unwritten norms are established and bad behavior continues. Managers and peers must learn how to stop dysfunctional behavior so it doesn’t continue.
Confirming.
When employees are corrected regularly, they need to repeatedly hear words of praise as well when they're observed to be working effectively. Managers need to be "hero-makers." This is also true for supervisors and peers.
Collaborating.
When employees are regularly involved working together, there’s a greater sense of ownership, accomplishment and pride, especially when they’re successful. It follows that they must be given the knowledge they need in order to function as an effective group.
Clarifying.
Goals and objectives should be regularly and clearly communicated as employees are more likely to work for what they've "bought into." Additionally, by clarifying their individual values, they can better align their own behavior with what's really important to them.
Conciliating.
Unresolved conflict is distracting. It interferes with communications and drains individuals and organizations of energy. Strained working relationships lead to a decline in morale and work performance. Conflicts need to be identified and agreements met in order to establish unified direction toward a common goal.
These seven principles need to be continually emphasized so that in time, they become an ingrained practice, a part of the culture. In addition, as Dale Carnegie notes in the opening chapter of How to Win Friends and Influence People: "If you want personal happiness, and if you want to create great relationships, avoid the following three Cs - don't criticize, condemn, or complain."
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The importance of developing effective leaders.
Post 450 - President Obama's recent interventions to push the healthcare legislation forward has caused me to pause and reflect anew on the power and the processes of leadership. I was reminded that conflict and disagreement are inevitable, specially when contemplating significant change. And this is usually a good thing - you actually don’t want total buy-in. The only way you’ll get total buy-in is if people think they're not going to have to change their behavior.
When you're running a business, conflict, like any other key business process, has to be managed. You can do this in three ways:
- Acknowledge its importance. Don’t worry if people are upset with each other – they’re supposed to be. That’s what generates new ideas and that's what it’s like to manage change.
- Don’t tolerate personal attacks. There are protocols for the expression of honest disagreement. Teach them and enforce them.
- Provide support by having trained coaches and facilitators available. Encourage people to ask for help: “We’re planning a meeting and we think it could get hairy. Let’s get a good facilitator to design an appropriate process and lead us through it.”
However, always remember you can never sell the soft stuff on its own merits. You have to make the connection to the company’s bottom line.
When you’re developing effective leaders, you’re likely to encounter three pitfalls:
- Pitfall number one: High achievers tend to be mavericks. They’re not patient people. Americans measure and reward individuality. We under-use group measures just as the Japanese over-use them. It’s important to understand that achievers didn’t necessarily get where they are by being patient, by being good team players, by being great listeners.
- Pitfall number two is not having tests to ensure that the people who get to the top can manage in a collaborative way. Make sure that even if people make their numbers, they‘re not going to get promoted unless they have the right values for the culture you want to promote. Here, it’s important to evaluate people using 360-degree appraisals because colleagues usually know a lot about each other, but seldom get a chance to tell.
- Pitfall number three is when senior executives ask those around them to “be like me.” People tend to gravitate to those they feel comfortable with. Philip Wrigley, the longtime owner of the Chicago Cubs, once said that when two people in a business always agree, one of them is unnecessary. Rather than looking for people who will always agree, you have to look for what the situation requires. General Patton may have been a very good choice for storming Berlin, but maybe the person you need by your side on a daily basis isn’t a General Patton. Rather, it’s someone who can make sure the troops are supported and the supplies keep coming.
Although there are fewer managers in today’s downsized world, the importance of leadership never goes away. The old, elitist perspective reserves leadership development for those at or near the top. If managers continue to think in this outmoded way, the people who can really move the business forward won’t have been taught the skills they need to do so.
When you're running a business, conflict, like any other key business process, has to be managed. You can do this in three ways:
- Acknowledge its importance. Don’t worry if people are upset with each other – they’re supposed to be. That’s what generates new ideas and that's what it’s like to manage change.
- Don’t tolerate personal attacks. There are protocols for the expression of honest disagreement. Teach them and enforce them.
- Provide support by having trained coaches and facilitators available. Encourage people to ask for help: “We’re planning a meeting and we think it could get hairy. Let’s get a good facilitator to design an appropriate process and lead us through it.”
However, always remember you can never sell the soft stuff on its own merits. You have to make the connection to the company’s bottom line.
When you’re developing effective leaders, you’re likely to encounter three pitfalls:
- Pitfall number one: High achievers tend to be mavericks. They’re not patient people. Americans measure and reward individuality. We under-use group measures just as the Japanese over-use them. It’s important to understand that achievers didn’t necessarily get where they are by being patient, by being good team players, by being great listeners.
- Pitfall number two is not having tests to ensure that the people who get to the top can manage in a collaborative way. Make sure that even if people make their numbers, they‘re not going to get promoted unless they have the right values for the culture you want to promote. Here, it’s important to evaluate people using 360-degree appraisals because colleagues usually know a lot about each other, but seldom get a chance to tell.
- Pitfall number three is when senior executives ask those around them to “be like me.” People tend to gravitate to those they feel comfortable with. Philip Wrigley, the longtime owner of the Chicago Cubs, once said that when two people in a business always agree, one of them is unnecessary. Rather than looking for people who will always agree, you have to look for what the situation requires. General Patton may have been a very good choice for storming Berlin, but maybe the person you need by your side on a daily basis isn’t a General Patton. Rather, it’s someone who can make sure the troops are supported and the supplies keep coming.
Although there are fewer managers in today’s downsized world, the importance of leadership never goes away. The old, elitist perspective reserves leadership development for those at or near the top. If managers continue to think in this outmoded way, the people who can really move the business forward won’t have been taught the skills they need to do so.
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