Apr 15, 2010 | Leadership, Strategy
These are sometimes used interchangeably, and they should not be, as whilst they go together, they are very different.
Visions may change, values should not, and increasingly, as we are in a world of commodity offerings, and I suspect the long term is going to belong to the few that have a set of core values that drive behavior.
Google to date has managed to keep its essentially commodity offering of search sufficiently differentiated and interesting that it dominates the scene, and is the latest in a very small group of brand names that have become verbs. However, in China, the fastest growing search market, and inevitably the biggest at some point, Google are modest sized players, so their decision to not censor search requests as per the demand of the government and risk being precluded from the market tells us a great deal about the values of the company.
In the long term, this decision, consistent with the Google value of making information freely available to all, will benefit the business, although the short to medium term is likely to be painful financially, and disastrous for their market position in China.
Apr 14, 2010 | Change, Leadership, Management
Deep knowledge is pretty common these days, the facilities to accrue it are readily and freely available, and it is no longer a key differentiator.
However, what is still not common is what has always separated the run of the mill to the standout, organisations with engaging leadership, motivated people, and good judgment.
Judgment comes from a combination of deep knowledge, varied experience, qualitative or spatial skills, analytical skills, and a preparedness to learn from experience. It is primarily a personal quality, but increasingly it is becoming a pre-requisite for an organisation to take on these human qualities via its articulation of purpose, values, and emergent strategy.
A businesses I had some contact with a while ago had deep knowledge, there were PhD’s galore, but the lack of judgment and wide experience had hamstrung their efforts in the face of a changing competitive environment. The changes necessary will be challenging and painful to the people, and their view of their roles, probably not all will make it despite their undoubted knowledge, as the business model must change, and with it the way they create and sustain value.
Knowledge is a pre-requisite for success, but is not a guarantor of success.
Apr 13, 2010 | Leadership, Management, Operations
Getting collaboration when you really need it, when the interaction can add value is usually at the beginning of a project. The closer you get to the completion of the project, the more the parameters tend to be set, it is the detail that changes, a much more mechanical process of executing what has been agreed through the early collaboration stages when things were more flexible and creative.
However, it is often towards the end of the project, particularly when the outlook is positive, that it becomes easier to attract those who may have been useful at the beginning, but whose contribution later will only cause hesitation and changes that result in a slippage of delivery dates for the project.
Of course, the worst “collaboration” is when someone exercises institutional power after the point where it is useful.
Towards the end of a project, it is co-ordination and project management that is needed, not collaboration, which should have happened at the beginning. How often it gets all arse-about!
Mar 30, 2010 | Communication, Leadership, Social Media
How do companies harness the power of social networking to the benefit of their businesses?.
It is simply a fact that employees will go into facebook, twitter, and so on, using company time and resources, rather than trying to stop them, which King Canute found hard to do with the tide, figure out how to harness it.
In many cases, this will be confronting, and require a change of attitude in the executive suite, but employees will rarely publicly dump on their employer, unless it is really deserved, in which case you should thank them for bringing the issue to your attention, not belt them for telling the truth. Employees are always your best advocates, (and conversely, harshest critics)let them advocate!
Here are a few thoughts:
- Encourage employees to post and link back to the companies site
- Provide a forum for their comments, on your intranet, a free newsletter site, or a facebook group location
- Ensure senior management engagement in the process, they are in a position to make the changes called for, but on line, are just another offering commentary, so not as threatening as in the normal course of events
- Reward good suggestions, and follow up on failures that are highlighted, and address the causes, and be transparent about both.
- Engage, motivate and lead them, so the time spent on social sites at work is not sorting out their personal calendar, and reviewing the Saturday night shenanigans, but adding value to the business.
When you are doing all of the above, the time employees spend on the web will be an investment from which you will receive a great return.
Mar 17, 2010 | Communication, Leadership
It is often said, in one way or another, that the key to success is a willingness to fail, because only by taking risks, not accepting the common wisdom or status quo can you be sufficiently different to be have the chance tosucceed.
J.K.Rowling is possibly the most successful author of the last 50 years, not only on her own behalf, but her creation Harry Potter, spawned a whole new genre of stories, and yet, she was for a long time a “failure”
Now she is sharing her experience with Harvard graduates, usually associated with extravagant success in a commencement speech, not to be missed.
Mar 11, 2010 | Leadership, Management
I often see businesses rewarding one behavior, whilst seeking an entirely different one. A Managing Director I worked for many years ago used to bang on about the long term the strategy, and values of the organisation, whilst beating (metaphorically) the daylights out of anyone who missed the monthly budget. Guess what people focused on.
When you align the rewards, and we are not just talking about money here, other things are usually more important, particularly recognition, with the desired outcomes, it is very powerful, but a misalignment is usually destructive.
When I trained my dog, I pushed on his bum and said “sit” when I wanted him to sit, and gave him a doggy biscuit when he sat. The desired outcome and the reward were aligned. Had I said sit, and given him a biscuit when he barked, the behavior outcome would have been different.
People are a bit more complicated that dogs, but you get the message.
The link will take you to a classic article from 1975, that relates stories of situations where one outcome is required, but the reward is for a different outcome. It is as valid today as it was in 1975, and I like the stories.
