…to the world that Gen X and Yers are born into.”
This quote is from the January issue of FastCompany.com addressing the recent leadership changes at Google. In the article, the author uses the leadership arrangement at the search company as an example of a phenomenon he calls “…B-I Leadership—Bi-Generational, Boomer, Gen-X, Gen-Y management.” It also provides a great backdrop for a topic every leader today must understand – generational diversity.
As we look at today’s business landscape we see four generations (and a fifth around the corner) in the workplace. It is in understanding how each generation has a different view of the world and each communicates in unique ways that makes managing the different generations a challenge for today’s leaders. While the Traditionalist (those 65 years old and over) continue in the workforce, their numbers are dwindling, especially as the economy recovers. And while you may have already heard of Generation Z (those just turning 18 years old) they are only now beginning to enter the workforce. For purposes of this commentary, which is Part 1 of a two-part series, we will focus on the other three generations - Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y.
Baby Boomers are the generation represented by those who are now between 47 and 65 years old. As a generation, they were influenced by the Cold War, the civil Rights Movement and the gaffe’s they saw in government such as the Nixon Watergate scandal. As a result, these roughly 76M people value hard work to get ahead, competition, teamwork and face-to-face communications.
The next generation, Generation X is defined as those who are now between 30 and 46 years old. As a generation they were influenced by recessions and high unemployment to the point where they came to value entrepreneurship and creativity. These approximately 46M people also value having greater access to information and feedback than their predecessors.
Generation Y, or Millenials as they are sometimes referred, are between 19 and 29 years old. This is the largest generation of the three totaling just over 80M people by some estimates. Their major influences were technology and growing up with “helicopter parents” a term used to describe parents who managed their every move growing up hovering over them like helicopters. Consequently, as a generation, they value positive reinforcement (lots of it), structure, technology and autonomy.
These generalizations of each generation are just that – generalizations. Leaders must avoid casting too wide a shadow over each demographic themselves lest they become an ineffective leader. However, perceptions prevail in the business (for-profit and non-profit) environment and leaders must deal with them as well. For instance, in recent studies, 63% of Baby Boomers feel “younger people” do not have as strong a work ethic as they do. Additionally, 32% of Generation X believes the “younger generation” lacks a good work ethic, which is a problem. Finally, 13% of Generation Y say the difference in work ethics across generations is a problem.
With this level of disparity in the workplace, leaders must understand what each generation brings to the organization. They must also know how to bridge the gaps between them to achieve the organization’s desired results. How might your own generational perceptions impact your ability to build these bridges?
Lead Well.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
We Can Learn a Lot about Total Leadership…
…From the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers.
As is tradition, the February issue of this newsletter highlights the reigning Super Bowl champions. Hopefully, the mere title of this newsletter does not cause most of my hometown Chicago readers to automatically delete this file before reading at least a few sentences! While the intensity of the Packers-Bears rivalry marches on, we can glean leadership lessons from the way the Packers became only the second team seeded last in the playoffs to go on to win the Super Bowl. As I watched the playoffs unfold, the back-stories kept taking me back to the Total Leadership Model described as the alignment of organizational strategy with its people and processes to fully engage the organization with the expressed outcome to create loyal clients.
Strategically, the Packers mantra for the season was adaptability. They had the most players on injured reserve (15) of any NFC Team in the league last season. They made the playoffs seeded last, meaning they would have to play three games on the road just to get to the Super Bowl. That meant their strategy would have to take those realities into account to achieve the desired result of winning the Super Bowl. How many leaders today misjudge their competition due to changes in the competitive landscape or mentally defeat their efforts because the competitors are bigger, better funded or both? Effective strategies are built on accurate assessments of the external environment and of the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. For the Green Bay Packers, these strategies and associated philosophies generated more championships than any other team in the league including four Super Bowl titles.
In the Total Leadership Model, People Development and Process Improvement are aligned to support the organization’s strategy. For the Packers, this meant fielding skilled players (changing week-to-week due to injuries) and processes (play-calling to optimize the changing roster) to support and align with the current strategy. In any business, the people and processes may fluctuate over time. The real differentiator in success is Attitude, especially down the stretch. Much is made of home-field advantage in sports and it could be argued the Packers were not always the most talented all around team on the field in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas. In the end, it was the team that believed in themselves the most that carried the day, even when two more of their starters, and emotional leaders, were lost to injury in the first half of the championship game. Successful leaders create and execute strategies to optimize the strengths of their people in full alignment with the core processes they use in their businesses.
Total Leadership is about creating loyal clients through engaged employees. It is in this regard the Packers are unique among NFL teams. Despite playing in the smallest NFL market, they have one of the largest fan bases in the sport and have more names on their season ticket waiting list than there are actual seats in Lambeau Field where they play. Leaders may talk about client loyalty but fewer put forth the time and level of effort required to create this level of loyalty and pride in their organizations. Engaged employees are the basis for creating loyal clients, concepts that look much like the traditional training camp bike rides and Family Nights of the Green Bay Packers.
I had lunch last week with a business owner who created a very successful business after coming to the U.S. over twenty years ago. When I mentioned the topic of this month’s newsletter she told me about how, in her frequent travels, she carries a book about Vince Lombardi to read his quotes and philosophies whenever she flies. What will it take for you to generate that level of loyalty and be the champions of your business?
Lead Well.
As is tradition, the February issue of this newsletter highlights the reigning Super Bowl champions. Hopefully, the mere title of this newsletter does not cause most of my hometown Chicago readers to automatically delete this file before reading at least a few sentences! While the intensity of the Packers-Bears rivalry marches on, we can glean leadership lessons from the way the Packers became only the second team seeded last in the playoffs to go on to win the Super Bowl. As I watched the playoffs unfold, the back-stories kept taking me back to the Total Leadership Model described as the alignment of organizational strategy with its people and processes to fully engage the organization with the expressed outcome to create loyal clients.
Strategically, the Packers mantra for the season was adaptability. They had the most players on injured reserve (15) of any NFC Team in the league last season. They made the playoffs seeded last, meaning they would have to play three games on the road just to get to the Super Bowl. That meant their strategy would have to take those realities into account to achieve the desired result of winning the Super Bowl. How many leaders today misjudge their competition due to changes in the competitive landscape or mentally defeat their efforts because the competitors are bigger, better funded or both? Effective strategies are built on accurate assessments of the external environment and of the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. For the Green Bay Packers, these strategies and associated philosophies generated more championships than any other team in the league including four Super Bowl titles.
In the Total Leadership Model, People Development and Process Improvement are aligned to support the organization’s strategy. For the Packers, this meant fielding skilled players (changing week-to-week due to injuries) and processes (play-calling to optimize the changing roster) to support and align with the current strategy. In any business, the people and processes may fluctuate over time. The real differentiator in success is Attitude, especially down the stretch. Much is made of home-field advantage in sports and it could be argued the Packers were not always the most talented all around team on the field in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas. In the end, it was the team that believed in themselves the most that carried the day, even when two more of their starters, and emotional leaders, were lost to injury in the first half of the championship game. Successful leaders create and execute strategies to optimize the strengths of their people in full alignment with the core processes they use in their businesses.
Total Leadership is about creating loyal clients through engaged employees. It is in this regard the Packers are unique among NFL teams. Despite playing in the smallest NFL market, they have one of the largest fan bases in the sport and have more names on their season ticket waiting list than there are actual seats in Lambeau Field where they play. Leaders may talk about client loyalty but fewer put forth the time and level of effort required to create this level of loyalty and pride in their organizations. Engaged employees are the basis for creating loyal clients, concepts that look much like the traditional training camp bike rides and Family Nights of the Green Bay Packers.
I had lunch last week with a business owner who created a very successful business after coming to the U.S. over twenty years ago. When I mentioned the topic of this month’s newsletter she told me about how, in her frequent travels, she carries a book about Vince Lombardi to read his quotes and philosophies whenever she flies. What will it take for you to generate that level of loyalty and be the champions of your business?
Lead Well.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Being “Above Average” is to Success...
...what being “Above Ground” is to Living.
This quote is from Jay Niblick’s book “What’s your Genius” I previewed in the November 2010 issue of “What to Read”. It struck a chord with me when I first read it and as I sat down to pen this issue on achieving success, it resonated once again. I believe it speaks to success being more than just getting by, much like truly living life being judged by more than simply standing upright and breathing.
What I find interesting is how much less I hear the term “Success” now than I typically did last quarter. A quarter ago, which to many was the end of their fiscal year, I heard many variations of “We succeeded because...” or “Look what we did to succeed”. What I hear little of now are phrases like, “Here’s what we will do to succeed” or “Our success looks like...” It is as if we only feel comfortable talking about success after it happens. We seem less comfortable planning for success and overtly stating how we will achieve it. Too often we throw together a loosely defined plan and hope it works.
As we find our rhythm for 2011, here is how we can definitively achieve success both professionally and personally. It all begins with goals. Not just any goals, but ones that carry meaning in the context of what you want to achieve. Many of our readers are familiar with SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistically High and Time Bound) Goals. I would take it a step further and suggest they be WAY-SMART (Written, Aligned, Yours, SMART) Goals.
Having goals help you identify what you want to do and why you want to achieve them. However, you also have to be capable of achieving success. Do you possess the skills (the know how) required to be successful? Additionally, do you have the knowledge (the know when and know where) to use your skills in their proper context? We spend a good deal of time, many times the majority of our time, developing our skills and knowledge, believing they will help us achieve our goals and ultimately be successful.
But is it enough? Not really. One only has to listen to the battlefield of broken resolutions that typically show themselves this time of year. With great intentions so many set goals to improve themselves aptly equipped with the skills and knowledge to do so. Yet by late January or early February, they begin to break down. What’s missing? It is our attitude that makes the difference. It defines our want to achieve our goal and be the success we have pictured in our mind’s eye. While attitude contributes nearly 75% of our success, how much time do we spend developing our attitude? Probably significantly less than 75%! Instead, we continue to invest heavily in skills and knowledge hoping they will make up the difference. They won’t!
The right combination of Goals, Skills, Knowledge and Attitudes provide us our greatest opportunity to create a future of success. In a Victor Hugo quote forwarded to me recently, he states, “The future has many names. For the weak, it means unattainable. For the fearful, it means the unknown. For the courageous, it means opportunity.” Do you have the courage to live more than just “above ground”?
Lead Well!
This quote is from Jay Niblick’s book “What’s your Genius” I previewed in the November 2010 issue of “What to Read”. It struck a chord with me when I first read it and as I sat down to pen this issue on achieving success, it resonated once again. I believe it speaks to success being more than just getting by, much like truly living life being judged by more than simply standing upright and breathing.
What I find interesting is how much less I hear the term “Success” now than I typically did last quarter. A quarter ago, which to many was the end of their fiscal year, I heard many variations of “We succeeded because...” or “Look what we did to succeed”. What I hear little of now are phrases like, “Here’s what we will do to succeed” or “Our success looks like...” It is as if we only feel comfortable talking about success after it happens. We seem less comfortable planning for success and overtly stating how we will achieve it. Too often we throw together a loosely defined plan and hope it works.
As we find our rhythm for 2011, here is how we can definitively achieve success both professionally and personally. It all begins with goals. Not just any goals, but ones that carry meaning in the context of what you want to achieve. Many of our readers are familiar with SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistically High and Time Bound) Goals. I would take it a step further and suggest they be WAY-SMART (Written, Aligned, Yours, SMART) Goals.
Having goals help you identify what you want to do and why you want to achieve them. However, you also have to be capable of achieving success. Do you possess the skills (the know how) required to be successful? Additionally, do you have the knowledge (the know when and know where) to use your skills in their proper context? We spend a good deal of time, many times the majority of our time, developing our skills and knowledge, believing they will help us achieve our goals and ultimately be successful.
But is it enough? Not really. One only has to listen to the battlefield of broken resolutions that typically show themselves this time of year. With great intentions so many set goals to improve themselves aptly equipped with the skills and knowledge to do so. Yet by late January or early February, they begin to break down. What’s missing? It is our attitude that makes the difference. It defines our want to achieve our goal and be the success we have pictured in our mind’s eye. While attitude contributes nearly 75% of our success, how much time do we spend developing our attitude? Probably significantly less than 75%! Instead, we continue to invest heavily in skills and knowledge hoping they will make up the difference. They won’t!
The right combination of Goals, Skills, Knowledge and Attitudes provide us our greatest opportunity to create a future of success. In a Victor Hugo quote forwarded to me recently, he states, “The future has many names. For the weak, it means unattainable. For the fearful, it means the unknown. For the courageous, it means opportunity.” Do you have the courage to live more than just “above ground”?
Lead Well!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Change Occurs...
…At The Outer Edge of Your Comfort Zone.
As we wind down 2010, many of us are reflecting on what we accomplished in 2010 and what changes we will make to continue our successes into 2011. In my own work with small and medium businesses as well as non-profit organizations, managing change is the most common topic of conversation; and why not? The uncertainty that remains in the economic and political environments have leaders in the unenviable position of making the next right strategic decision in the face of all this uncertainty.
How do leaders mitigate this uncertainty enough to make the crucial decisions before them? While there are many moving parts to a successful business strategy, two elements of leading any organization is understanding the general environment you are competing in as well as knowing how your current capabilities match up to that environment. Key to a leader’s strategic thinking process includes a recurring assessment of their general environment against six different factors: Demographic/Psychographic, Economic, Political/Legal, Socio-Cultural, Technical and Global. Regardless of whether you lead a global organization or do business directly with the government, all six factors will influence your ability to adapt and evolve your business. As I briefly outline each factor below, ask yourself how they impact your business, non-profit or corporation.
• Demographic/Psychographic – we are already seeing debates around the impact of the new census results and the changing demographics of the US population. Psychographics reflect the personalities, values, attitudes and lifestyles of the population.
• Economic – while the recession may be over, businesses generally are still taking a cautious road ahead having a direct impact on the economic recovery. As you assess your own organization’s economic health, how did your supply chain and value chain fare as well?
• Political/Legal – all eyes are on Washington DC these days to gauge the impact of Congress’ decisions and how they influence the current level of cautiousness across the business landscape. How are current federal, state and local budget gaps impacting your organization?
• Socio-Cultural –We see more and more organizations hiring temporary workers, even in management and other predominantly white-collar positions. How “Green” is your organization?
• Technical – an article in the 12/20/10 Wall Street Journal opines how Dr. Seuss would love the e-Readers because they enable children to read more effectively. While technology is changing at a rapid pace, is it effectively advancing the way you conduct your business?
• Global – you may not be a global business, but events around the globe impact your business instantaneously. Have you figured out how and why?
While understanding the general landscape provides today’s leaders with a current view of their external environment, it is only useful if put in the context of their business. The tool most often used for this aspect of the strategic thinking process is the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Process. This assessment of the internal environment captures the current capabilities (strengths and weaknesses) and puts them in the context of the external environment (opportunities and threats). While the SWOT is a very versatile tool used to help leaders proactively deal with changes in their business, they must keep in mind it only provides a one-shot view of a moving target and must be used routinely to be effective. Additionally, because we identify an organizational strength through the SWOT process does not mean the strength represents a competitive advantage.
We know change is inevitable, but growth in our business because of the change is not. Leaders must constantly assess which way the winds of change are blowing and adjust their strategy accordingly. I am reminded of the closing scene in The Truman Show when Jim Carrey’s Truman finally makes it to the outer edge of his known world. After a brief dialog, Truman opens the door, literally and figuratively, to a whole new world of possibilities. When you get to the outer edge of your comfort zone, are you prepared to open the door to your new possibilities?
Lead Well!
As we wind down 2010, many of us are reflecting on what we accomplished in 2010 and what changes we will make to continue our successes into 2011. In my own work with small and medium businesses as well as non-profit organizations, managing change is the most common topic of conversation; and why not? The uncertainty that remains in the economic and political environments have leaders in the unenviable position of making the next right strategic decision in the face of all this uncertainty.
How do leaders mitigate this uncertainty enough to make the crucial decisions before them? While there are many moving parts to a successful business strategy, two elements of leading any organization is understanding the general environment you are competing in as well as knowing how your current capabilities match up to that environment. Key to a leader’s strategic thinking process includes a recurring assessment of their general environment against six different factors: Demographic/Psychographic, Economic, Political/Legal, Socio-Cultural, Technical and Global. Regardless of whether you lead a global organization or do business directly with the government, all six factors will influence your ability to adapt and evolve your business. As I briefly outline each factor below, ask yourself how they impact your business, non-profit or corporation.
• Demographic/Psychographic – we are already seeing debates around the impact of the new census results and the changing demographics of the US population. Psychographics reflect the personalities, values, attitudes and lifestyles of the population.
• Economic – while the recession may be over, businesses generally are still taking a cautious road ahead having a direct impact on the economic recovery. As you assess your own organization’s economic health, how did your supply chain and value chain fare as well?
• Political/Legal – all eyes are on Washington DC these days to gauge the impact of Congress’ decisions and how they influence the current level of cautiousness across the business landscape. How are current federal, state and local budget gaps impacting your organization?
• Socio-Cultural –We see more and more organizations hiring temporary workers, even in management and other predominantly white-collar positions. How “Green” is your organization?
• Technical – an article in the 12/20/10 Wall Street Journal opines how Dr. Seuss would love the e-Readers because they enable children to read more effectively. While technology is changing at a rapid pace, is it effectively advancing the way you conduct your business?
• Global – you may not be a global business, but events around the globe impact your business instantaneously. Have you figured out how and why?
While understanding the general landscape provides today’s leaders with a current view of their external environment, it is only useful if put in the context of their business. The tool most often used for this aspect of the strategic thinking process is the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Process. This assessment of the internal environment captures the current capabilities (strengths and weaknesses) and puts them in the context of the external environment (opportunities and threats). While the SWOT is a very versatile tool used to help leaders proactively deal with changes in their business, they must keep in mind it only provides a one-shot view of a moving target and must be used routinely to be effective. Additionally, because we identify an organizational strength through the SWOT process does not mean the strength represents a competitive advantage.
We know change is inevitable, but growth in our business because of the change is not. Leaders must constantly assess which way the winds of change are blowing and adjust their strategy accordingly. I am reminded of the closing scene in The Truman Show when Jim Carrey’s Truman finally makes it to the outer edge of his known world. After a brief dialog, Truman opens the door, literally and figuratively, to a whole new world of possibilities. When you get to the outer edge of your comfort zone, are you prepared to open the door to your new possibilities?
Lead Well!
Your Mission...
…Should You Choose To Accept It
Many of you recognize this line from the Television series or movie (or both depending on your generation) called Mission: Impossible. I recently had the privilege of delivering the Keynote Address to a group of military veterans at a career transition event the day after Veterans Day. The theme of mission is one our military veterans clearly understand so I and the other speakers leveraged the same theme throughout the event. It also provides the theme for this issue as we head into the holiday season.
Last month, we talked about information overload and its impact on a leader’s ability to make knowledgeable decisions. I would submit having a clear sense of mission is just as important to making meaningful decisions as it creates the tangible importance of making the decision to begin with. When a leader loses the understanding of importance, the overall mission begins to falter. We see organizations in many corners of our environment that have lost their sense of mission. In recent years we have seen examples of government, financial, religious and educational institutions with documented lapses in their sense of mission.
So how do leaders renew their sense of mission? They must first ask themselves why do they exist. Corporations, Entrepreneurial ventures and Not-For-Profits all exist for a defined purpose. The second question every organization must ask is, “Whom do they serve?” We use the word “serve” specifically because it creates the mindset of service as opposed to asking, “Who do we sell to?” or “Who is in our market?” Whenever I work with clients whose business has leveled off or hit a plateau, I always start with some variation of that same question. In answering the question of whom they serve, they renew the line of thought creating the guidelines for their organization or business.
The sense of mission also implies the entire organization is engaged to effectively complete the mission. Leaders must be able to effectively communicate the mission to their teams and herein lies part of the challenge – they may not know how or they overestimate their ability to do so. A recent survey by Developmental Dimensions International and published in the Wall Street Journal suggests managers struggle with the necessary skills necessary to execute a sense of organizational mission. Of the 1,100 respondents, only 36% felt they were strong in coaching their teams while only 34% felt they were strong in gaining commitment from their teams. Lastly only 32% mentioned delegating as their strength. These types of blind spots can cause an organization’s leaders to lose their way. Leaders cannot accomplish the mission alone and thus must be able to not only communicate the goals of the team but also the purpose as well. The goals address what needs to be done, the purpose addresses why the goal is important to the organization.
What separates the great leaders from everyone else is their sense of mission and the personal accountability they have to the mission and those they serve. As we head into the holidays and time for reflection, what mission will you choose to accept?
Lead Well!
Many of you recognize this line from the Television series or movie (or both depending on your generation) called Mission: Impossible. I recently had the privilege of delivering the Keynote Address to a group of military veterans at a career transition event the day after Veterans Day. The theme of mission is one our military veterans clearly understand so I and the other speakers leveraged the same theme throughout the event. It also provides the theme for this issue as we head into the holiday season.
Last month, we talked about information overload and its impact on a leader’s ability to make knowledgeable decisions. I would submit having a clear sense of mission is just as important to making meaningful decisions as it creates the tangible importance of making the decision to begin with. When a leader loses the understanding of importance, the overall mission begins to falter. We see organizations in many corners of our environment that have lost their sense of mission. In recent years we have seen examples of government, financial, religious and educational institutions with documented lapses in their sense of mission.
So how do leaders renew their sense of mission? They must first ask themselves why do they exist. Corporations, Entrepreneurial ventures and Not-For-Profits all exist for a defined purpose. The second question every organization must ask is, “Whom do they serve?” We use the word “serve” specifically because it creates the mindset of service as opposed to asking, “Who do we sell to?” or “Who is in our market?” Whenever I work with clients whose business has leveled off or hit a plateau, I always start with some variation of that same question. In answering the question of whom they serve, they renew the line of thought creating the guidelines for their organization or business.
The sense of mission also implies the entire organization is engaged to effectively complete the mission. Leaders must be able to effectively communicate the mission to their teams and herein lies part of the challenge – they may not know how or they overestimate their ability to do so. A recent survey by Developmental Dimensions International and published in the Wall Street Journal suggests managers struggle with the necessary skills necessary to execute a sense of organizational mission. Of the 1,100 respondents, only 36% felt they were strong in coaching their teams while only 34% felt they were strong in gaining commitment from their teams. Lastly only 32% mentioned delegating as their strength. These types of blind spots can cause an organization’s leaders to lose their way. Leaders cannot accomplish the mission alone and thus must be able to not only communicate the goals of the team but also the purpose as well. The goals address what needs to be done, the purpose addresses why the goal is important to the organization.
What separates the great leaders from everyone else is their sense of mission and the personal accountability they have to the mission and those they serve. As we head into the holidays and time for reflection, what mission will you choose to accept?
Lead Well!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Information is Knowing a Tomato is a Fruit…
…Knowledge is Knowing not to put it in a Fruit Salad.
In a previous edition, we discussed the relationship between Information (organized data) and Knowledge (information in context). I bring it up again not to highlight the contents of a fruit salad, but to highlight a much more crucial issue for leaders – timely decision-making. In my work with leaders, we describe the first two steps in the decision-making process as 1) Identify the Issue and 2) Gather and Analyze Information. The decision-maker must properly define the scope of the problem, situation or challenge in enough detail to create tangible alternatives. They must also gather the right amount of the right information to make a knowledgeable decision. (click here to continue reading)
Information overload is not a new challenge. Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Senator and Adviser under Nero in the early part of his reign. Seneca was a prolific letter writer whose thoughts, insights and convictions were well read throughout the literate Roman Empire. Even in his day, he noted the issue with connectedness by observing “the danger of allowing others – not just friends and colleagues, but the masses – to exert too much influence on one’s thinking”. Without mentioning these words were written around the time of Christ, you could easily assume it was written recently.
To the decision-maker, it is no longer just a task to find the relevant information to use, but to weed out and discard the unnecessary information and do it at the speed of competition. No easy task when the amount of information available to us doubles every 9 – 10 minutes (depending on which study you read). The proliferation of Twitter, blogs, Facebook and texting contributes to this informational tsunami. They also create a greater challenge analyzing the volume of information as messages become shorter and cryptic (Twitter reports over 2 billion tweets a month) at the same time ensuring they are factually correct. We now get billions of messages just to tell us someone, somewhere created a message earmarked for us to read. Last month, AT&T sent 1 billion such messages over its network up from 400 million a month 11 months ago.
As I look at the impact this phenomenon has on our decision-making process as leaders, I see less contingency planning due to the instantaneous nature of technology and less reflection on the meaning of information to create sustainable knowledge. I recently observed a customer in a local Subway sandwich shop dictating multiple orders to the person making the sandwiches. After each order he went back to his phone for the next order. I wondered to myself if that person were in a business environment and had to remember multiple facts, would that be his way of managing information?
Seneca wrote “Elite, literate Romans were discovering the great paradox of information: the more of it that is available, the harder it is to be truly knowledgeable. It was impossible to process it all in a thoughtful way.” As leaders striving to make effective knowledgeable decisions about your business, how many tomatoes are in your fruit salad?
Lead Well!
In a previous edition, we discussed the relationship between Information (organized data) and Knowledge (information in context). I bring it up again not to highlight the contents of a fruit salad, but to highlight a much more crucial issue for leaders – timely decision-making. In my work with leaders, we describe the first two steps in the decision-making process as 1) Identify the Issue and 2) Gather and Analyze Information. The decision-maker must properly define the scope of the problem, situation or challenge in enough detail to create tangible alternatives. They must also gather the right amount of the right information to make a knowledgeable decision. (click here to continue reading)
Information overload is not a new challenge. Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Senator and Adviser under Nero in the early part of his reign. Seneca was a prolific letter writer whose thoughts, insights and convictions were well read throughout the literate Roman Empire. Even in his day, he noted the issue with connectedness by observing “the danger of allowing others – not just friends and colleagues, but the masses – to exert too much influence on one’s thinking”. Without mentioning these words were written around the time of Christ, you could easily assume it was written recently.
To the decision-maker, it is no longer just a task to find the relevant information to use, but to weed out and discard the unnecessary information and do it at the speed of competition. No easy task when the amount of information available to us doubles every 9 – 10 minutes (depending on which study you read). The proliferation of Twitter, blogs, Facebook and texting contributes to this informational tsunami. They also create a greater challenge analyzing the volume of information as messages become shorter and cryptic (Twitter reports over 2 billion tweets a month) at the same time ensuring they are factually correct. We now get billions of messages just to tell us someone, somewhere created a message earmarked for us to read. Last month, AT&T sent 1 billion such messages over its network up from 400 million a month 11 months ago.
As I look at the impact this phenomenon has on our decision-making process as leaders, I see less contingency planning due to the instantaneous nature of technology and less reflection on the meaning of information to create sustainable knowledge. I recently observed a customer in a local Subway sandwich shop dictating multiple orders to the person making the sandwiches. After each order he went back to his phone for the next order. I wondered to myself if that person were in a business environment and had to remember multiple facts, would that be his way of managing information?
Seneca wrote “Elite, literate Romans were discovering the great paradox of information: the more of it that is available, the harder it is to be truly knowledgeable. It was impossible to process it all in a thoughtful way.” As leaders striving to make effective knowledgeable decisions about your business, how many tomatoes are in your fruit salad?
Lead Well!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Workers Distracted by Email and Phone Calls suffer a fall in IQ…
…More than Twice that found in Marijuana Smokers!
These are the conclusions of a 2005 study funded by Hewlett Packard and conducted by the University of London Institute of Psychiatry. It also sets the stage for this month’s topic on multitasking. Many leaders today pride themselves in being able to multitask, in some cases the more multi- the better. They also expect their teams to be able to multitask falsely believing it to be a sign of efficiency. In fact, it is quite the opposite of the truth. (click here to continue reading)
While it is true the brain can simultaneously manage multiple tasks like controlling your heartbeat while you listen to music, leaders are most focused on is the ability to pay attention to multiple tasks and do them well. In this scenario the brain is working in a sequential fashion. No matter it appears someone is doing multiple activities at one time, the brain is really task-switching one after the other very fast. In truth, the more we ask the brain to do at any given time the less our ability to pay attention any of those activities. The most visible examples of this phenomenon are driving and performing other activities at the same time (talking on the phone, texting, applying make-up etc.) drawing attention to the serious safety issues.
But what of workplace productivity? Is it such a big deal that we try to do many things simultaneously? In a practical sense, when we interrupt what we are currently focused on to take a call on our smart-phone or respond to an email on our computer, the brain has to shift gears to provide new focus on a new topic. This means quickly shifting our subconscious rule sets for to determine how we handle this new task. When we are finished answering/responding to the interruption, we shift again and once more re-establish focus on the original activity (how often do we say “Where was I?”) Unless you have well-established working memory, this can result in a complete restart of the original task. A University of California study found it took office workers 25 minutes on average to return to their original tasks after being interrupted by phone calls and emails. How many times are you interrupted in a day? Do you set aside blocks of time during your most productive time of the day to work on your high priority work? What happens to productivity when you lose nearly a half hour every time you are interrupted? In 2007 it was estimated extreme multitasking and information overload annually costs the U.S. economy $650 Billion in lost productivity.
Another important question for leaders is how many times a day are they the interruption? Leaders espouse the benefits of productivity and efficiency, but are they aware of how many times they are interrupting their teams and staffs for low priority reasons? Are they creating a climate of poor productivity due to their own challenges with time management and productivity? In my experience, the best way to answer these questions is to take two weeks and track what you and your staff are doing with their time. If you notice they are doing something different every 15 minutes it is a sure sign they are trying to multitask and may be struggling to focus on more important things. How are the most productive staff members managing their time? In every opportunity I had to conduct these time-use studies with my teams we created improvement programs that more than paid for themselves in increased productivity!
The idea behind this topic is not that we don’t have the ability to do multiple things at one time (Millennials will debate they can do this all day long!). It is whether we can produce desired results by doing multiple things at one time. To achieve your desired results, are you relying on employees who are less productive than marijuana smokers?
Lead Well!
These are the conclusions of a 2005 study funded by Hewlett Packard and conducted by the University of London Institute of Psychiatry. It also sets the stage for this month’s topic on multitasking. Many leaders today pride themselves in being able to multitask, in some cases the more multi- the better. They also expect their teams to be able to multitask falsely believing it to be a sign of efficiency. In fact, it is quite the opposite of the truth. (click here to continue reading)
While it is true the brain can simultaneously manage multiple tasks like controlling your heartbeat while you listen to music, leaders are most focused on is the ability to pay attention to multiple tasks and do them well. In this scenario the brain is working in a sequential fashion. No matter it appears someone is doing multiple activities at one time, the brain is really task-switching one after the other very fast. In truth, the more we ask the brain to do at any given time the less our ability to pay attention any of those activities. The most visible examples of this phenomenon are driving and performing other activities at the same time (talking on the phone, texting, applying make-up etc.) drawing attention to the serious safety issues.
But what of workplace productivity? Is it such a big deal that we try to do many things simultaneously? In a practical sense, when we interrupt what we are currently focused on to take a call on our smart-phone or respond to an email on our computer, the brain has to shift gears to provide new focus on a new topic. This means quickly shifting our subconscious rule sets for to determine how we handle this new task. When we are finished answering/responding to the interruption, we shift again and once more re-establish focus on the original activity (how often do we say “Where was I?”) Unless you have well-established working memory, this can result in a complete restart of the original task. A University of California study found it took office workers 25 minutes on average to return to their original tasks after being interrupted by phone calls and emails. How many times are you interrupted in a day? Do you set aside blocks of time during your most productive time of the day to work on your high priority work? What happens to productivity when you lose nearly a half hour every time you are interrupted? In 2007 it was estimated extreme multitasking and information overload annually costs the U.S. economy $650 Billion in lost productivity.
Another important question for leaders is how many times a day are they the interruption? Leaders espouse the benefits of productivity and efficiency, but are they aware of how many times they are interrupting their teams and staffs for low priority reasons? Are they creating a climate of poor productivity due to their own challenges with time management and productivity? In my experience, the best way to answer these questions is to take two weeks and track what you and your staff are doing with their time. If you notice they are doing something different every 15 minutes it is a sure sign they are trying to multitask and may be struggling to focus on more important things. How are the most productive staff members managing their time? In every opportunity I had to conduct these time-use studies with my teams we created improvement programs that more than paid for themselves in increased productivity!
The idea behind this topic is not that we don’t have the ability to do multiple things at one time (Millennials will debate they can do this all day long!). It is whether we can produce desired results by doing multiple things at one time. To achieve your desired results, are you relying on employees who are less productive than marijuana smokers?
Lead Well!
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