while you're busy making other plans

“Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans”

This John Lennon quote reveals a powerful idea on management and getting things done that we have touched on before. We often bemoan plans because things never turn out how we, well, planned.

So the obvious next question is why spend so much time planning?

Because plans may be relatively useless … but planning is invaluable. Planning is what gives our action legs. When we have planned something out there is a powerful change.

We go from doing… to doing something. The intent and direction that come from planning is impactful and vital. And most important of all – it prepares us to react and move when (inevitably) things do not go exactly accordingly to plan. Planning allows us to respond – because we are moving with intent.

So when you are thinking through goals, and how you get there, and your days and weeks and what you will do. Take a moment and realize that the act of planning it out is as important and meaningful as the plans themselves. Do not fall to the temptation to short circuit this aspect. Plans change, planning allow us to succeed.

We talk about several concepts that at a surface may seems to be at conflict

• The basis of good morale, is good discipline
• The key to dynamic changes and improvement is standards for operating
• The requirement of flexibility is a solid structure

And I wanted to add a fourth concept: Things never go as we plan…so planning is invaluable. It allows us to think through, be ready and to act with direction and purpose.

So recognize the power of goals – both because they allow us to focus and force us into the powerful act of planning.

And to end with two quotes

“Those who plan do better than those who do not plan even though they rarely stick to their plan” - Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister)

“Plans are worthless. Planning is essential.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower, general and president (1890-1961)

Is it on their radar?

Think about a radar…

There is an object that is “out there” – as you move toward it you send out waves and how they bounce back tells you what is out in front of you and around you. Any slight changes in that object get noticed and impact what is bouncing back to the radar. People change their course and actions towards their destination based on these signals that come back.

When it comes to leading this provides a useful thinking tool.

We as a team are heading in a direction. Us, as the leaders are moving towards our goals. Our people look to us and watch everything that we do – we are the object that is :out there” and our people watching us are the are the “waves”. We all think about the big things we want to model – but the radar comparison also reminds us that little things send out changes to what people see as well. Now stop and think for one second – do you spend more time sending out big messages or little messages?

Exactly – our whole day is little messages. So much so that if we take care of the little things, the big things don’t catch us; and if we ignore the little things, the big things come crashing down all over us. This is especially true with the messages we send out with our small words and deeds.

Take 20 minutes over the next few days and think about yourself as the center of your team’s radar. What are they seeing? More importantly, what are the small signals you are sending out? Do any of these signals change their picture enough to make our people change course that moves them away from our goals? Pay attention to these little things – they are the ones that prevent goals from being achieved. The little things and signals are powerful things, both to the positive and negative. Take a few moments from time to time to really zone in on what little signals are being relayed.

Are the small signals we send on our people’s radar?

We better believe it – and we better act like it.

I can name that tune in 1 note...

As we approach the end of the year and think about goals and objectives – I am reminded of the game show “Name that tune”

The gist of the show was that based on your knowledge and the clues given by the host you would name a song in the fewest notes possible.

So what is the strategic lesson here?

Ken Blanchard talks about goals being “one minute goals” or no more than 250 words – i.e. short enough to be easily read in a minute. If you have never done this – it is a great idea.

Other people talk about one-page strategic plans – an extremely valuable tool.

There is another exercise that always reminded of “Name that tune” – we used to joke and call it “8 is enough”. Went something like this:

1) Think of a strategy, objective or key point you want to focus on.

2) Write down your best thought or description

3) Edit it down to 250 words (thank you one minute manager!)

3) Edit it down to 125 words – look at getting rid of adjectives

4) Take it down to 50 words – Sentences can be chopped and combined; think more about the key you want to communicate and less about composition. No duplication of ideas.

5) Take it down to 25 words – usually this ends up one long sentence.

6) Highlight anything that is a verb or a noun

7) Cut it down to a single phrase that is 8 words or less (it is OK to add in an adjective or adverb here if needed)

I suggest you take the most impactful goal you can think of and walk through this exercise. The process and result give our focus a clarity of thought, and a huge level of impact. “8 is enough” is a worthwhile (and challenging) exercise that I highly recommend.

The end of the year is when we focus on our goals for the next 12 months. When we think of them for our team, it is important that we look to make sure that they can be easily understood, repeated and transmitted. A process like the one above is a great way to push our thinking and communications about goals to the next level.

It may not be as impressive as the one note answers from the game show – but imagine how great our team would perform if they could “Name that goal” in 8 notes or less.

Drill or hole?

Harvard professor Ted Levitt famously pointed out “People don’t buy a quarter-inch drill bit, they buy a quarter-inch hole.”

We often focus on the product or process – or what I will call things. But we must always remember that what things produces is a solution to a need. And we must remember that these “things” are vital, not necessarily because they exist, but because of the job they do for the customer or user.

The process or product is the drill – the need is the hole. Two key points to think about

1. There is no need for the drill without the hole. We come up with an approach or product to suit the needs of a job – the thing does not exist without the need
2. Without the drill, the hole would be must harder to create – and almost impossible to insure the right quality or create improvements

Each is extremely important to the other. But the process and solution are distinct entities.

We can focus on the solution and need, while also focusing on better process, or product – because while the needs that we have to achieve are pretty consistent, the tools we can employ can, should and must always change and improve. We can shape and craft the tools and approaches we use so we constantly get better at getting the job done.

Look around your world today and ask… what jobs are these people looking to get filled? How would a customer answer? How about an employee? How about your supervisor? A vendor? How about each of us? How about yourself?

So let’s make sure that while we are using the best drills, we remember that our focus, and purpose, is the hole we are trying to make.

It don’t mean a thing if you ain’t got that swing….

I wanted to review two key tenets that we have discussed before

1. Discipline is the basis of morale
2. Standards are the basis of improvement

Wanted to add a third rule to this… structure and schedule are the basis of flexibility and improvisation. We need to create a rhythm to our work world. If we have a rhythm, we can make changes as needed during the day. If we have no established structure and schedules (or rhythm for short) than we have made it hard to a) adapt to new situations and b) to get things back on track after something new has come up.

Whether it is a music band, a sports team or a work team – you have to develop a rhythm of how you work. This allows everything to flow together. You cannot wake up one day and expect it to be there. Any more than a band that gets together for its first practice would expect everything to be in the same time the first go round, or a sports team to anticipate each other’s moves in a first practice. This rhythm is essential to achieving excellence – and is something that must be deliberately worked on.

The key point to remember here is this: You have to work to create a structure, schedule and rhythm. And the good news/bad news is – we can never stop working on it. if we are doing great, we need to keep it up, if we are having some challenges – well we have to keep it up.

Checklists, calendars and regular meetings/updates are all part of how we establish rhythm.

Standards, expectations and schedules help us make rhythm habitual.

Debriefing and reviewing lessons learned are also a part of establishing and improving rhythm.

And this type of structure than gives us the power to:

1. To adapt to anything that comes up in a positive way
2. Frees us to focus on how we can be better; as opposed to simply how we keep going.

The more structure and systems we can put in our day, the more freely we can address the challenges in front of us and the opportunity ahead of us.

Discipline, standards, structure and schedules = Morale, improvement and rhythm.

That is our winning formula.

What's for Breakfast?

We often think of goals and objectives as key. And of course they are vital. As the cliché goes (roughly) “if you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there.” So over the next few weeks we will be talking about objectives and direction a good bit.

But there is an important internal check we must think about, and honestly assess before we begin the crucial, direction setting work that is goals and objectives. And that is about getting our words and actions in line with one another. When our words and actions are reflections of one another, we are in alignment. If they do not match up, we are out of alignment.

A company’s whose culture is in alignment is a powerful thing. And conversely if we are out of alignment, it is very difficult to move forward positively. There is another remark that is almost a cliché that is normally attributed to management guru Peter Drucker:

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

So before we worry about the direction we head, if we do not want to get eaten for breakfast (and who does?) we should take a moment and think the words and actions of our culture.

What areas if we were out of alignment would be the most damaging? What areas do we have the best alignment? Our ability to think about these questions, and then address them together is a crucial job for all of us.

So take a moment, and let’s think about our foundation, which is our culture. What values to we say we have? What values do we act out every day? Where we are out of alignment we are weak and it makes it hard to build. If you ever see any of us acting out of alignment, it is vital – and required – to let us know. We must be each other’s check and balance for keeping our actions and words in line.

But where and when our alignment strong, watch out world, because from there we can build something powerful and strong together. We must also point out to each other when we are getting it right so we can aggressively build on success.

So we, as managers and leaders, must spend a lot of time talking about where we are heading – which is to say our objective. But to make sure that we are not “eaten for breakfast” we should take a moment, and make sure that the foundation we are building from is strong and built from both our actions and words.

Actions and words, in line and in harmony with each other – this will be our breakfast of champions.

Vision = objective = to dos

A quick thought ....

Often we think of vision, execution and to-do lists as distinct.

David Allen (of "Getting Things Done" fame) defines a project as an objective to achieve. I think visions are the same. (check out his website for books, newletters etc... I am a big fan - http://www.davidco.com/)

And once we have an objective to achieve defined, it is on us to begin putting down tasks to accomplish this vision. (http://bit.ly/95O28w - - a nice column from USA today on a business plan as a business tool not just a financing presentation - sent to me by http://www.smartbrief.com/index.jsp - also a great service)

Resist the temptation to look at tasks and tasks planning as menial work. Instead recognize that it is the point, and function, of making strategy happen. Strategy and objectives exist for the purpose of execution, not the other way around. Think of it this way... if you stopped strategic planning tomorrow you could still be successful and operate as a business and person for a long time. If you stopped executing tomorrow... well you have stopped.Do not get me wrong ... strategy, objectives and vision are vital aspects of business and leadership. I just want to make sure that we have them in the proper perceptive ... they are servants to execution not masters. Have a dream, have a vision, but remember Thomas Edison's famous quote "Vision without execution is hallucination."

We often flip the importance of vision, strategy and execution, which may be why we so often complain about not getting things done.

A nice editorial from USA Today that talks about a business plan as a business tool that leads to tasks and to-do lists as opposed to simply a VC financing tool - http://tiny.cc/n6634

Are you a model?

References to small talk and pick-up lines notwithstanding, the answer to the question of “Are you a model?” is simple and powerful.

YES. YES. YES.

As a leader, your team looks at everything you do (and don’t do) as a model of how they should be, act, and what they should think is important.

You are a model with every action you take. As we have done in the past, think about the example you want to set. Then observe yourself for a day and then ask yourself…how well did I model the example that I wanted to set?

We model what we think, value and want with every action from the moment we walk in, until we leave. Take some time and think about how powerful of a tool that is. We can send a resounding message about our values and goals every day, in a powerful way, that is impossible to ignore. Embrace the power of being a model and use it to lead your team.

We do it every day, imagine how powerful it can be if we focus on using this reality as the powerful force that it is.

So imagine the example you want the team to act on, imagine the attitude you want them to have … and then be a model. They are watching, and looking to follow – let’s be intentional, positive and powerful in how we choose to lead. You are a model every day, choose to be the one you want to be.

Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto

A quick thought today….

Superheroes have sidekicks that are as important and well known as they are. They are sometimes sounding boards, sometimes saviors and sometimes they need to be saved. But to be sure the superhero of the story would not be the same, and worse off, without them.

Do we treat the people we work with as though they are just as valuable?

If you are the hero of your day (and you are), take a moment and thank your team that supports you and makes you better. And remembers the rules of thanks and praise:

1. Be timely: go out and give them the feedback right at the moment they are doing something great
2. Be specific: the more specific the better. General and generic compliments get put into a general and generic bucket. We want better, we should give better.
3. Be excited: remember your attitude, voice, body language and emotions give out 92% of the messages people receive. Do not ignore your energy and attitude when you are thanking and praising your team
4. Be positive: Focus on the positives. Do not worry about coaching and correcting. Be positive and be done.

So remember, take a moment today and thank the “sidekicks” that make you the “hero”. They could be helping anyone be better, but they are helping us so we should thank them.

Take the easy way out

A word, or reminder, about improvements.

When we think improvements, we are almost always pulled toward the most complex, thorniest problem. And, not surprisingly, it is quite difficult to come up with a solution.

Instead I want to push you to think about the opposite of this approach. What is the quickest and easiest way I can do my work, or approach an issue? This may mean taking just the smallest, or first aspect of a major issue, even if it seems trivial. And instead of searching for a perfect solution, just ask yourself the following “what is the easiest way to get this done?”. And then start. By following the quick and easy formula you will unearth a lot more ideas, a lot more improvements and you will see things get going. Improvements and ideas are as much an action or a habit as it is a thing. By looking for quick and easy ideas you can build a lot of momentum towards success. Also, because they are small, and easily done by you and your team, you can get past internal resistance that accompanies so much change. When we look at a huge problem, we can feel overwhelmed with the enormity of the challenge. Quick and easy solutions allow us to get past that resistance and start doing. And once you start going, then you will see it is harder to stop than keep going.

A few of the basic rules for quick and easy improvements is

1) Internal: You should be able to do the improvement yourself (no need for outside help or approval – if you need that your idea is too complicated, it may be a good idea … but a different type of good idea)

2) Focus on ease: It should make your work easier. An improvement that will help you or your people do a task quicker and easier.

3) Quantity first: The goal is continual quantity – that will build quality. Because these are small and easy solutions to implement, their impact will be seen quickly and if they do not work they can be rolled back. Perfection should not be a goal.

4) Think small: Remember easy is the goal here – the smaller and faster the scope of solution the quicker and easier it will be

5) Purposeful Be aware of the improvements and what you are trying to do. Without this you are in trouble. Ann improvement without awareness of it or purpose is a formula for chaos. With awareness and purpose, you have a powerful tool in your hands.

So take a few moments today or tomorrow, and look for ways to make things easier. If you were to simply look with your team and find 5 quick and easy improvement every week or so it would take no time to see a huge impact on your work. “Taking the easy way out “ often implies a cop out. I just wanted to remind everyone that in the right context it can also be a great strategy for improvement.

Double Down

In blackjack it is called “doubling down”, in craps it is “pressing” or “maximizing odds”, but the simple gist is that the player has an opportunity to risk more chips to win more. The way this works out in the real world is that when the player has an advantage, they use these strategies to try to win the most that they can. This is considered basic strategy in the gaming world. But there is a valuable lesson for all of us to learn here.

There are moments in life where we have an advantage, usually when we are using the skills we know we are good at. The temptation is to not focus on these moments (because hey…we are good at it right?). And that action, that failure to look for when we can use our strengths best and more often, is the mistake. What the casino teaches us is that if we do not look to “press” these situations, we are literally leaving money on the table.

Take a moment and think about when you are really great. What moments do you shine? What are the skills that allow you to do that?

When you use these skills you are “doubling down”. And you have increased the odds of success, and a big payout. Think of these skills, and take a few moments later today and spend a half hour consciously trying to apply those skills to every situation. When you play to your strengths you are giving yourself the best chance of success, or “maximizing odds”. It is obvious statement, but I bet we all would be amazed at the amount of time we spend NOT playing where we are strongest.

So take a half-hour and “double down”, really focus on using your strengths actively and purposefully. I bet you will be amazed at the return. Good luck.

How would you like that prepared?

The other day at lunch someone was asked that standard question “how would you like that prepared?”

I thought about that question as it pertains to work. The parallels to me were striking (warning: there may be some groan inducing comments below)

- If we prepare just a little and then get the work out the door – our chance of success and improvement is Rare.

- If we prepare the same as everyone else, we should expect the chances of success to be about the same as everyone else or Medium.

- If we take the time and prepare more than everyone else – we have insured that our most likely result is a job Well Done.

So we should take a moment each day, and think about what we have coming up that is key to our success and achieving our goals. Then look at your calendar and check to see if you have set time aside to prepare? We all think to prepare, but if we do not schedule time to do the preparation then life gets in the way, and we scramble just to barely get enough done. Take a moment, look at the major tasks that our key to our success, and make sure that you have scheduled in a ton of preparation time. This is an investment that will pay off.

Whenever you are looking at getting something done ask yourself “have I schedule enough time to over prepare for this?” When you add this to your routine you will have learned a valuable lesson that will lead to continued improvement and success.

The lesson: be prepared, in fact be over-prepared. It is the key ingredient to a job well done.

(sorry…couldn’t resist one last one!)

Question: how can you tell if your customers are satisfied?

Answer: look at your team.

Just wanted to remind everyone of the simple rule that is the key to monitoring and improving the service we give our customers. The more satisfied and loyal our team is, the more satisfied and loyal our customers will be.

Remember, satisfaction and loyalty does not mean that they “like you”. But it does mean that they like working with (and for) you. It means that they know they are appreciated, know how they are doing and know the expectations for them and the whole team. If your team is happy and satisfied, they will treat our customers like gold, if they are not… well you can see where that will lead us.

This is a simple rule that I know we all have heard and thought before, but it bears repeating because it is so impactful.

How we treat our team is how they treat our customers. Every chance we interact with one of our people it is not only a chance to make them better, but it is a moment to vastly improve our customers’ experience. Take a moment and look around at your people. What you see in their body language, their attitude and performance is a reflection to our customers of who we are.

It is powerful, impactful and in our control; so take a moment, think about out it, and take advantage of it.

How we treat our team is how they treat our customers….know it, use it, own it.

Go ahead, make yourself uncomfortable

“Make yourself uncomfortable” is a powerful rule when it comes to excellence and management. When you are in a decision mindset, you must fight the temptation to immediately look for resolution and agreement. Instead you should seek out areas of discomfort and possible conflict and follow that lead. If you are reviewing steps you have to take in getting something done, look to which one you have the most discomfort about and address it first. Now a quick word on what I mean by discomfort. I am not talking about a lack of confidence or certainty that comes from doing something we are not competent at – this is called trying something new and learning. That is a totally different discussion.

Being uncomfortable has to deal with finding conflict, having tough discussions and making hard decisions. And the rule is simple: when in doubt, seek discomfort out. The more you do this, the better you will be. It is that straightforward. That is the good news.

The bad news? Well… seeking uncomfortable situations is not always fun. In fact, it rarely is fun at the moment. But what you achieve by doing this is always better and always pushes you closer to excellence. And THAT is fun. I can tell you in my own life when I follow this rule of thumb, the results always get better. As I said above, it is not always easy, but it is always well worth it.

So take a moment, think and look around, and then go ahead – make yourself uncomfortable. It will not be the easiest thing you do all day, but it probably will be one of the best.

Run your day...

Or it will run you. There are two aspects to running your day that I wanted to touch on briefly. These are attitude and Planning.

Attitude is a very simple idea… a simple idea that is very hard to execute. When things go wrong or get out of control, we all get angry, frustrated, illogical and a whole host of other emotions. These emotions have the ability to completely trample us down if we let them.

“If we let them” is the key phrase. Getting out of control is something that we let happen to us. By definition it means that we have let things get out of our control. So when you feel these emotions coming on there are three things you need to do.

1) Be aware of it. Awareness of emotions is one of the great (and underrated) leadership skills. Learn to recognize when emotions are overwhelming your situation. If you do not spot this coming on, you will not be able to react until too late.

2) Remove yourself and breathe. Whatever is going on, call a timeout. If you can physically remove yourself than you should, if you cannot do that then figure out a way to slow down. Then take a second and take a deep, deep breath. Breathe in for six seconds, hold your breath for a count of two or so, and then breathe out for seven seconds. This is a trick athletes use to get their emotions in control during a game. It may sound hokey and new age-y, but try it the next time you are getting worked up and then you can make fun of it.

3) Small first step. Look around and see what is going on and then take the first, and smallest, positive step towards moving to a solution that you can find. Whether that is writing down possible solutions, listing out the possible causes or even writing down rewards you may enjoy once you have resolved the issue, it is key to take a positive step forward. A simple reminder that you are able to control your situation.

This last point reminds us of the second part of running your day. That is planning.

If you do not have a plan to your day, then – in short – you have no chance. You will get pulled around, and pushed around in every direction, every day. Take 5 minutes over the next few days, and think about how you approach your day.

Do you have a plan of attack? Can you describe a structure to your day? Do you know where you and your people are supposed to be and when?

The more concrete the answer to these questions, the more structure you have to your day. And the more structure you have to your day, the more you can be on top of, get done, and respond to.

We all think we have an approach to our day and time. And many times we do, but I urge you to take a moment and think about what structure and blueprint you bring to your day. When you build a house you have a blueprint and a plan. Our approach to running our days should be the same.

Take a moment and review the blueprint and plan you have for every day. Always good to review how you approach this vital task. Every day we wake up and face the challenge of getting the most out of those 24 hours.

Will you run that 24 hours or will it run you? With the right attitude and plan you know that the answer.

I also wanted to take a moment and wish everyone a wonderful Independence Day weekend. This is always a wonderful time to reflect on the blessings we have in our lives. We live in a country that allows us all to express our thoughts and intentions, not as silent hopes, but as audible and visible actions bound only by our ability to dream and willingness to act. The United States of America allows us the opportunity to act and take on the challenge of building a better life for ourselves and our families.

We should be grateful; grateful that we live in such a nation that allows each and every one of us to act and lead. We are blessed to live in a world that allows us an unfettered option to dream, and act upon that dream. This is an opportunity we should be appreciative of, and work to make it better now and for the generations that follow.

When I say jump...

“How High?”

We have all heard this at one time or another. It is usually associated with someone making it clear who is the boss.

But I have often thought of this quote in parallel to the following famous vaudeville joke:

Q. How’s your wife?

A. Compared to what?

Both of these well-know and overused clichés hit at the same central point. That in order to succeed and improve you must have a standard to compare your performance to.

That is why the correct response to the “boss” who says “jump!” is not bending our legs and powering up, but is instead an emphatic request for clarification on the standard I have to meet to be successful. The same point is made in the old joke. Obviously, this is not the only point either quote makes, but they both point out this vital point.

This vital aspect is the idea that improvement comes from setting a standard. It is the basis for improvement, much like discipline is the basis for morale as we discussed last week. Without a standard, improvement is a haphazard, wandering effort that is difficult to spot, harder to measure and impossible to maintain. With a standard improvement is easy to see, measure and maintain. Which is the world you would want to work in?

So when you look around, stop and ask “if I asked everyone to ‘Jump’ would they know how high”? Anywhere that the answer is not 100% locked down there is a great opportunity to set the stage for continued improvement.

A myth about discipline

I want to address a myth today. Lots of people talk about discipline and morale. If you talk with people or type the words into Google you will see a lot of references to the relationship between the two factors. And the generally accepted wisdom says that the relationship to discipline and morale looks something like:

So in short, the more discipline you have (or create) the less morale you must have in an organization. This comes from the negative connotation of discipline. Resulting largely to the association we have tied to discipline with punishment. I could make comments about this probably starts when we are children … but let’s not get into that. The point here is that people confuse discipline with punishment and have therefore turned it into a negative thing.

However, what discipline is in reality is setting of standards, and working with people to make sure we meet those standards. It is creating the expectations, and setting the conditions to make those expectations happen. It encompasses the entire range of things we do to coach and make our people better.

If we look at discipline we see that, in fact, all of the components of discipline are the key pieces to improving morale – which is the exact opposite of what we have been conditioned to believe! If we have true discipline the relationship looks like:

But we have to remember that discipline is more than just punishment. It is the system for setting, teaching and reinforcing our performance to those standards. But when we approach discipline correctly, contrary to the common myth, discipline CREATES MORALE. Look around your world and see where you think morale could be better. You will see that the discipline in that area is always less than you want.

Therefore the recipe for the solution is simple. Just add a real system of discipline and improved performance and morale will surely follow.

A window to the soul

They say that the “eyes are the window to the soul”. This popular cliché states a simple idea, that what you see in a person’s eyes is the truth.

When we work and lead people the results are a reflection of us. Period. Much like the eyes in the cliché above, the work we produce says who we really are. Our words do not matter when compared to what we produce through our work and leadership.

If we have sloppy work, that is what it says about us. If the work is dull and uninspired, that is a reflection of our leadership. Conversely when we are excited, our leadership and work is exciting. Our work is a reflection of us every day. I know we do not often put it in such stark terms but it is reality.

We spend a lot of time at work producing work and leading others in work. That effort reflects who we are. No matter what we are doing we reveal ourselves to the world. The work we do is a reflection of who we truly are as people.

We have a challenge to make a masterpiece of every day. Because each and every day’s efforts are a reflection of whom we are. When we forget this we are saying something about ourselves. But when we are mindful of this, what a message we can send!

Think about the work you want to produce. How you lead people. What you want it to say about you, about your values and about how you want the world to be. Keep that image in your mind. See what it feels like to understand the message you send with your work and leadership. Imagine what it feels like to you and those you work with. Know the message you are trying to send with your actions. Got that in your mind?

Now go do it.

Imagine the world you would live in every day if you did. The work we do is a reflection of who we are as people. What a wonderful challenge and choice to live up to every day.

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“The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge while an ordinary man takes everything either as a blessing or a curse” – Carlos Castaneda

“Make each day your Masterpiece” – John Wooden

“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

why? why? why? why? why? why? why?

Just to cover this from the start the answer is not “because”. The above is a reminder of one of the best critical thinking tools that we have. I have always called it the “7 whys”.

This method is a vital first step to problem solving. As we all have heard the first step to solving a problem is defining the problem. The next step is figuring out what is the underlying cause of that issue. Some people call this the “root cause”. What it is called does not matter, what matters is that this “root cause” has to be addressed with any solution to a problem.

Which brings us to the “7 whys”. After you have defined the problem you can then wheel out this powerful and simple technique. Ask yourself “why does this problem happen”? And take each answer and ask “why does that happen” six more times and you will have uncovered the root cause of the problem. This is a simple tool, but very powerful in identifying the true challenge you need to solve.

A simple example to show you how this works (this example was taken from isixsigma.com)

Problem Statement: You are on your way home from work and your car stops in the middle of the road.
1. Why did your car stop?
- Because it ran out of gas.
2. Why did it run out of gas?
- Because I didn't buy any gas on my way to work.
3. Why didn't you buy any gas this morning?
- Because I didn't have any money.
4. Why didn't you have any money?
- Because I lost it all last night in a poker game.
5. Why did you lose your money in last night's poker game?
- Because I'm not very good at "bluffing" when I don't have a good hand.

Note that you do not always need all “7 whys” but you get the point.

Next time you are looking at a problem use the “7 whys” to make sure you are addressing the core issue. Also note you can use the H and W questions (How, What, Where, Who, When and of course Why) in sequence to drive to the core of a discussion or issue. The essence of critical thinking is to get to the vital issues that matter and this tool is a smart, simple and effective way to begin.

So try to use the “7 whys” to look at the next problem you are wrestling with. It gives a great perspective on the problem, it’s cause and solution. The next time you are presented with a problem, remember that you should not start by trying to come up with a solution right away but instead try starting with asking “why?”.

a mistaken quality

Mistake happen, we know this is a given.

As we have discussed before there is a value in anticipating the fact that mistakes will happen. This allows us to think about how we will recover. And this is important to excellence in execution. But there is another part of mistakes that we need to observe that is vital to our improvement

And that is to look at the quality of our mistake. There will be mistakes and we will learn from them. We need to review not only if we missed the target, but by how much? In sports the professionals are not the ones who never make mistakes but those who make mistakes that they can recover from much easier. The measure of a great performer is not only the quality of their successes but the quality of the mistakes. Call it a margin of error, or in sports terms a “good miss”; but no matter what you call it the key idea is to really observe your mistakes and see if they are getting better. This is the measure of a champion and this kind of observation is a champion’s skill.

So next time you make a mistake (and odds are I will make one before you!) take the time to acknowledge

1) that it happened
2) why it happened
3) how far off target were we

So the next time we make a similar mistake (and yes that will happen too!) we will look over everything again and see how much we are improving. If we can see improvement even when we have erred than you know that real change is happening. When our margins of error decrease we know that we are improving quality at every level. It is a wonderful lesson and learning moment if we are tuned in to observe it.

No one is perfect and no mistake is a total loss. We must train ourselves to take the opportunity from every challenge and the success from every mistake.

Drive vs. Driven

The other day someone asked me a question about management. I drew them a picture similar to the one above. As leaders we often think of ourselves as the main gear that does much of the work. In mechanical terms that larger gear (the one to the right) is called the “driven gear” and it does in fact directly generate the force that gets the mechanical work done. The smaller gear to the left is called the “drive gear” and it is that gear that allows the larger gear to work. Its placement and size dictate the effort and output of the larger “driven gear”. And of course the “drive gear” represents what management is all about.

When you look at your work over the next few days make sure you are asking yourself this, “is this something I should be directly doing, or making sure that it happens through my team?”. I would even suggest take one thing that you regularly do yourself, and see what happens if you put that work out to your team to do as opposed to yourself. It is a good exercise of delegation and follow-up; and key to the idea of helping work happen as opposed to doing the work. Often we talk about management as the practice of “almost doing the work” and this is a great exercise to practice that idea. So take one task that you handle directly and see if you can move it from the "doing the work” column to the “almost doing the work” column this week.

Our feedback and behavior dictates the effort and output of our team much like the “drive gear” does to the “driven gear”. The larger gear has the strength to get the work done, but it needs the direction and structure of the smaller gear to make it happen. The more you can be the “drive gear” the better your management and your team will be.

Micro-Managing

This week I just wanted to share a point that has come up in discussion a couple of times this week. People have used the phrase “I do not want to be a micro-manager”.

No one who is fully engaged and giving it their all at a job has ever complained about being “micro-managed”. Think back to your life (whether you were managing or being managed) and remember when people (including ourselves) have used the phrase. It almost never (if ever) refers to a manager who is telling an individual which hand they should hold the screw driver in or how to hold a pencil. It almost always involves someone coming back and checking on work assigned.

The person who gets antsy about this is not the person who is doing great and knocking it out of the park. The people who use this line (and I have been one in the past) are people who know they are not where they need to be and do not want to be caught in that situation. I know that is where I have always been when I griped about being “micro-managed”. When I am on top of my work and doing great stuff it never matters who comes by to check me out, the attitude is always “come on! Let me show you where we are!”. Same manager, same follow up, but a different performer has a completely different response. We should remember that as we lead our team.

Following up on work assigned regularly is not “micro-managing”, checking someone’s progress in the middle of a project or task is not “micro-managing”, in fact most things we call (or have been called out for) “micro-managing” is not “micro-managing”. Simply put, most actions people call “micro-managing” have a much more common name… managing.

Something to think about the next time we hear or think about that phrase.

Could be habit forming…

These words can often be found on some form of prescription medication. But it is also part of the prescription for our own path to excellence. Habits are often thought of as annoying or a problem but there is another side to habits. There is a hidden power in them. And that power is in their automatic nature. Imagine if we were to take a moment and intentionally build a habit (Of course it has to be something that you can do, which is to say we cannot build a habit out of the weather)

But you should ask yourself “What is the one thing that if I did it every day without fail, would have the biggest impact on my day to day performance?”
Now imagine if you didn’t even have to think about it and it just happened every day? That is the power of habit. We build habits every day – what I want us to consider is what happens if we do it with intention.

Think about the ”what is the one thing…” question above and come up with an answer.

Got it? Good.

Now ask yourself what is the first thing I need to do towards building this skill? The key here is it will be small. Whether it is listening for a phrase, looking for something (specific) or communicating specific items, the key is small, specific, actionable and repeatable.

As soon as you are done reading this email go out and do that action. And each time you enter a new “area” (room, building, section) do it again. Do it until you notice that you are doing that first step without thinking about it. This will take a few days.

Once you have the first step down what then? Look back at the “what is the one thing…” answer again and decide the second step you want to build. Follow that same process again and again until you have built that “one thing” into an automatic habit!

This is a small, easy and impactful way to make changes. It is powerful and can make a huge difference in your life. Imagine what you can do.
Warning, this could be habit forming.

the power of intentional observation

We all talk about managing and leading a lot. Time and time again we talked about the need to observe what is going on being a vital piece of being able to manage and lead.

But I would guess like most people we have not thought much about observing. We go around and we look and see what we see and that is observing …right? Of course it isn’t but it is what we all do most of the time.

But imagine if we went out specifically looking for one thing, one behavior and keyed in on that for 15 minutes. Imagine the feedback and coaching you could give your people with that kind of focus. With those observations you have data to make a change and an improvement. Without you are (pun intended) flying blind.

Observation is a critical component of leading people but it is a skill we do not think about, practice much or try to hone. Take a few moments and practice. Go out and look for triangles. Walk into a room and take 5 minutes and then try to write down everything you remember. Listen for a specific word in a conversation. Look for a specific behavior and see how many times it comes up in 10 minutes.

All of these tools can help us practice become more intentional (and therefore better) observers. And if we can improve our skills at observation, we can get better results from ourselves and our teams. In short, focusing on your observations skills will just make you better. So think about how you want to practice observation, what you would like to track on, and then it is time to get ready, take aim and focus. Happy hunting.

Moments of truth

When we think of a moment of truth we instinctively think of a pivotal moment. An event that makes a huge impact in our lives. We turn over the moment in our head, replay it in our minds, we analyze what happened and ask what might I have done differently?

But I believe that most big moments of truth have a build up to them. There is a pattern of small moments. These smaller moments set up the “big” moment of truth that became so impactful. And when we look at these moments the best thing is it possible to understand how we can improve on them. Especially when compared to the bigger moments.

When we look at our day there are repeatable key moments that we can focus on and make a difference. Of course we do not always look at what the repeatable, smaller moments of truth that we can focus on and impact.

You may see it as the first time you say hello to a team member, or first customers in the door, or any other of 1,000 possible moments of truth. And the more we take care that these are done well the more likely that the bigger breaks go our way also. The little stuff takes care of the big stuff.

So ask yourself about your moments of truth that you face every day. Have you thought about how you should ideally respond each day? Have you thought of the way you would like it to happen? Do you practice it? Do you notice it each day to try and improve over time so that it gets closer to your ideal? And if these are the building blocks of our bigger moments than isn’t the obvious question…shouldn’t we all answer these questions with a yes every day?

The enemy of great?

Most people answer fear of failure. But if you think about fear of failure is the enemy of starting something. Which of course would prevent greatness so that has real truth in it.

But the real enemy of greatness only rears its head once you have started. And that enemy is called “good enough”.

We often stop trying to improve something once we get “good enough” at something. And on some tasks that is fine. But if it is important to your goals, then “good enough” can be a killer. On the things that are important we should look as “good enough” as a milepost on the road that ends at “great” and we should not accept anything less.

We all have a lot to do and the allure of stopping at “good enough” is tempting. Because it is, by definition, good enough. And it is much harder to get from “good enough” to “great” then “just started” to “good enough
Greatness is not an easy trip, but it is an amazing one that we can make together as a team. It takes the willingness to call out this enemy directly by name and recognize that being good can often be limiting factor instead of a leaping point to greatness.

So we must force ourselves to honestly look at our major goals and force ourselves to commit to defeat the enemy that is “good enough”. Refuse to accept it as a destination and commit to watch “good enough” turn into a blur as we pass it on the path “great”. Tough? Yes. Challenging? Yes. Worth it? I think you know the answer.

Greatness… that is where we are going.

Let’s get moving.




Note: Credit to Michael Alloso's great seminar "You on your best day" that posed this insightful question

fault vs. responsible

So here is the situation. Something has gone wrong, and we go looking to see what happened. We search a little and find out what happened. Someone messed up and it was not us. So there are two questions that we should ask ourselves.

1) Who is at fault?
2) Who is responsible?

The first one is easy whoever messed up is at fault. And there should be coaching and correction and possibly even punishment. But the second question is more tricky. Certainly the person who messed up is responsible right? And they are – but they are not the only ones. As managers and leaders we are equally responsible for the situation. A leader is responsible for everything that happens in their world.

We can point the blame to whoever earned it, but the responsibility of the mistake and making it better falls squarely on the shoulders of the leader. End of story. No way out.

That is the challenge and opportunity of the leader. It may be instinct to look elsewhere when something goes wrong and say that it is not your fault. And it may not be … but if you are the leader that does not matter. The problem is yours to fix (the challenge) and the solution is yours to own (the opportunity). And then after we fix the problem we have to always ask ourselves “What did we do to let this happen? What can I as a leader make sure to do so this never happens again?”

The famous cliché on leadership goes “When something goes right the great leader looks out the window to his people; when something goes wrong he looks into the mirror” . As a leader we may not be to blame directly but we are responsible completely. When something goes wrong we can accept this reality and create some great opportunities for growth and improvement or we can hide. And this is how you should want it. So we have this to face almost every day because things go wrong. Next time it does make sure that you look in the mirror and take the responsibility and the opportunity. It is what leaders do.

The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.

The subject of this email is the end of a quote by Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, which in total reads:

“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus. “

We often confuse working on multiple goals with working on multiple goals at once. This is a huge wasted opportunity. Imagine trying to push five small boxes in five similar directions with each finger at one time. Compare that to how much quicker you can push one box with your whole hand.

That is what we can do when we focus. We can put all of our (and our team’s) energy towards a goal we can get progress towards that goal much quicker. Then we can pull back set our focus on the next goal and go forth again. Note here that we are not saying that you should only have one goal at a time. That is neither realistic nor desirable. But by focus your team on a singular goal you can really move something forward. Then use that same coordinated power to move the next goal forward. We often let our impact and power splinter and do not stop to re-gather ourselves and focus back on the goal at hand.

I recognize there are times when we have to divide our attention. Our aim is to recognize what we have to do and then get the team focused again. You will also see that when you focus on this one goal that somehow, all of the other areas seem to improve as well.

There is a power in focus and we should all look around us and make sure that we have ourselves and our people focused on a single goal and then see what we can do.

You will be amazed. Like the rays of the sun in our quote above, our energy can go everywhere and some impact or we can focus it on one goal as a team and then that’s when things will really start to catch fire. (pun intended)

Feedback is the breakfast of champions*

In talking about addressing issues up front and immediately in the last two weeks there is one area that I wanted to discuss. And that is the idea of immediate and direct response to what happens when we see something good. When we do not give immediate feedback we miss an opportunity. We miss the opportunity to reinforce whether something that someone did is good or bad in our eyes.

If we do not comment when we see some do something that is not up to expectations we have said “this behavior is not an issue please continue”.

If we do not comment when we see someone doing something good we have missed the chance to say “that behavior was great I would love to see more!”.

Both of these are missed opportunities. As managers and leaders we must be feedback machines. But we must look to balance the negative and the positive. Take a moment and pay attention to the feedback you are giving your people. Is it immediate? Is it constant? Is it balanced? If we give both positive and negative feedback it makes both more powerful. If you give both types people believe you when you tell them. And that is what we want because that reinforces the positives that we see and helps people correct the negatives. And that is coaching, and that is managing.

So take a moment and look at yourself and ask how much feedback have I been giving? How much more can I give? And if you give it in the right way, the right balance and the right time (which is right now) you will get much, much more back in positive returns than you give.

* ”Feedback is the breakfast of champions” – Ken Blanchard

Behavior is a mirror

Last week when we talked about giving feedback early and often before a small situation becomes a big problem. And it is was discussed from a management and behavior point of view. However there is one other issue that this gets at – albeit in a more subtle way. And that is integrity.

If we see something that we need to correct because it is not what we said we do and we do not correct it we have not only sent a message about behaviors that are acceptable and unacceptable but we have also told everyone our values that we discuss are not truly important to us. Our actions are how we relate our beliefs and values to the rest of the world. When we choose to not address an issue we are making a statement of values as well.

Think about what you are doing (or what you are not doing) and think about the values that you are relating to your people. We have an opportunity to express our values with every action – we should look at that as a great opportunity. A challenging one to be sure, and not an easy one, but a wonderful opportunity to make these statements about who we are by what we do. Our people will never forget it so neither should we.

Never put off tomorrow what you can do today

It happens all of the time. We see one of our people doing something they should not be doing. Nothing criminal mind you, maybe they are bickering, stirring the pot or doing something that is not acceptable behavior but it is more a misdemeanor than a felony.

So what do you do?

Often we will walk by thinking “this is not a big deal… I do not want to make a ‘thing’ about this…hopefully it will go away.” And invariably, not far down the line, this issue has continued on and has become not a minor issue but a repetitive, chronic problem. Our misdemeanor has turned into a felony. This happens to us all of the time. Why?

When you as the leader of the group walk by someone not behaving up to standards and you do not give direct feedback we forget that we are sending a clear message. A message that says “what you are doing is OK, it is not a problem, go ahead and keep on doing it”. So instead of helping it disappear you have reinforced that the behavior will continue. And it does not stop there, you have now made it that much harder to correct anyone else who is exhibiting the same behavior. (“Why are you picking on me? You let others get away with it…”)

I know it is not always easy to be correcting and coaching. No of us like to hear that we are not doing well, or doing something we are not supposed, and no one likes to give that feedback. But let’s think of it this way. Would you rather get a vaccine for a disease have the small discomfort upfront or ignore it and deal with the disease itself? It is cheaper and hurts much less…

If when you see that early behavior that is out of line, and out of standard, and grab that as an opportunity for easy improvement and immunization. Take the person aside and explain why that behavior is not what we do, and you know that they want to follow the standards and be a part of the team. We are going to have the conversation with the person at some point. If you do it early it will make them better and your whole team better. If you ignore it will be a part of the separation conversation. I prefer a vaccine that works to a disease that hurts. Early intervention is the difference between success and failure here. And we all want to succeed.

So let’s keep our eyes out for behaviors that we have let slide and start coaching our people as to how we should be doing things. The way we make sure it “get’s better” or “goes away” is by doing something about it.

Falling back to leap forward

Last week we talked about making errors. There is second part to the equation. If we say the right kind of mistakes (and most importantly recognizing all kinds of mistakes) is not a bad thing but can be good then there is a second question that we must ask ourselves which is “what next?”.

Acknowledging that mistakes can be good is important for two reasons:

1) They are going to happen so it is better to recognize and accept that and look for the positive.
2) You can plan for how to recover from mistakes once you have allowed for the reality that they will happen.

And that second point is a key point for world class execution. Why do we practice how to handle an upset customer? We know it will happen so we need a recovery system. Be aware enough to spot a mistake is great; the next step is to try to think through how to respond as quickly as possible. Is there a mistake that you see could happen that you may not be ready for? Whether it is an issue with utilities (think flooding), power outages or good old fashioned equipment issues there are many things that can happen. The more we are ready to respond the higher our performance will be.

While perfection is an ideal goal if our whole operating mindset is based on us being perfect we will be flawed. Because things do go wrong so we must see it, own that it happens and jump on solving these issues. And the more thought we have into these responses before the better. Think about areas where your people can and should be ready to recover and see how you can help them execute this recovery the best way possible.

Flawless execution includes the possibility (and inevitability) or errors but also allows us, and should force us, to plan for these moments and practice our recovery and response. That is one of the keys to excellence and something we should embrace. So it’s OK for us to recognize we will fall back as long as we use it as a chance to plan to leap forward.

To err is human

Last week I mentioned the power of Action steps.

One of the big impediments is the fear of messing up. There are two types of mistakes

1) Doing something that we have done regularly. And this is usually caused by not paying attention.

2) Doing something that we have not really done before. These errors come as part of the learning process.

Of course we want to avoid the first type of mistake. But I want you to seek out the second. We should always be trying something a little new and different to improve. Which means we should always be finding little mistakes to improve on. A new idea that has a mistake may be our best opportunity for learning and finding that next level of excellence. So it is key to seek these moments out.

In order to do this you must pay attention and have a keen eye to which type of errors you are seeing. Most of instinctively know the difference but we do not categorize them differently. A mistake is a mistake. This fear is one of the biggest road blocks you can run into in any situation. There are mistakes to be avoided and those that we should embrace.

Let’s look at these two types of mistakes as two separate functions. The first type of error (of a regular task that comes … #1 above) should be avoided and minimized. The second type of error (from trying something new …#2 above) should not only not be minimized; they should be sought out. Because there is learning there and something good going on. Something you learn, something you can build on and something you can share. Looking at it that way I am sure you will agree that it is not even right to think of it as a mistake anymore.

We all know that everything we try will not work – but make sure that we classify our mistakes correctly because one is a good thing. If it has been a while since you have had a mistake go seek one out. Just make sure it is the right kind of mistake. Then you will be onto something.

Light's, camera....

Action… simple and powerful.

“What next step should I be taking to make my goals happen? “

This one question is crucial. It is a game changing attitude. It takes two key thoughts and makes the go…

1) It is a reminder that we have the ability and authority to act and take control.
2) It forces us to be in a state of doing instead of not doing (or remember as my football coach used to say “don’t-ing”)

Imagine what next week would look like if we all asked ourselves this questions and answered it at every possible moment…

“What next step should I be taking to make my goals happen?”

Yes at times we have to deal with the emergent issue at hand, we all have to put out fires, but imagine a week where every time we got pass those issue we asked the question above and then made sure we started to work on that next step.

We all get caught up in each day and this is a great question to focus us back on running our day instead of our day running us. And whether you are good at running your day or need some improvement we all know we can always get better.

So remember take at least one moment over the next few days and ask yourself the question

“What next step should I be taking to make my goals happen?”

And the stage will be set and then it is time for Action. Sounds pretty good to me.

If you are in the path of the ice storms that never end stay warm and safe and for those of us in the south getting snow enjoy the moment.

Thanks

let someone else do it

A quick thought for the weekend…

I was discussing with someone the other day about the difference between accountability and control. If you control something you are accountable for it completely, you own it and the results. If someone else controls something they have the accountability. In business we often talk about accountability but we are not willing to give the control of that result to the person we hold accountable. This sets up an unavoidable conflict.

As a leader you are responsible for everything that reports to you. But that does not mean you have to control every aspect of it. And if you think about it in order to engage other people and keep them accountable than you MUST allow them more control of the result.

So the challenge and opportunity that I want everyone to think about is this… think of some task that you control right now. Ask yourself do I need to have this control? Find one action and let someone else do it. That is a key phrase. It is weird to relinquish some control and ownership but that is OK. You are control of everything that you lead – your people should feel the same way about their charge and the only way is to make sure they feel that accountability and control.

If you are doing this … great you can find something else! If you are someone who struggles with this – and I know I do at times – take the next few days and find something and make the commitment to let someone else do it.

A note… follow up is not controlling. It is a chance to coach and make sure that things are done – especially as someone is newly learning accountability. So find something… let someone else do it… see when it gets done… give them food positive feedback and make sure they know they can do that again.

It is not a loss of control it is a way to build accountability.

The manner of "how"....

A quick thought for the weekend…

This week’s has had a huge amount of coverage of the political election in Massachusetts. One of the most important messages of this election is not about specific policies, political parties or ideology. What one of the key points that was made this week was people’s general dissatisfaction with the process of how politicians go about making laws and deals. And it extends to both sides of the aisle – remember no sex, religion or politics!

What was key was the importance that people put not only on the “what” (or goal) but also on the “how” (or process for achieving the goal). We all (myself included) get very focused on the “what”. Rarely do we stop and ask ourselves in depth questions about “how” we achieve that objective. This week the American people gave everyone a valuable reminder that the way in which you approach a goal is as important as the goal itself.

Take a moment over the next week and ask “have I thought about the manner in which I am achieving my goals?”. If you (like all of us) have neglecting this question as of late, take 5 minutes and think about the “how” of achieving our goal and the impact it can have on that success.

Remember it’s is not just where you go but the road you travel to get there.

Have a great weekend.