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?”.