Hard Lessons in a Microwave World

Today's post is a bit extended. But, I hope you will hang in there with me and enjoy the ride.

I had an interesting exchange with one of my sons the other day. He was complaining about a class we are making him participate in. He doesn't see how anything he is learning will help him with what he wants to do with his life. I tried to help him understand how the skills he was learning would be a major benefit in the field he wants to pursue, but to no avail. This is a challenge faced by many parents. I knew I wasn't alone.

Thankfully, the lesson from the movie "The Karate Kid" came to mind. So, my wife and I sat him down at the computer, did a quick search on YouTube and presto, there were the successive scenes we were looking for.

You remember the story. The young kid (Daniel) whose getting bullied by some thugs turns to a local karate expert (Mr. Miyagi) to teach him how to turn the tables on these guys. So, Mr. Miyagi tells him to show up at his place at 6am to begin his lessons. The next day Daniel shows up bright and early, looking forward to starting his lessons. But, Mr. Miyagi's idea of lessons is a little different than Daniel's. Watch this short clip to see (or be reminded of) how the lessons begin.



Daniel is perplexed. He's envisioning wiping the bullies out with his karate skills, but instead he finds himself wiping a bunch of old cars. What's this got to do with karate? And the cycle continues. Day after day Daniel shows up to learn karate only to find himself remodeling Mr. Miyagi's home. If you are unfamiliar with the film I encourage you to watch the successive video clips (lessons 2-4).

This is how my son felt. There was a complete disconnect between what he envisions doing some day, and what he is being asked (dare I say forced) to do today. Well, Daniel finally comes to the end of his rope after days of wearying toil. He is fed up and tired of washing and waxing Mr. Miyagi's cars, sanding his deck, painting his house and painting his fence. All for what?!?! He is about to walk out on their pact.

Watch this next clip to see how Mr. Miyagi handles the situation and how he demonstrates for Daniel the "for what."



Daniel learned an incredibly important lesson. Someone else knew better than he did what he needed in order to get what he really wanted.

Well, my son definitely got the lesson. He now understands where we are coming from. I don't know if his attitude has completely changed yet, but there's a ray of hope.

Are you and I willing to humble ourselves and be taught? Are we willing to do the hard things? In a world where we think we can get what we want from the microwave or from the vending machine in a matter of seconds, are we willing to endure the hardships and trials of gaining valuable wisdom, insight and skills from those who have walked this road before us? What are we modeling for the next generation?

Seize the day!
http://joedenner.blogspot.com
http://alliantleadership.com
http://twitter.com/joedenner

Can Coaching Help?

Here is a link to an article that I came across recently that speaks about the powerful impact of coaching for an organization's leadership.

Read the article. And, have a GREAT weekend. I am loving this warmer weather.

Seize the day!
http://joedenner.blogspot.com
http://alliantleadership.com
http://twitter.com/joedenner

Does Anyone Understand?

In two of my last three posts I have been writing about how important it is to measure if you are trying to manage something - e.g. a team, a department, a process. I have been sharing an old management adage that drives home the point I am trying to make. This week I will be revealing the third and last aspect of that adage. Here is the entire statement:

• You cannot manage what you do not measure
• You cannot measure what you do not define
• You cannot define what you do not understand

There it is. Plain and simple. But, that's the interesting thing. I find that many times the things that are very simply stated, even intuitive, are often much more difficult to implement or realize than they originally appear.

What makes this last phrase so hard is that it is deceptively simple. We often think we understand something, but we really don't. What usually happens is that we understand just enough to be dangerous. Good managers go beyond the surface. They dig and work hard to understand the intricacies and nuances of the team's dynamics or the process. They make as few untested assumptions as possible.

This is important, because once you have a truly understand all the variables, at least to the degree possible, you can much more accurately define what you want to measure and develop a good method of measurement. Once all three are in place you have the ability to begin managing - i.e. reasonably controlling the outcome. More next time...

What questions do you need to ask about what you are trying to manage that you haven't asked? What assumptions have you made that need to be validated? When your results vary, do you understand why?

Seize the day!
http://joedenner.blogspot.com
http://alliantleadership.com
http://twitter.com/joedenner

Layers of Culture

Below is an excerpt from my most recent newsletter. I hope you find it valuable.

What's Behind Door #2?

MULTIPLE LAYERS OF CULTURE

If you knew that the culture of your organization has a profound effect on your team, your clients, and your bottom line, wouldn't you want to find out what kind of culture you have? Wouldn't you want it to be a positive culture?

What is organizational culture?

Organizational Culture is the set of beliefs, traditions and behavioral norms that determine how people interact with co-workers and with other important stakeholders such as customers and vendors.

Why is it important?

It is important because, according to emerging leader and author Jon Gordon, "Culture drives behavior, and behavior drives habits in an organization." This in turn, affects results.

Let's dig deeper. Read more...

Sign up to receive the newsletter each month and receive a free management resource.

Seize the day!
http://joedenner.blogspot.com
http://alliantleadership.com
http://twitter.com/joedenner

Measuring - Digging Deeper

Last week I mentioned that you "cannot manage what you do not measure." While this is a fairly simple and even intuitive statement, once you think about it, it is often "out of mind" for leaders. Every time I share this in a seminar or other training situation everyone's pens begin moving. This is one of those nuggets people take home from seminars.

But, there's more to the adage that I almost never see. I was privileged to get it at a seminar I attended many years ago. Here is the next part.

1. You cannot manage what you do not measure.
2. You cannot measure what you do not define.
3. [Come back next week]

Once again, a pretty simple statement. The catch, again, is that this is typically deeper than most leaders are willing to dig.

To really get a hold of the performance of your people, a particular group or the organization as a whole you need to spend some time thinking through exactly what you want to measure and state it in very clear terms. Then, and only then, can you develop the appropriate process and/or tools for getting consistent, meaningful data collection.

There is one pitfall that I have experienced with this (too many times). If you do not clearly define, clearly document and clearly communicate (is that clear?) what you want to measure, you will get people measuring all kinds of different things because they are measuring what they think you meant by what you said. Do not leave it to people's imaginations, or your data will be meaningless - GIGO.

What do you want to measure? How clearly have you defined it? How have you validated people's understanding of it? More later...

Seize the day!
http://joedenner.blogspot.com
http://alliantleadership.com
http://twitter.com/joedenner

Managing Requires Measuring

Last week we talked about the importance of clearly communicating your expectations to those you are leading. We noted that one of the biggest challenges with this is that many leaders haven't gone through the rigor of defining the measurable results they want.

That provides a nice segue to talking about the next challenge - measuring. I have interacted with a lot of supervisors and managers over the years and measuring results is a consistent challenge. The obstacles are numerous:

1. They aren't very disciplined people, so they are not very interested in measuring
2. The systems available to them make measuring what's important a difficult task
   
3. The results they are trying to measure are primarily subjective rather than objective things
4. The process they are trying to measure is extremely complex
5. They simply haven't put in the thinking time to identify what matters most (i.e. what deserves measuring).
   

Regardless of the obstacles, I continue to stress that old management adage - "You cannot manage what you do not measure." If you are not measuring then you are merely hoping for the right outcome not managing for it.

Here are just a few pointers:

• Don't overdo it. Don't try to start measuring everything. Go through the rigor of deciding what matters most. Pick 2 or 3 to start. What has the biggest impact on your ability to generate the profit you want? Or, if you are a non-profit, what most impacts your ability to deliver on your mission?
  
• Take a balanced approach, i.e. don't focus solely on financial measures. Measure things related to your customers/clients, your processes and the development of your people.
• Use my modified KISS principle - Keep It Seriously Simple; don't make it complicated and if you don't already have technology in place, start manually.

What are the critical success factors for your organization? Whose input do you need in making that decision? What means of measurement are readily available? When will you start? More later.

Seize the day!
http://www.joedenner.blogspot.com
http://www.alliantleadership.com
http://twitter.com/joedenner

Do They Know What I Expect?

Are the people you are leading confused? Do they know what you expect? Really?

This is one of the most important questions you can ask yourself as a leader/manager/supervisor of people. Unfortunately, based on the work I have done with leaders, we don't typically take enough time to answer the question thoroughly.

Unclear expectations are one of the primary reasons for "poor performance" in the workplace. If you want to be successful and achieve your desired outcomes, then you need to make very sure that the people who are going to get you there know where "there" is.

We could go into a discussion of the negative consequences of followers not being clear about what their leaders want, but I think there is a bigger problem that needs to be addressed. And, the problem in most cases is not a lack of communication. The real problem is that most leaders don't really know what they want. They haven't clearly defined the measurable results they are after.

Leaders usually have big picture goals defined (e.g. a top-line revenue number in a business venture, or the big picture mission in a non-profit organization). And, normally they have a pretty good idea of what activities they want people busy doing. But, the end results they want from those activities hasn't been figured out or well articulated.

Why aren't expectations clearly defined? Because in many cases this exercise is a lot harder than it first appears. Activities are pretty easy to figure out. But the measurable results we want gets a little more tricky - usually because we aren't measuring, or because we don't think far enough.

Here's a quick example. The other day I was working with a company on this. I asked one of the managers to define what results she wanted from one of her administrators. She said she wanted the person to complete all of her A/R collection calls by a certain day each week. So, I asked her if completing the work by a given date was really the result she was after. After some discussion we agreed that the result she wanted was cash collected faster. The problem with her measure (task completed by a certain time) is that it didn't ensure the result she wanted.

In our example, the better approach is to say that we want outstanding invoices paid in a certain number of days (on average). Do you see the difference? In the first case the focus would be on helping the person figure out how to complete the calls by a certain deadline. In the second case, the focus is on designing the process (and related skills required) to get cash in the door. That's what the business really needs to meet its goals, not activities being completed.

What is it that you want? Do you know? Are you defining it in terms of measurable results? More next time.

Seize the day!
www.joedenner.blogspot.com
www.alliantleadership.com
www.twitter.com/joedenner