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VIDEO: Challenge Your Assumptions

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Steven Covey tells a classic story.  Paraphrased, he is on a subway and a man walks on with a couple kids.  He sits down but his kids are all over the place and going crazy, disturbing everyone.  He thinks, “Why won’t he control his kids?”

Finally, he says something and the man says, “Sorry, I didn’t notice.  We just came from the hospital where their mom died and I don’t think they know how to react.”

He acted based off of very normal assumptions.  Only his assumptions were incorrect.

Double-Loop Learning

We do this all the time at work. We assume that because there is a rule that it is a good rule to follow.  Or we know that the company always ___(fill in the blank)___ so we need to continue doing that (“It must be there for a good reason.”)  Or we want to be, what we might consider, politically safe.  The problem is that these actions are often based off of a strategy that is faulty.  Yet, not realizing the error, we go along with the strategy.

This is called Double-Loop Learning and it looks like this.

Modified from P.601 of the Handbook of Human Performance Technology

“WHY?”

We need to ask this simple question much more often.  Dig deep.  For example, a new CEO may hold town hall meetings in a certain format just because his predecessor did and it looked like it worked.  Instead, be bold and challenge the assumption that it worked.  It may very well have worked, but then again it might be done so much better.

Instead of assuming that a given policy is the best to follow, ask WHY?  Again, there may be a perfectly good explanation for it.  But we have all seen bad policy, procedures and practices perpetuate beyond their useful life – to the point where it is hindering the employees from doing the right thing.

Yet, while we do this we must use wisdom.  It is not appropriate to challenge EVERYTHING, even if we know it is ineffective in its current state.  We need to know where to draw the line and let things go. But where it matters most, it is our obligation as a member of a team to do all we can to create greatness.

#lwwm: Life Without Worthless Meetings

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Yesterday my 10 year-0ld daughter said, “Are you going in to work or for meetings?”  I wanted to laugh, but she would not have understood.  Whether she meant to or not, she hit it right on: Working and being in meetings are often not the same thing.

I posted this quote to Twitter and a discussion ensued.  Luis Suarez (@elsua) mentioned that he will work on this after #LAWWE (living in a world without email).  So we decided to call this next step #lwwm: “life without worthless meetings.”

Are meetings necessary?  Absolutely, but there are different types of meetings.

The Formal Meeting – This is what we all expect when we think, “I have a meeting to go to.”  It is planned (often on a reoccurring basis), on our calendar and (sometimes) has an agenda (so we actually know why we are attending).  Sometimes we are fully engaged.  Many times we are not.  Sometimes we are there for only a portion what is being discussed and then we tune out.  The Formal Meeting is also political – you have to be careful about what you say given the audience in the room.

The Meeting after the Meeting – This is often where the important stuff is talked about.  Whereas the Formal Meeting is often emotionless, this is where we get the emotions and understand the drivers behind the meetings.  This is where we hear what could not have been said during the meeting.  This is the glue that makes the meeting make sense.

The Casual Meeting – The water cooler, the hallway conversation, the unexpected visit to the office.  These are incredibly valuable.  Why?  They are very targeted and more open than a Formal Meeting.  You might almost feel that you are talking to a friend (could it be!?!?!?).  Again, more emotion is displayed here.

The Meeting to Talk About the Meeting Which Will Prepare for the Meeting with the CXO/Customer/Vendor – Self explanitory.

How do you know  you are in a worthless meeting?

  • You tune out.
  • You think about other things you could be doing.
  • You are checking your email.
  • You are planning your vacation.
  • You think, “That isn’t the real story.  I’ll have to get together with them later to explain.”

Now that we can recognize that we have worthless meetings, the next step is to learn how to avoid them.

Social Business Failure #11: Being Social is About the Tool

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Social technologies have become wide and varied making the landscape confusing.  “What product should we use?”  This is a question I am asked all the time.

A number of the organizations I have worked with have come to me and said, “We want to be more social so we thought we should use SharePoint / Jive / IBM Connections / Yammer / Drupal / etc…”  But there is a fundamental flaw in that sentence.

“We want to be more social” is not solved by buying a tool. It can be aided, but it does not solve the issue.  Although slight in semantics, the different is huge in application.

When I talk to these organizations they want to see how they can be more social online.  It is for this reason that I rarely bring my laptop to these type of meetings – I don’t want to talk about technology. Social Technology will happen when you have all the other pieces in place.

What is business problem you are trying to solve?  What are your purposes / goals?  Who is asking? What is happening now and where is it you want to go?  Why are you not there now? (And don’t answer “we don’t have the technology.”)  What is your culture like?  And there are SO MANY more questions.

Once you have the answer to these in place, the social technology piece will be so much more clear.  It will also be a side note as you work on the real issues of your business.

 

The Most Feared Words: Because They Said So

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The meeting was between me and one other who was trying to use Twitter for public outreach.  I gave a suggestion and this is how the conversation went…

THEM: “We can’t do that.”

ME: “Why not?”

“Because they won’t allow us.”

“Why not?”

“Because that is what they said.  They never have let us.”

“But why not?”

“They would have a coronary if we asked them.  They just won’t allow it.”

“That’s not good enough, why not?”

By this time I was trying to turn this in to a teaching moment and  at the same time remain calm that this person could not get past the “because they said so” syndrome.  On the other hand they just became more exasperated  that I dare challenge the invisible barrier that was before us and always has been.

The conversation continued.  I suggested that they question the decision and then gave an example.  One of the requirements I had was to be able to access the system we were talking about from home without VPN.  Before finishing the story, she laughed with the response, “Ya, they would NEVER allow that.”  I came back, “They already have.  They freaked out when I first suggested it, and even for months afterwards, but they did it.” She was beside herself, but also learned that there are some barriers worth questioning.

In the end we determined that Twitter was not a good tool for them to use in this context.  As we left the meeting we ran into a colleague of hers.  “We are not going to use Twitter,” she was told.

“But they told us they wanted us to use Twitter,” her colleague emphatically said.  She looked at me and smiled, knowing what I would have said in that moment.

The lesson: Challenge the assumptions upon which we base decisions.  When you run into a stone that you think doesn’t belong there, try to turn it over and see why it is there.  Is it tradition?  Or is it for a solid business reason?

Social Business Failure #10: Assume This is About Being Social

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In preparation for a meeting, I came in early and set up the computer and projector with the organization’s social networking application.  My job was support a team lead as she rolled out how they will use the tool to totally revamp and streamline their on-boarding process.  The first two ladies came in.  As they talked among themselves, one of them looked up at the screen and said, “What is that?”

“Oh, its our social networking site.  I don’t know much about it.”

“Social networking?!  I don’t have time for that.  Who does?  I don’t have time to waste.”

“I don’t know – neither do I. I have been in a couple times, but haven’t done anything.”

I sat back, silently, smiling, knowing that they are about to be asked to use it and wondering what their reaction will be in an hour.

After everyone arrived, the meeting kicked off.  The team lead talked about the current process and how difficult it was.  They all agreed: it was a real pain and had been for some time.  Then the lead talked about how she found a way to decrease the frustration and at the same time create more accountability, more visibility and decrease the time to bringing a person on to the payroll.

All sat and listened and gave input.  At the end she asked, “Is this something we can all do and commit to?”  Everyone agreed – this was going to be far better than what they have now.  They were all ready to adopt this new process.  This included the ladies who wanted nothing to do with the tool an hour earlier.

It’s Not About Being Social

Why did the lady’s attitude change?  At first, for them, it was all about “social” and they wanted nothing to do with it.  When they realized it was about getting work done and the word “social” was never used, suddenly they saw the benefit.

Social technologies within organizations are about working differently to get the job done better, more efficiently and effectively than could be done before.  It is about improving business.  When we approach the workforce from the standpoint of a business consultant, focusing on integrating it into their workflow, helping them to transform the way they work, and they see the benefits, it is hard not to give it a try.

Social is a byproduct of the work and the environment, not the product itself.

Questions:

  • How can we help others focus on working differently?
  • What can we do to show that this is about getting real work done?

There is No Set of Rules That Will Get You What You Want

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Original Caption: "We broke about half of these during our time in the maze."

 

“There is no set of rules – no matter how detailed, no matter how specific, no matter how carefully monitored and enforced – there is no set of rules that will get us what we need.”  This spoken by Barry Schwartz in a TED talk (at 4:30).  He nails it, yet again.

We can make rules upon rules, but the fact is that we will NEVER be able to create rules for every situation that arises.  And yet for some reason we try to.  This happens in government, in the legal system, in our homes and workplaces.  The child will always find a loophole, or the employee will find a situation that the rules did not anticipate.

So, what do we do?  We have to take a step back.  Those rules are to govern people.  Maybe we should have self-governed people.  No, I am not talking about creating anarchy and I’m not naive enough to think that we could create any society or business or organization without rules.  But if we are to pick those who join a company, for example, we should look for self-governed people.  Those who have “practical wisdom.”

When hiring or choosing people on a team we look so much at “can they do the job” and less on “will they do the job.”  Will they without being cajouled?  Will they because they want to, not because they are forced or incentivized to death?  Will they because they have a passion?  Will they because of who they are – the type of person that jumps in and does a great job?  Will they because they naturally want to improve upon what is already there?  Will they because they would feel horrible about wasting a companies time, so much so that their conscience would not allow it?

Rules, then become guidelines to help those who want to do well, to do well.  They become less about trying to control or catch those who want to take advantage.

There is so much more in this video.  He sums up so much of what I have been thinking lately and wraps it all in a perfect little talk.

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Losing to Organizational Monsters That Don’t Exist

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Years ago Apple had a problem, they were losing to Microsoft.  But the problem was that Microsoft wasn’t the enemy they were losing to (fabulous video). Let me explain.

Maybe you have been a part of this discussion before: Sitting around a conference room table, you and your colleges lament about the lack of motivation the workforce has as a whole or around a particular project.  You decide that if you could only motivate them more, you would have better success.  So you sit there, thinking of strategies:  awards, incentives, flextime, a clearer mission statement.

 

Eventually you put some plans into practice but your initiatives yield very little.  You all secretly determine that your plans didn’t work, but no one really openly talks about it.  So you ignore the initiatives and let them die a slow death.

Until some other big problem comes up that you need to deal with.  So you go back to the conference room table and the round starts again.

I have seen this happen over and over and over again.  Part of the problem is that they are trying to tackle the wrong organizational monster.  They have incorrectly identified the approach to their end goal.  Why?  It is the same reason that some parents can’t get their kids away from playing crazy amounts of video games.  They try to enforce behavior with incentives and programs to do other things.  But they don’t want those other things – they want the video games.  So what should they do?  Take away or change the thing that is causing the undesirable behavior.

You see, many people focus on the wrong thing (trying to substitute a bad behavior with a good behavior) without dampening the direct behavior in the first place.  They focus on the wrong opposite.

This video speaks to the heart of this issue.  It wasn’t until Apple changed the game that they started “winning.”

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Social Business Failure #5: Treat it Like an IT Project

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There are a few fundemental things we must all learn.

  1. How to put on pants.
  2. The sun’ll come out, tomorrow.
  3. Social Technologies are 90% human and 10% IT.

Then why is it we so often default to treating social business initiatives like IT projects?  Here is my take: An IT project has clearly defined requirements.  We know exactly what needs to be done, how to do it and when the project will be complete.  But like economists, rarely are they correct.  The perfect path they think they will go down (according to all plans and indications) is rarely the one that reality shows us.  Why?  People.

Oh, you fickle and emotional beings.  People mess up all the best mathematical formulas.

I have watched many programs – not only social business endeavors – totally change course because people get in the way.  Many IT professionals have become so frustrated at users that I have seen them become irate because they don’t do what the programmers thought they should do.

And there are others who say that people are important, but when it comes down to it, they focus on that which they can control – and them there people ain’t one of them.  So their efforts naturally lean toward that which they can more easily control.  It is human nature.

And that is OK, unless it is to the exclusion of people.  We must remember to make this a people project with an IT element.

There was a Bar Camp at the E2.0 conference.  I led a discussion on where social business projects should live.  Should it be IT or HR or Marketing or…?  It started off slowly, but turned into a VERY lively discussion as each realized we all had different views and different remedies.  There isn’t one path to perfection.  It must be decided by the nature of the organization.  But one thing was clear: forget the people and you will fail.

Have you seen others focus too heavily on the IT side?  What happens?  How can we avoid this from happening?  What happens if the project is led by IT and they become tool focused?  How can you bring the human side into it to dominate?  Some good answers are waiting and I would love to hear from others!

Innovation is an Indicator, Not a Goal

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There might be a little bit of craziness here.  If there is, please correct me.  But isn’t innovation a side benefit of one’s environment? (“Environment” in this case is the culture, the skills of people, the creativity, the tools, the processes and on and on…)

It may be an indicator, something that tells us how we are doing in other areas.  But should it be a goal?  I don’t think so.

When I see things about “increasing the innovation within an organization” I get it, but it seems that it focuses too much on the process and not on what we want in the end.  Again, we can think of Umbrella Principles – those which encompass others.

For example, focusing on trying to smile at everyone you meet is a fine goal.  Except it is a lower order goal.  Trying to be kind to everyone you meet is higher order and will usually result in the lower order goal happening naturally.

That’s how I see innovation.  If we are trying to increase it within an organization we are focusing on the wrong goal.  Look for a higher order goal which will make  it happen naturally because of the environment which it is in.

If innovation isn’t happening (and we want it to) then that does not mean we should focus on it.  Rather, focus on the environment that causes innovation to freely flourish.

Of course, you have to create the right environment and not think that changing the decor will drastically increase innovation.

And just for fun, a little bit of creativity….

 

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

Social Business Failure #3: Ignore Others Who Have Done This Before

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UPDATE: Join the discussion already in progress on G+

Let me be clear, using “social business” necessitates working in a new way.  And unless you do it, chances are you won’t fully understand it.  You MUST participate to “get it.”

You may understand this, but those who you may work for probably won’t.

Too many people think they get it and feel satisfied with their decision to ignore social technologies and working a new way.  During the E2.0 Conference a number of us met with Sandy Carter, VP of Social Business & Collaboration Solutions for IBM.  She told us that some executives have decided to “opt out.”  Clearly they don’t get it, even though they think they do.

This is like my kids who want so badly to drive.  They see how effortlessly my wife and I drive, they think they have judged the situation correctly and can drive as well.  But when they finally get behind the wheel, the game changes.  All the stimulus is overwhelming: the amount of pressure to apply to the gas or brake, where to look when, how quickly to turn the wheel, when to change gears, when to use the turn signal and change the radio volume at the same time as making sure they stay in the correct lane and don’t crash into the vehicle in front of them.  Suddenly, the chance for making a mistake skyrockets.

Even more dangerous than those who opt out of social business are those that think they get it, but don’t, but still want to move forward on their own without help.  Why?  If/When they fail, they may blame it on social technologies and not go back or it will put a sour taste in the mouths of the employees or customers.

Trust me, those who have been in the business for some time have made the mistakes and can help you avoid them.

Yet I still find myself going to organizations who tell me they are going to try to do something without asking if it will work.  For example, one organization said to me, “We are going to have an IT fair and there we will ask people what they think of social technologies.  From that we should find some pretty interesting information.  Then we can move forward.”  Not a horrible idea, but when the IT fair is 4 months away, it has been done before in the same mother organization and I could have told them exactly the feedback they were going to receive, they will have just wasted six precious months of non-delivery to their employees.

The lesson: Don’t try to do social business by yourself. Ask others who have done it before.  They have some experience and knowledge which may be able to help you.  They have seen what works and what does not – how to recognize and avoid the roadblocks and how to recognize opportunities you may not be able to see.

In reality, this advice could go with just about ANY aspect of business. It isn’t unique or new to social business.

 

 

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