You're familiar with the Most Favored Nation status that countries use to give import tariff breaks to those countries that they want to support for some reason. I believe the US granted China MFN status, which is a good thing since everything we purchase seems to come from China these days. Even if you aren't a tariff genius (and I know nothing about tariffs) you can understand that a country that has Most Favored Nation status must be, well, more favored than a country that has, say, Not So Favored Nation status. Or "We Don't Like You" status. Someone is getting a better deal than someone else.
Special status sometimes applies in a corporate setting too. It's not supposed to, but we're all adults here so let's admit that it does. Some companies might grant unofficial status to, oh let's say the Pretty and Studly group. The photogenic get special consideration in some way. Perhaps they get to work from home while others must adhere to policy and schlep in to their dismal little cube day after day. Perhaps the "I Used to Work For The Boss" group gets special consideration - a nicer office and invitations to corporate events. You know what I mean.
Let's say, in an entirely hypothetical situation, that someone has special status. I'm just making this up to make a point about leadership under duress. It's entirely hypothetical. Perhaps this person belongs to that most revolting of Most Favored Groups, the Brownnosers. They have no special skill, but through diligent application of sucking up to the right people at the right time, they have advanced their career far beyond where it should be.
Perhaps our entirely hypothetical person has even pulled the old "If you don't promote me I'll quit" stunt, and succeeded. Shame, in a not hypothetical way, on the HR Department for falling for such an act of corporate terrorism. But our Brownnoser has managed to move himself or herself into a position of responsibility. Much is expected of them. They are going to be expected to lead the organization through some difficult changes. They must be able to communicate effectively with hundreds of other staff members, and must be able to sell the changes. They must build trust within different departments.
What happens when our entirely hypothetical person screws up? I'm not talking about putting a dinner on an expense account that wasn't business related. That's stupid, but that can be handled with a stern warning and restitution. No, I'm talking about some screwup that goes out to the entire organization, that makes it nearly impossible for the rest of the company to have any respect for this person. Let me try to think of an example.
Suppose an email goes out to all hands explaining a process. Further suppose that our MFB (Most Favored Brownnoser) sends a reply to his mentor that people in the company are too stupid to understand the memo. And in a way that only the gods understand, our MFB hits the "Reply To All" button, sending that email to every, and I mean every person in the company.
Yeah, you know what would happen if you sent the email. You aren't in a Most Favored Group, so you would be packing your bags and out the door. HR would be wearing their most serious frown, perhaps even a scowl as they goosestep you out the door. But what about the MFB? How will senior management (leadership) handle the situation? What is proper and effective damage control when someone who allegedly represents senior management tells 90% of the employees that they are stupid? I mean, didn't your mom ever tell you not to call someone stupid? Isn't the "No Asshole" Rule built for situations like this?
We've had this hypothetical discussion lately. Some think an apology is sufficient. Some think it will blow over if it is forgotten. Me, I think something like this will never be forgotten by the ones that were the recipients of the email. To me, management must be decisive. They must make a clear and public statement that such attitudes will not be tolerated, and the MFB needs to find work somewhere else. To me, that's a firing offense.
Consider the plight to the late Gov. Elliott Spitzer, formerly of New York. Gov. Spitzer was found to have spent large sums of money on ladies of the evening. Not very attractive ladies of the evening either, if you ask me, but perhaps I don't understand the market. And because Gov. Spitzer was caught canoodling with a woman other than Mrs. Spitzer, he was forced by public opinion to resign.
There are some who ask why he had to resign for this. He didn't use government funds. He didn't use government resources, like the limo or the mansion for his affairs. It was his cash and his time. Why should what he does in his free time reflect on his ability to govern?
Such talk is very naive. In public life, everything you do reflects on your ability to govern. And when you climb the corporate ladder, the same rules come into play. You have what lawyers call a "higher duty of care" to the company. And part of that duty of care is to always present a positive and professional image externally and internally. And if you screw up big time, the price you pay is your job.
But our hypothetical case is a Special Person. Should management sweep it under the rug? Should they punish with a slap on the wrist? I say that if they do, they have abdicated their responsibilities as leaders. A case like this needs to leave no doubt in the mind of others what the attitude of the corporate leadership is. They need to say "We will not tolerate this from anyone" and dismiss the individual. Failure to act would send a message that leadership agrees with the concept that most of the staff are stupid. They therefore have no right to expect any reasonable level of performance from that staff. After all, they are "stupid".
Sometimes, even the littlest of errors can entrap us. But that's life. The senior management of an organization has a responsibility to many stakeholders - shareholders, banks, customers, suppliers, and even employees. Tom Peters, writing about the perception customers have of certain products, said "Perception is all there is." And that applies to everything. If employees perceive their work isn't valued, they will turn in work that is worthless. Much of leadership deals with the management of perceptions. If an incorrect perception isn't corrected, it will fester and grow like a cancer, and can even consume the organization.
Spitzer didn't wait for the next election to step down. In our example of Bill Marsh's leadership on the Canadian Everest Team, he didn't wait for team members to make up their minds, then let them hang around to poison the group with negativity. It was make a decision now, then act on it. I may have an entirely hypothetical post on what action our entirely hypothetical company leadership might take in a few days.
What do you think?
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Visual Thinking
I'm trying not to be negative about the HR cost reduction idea generator request. But I find myself wavering between bursting into hysterical laughter and bursting into tears.
Have I mentioned that our company has an official ban on the use of whiteboards? You know, the things that people gather around and scribble ideas on, and draw value streams and process maps and that kind of thing? I'm sure I have. The Chairman doesn't like them. He thinks they are unclean. I wonder if we had been doing some value streams on a whiteboard we wouldn't need to beg for some cost cutting ideas.
I'm very big on visual thinking. You can tell a person how to get from A to Z, but if you draw a map it's much easier, isn't it? Many people say "Oh, I'm not a visual person." What they mean is they aren't artistic, or they can't draw. But when you use images to plan a work process, no one cares about artistic ability. While we might have different learning styles - some learn best by reading, some by watching, some by seeing and doing - we all have some intrinsic visual learning ability. Unless you're visually challenged, of course.
And I wrote earlier how the Canadian Mount Everest Expedition got its start on the back of a napkin in a Camrose tavern. So I was very interested to see a new book by Dan Roam
called The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. Here's what Publisher's Weekly wrote:
So we've taken away the tool that allows people to express themselves visually. And now we wonder why we are in a bit of a rut, shall we say. I wonder if, when we removed the visual tools, we sent a message that we didn't want people to share ideas. In any case, we further ingrained the silo mentality we have. Not only is there less communication between departments, there is less within departments.
In any case, another memo came out from the same Captain of Industry. It had the classic elements of an HR memo as written on page 174 of the HR Person's Communication Manual:
When Tom Peters and Bob Waterman wrote "In Search of Excellence" a lifetime ago, their research demonstrated the importance of perception. Peters often says that "perception is all there is". In other words the facts don't matter too much. If consumers, or employees, have a certain perception of a product or a company, that perception will overrule rational thought. Much of management is the management of perceptions. If the employees get the idea that the company is screwing them, or the company is lieing to them, the perception will overrule fact. Managers need to respond to wrong perceptions with facts, honesty, speed and truth.
These are difficult times. I don't care if you think we are in a recession or not. We are certainly in difficult times. And difficult times call for strong management. Companies that have been managed by weaklings will fall by the wayside. Remember the old keyboarding exercise "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country"? What, they don't teach that any more? Anyway, now is the time for managers to step up to the plate and show their mettle.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
Have I mentioned that our company has an official ban on the use of whiteboards? You know, the things that people gather around and scribble ideas on, and draw value streams and process maps and that kind of thing? I'm sure I have. The Chairman doesn't like them. He thinks they are unclean. I wonder if we had been doing some value streams on a whiteboard we wouldn't need to beg for some cost cutting ideas.
I'm very big on visual thinking. You can tell a person how to get from A to Z, but if you draw a map it's much easier, isn't it? Many people say "Oh, I'm not a visual person." What they mean is they aren't artistic, or they can't draw. But when you use images to plan a work process, no one cares about artistic ability. While we might have different learning styles - some learn best by reading, some by watching, some by seeing and doing - we all have some intrinsic visual learning ability. Unless you're visually challenged, of course.
And I wrote earlier how the Canadian Mount Everest Expedition got its start on the back of a napkin in a Camrose tavern. So I was very interested to see a new book by Dan Roam
called The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. Here's what Publisher's Weekly wrote:"The premise behind Roam's book is simple: anybody with a pen and a scrap of paper can use visual thinking to work through complex business ideas. Management consultant and lecturer Roam begins with a “watershed moment”: asked, at the last minute, to give a talk to top government officials, he sketched a diagram on a napkin. The clarity and power of that image allowed him to communicate directly with his audience."Power. Clarity. Words have them but pictures have them even more. That's the premise behind the axiom "A picture is worth a thousand words." That's why processes like Value Stream Mapping are based on a visual map of the process, so you see every step and can cut out the ones that are wasteful. Maybe if just one of the conference rooms had a whiteboard, some group would be generating ideas of power and clarity. Just a thought.
So we've taken away the tool that allows people to express themselves visually. And now we wonder why we are in a bit of a rut, shall we say. I wonder if, when we removed the visual tools, we sent a message that we didn't want people to share ideas. In any case, we further ingrained the silo mentality we have. Not only is there less communication between departments, there is less within departments.
In any case, another memo came out from the same Captain of Industry. It had the classic elements of an HR memo as written on page 174 of the HR Person's Communication Manual:
- Obligatory condescending note of thanks - "Oh, you had some REALLY good ideas". Does that mean we aren't as stupid as you thought we were?
- Mandatory rah rah: "We know you have lots more ideas."
- Pitiful begging: "So please send them to us", because we ran out of new ideas years ago.
- Wave the carrot: "Three extra days of PTO". Which you won't have time to use anyway.
When Tom Peters and Bob Waterman wrote "In Search of Excellence" a lifetime ago, their research demonstrated the importance of perception. Peters often says that "perception is all there is". In other words the facts don't matter too much. If consumers, or employees, have a certain perception of a product or a company, that perception will overrule rational thought. Much of management is the management of perceptions. If the employees get the idea that the company is screwing them, or the company is lieing to them, the perception will overrule fact. Managers need to respond to wrong perceptions with facts, honesty, speed and truth.
These are difficult times. I don't care if you think we are in a recession or not. We are certainly in difficult times. And difficult times call for strong management. Companies that have been managed by weaklings will fall by the wayside. Remember the old keyboarding exercise "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country"? What, they don't teach that any more? Anyway, now is the time for managers to step up to the plate and show their mettle.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
Monday, March 10, 2008
I'm befuddled....
An email came out to all hands today. Under the imprint of the VP of HR, it asked for suggestions for cost reduction in the company. I have never been so embarrassed in my life. It read like a plaintive cry for help from those left on board the Titanic as the bow started to point toward the sky.
Even more shameful was the water cooler talk about the memo. I'm left with no doubt why we are struggling. A vast majority of our employees are 15 watt bulbs in a 60 watt fixture. Some thought that they would be more productive if they could wear jeans to work. Some thought that the coffee rooms were boring. Not one single person mentioned an idea that might make work flow more smoothly. No one had any thoughts that would eliminate waste. Everyone thought about themselves.
Oh, and everyone was unanimous in the suggestion that we should cut 5 VP jobs. But invoking the Wayne Gretzky Rule, you can't submit that idea.
We have avoided building a culture that promotes creativity and waste reduction in the workplace. Instead, we have allowed empire building and silo management. Now we are paying the price for that. And one memo asking for your best cost reduction idea isn't going to produce anything of significant merit. Oh, the prize for your suggestion is 3 extra days PTO. With the stern caveat that it has to be taken this year. I haven't taken all my PTO in any year I've been employed here.
I'm saddened by the approach taken by senior management. I'm saddened by the response of the employees. There are some skilled, talented hard working people in our company. But that could be said for the passengers on the Titanic too. This is a time for strong, decisive leadership. Instead, we get a memo from HR (HR? You can outsource all those roles PDQ).
I guess I should have seen it coming. It's happened in the past. Those responsible for leadership in some areas manage to slide under the radar until the storm passes, then they rise up again to bask in the limelight and take credit for the work of others. Would anyone like a nice cold glass of orange juice?
A number of years ago, I had an opportunity to work with the consulting company Cresap. I led a team of 12 managers on a project to take $3 million in expenses off our bottom line in the logistics and warehousing areas. We took $4.5 million at the end of the project. It took us 90 days to study and implement the plan. Other teams attacked different parts of the company - sales, corporate structure, everything was fair game. In the end, we took about 17% off the expenses line. And the savings stuck. It was a fantastic experience for me.
One of the main rules was that anything goes. If the team decides that some sacred cow has been around too long, they could put it on the chopping block. Thus, I said goodbye to our department's use of a suite at the Saddledome. Our Warehouse Manager had claimed for years that suppliers would not ship direct. One phone call to a supplier revealed that not only would they ship next day direct, they would pay the freight on any order over $200. We said goodbye to 2 warehouses.
No, it takes more than a memo from HR to generate effective cost control measures. I fear we don't have the right stuff to implement what needs to be done.
Even more shameful was the water cooler talk about the memo. I'm left with no doubt why we are struggling. A vast majority of our employees are 15 watt bulbs in a 60 watt fixture. Some thought that they would be more productive if they could wear jeans to work. Some thought that the coffee rooms were boring. Not one single person mentioned an idea that might make work flow more smoothly. No one had any thoughts that would eliminate waste. Everyone thought about themselves.
Oh, and everyone was unanimous in the suggestion that we should cut 5 VP jobs. But invoking the Wayne Gretzky Rule, you can't submit that idea.
We have avoided building a culture that promotes creativity and waste reduction in the workplace. Instead, we have allowed empire building and silo management. Now we are paying the price for that. And one memo asking for your best cost reduction idea isn't going to produce anything of significant merit. Oh, the prize for your suggestion is 3 extra days PTO. With the stern caveat that it has to be taken this year. I haven't taken all my PTO in any year I've been employed here.
I'm saddened by the approach taken by senior management. I'm saddened by the response of the employees. There are some skilled, talented hard working people in our company. But that could be said for the passengers on the Titanic too. This is a time for strong, decisive leadership. Instead, we get a memo from HR (HR? You can outsource all those roles PDQ).
I guess I should have seen it coming. It's happened in the past. Those responsible for leadership in some areas manage to slide under the radar until the storm passes, then they rise up again to bask in the limelight and take credit for the work of others. Would anyone like a nice cold glass of orange juice?
A number of years ago, I had an opportunity to work with the consulting company Cresap. I led a team of 12 managers on a project to take $3 million in expenses off our bottom line in the logistics and warehousing areas. We took $4.5 million at the end of the project. It took us 90 days to study and implement the plan. Other teams attacked different parts of the company - sales, corporate structure, everything was fair game. In the end, we took about 17% off the expenses line. And the savings stuck. It was a fantastic experience for me.
One of the main rules was that anything goes. If the team decides that some sacred cow has been around too long, they could put it on the chopping block. Thus, I said goodbye to our department's use of a suite at the Saddledome. Our Warehouse Manager had claimed for years that suppliers would not ship direct. One phone call to a supplier revealed that not only would they ship next day direct, they would pay the freight on any order over $200. We said goodbye to 2 warehouses.
No, it takes more than a memo from HR to generate effective cost control measures. I fear we don't have the right stuff to implement what needs to be done.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Some People Only Want the Shirt
Our company has a slow pitch softball team. That's not unique, but I've found the dynamics of the team interesting and wanted to share some thoughts.
There were lots of guys sign up. You have to have 9 for a team and ten players can take the field. It looked like we'd have no trouble fielding a full team. But signing up and showing up are two completely different things. Sound familiar? When there's a great, fun project at work that is going to attract a lot of attention, everybody wants to be on the team. But when there's heavy work to do, or when the team gets bogged down in minutiae or details, or politics, all of a sudden there aren't so many show up at the meetings.
There have been a few games where we didn't have a full complement of company employees to take the field. Fortunately, we've had husbands, cousins and neighbors show up and have been able to at least take the field. Where are the company team members? Well, some are ill, some have work commitments. Those are reasonable excuses. But some... let's just say that some are just there for the shirt. The game starts too late. It might rain. I've got the sniffles. When the going got tough, they stayed home.
We're not going to win any championships. In fact, we'll be ecstatic if we win a game! We're there for a good time. We're in the "C" division which is home to the beginners and klutzes. And we are chief of the klutzes. Nevertheless, when we show up, we give it our all, knowing that it might not be enough to actually win. Some of our competition doesn't belong in that division. These are guys that live for slow pitch. They are good, and they're using our league to practice and get better. That's OK. But it would be nice if those who signed up showed up. Last Thursday, my heart swelled with pride for my team. It was a torrential downpour prior to the game. Mrs. T. thought I was nuts for leaving the house. But when I got to the diamond, the team was there. We had ten guys and could of played. We even had a strategy to beat these guys! But that coward umpire called the game. Still, I was proud of the guys that sacrificed and showed up to play.
Many years ago I spent some time in the bull riding ring as a bullfighter. That's the guy you know as the rodeo clown. We might dress like clowns and wear makeup like clowns, but it's serious business. When a bullrider hits the ground, his life is in our hands. There's no time for jokes or games when you're steering an angry bull away from someone he'd like to stomp on. During my training period, a wise, experienced bullfighter told me "There's lots of people want to dress up and tell jokes and have people applaud for them. But when they feel half a ton of angry pot roast blowing hot snot down their shorts, lots of 'em decide they'd rather sit in the stands."
I love the imagery that old cowboy invoked. Half a ton of angry pot roast, blowing hot snot down your shorts. Life is sometimes like that. It's all you can do to make it to the fence and jump for your life. But the important thing is that you showed up, and you came to give it your all.
In my high school days I had the opportunity to work in the training room of the Edmonton Eskimos. I was a gofer. But I had a "Staff" shirt. I wore that thing until it was in shreds. Today, anyone can go buy professional sports clothing. T-shirts, golf shirts, dress shirts. Anyone can dress the part. But buying the shirt doesn't make you part of the team.
Our company is full of people that have the shirt, but they aren't part of the team. Know what I mean? They don't show up willing to give 100% every day. Some of them get offended if you push them to give 75%. There are some people that allegedly start work at 7:30 AM. But I usually go past those people at 7:35 when they are on their way out for their first smoke break of the day. And they saunter back in at 8 AM with the regular starters, then brag about how much work they've already done.
It's a gross failure of managers to allow that type of attitude in the work place. If you want the shirt, you need to be prepared to bear some of the scars from the fight. You need to show that you have some of the hot snot on the back of your shorts.
There were lots of guys sign up. You have to have 9 for a team and ten players can take the field. It looked like we'd have no trouble fielding a full team. But signing up and showing up are two completely different things. Sound familiar? When there's a great, fun project at work that is going to attract a lot of attention, everybody wants to be on the team. But when there's heavy work to do, or when the team gets bogged down in minutiae or details, or politics, all of a sudden there aren't so many show up at the meetings.
There have been a few games where we didn't have a full complement of company employees to take the field. Fortunately, we've had husbands, cousins and neighbors show up and have been able to at least take the field. Where are the company team members? Well, some are ill, some have work commitments. Those are reasonable excuses. But some... let's just say that some are just there for the shirt. The game starts too late. It might rain. I've got the sniffles. When the going got tough, they stayed home.
We're not going to win any championships. In fact, we'll be ecstatic if we win a game! We're there for a good time. We're in the "C" division which is home to the beginners and klutzes. And we are chief of the klutzes. Nevertheless, when we show up, we give it our all, knowing that it might not be enough to actually win. Some of our competition doesn't belong in that division. These are guys that live for slow pitch. They are good, and they're using our league to practice and get better. That's OK. But it would be nice if those who signed up showed up. Last Thursday, my heart swelled with pride for my team. It was a torrential downpour prior to the game. Mrs. T. thought I was nuts for leaving the house. But when I got to the diamond, the team was there. We had ten guys and could of played. We even had a strategy to beat these guys! But that coward umpire called the game. Still, I was proud of the guys that sacrificed and showed up to play.
Many years ago I spent some time in the bull riding ring as a bullfighter. That's the guy you know as the rodeo clown. We might dress like clowns and wear makeup like clowns, but it's serious business. When a bullrider hits the ground, his life is in our hands. There's no time for jokes or games when you're steering an angry bull away from someone he'd like to stomp on. During my training period, a wise, experienced bullfighter told me "There's lots of people want to dress up and tell jokes and have people applaud for them. But when they feel half a ton of angry pot roast blowing hot snot down their shorts, lots of 'em decide they'd rather sit in the stands."
I love the imagery that old cowboy invoked. Half a ton of angry pot roast, blowing hot snot down your shorts. Life is sometimes like that. It's all you can do to make it to the fence and jump for your life. But the important thing is that you showed up, and you came to give it your all.
In my high school days I had the opportunity to work in the training room of the Edmonton Eskimos. I was a gofer. But I had a "Staff" shirt. I wore that thing until it was in shreds. Today, anyone can go buy professional sports clothing. T-shirts, golf shirts, dress shirts. Anyone can dress the part. But buying the shirt doesn't make you part of the team.
Our company is full of people that have the shirt, but they aren't part of the team. Know what I mean? They don't show up willing to give 100% every day. Some of them get offended if you push them to give 75%. There are some people that allegedly start work at 7:30 AM. But I usually go past those people at 7:35 when they are on their way out for their first smoke break of the day. And they saunter back in at 8 AM with the regular starters, then brag about how much work they've already done.
It's a gross failure of managers to allow that type of attitude in the work place. If you want the shirt, you need to be prepared to bear some of the scars from the fight. You need to show that you have some of the hot snot on the back of your shorts.
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