Building Teamwork

One last quick post on making Teamwork work. (#7 Principles)

1. The team must have a leader - Yes this sound very Zen and all, but seriously without a leader all you'll have is chaos.
   
2. The must have unanimous focus on a quantifiable goal - So this is two things. Both are addressed in SMART Goals.
   
3. The team must have clearly defined roles - Without clearly assigned roles, people won't know what to do.
   
4. The team must be willing to share resources - OK, so this goes on that poster about "All I Ever Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten", but seriously if you've ever seen a team where members won't share... you know that it's a recipe for disaster.
   
5. The team must have frequent, effective communication - Without this what's the point of having a team... you might as well be working alone. Synergize!
   
6. The team must have consistent, united, and enthusiastic effort - Same thing. When everyone puts in... 1 + 1 can equal 3 or more!
   
7. Team members must periodically suppress their own egos - Think for the better of the team... for the better for just yourself.
   

Alright that's it for today. I promise to write on a more consistent basis. Until next time...

-Jason

Good Communication that Blocks Learning

Looking through my notes, I found another Harvard Business Review article that I think dovetails well into the posts that I had on Toyota and Quality earlier.

This one was called Good Communication that Blocks Learning by Chris Argyris. So first of all... I have a problem with his sensational title. It might be better titled "Don't Just Fix the Problem"... or "Double Loop Learning".

So essentially, Argyris scares people by saying that "Managing by Walking Around" aka having the managers actually go onto the factor floors or out into the field to see what can be improved... they should actually spend their time finding out why such problems existed and stayed around for so long.

This actually does make a lot of sense. I think it's exactly what Toyota has been doing in order to remain on top in terms of quality. Instead of just turning on the heat when the temperature goes below a set level, it would be more important to close the window to keep the house from getting so cold.

You need to be always challenging the process of processes. So instead of always having "the leadership" push improvement "initiatives" down the throats of their underlings, you need to have the process of "constant improvement" to be part of the corporate culture. Without this, the indivitual executive's pet initiatives will not be effective and only end up with finger pointing.

Spend some time and think about this. I'll try to write more about it later.

Again, comments are welcome and appreciated.

-Jason

Lessons in Public Speaking from Rachel Ray

OK, so I was reading this CRM (Customer Relationship Management) trade magazine and I read an article about "Sales Tips from Rachel Ray".

If you don't know who Rachel Ray is... just turn on Food Network and she's like everywhere.

Anyway, this got me to thinking about leadership, part of which at least is sales. After all you need to sell people on your vision in order to get their buy-in. So lets get to the chase, some tips from Rachel Ray and my interpretations.

• Prep in advance – If you are not prepared for your presentation, you'll end up looking sloppy. Review your notes, make sure all props are ready before you go in.
• Cut things into small pieces – They cook faster… and people will be able to understand them more easily. Thats why I try to break down the concepts in my articles to help all of you understand more quickly.
  
• Time is money – People have short attention spans. So again, prepare in advance. Don't waste time on stage fiddling with your Powerpoint or the projector. The audience will get bored and not pay attention.
  
• “Learn One and Get Some” – This is one of Rachel Ray's signature phrases. Essentially it means become solid in one thing… and adapt it to your numerous customers
• Clean as You Go – Don’t neglect these other details, because they can bite you in the end, and being sloppy and taking shortcuts will only end up in you making some mistake down the road.
• Be Human – nobody is perfect. Little mistakes are part of life. Learn to take them in stride. After all, what’s worse making a simple mistake that nobody notices or making a mistake and then making a huge scene about it by repeatedly apologizing, feeling embarrassed and then stumbling through the rest of your presentation.
  

Sounds pretty good right? Anyway, I'm in a writing mood, so look out for more articles soon!

Best,
-Jason

The Dirty Dozen: Common Actions that Assholes Use

So I've been reading this new book The No Asshole Rule by Dr. Robert I. Sutton. I've not finished the book, but I am looking forward to learning how to create a working environment that is "free from assholes".

Sutton lists what he calls The Dirty Dozen

1. Personal insults
2. Invading one's "personal territory"
3. Uninvited physical contact
4. Threats and intimidation
5. "Sarcastic jokes" and "teasing"
6. Withering email flames
7. Status slaps intended to humiliate
8. Public shaming or "status degradation" rituals
9. Rude interruptions
10. Two-faced attacks
11. Dirty looks
12. Treating people as if they are invisible

I'm sure we've all seen this type of behavior in the workplace (or at school). In my opinion, much of this passive-aggressive behavior in the workforce is caused by the idea of "professionalism". OK, lets stop for a second... I'm not trying to say that people should not act in a professional manner... if we drop all aspects of decency and professionalism... we'll end up with an animal house (though that would get me to another great book Monkey Business, but thats a different story).

So I had a project manager who once gave me a piece of advice that "In this business perception is the reality". He explained that it almost didn't matter how hard you were working or how good of a job you were really doing... it mattered if the people who mattered (the ones in charge) perceived you as working hard and doing a good job. Time and again I have found this to be true.

First thing... he is one of the nicest people I've met through work so far. Sometimes a little too much of a pushover though. So taken in that context, I would see his advice not as much as coming from a person who was trying to game the system by sucking up to the big bosses, but more so from someone who probably got burned along the way because he spent too much time working hard and not enough time tooting his own horn.

Assholes are the complete opposite. They spend so much effort in playing passive-aggressive games to put others down (and an equal amount of effort in making themselves look good to the big bosses), but much less time actually solving problems and doing their "work". The problem is... the culture of most of corporate America encourages these assholes.

So looping back to the concept of "professionalism", what exactly does this mean? Well one would hope it would mean something along the lines of having some sort of expertise for solving problems for the client or the company and doing so in a respectful and thoughtful manner. Unfortunately, because of "perception = reality" this is not the case. Instead "professionalism" has been bastardized into... "train yourself to act in an affected manner as if you were an expert" (why bother in actually having the skills or knowledge) and "become an expert in playing politics breathing fire onto those who (even accidentally) have stepped out of line".

This post might sound bitter... I don't mean it to be. In fact the majority of the time people act like people (playing nicely and respecting each other). However, when things get tough, the uglyness does come out... I can't help but think there must be a better way.

Anyway, as always comments are requested and appreciated. Thanks for Reading!

-Jason