Monthly Archives: February 2016

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Playing to deadlines

Leave a comment

In the nineteen nineties Walmart perfected just in time delivery.  It  was a wholesale change to logistics management paradigm  for retail  at the time which was based on warehousing products in central locations rather than delivering them from the manufacturer to the store directly just when needed.

The savings in wharehouse costs was a big driver of the success of this approach.  I also attribute it to that inate aspect of human nature which drives us to wait to the last minute

RRSP Season

Seeing the plethoria of advertisements for RRSP contributions around this time of the year got me thinking about what for me is a very strange, albeit common trait of waiting to the last minute.

To be honest I made my contribution for last year inMarch right after submiting my tax return – no waiting for the April deadline for me.

I guess what surprises me is given all the benefits of doing a task well in advance, so many people still wait to the last minute.  I am thinking of benefits like no line-ups, no risk of late penalties, no risk of sell- outs and so on.

Still in the case of Walmart, just in time delivery actually is a cost saver.  Although it does result in some limitations, like restricting suppliers to the ones that can provide just in time deliver.  It does allow for lower prices and higher sales volume.  And of course for many, last minute frenzy is just a natural way to do things.

I know I do think differently than the masses on occassion and waiting to the last minutes is definately one of those times.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Operational Frameworks for Higher Cultural Maturity

Leave a comment

All cultural environments are subject to an operational framework which the stakeholders use to interact with each other.

In organizational groups the cultural is formed by the members of the group and how it well it operates is guided by how each component of the basic operational framework is practiced (or not).

The Operational Framework

Here is a picture of the four basic operational components intrinsic to any basic culture

Slide1

Whether written or just intuitively understood the most basic cultural attribute your internal organization must have are rules.  These can be called team norms, they can be policies, they can be government enforced laws or a variety of other types of standards.  All of these have one thing in common, they guide behavior.

Any combination of these forms of rules/standards can co-exist, the key is they need to be supported by some authority (whether is by the taking of personal accountability or enforcement through discipline.)

Ultimately disagreement or misunderstanding of rules – where they were not well communicated or its not clear that they exist can result in an interpretation process, which usually requires a judge.

Cultural and Organizational Maturity

The level of maturity applied by the members of the cultural group  to the ongoing management of behavior both within and outside these rules can be a key measure of organizational maturity.

Typically high performing cultures/groups/ teams demonstrate an intrinsic understanding of this framework by each member of the team and this results in efficient and effective interactions and resulting team outcomes.

Can I use this framework to create improvement

One continuous improvement approach can be to assess your organizations culture against this framework to identify the weak areas or behaviors so that they can be addressed.

For example are there too many rules, too few, are they well or badly understood, is they little personal accountability taken, or too much personal accountability is applied versus consistent discipline and so on.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Social Networking Etiquette

2 Comments

In the last fifteen years or so we have seen a huge increase in the use of social networking.  Top sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram can generate millions of views of a particular post in a single day.

Unwritten Standards

From childhood we learn and adopt many conventions (standards) about how to interact with others, mainly guided by our parents or guardians.

Many of these standards are not enforced through formal discipline methods, first through warnings or guidance as you grow up and then when you are older more often through  ostracism.   If you don’t behave as expected like the rest of us you will be excluded.

A simple example would be the usual morning greeting ritual.   Someone says “good morning” and you are expected to respond in kind ” good morning to you” or something like that.  Silence or if you say something like “what’s good about it” will lead to you being ignored in the future.  People will whisper “stay away from him/her in the morning they are not nice.  You are ostracized.

I should point out a key attribute of these unwritten rules is common sense.

Social Networking

In the case of social networking learning the social norms does not begin at childhood nor is guided by your parents.  The norms are set and passed through some virtual network by the participants themselves.

In the case of Facebook you must be at least over thirteen, so you already have a basic framework of standard norms covering social interaction and should be able to employ some level of common sense.

Older Generation Fumbles

Not having been brought up with Facebook, joining it post mid-life, I initially have found these unwritten standards frustrating.  My first reaction has been rebellion and is of course is defensive – “If I had known, I would have followed that, you are being unreasonable.”

On second thought the logic (and common sense) of the standard practices seeps in, they are intuitive after all and I feel sheepish for my resistance.

Case in Point

Recently I posted some news about someone else on my own Facebook account (although I had a keen interest in the news) and was quickly advised by the subject that the standard practice was to allow the “owner” of the news to post first, then I could share it on my account so a broader audience (encompassing my friends) would find out).

Initially, I found this restrictive and impinging on what I perceive to be my right to do what I want.   On second thought, back to my core value, it’s okay to seek my own pleasure as long as it is not at the expense of others.   I wish I had thought it through fully.

The Morale to the story

If you are new to social networking be sensitive and respectively of the existing user community.  Think it through before posting or sharing information, remember the same principles that apply in the face-to-face world do apply virtually as well.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

A little wistful thinking

Leave a comment

This morning the phrase “If I knew then what I know now….” popped into my head.   It was not about a specific incident but more wistful thinking prompted by a news article I was reading.

Knowing yourself

This mornings wistfulness primarily arose from what I think of myself now versus what I knew about myself forty years ago when I made some key choices about how I would spend my life.

Lest I give the wrong impression, I have no feeling I made the wrong decisions, nor do I have any regrets.  My life so far has been and continues to be fulfilling and satisfying.   I am fortunate in that I am very comfortable with the real events that have brought me to the point I am at (this is not a perception, for me this is – reality)

I often use these posts to share philosophical ideas and that is my purpose today.

Knowledge and Experience

If I knew then what I know now can most often be related to knowledge gained through experience.  There are numerous ways to gather knowledge; whether proactive, reactive or sedentary (you just gather it like a rolling stone does not gather moss) as you move through life knowledge is gathered.

Gathering Experience

My thoughts traveled more along the lines of how  gaining experience requires time.  That is to say, while every moment of your life is an experience, the compiling of valuable and worthwhile knowledge generally (although not always) takes years of gathering, storing and analyzing these moment by moment occurrences.

The conundrum for me is the time it takes to codify a valuable set of experiences to the point where they are useful in guiding your decisions is often too long and so too late.  The decision point has long past.

Why Wistful?

Unfortunately time travel is not a reality (at least that I know of) so there is no way to explore and test alternatives.  What if I had……?

And then I realized, I don’t care and really the point is irrelevant. The enlightenment I experienced at that moment was very heartening and probably proof that I should be more happy than wistful.

What I have experienced, the decisions I have made and where it has brought me are really satisfying (both positive and negative experiences I would not miss one of them).  And that feeling is really good.

And if I did not feel this way, I suddenly understood now be a point to make a change.  It’s never over, never final.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Taking Accountability

Leave a comment

On Wednesday my post was about the practices of discipline and accountably as they relate to standards (aka rules).  Today I will focus on the practice of personal accountability as it relates to self-fullfillment.

Getting it done

Taking accountability to meet a standard, and even to exceed the standard can be a better way to adhere to rules then waiting to be disciplined as a way to correct your behavior and ultimately achieve compliance.

Even better is to proactively take the initiative.  This is a key attribute leaders  demonstrate consistently.  This means,  when you see a gap in processes and practices, take ownership of the issue and lead the implementation  action to resolve .  This leading by example can set off a chain reaction and before you know it everyone is taking accountability.

Taking accountability is a great way to get things accomplished, both through your own actions and as you spark the leader within others they  fill the gaps and the level of consistency and adherence to standards rises.

This effect applies both in personal and non- personal situations.  Generally wherher family or colleagues; both groups will be positively influenced by your lead to take accountability.

Feeling Good

Another key benefit of taking accountability is how it makes you feel.  The satisfaction associated with getting results leads to very positive feeligs.  This will make you want to shout the chorus line from that famous song by James Brown, “I feel good” and you will.

Start today, take accountabiliy, its just lying there waiting for you reach out and get it done  – don’t wait for permission, take control.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Perception is reality

Leave a comment

Canadian philoshopher/ communications specialist Marshall McLuhan  is known for his communication and culture seminars at the University of Toronto in the 1950’s among many other accomplishments from a long and sterling career.

One salient sound bite attributed to him is “the medium is the message”. Like the well known catch phrase “perception is reality” the point is that belief can be shaped by how a message is delivered and ulitimately it becomes reality.  How effectively it is delivered can supersede the message itself.

A famous example of this is the “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast of an H.G. Wells sciencefiction story, in 1938.  Part  of the radio play was presented in a news broadcast format.  BIzzarely, this caused many listeners to actually believe the earth was being invaded by an alien race and wide spread panic ensued. There was no invasion.

Facts are Real

I personally struggle with the perception is reality conversation or the medium is the message because I believe facts do exist and real things happen regardless of peoples perceptions, opinions or views.

Of course one persons reality can differ from anothers but to argue a reality does not exist because it is not consistently percieved is frustrating for me.  If a tree falls in the forest it really falls whether I hear or see it.

Playing the Perception Card

When someone trys to argue an issue’s root cause is a result of perceptions my own perception is that this is a cop out.  The thought process is something like “I know, can’t solve the issue so I will claim it does not exist, it is only percieved to be a problem”.  Ouch!

Well, I perceive there is no such thing as perception, only reality so unfortunately for me this argument holds little water.  I agree we can view reality differently and have opposing views but that does not change the fact reality exists – regardless of how one percieves it.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Enforcing standards

Leave a comment

Governments, companies organizations and associations (to name but a few types of structures) all set standards for their constituents, members  and employees.  These can be integrated, overlapping or stand alone

Enforcement

Personal adoption and adherence to standards (or rules) usually occurs through either discipline or accountability.

In the case of discipline the standard is imposed and then is achieved through enforcement. The intent is that the punishment will act as a deterrent. Therefore, the key to effective discipline is power.

Alternatively when the standard is adhered to through exercise of personal accountability punishment is not needed and adherence/performance to the standard is typically superior.

In short, and I believe this intuitive, wanting to follow the standard and being willing doing so of your own volition produces much higher qaulity results.

The satisfaction of exercising accountability is far more motivating than the practice of discipline to avoid punishment.

Can you influence how others react to standards?

If you agree the practice of accountability is superior to discipline as an approach to enforcing standards, the first question is probably can I influence others to practice  personal accountability and if so how?

Everyone has the power to influence regardless of whether it is granted by your place in an organization or you earn it through your own positive (or even manipulative) behaviors.

A key practice I often find effective is to influence by example.  This is definately a foundational behaviour to use as you begin to exercise your power to influence the use of accountability over discipline.

Directed humor, demonstrating benefits or using praise are just a few others out  of a  myriad of options.  My intent here is not to make this an explicit how to blog post but rather just to generate some ideas of methods you could try.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Fitting in

Leave a comment

Integrating with your environment is a basic human behavior.  I had an interesting discussion today about new entrants to an organizational  culture.

Checking at the door

When you are bringing someone new into your organization the first step is usually to check their fit.  Through a variety of techniques (interviews, references, resumes, aptitude tests) the potenial candidate is vetted.

The entry level question is does the person possess the skills to do whatever tasks the organization needs to be performed.  Another key focus is usually on attitude.  Will they fit in with the behavioral expectations.

To exaggerate a point, if the organization expects members to regularly swear at each other you would want to confirm this behavior is not considered abnormal or offensive by the candidate.

What if you miss?

Given it’s impossible to fully confirm a persons fit to an organizations attitudinal and behavioral norms its not unknown for mismatches to occur.

When the new entrant recognizes this, usually within the first three to six months, there are generally three options:

  • Adopt the attitudes and values of the organization
  • Work from within to create change (they view this as cultural improvements) that align better with their own value system.  in some cases this can be a real benefit to the organization
  • Exit.  In this case the person believes they can ‘t change , or there is such a mismatch to their personal values (most likely the case) they don’t want to change.

If new blood has been recruited to your organization with the specific goal of intiating change, it is important to support them and monitor the situation carefully so the first or third options do not occur, unless of course you want them to.

Alternatively if you see the newbie is not fitting in but their skills are valued and you don’t want them to exit it could be of value to encourage them to adopt the organizations existing norms.

The key idea for consideration in this post is the importance of being aware of potential effects of attitudinal mismatches that could be incurred by new members of  a group so you can consciously and proactively influence which of the three options will result. You can then influence events to go in the direction best for the organization.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Not right, not wrong; Just is

Leave a comment

I have recently been experimenting with an attitude that sounds ambivalent on the surface but I am finding to actually be very powerful and effective.

Often how you feel affects how you behave.  How you behave determines results.   This is not just about what you do to achieve your objective but also doing in it cleanly in a repeatable way.  Leaving a trail of dead bodies as a means to an end typically only works for while.

Attitude as a tool

If you can persuade yourself there is no right or wrong answers, it will help you collaborate to sucessfull achievement of the goal. Remember as you move down the path, what you seek is answers that work.

This attitude can be a key practice toward maintaining an open mind.  Others will tend to mirror your approach,  making it even more effective.  Ultimately conflict is greatly reduced and collaborative activity increased.

Hold those emotions

Both negative and positive emotions can color your thinking and impact  it’s effectiveness.  Think about just a few of the emotions we all experience regularly (e.g., anger,fear, joy, satisfaction).  All of these can be triggered by a strong belief.  Now think of a time you were in the thrall of such emotions, was your thinking clear and logical or clouded?

I meant that as rhetorical questions, emotions cloud our thinking.

Think of a time you have known yourself to be right and were angry at another for being wrong.  Or time you felt joy when someone agreed with you because you knew it was the right answer.

These emotional responses won’t necessarily block the best approach but there is a higher risk they will.

Help check emotional responses

Just remember, there is no right, nor wrong answer, seek the best answer.