All posts by steve@kerrzone.com

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Teamwork

Leave a comment

Business buzz words are often over used but sometimes they are very accurate.  Collaberation and teamwork are such  oft overused phrases, sometimes they become just lip service.

I did some volunteering today giving out treats at U of A green and gold day.  The day is an annual celebration of the institutes spirit with a parade, special events, beer tasting, food trucks and best of all free Tim bits and maple leaf cookies.

Teamwork works

At the treats table there were three of us handng out treats.  This entailed placing a napkin and adding a Tim bit and cookie.  My observation was when two of us coordinated the tasks (i.e., teamwork) we could set out three times a many treats as the third person working alone.

Ah ha, teamwork really is more effective.  Best of all my co-volunteer and I had loads of fun poking at each other.  So we were fast and having fun.

Duh

I can hear the feedback to this post, “really that’s the best topic you could find for todays post..Wow, your creativity needs a jolt.”   Un moment s’ll vous plait (hold on a minute please).

Todays scenario was an eye opener for me because it was such a simple use case, the impact of teamwork versus individual effort was imminently measurable.  So the theory becomes a law.

It’s logical to assume teamwork or collaberation is better than individual effort, now I know the theorectical assumption can be, in fact, proven to be true.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Time Change

Leave a comment

On Tuesday, the Province of Alberta rejected a private members bill proposing a new time zone for the Province, Alberta standard time.  The new time zone would be the same year round and match the Province of Saskatchewan.

In essence Alberta time would have been Mountain standard Daylight savings year round.  So when other parts of North America (south of us) were on standard mountain time we would be an hour different.

The variations between other time zones would vary during the year, being one additional hour different during standard time durations.  The big advantage, no time change twice a year.

Dark or Light

In Canada, a private member’s bill, is a bill introduced by a member of parliament who is not a cabinet minister.  So, any member of parliament or legislature,  regardless of party affiliation or the members stature can raise a bill.

As these bills do not have the support of the ruling party (via it’s leadership cabinet) they usually only succeed when when there is generally a large amount of popular support by the electorate.

For this time change proposal, over 65% of Albertans were in favour. (based on standard polling statistical analysis).  I am one of those to some degree. But, it did not succeed.

For me, the single zone should have been Mountain standard time as this means it is generally lighter earlier in the morning and darker ealier in the evening.

Obviously I am an “early to bed, early to rise” kind of guy.  However, even if it was the wrong choice (i.e., permanent daylight saving time) the benefits of a single time zone outweigh whether it is standard or daylight.

Although defeated apparently the issue is not dead.  I can only hope.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Patience

Leave a comment

Patience is the ability to tolerate delay, trouble or suffering without getting angry or upset.  ” Patience is a virtue” is a fifth century proverb as applicable now as it was then.

In effect controlling negative emotions like anger or anxiety usually creates the opportunity to respond to a particular situation more effectively than if your actions are clouded by feelings.

It is, what am I going to do

Years ago I attended a seminar where the leader suggested taking the approach “It is what it is” when presented with a frustrating situation you had little to no control over.

Since then I have used this techique often and found it leads to patience.  Most importantly though acceptance of things outside your control reduces the likelihood of behaving inappropriately.

Frustration is a leading cause of actions you regret later, yet it really is a weak excuse for misbehaving.

Act when you can, Patience when you can’t

A wise consultant (yes they do exist) once advised me not to worry about things out of my control because there is nothing to be done anyway (i.e., exercise patience) .

He also noted I should not worry about the things within my control, because I can, and should, act to resolve them (patience is not needed in this case).   Following this advice leads to a worry free life.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Leading Change

Leave a comment

Change can be good if effectively managed.  Change management is a critical skill employed to increase the probability of a successful change.

Submit and hope methods involve announcing a change and then hoping it proceeds without issue.  Changes implemented this way can work, but the risk of failure is high.

Communicate

The most important practice to ensure positive change is two way communication.  The message should be structured so what, why and how are clear.

Feedback is essential, as is responding to others ideas and comments including modifying approaches.  Successful changes require everyones participation.

Top down approach to change often leads to passive resistance.  Simply put, those affected by the change will outwardly accept it but in turn do everything they can to sabotage the result.

Plan and monitor

While ongoing two way communication is the key to success, as a practical matter, defining the approach and methodolgy (i.e., the logistics) and then monitoring the activities throughout the change is needed to allow for issue management.

The unknown and unexpected can and almost always will occur.  To avoid issues from derailing the entire change you want to identify and resolve them as they arise.

Validate the Result

Hopefully changes are not being driven based on some random whim.

The reasons for making the change (i.e., the benefits) should be freely and honestly shared (this is key to getting buy in) and those objectives need to be checked ongoing to confirm they are being achieved and allow for modifications if not.

This is the reason for making the change, after all.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Typhoon #18 and me

Leave a comment

I just got back from an interesting visit to Japan.  Over the last 40 years I have visited Japan many times.  This was a first for me, first startled by a missile launch then chased by a typhoon.

Last Wednesday I was just sitting down to a peaceful breakfast with the TV on in the background.  Just around 7:30 an urgent alert flashed on the screen warning of North Korean missile launch.

The missile path was over Hokkaido island and although I was on Shikoku island at the time, it was still unnerving as we awaited news of the progression.

The missile landed out in the Pacific, suspiciously just the distance of Guam from North Korea although much more North.  It really is unsettling to see a dictator and redneck playing silly buggers with each other.

Hiroshima Peace Park

My wife, son and daughter in law visited Peace park in Hiroshima this visit and although I have been there many times the experience is always incredibly moving.

Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump should visit, probably would put an end to any thought of nuclear weapon use (Hiroshima was a small bomb by today’s standards)

Typhoon #18

TV coverage of Typhoon #18 was delayed on Wednesday morning as the entire morning was filled with missile commentary.  I mean how much can you say about mad men and thier missiles, apparently quite a bit.

I love the way the Japanese are so efficient in their naming of these destructive forces of nature, no humanization or personalization needed (unlike hurricane naming conventions).

Typhoon #18 and my party were both on the way to Osaka, the typhoon expecting to land on the 17th and my party expecting to leave by plane that day.   Two things that really don’t go together well.

JR Rail to the rescue

We were saved by frequent, fast and always on time trains.  Changing our departure to Tokyo and travelling by train from Osaka to Tokyo we left Japan at virtually the same time as originally planned.

Typhoon #18 was left in our dust along with a shut down Osaka Kansai airport.  I faced the typhoon and ran.  (I wish I could say I faced the typhoon and won but that would be tough to do.)

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Leadership Skills – CommunicationI often

Leave a comment

For this post I am using a narrow definition of leadership.  In this context, leaders are individuals providing guidance, direction, support and influence.

This does not necessarily need to be done from the front (a traditional view of leading) but the results need to be better than they would be without leadership.  That is the leader needs to facilitate a positive change (result).

If you aspire to lead, whether in front or from behind there are a number of skills that can assist you to be a top performer.  Of these the most important is communication.

Many of the other key leadership skills like empathy, self awareness, confidence and innovation all both support and require strong communication skills.

What to Communicate?

I often find conversations I have with others about communication often start with a focus on how.  That is things like clarity, brevity, retention, listening and so on.

For me good communication from a leaders perspective always starts with what.  Leaders influence, guide and motivate.  How you do this is key but the content trumps all.

WIFM

What’s in it for me is foundational content for any communication.  To get attention and direct behaviour toward action, most if not everyone starts with the personal motivation question?

It is all about me after all so why do I care about what you are communicating.?  Give me a reason.

This does require using self awareness, empathy and other skills to some extent to understand what is the most appropriate and grabbing content.

Top quality  communication practices are not just for leaders.  Everyone can benefit from strong communication capabilities.   More on this in future posts.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

What does your parody look like?

Leave a comment

Others can parody your behavior through use of humorous, satiric, or ironic imitation.   Often this is done when you are not present, which is  sometimes unfortunate as parody can be a great way to wake up your self awareness.

Parody (about you) often provides real insight into what others think about your behaviour.  By paying attention, this can be very insightful and useful to you.

Public Figures

Public figures can be a regular target of parody.  The current president of the United States is a great example of this.  The numerous and very pointed parodies provide a telling story of how the Presidents behaviour is viewed.

If you are lucky

Humor often contains a message.  The exaggeration of your actions, if you are lucky enough to see it, can be very helpful in understanding what others think of you.

The awareness of what others think, versus what you think of yourself, is probably some of the most beneficial and helpful knowledge you can ever get.

Of course, if your relationship with others enables them to parody your behaviours while you are around, it says a lot of the trust and respect they hold for you.  (Not a bad thing).

So, if someone is mocking you or using humor to send a message, pay attention, it can only help you to become a better person.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Control or Lead

Leave a comment

Control is the use of power to direct other peoples behaviour while leadership is taking the initiative to influence or change behaviour.  Often controling and leading practices can appear similar.

Whether practicing control or leadership, the ultimate result is the same, causing a change.  The difference of these behaviours is how you facilitate the arrival at the end result.

Most perceive direct and forceful controlling behaviours negatively.  It’s assumed there are selfish motivations behind these actions, and it makes it harder to buy in.

Leadership practices , to some extent put wrappers on the controlling behaviours, making them more appealing and easier to accept.

A Fine Line

The two labels, leader and dictator are often easy to distinguish at an emotional level, unfortunately this relization comes when it is too late to effect change.

While admittedly an extreme example, Adolph Hitler was considered a great and inspired leader by millions of people until it was too late to reverse the damage caused by his dictorial practices.

A Control Void

Whether created through leadership or dictorial behaviours an absense of control can be more harmful than tight and unpleasant contols.  Germany under the Weimar Republic is an example of this.

The economy of the country was shot, moral degradation was everywhere and a sense of hopelessness pervaded the nation.  Life was not good.

The return of strong control, (aka Hitler’s government) resolved a lot of these problems, for a tome anyway.

Practicing control through consultative leadership using earned pwoer is certainly perfered, However a does of the dictorial extreme is not always out of place.  (Hence the value of Donald Trump).

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Wants and Needs

Leave a comment

Whether classified as a want or a need,  both are action terms about attaining something.  For wants, the underlying motivation is a desire and for needs it’s required or essential.

In 1943 Abraham Maslow put forward a motivational theory based on a heirarchy of needs.  The theory was more fully devolped in his 1954 book Motivation and Personality.

In brief, humans needs were grouped into five main categories, in order of priority: self actualization, esteem, love/belonging, safety and physiological.

Needs versus Wants

A very grey area for me is the classification of needs and wants.  Maslow focused on human psychology to define needs.  The categories are broad and distinguishing the essential over the desired is not clear cut.

For example, belonging is  an intrinsic part of human nature but to what degree.  Of course the degree to which we attach ourselves to others (e.g.,marriage, single, hermit) can vary widely.

For one person what might appear only desirable could be a requirement for another.  Often distinguishing between wants and needs can be tricky.

Does it Matter

When you are motivated to act, the strength of desire can be moderated by need versus want.  Rationalization can help influence the decision.  Thoughts like, I really want this, but do I need it.

And so the dilemma begins, is this an inherent need or not.  Is there any definitive way to decide?

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

The value decision

Leave a comment

Everyday we make choices.  Some conscious while others we are less aware of, although in every case there is some internal influence.  One atrribute that is common to all other decisions is the value equation.

In simple terms, value is simply the importance or usefullness we atrribute to something.  Basically what is it worth?  Worth does not need to be in monetary terms.

Emotional or other intangible factors form a critical part of the worth evaluation.  For example,  sometimes what someone will pay for an object is less than another persons emotional attachment. So the value to each is different.

Assessing Value

When shopping in Walmart you notice your favorite brand of jeans are $50 for a brand new pair.  The last time you purchased these jeans, exact same style, size and brand you paid $75.

The previous day you saw these jeans (the exact same) in Hudson’s Bay where they were asking $80.  Your friend offered to sell you their there old pair (they are upgrading) for $55.

Of all these opportunities to buy a pair of jeans, it seems Walmart offers the best value.  Assuredly,  the importance and usefullness is the same, the cost to aquire is less, so it’s a good value.

However, although these jeans suit you, if you have no need or desire for more jeans at the moment you probably won’t make the purchase.

Making the Decison

While tangible value, how much the jeans cost is key to a aqusition decision the intangible things like need and desire play an important part of the decison process.

While, typically we do not conciously work our way through all the aspects of the value equation when making a decision, they are always present.