Category Archives: Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Teamwork

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When a group of people, who know each other and are  typically aligned by organization, (e.g., family, non profit, corporate, government, sports, etc.) combine their efforts to a common action, teamwork can occur, but it might not.
It is both logical and expected that the resulting effort from teamwork will be more  effective and efficient.  That is the outcomes are easier to attain and higher quality, particularly when gauged against individual effort.
It is important to note superior outcomes are not always the case when groups work together and  can easily produce lesser results.  The term teamwork implies joint efforts are coordinated and collaborative.
The most important aspect of teamwork is to clearly understand being on a team and working together is not by default teamwork.  Without a high degree of coordination and collaboration (i.e., intuitive agreement) teamwork does not occur.
High Performing Teams
A high performing team is a group of people who share common goals, but most importantly are able to collaborate, challenge and hold each other accountable to achieve outstanding results.
Individual needs are not relevant, the group members share a clear shared vision of where they are headed and what they want to accomplish, as a group.
Building the Team
Starting with basic teamwork and then building to high performance is the best approach.  It will not happen magically and the leader will need to plan and facilitate the development of the needed collaborative attributes.
While this is not an easy task, requiring extensive planning and execution effort, the rewards are well worth it.  It is critical to recognize the need to engineer teamwork rather than magically expecting it to appear.
Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Inspiration

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Inspiration is most commonly associated with the process of developing creative ideas.  The outcome can be behavioral or physical.

For example, I was inspired to run faster (behavioral) or I was inspired to build a better mousetrap (physical) Mostly the act of inspiration is considered positive, although that might not always be true of the results.

That is to say, by definition the ideas and plans arising from inspiration are exciting and something worth attempting.  Unfortunately the result might not inspire.

Where does it come from?

Does inspiration arise from logical planning and concentrated deep thoughts?  It can, but it also can just arise from out of the blue.  There is no formula to creating inspiration.

Of course deep thought can act as fertilizer for your brain and the growth that arises from the fertile soil (your active brain) could be inspiring.  Or it might not be.

Troubled thoughts, worry, frustration or concern can often overshadow your thinking process and dampen the opportunity for inspiration.

Inspiring thoughts can be helpful to resolve issues or conflicts and they are to be encouraged so whenever possible avoid stressful situations that with restrict the opportunity to come up with solutions that inspire not only yourself but others as well.

Seeking Inspiration

A word of warning, particularly for those seeking creative inspiration (e.g., poets, artists, authors, even bloggers) attempting to proactively seek inspiring ideas can backfire and dry up the well for a while.

Don’t push for it, just let it come.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Trade War

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Canada has announced retalliation against the steel and aluminum tarrifs the U.S. has decided to enforce against Canada.  Laughably the U.S. rational for the tariffs is national security.

I refer to this as  laughable simply because the tight political and geographic alignment between Canada and the United States makes the consideration we pose a security threat simply ridiculous.

Nobody Wins

Free trade should be a prized practice and lack thereof disdained.  For me this is very much like the basic philosophical misalignment between communist economies and capitalist.

Human motivation is a very real factor in these two models.  At a very high level, conceptually, the reward incentive is reduced in a communist economy because everyone shares.

When effort is not tied to gain there is less incentive to work hard and therefore output suffers.  In the capitalist model effort is linked to results.  If you work harder, your gain is greater.

Free trade works like capitalism, what you put into it affects what you get out, without having to worry about artificial constraints.  If the government is influencing your ability to profit, through trade restrictions, this may have a short term positive effect but in the long term,  like most purely communist economies, all will crumble.

Why Fight

Ultimately everyone looses in a war, whether physical or a trade war of wits.  War is bad for the human condition and those who believe it is a way to achieve what is right are in fact very wrong.

Free trade or restricted trade, it is what it is (albeit free trade is obviously better).  However war is very bad no matter how you look at it.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Colour My World

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Whether a family, corporate, volunteer or other types, an organized group always has a personality (aka group culture).   The group’s standards and values define the “go to”behavior.

The group’s culture is formed by its members and with time (the team members get older and perhaps wiser) and with turnover (people come and go) the culture can change.

Of course with some groups, for example, family or religious groups, people typically can not leave easily but they still can leave.  That is through ways like divorce or excommunication.

Becoming Them

A very interesting attribute of organized groups is their power to influence and impact members as a whole.  It is normal for new members to adopt the team’s personality.  Often this cannot be avoided.

This is not a form of peer pressure but more a regular human behavior, that is the desire to conform, to be like others – no pressure required it is just natural for us to behave as others do (in a broad general sense).

People who don’t naturally adapt and act like those around them are often considered abnormal or strange.  As is often said, the human animal is a social animal.

The Color Analogy

By arbitrarily assigning default behaviors a color we can illustrate how this morphing to a teams culture works.  Consider someone with a dynamic, forceful personality, we will label them red.

They join a team that is largely blue, that is relaxed, patient, slow moving.  Over time, usually within 6 months, the new members  “red” traits will begin to be suppressed (unconsciously) and a more blue approach adopted.

Seek to maintain Diverersity

Given the natural inclination for diverse team members to adapt, team diversity is ultimately watered down.  Therefore, it is important to collaborate within your organization to recognize, reward and encourage diverse behaviors.

Of course, there is some value to all acting within the constraints of a common color but there are downsides to this as well.  Try to keep the diversity balance if you can, the teams personality is a rainbow.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Eisenhower Decision Matrix

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Yesterdays post about patience got me thinking  a littlebit more about when it is appropriate for the urgency/ impatience balance to favour urgency.

This reminded me of the Eisenhower matrix which classifies activity based on it’s urgency and importance.  The simple question to ask is, how important is what I am going to do  (i.e.,  task, activity, strategy, behavior and so on)?

The combination of urgency/importance can help guide the best mix of patience or perhaps impatiece, that is need to get it done right now.

Importance speaks to value, spending lots of time on less important activities is obviously less value than spending little time on important actions.

Definitions

Important tasks are things that clearly contribute to our strategy and objectives.  We know they add value because they specifically solve a specific defined objective.

Urgent refers to any activity or task that seems to require require immediate attention. These are the things that we percieve to be  shouting “Now!”.

The Matrix

Eisenhower’s matrix classifies things we want to do based on a Y axis of low to high urgency.  The x axis is low to high importance.  This results in four main quadrents:

  • Low importance/low urgency – spend a lot a patience on these, in fact why even do them at all.
  • High Importance/High Urgency – based on the classification obviously worth doing quickly, don’t waste patience on these.  It is not appropriate and maybe detrimental.
  • Low Importance/ High Urgency – You kind of wonder whats the urgency if it is not important.  This is a category to be carefull with and a modicum of patience does not hurt.
  • Low Urgency/ High Importance – there is good value here, they are important but be patient as you complete the work.  Focus on getting the best value, patience is an asset.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Patience

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A valuable but often overlooked personal skill is the ability to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.

Some demonstrate little patience and even proclaim “I don’t have the patience for this”.  This is not necessarily considered a negative trait  (i.e., lack of patience), but maybe to some degree, it should be.

Balanced Approach

Like so many things, the extreme approach is seldom most effective.  Which is better, being direct, forward and focused on quick results versus the analytic, patient approach?  This question has no definitive answer and the best way is often contextually driven (i.e., what is the overall situation).

A complete lack of patience can lead to presumptuous actions while too much patience is not only frustrating but can be the result can be dissappointing as well. Carefully considering the options of each approach and employing the best mix is likely to lead to better results.

Waiting Patiently

Waiting patiently is an interesting approach.  Initially, it can appear indecisive, just waiting for the default to occur.  On the other hand, it can be a calculated method to gather enough data to inform proactive behavior, before actually acting.

Patience, by and large, results in either acceptance or a deliberate alternate action with a full understanding as to why.  As time progresses you have the ability to consider and ultimately decide to live with the way things are going or take an alternate.

 

 

 

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Is that what you really think?

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Cultural expectations can drive how we communicate with each other.  Etiquette is the term for  describing expected/polite behaviour in your cultural grouping (i.e,. your social setting).

Traditional forms of written and verbal communications are constrained by this cultural code.  Meanings are be softened or expressed indirectly so as not to offend.

In this senario, when someone communicates more openly than polite expectations allow,   the phrase “ tell me what you really think” is sometimes used as a sarcastic or humerous reminder or caution.

This is a rejoinder to respect the boundaries of polite society relative to ongoing discourse.  The principle is, we should avoid offending others.

Enter Social Media

A very interesting consequence of the easily created and distributed forms of social media is this faceless and indirect format has less limitations (i.e., facebook, twitter, linkedin to name a few).

I am regularly reading comments where the social media authors describe the behaviour of others in no uncertain terms.  The really unsettling part is the viewers of this content often ascribe a validity to the authors assertions that, for me anyway, is  questionable.

While I might, on occassion, slag others or euphimistically “throw them under the bus” as a rule, I always do it to their face.  This gives them an opportunity to rebutt or correct my statements.

Using social media as a platform to vent, spout off self righteuosly  or self identify as a subject matter expert, is just self demeaning to the originator..

Difficult conversations, behavioural justifications or personal attacks, however justified you believe they are, have no place in open forums.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Changing Direction

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One theme running through many of my posts is about setting objectives, planning how to achieve them and then executing the plan.  Three simple steps.

As a basic approach, whether the goals are personal or organizational, the sequence; define, plan, implement is tantamount.

A new route

The path, and even the objectives, might need to change depending on circumstances.  The road might be washed out along the way or need extensive repairs.

In these cases finding another way, perhaps even a better way, makes sense.  This is does not mean a wholesale change or to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Rather, recognizing the methodolgy being employed and even the outcomes being sought sometimes need adjustment, to avoid failure or at least increase the chance of success.

Control your destiny

One priority, on route to your goals should be controlling your own destiny.  As issues arise you want to avoid letting the external factors drive your actions.

This could necessitate changing direction (either or both the how and what) but the big value is avoiding being forced down a route you might not be 100% comfortable with.

There is a better way

My own experience has been, there is always a better way.  Often we get locked and loaded on a plan and dynamite is needed to stop and re-evaluate.

Sadly, there is always a better way (continuous improvement is real). I say sadly, as we work and analyze to get the absolute best approach, and yes sadly, I guarantee you there is a better way.

The sad part is how hard it is for us to pause, relax and then make the change for the better.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

The Right Answer

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Living your live is all about doing stuff.  There are a wide range of activities we do every day, each has an outcome, that is they produce something.  For example we could be thinking, behaving, reacting, creating and so on.

A very interesting and important question about all the things we do, “Is it right?”.   Do our actions conform with fact, reason, truth, or some standard or principle?

Subjective Analysis

Usually the right answer does not exist in a consistant and absolute sense.  It would be unusual for a group to be in complete agreement about whether an approach or outcome was right, largely that assessment is dependant on majority or by consensus of the group.

The questions leading to the right answer always have a subjective component, hence the individual perspectives colour any assessment of “right”.

The word right implies correctness, the challenge is the fact this almost always has an individual spin.

This does not mean the right answer does not exist, rather just that it might not be the same for everyone.  The key aspect of determining “right” is to acknowledge it is not necessarily unique.

Finding the Answer

Acting the right way, (i.e., appropriate, logical, reasonable, accurate, etc) is founded on knowledge.  Understanding can be a guide to determining the right option and the greater the knowledge and understandibg the smaller the risk of being wrong.

Assuming there is an absolute right way can lead down a tumultuous path.  Seeking the best way for you , recognizing  there is often more than one choice will often lead to the best results.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Usurping Granted Power

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Organizations are structured hierarchically.  Whether a sharp pyramid or a flattened triangle the person at the top has power by dint of their position in the organization.

This is known as positional or granted power.  It may represent their entire power base or they may also have earned power, simply put the ability to get things down through others because they let you, usually out of respect, admiration or belief in your capability.

Using Others Granted Power

Throughout many years spent in many organizational environments it has never ceased to amaze me how people attempt to exercise power, that is get things down, by referencing someone higher in the organization.

For example, imagine a team meeting where collaboration is underway and there is an active discussion about which options or approach the group should adopt.

Almost without fail one of the arguments someone will use to support their position will go something like “our boss said we she do it this way”  Or some similar reference to someone in the organization with greater power than anyone in the group.

This can often be someone at a very senior level in the organization.  What never ceases to amaze me is how it can be a persuasive argument.

Me, doubting Thomas that I am usually asks for written verification or even offers to call or otherwise contact the aforementioned power broker.  Most often this breaks up the play.

It Works, Yike!

As I noted though it is stunning how often this ploy is successful.  So basically there is your granted or positional power, your earned power and the one often overlooked, leveraged power (totally made up).