Helping you succeed despite relentless change
Language has power.
That was one of the messages in the last insight. More specifically, it is that language has power as long as it has meaning. The issue explored last time is how some words are being overused, misused, and watered down to the point where they lose power.
This time, we will continue the focus on language … specifically on words and their power to affect mindset. [Read more…] about Hacking the Human Mind for Wrong Until Right – part 1
Rarely will you find anyone with a neutral opinion of meetings, and often the opinion is unfavorable. The view is often that meetings are generally ineffective at best, a complete waste of time in the middle, and actually destructive at worst. And that does not bode well for success, since most organizations’ schedules are littered with meetings.
There have been many recommendations about improving meetings over time, from the humor of the Video Arts training video “Meetings, Bloody Meetings” to Patrick Lencioni’s Death by Meeting.
In a recent blog post (http://www.tablegroup.com/blog/the-linchpin-of-organizational-health), Lencioni reiterates that effective meetings are the linchpin of organizational health. He also believes that one of the responsibilities, if not the main responsibility, of any leader is to ensure that meetings are outstanding.
But what if there is another, even more effective type of interaction beyond meetings? [Read more…] about The linchpin of organizational health
In the last insight, we started looking at situations in which something went wrong that involved others in your business, as opposed to primarily you as a leader.
Two responses are common. The first is to seek someone to blame. The second is to usurp control and try to personally correct the situation. Unfortunately, those two responses lead to lower performance and poorer results over time, especially in an environment of relentless change.
The previous insight looked at the first response. In this edition, we’ll look at the second. [Read more…] about “Wrong Until Right” Does NOT Mean “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” – Part 2
Think about the last few instances when something went wrong that directly involved others on your team or in your business, not you as a leader …
What did you do? Did you try to find out who was responsible? Did you assume control and try to correct the situation? Something else?
The first two responses are not uncommon. Unfortunately, those two responses can lead to lower performance and poorer results over time, especially in an environment of relentless change. Let’s look at why. [Read more…] about “Wrong Until Right” Does NOT Mean “Guilty Until Proven Innocent”
If your answer is “yes” … congratulations! You have managed to do better than most businesses, as most businesses face uncertainties during the year that will already have caused turbulence for the original plan. And a warning: are you sure there are no changes needed to the plan? If your business is in a changing market or environment, then following the original plan on cruise control can be a dangerous thing. Make sure you are really looking for potential change both now and down the road.
If your answer is “no” … congratulations if you are dealing with reality of change around you and making changes to your plans as you go. Remember that planning under uncertainty results in plans that are more assumption-based than fact. Execution of the plans and quickly testing assumptions will help you correct the trajectory and stay on a profitable path.
If your answer is “no” but not because of external factors or plan assumptions, then what is causing the change? Are business operations chaotic or unpredictable? Then do the work to establish consistency. Without a sufficiently consistent baseline, making improvements or executing plans will be practically useless as there is no way to tell if any of the improvements or plans made any difference or if results are merely due to inconsistency.
If your answer is “I don’t know” … then quickly find out. For most businesses, markets and other factors can change faster than the old annual or semiannual or even quarterly review of the annual plan. Set up processes to get the data you need to see how the currents and winds are moving around your business ship and adjust accordingly and more frequently.
Think about this now as time flies!
By Mike Russell
Don’t like agility, feedback, and change?
Here are some pointers for maintaining or increasing your organization’s rigidity in the coming year, updated for 2016:
By Mike Russell
