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What colour is that swan?

March 8th, 2010

What colour are swans? White? Black?  Did you know that before the discovery of Australia everyone believed that all swans were white.  How much of your knowledge is based on generalisations?

Learning from experience and observation is useful but not conclusive…drawing conclusions based on this can have severe limitations.  One single observation can invalidate a general statement based on decades of research and trillions of observations.

The idea of the Black Swan is to remind us that just because it has not yet happened does not mean that it cannot..

In 1895, Lord kelvin, a mathmetician & physicist and president of the British Royal Society said “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible”

In 1977 Ken Olsen, founder and CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation, said, “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home”.

I wonder how they would feel about those comments today?

Take a moment now….and look at your own life.  Count the significant events, the technological changes, the inventions, the social norms…and compare them to what was expected.  What about your job, the work you do…meeting your partner, being betrayed, winning a life changing sum of money?  How many of these things are predictable?  How many transpired the way you thought they would?

How about playing on the stock market?  How many of your portfolio managers would produce a definition of risk?  Would it include the possibility of the Black Swan?  Unlikely, as it has no greater predictability than astrology or peeling an apple, throwing the long curved skin over your shoulder and expecting to see the intial of our true love.

The more complicated the world becomes the less predictable it becomes.

Even when impactful events happen, do we learn from them?  Rarely. For example, the French, after the Great War built a wall along the prevoius German invasion route to prevent reinvasion.  Hitler however, just went around it.  After 9/11, did learning take place about the unpredictability of certain events? No, and what learning we did glean did not help us prepare for the London underground attack…we couldn’t predict it!

Why is this?  Well, we are not quite as set up for thinking as we think we are.  If our ancestors had been more inclined towards thinking then they might have missed the lion waiting to pounce and been eaten, rather than ran for cover!

So, why do I even bring up the subject of the Black Swan?  Simply to remind everyone of the uncertainty of life.  That the rare event is one that may change our lives forever…but we have little chance to prepare.  To explain that although almost everything in life appears to fit on a bell curve, that the bell curve by its very nature ignores the outliers.  It cannot handle large deviations.  So we are left with the Black Swans not being recognised or taken into account.

The logic of the Black Swan makes what you don’t know much more important than what you do know.  Something we know has a great deal less chance of hurting us than something we don’t.  If something is conceivable then we can plan for it, we can even prevent it from happening.   If not, then we are in the realm of the unknown unknowns….

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Posted in Business, Cause & Effect, Human Nature

Can we observe an attitude?

February 15th, 2010

What happens when you provide someone with feedback?  Do they welcome your comments?  Does it depend on who it is you are providing the feedback to?  What exactly do you feedback to them…their behaviour?  their actions? their attitude?

Many would agree that a person’s attitude has a real and measurable impact on behaviour.  Many managers think that it is the employee’s poor attitude that causes them to produce poor quality work or a good attitude makes a person a better worker.

How would you feel if I told you that it is impossible to observe attitude?

To demonstrate what I mean, lets start with the dictionary definition of  ‘observe’.

Ob-serve

  1. to see, watch, perceive, or notice.  “He observed the passerby in the street.”
  2. to regard with attention, esp. so as to see or learn something.  “I want to observe her reaction to the judge’s question.”
  3. to watch, view, or note for a scientific. official, or other special purpose.  ” To observe an eclipse.”

So how do we observe an attitude?  For example, someone enters a room in a raging temper, obviously incredibly upset and fuming about something that has happened.  Did I observe the raging temper?  Some of you might be saying ‘yes’, but what did I actually observe?  I saw the person enter the room, their face was contorted, they had tight closed fists held stiffly at their sides.  They were walking briskly and were mumbling about something I couldn’t quite make out.

I inferred from my observations that they were in a raging temper.  Inference?  Let’s check the definition.

In-fer

  1. to derive by reasoning; conclude or judge from premises or evidence.  ” They inferred form his cool tone of voice”
  2. to guess; speculate; surmise
  3. to hint; imply,suggest

That inference, the conclusion about the meaning of the observations, says as much about me the observer as it does about the person under observation.  I cannot prove that the person was in a fowl temper, I can only use the specific examples of their behaviour that evidence my conclusions.

So what does this mean?  Why is it important to note this differentiation?

Conclusions about attitude or personality are subjective, and people are very easily offended when their attitude or personality is attacked.  Focusing on your conclusion or judgement of the behaviour very rarely results in improved performance.  In fact, it’s one of the best possible ways to achieve ill feeling.

So what do we do?  You think (due to observations of behaviour) that someone has a bad attitude…how are we to let them know (because without feedback we cannot expect an improvement) without including our own perceptions and judgements?

We concentrate on the observable behaviour.  OK, an example.  You think John has a bad attitude and that it’s affecting the quality of his work.  When providing him with feedback, you need to ask yourself which of his behaviours is causing the problems…his lateness and arguing with his colleagues…and let John know about those, don’t mention attitude.

This way, we avoid building barriers to be heard and provide specific information about behaviour that can be improved.  John can concentrate on being on time, which is measurable rather than be offended and wondering what exactly a bad attitude means.

Remember, feedback is supposed to be helpful.  Determine whether what you want to say will help or not by asking yourself, ” Will my comments be specific enough and non-threatening enough to help them improve?”

Distinguish between what you observe and what you infer… This distinction is very important.

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Posted in Behaviour, Business, Cause & Effect, Uncategorized

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Foreman A or Foreman B – You decide…

February 4th, 2010

I had a really interesting conversation with a man who is in the building trade the other evening.  First of all he reckoned that his line of wouldn’t benefit from my type of skills.  After he told me this story, he agreed that people are people no matter what industry they work in and that we actually think the same way.

He said that the way he manages his staff is based on his observations of two foremen that he worked with when he was learning his trade.  His story was so simple yet so insightful…that I thought I would tell it again here…and let you decide which foreman you want to be…

Foreman A was always shouting at his staff, never provided any encouragement and never recognised the hard work being done by his staff.

As a result the man I was speaking to told me that he would never go out of his way for that foreman.  That he would have left him standing alone rather than help him out.  He didn’t like him.

Foreman B regularly praised his staff.  He took time to explain tasks when necessary and provided opportunities to learn new skills.  He spent time with his staff, working along-side them.

As a result, I was told that ‘backs would be broke’ making sure you did a good job for Foreman B.  That he ‘wanted’ to do a good job and would put himself out just to do a good job.  He liked him.

The guy I was talking to said he decided to be Foreman B, because that’s the type of person he wanted to be and thats’ the type of workforce he wanted to have.  He told me that the difference it has made to his business is huge.

Seems common sense?  Pretty obvious story eh?  What results do you want?  Are you being the type of Foreman that will glean those results?

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Posted in Behaviour, Business, Cause & Effect

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National Sickie Day – You suffering?

February 1st, 2010

Today is ‘National Sickie Day’, a day in which it is estimated that 350,000 workers will take a sickie.  This will cost businesses more than £30 million in lost business opportunities, reduced productivity and salary/overtime payments.

A survey by Employment Law Advisory Services (ELAS), shows that of the 1,500 bosses interviewed for the nationwide survey,  half said they did not believe staff who complained of being ill.  So why do they phone in sick and feel comfortable claiming illness not to go into work?

It could be any number of reasons and managers need to find out what those reasons are if they are to actually  ‘manage’ their staff.  All too often managers feel that their staff should not take advantage simply because they pay them a wage but there’s much more to it than that.  If you are a manager, when was the last time you pulled a sickie?  Why did you?

Staff pull sickies, not just because they are taking advantage and want an extra day off but also because they are either unhappy in their workplace or something has happened at home that needs dealt with.

We need to be making the most out of our staff, especially now when the economic situation in still on a knife edge and we may well have had to cut costs by cutting the number of people we employ.  If business is to grow again we need to ensure our staff our productive and going the extra mile…not just doing enough or working to rule.

So what do we do to lower the number of staff who pull a sickie?

Employee engagement is vital if we are to make the most of our staff.  Engagement means that staff are committed to your organisation and they are aligned.  In other words, do they care about their work and do they know what their responsibilties are and how they fit with the wider organisation.  So how do we engage our staff?

First of all, in order to understand the behaviour of others you need to understand their motives, needs and desires.  The only way of finding out this information is to ask them, on a regular and consistent basis. Appraisals and regular update meetings can be the perfect opportunity to discover what makes your staff tick.  How many of you are getting the benefits ofappraisal though…and how many of you dread them coming?

Do your staff know what is expected of them?  Have you provided detail about what their responsibilities are and the impact of them not completing their jobs correctly is?  Do they have job description?  Do you keep them informed of company performance?

Are staff trusted?  Think of the last time someone gave you work and then watched over your shoulder as you completed it…feel like they trusted you to do a good job?  Ok so, their capability will affect how much support you give them, but do you consider how capable they are and behave accordingly?

Do you communicate openly and with transparancy?  It’s important to keep everyone in the loop or you will be dealing with gossip and rumour.  Neither helpful and certainly not easy to correct once rife.

What’s the atmosphere like in your teams.  If there are personality clashes or unhealthy competition, this could be a reason staff take a sickie.  Maybe they just can’t deal with the relationships prevalent in the office anymore.

Are you flexible about work hours?  If one of your staff has a burst pipe, would they ring and explain what has happened and know that you understand it needs sorted or would they ring in a sickie because you would insist on them coming into work?

Have you built loyalty in your staff by supporting them, providing them with development opportunities and career progression?  If you haven’t then why would your staff go the extra mile for you?  The last time you went out of your way for someone…why did you do that?  Your staff have the same motivation needs as you.

Finally, the biggest influence on whether your staff will pull a sickie is their relationship with you.  If you care about your staff and build rapport with them, they are more likely to go the extra for you, and less likely to take advantage.

If you are the type to crawl into work no matter what state you are in…why do you do that?  If you have built  engagement into your organisations culture then you won’t be wondering where your staff are today.

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Posted in Behaviour, Business, Cause & Effect, Motivation

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Origins of Creativity

January 19th, 2010

Edward de Bono is regarded as the leading international authority in creative thinking.  He coined the term ‘lateral thinking’ and is well known for his ’6 hats’ method.  It was while dipping into his book ‘Serious Creativity’ that I noticed the section on sources of creativity and thought how interesting it was to investigate where creativity comes from and from what does it originate.

Understanding where the roots of creativity are will help put it in perspective, just as an increased understanding of any process  helps us improve our capability in it.  I’m hoping that some of these sources will surprise you and maybe even encourage you to utilise them more often.  So here goes….Edward de Bono’s Sources of Creativity….

Innocence

If we do not know the usual way of doing things,  the usual solutions or approach then we come up with our own.  A fresh approach.  If you are not restricted by knowing the constraints in a given situation then you will come up with something novel.  It’s difficult to be creative in your own industry – you might be able to be novel in another.

Experience

The creativity of experience is really about seeking to build upon and repeat past experiences.  We amend, add to or repackage things that we did previously.

Motivation

Most people who are creative derive their creativity from Motivation.   This means a willingness to spend hours instead of minutes coming up with a better way of doing things or taking the time to look at things that no one else has looked at.  It’s all about time and effort.

Tuned Judgement

The person who is skilled in tuned judgement does not initiate ideas.  They recognise the potential of an idea at an early stage.  They base their judgement on feasibility, the market etc…  An idea that is developed is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.  Seeing value in an idea is in itself a creative act.

Chance, Accident, Mistake and Madness

I’m sure you can think of a time when things were going along swimmingly but due to a mistake or accident they take a different swing.  Many of the greatest advances were the result of mistakes.  The first antibiotic, immunology and Columbus heading to the Indies to name but a few.  Post-it notes to name a lesser advance :-)   This type of creativity takes thinking out of the reasonable and pushes boundaries.

Style

Working within a particular style can generate products which are new but only due to the style being applied.  High in practical value but not the same as generating new ideas.

Release

Releasing yourself from fears and inhibitions can generate creativity.  This only goes so far though and to be truly useful it is necessary to gain a quick appreciation of new values in order to be of practical sense.

Lateral Thinking

Systematic techniques can be used formally and deliberately to generate new ideas.  You’ll have heard of de Bono’s 6 hats for example.  The important point about applying techniques is that these techniques can be learned and used.

What do you think?  Given you some pause for thought? For creativity? How many of the sources do you currently use?

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Posted in Business, Creativity

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Help I need somebody!

January 8th, 2010

What happens when a task is to be completed and you are the best qualified, most experienced, best-informed person to complete that task?  You complete the task.  Seems logical doesn’t it?  When delegating tasks you naturally assess the skill required for the task and choose the person best suited to complete it.  Ok, you take into consideration development needs and time available but do you take anything else into consideration?

If you know you are the best person for the job at hand, do you ever ask others for their advice?

Behavioural scientist Patrick Laughlin have shown that the approaches and outcomes of groups that work together are better than the average member working alone but also….better than the group’s best member working alone!

Input from others can stimlate the thinking process.  Ever heard a comment someone has made which has ignited an idea in your mind? The insight may have been delivered by you but the spark…that was created by someone else.  We are all aware of the importance and value of having a sounding board but do we all take advantage of it?

Seeking input from your colleagues will not only encourage creativity and parallel processing but will create a better team environment as well.  Asking for input from others and valuing that input – whether you use the input or not – will build closer relationships and better rapport.

So next time you are the best person for the job – ask for help and suggestions – you’ll achieve more and gain more than better outcomes for the current task.

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Posted in Business, Cause & Effect, Creativity

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The Forgotten P.

November 26th, 2009

What happened the last time you went shopping?  For clothes….electrical appliances…furniture….or whatever…  What was your experience like?  Was the shop assistant friendly? informed? helpful?  How do you feel about poor customer service?  Ever walked out of a shop rather than buy from the person serving you?  Ever walked out of a shop because you got too much or too little attention?

The importance of people in our buying behaviour is huge.  We buy from people.  Yes, the process needs to be right…not too many needless forms…handy way to pay etc… Yes, the product needs to be the right one for our needs.  But without the right people behind both process and product… well, you know the rest.

So why then, when the effect people have on the buying behaviour of customers is so apparent do we neglect them? Why in lean times do we only concentrate on the savings we can make by slimming down processes and spend time on innovation for our products?  The savings we think we can make on the people aspect…are achieved by cutting development and training budgets….by cancelling the Christmas do. But have you thought of how that will effect your workforce or have you just looked at the immediate benefit to the bottom line?

In actual fact, people can be much more fundamental in us all surviving this downturn.  By spending some time and energy on people…we can increase their ability to complete the job correctly, make them feel needed and valued and thus improve their attitudes, morale and customer service.  Not only customer service but every aspect of the working day can benefit from your people being happy in their work.  And ultimately your business benefits.

Be wary of how your people will react to budget cuts and how they will feel about their place in your organisation.  Don’t ignore the opportunity to make the most out of people….as well as process and product.

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Your personality, your culture…

November 24th, 2009

What type of person are you?  What type of humour do you have? What are the stories you tell others about yourself? Do you have a certain way of doing things?  These are the things that make up your personality, various elements which combined are greater than the sum of the parts.

Stories – Past events that you and others tell to provide information about yourself.  That time you got backstage at that rock concert…or when you forgot your keys and ended up with the police thinking you were a burglar…or how you defended your friend in a crowed bar..

Customs and rituals -The way you do things.  Insist on research before booking a holiday…or you must always put masara on before you leave the house…you alwayss have hot chocolate before bed…

Values – What values do you have?  What’s important to you?  How do you prioritise your life?  Always put family first?  What about the work vlaues you have?

Beliefs – What are your beliefs about the world?  Do you believe people are generally good?  DO you think that given half a chance people will take an opportunities to pull the wool over your eyes?

Behaviours – What does your behaviour look like?  Do people comment how you are a good listening?  What about how you behave when someone needs help?  Do you walk to a rhythm?

Symbols – Always carry an item with you that means something?  A photo in your wallet? Do you associate or love a particular item…a friend of mine used to adore elephants and would have lots of elephants everywhere.

All of the above combine to form your personality.  The culture of you so to speak.  You have acquired a body of knowledge about how to behave and this enables everyone else to interpret and understand how to act with you and what type of person you are.

Now think about these things in relation to your family.  What culture does your family have?  What stories are told?  What rituals do you complete?  What shared behaviours and do have?  Christmas is coming, what rituals do you always complete then?  You family is made up of many parts that form a unique whole.  A collective belief that in turn shape behaviour.  We are behave according to our families culture…or at least in their company we do.

In the work context…organisations have culture.  I’m sure you were told stories when you arrived…what happened at the last Christmas do…that time that manager totally lost it….the time you all got out earlier due to a leaking pipe…

You actions within organisations often conform to their culture….without even realising it….

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I’m sorry.

November 21st, 2009

Are you always right? When did you last make a mistake?  Did you apologise?

We are all human and as a result we are all prone to mistakes.  Being a Partner in a large corporate firm or a business owner or someone’s manager does not automatically remove the capability of being in the wrong or handling situations incorrectly. But do we ever admit it?  Are we conscious of not seeming to have made a bad choice?

Do those we work with appreciate more the person who owns up when they are wrong or the person who refuses to admit that there may have been a better and more effective way of doing something?  Naturally, we are hesitate to admit we have made a mistake, we do not want other to form an impression of our incompetence.

Yet, noone can be right all the time.  When we do not take responsibility for our actions then the relationship with have with others is damaged.  The trust leaves.  How different would it have been if President Nixon had quickly apologised for Watergate or if President Clinton had simply owned up and apologised?  When President Kennedy took full responsibilty for the Bay of Pigs disaster, the press didn’t have much to talk about.

Quite apart from the trust issue…apologising for those things we get wrong, deomonstates a certain amount of vulurbilty which can be appealing to those we work with.  They see that other’s make mistakes, recognise them, apologise and vitally, promise to remedy their actions in future.  And when they make a mistake it is much easier to admit to it.  How many problems are made worse by refusal to admit they exist?  If we  demonstrate that making mistakes is OK as long as we identify them and make adjustments accordingly, then those around us will learn that behaviour. And wonderfully, we manage the negative effect of whatever our actions created.

So how do we go about apologising?

Ken Blanchard provides a process in his One Minute Manager book and below are the aspects he describes.

1.  Surrender – Genuine and truthful admittance of having done something wrong and the need to make up for it.  This must include taking full responsibility and any harm that has been done.  Do not make excuses for your actions, an apology has no substance if you include excuses.

2.  Integrity – Recognition that you were wrong and awareness of how this is inconsistent with how you normally behave.  Important is reaffirming that you are better than the behaviour you had demonstrated.

3.  Focus on other person – Recognition of the particular damage or harm you have done the other person.  You need to know what you are apologising for.

4.  Commit to change – An apology means very little unless you commit to not repeating the behaviour.  Why are you apologising if you intend to do exactly the same thing again.  Behaviour change must be identified and agreed to.

In additional to this process I’ve identifed a few other things to consider.

When do you make your apology?  Sometimes the best time is immediate, in fact the sooner you apologise for you mistake the more likely it will be viewed as an error in judgement and not a character flaw.  However, there are occasions when it may be best to let the dust settle a little before apologising.

Be wary of saying “I’m sorry you feel that way”, it can appear as though you are blaming the other person.  Yes, there are occasions when it is the feelings of the other person you are sorry for but if you have made a mistake be sorry for what you did…the actual behaviour.

Don’t forget to express your appreciation for the person and provide explanation (not excuses!) if necessary for what has happened.  You could even ask them if they will give you another chance.  When someone provides us with a genuine apology it is very difficult to respond negatively.  If the apology is fake or filled with excuses..quite often the person will walk away with a poor impression of your behaviour…but having received a full and frank apology…most people will be willing to accept it.  And vitally this places the power firmly with the wronged person.

And finally, if the apology is not accepted, thank them for hearing you out and be patient.  Sometimes people may want to forgive you but just need a little more time to cool off and accept what has happened.  Even if the person has accepted your apology, they may need a little time before they can completely trust you again.  Remember, is you carry out your promise to amend your behaviour in future then you will have proven your sincerity.

Has apologising for your mistakes improved or hindered your relationships?  Or do you not know the answer to that question because you can’t remember the last time you apologised?  If you can remember and your apology was not well received…how did you apologies…did you try to make excuses?

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Posted in Business, Cause & Effect, Human Nature

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Healthy surroundings

November 20th, 2009

What is employee well-being?  What does it actually means for organisations?

We are all aware of how current economic conditions have affected our workplaces.  We also realise that as a result of our changing surroundings…employees and management are behaving differently.  Feeling good about the work we complete has a massive impact on quality and performance.  We know this due to the research that has been completed but more significantly we know this from personal experience.  Ever been unhappy in a role?  Ever felt not appreciated by your peers or manager?  What effect did your emotions have on your work?  Did you give it your best all the time?  I think you get the idea!

So, how in practical times can we use this experience to ensure our own employees do not feel like this and enjoy a healthy environment?  Peter Warr, in his book ‘Psychology at Work’ outlines 9 main groups to examine.

1.  Opportunity for personal control

Do employees have autonomy?  This does not have to be total but could be a small amount for a particular work activity.  How much discretion have employees?  What role do they have in decision making?

2.  Opportunity for skills use

Are employees skills actually being used?  Are they valued for the skills they have?

3.  Externally generated goals

Do employees understand the demands of the job, the task?  Are there measures in place for workloads? What responsibility do they have?  Have targets been set?

4.  Variety

Is there a possible means of varying role?  How repetitive are the tasks completed?  Is there variety of location?

5.  Environmental clarity

Have the consequences of certain behaviours been provided?  Is there job security?  Is there information about the required behaviours and their role within the organisation or team?

6.  Availability of money

Have you benchmarked pay?  What competition is there?  What level of income does pay place employees on?

7.  Physical Security

Have you Health and Safety procedures in place?  Is there good working conditions?  What temperature is the office?  How much noise is present?  Do employees have adequate equipment?

8.  Opportunity for interpersonal contact

How much interaction do employees have each day?  Is there adequate provision for privacy if required?  Do employees have good relationships?  Is there social support?  Good communications?

9.  Valued social position

What status do employees have?  How much emphasis is placed on job importance?  Are the jobs that employees do meaningful?  Do employee have self-respect?

When talking about employee well-being it is important to distinguish between job-related feelings and non-job but there is so much that managers can take into consideration in order to ensure employee satisfaction and well-being.  The associations between employee well-being and performance are incredibly significant.  Enthusiasm, alertness, attention, interest, determination and inspiration are all impacted.  We simply cannot ignore them, we must take note and apply this knowledge to the environment we create for our employees.

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Posted in Business, Cause & Effect, Motivation

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