http://mergespeaks.com/blog/">Turning Managers into Leaders

So what the heck is a QWERTYUIOP? If it looks familiar, that’s because it’s the top row on your computer keyboard.  Now you might wonder why your keyboard is arranged this way; wouldn’t it make more sense to arrange the keyboard alphabetically?  The answer to this enigma lies back in history in the 1800s.  You see, before there were computers, typewriters ruled in the office.  And when the first typewriters were developed in the mid-1800s, the keyboard was organized much more logically.  But one of the problems with the early typewriters was that the keys in the type-bar system jammed up easily.  To temporarily solve this problem, the inventors split up the keys for commonly-used letters into an illogical sequence so as to slow down how fast people could type.  By the time a better and improved mechanism that did not seize up was developed several years later, typists everywhere had already learned the unusual sequence of keys and did not want the discomfort of “unlearning” and “relearning”.  So the illogical QWERTYUIOP keyboard became the standard.

Today, QWERTYUIOP is symbolic of things in organizations that are illogical, outdated or inefficient, but that have never been challenged or changed because “that’s the way we’ve always done it.”  Think about it for a few minutes – whether it’s policies, business processes and practices, reports, meetings, task forces, or anything else – there are no doubt things happening in your organization (perhaps even in your department) that drain time, money and energy and continue to be done for no other reason than it’s too much effort to change.

What are your QWERTYUIOPs? Perhaps it’s time to take a closer look and see what needs to be changed … even if it makes you or other people exceedingly uncomfortable.  What do you think?

A couple of weeks ago I talked briefly about a leader’s role as an agent of change. And it’s a responsibility you should take seriously. The expectations that your clients and customers have of you are changing, rapidly, so you need to keep your ear to the ground to know what they’re thinking and what they demand of you. One of the best ways to stay ahead of the change curve is to find ways to think differently. Here’s one idea that I have observed many leaders use successfully. Bring people together who are not connected.

If you’re in a mid-sized or large organization, then in its simplest form that means creating cross-functional teams. If you’re working on a new initiative, put folks from engineering, operations, accounting, human resources and legal on the same team. Yeah, there will be some friction, but it will be for the good of the final result. Even if you’re not part of a large organization, you can still achieve the same outcome by deliberately choosing to interact with people who have different backgrounds or work with different target markets. One way to formalize this is to create a mastermind circle. If you don’t know what that is, or want to learn how to create and use one, then this short article titled Mastermind Circles: A powerful and easy way to create your own advisory panel that I wrote for CGA Magazine in November 2008 will be helpful.

What are you doing to bring together people who can offer you different perspectives and a variety of alternatives? Please share with the rest of us.

If there’s one thing that is constant in our world of work, it’s change. Which means that one of your responsibilities as a leader is to be an agent of change. But as you’ve probably realized first-hand, not all your employees are comfortable with how quickly things are shifting in the workplace. And that can be frustrating! But I often find that supervisors and managers focus on the few individuals who are digging in their heels and clinging with their fingernails to the “way things were”. It would be far more effective for these managers to focus their energy on the early converters. Just as there are always a few who would much rather reminisce about “the good old days”, there are also always one or two on your team who are ready and raring to get rolling on the new initiative. By concentrating on these few, you can create momentum. Let’s face it … peer pressure can be far more effective than anything you can say as the boss. So let these early converters help you create energy and excitement about what’s new. As the impetus builds, your holdbacks will find it harder not to participate.

What do you think? Are there other things that you are doing to facilitate change in your organization?

Strangler figs are a common species in the rainforest ecosystem and I saw them up-close during a recent visit to Cairns, Australia.  These are tall canopy trees that start life in an unusual way.  Tiny sticky seeds are deposited high in trees through bird pollination and they germinate as epiphytes on the tree branches.  Initially, the seedlings get their nutrients from the sun and rain high up in the canopy, but soon they start sending out numerous thin roots down the tree trunk. When these roots reach the ground, they dig in and begin to grow quickly, competing with the host tree for water and nutrients.  The roots start to encircle the trunk and fuse together, and as they grow thicker, they tighten and cut off the host tree’s flow of nutrients.  At the same time up top, the strangler fig puts out leaves that overtake the tree and rob it of sunlight.  Eventually, the host dies from strangulation and insufficient sunlight.  In the end, the strangler fig stands on its own, a hollow central core being the only reminder of the original host.  “Not bad for something that started off as a mere stray seed carried in bird droppings!” you might think.  Except for one thing – because the central trunk of the strangler fig is hollow, it is very easy for a passing woodcutter to chop the tree down.  And many do.

An apt metaphor for what can happen in the workplace when a new supervisor joins an existing team.  Usually appointed by a senior leader, the new manager often has innovative ideas and fresh energy and can’t wait to get going, to make changes and create new opportunities.  Which is great … but not if progress is made through force and intimidation, instead of through agreement and consensus.  Both methods will achieve success in the short-term, but in the long-term is where the differences will be patently obvious.  Growth and success that comes from pressure and coercion will have a hollow core, and just like the strangler fig, a tree with a hollow core is much easier to cut down.  Far more effective to grow the tree through agreement and consensus, because a solid trunk can withstand the woodcutter’s machete much more effectively.  Worth keeping in mind when you step into a new leadership role.

So, do you agree?  What’s been your experience?  Have you observed situations where progress made through coercion have failed later?  Or vice versa?

Fred Smith, the man who founded Federal Express in 1971, is a classic example of someone who built a successful company by being responsive to changes in customers’ expectations and in the business environment.  FedEx originally started as an idea in a term paper that Smith wrote for an economics class in 1965, while he was still an undergraduate at Yale University.  His premise: as productivity increases with the use of machinery, breakdowns in equipment can easily destroy any efficiency and profitability.  Therefore, a system needs to be developed to ensure that organizations have rapid access to spare parts and materials as they are needed.  With this as a starting point, in 1973, Smith created the now-famous hub-and-spoke-system with his “hub” in Memphis, Tennessee.  Success followed, but the world began to shift more towards a knowledge-based economy.  Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this week, I blogged about how change is the only constant in today’s business world, and I offered you two specific ideas to bring people on board when they resist change. Here are three more.

1. Proactively address the objections. Every change effort has its disadvantages and your opponents will be sure to put them on parade. Pre-empt them by anticipating and acknowledging their doubts, and then respond to their concerns with your own compelling argument AND offer solutions that will at least attempt to mitigate their fears and worries.
   

   

   The Greek symbol for change

2. Find ways to build momentum. Just as there is always a fraction of those who oppose change, there is also a small group of people who are the front-line change adopters. You can recognize these folks right away – these are the ones who jump up and say “Let me at them!” Use these people to build momentum. You don’t have to carry the entire load of the change effort on your shoulders; let these people help you spread the good word.
3. Be a broken record. Stay on message, repeat your compelling arguments, persist with those who are against the change. Don’t let your nay-sayers off the hook, particularly if they are your staff members; hold them accountable to achieving the department’s or organization’s goals.

Any change effort will come up against dissenters. It’s up to you to find a way to break through the opposition and bring the cynics and resisters on board. These five ideas (three today and two from Monday April 22) are guaranteed to help. What other ideas do you have?

Nothing endures but change

– from Lives of the Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius

Chinese symbol for change

Laertius may have penned these famous words circa 3^rd century, but they are just as true today as they were eighteen centuries ago.  If you’re a manager or supervisor in an organization, then you know that one of your primary responsibilities (and one of your challenges) is implementing change.  Whether it’s revising work processes to fit today’s environment, learning about new technologies that impact your business, or simply implementing a new version of existing software, not only is change all around you, but the rate of change is growing exponentially.  And unfortunately, any change effort will come up against a small fraction of people who will resist it.  Change is inevitable, but unless you actively manage the opposition, your change effort can lose momentum and fall off the rails.  So what can you do to deliberately and purposefully bring your resistors on board?  I’ll give you two specific ideas today, and later this week, I’ll give you three more.

1. Give people the “big picture”.  One of employees’ biggest frustrations about change is that sometimes it feels like it’s done just for the sake of doing something in the short-term, and not necessarily with an overall long-term objective in mind.  When that happens, people view the change simply as an inconvenience to them as individuals.  Instead, take the time to show people that what they view as a hassle is actually beneficial some place else, and to the organization as a whole.  Tie the change to an overall advantage.  Which leads me right into the second strategy.
2. Give factual information.  Offer evidence that shows that the change is valuable for the company.  If you have hard data, share it.  If there are other individuals who have gone through similar change efforts, hold them up as examples of success.

Check in on Thursday and I’ll offer you three more specific suggestions for how you can get your people to stop fighting change and perhaps even help you implement it!  In the meantime, do you have any suggestions?

As this bulldozer of change rolls over our planet, we have a choice: to become part of the bulldozer, or part of the road.

– Frank Ogden in The Last Book You’ll Ever Read

Futurist Frank Ogden penned these words in 1993.  Today, seventeen years later, this bulldozer is bigger and faster than ever, as the pace of change in workplaces and homes across the country increases exponentially.  Consider this example: it took radio 38 years to reach 50 million users, television 13 years, the Internet four years, and the iPod three years.  In contrast, in just a nine month period, Facebook added 100 million users, and downloads of iPhone applications reached one billion.  Or ponder this.  Today, the amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years.  Translation: for students starting a 4-year technical degree, half of what they learn in the first year of study will be outdated by the third year of study.  Bottom line: it doesn’t matter what aspect of your professional and personal life you consider, the pace of change is increasing exponentially.

If you work in an organization, does it irritate the heck out of you when new versions of software are released and you still haven’t figured out how to use the earlier version?  If you’re a supervisor or team leader, does it drive you crazy to see your younger staff texting each other constantly?  If you’re in front-line customer service, does it annoy you when clients keep expecting more for less?  You have two alternatives to approach these realities.  You can hope that they are passing fads and that sooner or later, everyone will come to their senses and these frustrations will go away.  In the meantime, you’ll just stay out of the bulldozer’s way (and hope you don’t get run over).  OR … you can take action to try and influence the bulldozer’s direction.  This option starts with a change in your attitude.  Ask questions, request to be involved, and offer your assistance – become part of the solution by becoming a positive force for change.  As Ogden said, you have a choice – to become part of the bulldozer, or part of the road.  Which one will you choose?