Change Begins with Results

How often does work feel like a continuous loop of answering the phone, reading emails, attending meetings, and going home exhausted? So many of us have spent countless hours working on activities associated with “total quality” or “continuous improvement” to make things better without ever delivering tangible results? Do you want to be spending your efforts on activity-centered processes, or do you want to make changes that deliver results? 

 Change begins with results. Ask yourself, what is the story you want to tell; about yourself or your team? Then, start with a simple conclusion. For example, “I want to complete my projects that my customer will love, ahead of schedule, and with less stress.” By focusing on the results, the necessary changes will become more apparent. But first, we need a clearer picture of the results we want.

 The SMART format (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-phased) is an excellent tool to sharpen our focus on the results and the story we want to tell:

• Specific – Pick a particular project. Identify the deliverables and the measurable growth or improvement that you desire.

• Measurable – How will you know if you are successful? We can manage what we can measure.

• Achievable – I prefer aggressive but achievable. Individual and team psychology has found that challenges are often a rallying point that encourages engagement. In contrast, an impossible goal results in apathy and discouragement. It can be helpful to identify historical benchmarks to rate the aggressiveness of your goal.

• Relevant – Align your SMART goal with your business and customer objectives.

• Time-phased – Aim for fast cycles of change. Succeed or fail quickly and adjust your approach based on your current learning. Keep the SMART goal and adapt your plans to achieve your goal.

 Let’s see how we can add details to the story we want to share: “I want to complete my projects (which project) that my customer will love (why will your customer love it? What will you measure?), ahead of schedule (What is the duration of the effort? Break up the project if necessary to keep it within a small-time step.), and with less stress (What is causing the stress?).”

The following is a possible design project SMART goal that will drive change: “I want to complete my design project Alpha by March 31, 2022, such that the product will meet the customer functional requirements and achieve producibility cost less than $45 per unit. To reduce stress, I will get an interpretation and agreement on the design requirements from the customer and my senior management at the first meeting before starting any design work. In addition, I will schedule interim design reviews (March 11 and March 25) to share progress, issues, and lessons learned.” 

Now that your results are defined and concrete, first evaluate the aggressiveness of your goal. Can you get the cost down to $35 per unit? Secondly, what actions do you need to take to achieve this vision? It is your new actions that will achieve the goal. Thus, the change begins with the results. 

1. See Robert H. Schaffer and Harvey A. Thomson, “Successful Change Programs Begin with Results,” HBR January-February 1992. (https://hbr.org/1992/01/successful-change-programs-begin-with-results)

Success Journal

Do you know success? Do you know what it looks like, smells like and how it feels? If so, start your 2022 Success Journal and be amazed at how much more you will accomplish in the coming year.

Many people say they can't journal, but successful journaling can bring a significant return on your investment of time and effort with a bit of persistence. So, are you up for the 9 minutes weekly success journaling challenge? Let's get started!

SUCCESS JOURNALING STEPS

1.    Establish the Habit - Set a specific weekly date and time to focus for 9 minutes on success journaling.

2.    Make it your time - Make sure the success journaling time is yours to do what you want. For example, your journaling times may occur during lunch, morning coffee, or designated breaks. Decide if you're going to journal at work or home—Journal where you feel you have the most control of your time and space.

3.    Eliminate Distractions - Close your door, silence your phone, turn off instant messaging and email chimes. Set your 9-minute alarm.

4.    Review the week - Look back on the week and identify what you have accomplished. What did you do, and what were the results? What went well? What didn't go so well? What did you learn? What will you do differently?

5.    Celebrate! - Take a moment to congratulate yourself on your successes. Share your success with your significant partner, mentors, and coach. Did you have any team successes? Celebrate with your peers and coworkers. Leaders, celebrate team successes with your team. Recognition and sincere gratitude will encourage a positive work environment and outstanding, repeatable performance.

That's it—just 9-minutes a week of focused journaling. Don't try to write a novel; just jot down the success you had over the past week. The act of writing is powerful, as reported in many neural science and psychology studies. The primary benefits of the success journaling are as follows:

1.    Writing anchors the learning. Writing allows us to evaluate, reevaluate and identify what is important to us.

2.    Writing helps us visualize our value to our customers, coworkers, bosses, and companies. Sharing our success stories allows others to see our value and the value we bring forth together.

3.    Since my early life coach training days, I've been a fan of the IAM model (Intention + Attention = Manifestation). Success Journaling is a great tool to develop awareness and identify where our current attention is focused. (In a future blog, I'll elaborate more on intentions!)

Take the first step and experience the continual improvement in your productivity and happiness. Your Success Journal will not only help you grow, but it'll also be an excellent source for stories to support your next job interview or salary discussion.

Neal

Beehive Management - Don't Get Stung

The first couple of years of youth soccer can be comical and frustrating.  The tendency for new players is to chase the ball around the field in a beehive formation.  The coaches and parents are yelling, “spread out, play your position, don’t bunch.”  There are times at work when I want to shout the exact encouraging directions, “not everyone is needed at this meeting, don’t send that email to everyone, and why is so-n-so working on this?”  Managers and senior engineers are often guilty of being attracted to problems like eight-year-olds to a soccer ball.

I submit that beehive management is indicative of a total lack of teamwork often due to one of the following: a poor responsibility matrix, members lack confidence in their team members, and the leader recognizing superstars above collaboration.  The first one is easy to fix.  Every project leader should have a simple and communicated responsibility matrix as part of their project charter.  A responsibility matrix is also a great visual aid.  Post it, refer to it, and if necessary, enforce it.

As for team cohesiveness, get out there and coach.  Encourage good lines of communication.  Set examples of what general information the entire group needs and what detailed information should be worked on by the responsible individuals.  Develop a team that is reliant on each other.  Apply Lean to the team’s communication and meetings: do your daily team meetings, reduce the number of send-to-all and reply-to-all emails, and coordinate meeting attendances.  Communication is the first step towards trust.

Finally, develop a championship team.  I want a team that can respond quickly and efficiently independent of vacations, illness, or over commitments.  Team members’ responsibilities should be clear, but do not let a responsibility matrix become an excuse for not having coverage; rotate assignments so that others will learn the different aspects of the team, designate back-ups, do what works best.  The goal is to develop a team and processes, so members understand their responsibilities, know how to backup teammates, and are confident in their team performance.

Expectations

I had what may be referred to as a significant personal experience associated with setting high expectations.  After graduating from college, I attended the Air Force Officer Training School (OTS).  I was assigned to a small group with 15 other officer candidates, and our first task was to set our team goals.  So on our first day, we discussed what our goal at OTS should be and came to a consensus that our goal would simply be a 100% graduation rate.  At the time, it seemed reasonable; we were all there to become officers, so if everybody graduated, we would achieve our objective.

OTS emphasizes teamwork but rates the candidates individually- just like the real world.  The entire 12 weeks of training is an immersion in competitive teamwork as nearly all assignments are given at the team level. However, officer candidates are eliminated based on their personal academic and physical performance.

Upon graduation, we commissioned ten officers.  We lost a third of the class over twelve weeks.  Our primary reason for failure was our low expectation of a 100% graduation rate.   It was a very competitive environment.  We could have set goals to be the best team overall, the best team for 30% of the time, or to graduate 50% of our team in the top 10% of the entire class.  We could have chosen to set the bar high, but instead, we set it at the acceptable minimum level.  We had no margin for error.  When the going got tough individual survival came ahead of the team, even when better teamwork would have made individual survival easier.

The teams with a 100% graduate rate also had high team expectations.  In trying to meet their team expectations, the candidates had to raise their performance, and the team recognizing the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses needed to support personal improvement.  Setting high team expectations is the first step in a vicious improvement feedback loop.  In addition, it’s a lot more fun to win.

-Neal

Morale and Feedback

We had a team meeting to discuss the Employee Survey earlier this week.  It was a good discussion on how some interpreted the questions, the events that had influenced their responses, and most importantly, who’s paying attention to the survey results.  And in that question of “who is paying attention,” I think I found the most important nugget.  Morale is closely tied to feedback and recognition.

Now I know that isn’t a surprise to anyone; we all know that feedback is essential.  But how many of us are really living it.  How many times have we gotten an emergency request for a fast answer?  How about the big report or memo that you sent out?  Did anybody read it?  Did it help?  Unfortunately, positive feedback, in my experience, is limited.  How often do you hear that we need to cut costs, reduce schedules, make fewer mistakes, and in general, just do things better?  I would rate that as negative feedback since it focuses only on our weaknesses.

While correcting mistakes and making improvements are necessary, identifying and recognizing our strengths are also important.  Moreover, it is essential for good morale.  It is easy to become disillusioned and discouraged if all we ever hear is that we need to do better without ever hearing we are doing something good, or right, or even (dare I say) outstanding.

I propose that we improve any situation faster, reduce costs, shorten schedules, and make fewer mistakes by recognizing our strengths, our jobs well done, and by saying thank you, your efforts have made a positive difference.

Difficult Conversations

During the time between the death of George Floyd and the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, I participated in a senior management meeting to discuss how we could support the company’s policy of zero tolerance of employee discrimination. Suddenly, a couple of managers wanted to point out that “Not all cops are bad.”

Interesting. True statement. We were talking about workplace discrimination, and it was essential for us to recognize that not all cops are bad. 

 And   what    just     happened? 

Perhaps this is a nod to the fact that life is complicated. We are all individuals and team members and have families, friends, acquaintances, history, and culture; we are more than just employees. For those who want to keep firm boundaries between work and home life, diversity discussions will challenge those boundaries by touching our bias consciousness.   

The statement that “Not all cops are bad” reveals an iceberg of emotions associated with establishing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies.  Company presidents making public statements of support saying this company will not tolerate discrimination and committing to improving employee diversity numbers are practical actions. But, such activities only address the measurable DEI issues. Visible acts of discrimination may decrease, and diversity numbers may improve, but equity and inclusion will probably remain unaddressed. If the president wants to make lasting change, the company will need to support the entire organization to work below the waterline.

Backlash. Eric Anicich et al., in their Harvard Business Review (HBR) article, “Design Physical and Digital Spaces to Foster Inclusion,” identify a data review of 829 firms implementing diversity policies. The authors shared that diversity efforts “that attempt to control managers’ behavior (e.g., mandated diversity training, grievance systems, etc.) result in more rather than less bias and, as a result, tend to produce the opposite of their intended results.” An additional point made is that racial bias is difficult to change because we have segregated environments. Therefore, we need to find ways to encourage engagements.

In another HBR article, “You’ve Built a Racially Diverse Team. But Have You Built an Inclusive Culture?”, Jill Perry-Smith illustrates how we respond to differences may increase racial inequality. By failing to acknowledge our differences “exacerbates the downside of difference and mutes the upsides.” One strategy to improving team dynamics is to commit to having difficult conversations. And that is truly easier said than done. 

Difficult Conversations. So, how did your team DEI discussion go? Was everyone willing to speak up? Were there any discoveries? Did you make any changes? Diversity, equity, and inclusion conversations are difficult. We may wonder how my manager will respond to my inquiries and statements. How will my relationships change if I admit I am uncomfortable? Am I ready for conflict? Am I prepared for change?

In addition, our environment conditions our awareness and conversations. Fred Kofman said, “In fact, we don’t talk about what we see; we see only what we can talk about.” If we want to get to the underlying emotions around DEI topics, a safe space is needed. As we move forward, that “safe space” needs to become a “growing space”; we begin by acknowledging and then transition to an environment of change. 

Team Coach. Engaging a team coach to kick-start DEI conversations is an excellent way to begin the discovery process. Coaches are practitioners in nonjudgmental communication who can also serve as a mediator and mentor, a trusted individual to share in an uncomfortable, emotional conversation.  

A team coach will work with team leaders to identify challenges and support personal development with individuals one-on-one. But what sets team coaching apart from leadership and executive coaching is the one-on-many coaching within the team environment. For it is within the team space where the members begin learning to learn as a team. 

When a team develops a dedication to the success of all team members, great things will happen.

Career Planning for an Unknowable Future?

Sarah started our career coaching session on career planning with a common sentiment for early-career engineers, “I don’t know what I want to do. I don’t know all my options. So don’t ask me for a 5-year career plan; I don’t even know what I’m doing six months from now!” 

And quite frankly, the issue of not knowing the future also impacts mid-career engineers. During a recent coaching session with Chris, he let it be known that he doesn’t believe in career plans. “How can you plan for an unknown future? I don’t want to be working on a plan and overlook an opportunity that I couldn’t have predicted.”

Although the names are fictitious, the questions and concerns raised are real. We don’t know the future. Innovations are continually changing our career landscape, and new opportunities arise daily. So how do I do career planning in this unpredictable and unknown environment with limitless options in front of me? Help!

As your coach, let’s bring some awareness and clarity to the present. What do you sense when you make this statement: 

Today is my future!

In other words, what are you doing today? 

·       What are you doing today to bring value to your customer?

·       What are you doing today to bring value to your business?

·       What are you doing today to bring value to yourself?

To see the future, be present today. Having presence and focus on today brings awareness and clarity that supports tomorrow. By focusing on the present moment, we can ask the questions that will guide us: 

·       How am I creating opportunities for success?

·       What does success look like for me?

·       How will I measure my progress?

Career planning is a misnomer. Accurate career planning isn’t about more planning; it’s about more doing. 

Dialogue

Dialogue from the Greek word dialogos: Logos means ‘the word,’ and dia means ‘through.’ I picture a stream of meaning flowing through and between us. There is a flow of meaning, concepts, and ideas rushing and swirling around us. In a river, a clenched fist does little to control the water. But, a relaxed hand and body will float, making navigation easy.

The objective of dialogue is not to win an argument or trade opinions. Instead, in dialogue, we suspend our beliefs and hold them before us for examination, listening to everybody’s thoughts, exploring and looking at our personal and group meaning. 

I imagine suspending an opinion for examination is much like catching up with an old friend.

“We have always been together. No, not always? When did we meet? Oh, that day; not the best of days. But, you have been with me through thick and thin ever since! Ok, well, that shouldn’t count because that situation was different. When do you think we work best together? I like having you around because it’s easier when you’re here. May I ask you a personal question?”

Sometimes, just like old friends, we take our opinions for granted. But, our opinions are the truth -  aren’t they? My opinions are true and based on the facts that    I    have     chosen. Chosen?

“Two people, by challenging and responding to one another, may come closer to the truth than either one could alone.” ~ Plato

When each person participates, partakes, and seeks to understand the whole meaning of the group, that is genuine dialogue. That is truth engaged.

~Neal

Silence is an Action.

"Silence is an action—you're complicit. You're complicit," Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo responded when asked whether the other three officers involved with restraining George Floyd would be arrested. This statement has weighed on me since watching Chief Arradondo's interview on TV. "Silence is an action—you're complicit. You're complicit."

How do I add my voice to promote justice, fight racism, and address inequalities? How can I make a difference? This past week I've observed many leaders making corporate expressions of concern and businesses restating their nondiscrimination policies. I've watched the demonstrations and protest marches where people shout their slogans for justice. I've listened to community and celebrity leaders say we need to have open discussions about justice. I agree; one of the most important first steps is acknowledging the injustices experienced by people of color. However, I believe the real challenge is grasping how deep that acknowledgment needs to go. 

I facilitated a Peacemaking Circle this past week to share how current events impacted us. It struck me how easy it was to see the shared acknowledgment of social injustices; the surface awareness was evident. Yet the undercurrents were so turbulent and murky as to make the social injustice surface look calm. Individually we have below-the-surface feelings of uncertainty, pain, guilt, fear, rage, grief, and confusion concerning social justice. Awareness and sharing of these feelings are possible within a circle of trust. But, I wonder, is it possible to make the circle of trust big enough to encompass a community discussion on injustice?

Business and team leaders, I believe it's essential to create an environment where members feel free to broach topics about injustices, racism, and discrimination. We need to take the first steps of acknowledgment, hopefully leading to action. Yet let's not kid ourselves; if there are no tears, we are only addressing the surface issues.

However, let us not be deterred from talking because the topic of justice is too big or too personal, but allow ourselves to begin before we are ready. Let us speak honestly from our hearts and listen devoutly with our hearts. I'll conclude with this quote from Rachel Naomi Remen in her book Kitchen Table Wisdom: "I suspect that the most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention. And especially if it's given from the heart. When people are talking, there's no need to do anything but receive them. Just take them in. Listen to what they are saying. Care about it. Most times caring about it is even more important than understanding it."

COVID RAIN

I have a difficult time absorbing the COVID-19 pandemic impacts. Seeing my world, country, city, neighborhood, and family deal with so much loss can be overwhelming. My clients frequently say they want a better work-life balance, but now, it feels like the universe is saying, "you thought that was hard, here balance this!" So, we are now genuinely trying to balance work and life.

When challenged with circumstances that are beyond our control, it is our feelings that most direct our actions. My challenge is balancing apathy and inspiration. Moving from "there's nothing I can do" to "how can I serve?" I want more inspiration and less apathy. I don't want to feel apathetic at all. Yet, I know that apathy is a normal feeling during transitions, and to deny our feelings is to deny ourselves.

So let it RAIN on your apathy. Recognize that the feelings of apathy are with you. Allow the experience to be there. Investigate with interest and care. Is there a topic or action associated with your indifference? Do you notice a frequency or a trigger for these feelings? Finally, Nurture with self-compassion. We are complicated beings with competing feelings and thoughts. 

May you be filled with loving-kindness. 

May you be safe from inner and outer danger. 

May you be well in body, mind, and spirit. 

May you be at ease and happy. 

And 

May you be inspired.

~Neal