How do leaders maintain successful teams? - part #1

It was an early morning breakfast meeting when she explained to me about all the changes that were taking place within her organization. In her words, “there are a 1,000 details related to change, multiple moving parts with some planned small short term wins.” Given recent successes, senior leaders in her organization were wanting to aggressively scale everything up and engage the whole organization. “What do you think about scaling everything up so fast, Geery?”, she asked me.

I responded that within her small team people were still building foundational trust and still building a set of common language.

“So,” she asked, “how fast can we go?”

“Only as fast as you can maintain what you have already built.”

One of the things I have learned during the last two years of visiting with leaders and teams from all over the country, is that once a team is launched and people want to expand it’s influence, most leaders underestimate the increasing percentage of time, resources, and staff that are required to maintain action over time within the initial pilot group.

Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao in their exceptional book, Scaling Up Excellence: Getting To More Without Settling For Less (Crown Business, 2014) write that “scaling requires leaders to find and develop pockets of excellence, connect people and teams, and ensure that excellence continues to flow through those ties.” Right now, many people in senior leadership positions are wanting good teamwork to expand to other areas. They want a “successful team” to role model “the right way” to other teams. Therefore, they try to deploy the successful team’s leader to help the other dysfunctional teams. When this happens, it rarely works well.

First, people have to realize that within a pocket of excellence, the team leader has made an emotional connection with people who are creating the pocket of excellence more than just the intellectual connection. It’s just as much about the feel of the process as the facts. Theses same leaders also assist others in making connections with others inside and outside the team so people can maintain perspective.

Second, these successful team leaders understand the difference between technical problems and adaptive problems. They make sure we are not trying to find technical solutions to adaptive problems. They also understand that adaptive problems can only be addressed through changes in people’s priorities, beliefs, habits and loyalties. In essence, this requires all involved to generate new ways of thinking about problem solving and decision-making. And leaders who maintain their teams over time are very clear about the new way of thinking.

This week, ask yourself the following two questions: What is the new mindset that I are wanting my team to embrace? Have I clarified this with them? The answers will help you maintain a successful team over time and prepare you and the team for the scaling process.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

The Problem With Solving Problems

Every day, a person in a management or leadership position is confronted with a problem. Instantaneously, they go into action mode. The goal of which is to solve the problem, and thus restore order and predictability within the company. The challenge is that every time a leader solves a problem they also create one. While this may not seem evident at the start, it is still a basic fact of the world of leadership and management.

First, in order to become a leader, one has to solve many problems. These problems usually take place at the front line position or front line supervisor level. The better you are at doing this the more people see you as having potential and capacity.  As a result, you get better and better at solving problems, because you are getting positive feedback about how well you are doing it.

Next, people in upper management notice that you are very good at problem solving so they move you up within the organization so you can solve more problems. Therefore, you move from being a front line supervisor to a middle manager. Upper managers are pleased and you are delighted to be solving more problems.

Now, in this new position the problems are bigger and more complicated. But, because of your early successes, you lean into them and give it your all. Slowly and then faster, you solve more and more problems. As a result, you get more and more positive feedback. Once the praise starts rolling in, you double down and lean in harder and faster. Now, you want to solve all the problems.

With this forward momentum, and when a position opens up within the senior management of the company, you are considered to be a “high potential candidate.” With your track record on problem solving, you ultimately get the job. And then things stop working out so well for you. 

First, there are operational problems, and strategic problems. They both need solving. The challenge is that by solving one you may actually create more problems in the other area. And the big question is which problem to solve first, the operational one or the strategic one.

Second, there are technical problems and adaptive problems. Technical problems have known solutions. All a leader needs to do is connect the right person with the current know-how to solve the problem. Adaptive problems, on the other hand, require a new perspective or expertise, and often challenge fundamental systems and/or beliefs. Solving these kinds of problems require learning about new ways of thinking otherwise the company as a whole may decline. The difficulty is that one person’s adaptive problem may be another’s technical problem or vice a versa. Sometimes, the problem is both technical and adaptive.

Third, what got you to the senior level, namely your ability to solve problems, is now a problem unto itself. Everyone has learned that you are the best problem solver. So, rather than solve them themselves, they just bring them all to you. Now, there are more problems to solve and no time to solve them. What at first was a good skill has now become a liability, because none of your direct reports think they can solve a problem. Your actions have taught them that only you can solve the problem. In short, solving a problem has created many more problems.

There is a solution to organizational problem solving. You need to learn how to be a better manager and leader. You have to unlearn that you are the center of all problem solving and instead learn how to create a team, a department, a division and then a whole company of problem solvers. In short, you have to become a leader of problem solvers rather than the chief problem solver of the company.

And this is where the 2018 From Vision to Action Leadership Training fits into the problem solving process. Through a challenging, interactive curriculum which blends lectures, selected readings, small and large group discussions, and how to skill-building exercises, participants in this four part leadership training gain critical knowledge and skills which improve their ability to lead people, to define problems, and better ways to solve operational and strategic level problems.

For more information on this in-depth training and how to register for the 2018 From Vision to Action Leadership Training, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html 

Solving problems happens every day in the world of management and leadership. It comes with the territory. The key is to make sure that those who have the problem own it and solve it themselves. Then, you as the leader and they as the employees of the company can move forward successfully together. 

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

How Successful Leaders Think

Bill Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company magazine, wrote, “Leaders who change the game recognize that success is not just about thinking differently from other companies. It is also about caring more than other companies - about customers, about colleagues, about how the organization conducts itself in a world with endless opportunities to cut corners and compromise values. You can't be special, distinctive, compelling in the marketplace unless you create something special, distinctive, compelling in the workplace. Your strategy is your culture." 

I agree with this quote on so many levels. Given all my travels and three decades of work, I have clearly seen that success is about caring more than other companies about customers, partners, colleagues and the organization as a whole. Furthermore, I fundamentally agree with the idea that “your strategy is your culture.” When I step back from the day to day hustle and bustle of work and look at the bigger picture, I notice the following about how successful leaders think and successful companies work.

First, we live in an era of nonstop interruptions and disruptions. Right now, there are continual external disruptions to the established order of how things get done. The impact of this constant lack of continuity from quarter to quarter, year to year in systems, service and production has yielded a high level of burnout and cynicism amongst many employees, plus a general decline in a disciplined commitment to the pursuit of excellence.

Second, we live in a world filled with me-too thinkers, and fast followers. With strategy and competitive advantage being so transparent, any and every idea, service or product is constantly being copied, tweaked and/or slightly customized by the competition. There is very little originality in the world of product or service delivery, and there are very few people who want to take the risks associated with being original or unique.

Third, we live in a period where tunnel vision is epidemic. As many organizations rush to solve pressing operational problems and preserve market share in an unstable or deteriorating market, they often experience a loss of peripheral vision, i.e. strategic awareness and understanding, causing them to loose sight of the true underlying factors that created their success in the first place. Using a Jim Collin’s metaphor, they zoom in rather than zoom out most of the time.

Fourth, after all we have experienced since September 2008, there still are leaders who believe that they are entitled to success given all they have achieved to date, and how hard they have worked. To them, success is viewed as “deserved,” rather than fortuitous, fleeting, or even hard earned. These individuals believe that their success will continue no matter what the organization decides to do, or not to do. As Jim Collins wrote in his book,  How The Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In, HarperCollins, 2009, these individuals role model an “Undisciplined Pursuit of More.”

So, given this context, how do successful leaders think?

As Reed Hammans noted at the Spring 2012 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable, successful leaders understand that “information is not knowledge” and knowing is not doing. From my vantage point, I see more and more people who are on bended knee worshiping technology as the solution to all problems. And more and more people are blaming technology for not providing for them the solutions they want. Finally, more and more people complain about having too many e-mail and text messages than ever before. But we must understand that being successful is less about technology and more about psychology. Human beings are human beings with all of our frailties and strengths. 

The first step in understanding how successful leaders think is to recognize that they see problems and the future in a holistic manner. They examine how different elements impact or interact with each other from a holistic vantage point. Successful leaders do not, by default, break down all problems into pieces and work on them separately or sequentially. As Roger Martin in his wonderful article called, “How Successful Leaders Think”, Harvard Business Review, June 2007, notes “Opposable thumbs- opposable minds.” Successful leaders are able to see the same problem from different vantage points, and different perspectives.

From what I observe and understand, when successful leaders see problems in a holistic manner and understand the dynamic nature of problem solving, they carefully begin by defining the problem, issue or challenge. The key to this process is that they determine the salience of all the factors related to the problem even if it is not in line with their department or organization doctrine, e.g. a head of finance department that considers a qualitative measure to be as important as a quantitative measure.

Next, rather than discard factors to simplify a problem, they embrace the diversity of factors in a problem, recognizing that not all information is accurate and not all knowledge is current.

With the above in mind, successful leaders also analyze the context, people, the variables, and the language around the problem, exploring linear vs. non-linear causality. For example, direct or linear causality is a straight line and sequential development or cause in a certain situation. On the other hand, in-direct or non-linear causality comes from the examination or exploration into non-linear elements impacting what is taking place, e.g. two people in the work place that are struggling to communicate well, each being impacted by external events like the health of an aging parent or a son getting involved in a prank at school.

Once the above has been done well, successful leaders determine the decision architecture related to a problem or challenge. After better understanding a problem and figuring out the variables involved, they then look to what are the decision-making variables, e.g. who?, what?, when? and how?. Then, they methodically examine the decision-making variables and make a decision. After the decision has been made, successful leaders mobilize people and resources to implement the decision. The goal of all this level of work is to align themselves and their team so that everyone understand why the decision was made the way it was made.

We live in tough economic and political times. Understanding how successful people think and work through these tough times gives us a road map to a better way. Now is the time to strengthen our culture and our strategy by thinking better and more effectively.  

This week, practice slowing down and thinking more holistically. As Jim Collins’ often wrote, zoom out before you zoom in is the first step to fixing something.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

How do leaders create an understanding of a problem and buy-in for the solution? - part #2

One of the biggest challenges to creating buy-in for the solution to a problem starts with creating the environment for understanding and ultimately ownership of the problem. This means we have to help employees feel that they are technically competent to deal with the problem but also committed and motivated to deal with it. This is why more leaders need to read or routinely review the following book: Lencioni, Patrick. The Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A Fable for Managers (and their employees), Jossey-Bass 2007. This is a great resource for building the right environment for ownership.

Second, John P.  Kotter and Lorne A. Whitehead in their book, Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea From Getting Shot Down, Harvard Business Review Press, 2010, write that the elements that work together to achieve buy-in happen when we capture peoples’ attention, and then “with people paying attention, winning over the minds and their hearts.” From my experience and observations, people only do this when they feel safe and cared for by their managers and supervisors.

Finally, while this may seem immensely simplistic, the best leaders at helping people buy-in to a solution show how the solution and it’s related new behaviors and practices will lead to improved results. While this may not be a latest and greatest, hot-off-the-press, best-seller, new idea, it is nevertheless a practical one. When people see improved results, they support and advocate for the solution to continue.

This week, keep building the right environment for ownership, and keep helping people to see improved results. It will make a world of difference for all involved.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Assessing the Temperature

August in Iowa is a traditionally hot month with more than it’s fair share of humidity. Farmers love it because it is good for the corn and the beans. People struggle with it, but manage well enough if they have access to a good fan or an air conditioner. But in the world of leadership, assessing temperature has less to do with what is outside the organization and much more to do with what is happening inside the company.

When instituting organized change or transformation, all leaders know there will be problems. Some will be technical and some will be adaptive. Most people will respond normally to these problem, namely that they will want a clear and uninterrupted pathway back to status quo or normalcy. And the best leaders understand that status quo is dangerous if not organizationally fatal in some situations. Therefore, they will, over time, raise or lower the temperature around change.

First, this has nothing to do with the temperature within the room where people work. Instead, it is all about raising or lower the awareness and urgency factors within a group or organization to address issues where there is conflict or disagreements. As Ron Heiftz, Alexander Grashow, and Marty Linsky in their book, The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World (Harvard Business Press, 2009) note, “Your goal is to keep the temperature - that is, the intensity of the disequilibrium created by discussion of the conflict - high enough to motivate people to arrive at creative next steps and potentially useful solutions, but not so high that it drives them away or makes it impossible for them to function.”

As the above authors explain, to raise the “temperature” within a group or organization, a leader will “draw attention to the tough questions” or “bring conflicts to the surface.” In order to lower the temperature, a leader might “provide structure by breaking the problem down into parts and creating time frames, decision rules, and role assignments” or “slow down the process of challenging norms and expectations.” Whatever the choice, the key is carefully assess the temperature within the organization or the group on a regular basis.

This week, take stock of the temperature and then consciously choose to raise or lower it in order for the group to be more effective.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Ask Better Questions

Week after week, people meet and try to solve technical and adaptive problems. Nine times out of ten, there are a lot of questions that surface during the process. Some are helpful and some are not. 

As leaders, it is time for us to ask new and better questions during our upcoming meetings, especially if they are strategic planning meetings. These questions can help you gain a better understanding of how well other people comprehend the work that we are tasked with doing.

So, here is a list of superb and very unique questions:

- Why does our company exist?

- What business are we in?

- What does our current strategic plan tell us to do?

- Why is this important work to do? 

- What do you do that is most important at our company?

- Why do we need to continually improve?

These questions and the subsequent answers by others will give you an insight into the level of strategic and operational understanding of all involved. It may create for you some very important and helpful teachable moments. You may even bring clarity to place of confusion or correct a misalignment in perspective.

This week, practice asking better questions. You will be surprised by what you discover.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

The Dark Side of Problem Solving

Most leaders do not want to talk about it, and most young leaders get caught in it. But all will admit privately that there is a dark side to problem solving. From my perspective, the best resource on this subject is the following book: Lencioni, Patrick. The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable, Jossey-Bass, 1998. Right now, it should be required reading for many people in management and leadership positions who are struggling with problem solving.

Lencioni points out that there are five temptations:

- Choosing status over results.

- Choosing popularity over accountability.

- Choosing certainty over clarity.

- Choosing harmony over productive conflict.

- Choosing invulnerability over trust.

I call these the dark sides of problem solving. Over the years, I have witnessed numerous people in leadership positions choose status, popularity, certainty, harmony, and invulnerability when solving problems. Not once have I seen this go well for the person, the proposed solution, or the organization. Choosing these temptations have short and long term implications and none of them are helpful or productive.  

The difficulty for many leaders is that they have to do something that most of them do not want to do, namely have the courage to help their organization face reality and then deal with it. As Ron Heiftz noted in an interview back in June 1999 in Fast Company magazine, “Leaders of the future need to have the stomach for conflict and uncertainty -- among their people and within themselves.” The challenge is that they need to keep people in a “productive discomfort zone” while guiding them through the problem solving process. This requires the leader to unprotect the organization from the difficulties before it and to help the organization determine what is and is not essential to being successful moving forward. While this is not easy, it is clearly a vital part of being a leader.

This week I encourage you to be more mindful of the dark side of problem solving and to make smarter and more effective choices as you move through the work of problem solving. 

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

The Trouble With Solving Problems

Problems, problems and more problems. Everyday we struggle to keep up with them and to solve them. As Ron Heifetz, Alexander Grashow, and Marty Linsky pointed out in their book, The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World, Harvard Business Press, 2009, the single most important skill for exercising adaptive leadership is the diagnosis of problems. However, we as leaders forget that our technical problems, i.e. ones with known solutions, may at times be another person’s adaptive problem, i.e. one where they may need to learn their way through the problem solving process. Because when it comes to diagnosing problems, it is the definition of the problem that more likely will be the problem. This is where shared language can be most helpful.

Next, we need to remember the advice of the previous authors when they wrote that “successful adaptive changes build on the past rather than jettison it.” They do this by determining “what is essential to preserving the organization’s heritage and what is expendable.” From my experience, this determination takes a great deal of personal reflection and very good, in-depth strategic dialogue. The combination makes a huge difference in solving problems.

Finally, we need to realize that in order to solve problems effectively over time, we must build an adaptive organization. Here are the qualities of such an organization as defined by the above authors:

- elephants in the room are named

- responsibility for the organization’s future is shared

- independent judgment is expected

- leadership capacity is developed

- reflection and continuous learning are institutionalized

When the above becomes part of the normal operations of an organization, then we can solve problems more effectively and generate more successful solutions.

This week I challenge you to do a better job of diagnosing your problems and at the exact same time to start building an adaptive organization. This will help you and your organization thrive in the midst of on-going difficulties and challenges.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Doing It Right The First Time

When I was growing up, I often heard the following statement: “If you are going to do something, then do it right the first time.” This was just the way it was in my young life. For example, if you wanted to go on a hiking trip, then you went and got the best gear you could afford, mapped out the route, and prepared for all contingencies like rain, heat or an accident. If it was worth doing, it was always worth doing right the first time.

The challenge this winter is that people are moving so fast and rushing about so much that many just want to solve a problem, i.e. get it past them so that they can get on to the next thing on the list. They are not thinking about what is the right or best way to do it. The goal is simply to do it and move on. Thus, they approach every thing and every person in a binary fashion, namely done or not done. And, of course, the goal is to solve the problem fast so you can then jump on to solving the next problem.

However, I think the key in successful organizations is not to simply get everything done. It is to make sure there is alignment between the solutions and the strategic nexus of the company. The nexus, as many of you know, is the sum of the mission, vision and values plus the strategic plan. If we do it right the first time, then we will have action based on the mission and core values in alignment with the vision and the strategic plan. Alignment is not always easy and may initially take more time. But the short and long term impact of doing it right is always worth the effort.

My challenge to you this week is to solve the problems before you in the right way every time. And to remember that alignment is both the goal and the method.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Four Emerging Trends and Two Solutions

During a recent dinner meeting, I was asked what are the emerging trends that I  am paying attention to at this time period. Upon reflection, I shared the following.

First, more and more organization are attempting to grow their business but are experiencing the challenges of how to scale up successfully. The desire is present amongst those in leadership and management positions but the capacity to do this in a thoughtful manner is not. I believe the problem is happening because many companies are designed to only serve their current customers in their current markets. There is no room for scaling up in their business because the daily work is trumping the work related to growing the business. Furthermore, the skills sets to serve new customers in new markets is also not present in the work force. In short, status quo is beating strategic thinking and change.

Second, issues related to being more efficient are not going away. In fact, they are becoming more and more important. Companies are wanting more efficient systems so they can be more successful. However, many are learning that their internal operational infrastructure is not designed for growth. Instead, it is dedicated to preserving the way business is offered to the current customer base. I suspect we will continue to see many companies optimize key systems for efficiency but the best companies during the next three to five years will focus on building an infrastructure engineered for greater efficiency, focus, flexibility and growth.

Third, we all know that customers are changing. Look at how much we are changing as leaders. Yet, few companies are proactively researching their customers. Years ago, we often talked about the VOC, the voice of the customer. The question now is how well do we know our customers and are we taking the time to listen effectively. And how well are we monitoring how fast they are changing. During the coming years, sophisticated market intelligence will become more and more important. We will continue to need to hear their voices. We also will need to know how fast they are changing even when they may not know the answer themselves.

Fourth, recruitment and retention has been the focus of HR for decades. Recently, performance management has become vitally important. However, it is time to look at this subject from a broader perspective. Thomas Friedman in his book, The World is Flat, wrote that you need two things in order to succeed in a globalized world. First, you need an innovative business model. Second, you need access to pools of talent. The challenge during the next two years is not just to find new or better pools of talent but to engage in proactive talent management. While some companies will redesign their entire talent supply chain, others will recognize that they need to embrace a whole new philosophy of talent management. For some, this will be a systems issue. For others, this will be a people issue. The best will realize it is both.  For now, we need to figure out how to manage talented people better, not just manage their performance. 

As we recognize the challenges of scaling up the business and the importance of a flexible infrastructure, plus the need to improve market intelligence and talent management, all of us know that we will need to create more highly effective strategic plans to make this all happen across the entire business. One place to begin the strategic planning process this fall is to read the following article: “Your Strategy Needs A Strategy” by Martin Reeves, Claire Love and Philipp Tillmanns in the September 2012 issue of the Harvard Business Review.  

As the authors explain, “Companies that correctly match their strategy-making processes to their competitive circumstances perform better than those that don’t. But too many use approaches appropriate only to predictable environments - even in highly volatile situations. What executives in these cases need is a strategy for setting strategy.” 

The authors of this article present a framework for choosing the right strategy-making process by asking two questions: How unpredictable is your environment? and How much power do you or others have to change that environment?” Based on the answers to these two questions, the authors explain that there are four broad strategic styles to choose from and each one is particularly suited to a distinct environment. They are as follows:

- Classical Strategy: the one learned in every business school, namely a SWOT analysis, works well for companies operating in predictable and immutable/unchanging environments.

- Shaping Strategy: best in unpredictable environments that you have the power to change.

- Visionary Strategy: the “if you build it and they will come” approach, which is appropriate in predictable environments that you have the power to change.

- Adaptive Strategy: this one works best in unpredictable environments that you can not influence; it focuses on the development of a more flexible and experimental strategic plan. 

This is a good article and for those who are thinking about the future and growth, it will be most helpful. Here is a link for those of you who want to read it on-line: http://hbr.org/2012/09/your-strategy-needs-a-strategy/ar/1

Once we are clear about key choices related to strategic planning, then I suggest you read “Are You Solving The Right Problem? by Dwayne Spradlin which also is in the September 2012 issue of the Harvard Business Review. As this author explains, “The rigor with which a problem is defined is the most important factor in finding a good solution. Many organizations, however, are not proficient at articulating their problems and identifying which ones are crucial to their strategies. They may even be trying to solve the wrong problems - missing opportunities and wasting resources in the process.” To solve this situation, the author proposes a four step process of asking questions and using the answers to create a problem statement. With a clear problem statement, the solutions are easier to find.  

I found the article particularly thought-provoking because the questions are carefully thought through and most insightful.  While I may not embrace the entire four step process, having a better set of questions to ask when problems surface will be most helpful to people in leadership positions. I would urge leaders to read this article so that they discover new questions and so they can educate others on how to solve problems through asking better questions.  Here is a link for those of you who are interested: http://hbr.org/2012/09/are-you-solving-the-right-problem/ar/1

In world which continues to move at the speed of software, and where challenges related to strategic development and problem solving will only get more complex, it is good to know that there are helpful perspectives and articles to guide us through the maze of opportunities and difficulties. Happy reading!

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

An Interesting Experience

There were three of us in the meeting that morning. The young woman executive in her early thirties, who had invited her second in command in his mid-20’s, and myself, white haired and nearly mid-50. We were all sitting around her desk, working on the agenda for an upcoming retreat which was being displayed on her computer screen. Earlier in the meeting, I had commented that the opening remarks for the upcoming retreat needed to be more specific, particularly about why we were gathering and why it was worth the time to do this. After a brief discussion, the remarks were improved and made much better.

Then, we came to the next part of the retreat which was a discussion about the goals for the rest of this fiscal year and the possible goals for the coming fiscal year. I remarked that they were not really SMART goals and thus needed to be sharper in focus in order to be more actionable. The woman executive then turned to her #2 and discussed one of the goals in question. Listening carefully, I inquired about one specific aspect of this goal.

Her response to my question was “I’m not certain. Let me check.”

This is a normal response, and her action for checking was to start typing on her computer. Nothing unusual about this. Given we were all looking at her computer screen, I watched as she sought the answer about a company related goal. And here is when it got interesting!

Step #1 - log in to her personal Facebook account.

Step #2 - search Facebook for the company Facebook page.

Step #3 - scroll through the company Facebook page, comment on how few friends it has and discuss this with her #2 person, and then find the information.

Step #4 - log out of Facebook and input the correct information into the goal setting section of the agenda.

As this all transpired, I noted that there was no attempt to use the company intra-net, Google, Bing, Yahoo or any other search engine. Facebook was the preferred method for finding the correct information.

My internal response was WOW! That was interesting.

Not too may years ago, during a session of the From Vision to Action Leadership Training, I observed a young person solve a team based, problem solving exercise by using his smart phone to Google the answer rather than interact with the team. At that time, my internal response was the same - WOW! That was interesting.

Now, using a Blackberry, iPhone, Android, etc. to solve a problem during a meeting is normal. A matter of fact I would be surprised if someone did not use their phone during a meeting. Please note that I hope they are not just reading their e-mail or playing a game.

Still, to witness a young executive use Facebook as the preferred way to solve a problem was very interesting and very thought-provoking. If this is the upcoming new normal, then many people are going to experience a lot of change. For example, the Chief Information Officer and the Chief Marketing Officer could be sitting around the senior management table with the Chief Facebook Officer. Next, there could be a dedicated team of people to monitor, respond and update the company Facebook page, and maybe even do the same for the Facebook pages of senior management. The historical line between what is work and what is home may never be the same again.

As for now, it sure was an interesting experience and something worth thinking about over the the coming weeks and months.

Geery Howe, M.A.Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeMorning Star Associates319 - 643 - 2257