Personal and Organizational Fragmentation

THEME: New Year, More Challenges

FOCUS: Personal and Organizational Fragmentation

Monday morning: January 25, 2010

Dear friends,

As we continue to work through this roller coaster ride of an economy, I am reminded of the following phrase: If all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail. During this period of economic turmoil, many people and their organizations feel like they have been hammered repeatedly. And the results have been personal and organizational fragmentation.

When the core parts of our lives and our companies have been fractured or significantly stressed, there are multiple reactions and decisions that surface. Often, we focus on solving immediate problems. While this helps to a point, this does not allow us to prepare for future growth opportunities. It just reduces today’s pain and anguish.

With this in mind, we as leaders need to refocus on strategic talent management and time management issues. The pain of today’s economy will pass. It may happen in less than a year for some, or it may be in three years for others. Nevertheless, the critical first step is to develop a work place where people feel supported and encouraged to do their best. We desperately need to keep, and to further develop managers and leaders who grasp the importance of people feeling supported, and apply it within their circle of influence. These managers will impact whether or not other key people are still committed and employed by the company when the recovery takes place.

Second, along with a strong culture of support, we need to deploy people to major strategic initiatives. While operational excellence is important, unification after fragmentation begins at the strategic level not just at the operational level. Here at the strategic level, we need to recognize that past success is the enemy. As many authors have pointed out, that which got us to where we are now will not always get us to where we need to go. Thus, clear strategic direction and defined goals and timelines are vital. These improvements position us for the future and strengthen our ability to manage at the day to day level of execution, too.

Finally, we must realize that time management is not just clock management. Time management can be viewed as the linear management of tasks, but when I meet people who successfully manage difficult and complex changes, I also find someone who is clear about their personal and professional priorities. These are leaders whose personal core values are in alignment with their organization’s core values, too. When priorities and values are clear, then time is not about watching the clock, but about working well with the others and prioritizing the challenges before us all.

This week remember that we need more than hammers and nails to put this world back together. We need thoughtful leaders with open hearts, attentive listening and compassionate understanding. We need leaders who recognize that even though healing at times come with pain, the pain should not define the overall healing process.

Have a good week,

Geery

Geery Howe, M.A.
Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in
Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change

Morning Star Associates
319 - 643 - 2257

Returning to Vision

THEME: New Year, More Challenges

FOCUS: Returning to Vision

Monday morning: January 18, 2010

Dear friends,

Not too long ago, she called me on a cold and snowy morning. “We are going though pretty drastic organizational change here. Due to the efforts of our management team, we are hoping to survive these tough times, bring in lots of new funding and move the company into new markets. We also want to bring more people to a higher level of accountability. It is a difficult place and several new folks are excited and our old guard is really resisting the changes. They do not want anyone telling them what to do. With more expected, we will all need to step up to get the work done.” She explained to me that she wanted me to do a full SWOT analysis, a mission statement redefinition process, at least one team building retreat, and a set of facilitated organizational meetings to reduce resistance.

I listened thoughtfully, and then suggested that she and I plus her management team sit down for a good visit. A couple of weeks later, we all gathered in their conference room. Most drank large cups of coffee and Coke while plowing through a massive a bowl of chocolate candy. I meanwhile drank a cup of herb tea. During this meeting, I listened with great interest and focus to the issues and problems at hand. They talked about ancient history, i.e. what happened ten years ago, numerous turf battles, performance issues, historic incidents of miscommunication, a general lack of trust, and a universal feeling of being overwhelmed by it all.

As I listened, I remembered Proverbs 29:18: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” This particular management team had a bit of a vision but not one that was embraced by every one. Most felt it was just more work to be done and more difficult solutions to deliver.

So, during a break in the complaining, I reminded them of the importance of vision. Pointing out that a vision is a statement of what an organization hopes to achieve, I asked if they knew what the vision was moving forward. There was silence around the table. Then a couple of people said, “more sales and solutions,” “more markets”, and “more accountability.” We know from experience that the best companies and the best leaders along with their management teams have a clear sense of vision. It gives direction and meaning to the journey, and it creates inspiration which is necessary for the difficulties that come with organizational change.

With guidance and thoughtful reflection, this management team carefully and slowly shifted from the complaining mode of operation to the strategic mode of operation. We clarified the vision and discussed its impact. Once things were back in perspective, resistance was no long an issue and focus was possible.

This week work on vision. Define it, clarify it and communicate it. In a time period when we are feeling vulnerable to economic forces over which they have no control, it is good to have a vision that inspires us.

Enjoy the week,

Geery

Geery Howe, M.A.
Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in
Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change

Morning Star Associates
319 - 643 - 2257

One-Trial Learning

THEME: New Year, More Challenges

FOCUS: One-Trial Learning

Monday morning: January 11, 2010

Dear friends,

Life’s difficulties can be a powerful teacher.

Back in the early seventies, I was a young teen-ager at summer camp. Late one afternoon, I put an axe through my right ankle. It was a traumatic accident that required emergency surgery and later reconstructive surgery. Fortunately, with the help of good orthopedic surgeons, I can walk without pain or difficulty. But, never again did I touch an axe without heavy work boots on.

This past August, I picked up an axe to hang it on the wall in the basement of our home when I realized that I was not wearing boots but only sneakers. I believe it was the first time in nearly 36 years that I had changed my behavior. I also realized that a single incident had defined my behavior for quite some time.

Right now, we are experiencing major events that will impact a generation for decades if not life times. Robert Lawrence Kuhn, an international investment banker and corporate strategist wrote a fascinating article called “Personal Lessons From the Financial Crisis” in the September/October 2009 issue of Chief Executive Magazine. When he reflects on all that has happened, he believes the trick is to learn from, but not overreact to this market downturn. He worries about the psychological trauma that could be ossified into “counterproductive behavioral traits.”

As he explains, “In experimental psychology, it’s called “one-trial learning.” For a rat in a maze, make the the electric shock painful enough, say along one route, and the animal, after only one such experience, will be extremely reluctant to go there again. Even if the shock is turned off, the rat will not venture to find out. Even if the route might lead to the largest reward, the rat will not seek to explore it. Whereas in normal learning situations a rat may require multiple trials to remember and work accurately, if there is deep trauma involved, one trial does it. So too, after shocking financial loss, one-trial learning could affect many of us - and this is often not for the good. Because if that happens, if our attitudes solidify and become impervious to change - for example, if we become reluctant to be adventurous - then we will have lost more than mere money. The good news is that human beings are not rats (at least most of the time), and pains of all kinds can be overcome.”

The financial meltdown of 2008 was very difficult. We are still experiencing it’s impact as we enter 2010. For many, it has been a “one-trial learning experience.” And because of the pain and trauma from this meltdown and subsequent recession, we are highly reluctant as leaders to take risks, explore new strategies, and create change. Nevertheless, we need not become victims by all that has happened . We also must not become cavalier and turn a blind eye to what has happened. Instead, we need to learn the appropriate and vital lessons from all that has happened. We need to continue to take risks, create strategy and make organizational change take place.

This week begin a strategic dialogue with your immediate team and then with a greater circle of employees about what are the lessons to be learned form the last two years. We need to learn appropriate lessons but not let them solidify into inappropriate and debilitating behaviors.

Have a great week,

Geery

Geery Howe, M.A.
Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in
Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change

Morning Star Associates
319 - 643 - 2257

Understanding the Big Picture

THEME: New Year, More Challenges

FOCUS: Understanding the Big Picture

Monday morning: January 4, 2010

Dear friends,

We live in a new normal. Some are calling it “radical uncertainty” while others are branding it a time period of “all gray with no black and white.” Personally, I think we are continuing to trudge our way through the Grand Canyon of Chaos. This journey has many miles to go before we get out. Meanwhile, there are some important lessons that we have learned along the way.

A long time ago, Peter Senge wrote, “today's problems [are coming] from yesterday's solutions.” Some leaders have forgotten that the strategic choices made years ago created what we are living through today. As I pointed out during numerous strategic planning sessions this past fall, the decisions we make in the winter of 2010 will create either more problems in the next three to five years or better solutions. The choices is ours to make.

One way to make better choices is to step back and examine the proverbial big picture. Right now, we are again seeing accelerated convergence of different trends across many different industries and markets. For example, as a result of corporate cost saving measures during the last eighteen months, many customers are angry about the decline in real customer service. One unintended consequences of these corporate actions is that competitors are actively trying to lure customers away from certain businesses through more personalized service options.

When contemplating the big picture, we begin to wonder how we got into such a mess in the first place. The answers can not be found in the last eighteen months. One must look further back in time to the 1980’s where we had Father-Knows-Best corporations with top-down, command-and-control leadership. In many sectors, excellence was a new idea and people were just units to increase sales.

Then in the 1990’s, a new era dawned. Many companies thought the internet was the be-all and end-all solution to every problem. But the smart companies soon realized that success was never was about dot.coms, IPOs, venture capitalists, or irrationally exuberant stock markets. They realized that a new economy was being born based on three factors, namely the expansion of individual opportunity and impact, the disruptive energy of ceaseless technological innovation, and the transformative power of information technology and communications. All three of these trends converged in the 90’s and smashed into the Industrial Age model of business. Today, I think we are still picking up the pieces from this collision.

This morning there are three pieces that I want us to pay particular attention to as we enter the new year. First, many new systems are being built and many old systems are being consolidated or revamped to help organizations cope, grow or be consistent in their execution. My question as I witness this action is simple: Are these systems being built or consolidated based on out-dated thinking? Remembering the wisdom of Einstein when he noted that “no problem can be solved by the same thinking that created it.” What I do not see is new thinking or at least in-depth reflection before consolidation or redesign of key systems. Due to limited balance sheet growth, many organization are trying to consolidate antiquated systems rather than take the risks to completely pitch and redesign systems to meet the new expectations and options for delivery in this time period.

Second, it is clear to me that technological delivery systems and improvements are out-pacing management’s capacity to integrate them or even understand them. Recently, I have sat in more and more meetings listening to IT departments propose solutions to current problems. Nine times out of ten, I wonder if anyone else in the room is totally lost with the language that is being used and shared. Usually what I see is many executives nodding their heads, but I truly wonder if they understand the implications of their decisions.

For example, I have heard the words “centralization and efficiency though systems improvement” many times in my career. I also have seen massive investments of time and money take place once these words roll out. However, while the computer and related technology have made some things easier, it has not always changed human behavior. As we all know when people are faced with new or unknown situations, they revert back to old behavior and old ways of thinking. There are days now when decisions are being made by people who think “pencil and paper” or “type writer and white out” rather than iPhone, social media, Twitter or Google.

Third, some people are forgetting that even profitable businesses can go bankrupt. Cash management is very important in 2010, especially when funding streams continue to be in massive flux. Therefore, as Ram Charan in his book, Leadership in the Era of Economic Uncertainty: The New Rules for Getting the Right Things Done in Difficult Times, McGraw Hill, 2009, wrote “pursue only growth that is profitable and cash-efficient.” As he explains, “Cash efficiency means that gains in the market share do not consume disproportionate amounts of cash in the form of inventory, extended duration of accounts receivable, or increase complexity.”

As the new year dawns before us and we all head back to work, we need to have a deep, ground level understanding of how the current economy is impacting consumer behaviors, and at the exact same time we must also keep our eyes on the bigger picture. Remember: the choices we make now define and create the future we will experience.

Have a marvelous week,

Geery

Geery Howe, M.A.
Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in
Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change

Morning Star Associates
319 - 643 - 2257