Decision-making In The Middle of A Pandemic

All over this world, people are overwhelmed and doing their best. At work and at home, people are making small and large decisions. It is exhausting and it is very challenging. Sometimes we forget that “Life seeks organization,” says Margaret Wheatley in her book, Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time. (Berrett-Koehler, 2005), “but it uses messes to get there. Organization is a process, not a structure.” Many days we struggle with the messy nature of this time period and we desperately want organization and structure.

One the reasons we are struggling, especially in the area of decision-making, is that we have encountered an unknown unknown, a phrase former U.S. defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld made famous in 2002. As he explained” “there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. There are also known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don’t know we don’t know. And … it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.”

In recent executive coaching sessions over the phone, I have spent a great deal of time talking about making decisions and decision architecture. In the beginning we need to think of decision-making as a four step process, namely preparing to make a decisions, making a decision, executing a decision and evaluating a decision. This framework can be used at work and at home. And since most of of are working from home, it would be good if everyone at home is aware of this framework.

In the Preparation Phase of decision-making, leaders sense what is happening in their environment and identify the problems that are taking place. From my perspective, this is the stage where I have to sort the noise from the signal. What information is actually useful, important and something I need to pay attention to vs. what information is just noise, i.e. non-salient factors or interference? As I answer this question, it is good to do an analysis of causality, i.e. what is causing what to take place. Furthermore, I need to think about what is the best way to make and execute my decision, i.e. the decision architecture. 

One interesting thing for me as an executive coach is that when I see good decision-making taking place in the midst of COVID-19, I see that all people involved know two very specific things. First, they understand the difference between what is a priority and what is a goal. Second, they know whether or not they should bump an issue up to a higher level in the company. Clarity about these two things are making a major difference between functional teams, all working digitally from home offices, and dysfunctional teams who are struggling in the exact same working environment.

In the Call Phase of decision-making, leaders actually make a decision. Most people think of this as the single moment of rational analysis based on knowable and quantifiable variables. In reality, it is a dynamic process influenced by multiple variables which are often outside of a leader’s direct circle of control or influence. The best leaders make decisions that influence now but they also set up a framework for others to make successful decisions.

From my perspective, the people who are making the best decisions right now are the ones who stop and think carefully about the impact and precedent that they are setting when the decision moves to the execution phase of the process. This depth of clarity does not happen instantaneously but with time and good coaching, it can become a learned and executable skills set.

In the Execution Phase of decision-making, a leader needs to mobilize resources, e.g. people, information, and technology, to support it. One of the most powerful resources is to make sure people have the time to work that is not interrupted by other people’s agenda’s or goals. Given current events and how many people are feeling overwhelmed and are overwhelmed, we have to recognize that everyone in the workforce has a reduced bandwidth for execution. Their minds are just full of trying to figure out the known unknowns and still being blown away by more and more unknown unknowns.

Finally, in the Evaluation Phase of decision-making, we engage in an evaluation process to determine whether or not our decision was effective. One thing I think we need to remember in the midst of this global pandemic is that the outcome of good decisions should be a shared commitment to continual improvement and a shared level of clarity about how all our decisions connect to the mission of the organization and our own personal sense of purpose in our lives.

For those of you who want more information about decision-making, I encourage you to read the following article: “Making Judgment Calls: The Ultimate Act of Leadership” by Noel M. Tichy and Warren Bennis in the October 2007 issue of the Harvard Business Review.

As always, stay strong, stay healthy, stay safe, and keep in touch. I look forward to seeing you on the other side.

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

How do leaders successfully deal with accelerated change, chronic uncertainty and rampant complexity? - part #4

When dealing with accelerated change, chronic uncertainty and rampant complexity, leaders need to role model not getting caught in silo based thinking or decision making. They also should not tolerate it when others do it. Instead, they need to make important choices.

David J. Snowden and Mary E. Boone wrote an excellent article on this subject called “A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making” in the November 2007 issue of the Harvard Business Review. As they explain, “As in the other contexts, leaders face several challenges in the complex domain. Of primary concern is the temptation to fall back into traditional command-and-control management styles - to demand fail-safe business plans with defined outcomes. Leaders who don’t recognize that a complex domain requires a more experimental mode of management may become impatient when they don’t seem to be achieving the results they were aiming for. They may also find it difficult to tolerate failure, which is an essential aspect of experimental understanding. If they try to over control the organization, they will preempt the opportunity for informative patterns to emerge. Leaders who try to impose order in a complex context will fail, but those who set the stage, step back a bit, allow patterns to emerge, and determine which ones are desirable will succeed. They will discern many opportunities for innovation, creativity, and new business models.”

One element of these choices is create and maintain a learning culture. Given the recruitment and retention challenges in companies across the country at this time period, a learning culture creates the capacity to promote from within and to create spaces where people can gather, share and expand their perspective about what is happening and how to proceed.

If we as leader reinforce and support mono-cultures of the mind, we are bound to repeat the same problems over and over. There are many paths to innovation, creativity and effective action. Expanding the capacity of people to think and learn is crucial to our success. 

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

The moment of truth is a moment of decision.

Every day, people make decisions. Customers choose products. Clients choose services. 

Meanwhile, employees can choose to follow the rules or to bend them. Senior executives can choose to define the organization’s culture through clarity and accountability, or to let it be defined by lack of attention. Managers and front line supervisors can choose to focus on quality and service, or simply to focus on control. Every day there are choices and decisions to be made.

Our challenge as leaders is to make sure the moment of truth, the time when the goods and/or services of the company are delivered, to be one based on a thoughtful and proactive decision rather than a reactive response. 

Given the challenges within society and the economy at this time period, we as leaders need to start talking and exploring again the subject of decision-making in greater depth. We need to help people utilize the strategic nexus, i.e. the sum of the mission, vision and core values in combination with their clarity about the strategy and strategic direction of the company, as a vital part of decision-making. All involved need to reference this framework and make sure they are making the right decisions for the right reasons. 

However, in the rush to get more and more things done in shorter and shorter time frames, most people make reactive decisions rather than thoughtful decisions. They do not grasp that the choices we make today create the future we will have tomorrow.

This week, sit down with your team and discuss how people can make the right decisions at the right time and with the right information. We can not afford to be getting sloppy around the moment of truth.

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

How do leaders be both bold and brave during difficult times? - part #2

During the Fall 2017 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable, those who gathered entered in to a discussion about the difference between resistance and opposition. The consensus of the leaders present was that resistance is really a form of feedback while opposition is a form of going against something in order to stop it from happening.  As I reflected on all that was shared, I realized that during the Spring 2018 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable we needed to explore and understand the difference between discernment and judgement.

In order to get greater perspective on the difference between discernment and judgement, I turned to the small group of people who I call my “Kitchen Table Cabinet.” These are the people I go to for a big picture perspective on a variety of subjects. They are the ones who make me think and who ask really good questions.

During my first meeting with one of my older cabinet members, I asked the question “What is the difference between discernment and judgement?” 

He smiled and replied, “It is the ability to sort the wheat from the chafe, or the ability to sort the the goats from the sheep.”

I chuckled because this is a typical answer for him. However, as we dived into the subject at a deeper level, he said discernment is “the ability to organize your thoughts after participating in a series of listening post experiences.” As he explained, by listening carefully, a leader is able to discern what is the path forward.

Next, I went to another member of my Kitchen Table Cabinet who has traveled extensively in different parts of the world, and has a long term career in healthcare. He shared that “judgement is your conclusion. It is binary in nature. On the other hand, discernment is about exploring a range of questions and perspectives.” As he continued, when someone is involved in a discernment process, they have to ask the question, “What else could it be happening here?” This requires an individual to have the time and a space to reflect. “The main problem is that people jump to conclusions, judge or decide something without having all of the facts. This rush to conclusions will cause problems or result in unwarranted conclusions.”

After careful thought, I think this is the problem. There is not enough discernment in decision making. There is not enough careful thought being put into place before action. It is as if the world is addicted to going faster and faster, and to choose urgency without reflection. All of us as leaders need to define and schedule time for reflection and to defend this space like a mother with a new born child.

This week, schedule time for in-depth reflection. And then, give yourself permission to take.

As for me, I will now take my annual, late June time for reflection. I will be back in touch with all of you on Monday morning, July 2. 

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

How do leaders get coaching and employee development to become routine and systematic? - part #1

“A coach or mentor is anyone who, in the eyes of the employee, ensures she successfully navigates the course,” writes Rodd Wagner and James K. Harter in their book, 12: The Elements of Great Managing Gallup Press, 2006. As they continue, “The important aspect is not which of many terms this protector goes by - friend, coach, advisor, sponsor, counselor, support - but whether the employee feels she is not abandoned inside the business.”

With the above in mind, if we want people in leadership and management positions to coach and develop their employees on a routine and systematic basis, then they need to get coaching and development on a routine and systematic basis. As the aforementioned authors wrote, “A great manager needs a great manager in order to be a great manager…. Before a person can deliver what he should as a manager, he must first receive what he needs as an employee.”

So, how does one become a better manager? The quick answer is to get routine coaching yourself and to never let ego get in the way of making decisions. When we role model thoughtful decision-making and being open to feedback, particularly in the stage of preparing to make a decision, we send a signal to all involved that people are willing to do their best if they can have the “tools” they need to think through their challenges and solve their problems. If you or someone you know is struggling at work and in life, always check the “tools” they have.

This week, seek out more coaching from inside and outside the company, and continue to improve your decision-making abilities.

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 a team during times of high turnover? - part # 2

First, when seeking to create a shared mindset at the team level, Michael D. Watkins in his article, “Leading The Team You Inherit”, Harvard Business Review, June 2016, writes, “To get everyone aligned the team must agree on answers to four basic questions:

- What will we accomplish?

- Why should we do it?

- How will we do it?

- Who will do what?

Answering these four questions unites the team at a foundational level. 

Second, I think there is more that is needed, namely a commitment to “structured unstructured time,” a term Martine Haas and Mark Mortensen use in their article called “The Secrets of Great Teamwork.” Harvard Business Review, June 2016. I saw it best applied this past summer when a CEO took his entire team out to dinner after an intense, day long strategic dialogue about the future. That evening I listened to two different sets of conversations and was delighted to see that no one was talking about work. Instead, they were using this structured unstructured time to get to know each other better and to share more about their history. When they gathered the next morning, it was obvious that the group was more connected, relaxed and focused.

Third, I think it is important to teach people how to make meaningful decisions. People need to understand that it is a four stage process, namely planning to making a decision, making a decision, implementing the decision and then evaluating the decision. The thing that unites a team the most is when everyone on the team is using the same method of planning when making a decision. When in-depth clarity about the strategic nexus, i.e. the unity of the mission, vision and core values plus the strategic plan, in combination with a high degree of confidence in the competency of the other members of the team, then the team stays united through the normal ups and downs of today’s corporate life.

This week, remember that building teams and maintaining teams is paramount right now to short and long term success. As Oren Harari wrote in his book, The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell, McGraw-Hill, 2002: “Leadership is, ultimately, responsibility, and it's the ultimate responsibility.”

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

Leaders and Decision-Making - part #2

Too many times leader struggle with decision-making because they think that once they have made a decision they are done with decision-making. This can not be further from the truth. Making a decision is only part of the journey. The real work is getting someone to execute the decision in a timely and accurate manner.

The best leaders know that in order to improve their decision-making, they need to improve the execution of the decision. Therefore, one of the first steps is making sure that the decision we make does not interrupt operational excellence. That means that we as leaders need to think about impact and precedent when making a decision. It also means being able to mobilize resources to support the decision. But the best leaders recognize that for the execution of a decision to take place, it must integrate with operational excellence.

However, few leaders realize that operational excellence is not just the maintaining of status quo. In reality, excellence is based on an understanding that in order to continually be excellent, then one must continually be excelling. In other words, one must continually improve. Furthermore we, as leaders, must communicate what the concept of excellence means, and then why it is important to do excellent work. Then, over time decision-making will improve. 

This week, spend more time helping others understand the importance of  operational excellence, and then focus on making sure all the right resources are deployed to make it happen.

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

Leaders and Decision-Making - part #1

I was meeting with a young mid-level manager when he shared his desire to teach problem solving to his key supervisors. Over time, he had realized many of the phone calls he was getting were from front line supervisors about problems they were having. As he explained, “I realized we were really dealing with issues related to decision-making on a daily basis. While I have helped them to learn the difference between technical and adaptive problems, many of the callers have framed up the problem before them as neither technical nor adaptive. For them, this is a crisis. What do I do?”

One of the first things we need to remember is that people, strategy and crises are the three most important areas that leaders make decisions. And when we as leaders make the right decisions, they will yield good outcomes. However, the big question for many leaders right now is this: What are the good outcomes or results we are seeking?

First, a lack of clarity around the desired outcomes or results is part of the current challenges we are facing. When we expect leaders to be competent in driving results through others, we also expect them to be able to articulate the desired results, and why these are the desired results.

Second, we as leaders at times forget that effective decision-making includes a “redo loop.” This typically happens when we discover that we can not, or did not mobilize and align key stakeholders. If this happens, then we need to go back and reset the context, i.e. the why, for change.

Third, we need to remember that there are four stages to decision-making, namely preparation, the actual decision, execution and evaluation. Leaders who improve their decision-making and the decision-making of others do this by improving the preparation stage. Here, the best leaders help all involved focus on the salient factors. Kevin Cashman in his book, Leadership From The Inside Out: Becoming a Leader for Life, Berrett-Koehler, 2008 calls it the CIA Model of decision-making. He suggests we focus on the following three things:

- What can we control?

- What can we influence?

- What must we accept?

By having a framework to prepare to make a decision, we empower all involved to think through the decision rather than simply react to the situation before them This, in essence, gives them a decision architecture for today and in the future.

This week, review with your direct reports the decision architecture for your office or organization. This will be a powerful first step in helping people improve their decision making.

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

A Recommended Reading

For quite some time, I have been looking for something worth reading and sharing with others. I have plowed through a lot of books and articles and ended up in the land of slightly bored or frustrated by the number of old ideas getting repackaged and being called “new.” For the most part, nothing was thought-provoking or extremely well written to the degree that I would read it again or recommend it to others.

However, I did delight in reading an interview by Melinda Merino of Ram Charan, one of the worlds’s preeminent advisors to CEOs for the past 35 years, about decision-making in the November 2013 issue of the Harvard Business Review. Called “You Can’t Be a Wimp - Make the Tough Calls,” Charan points out that leaders now have to deal with many more variables and constituencies than ever before. In particular, they have to “cut through all of that complexity and to make subjective judgements about highly ambiguous, and constantly changing factors.” Given these difficulties, Charan  explains that “The best executives know which decisions to focus on (and which to delegate), when to make a decision, and what the risk of not making a decision.” The keys to successful decision-making, according to Charan, are to increase one’s ability to have perceptual acuity, i.e. “the ability to see change coming,” along with qualitative judgement and credibility which helps gain acceptance for difficult decisions.

Overall, this is a good article and one worth reading. Here is the link: http://hbr.org/2013/11/you-cant-be-a-wimp-make-the-tough-calls/ar/1 Check it out and I hope you find it helpful.

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

Focusing on Collaboration Rather than Heroics

The senior management team and I were sitting around a table discussing a variety of new strategies for coping with the impact of the Affordable Care Act, when I commented that I did not think the organization was well positioned for long term success. In particular, it had to stop focusing on only trying to fix all of the immediate problems and instead began defining and then solving the more pressing adaptive problems. The COO’s head popped up from his folder full of charts and graphs, and said, “Our major problem is that our leaders are mostly focused on counting things. They have a ‘just tell me what to do and then I will do it’ mentality.  We need to change this first before we can move forward.”

So many organizations today are suffering from the hubris born of success, to refer to a phrase from Jim Collin’s writing.  As Arie de Geus, the former head of Shell Oil Company’s strategic planning group, wrote: “The signals of threat are always abundant and recognized by many. Yet somehow they fail to penetrate the corporate immune system response to reject the unfamiliar.” 

Jim Collins in his book, How The Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In, HarperCollins, 2009, wrote, “Great enterprises can become insulated by success; accumulated momentum can carry an enterprise forward, for a while, even if leaders make poor decisions or lose discipline. Stage 1 [of organizational decline] kicks in when people become arrogant, regarding success virtually as an entitlement, and they loose sight of the true underlying factors that created success in the first place.” He points out that when an organization neglects it’s primary flywheel, i.e. when the “what” replaces the “why”, then the rhetoric of success replaces understanding why. This results in a decline of the learning orientation within the organization. As Collins explains, “leaders lose the inquisitiveness and learning orientation that mark those truly great individuals who, no matter how successful they become, maintain a learning curve as steep as when they first began their careers.”

Therefore, we as leaders must have the capacity to work with complexity and uncertainty. It will all come down to improving the decision-making process throughout the organization. Noel M. Tichy and Warren Bennis in their excellent article called “Making Judgment Calls: The Ultimate Act of Leadership” in the October 2007 issue of the Harvard Business Review, note that there are three stages to effective decision making. In Stage #1, the Preparation Phase, effective leaders  sense what is happening in the internal and external environment and identify the problems. Next, they frame up the issue that will demand a judgment call, and then align their team members so that everyone understands why the call is important. From my vantage point, this is the stage in which most leaders are doing a very poor job. Rarely do they frame up the issue and then mobilize and align people well before the call.

In Stage #2, the Call Phase, the moment of decision has arrived. While many think of this as a single moment of rational analysis based on knowable and quantifiable variables, in reality it is a “dynamic process influenced by multiple variables which are often outside of a leader’s direct circle of control or influence.” However, “the best leaders make decisions that influence now but also set up a framework for others to make successful decisions.” I wish more people grasped the depth of the authors’ insights and realized that setting up a framework for making a decision is as important, if not more important than making the actual decision.

In Stage #3, the Execution Phase, once a decision has been made, a leader needs to mobilize resources, people, information, and technology to support the decision. Furthermore, they need to make it happen while learning and adjusting along the way.

I believe there is a critical Stage #4, the Evaluation Phase. Here we routinely evaluating our strategic choices and decisions as a large group and during 1/1 coaching sessions. This strengthens the level of understanding and improves the overall framework for strategic and operational decision-making. 

For us here today, I end this morning’s thoughts with a wonderful question written by Jon R. Katzenbach, Ilona Steffen and Caroline Kronley in their great article called “Cultural Change That Sticks” in the July-August 2012 issue of the  Harvard Business Review: “If we had the kind of culture we aspire to, in pursuit of the strategy we have chosen, what kinds of new behaviors would be common? And what ingrained behaviors would be gone?” It is time we answer this question so we will have greater collaboration and less heroics.

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

Creating, Communicating & Cascading Clarity - part #1

When working in a world filled with back to back meetings, each requiring a different focus, a leader is expected to have the mental agility to leap from subject to subject without any missteps. Furthermore, they are expected to create clarity and build perspective in each of these meetings. The difficulty is that this is easier said than done.

In the beginning, having a well crafted and specific message is important but the way in which you communicate it is also important. To many leaders have a great message but it is the misalignment between their verbals and non-verbals that causes them to have problems. Furthermore, if they do not role model excellent listening skills and respect, then they will live and die by their say-do ratio. Too many leaders and managers end up, using an old Texan phase, becoming a person with “all hat and no cattle.”

Marcus Buckingham in his excellent book, The One Thing You Need to Know ... About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success, Free Press, 2005, says an effective message should include the answers to the following questions: 

- Who do we serve?

- What is our core strength?

- What is our core score?

- What actions can we take today?

My insight when reflecting on his work and my own experience these last 2+ decades is that organizational clarity and successful organizational decision making are inter-related. While I may be stating the obvious, the former significantly impacts the later, i.e. clarity before a decision improves the decision.

However, we need to remember the insights shared with us by Noel M. Tichy and Warren Bennis in their October 2007 Harvard Business Review article called “Making Judgment Calls: The Ultimate Act of Leadership.” Here, they point out that during the early stages of decision making, effective leaders do three things successfully. First, they sense and identify the problems before the organization. Second, they frame up and name these problems. Third, they mobilize and align people and resources to solve them. These critical skills could be significantly impacted if one is not very clear.

From my vantage point, the core parts to a leader’s message need to be the following:

- the prequel to the message which creates clarity about context and urgency.

- the core message which creates clarity about where to focus. 

- the action which goes with the message that translate it into effective service delivery.

As Buckingham explains in the afore mentioned book, “Show us clearly whom we should seek to serve, show us where our core strength lies, show us which score we should focus on and which actions must be taken today, and we will reward you by working our hearts out to make our better future come true.” 

As leaders, we need to remember that clear people make better decisions and work harder to make goals become reality. 

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 - part #2

Last week, I explored how successful leaders think and ended my thoughts on how leaders make a decision. Today, I would like to pick-up where I left off.

First, decisions do not matter if nothing happens afterwards. Many leaders think that once they have made a decision they have solved a problem. But as an executive coach, I have to continually remind them that decisions are not action. Decisions do not equal implementation. Decisions are not the mobilization of resources. Decisions do not equal execution. Decisions are empty without action that follows.

Second, successful leaders understand that effective decisions begin long before the actual call. It starts with the ability of a leader to sense there is a problem within the context of service delivery or the context of the service environment. “Sensing and framing, a term defined by Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis in their great article, “Making Judgement Calls: The Ultimate Act of Leadership”, Harvard Business Review, October 2007, is critical to decision-making as it gives the decision a foundation or reason “why.”

Still, many executives forget that there is an important next step after they make a decision. What I have observed is that successful leaders focus on mobilizing resources, e.g. people, information, technology, etc., to support the decision and to make it actually happen. The key is that successful leaders also stay involved during the execution phase post the decision by helping to define clear milestones or short term wins so people can clarify their progress and be successful.

Third, successful leaders understand that relationships are not linear, especially when it comes to the successful implementation of important decisions. In a linear relationship, a positional leader will approach it from the point of view that more of variable A will produce more of variable B. Successful leaders do not approach people like they are flow charts but instead recognize that the health and effectiveness of the relationship is based on clarity through dialogue. If this level of work is done in advance of the actual decision, the usual challenges with organizational change, e.g. resistance, is reduced and the forward momentum of the organization can proceed without major complications. However, the key is to build healthy work relationships on an on-going basis, not at an episodic level.

In short, when we step back and reflect on how successful leaders think, we realize that they spend significant time and energy teaching others how to think rather than simply telling them what to do. And this is one of the main reasons why they are successful.

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 - part #1

I have been reflecting this morning on the following quote by Bill Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company magazine: “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 since the Spring 2012 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable and given what was shared last week at the Fall 2012 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable, clearly 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.”

Over the last 6+ months, I have been thinking and reflecting a great deal about successful leaders and  successful companies. When I step back from the day to day hustle and bustle of work and look at the bigger picture, I notice the following.

First, we live in an era of nonstop 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, we still live in time of arrogant leaders and naive managers. The actions of these difficult people breed false intensity and emotions because they are addicted to the artificial. Their lives revolve around situational ethics and are filled with vanity and ego blended in with biases and prejudices. These individuals waste relationships and resources while simultaneously focusing on uniformity and conformity to their whims. In short, they believe they are above others.

Furthermore, 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 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, and 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.

From what I observe and understand, when successful leaders see problems in a holistic manner and understand the dynamic nature of problem solving, they 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.

We live in tough economical 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.  

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

Data-based Decision Making

During the last 9 months, I have heard the same phrase pop up countless times in one to one executive coaching sessions, strategic planning meetings, and  leadership training sessions. The phrase is “data-based decision making.” It seems to be the new buzz word and leaders every where are all the rage to say it. Whenever I hear it, I just shake my head and smile.

First, leaders have been making decisions based on data for a long time. The problem is that the best leaders always know they are working with imperfect data and not always timely data.  Still, they take this information and blend in a touch of experience and perspective to make their decision. Good leaders are wired this way.

Second, having accurate and timely data does not always mean that one knows what to do with it. Data analysis, let alone data management, is part science and, as I have witnessed, part art. The critical factor is understanding the data not just having it. And in this process, awareness of data is not understanding of data. As someone remarked at the Spring 2012 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable, “information is not knowledge.” And I would add knowledge is not wisdom.

Third, the best leaders will always tell you in private that data is only as good as the information that went into it. As my 90+ year old father reminds me, “garbage in equals garbage out.” Too many times, the validity of the data is called into question and thus becomes useless.

Fourth, the best leaders also will tell you privately that data-based decision making will not replace intuition and experience, it only compliments it.

So, this summer as more and more leaders lift up data-based decision making as the new tablets that have come down from the mountain, let us all remember that the goal is to improve our decision-making through improving the kind of data we use. Still, it is important to remember that data will always be imperfect and the best leaders will always trust their gut even if it speaks the uncomfortable truth.

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

Critical Leadership Choices During Uncertainty

Michael Useem, in his article, “Four Lessons in Adaptive Leadership,” from the November 2010 issue of the Harvard Business Review, writes “A culture of adaptability is vital to survive in the armed forces. As business executives cope with increasing unpredictability, they can take a page from the military’s book.” Useem believes there are four leadership precepts to handling unpredictability, namely the ability to meet the troops, make decisions, focus on mission, and convey strategic intent. While seeming elementary at first glance, from my perspective these foundational leadership skills are more difficult than most people comprehend.

In the beginning, meeting the troops means making a personal link with every employee, individually or in gatherings. These direct connections, e.g. a handshake or a brief look into someone’s eyes, make an indelible impression, “serving to focus attention and ensure retention of the mission and message that a leader seeks to convey.”

Making good and timely decisions is “the crux of responsibility in a leadership position.” As Useem writes, “The ability to make fast and effective decisions that draw quickly upon the insights of all those on the front lines is among the defining qualities of combat-ready leadership. It is encoded in a Marine dictum: When you’re 70% ready and have 70% consensus, act. Don’t shoot from the hip, but also don’t wait for perfection. Of course, the 70% is not a strict metric but, rather, a metaphor for the need to balance deliberation and action.” The key is to learn how to make good and timely decisions under ambiguous conditions.

Everyone knows that establishing a common purpose is vital to organizational success. However, making the mission your company’s top priority is not that easy. Operational challenges often trump mission and strategy. Helping leaders comprehend and put into action the mission is a constant struggle.

Finally, Useem notes that making the objectives clear, i.e. conveying strategic intent, requires us to avoid micromanaging those will execute the objectives. As he writes, “Conveying strategic intent is one of the skills essential to aligning people across an organization to reach a common goal - and leaders must them rely on the people’s ingenuity for getting there.”

While warfare and business are vastly different, ambiguity and unpredictability is not. Developing a culture that succeeds in spite of unprecedented uncertainty is a key foundational leadership skill set moving forward.

One way to learn the above skills sets is to enroll in the 2012 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. This in-depth training meets once a quarter in 2012 and covers the topics of leadership, strategic planning and execution, and organizational change. For more information about this unique training opportunity and how to register, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html.

Uncertainty, ambiguity and unpredictability will be a major part of our future for many years to come. Being prepared can generate improved leadership capacity which will translate into a culture of readiness and commitment. I look forward to your participation in the 2012 From Vision to Action Leadership Training.

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

Improving Middle Management Effectiveness - Part #2

Picking up where I left off last Monday, the role of the middle manager is mission critical to more and more organizations. Yet, rather than take them for granted, more and more companies seek to improve the performance of the these key people. Last week, I explained the importance of teaching them active listening skills. This week I want to focus on a few more ideas.

First, help middle managers understand that it is important to welcome new ideas and perspectives. Too often, I have witnessed middle managers and even senior managers working with middle managers shut down different perspectives when they are not their own. This destroys personal trust at the team and the individual level but also can damage strategic level trust. The key is to welcome new ideas and be open to listening to them. Too many times, we manage by ego rather than by utilizing the strategic nexus.

Second, invite feedback but clarify the non-negotiable issues and the process of decision-making. Too many times, people use feedback and constructive criticism in the same sentence. Some are even calling it constructive feedback. While I prefer feedback and others prefer constructive criticism, the keys to giving feedback begins when we realize that relationships matter. Speaking and listening respectfully plus sharing observations rather than judgements makes a huge difference.

Next, it is important to review expectations and assumptions on a regular basis. Think Q1 in the Q12 from the book, First, Break All Rules and realize that many people do not understand what is expected of them. Finally, when giving feedback, be prepared and organized in your thoughts; this yields clarity rather than reactionary actions. When we as managers and leaders check our own intentions when asking for feedback and check our own intentions before giving it, we do a much better job of it.

Third, remember clarity and ambiguity do not co-exist peacefully. Right now, many organizations and many mid-level managers are suffering from constant change, economic uncertainty, and strategic ambiguity. We forget some days that mid-level managers want black and white answers to their questions, and right now the common response to their questions is the words, “it depends” This answer results in tremendous frustration and anxiety for middle managers.

Therefore, we as senior leaders need to eliminate strategic blindness and context blindness. Remember strategic blindness happens when we do not see our strategy as a whole organization, and instead only execute the parts of the strategic plan that we like. Context blindness happens because we can see the whole organization but we can not see the environmental context within which the whole organization is working and moving through. These are normal problems that mid-level managers have and with regular coaching and feedback can be corrected.

Finally, we need to continue to explore and clarify decision-making. Too many senior leaders and too many mid-level managers do not comprehend the difference between operational decision-making and strategic decision-making. Most think it is the same thing. While the mission, vision and core values may be the same, the critical elements that are considered are different in strategic and operational decision-making.

This week and this fall continue to help your mid-level managers and supervisors understand the importance of welcoming new ideas, inviting and giving feedback plus clarifying decision-making. All of this will make a difference when it comes to executing better in 2012.

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

Living in the World of Fast and Faster

Routinely now, executives find themselves being pushed to make decisions before they are ready. With people lined up outside their offices wanting to share their problems, thoughtful decision making may feel like a thing of the past. Working with limited information and often unrealistic time frames, many executives skip the important stages of inquiry and problem definition, and instead charge forward into making a decision and then figuring out implementation plans.

As I ponder this recurring pattern, I am reminded of two comments by Peter Drucker in his article, “What is Our Business?” in the June 2001 issue of Executive Excellence magazine. First, he noted that “The executive’s time tends to belong to everybody else.” Second, “Executives are forced to keep ‘operating’ unless they take positive action to change the reality in which they live.” Coming to an understanding that when you become an executive everybody and anybody can move in on your time and eventually does is not an easy lesson. Furthermore, it is common as an executive to experience times when the flow of events around us supersedes the priorities we hold. Our challenge then and now is to continue to define what is most important in spite of this flow, and to carve out time for in-depth thought and consideration.

Over the last month, two experiences have made me do a lot of thinking. The first went as follows. An executive I have worked with on a one to one basis for a number of years met me in his office one cloudy afternoon, and stated “I am sorry that I had to reschedule this meeting so many times over the last couple of weeks. Even today, I really do not have the time for this level of work.”

I responded by saying, “We have two hours set aside for this meeting. You can use as little or as much of the two hours as you would like. You are in charge of the time. So, how are things going in your world?”

One hour and fifteen minutes later, he paused in his sharing. I then offered a summary analysis of what he shared, including the implications related to their current strategic plan and a variety of next steps that could be taken. We then discussed these next steps for about thirty minutes. During the last ten minutes, I checked on his health, his family and what he was reading. Just before we scheduled our next time to visit, he paused and said, “I don’t give myself permission to do this kind of in-depth reflection and thinking too often. This was very helpful. It was good to figure some things out and to share them with someone else. I needed that.”

“It was a pleasure to listen,” I said. “I look forward to our next meeting.”

In a world of fast and faster, having a scheduled time to reflect, share and think deeply is vital to the success of an executive. It allows us to take our minds off of instant operational decision-making and return to more productive strategic level thinking. As I often remind participants in our From Vision to Action Leadership Training, successful leaders work more on the business than in the business.

The critical element to this level of sharing is having someone who understands and can truly listen. This is not having an individual sit across the table from us with ears that can receive vibrations through the air and recognize them as words. This is someone who proactively listens to understand, tracks the conversation over time, and respects what is being shared. I think of this as in-depth strategic listening.

In this unique interaction, we help people to step back from the micro issues so they can comprehend the macro or strategic issues. We offer, when appropriate, constructive feedback or experienced perspective that challenges the individual to re-examine or re-think what is happening. Finally, we focus on accelerating the learning in an organized manner. The result of this in-depth strategic listening is that an executive feels re-energized, clear, and confident of what to do next.

From experiences of this nature, I have come to recognize that the first key to being a successful executive is to build time into our schedules for this level of sharing. The second key is to give ourselves permission to use the time once it has been scheduled. The third key is to trust our gut when it comes to decision-making.

The second experience that has made me do a lot of thinking happened recently. Once we were seated around the small conference table in his office, he shared, “I did not sleep well last night. I woke up around 2:30 am and started pacing in our bedroom. My wife told me to take the dog and go down stairs.”

This is something that I hear on a regular basis from executives right now. Waking up in the night is a common problem. Given how full their lives are with back to back meetings, I believe that the mind will wake up the body in the middle of the night to do some thinking through of certain issues because in the quiet dark of night there are no new inputs and there is ample time and space to process all that has been received.

“What were you thinking about at 2:30 am?”, I asked.

“We are not making the right decision when it comes to hiring this new person,” he explained. “They can do the job as it is defined today but I don’t think they are well suited given the strategic direction we are taking. We need to think more toward the future.”

“What does your gut tell you to do?”, I inquired.

“We need to slow down and be more thoughtful. This will upset some people but it is necessary,” he said.

“The research by Jim Collins,” I explained, “notes that ‘who questions come before what decisions.’ It is a ‘rigorous discipline, consistently applied.’ So, let’s think about how to get from where you are right now to where you want to be given this situation.”

The insight for him was to trust his gut. The key for me as an executive coach was to respect this level of intuition. When we combine strategic listening with a respect for an individual’s intuition, we create a power opportunity for all involved to gain new perspectives, understanding, and clarity. And in the world of fast and faster, this is critical to short and long term success.

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

The Importance of Strategic Dialogues - Part #1

THEME: New Year, More Challenges

FOCUS: The Importance of Strategic Dialogues - Part #1

Monday morning: February 15, 2010

Dear friends,

Every week now I meet more and more people who are overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to get done. In a jobless recovery, more people are working more hours to just keep up with, what at times feels like a herculean set of tasks, i.e. a ton more work and fewer people to do it. And in the midst of all of this, we are leaders are not paying very close attention to one critical element, namely decision-making.

Every day decision-making is happening regardless of our presence. These decisions are impacting product development, customer service, strategic execution, and staff satisfaction and engagement. What we as leaders forget is that these decisions are not always being made in a conscious or thoughtful manner. Many of them are being made just to get past the current pile of work so that someone can get on to the next pile or stuff that presents themselves at the moment. Unconscious decision-making and poor decision-making is impacting our business every day.

Successful decision-making is a three stage process as outlined by Noel M. Tichy and Warren Bennis in their excellent article called “Making Judgement Calls: The Ultimate Act of Leadership”, Harvard Business Review, October 2007. As these authors point out, Stage #1 is the “Preparation Phase” where leaders identify what are the problems, frame them up within the context of what is happening and then mobilize and align people to understanding what and why this is a problem that needs a decision. Stage #2 is the “Call Phase” where the actual the moment of decision takes place. While many people think of this stage as a single moment of rational analysis based on knowable and quantifiable variables, the best leaders know it is a dynamic process influenced by multiple variables which are often outside of a leader’s direct circle of control or influence. The best leaders make decision that influence what is happening but also set up a framework for others to make successful decisions. Finally, Stage #3 is the “Execution Phase” when a a leader mobilizes resources, people, information and technology to support the decision.

During these cold winter days in the midwest and during this wacky jobless recovery where burnout and worry continues at an all time high, the missing piece for me this morning is a critical element in Stage #1. With so many people having their heads down and plowing through piles of work, they are making decisions unaware of the context of what is happening inside or outside the organization. “On to the next thing” is the new mantra. The value of strategic level dialogues between leaders and employees is that they create awareness and ultimately understanding of context. This level of awareness and understanding will change the quality of Stage #1 and Stage #2 actions. When done regularly, they will change Stage #3.

If we are seeking better results at work, then now is the time to schedule strategic level dialogues. During this time period of sharing and listening, we have the opportunity to expand awareness and understanding. We also over time will improve decision-making and collaboration.

This week figure out how you want talk with your people about the context of service not just the results of service.

Have a magnificent week,

Geery

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

Morning Star Associates
319 - 643 - 2257