Category Archives: Thinking Aloud

October 28, 2016 · 11:21 am

Respecting The Process

It’s Foodie Friday and that has me excited because the weekend is upon us and I can spend more time cooking. Oh sure – I cook during the week but the weekend is when I get to stretch my culinary legs a bit since I don’t have work distracting me. I can watch my usual plethora of sports while chopping stuff but it’s hard to get any work done while sauteeing.

Not everything I make takes a lot of time. My kids are tired of hearing my tell them that it’s possible to make a number of dishes from scratch in less time than it would take to prepare their frozen counterparts in the oven. The weekend, however, allows me to make dishes that do take more time. One thing I’ve learned is that you can’t rush certain things. You have to respect the process the dish requires. You can’t, for example, smoke a brisket in a couple of hours nor speed up the time it takes to bake a decent loaf of bread. Using higher temperatures to speed up the process will probably ruin either of those. As one of my technical team reminded me on more than one occasion, you can’t get nine women to make a baby in a month.

It’s a good business lesson. While the temptation is always there to go faster and push people to finish, certain things just take time. I’ve found that most mistakes happen when people are rushing or when they’re tired from being pushed and are stressed out. Respect the process. While I believe in Parkinson’s Law that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion,” I also believe in setting reasonable deadlines. If the deadline requires adjusting your thinking about what the completed work is, so be it. Sure, there are times when the team has to work overtime to stretch the “available timeframe” but like most cooking cheats (using store-bought pie crust or stock), the results are never quite as good as when we have the time to honor the process.

You know I believe in investing in the best tools in the kitchen and the best people in the workplace. Either of those can help expand your time available by allowing you to be more efficient. We still, however, need to acknowledge that even with the best tools, the best ingredients, or the best people things do take time. Enjoy that – it’s almost meditative – and have a good weekend.

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October 26, 2016 · 11:29 am

Not Your Best Behavior

I can’t wait for this damn election to be over. The back to back to back to back political ads in which one candidate demeans the character of another is just horrific. I’m not surprised though and something that’s manifesting itself in our politics has been creeping into our business lives for a while. A survey bears out my thinking and the results are incredibly disturbing. The Zogby Survey on Civility in U.S. Politics was commissioned by Allegheny College and reveals chilling trend lines for civility in America.

This isn’t the first time they’ve conducted this survey and the trends are bad. For example, in 2010, 89% of respondents said commenting on another’s race or ethnicity in a political engagement was not okay. Today that number has dropped to 69%, a full 20 points. Similarly, 81% said commenting on someone’s sexual orientation was not acceptable. Today that number is 65%. And the percentage of voters who believe elected officials should pursue personal friendships with members of other parties plummeted even more precipitously, from 85 percent to 56 percent. In other words, civil discourse and reasonable people disagreeing reasonably are dying. 80 percent of 2016 respondents said they believe civility in politics is important for a healthy democracy, compared to 95% in 2010. And 77% of 2016 respondents said it is possible for people to disagree respectfully, compared to 87% of 2010 respondents.

I think it’s impossible for people to exhibit a deviant behavioral pattern when it comes to political issues and not have that pattern carry over into business. In 2010, 77% of respondents thought is was not ok  to interrupt someone you disagree with in a public forum. You know – like a business meeting. Todat that number is just over half – 51%. 86% thought is was rude to shout over someone with whom you disagree during an argument. Today that number is only 65%. One need only turn on any cable news “discussion” to know the 65% might just be too high.

“When examining the state of civility among adults who were surveyed, based on the survey questions that were asked both in 2010 and 2016, there seems to be less emphasis on, and a decrease in, acts of civility among adults nationwide,” said Jonathon Zogby, CEO of Zogby Analytics. I see it in business, as I’m sure you do. People can’t finish stating their thoughts before someone jumps on their sentence. People don’t return phone calls or emails. People are late to appointments and meetings for no particular reason. Call it rude or call it dumb; it’s offensive no matter what you call it.

If this election results in nothing else, hopefully, once it’s over and we all take a deep breath, a return to civility in both our politics and our business behavior comes about. I have many friends with whom I disagree vehemently on political issues but we always hear one another out. I have been in meetings where I know that a speaker was dead wrong in their facts or their approach but I listen with an open, respectful mind in case I’ve missed something before I state my case. The trends found by this research are both sad and dangerous. Let’s change them. You in?

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October 24, 2016 · 1:00 pm

The Hardest Part

As I’ve written before, I work with a number of startup companies. As part of my consulting practice as well as throughout my career, I also have worked with some very large organizations too. What struck me the other day as I was listening to a discussion between a founder and some other folks on the team was that the hardest part of being a startup isn’t necessarily finding the resources to keep the venture afloat until it reaches sustained profitability. It’s actually having to make a lot of decisions without a lot of certainty. Let me explain.

When I became a manager at the ripe old age of 23 many years ago, I worked under a guy who gave me some input but also let me figure things out for myself. I was working with a net in case I fell off the wire. When I reached a point where I really wasn’t certain about the “right” call, I consulted him. He, in turn, had bosses with whom he could consult if he wasn’t certain either. Over time my decision-making skills became better and my areas of expertise broadened, although there were still times when I ran for the help that was usually available to me. By the time I was managing managers I could make decisions fairly rapidly and I generally only hesitated when I thought the decision would involve corporate politics affecting more than just my department.

Most founders don’t have that luxury. Oh sure – the smart ones have a board of advisors that they consult regularly and that can help with the big decisions. But if you’ve ever managed you know that your day involves a lot of little decisions too. Should I let employee A take a vacation with a big project looming? Why is employee B struggling with an assignment? What is the best was to  help employee C learn something? Even things like what font works in the newsletter or how big should a headline be in an ad often require the boss to decide. Those aren’t things that you ask your advisors and yet those decisions are the ones that take away your focus on the main business of the venture: customers, revenue, expenses, and profits.

There isn’t an easy answer here. Yes, hire people like me (or even better: hire me!) to provide the kind of on-going sounding board that one gets in a big organization until such time as your feet are on solid ground across many areas. When you do, be sure that the consultant you hire sees your world through your eyes and understands your point of view but also adds a broader perspective. I never try to make decisions for my clients but instead I try to guide them to a sound one themselves so they can understand the process, the factors involved, and all their options. If they’re heading down the wrong path I speak up. We often find a better path together and get through the hardest part as a team. You?

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