Tag Archives: business

April 3, 2013 · 8:49 am

Things Change, Even In The Gym

Let’s start with a truism:  things change.  Sometimes those changes are about how we behave; sometimes those changes are about how others react to behavior we’ve been manifesting all along.  Either way, if we’re not cognizant about the change and fail to act accordingly, trouble generally follows.  Let me explain why this is on my mind this morning.

You might have seen the video of the Rutgers basketball coach interacting with his team at practice.  He’s yelling at the kids as well as grabbing them, shoving them to move them around the court, and even throwing basketballs at them.  Was I shocked by this?  Not in the least, since I played organized sports growing up, basketball among them.  I had a third base coach in baseball literally kick me down the baseline in the heat of a game.  I had a lacrosse coach who was bigger than many of us and would engage us in hitting drills at full speed.  The basketball coaches had a kid stand next to a wall with his hands up for a long time to teach him, well, to keep his hands up, and ran us until some kids threw up.  I’ve got stories from other sports as well, and I don’t think I ever had a coach in any sport on any team who didn’t spend a fair amount of time yelling at us.

Did I feel abused?  No.  Did any of the other guys?  No.  Did the parents who might come by the beginning or end of practice go to the school to have the coach fired? Not to my knowledge.  But things change.  That’s not a knock on where athletes and their parents are today.  It’s a recognition that as a society we don’t expect what might seem to be  physical or verbal abuse from adults we put in charge of our young people.  If you’re a coach and you don’t understand that change, you end up on the news as an example of a bad apple.

The same applies to your business.  Calling your female assistant “honey” gets you fired.  When I started in business it got you coffee.  There are many examples but you get the point.  Many of us were spanked as kids – do that now and you might go to jail.  Things change, and you need to change with them.

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April 1, 2013 · 10:32 am

The Walking Dead

I realize I may be the last one to the Walking Dead dance. Don’t rub it in. I just started watching the show a little while ago and have meant to write about it but with the season finale last night I thought I’d better do so while it’s still relevant. I realize as well that it’s April Fool’s Day so writing about a show built around a zombie apocalypse seemed appropriate.

Seeing as the screed usually covers business, I know you’re wondering how this could, in fact, be an appropriate topic. If you need to ask you must never have worked in a company of more than 10 people.  If you have worked in that larger environment you’ve probably encountered zombies on many occasions   Maybe you’ve never  recognized them as such?

On the Walking Dead, the zombies are portrayed as slow-moving “walkers” with an insatiable appetite for human flesh.  Of course, they themselves were once human and productive members of society.  Now, they roam the planet spreading disease and death and living as parasites on the dwindling numbers of humans around them.   Not to sound deranged, but I’ve seen this exact thing in a business environment.   There are the “undead” staff members who roam the halls, attracted by loud noises and movement (on the show, a sure-fire way to attract walkers is to fire a weapon).  These zombie workers might once have been alive and productive but now their work life is gone.  Maybe it was a stifling boss that strangled them to death or maybe it was terminal burnout from pushing themselves too hard.

Just as the zombie apocalypse is destroying the planet on the show, so too are the zombie workers killing many businesses.   Once the zombies show up they infect others.  In fact, they’re aggressive about doing so.  They spread rumors, they bad-mouth bosses and coworkers.  They denigrate everyone else’s work.  They don’t seem to have any feelings and they rarely contribute.

Obviously I’m not advocating removing the zombies as they do on the show (you need to destroy their brains – even cutting off their heads doesn’t kill them).  I am, however, encouraging you to look carefully at those who appear to be human all around you  with an increased sensitivity to zombie infection.  Sometimes the infection hasn’t turned them yet and you can intervene.  Sometimes you can put up enough barriers between you and the zombies that they can’t get near you.  Most of the time, you’re better off just running away.  Remember – the title of the show refers to the humans that are left, not to the zombies!

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March 29, 2013 · 9:43 am

Toasting The Barrel

The first Foodie Friday post of Spring, or maybe I should be calling it “Boozie Friday” given the topic.  Either way it seems as if Spring has taken forever to get here.  Now that it has arrived so too do some of my favorite sporting events, one of which is the Kentucky Derby.  There are many beloved traditions associated with the first Saturday in May but the one in which most people seem to indulge is the Mint Julep which of course means bourbon, Kentucky’s whiskey.

Bourbon is aged in barrels, specifically new, charred white oak barrels.  That’s right – charred.  Before the raw whiskey is put into them, the barrels are “toasted.”  The heat burns the wood which imparts flavor to the end product.  Which is, of course, the business point today.

Many managers spend an awful lot of time trying to avoid conflict.  In some cases, they legislate the conflict away – they make all the decisions and the staff is there to follow orders.  I disagree.  I think businesses need to be more like bourbon barrels.  No, I don’t advocate burning them down.  Applying heat to them in a strategic manner is, however, something in which I do believe.  People need to bat ideas around.  They need to have a good debate about product, marketing, resources, and anything else that affects the business and, therefore, them.  Those discussions will, by their nature, generate heat.  It can’t be allowed to set the entire enterprise ablaze (you want to char the barrel, not burn it up) and that’s part of the manager’s role.  Heat imparts flavor – you don’t hear of any foods that are frozen to impart taste (you cook ice cream before you freeze it, wise guys).

Don’t be afraid of conflict.  People will disagree and that friction can lead to better things if it’s managed properly.  Letting your team know that it’s ok to have differing points of view brought to the surface is important.  Ultimately the supervisor needs to help everyone reach consensus and if that’ not possible, to make a decision as to the final direction.  But even if a team member’s desired course of action isn’t the one taken, knowing that they had input which was considered as one option strengthens the team.  A little heat for a brief time added flavor and made for a better product.

Now where did I leave the mint?

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