Chaos begets change, is a driver of creativity and a reason to be in existence. Too often people fear chaos and try to bring order. When, in fact, they should embrace chaos, drawing lessons to improve their existence and others.
No control in chaos provides an observation platform to examine how individual parts influence the whole. The observation platform will drive energy for creativity, raising the flow of options available for solutions and innovations. Although uncomfortable, chaos is a friend that helps organizations challenge a premise of one size fits all. Chaos is a friend that requires individual solutions which are adaptable for others to consider, revise, and move into their environment. Chaos is a friend who forces organizations to think of the whole, not parts. Chaos is a friend who nudges everyone to think and solve their own issues with urgency; working collaboratively with others, not waiting for others to give them the answers. Chaos is an environment where minds are equal and the resolution resides with many rather than a few.
Full control of chaos is the discipline to see the whole not just parts. Energy is created when the power of the idea is uncovered. Chaos is uncontrollable; Chaos is a test of resolve, a test of character, a test of retaining strength and endurance. Chaos ignites activity and collaboration, opening minds to connect the disconnected. Chaos is the platform for innovation, the source of will power for executing next steps, the motivator for inspiration. Chaos is an agent of change and learning, preparing people to see what has not been seen; preparing them for a chaotic future. Chaos is a game of thinking and leading, not doing as told, which will be played for eternity. There is no end. It is a game of asking for forgiveness not permission to take action, there is no right answer only options to execute and examine their consequences. Its lessons are archived in literature and have been passed from generation to generation.
When chaos surfaces: No control is full control. Full control is no control.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
March 2010 Deep Insights
Succession planning is often a discussion limited to the Executive Suite when it should be organization wide, based on developing future skills to compliment current skills. The environment we live and work in has changed throughout history; environmental changes should not be a crisis situation for any organization.
Succession planning begins with recruiting candidates who fit a profile for today’s environment and have the ability to adapt to tomorrows. Once identified, candidates should be tested for learning capabilities, ability to collaborate in a diverse workforce and desire to make contributions. Interviews should be conducted with a profile of the perfect fit in mind to determine if the person’s skills match today’s needs. The interviewers must also determine the persons desire to adapt and learn new skills as the work environment changes. Interviews should be conducted by at least three employees with the policy of if “yes” then onto the next interview and if “no” then an exit the process is initiated. Hiring should never be a speed process. Slow and cautious will bring the best results.
Next, the organization must take steps to ensure that the employee understands what it will take to pass muster in the organization, to whom they report and to whom they can ask for support. Structured feedback intervals should be established with exact criteria for positive reports. New employees should be encouraged to be proactive in their responsibilities; seeking collaboration with seasoned workers to share their observations or recommendations. Finally, in this second step the new employee should understand they are evaluated not only by a manager but that their peers will also provide input.
Once on the team, employees should be aware of the skills they are expected to develop and recognized for the skills they already have. Unfortunately, this “development” stage is often the missing ingredient in succession planning. Too often companies do not connect learning new skills to strategy. Consequently, they find themselves in a crisis with few or no people who have the skills to execute. Strategy must be studied in terms of the skills required to execute tactics, and against an inventory of available skills. Through this process an organization can determine gaps and initiate the training required with enough time to become proficient in those needed skills, before execution. Development of skills according to position is integral for successful succession from one strategy to another.
Succession is not an executive program it is an organizational strategy that must begin at the beginning, regardless of the entry position.
Succession planning begins with recruiting candidates who fit a profile for today’s environment and have the ability to adapt to tomorrows. Once identified, candidates should be tested for learning capabilities, ability to collaborate in a diverse workforce and desire to make contributions. Interviews should be conducted with a profile of the perfect fit in mind to determine if the person’s skills match today’s needs. The interviewers must also determine the persons desire to adapt and learn new skills as the work environment changes. Interviews should be conducted by at least three employees with the policy of if “yes” then onto the next interview and if “no” then an exit the process is initiated. Hiring should never be a speed process. Slow and cautious will bring the best results.
Next, the organization must take steps to ensure that the employee understands what it will take to pass muster in the organization, to whom they report and to whom they can ask for support. Structured feedback intervals should be established with exact criteria for positive reports. New employees should be encouraged to be proactive in their responsibilities; seeking collaboration with seasoned workers to share their observations or recommendations. Finally, in this second step the new employee should understand they are evaluated not only by a manager but that their peers will also provide input.
Once on the team, employees should be aware of the skills they are expected to develop and recognized for the skills they already have. Unfortunately, this “development” stage is often the missing ingredient in succession planning. Too often companies do not connect learning new skills to strategy. Consequently, they find themselves in a crisis with few or no people who have the skills to execute. Strategy must be studied in terms of the skills required to execute tactics, and against an inventory of available skills. Through this process an organization can determine gaps and initiate the training required with enough time to become proficient in those needed skills, before execution. Development of skills according to position is integral for successful succession from one strategy to another.
Succession is not an executive program it is an organizational strategy that must begin at the beginning, regardless of the entry position.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
February 2010 Deep Insights
Weaknesses are a reality of life. Everyone has them. The challenge is to know and understand our weaknesses and instead to focus on strength, making our weaknesses irrelevant. To achieve this, it is necessary to find others whose strengths are your weaknesses, to work with these people; building a team capable of perfection.
Organizations face the same dilemma, striving for growth, quality, profits and cash flow at the same time. They are often not capable of attaining their goals in all four categories unless they begin their journey focused on strengths to achieve success and put people together to make weaknesses irrelevant. They must determine strengths needed and match them against their population to identify “GAPS.” Then a hunt must begin for those strengths within the company, outside the company and in relationships within their ecology. Once identified, the bearers of these strengths are embedded into the organization to fill “GAPS,” building an asset with perfect strengths for goals that have been established.
Gap analysis provides an early advantage to those who use the tool. They maintain their focus on strengths and do not fall into weakness analysis or blaming others for their failure. Momentum builds with the positive attitude looking at what people bring to the task and what they are expected to contribute for success. Most often missing ingredients include, but are not limited to, knowledge, skill, urgency, disciplined behavior, short and long term goals and navigational measurements to tell them how they are progressing.
Forestalling failure is strength focus at its highest level. The organization becomes capable of predicting strengths needed prior to their time. Hires or trains people in advance, the “bench strength,” and or finds partners outside the organization to fill the GAP. As these strengths are added it is a wake up call to all of how easy it is to meet deadlines and goals when strengths are the focus. Skills are added just in time and are recognized as contributors to everyone’s success. Organizations create a culture of asking for and getting help in advance of “crisis.” A culture that rewards results not effort.
Organizations face the same dilemma, striving for growth, quality, profits and cash flow at the same time. They are often not capable of attaining their goals in all four categories unless they begin their journey focused on strengths to achieve success and put people together to make weaknesses irrelevant. They must determine strengths needed and match them against their population to identify “GAPS.” Then a hunt must begin for those strengths within the company, outside the company and in relationships within their ecology. Once identified, the bearers of these strengths are embedded into the organization to fill “GAPS,” building an asset with perfect strengths for goals that have been established.
Gap analysis provides an early advantage to those who use the tool. They maintain their focus on strengths and do not fall into weakness analysis or blaming others for their failure. Momentum builds with the positive attitude looking at what people bring to the task and what they are expected to contribute for success. Most often missing ingredients include, but are not limited to, knowledge, skill, urgency, disciplined behavior, short and long term goals and navigational measurements to tell them how they are progressing.
Forestalling failure is strength focus at its highest level. The organization becomes capable of predicting strengths needed prior to their time. Hires or trains people in advance, the “bench strength,” and or finds partners outside the organization to fill the GAP. As these strengths are added it is a wake up call to all of how easy it is to meet deadlines and goals when strengths are the focus. Skills are added just in time and are recognized as contributors to everyone’s success. Organizations create a culture of asking for and getting help in advance of “crisis.” A culture that rewards results not effort.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
January 2010 Deep Insights
Innovation is a cultural product driven by processes which create an environment tended by those who live there. It is a world filled with celebration, curiosity, stubbornness, dedication, discipline and a reality that “some moments, days, weeks, will be plagued with disappointments.” Organizations must create environments that inspire individuals to sustain climates for innovation and limit focus on disappointment.
Hope for individuals and organizations to achieve innovations is generated by benchmarking progress celebrating each small step as well as the breakthroughs. Events large and small keep the spirit of curiosity alive and challenge people to be active participants not passive bystanders.
In this environment, people strive throughout the day to connect the unconnected by asking questions. They reach out to all sources for knowledge regardless of its origin to bring in new ways of thinking. They are stubborn and dedicated to innovation for the good of the whole not just its parts. Embracing curiosity allows them to create options that lead to a successful result without prejudice or extended stays in disappointment. There are always alternatives for innovative successes.
Opening alternative pathways for innovation in an environment that is inspiration driven eliminates the need for supervision. It creates an espirit-de-corps while helping everyone to be self driven. People do not have to be managed when they take initiative, hold themselves accountable, and help others accomplish similar results sustaining progress for recognition on the way to innovation. It is a team effort cultivated by teammembers, not an individual.
Ultimately this culture will not accept people who are not part of the process. The process will be the catalyst to help them find themselves somewhere else.
Hope for individuals and organizations to achieve innovations is generated by benchmarking progress celebrating each small step as well as the breakthroughs. Events large and small keep the spirit of curiosity alive and challenge people to be active participants not passive bystanders.
In this environment, people strive throughout the day to connect the unconnected by asking questions. They reach out to all sources for knowledge regardless of its origin to bring in new ways of thinking. They are stubborn and dedicated to innovation for the good of the whole not just its parts. Embracing curiosity allows them to create options that lead to a successful result without prejudice or extended stays in disappointment. There are always alternatives for innovative successes.
Opening alternative pathways for innovation in an environment that is inspiration driven eliminates the need for supervision. It creates an espirit-de-corps while helping everyone to be self driven. People do not have to be managed when they take initiative, hold themselves accountable, and help others accomplish similar results sustaining progress for recognition on the way to innovation. It is a team effort cultivated by teammembers, not an individual.
Ultimately this culture will not accept people who are not part of the process. The process will be the catalyst to help them find themselves somewhere else.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
November 2009 Deep Insights
Most companies are in the eleventh month of their fiscal year. Some have succeeded in exceeding their goals, some have just met their goals and others are behind. The majority of companies will embark on their next journey having learned from the past, whether success, mediocrity, or failure. However some will continue on without challenging themselves to rise above their short comings.
Each company should prepare a fast close plan to meet or continue to exceed their goal for the current year structuring the stage for next year. Momentum from fast close activities has a significant effect on staff and customers. Efforts are focused on employee and customer satisfaction building and maintaining a long term relationship. Employees and customers should be identifying skills required for their future success and determine how best to assist each other over the long term. Through this process both parties will recognize partnerships are an integral ingredient for success in their future.
Dialogue carried over from a fast close partnership will guide next year’s success. The team will carry forward a product that is useful and efficient, with margins acceptable to all and geared for success. They will recognize that measurements must be structured and transparent for all to review with a reporting structure that allows everyone to understand the current performance (be it above or below the goal). The people on the team will be proficient at analyzing what it will take to succeed in a market that continues to change. The value of this experience is a network of people and partnerships, inspired by the experience of working and winning together.
When the partnership is established and action is initiated for next year, a company’s attention can become ambidextrous; executing today’s plan while researching the market for future products. The goal is to anticipate the future and fill needs before others recognize there is a need, to design a product that meets that need, and be the first to market the product or service with margins that reward the company as a leader.
Each company should prepare a fast close plan to meet or continue to exceed their goal for the current year structuring the stage for next year. Momentum from fast close activities has a significant effect on staff and customers. Efforts are focused on employee and customer satisfaction building and maintaining a long term relationship. Employees and customers should be identifying skills required for their future success and determine how best to assist each other over the long term. Through this process both parties will recognize partnerships are an integral ingredient for success in their future.
Dialogue carried over from a fast close partnership will guide next year’s success. The team will carry forward a product that is useful and efficient, with margins acceptable to all and geared for success. They will recognize that measurements must be structured and transparent for all to review with a reporting structure that allows everyone to understand the current performance (be it above or below the goal). The people on the team will be proficient at analyzing what it will take to succeed in a market that continues to change. The value of this experience is a network of people and partnerships, inspired by the experience of working and winning together.
When the partnership is established and action is initiated for next year, a company’s attention can become ambidextrous; executing today’s plan while researching the market for future products. The goal is to anticipate the future and fill needs before others recognize there is a need, to design a product that meets that need, and be the first to market the product or service with margins that reward the company as a leader.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
October 2009 Deep Insights
Innovation is what brings and keeps life in an organization. Innovation has always been thought of as a few gifted people working in solitude to deliver the newest next best thing. Recent experiments and measurements clearly point to two factors not considered until now: when organizations embrace engaging many minds, rather than a few, the outcome is greater; and if the many engaging minds are diversified by function, nationality and social position the outcome is beyond expectations.
Innovation is driven by forward thinkers who encourage celebrations for success and failure. They know from experience that both require a thorough understanding of why. They embrace facts not anecdotal evidence when seeking answers before they journey to another innovation. Success is being at the right place at the right time with the right product. Failure is being at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong product. Analysis is the last thought when failure confronts us, easier to forget than to find the truth. Forward thinkers embrace analysis of failure, not to find fault or place blame, but because they know the seeds of innovation are more often found in failures than in successes.
It is the forward thinkers that encourage their organization to engage in a culture of inclusion, to analyze success as well as failure and to develop the ability to understand strength in diversity. Worlds that were far away are now viable markets but are also competitors. Their innovations compete with all others worldwide. If they utilize the minds of many and understand the value of diversity their product life cycle will extend beyond their competitions.
Innovation is forward thinking not limited to a few, but open to all. It must be encouraged by management through inclusion and diversity as integral components.
Innovation is driven by forward thinkers who encourage celebrations for success and failure. They know from experience that both require a thorough understanding of why. They embrace facts not anecdotal evidence when seeking answers before they journey to another innovation. Success is being at the right place at the right time with the right product. Failure is being at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong product. Analysis is the last thought when failure confronts us, easier to forget than to find the truth. Forward thinkers embrace analysis of failure, not to find fault or place blame, but because they know the seeds of innovation are more often found in failures than in successes.
It is the forward thinkers that encourage their organization to engage in a culture of inclusion, to analyze success as well as failure and to develop the ability to understand strength in diversity. Worlds that were far away are now viable markets but are also competitors. Their innovations compete with all others worldwide. If they utilize the minds of many and understand the value of diversity their product life cycle will extend beyond their competitions.
Innovation is forward thinking not limited to a few, but open to all. It must be encouraged by management through inclusion and diversity as integral components.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
September 2009 Deep Insights
Throughout history disruptions occurred that made Strategy execution difficult: an economic turn, epidemic, war, or a revolution. Such an event brought a whole new environment into play. Occasionally leaders were called upon to study the event; to determine the effect on their organization and bring forward a new Strategy. The leaders knew the importance of revising the plan but often ignored the event because they were sheltered from its consequences. Their world was not connected to that world and would not be connected in the near future.
Today disruptions are generated by technology breakthroughs and multinational marketing programs. Both are created by globalization, markets that have no boundaries. Danger arises if we continue to think we remain disconnected from the event because we will continue to do what we have always done. However, new disruptions are seldom based in current strategy. They are most often found in a breakthrough technology or knowledge discovered by cross functional integration of information around the world. Some organizations have made the effort to create an environment where information sharing has priority. They have structured forums for their people to come together and share what may appear to an outsider as insignificant functional information. These forums are the catalyst to transfer knowledge and instill wholeness of purpose to a disrupter’s strategy, their company brand, their new products and employees.
Ideas begin to flow across functions that are created through the forums knowledge exchange. The ideas have earned admiration through dialogue that has built respect between disciplines and people. Past practices would have sent the idea to a dumpster with the prejudice of “what do other disciplines know?” However, the next step in this situation is to have a TEAM, selected by the forum and with all functions being represented, research the idea for its potential ROI. If the answer is “not much” the discovery data is sent back to the forum for more dialogue or discarded and the teams move on. If the answer is positive the TEAM builds a take-to-market plan and then presents its plan to management for approval. When approval is granted the team turns its attention to execution which is already well underway because of the process. The entire organization has and will be a part of this idea’s success not just one function or person.
The new Strategy. Every organization that desires to survive disruption from around the world must have the intelligence to stay in touch with technology breakthrough and must learn to segment their markets, delivering the products that will best serve its demand and delivering ROI above the average.
Today disruptions are generated by technology breakthroughs and multinational marketing programs. Both are created by globalization, markets that have no boundaries. Danger arises if we continue to think we remain disconnected from the event because we will continue to do what we have always done. However, new disruptions are seldom based in current strategy. They are most often found in a breakthrough technology or knowledge discovered by cross functional integration of information around the world. Some organizations have made the effort to create an environment where information sharing has priority. They have structured forums for their people to come together and share what may appear to an outsider as insignificant functional information. These forums are the catalyst to transfer knowledge and instill wholeness of purpose to a disrupter’s strategy, their company brand, their new products and employees.
Ideas begin to flow across functions that are created through the forums knowledge exchange. The ideas have earned admiration through dialogue that has built respect between disciplines and people. Past practices would have sent the idea to a dumpster with the prejudice of “what do other disciplines know?” However, the next step in this situation is to have a TEAM, selected by the forum and with all functions being represented, research the idea for its potential ROI. If the answer is “not much” the discovery data is sent back to the forum for more dialogue or discarded and the teams move on. If the answer is positive the TEAM builds a take-to-market plan and then presents its plan to management for approval. When approval is granted the team turns its attention to execution which is already well underway because of the process. The entire organization has and will be a part of this idea’s success not just one function or person.
The new Strategy. Every organization that desires to survive disruption from around the world must have the intelligence to stay in touch with technology breakthrough and must learn to segment their markets, delivering the products that will best serve its demand and delivering ROI above the average.
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