Traditional MBA programs are built on that desire; on the belief that the behaviours that constitute good management can be learned and repeated in any context. Those programs suggest, by making management a discipline, that if you get the basic skills down, you can manage a retail business or a bank or a restaurant, each with equal success.

The trouble is, it just isn’t true. But it seems that the desire to create . . . → Read More: A System or A Symphony?]]> Share/Bookmark

There is in the human soul a desire for reproducibility. Not reproduction, (we have that for sure!), but a need to reproduce things, perfectly and repeatably.

Traditional MBA programs are built on that desire; on the belief that the behaviours that constitute good management can be learned and repeated in any context. Those programs suggest, by making management a discipline, that if you get the basic skills down, you can manage a retail business or a bank or a restaurant, each with equal success.

The trouble is, it just isn’t true. But it seems that the desire to create reproducible systems is powerful. A powerful myth.

The E-myth, by Michael Gerber, pushes that message: that the biggest failing of small businesses is that they have no formal systems. The role of these formal systems is to allow the owner to exit themselves from the daily running of the business, to ensure cost-effective workforce-building, and to make expansion (like franchising) possible.

In Lean Manufacturing’s Oversized Claims, in October 2011’s Canadian Business, similar ideas are examined. The article explores the validity of the claim that systems like Six Sigma can consistently and sustainably reduce costs simply on the basis of a perfectly executed system.

In each case there is the underlying assumption that if you could just figure out a perfect system you could do away with people, or at least highly trained, hard to replace, expensive people.

Nonsense.

While I agree that betting the success of your business on recruiting the perfect talent is a strategy guaranteed to produce an early and unhappy end, the opposite is just as deadly.
Systems matter, but people matter more. The “best” systems are nothing more than Platonic ideals, more philosophy than business strategy, and in the case of Lean systems like Six Sigma or Kaizen, are almost religious cults.

I will drive my stake into this territory:

• No production or performance system is universally applicable across every industry or environment without being modified to the point of threatening the integrity of the original system (i.e. is XYZ Pure System still XYZ Pure System after 50% of it has been modified and made conditional?).
• No production or performance system is a perpetual motion machine. That is, it cannot operate well without reasonable talent, and cannot produce remarkable results without remarkable talent. The human talent and buy-in are non-negotiable inputs for success.

What is the right mix of people and systems in a business? 

Simple: it’s the great performance mix. Not the “high performance” kind of performance. The performing art kind of performance.

Every trained actor, musician, and director understands this intuitively. They work with scripts, scores, or chord changes that are meticulously noted systems. The score of a Mahler Symphony is a notated system of an order of complexity that no Six Sigma company in the world can hope to duplicate: tens of thousands of discrete actions, notated in absolutely precise detail. Yet they are pure noise in the hands of the wrong people (and a sublime experience in the hands of great talent).

Note that the reverse is true: the world’s greatest symphony orchestra, asked to perform without score or direction, would produce noise. The system is necessary, but to assume it can every be so perfectly designed as to obviate the need for anything more than minimal talent, is understood to be ludicrous in the performing arts. So why do we perpetuate that myth in business?

Take a page from the performing arts:

1. Create the best system you can. Tailor it precisely to your vision, your audience, your times, your genre (or industry). There is NO one-size-fits-all score or script (well there is, but unless you want your company to be know as the elevator music of your industry, not a good idea). This is the score or script for your performance. Get it right.
2. Invest in talent development. Hiring a superstar is occasionally a good strategy. But not very often. It is more cost-effective, and brings much greater benefits to find people with great raw talent but only just enough experience, and invest in training them. Do it right and they will invest in your performance. The greatest ensembles have been playing together for decades. A healthy symphony orchestra has a turn-over of less than 3%. We can learn from that.
3. Practice, practice, practice. Neither good systems, nor great talent, are any replacement for putting in the hours to get it right. That is another lesson we can learn from the performing arts: it is expected in the process of creating a great performance you are going to make a lot of mistakes. Do it again. And then, when you have it right, do it ten more times. Having a great script and great talent are never enough. Even the very best put in the hours. Musicians, actors, and athletes live with this. Why do people in business think they are exempt?

I help businesses and organizations get the mix right. People and systems working together to produce remarkable results. Check out my website to learn about the different ways I can support your organization.

There’s more! Looking for success in your small business? Read my Small Business blog at Small Business Fundamentals (www.smbfundamentals.com).

The next time you are onboarding a new recruit, here’s a little improvisation I would like you to undertake. The rules:

When was the last time you put off eating that ice cream because it was too much bother? How about finding all kinds of excuses not to cash in that cheque for 10K.

No?

How many of us pack the car in a flurry to hit the road and get to that fishing or camping spot before everyone else? Gardeners getting lost for hours in their gardens? Those of us who love to cook, unwinding in our kitchens, cooking 4-course meals?

Where are the procrastinators?

Every time I work . . . → Read More: There are No Procrastinators]]> Share/Bookmark

We all procrastinate. But most of us are not procrastinators.

When was the last time you put off eating that ice cream because it was too much bother? How about finding all kinds of excuses not to cash in that cheque for 10K.

No?

How many of us pack the car in a flurry to hit the road and get to that fishing or camping spot before everyone else? Gardeners getting lost for hours in their gardens? Those of us who love to cook, unwinding in our kitchens, cooking 4-course meals?

Where are the procrastinators?

Every time I work with a client to find out why they consistently avoid certain tasks, we dig through a layer of self-accusations about laziness and procrastination. But as I point out to them, that makes no sense. They are working 10 hour days, 6 days a week. They have built a business and put kids through college. Where does the lazy fit in?

No, it’s not about lazy. It’s about avoiding stuff you are not good at, and not meant to do.

One of the most important jobs you have as a business owner is to work your way out of your business one unpleasant task at a time. From bookkeeping to answering the phones, from sales to hand-holding employees. There are a myriad of things in a small business that must be done, but you may not like doing them. And when we don’t like what we are doing, we don’t do the job as well as someone who loves it.

If building a great team is the #1 critical success factor, then the list of things you hate to do can form a checklist of whom to hire first.

Growing a business is not just about increasing revenues and profits, or about bragging rights, or security (though all 3 of those things are fun or valuable), it is also about getting it to that place where you don’t have a single day of procrastination.

Many of us started our businesses because we loved doing one thing: painting, wrenching, baking, building, helping, healing… Then we realized that running a business doing those things involved doing so many other things we weren’t good at and didn’t like. So we need to grow to get back to that place. Not the same activity necessarily (I know lots of business owners who started a business for one reason, but fell in love with a different aspect of it later) but back to that place of loving what you do every day.

You are not a procrastinator, you are just ignoring reminders to keep growing back to that place where every morning, work can’t start soon enough.

 Want to improve your communication with employees, partners, and customers? I help organizations improve communication through leadership & management-level workshops & coaching. Check out my website to learn about the different ways I can support your organization.

There’s more! Looking for success in your small business? Read my Small Business blog at Small Business Fundamentals (www.smbfundamentals.com).

Don’t want to leave a comment? That’s cool. +1′s and tweets are appreciated too!

We’ve all heard the stories so many times we’ve kind of come to expect them: the stories of celebrities who seem to have everything until the mask slips. Then they seem to have nothing.

Alcoholism, addictions, emptiness, abuse, loneliness, issues with debt, self-esteem, shattered families.

Yet even though we know all that, we still too often find ourselves in a new environment, surrounded by seemingly successful people, feeling a serious case of ‘imposter syndrome’ coming on. Why do we do that? Why do we understand the pains and struggles of our own journeys, and the repeated . . . → Read More: It’s Not What it Seems – Finding Your Confidence]]> Share/Bookmark

It’s never what it seems…

We’ve all heard the stories so many times we’ve kind of come to expect them: the stories of celebrities who seem to have everything until the mask slips. Then they seem to have nothing.

Alcoholism, addictions, emptiness, abuse, loneliness, issues with debt, self-esteem, shattered families.

Yet even though we know all that, we still too often find ourselves in a new environment, surrounded by seemingly successful people, feeling a serious case of ‘imposter syndrome’ coming on. Why do we do that? Why do we understand the pains and struggles of our own journeys, and the repeated paparazzi-fueled defrocking of one celebrity emperor after another, and still continue to assume the charismatic, confident looking person in front of us at the networking lunch must really have it all?

We don’t. The celebrities don’t. Why do we assume the person standing in front of us does?

Finding your confidence…

I don’t know why those beliefs in the success of others are so persistent, or why we feel our worth threatened in that way. But I do have 5 things to think about that will help you find that confidence:

1. Show up as yourself. There isn’t anyone else like you. You know what you know. You have seen what you have seen. And unless you have been sleepwalking through the last few decades you have stories and perspectives to share that will always add value to a real conversation. Even your ignorance, when kept in an honest perspective, adds value: you are willing to learn, and others are always willing to teach.
2. Assume nothing. Including the success or confidence of others. Before you walk into the room, or open your mouth, empty your mind of whatever assumptions you have about everyone else and start with a deliberate blank slate. You will be stunned to discover that almost no one is who they appear to be, and as Jeff Hadden wrote in the article that inspired this one: “The playing field is always more level than it seems.”
3. Questions, then silence. We are afraid that if we don’t contribute something we will be seen as uninteresting or of little value in the conversation. The opposite is true. People love being asked intelligent questions, and a good listener is worth 10 great speakers. As I teach in my Improv classes: “Always make the other person look good.” And if that doesn’t work, silence does. Truly confident people don’t feel the need to go on and on. They know what they know and the know who they are. There’s no need to prove anything.
4. Know what you know. This one is a bit of work, but powerful. Lots of us walk around with attitudes, experiences, opinions, and passionate beliefs floating around half-formed or partially articulated in our heads. Having those clearly articulated within ourselves is one of the foundations of confidence. The best way to build that foundation is by writing. Whether it is papers, articles, blogs, or journals and diaries, taking the time to revisit themes that matter to us over and over again frames them and deepens them. Then in conversation, don’t be afraid to weave those ideas and beliefs in wherever appropriate. You don’t have to go on about it (see #3) but you do have to speak those words many times to help them acquire that ring of confidence.
5. The trump card: gratitude. Negativity, sarcasm, and irony are the armour of the insecure. Like listening, gratitude is the sign of someone who has the quiet confidence to pay attention to their surroundings and to make others feel good. You’ve seen it: they may not have said the most at dinner, but they always seemed to have someone speaking to them, and then they were the first with a few warm words of genuine gratitude for their hosts.That warmth and gratitude are always the most attractive thing in the room.

What are the traits you have observed in those you think of as confident? Where are the places you find your own confidence?

Want to improve your communication with employees, partners,and customers? I help organizations improve communication through leadership & management-level workshops & coaching. Check out my website to learn about the different ways I can support your organization.

What engagement does means:

The decades-long work by Marcus Buckingham and the Gallup organization have provided irrefutable evidence that the absence . . . → Read More: Tell Me I Matter & We Both Win]]> Share/Bookmark

Engagement has become one of those nod your head buzzwords. We all suspect it’s a good thing, but most of us have no concrete understanding of what it means.

What engagement does means:

1. The feeling that we matter at work; that the unique skills and experience we bring to the team are valued, and would be missed if we weren’t there
2. The deliberate act of engaging with employees to share their input and feedback to improve the organization. Done right, this leads back to #1!

The decades-long work by Marcus Buckingham and the Gallup organization have provided irrefutable evidence that the absence of engagement is corrosive and a top contributor to turn-over, slumping productivity, and out-of-control labour costs.

Did you know that for years Gallup has had a gold standard for employee engagement? A ratio of 10:1 (engaged to disengaged employees) describes a world-class organization. How do you think your organization does?

The Need To Feel Valued At Work Is As Important As The Need For Food

In an article that will make my Best of 2011 list, Tony Schwartz provides a very compelling perspective on employee engagement:

To feel valued (and valuable) is almost as compelling a need as food. The more our value feels at risk, the more preoccupied we become with defending and restoring it, and the less value we’re capable of creating in the world.

In the article, The Need To Feel Valued At Work Is As Important As The Need For Food, Schwartz tells the story of Campbell Soup CEO Doug Conant, and his relentless drive to take his organization from what was once the worst engagement level among all S&P 500 clients (2:1) to the current 17:1(!). Now Conant is leaving Campbell Soup. It will be interesting to see if his successor is able to maintain that truly remarkable level of employee engagement.

What can you do to increase the level of engagement in your organization? Here are 5 ideas:

1. Keep the right perspective. The title of this article notwithstanding, you can’t actually ‘make’ someone matter any more than you can empower them (contrary to a lot of popular writing). Only we can generate the feeling of mattering internally. This means that even if you do everything right as a leader, there will still be team members who will not engage. Keep in mind that even after Conant’s remarkable efforts, the results are not 100% engagement.
2. Focus on strengths. Like a laser beam. Get to know your direct reports personally. When you have figured out what each team member brings to the table as their primary strength, you can begin the work of connecting those strengths with roles and positions in the organization where they will add the most horsepower. As with so many good things, it all starts with listening.
3. Get personal. While no one else can ‘make’ us matter, having direct and personal feedback that we are making a difference tells us that you think we matter. And that is the difference-maker. Rare souls like the Dali Lama may have the ability to draw that sense of value and worth entirely from within, the rest of us require feedback from our environment that what we are doing matters. Take a page from Conant’s book: he spends at least an hour a day writing hand-written notes to people throughout the organization, welcoming them, thanking them, and providing specific positive feedback.
4. Act. While not every suggestion is feasible, and even the good ones can take time to implement, at some point you must act on the feedback you receive. Saying “Thank you for your input,” and then doing nothing, only goes so far. And as Gallup’s research shows, it also just stupid and has consequences for the bottom line. Many of the suggestions that front-line employees (those who are engaged in the primary activity of the business) have significant productivity and cost savings implications.
5. Reward. The most important part of creating true engagement is simply communicating (through your words and the actions you take) that an employee is valued and valuable. But tangible rewards help! A first class local example is British Columbia’s Great Little Box Company. This company has been written up in business journals and business schools for its best-in-class practices as an employer. Not only does The Great Little Box Company provide a generous profit sharing program for everyone, they also provide specific cash rewards for any suggestion that measurably improves production or reduces costs.

Want to improve your communication with employees, partners,and customers? I help organizations improve communication through leadership & management-level workshops & coaching. Check out my website to learn about the different ways I can support your organization.

Recently I was with a small business client who prided himself on his ability to “pick ‘em” when it came to employees. The client told me that a new employee was having some difficulties performing, but that she would come around. “I’ve got great people instincts, and I think this one is going to work out great.” Sigh. We’ve been here before.

“No.” I said. “You don’t…” And proceeded to remind him of . . . → Read More: Where are Your Blind Spots?]]> Share/Bookmark

One of the joys (and challenges) of being a business coach is that I get paid to tell the truth, especially when no one else will.

Recently I was with a small business client who prided himself on his ability to “pick ‘em” when it came to employees. The client told me that a new employee was having some difficulties performing, but that she would come around. “I’ve got great people instincts, and I think this one is going to work out great.” Sigh. We’ve been here before.

“No.” I said. “You don’t…” And proceeded to remind him of the crazy track record he had of hiring too quickly and then taking forever to let people go, allowing and making excuses for damage caused along the way. He blinked a couple of times, and then agreed: this new employee had to go before her 90-day probationary period was up.

The client and I have enough history to cut to the chase like this.

“Sir, we are going to crash.”

What does it take to bring that kind of honesty into your workplace when you are not a coach? What can you do, whether you are the employee or the employer, to ensure the quality of communication is high enough to ensure no one is driving off a cliff unaware?

1. Give permission. The pre-condition for honesty on a team is explicit and implicit permission. It is the role of the employer to set this tone by stating clearly that honesty is desired. It is then the employer’s role to back that up that talk with the right walk. As the employer, when you receive news you don’t want to hear, keep your body language neutral, and say “thank you.” Almost anything else you say, especially anything that smacks of excuses or blame, will undermine your call for honest feedback.
2. Act. Again as the employer, when you receive critical/negative feedback, you must act, even if you choose to stay with the status quo. If you do nothing, the implicit message is that employees are wasting their time (and risking their credibility) by drawing challenges to your attention. If you are not going to change what has been brought up, taking the time in to formally explain your decision to stay with the status quo qualifies as action. Take the feedback seriously, and be seen to take the feedback seriously.
3. Shoot straight. As the employee or peer, don’t second-guess intentions or try to outguess outcomes. The mental chess we play with ourselves “If I say this, then this might happen,” is paralyzing. If you have permission to provide feedback, accept that at face value. If you get shot down because the employer or team member turned out to be insincere in their request, then don’t do it again! You have the right now.
4. Respect the context. Follow this rule: “celebrate publically, and criticize privately” If you think someone did a great job, let the world know. If someone made a mistake, find a moment or place to provide that feedback in private. Few things will make people pull out the defensive weaponry faster than being criticized or challenged in front of others.
5. Respect the context (II). As the person seeking feedback, ensure that you are not putting the other person in an awkward position by ‘asking for it’ publically. If you really think there may be a serious problem with a decision you have made, do not ask for feedback in the middle of the shop floor. Honest feedback at a staff meeting requires a high level of trust. If there isn’t, you will get either vague and insincere “Looks good to me” kind of comments, or a polarizing situation because people feel like they have to form up ‘sides’ to support a negative opinion.
6. Keep it personal. For goodness sake don’t ever use email or anything except face-to-face conversation for tough questions or feedback. Don’t solicit potentially critical feedback by email, and don’t provide it that way either. Good feedback is framed in dialogue. It requires the ability to read every signal a person is putting out, including body language and tone of voice.

These thoughts were inspired by an excellent article by Barbara Pachter on the HBR Blog Network. Her article How to Tell the Boss His Fly Is Down is an excellent essay on the why’s and how’s of feedback. She makes some very strong points, including:

1. Without honest feedback you run the risk of obliviously continuing behaviours that are damaging your career and business.
2. The best way to get feedback in a challenging situation is from a coach. That can be anyone over whom you have no direct authority, and who has the responsibility to be honest with you.

Pachter’s article is a must-read for anyone in a leadership position.

Related articles:

Want the Truth? Permission and Gratitude Will Get It

The physics of Failure

Want to improve your communication with employees, partners,and customers? I help organizations improve communication through social media strategies and management-level workshops. Check out these opportunities to work with me online, from anywhere in the world:  Effective Online Coaching Programs.

There’s more! Looking for success in your small business? Read my Small Business blog at Small Business Fundamentals (www.smbfundamentals.com).

When you provide only the very basics on your side of the relationship as the employer how can you expect more than the very basics from your employees? If all you give me is money, all you get is my hands.

If you want my heart and my head, you’ll have to put yours in there too.

Brett Simons has written another excellent and thoughtful piece. This one explores Enabling Covenantal Relationships. As Brett writes:

“Unless and until you are willing to hold yourself accountable for performing your . . . → Read More: Will You Be Mine? The Employer As Covenant Partner]]> Share/Bookmark

What gives you the right to expect ‘more’ from your employees?

When you provide only the very basics on your side of the relationship as the employer how can you expect more than the very basics from your employees? If all you give me is money, all you get is my hands.

If you want my heart and my head, you’ll have to put yours in there too.

Brett Simons has written another excellent and thoughtful piece. This one explores Enabling Covenantal Relationships. As Brett writes:

“Unless and until you are willing to hold yourself accountable for performing your own job with distinction, walking the talk your employees value, and genuinely caring for those you’ve been given the privilege to lead, you will never master covenant leadership. You are not entitled to partnership; you earn partnership by first providing it to others.”

This passage really struck me. The concepts that there is a ‘premium’ relationship possible between employee and employer, and that it is the employer’s responsibility to earn that, strike a chord with me. We know that true engagement (e.g. with head, heart, and hands) results in measurably better returns for the employer. Brett drives home that the employer has a responsibility to build this by understanding, connecting, and acting on the values of the employee (and the organization) as a partner, adding richness to the equation I had not considered before.

This is a short article, and well worth the read, especially if you are wondering why your employees are just dialing it in every day.

Related articles:

SMB Success Factor: Be The Boss

Beyond Positive Feedback

Want to improve your communication with employees, partners,and customers? I help organizations improve communication through social media strategies and management-level workshops. Check out these opportunities to work with me online, from anywhere in the world:  Effective Online Coaching Programs.

There’s more! Looking for success in your small business? Read my Small Business blog at Small Business Fundamentals (www.smbfundamentals.com).

I would love to comment on #3 because it is one of the pre-conditions for success that I just don’t see enough of in small business. But I won’t.

Number 1 is the one that caught my attention.

Permission is necessary not only in providing (especially negative) feedback, I believe it is necessary component in any vital relationship.

Some examples:

It’s all about trying to get the timing right. We look for cues to speak our turn, to ask for a raise, to lean in for a kiss…

Act too soon, and it sends the wrong signals of pushiness or desperation. Too late and the moment slips by.

Getting it right takes skills they don’t teach at school. It’s one of those things we have to figure out on our own, usually painfully. It takes empathy, good listening skills, confidence, some intelligence, and a fair degree of luck to make our entrances . . . → Read More: Improv in Heels: Exit Game]]> Share/Bookmark

We spend our life waiting for cues.

It’s all about trying to get the timing right. We look for cues to speak our turn, to ask for a raise, to lean in for a kiss…

Act too soon, and it sends the wrong signals of pushiness or desperation. Too late and the moment slips by.

Getting it right takes skills they don’t teach at school. It’s one of those things we have to figure out on our own, usually painfully. It takes empathy, good listening skills, confidence, some intelligence, and a fair degree of luck to make our entrances right on cue time after time. The two biggest requirements are confidence, and the cluster of behaviours we know as paying attention.

This simple improv game is a great exercise for developing both of those requirements.

The Exit Game

3 or more players are each given an exit/entrance word. They start a scene. As soon as a player hears her word, she has to leave the scene. As soon as she hears her word again, she must walk into the scene again. But you can’t just walk on and off the stage. Each walk-off and entrance has to be justified! This means you have to give a reason for exiting, and a reason for reappearing in the scene.

The game is active, and can get hectic. Inevitably, some up-stager decides its funny to say ‘your’ word every few seconds just to watch you disappear and reappear in rapid succession. Like all cheap laughs though, the trick has no shelf life.

The Exit Game sounds simple, but once a scene gets rolling you will be surprised at how easy it is to miss your cue. Just like in life, we get too wrapped up in our roles, and just distracted by all the activity. Developing the skill of doing your part and paying focused attention to your environment, takes considerable practice.

It almost feels like a stretch to freight such a fun game with meaningful take-aways, but there are some good ones.

1. Justifying is a great social skill! Being able to come up with a motivation for moving into a conversation, and a gracious exit out of it again is one of the toughest social skills to learn. As in this game, timing and confidence are everything.
2. Find that ‘detached attention’ place. In the middle of all the chaos going on inside your head and in the room around you, you are going to have to find that ability to both play your role and monitor what everyone else is doing so you don’t miss you cues.
3. Done right, its good jazz. This game, like a great group meeting or conversation, is at its best when no one person is driving the action, and everyone is tuned in to everyone else. It’s not easy, but when it works it’s magical. This game is probably one of the best ways to practice that ‘group awareness’ outside of joining a great jazz ensemble!

Want to take the blah-blah-blah out of your next retreat or management seminar? To learn how an improv workshop with me can do that, contact me at clemens@clemensrettich.com. Improv takes great communication and management strategies, and makes them real and unforgettable.

Surprise, surprise, surprise. The big finding in a new survey about how employees feel about middle and senior management? You don’t listen enough. Are you having regular scheduled meetings and taking notes of peoples’ input and feedback? No? Then read this article 10 times for homework. Read more…