When we overweight the value of experience in hiring situations or in navigating strategy, we increase our risk of failure. The challenge we face as leaders and managers is to imbue ourselves and our cultures with a sense of curiosity and the means and confidence to experiment.
It was an interesting week in the news and an interesting week to explore a variety of topics in management and leadership. Here are four for your consideration and some thoughts on the week in the rearview mirror:
If I could have all of the time back working with poor performers, people in dire need of an attitude adjustment or, people who momentarily fooled naive, noble me into believing they wanted to change their ways, I would gladly reinvest it with those seeking to grow and strengthen as professionals. Early in my career, I believed that I could by sheer force of will turn poor performers into stars and help those with poor attitudes emerge as model citizens. I believed I possessed the leader's equivalent of the Philosopher's Stone and could turn lead into gold.
Of the eight valuable leadership lessons shared in the HBR article, "Ferguson's Forumla" (subscription or $), number 2, “Dare to Rebuild Your Team” is critically important and often bypassed in the workplace due to friction, tentativeness on the part of managers and HR groups and lack of vision and courage on the part of managers. Sadly, in too many cases, we allow a number of challenging but controllable impediments to get in our way of doing the right thing. These 4 are...
Instead of teaching people to work within a self-contained system where the goal is to impose order, this new world demands much more of a sense and respond style of leading. Here are 5 ideas for cultivating tolerance for adversity and uncertainty on your team:
Jody Weis relinquished his role as “Top Cop” here in Chicago, after what was a tumultuous and a productive three-year run in this thankless job. Weis was a controversial appointment by Mayor Daley. He was an outsider…a product of the FBI, and someone who hadn’t earned any street cred with the powerful cultural force that is the rank and file of the Chicago Police Department. He drove change, improved key measures and alienated himself from the entire organization in the process. His situation offers a number of valuable lessons for all of us.
We invest a great deal of time talking and writing and preaching about change. We discuss resistance to change, fear of change, our own need for personal change and the challenges that organizations face when it comes to embracing change. We're not very good at changing, but we sure like to talk about it.
While some argue that the natural order of life is towards entropy (a gradual decline into disorder), I would argue that the natural tendency of most humans is towards a kind of comfortable sameness and consistency in their daily lives. The pursuit of different requires more energy than the descent into routine. It is most definitely easier to not change. While comfortable and comforting, routine is the enemy of growth and progress and innovation
There is a fascinating article on Change Management in a recent issue (Issue 2/2009) of the McKinsey Quarterly (subscription required) by Carolyn Aiken and Scott Keller, entitled: “The Irrational Side of Change Management.” And while much has been written over the years on this important and vexing topic, the authors offer some insights and ideas that they describe as counter-intuitive, but potentially helpful in improving your odds of success with these initiatives. This article alone was for me worth the hefty annual subscription price.
Not surprisingly in this economy, a great number of people are busy plotting their next career and life steps. Whether prompted by a layoff, a threat of a layoff or the recognition that conditions can all too easily result in a layoff; I’m listening to many people who are dancing with the idea of a shift in direction. Some have already pulled the trigger. Similar to the theme in my post the other day on Beating the Economic Blues, it is critical to do something…to take some form of action when change is on your mind.
