Author Archives: Cate Lawrence

photo by brianwallace

Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup, by David Cohen and Brad Feld, is full of first person stories about getting positive business results faster. Most of the key points in the book deal with using communication skills effectively and deliberately to:

Listen and relate to the customer and the customer’s needs – “As long as I listen to the customers, I never need to have another original idea.” “Describing the pain is usually quite natural, but many people forget to finish the job. Think of describing the pain as sticking the knife in.”

Deal with investors and gain financial support – “Show, don’t tell. This applies nicely to every pitch you ever do.” “When you want money, ask for advice.” “When you start your company, it’s likely that you will collaborate with some other, more established companies. If you are working on something of value to them, they will often be willing to figure out a financial arrangement to help fund some of the work you are doing together.”

Manage conflict – “A common reason for startup fatalities, particularly in the early days, is some sort of conflict between co-founders. One of the main reasons for co-founder conflict is that many aspects of the relationship were either ill-defined or misunderstood.” “I permit everyone I work with to screw me over once. When this happens, I confront them, forgive them, and move on. However, if they screw me over a second time, then I’m done with them forever.”

Harness time – “Great teams of people move much faster than teams of weak people, as great people feed off of each other.” “If there’s one competitive advantage that most startups have, it’s that they can do more faster. And because they can do more faster they can learn more faster.”

photo by Firebird Images

Businessweek article about business bestsellers lists StrengthFinder 2.0 as the No. 1 book for July.

The StrengthFinder system is designed to “‘Help others understand that your strategic thinking is not an attempt to belittle their ideas, but is instead a natural propensity to consider all the facets of a plan objectively.’ There is no advice on what to do when your co-worker responds to this by trying to brain you with a stapler.” There are, however, other systems that do provide this guidance. How about considering how you understand and communicate with others…so they won’t be tempted to brain you with a stapler.

Photo by h.koppdelaney

In 3 weeks, it’s are off to Houston, TX, to attend the APICS (Association for Management Operations) 6-Packed Supply Chain Conference. Oh, and happy coincidence, the world’s largest rodeo is also in Houston that week! Topics of special interest (at the conference, not the rodeo) include:

• Crafting a Successful Continuous Process Improvement Initiative
• New Approach to Inventory Planning Process
• Aligning Your SC with Strategic Priorities & Creating Competitive Advantage
• Off-shoring, Self Inflicted Pain until You Apply LEAN to Improve
• The Q in You: Understanding Your Own KPI
• Lifecycle Management – the Missing Piece to Effective Planning

But what is wrong with this crowd!? Where is the emotion?? Where is the soul?? Have we failed to learn from two new business books, Super Rich: A Guide to Having It All – Russell Simmons, and The Soul of Leadership: Unlocking Your Potential for Greatness – Deepack Chopra?

According to a new review in BusinessWeek, pearls of wisdom in these tomes include:

• “Success is elusive. In both authors’ works, it’s difficult to find concrete business lessons. And perhaps that’s the point. For example, writes Chopra: ‘Your body is a constant projection of you in the world. Every cell eavesdrops on your thoughts.’”
• “Be. And just keep being… Simmons assures us that ‘within a few years you will be able to transform from the unpaid intern into the multimillionaire CEO.’ Chopra vows that those who lead from the soul will gain the support of invisible powers and can expect miracles to happen—a useful strategy for any executive.”
• “The pain leads to insight. It’s easy to mock Simmons for sprinkling product mentions among his yogic revelations or to snicker at Chopra’s pseudoscientific bromides, which would be a lot more effective if he occasionally cited the scientific research he vaguely alludes to. Although anyone who perseveres to the end of both books will be struck with a revelation—we’ve heard a lot of these tips before. Usually from our mothers. And often before the age of five. ”

Now I will get busy soaking up the acumen in these books so that I can share some insights with my fellow operations professionals, some of whom may be sadly uninformed about miracle processes. Surely people focused on such fussy issues as value for customers and continuous improvement will be rewarded with new revelations by “appreciating the wonder” of it all.

The ultimate inspiration? “These books reawaken a sense of wonder—that such stuff still sells. That’s something worth meditating on.”

Photo by Wurzblog

According to Ram Charan, an expert and author on developing corporate talent, “Chief executives should act now to prevent defections of key employees this year…Among Fortune 500 CEO’s, the intent to put people as a key item is high. But in actual practice, the percentage really doing a thorough job is less than 25%…CEOs like Apple’s Steve Jobs have figured out how to have more people working together despite corporate ‘silos.’ That is central to winning in the marketplace.” Wall Street Journal, “Message to CEO’s: Do More to Keep Your Key Employees.”

What can you do now to demonstrate that you actually do value employees? How about providing tangible proof by developing your key people? Training your high performing talent not only indicates to them that you are forward looking, but it also encourages creativity. When creativity and innovation could position your organization to come out on top after a downturn, you can foster the collaboration and streamlined processes necessary to achieve the agility that best serves customers.

Innovative products enhance opportunities to engage customers. Innovation doesn’t just mean new product development; it also means understanding and fulfilling customers’ personal and self-satisfaction goals. By enhancing skills, employees can improve their ability to understand and focus on customers’ needs. Employees learn to ask the right questions and listen for vital cues.

Hiking coast to coast across England – 205 miles, 18 days, 31,000 cumulative feet elevation gain, 3 people with different communication styles: no conflicts! Yes, we had our differences, but when we had them, we understood them, and found humor in the display of communication style. I am the “structured” one, and I had to research every aspect of the trip beforehand, then had to have contingency plans when I discovered that we had no way to get cash for the last 100 miles of the hike in a rural area where our credit cards did not work. How would we eat??? I figured out that we could order the full English breakfast included in the prepaid fees to our bed and breakfast accommodations: 2 eggs, 2 sausages, 2 bacons, mushrooms, toast and tomatoes, all fried to perfection. We could wrap up the excess paid-for breakfast food and make it last for the rest of the day! Yum!

Our “paced” hiker had some issues when our “direct” hiker went into storming mode. He did this when we had a major climb and 15-18 miles to cover before the end of the day. But what about seeing the abbey ruins on the way? What about those ancient stone circles? “No time!” said our “direct” guy. “You’ve seen one stone circle, you’ve seen ‘em all. And besides, that’s probably not a stone circle. Those are probably just a bunch of sheep sleeping in a circle.” Time for problem solving! We persuaded the kind host of the B & B to drive us back to the abbey early the next morning, so that our “paced” girl could see the ruins as she had been planning for weeks. And “direct” guy could handle the side diversion to stone circles because “paced” girl shucked her pack and ran full out to the stone circle site. Successful compromise!

Time to stop for lunch? For our “direct” guy, it was always, “Let’s get to the top of the next hill.” So “paced” girl and I gave notice well in advance of our desire for sustenance, so that the next hill could be conquered before a taking a break. We were so consistent about meeting the need to bag one more hill before lunch that Mr. “direct” was able to compromise. On the day we saw the most beautiful display of purple blooming heather, he was even able to turn around and go back a few hundred yards (and even downhill!) so that we could plunk ourselves down in the middle of the exquisite moor.

Sore feet, blisters galore, sun burn (yes, in England!), nettle stings, aching muscles – all part of the common experience. But laughter and a great time were had by all, in no small way because we were able to joke about our temperaments.

Photo by Lightmash

If your workplace atmosphere mirrors a certain street vibe in Budapest, you might be in an organization where the best and brightest will bolt at the first plausible opportunity. Do colleagues avoid eye contact, keep faces expressionless, and stare resolutely into the middle distance? Get out the goulash and kohlrabi because your people may feel that they have as much reason to trust management as Hungarians have been conditioned to trust in the benevolence of conquerors.

A few key findings in the Deloitte “2010 Ethics and Workplace Survey”:

• 34 % of employed Americans plan to look for a new job when the economy gets better.
• 48 % of those who plan to look for a new job cite a loss in trust in their employer as a key factor in their decision.
• 46 % of those who plan to look for a new job cite a lack of transparent communications from their company’s leadership as a key motivator.
• 65 % of executives/managers believe that trust issues will be a leading factor in voluntary turnover in coming months
• 48 % of executives/managers believe that transparency issues will be a leading factor in voluntary turnover in coming months.
• 59 % of employees say technology allows their managers to be more transparent than they previously were.
• 92 % of executives ranked transparent communication by leadership among their top three tactics for building employee trust.
• 32 % of employees say transparent communication is the most important way to build trust in the workplace.

What is transparency, and why do executives and employees place such a different value on it? Could it be that executives believe they are being “transparent” when they forthrightly, sincerely, and regretfully announce cut-backs and lay-offs? Employees may understand that they are hearing the truth (at least some of the truth), but is truth alone enough to provide meaningful transparency and build trust? What are leaders giving employees to help them with reduced resources? There is always the time-honored, “We will all need to be as productive as possible.” Translation: “Do more with less.” This is transparent and true, but how does that build trust?

Since we have social media we have transparency, right? Now everyone can receive “real time” news, and maybe even comment on the events of the day with the assumption that their voices will truly be heard. According to the Deloitte report, one-half of executives/managers say using social media builds trust in the workplace, but only one-third of employees agree.  So are those soon-to-be job hunters actually valuing this evidence of transparency, even with the best that technology has to offer?  For transparency to have lasting value and contribute to trust, it not only needs to embrace truth, but also reflect sustainable two-way communication. Those Hungarians need to be ok looking you in the eye, as well as online.

See full Deloitte survey at Deloitte “2010 Ethics and Workplace Survey”

Photo by reallyboring

What kind of colleague do you want on your team when the dust settles? Surely you want to keep your star HIPOs (high potential employees), TPs (top performers), MOPS (most productive savvy’s), and KEEPERS (key experienced employees personifying excellence, resiliency and stability). Some characteristics might include: self-starting, problem-solving, customer-focused, entrepreneurial, and outside-the-box thinker. Are these the characteristics of people who will patiently wait for a “normal” business environment? Studies have shown that top performers who survive lay-offs will not necessarily feel compelled to stay on or be super motivated to maintain high performance in order to “save the company.” The completely predictable crash of morale that accompanies down-sizing is rarely adequately addressed. While providing outplacement services and generous severance packages is morally correct and reflects a genuinely positive business culture, it does nothing for the “survivors” of belt-tightening efforts. If you want to retain the talent that can help move you out of “hunker down” mode, get personal with those who are forced to “do more with less.” Take the time to understand each colleague’s individual motivators and communication style. There is no shortage of advice for retaining key employees, but any effective measure can be further leveraged by tailoring that measure to each employee.

• Top performers thrive on challenges, so let them focus on the innovations that have the best return on their communication styles.
• Encourage them to bring their strengths to bear in designing and improving their work processes and measurements.
• Improving customer interaction may help keep them motivated. Each communication style will yield a different way to engage customers.
• Look for ways to build an environment of affiliation and engagement. Yes, of course you are always doing that, but ask your employees what actually works for them – individually.
• Provide training and tools for improvement and advancement based on individual motivators. Nothing says “You’re appreciated” like encouraging new skills (except stuff you can’t currently provide, like money, extra vacation, new toys…)
• Acknowledge accomplishments with specific recognition, tailored to the individual. No “awesome job!”
• Enhance team cohesiveness with effective team communication processes. Don’t just say “We are all going to get some emotional intelligence now.” Provide the tools.
• Tailor frequent, honest feedback to each individual’s preferred communication style.

Think this takes too much time and effort? Weigh the costs of not treating your “most important assets” as if they really are important to you. Costs include all those associated with making new hires, plus training, delays in product/service development, decline in customer service, and further damage to “survivors’” morale. Your loss is your competitor’s gain.

Photo by Dan Zen

All I wanted to do was glance at the outdoor menus in peace. It was a typically hot and muggy evening in Singapore, and my colleagues and I were strolling along the bustling, touristy Clarke Quay. We had a variety of gustatory objectives. What to have: chili crab, fish head curry, clay pot chicken rice, satay, tandoori? Tough choices, but we had a strategy for making the momentous decision. We would first perform a recognizance mission, checking out the entire length of the quay. Then, armed with the best overview, we would come to consensus and choose the optimal establishment.

But the restaurant hawkers had a different strategy, which was to harangue us with blandishments about their particular venue if we passed their establishment at anything less than a sprint. No way to peruse the menus without enduring importunities.

“Just looking, just looking, just looking…” we tried. But these elite sales people were not to be silenced. How to politely get them to let me just glance at the menus without having to engage them? How about a tech blocker: ye old phone? Regrettably, I had not brought my mobile shield with me, but since it was Singapore, I always had my trusty, tiny collapsible umbrella. This umbrella was black, just like my phone. Perfect! I plied the plump little umbrella to my ear, and read the menu offerings to it, complete with murmurings of agreement, “Yes, I’ve never had that, either.” The restaurant hawkers, well versed in phone etiquette, wouldn’t think of interrupting my umbrella conversation.

Did they cease badgering us because they thought they were in the presence of a lunatic? No, they behaved as if I were talking on a phone because it made no sense that someone would be talking into an umbrella. They saw my behavior in the only way that it made sense to them, regardless of the obvious facts.

We all do this every day. We see someone else’s behavior through the lens of our understanding, based on our way of behaving. But it is possible to slow down for a moment and try to understand another’s actions based on their perspective. What if we make the effort to deliberately check whether our perception is reality? Maybe that umbrella has more potential than just shielding us from rain.