Sandy Schwan at Evolving Strategies, LLC

Boost Performance By Doing Good

"Devising and maintaining an atmosphere in which others can put a dent in the universe is the leader's creative act." --Warren Bennis

Can doing good keep employees engaged and grow your business? You bet it can.

Ramping up altruism may well be the killer app in 2009 and early 2010 — a time when companies need their top talent to be firing on all cylinders to spur growth and renewal, but where conventional rewards such as pay raises and bonuses are hard to come by, according to Sylvia Ann Hewitt in her forthcoming book Top Talent: Keeping Performance Up When Business Is Down.

Hewitt is an economist, member of the World Economic Forum Council on the Gender Gap, and founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy where she directs the "Hidden Brain Drain"—a task force of 50 global companies committed to fully realizing female and multicultural talent.

Her research shows that high-potential employees are motivated by a desire to give back to their communities. These employees are increasingly seeking out employers that allow them to do so on the job. Real life examples and the associated returns? By integrating "doing good" into their business strategies, GE's healthyimagination and Pfizer's Global Access programs are expanding company revenue and attracting and retaining these key employees.

Weaving the 'feel good' factor into a go-to-market playbook gives high potential employees priceless psychic rewards, and a reason to stay, play and win, says Hewitt. This approach is certainly working for Ponni Subbiah — one of Pfizer's most talented female leaders. "We all want to feel that we can have an impact on the world. That's why I like Global Access. The fact that we're going to increase access to our medicines in a part of the world where people are very needy .... that's very gratifying for me." And it's good business.

Action

While donations and volunteering are wonderful avenues for allowing your employees to give back, do not limit your company's socially responsible efforts. Explore ways that your company can combine social responsibility and commercial viability by offering lower cost products to emerging markets or developing a new profitable solution to a social problem.

Adapted from Harvard Business Publishing

Know Thy Partner: Three Client Types and How to Work With Them

An interesting perspective to consider of the outset of each 'client' and / or organizational change.

“Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.” — James Allen, 1864-1912, English literary man of mystery and unrewarded genius

The smart folks at Vital Smarts and the MIT Sloane Management Review recently released a study on the root causes for the shockingly high failure rate of cross-functional projects and programs. Estimates are that as many as 80 percent of strategic initiatives, IT projects, corporate programs, and the like are awful disappointments. For example, four years ago, the world watched as Gustav Humbert, the CEO of Air Bus, was dismissed from his job in shame when the A380 aircraft missed its delivery date by more than a year. The worst of it was that the announcement of the delay happened on the day the plane was due! Makes you scratch your head in wonder that this information did not seem to be available to Mr. Humbert any sooner than the minute he was supposed to unveil the engineering marvel to the world. What was going on?

The study identified five early warning signs of project failure. How companies handle these five issues predicts with up to 85 percent precision how well they achieve critical results. In fact, if the people at these organizations handle any of these crucial issues poorly, the odds of the project being delayed, of quality being compromised, and of costs escalating are better than 70 percent. Not good.

1. Fact-Free Planning — Commitments to deadlines and limits on resources are made with little consideration for the real demands of the project.
2. AWOL Sponsors — The executive sponsor of a project is not leading as s/he should. S/he is not showing up for meetings, holding people accountable, or walking the talk.
3. Skirting — Powerful leaders bypass agreed upon decision-making processes or quality gates in ways that are allowing scope creep or putting commitments at risk.
4. Project Chicken — Critical aspects of the project are going over schedule or running over budget and it's not politically popular to admit it. Instead, people play "chicken"—letting things get closer to the deadline without acknowledging problems.
5. Team Failures — Key members of the project team are not competent or do not follow through on their commitments.

ACTION:

• In your project plans, remember to give the right level of focus on the people aspect of the project. Confirm sponsor commitment and what 'commitment' means to project success.
• Make one of the first steps in your project a "Roles and Responsibilities" list. In organizational (or project team) design 101, a fundamental reason why teams don't work effectively is because it is not clear who is doing what. Make it clear – write it down and discuss with everyone on that list.
• Raise issues as soon as you identify them. I think we all know that it is much more effective to handle issues when they are spark vs. a full-blown wildfire.
• Get clear on how people, groups are to be held accountable for this project. This is tricky, but if you get this agreement upfront, it gives you the leverage to question accountability should something go awry.

Adapted from Vital Smarts, 2009.

Looking to Create Creative & Innovative Solutions? Go To Your Stretch Zone

Can You Become a Creature of New Habits?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/business/04unbox.html?_r=1&goback=%2Ehom

This New York Times article provides an interesting perspective on the three zones of existence and in which zone true change occurs.

There are "...three zones of existence: comfort, stretch and stress. Comfort is the realm of existing habit. Stress occurs when a challenge is so far beyond current experience as to be overwhelming. It’s that stretch zone in the middle — activities that feel a bit awkward and unfamiliar — where true change occurs."

If possible, develop change management solutions, strategies and tactics to keep impacted people in the stretch zone. The stress zone can create an inability for people to learn because they are in the 'fight - or flight' mode.

Crash. Burn. Turnaround: Seven Ways to Turn Failure Into Success

"Every strike brings me closer to the next home run." 

Babe Ruth (1895–1948), American baseball player

Perhaps you are leading an organizational change (e.g., merger, acquisition, downsizing, hyper-growth, business process reengineering) that is not performing quite as planned. It could even be considered a…failure. So, what do you do?

 

You may not realize it now, but you have (at least) two key responses: the ‘little w’ response and the ‘Big W’ response (and I am hopeful that my Northern Trust Corporation colleagues reading this entry are smiling at the re-use of big and little w).

 

Option One: The little w response. wallow in self-pity

 

Option Two: Big W response:  Be Willing. Be Willing to turn disappointments into great accomplishments by:

• Changing a course of action that isn’t working, no matter how much faith, time and money you may have put into it so far
• Abandoning a path that is not taking you where you want to go, and starting over again

Thomas Edison believed there were no mistakes or failures, only “eliminated options” that brought him one step closer to his goal. Decide to eliminate option one above and rethink failure.

A failure can be a valuable opportunity to regroup and rethink strategies and goals. Do not let pride keep you stuck in a wrong decision. Realize there is hope on the other side of the change, even if you cannot see it yet.

 

ACTION: Try these seven steps to turn failure into success. 

1.   Look at your past objectively

2.   Focus on the purpose on the other side of the failure / pain

3.      Realize that you can’t see the whole parade from where you stand

4.      It’s not whether you have won or lost in the past; it’s the person you have to become to win in the future. Think about who you want to become 

5.  Accept that falling is a normal part of life, but try to fall forward - in the direction of your goal

6.  Realize that pain and heartache are only labor pains before your / the change's birth

7.  Know that retreat does not equal defeat

I recognize that these steps are not easy. There are strategies and tools to help you succeed in each step. Consider adding your steps that have worked well for you in the past. Even better, create a new step.

Make a deliberate decision not to give up in transforming your adversities into success springboards.

 

Adapted from © Advisor Today 2008 and Critical Choices That Change Lives: How Heroes Turn Tragedy Into Triumphby Daniel Canstro. All rights reserved.

Pain & Suffering or Pain & Pleasure? You Pick.

"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional."

Adlai E. Stevenson (1900–1965), American politician

It is true – changes affecting industries, organizations, teams or individuals can bring pain. Nevertheless, how you choose to handle this pain is up to you.  

Action

Generate Positive Momentum by Planning for and Creating Small Wins

1. Identify and write down the changes you can control.
2. Write down a plan to address each change in a productive way.
3. Communicate. Execute. Adjust. Communicate.
4. Repeat Step Four as often as you can.

Broaden Your Sphere of Influence and Control by Leveraging New and Old Relationships

1. Write down the changes you think you cannot control.
2. Accept that some changes are simply outside of your sphere of influence, but...
3. Consider whether you can influence components of a change.
4. Consider what relationships you can leverage to broaden your influence.
5. Collaborate and write down a plan to address each change or change component in a productive way.
6. Communicate. Execute. Adjust. Communicate.
7. Repeat Step Six as often as you can.

Organizational change – it is inevitable. Try to view each change as an opportunity to sharpen your leadership skills.

Facing a Naysayer, a Sally Stubborn? Then Isolate and / or Neutralize.

"Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship." 
  Benjamin Franklin, (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790), one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, noted polymath, leading author and printer, satirist, political theorist, politician, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman and diplomat

In addition to the lengthy description of Mr. Franklin noted above, it seems as if he also was an expert in organizational change. Those ‘little expenses’ can add up quickly. The little expenses I am referring to have more to do with time and energy than with money. And I can tell you from experience that organizational change – actually, any change – requires many people’s time and energy to work.

So what do you do if you have a naysayer who will not accept an organizational change that needs to occur and is already underway? Let us call this person Sally Stubborn. With Sally, you have two options: isolate or neutralize her.

ACTION

Decide if Sally is needed during and / or after the organizational change.

If so:

Neutralize

Schedule time with Sally to listen actively to her point of view about the change. (I will bet you may be able to find a nugget of truth in her concerns.) Ask her for recommended solutions to her concerns. Ask her if she wants to lead one of these efforts to address her concerns.

Find an ally - how about Coleen Cooperative? Coleen is at the same level as Sally and she is an engaging leader in the organizational change strategy and execution. Ask Coleen for assistance and / or guidance in dealing with Sally.

Encircle Sally with people who are excited about and engaged in the change. Attitudes can be infectious. 

Determine a plan with dates and expectations to help Sally succeed. Decide at what point you want to include Sally in building this plan.

Isolate

Work around Sally. This can be an effective strategy if you have other change champions or willing participants on the bandwagon. Especially others who are at the same organizational level.

Develop an exit strategy for her. If you have tried all of the above to no avail, inform Sally that she needs to get with the program or she runs the risk of having to explore other options outside of the company. Sometimes you will have to cut bait with energy-draining employees who simply will not cooperate.

There are other options to consider, but this is a solid starting point. Whichever path you choose, consult a select few about your concerns with Sally before making your decision. Sally may simply need a little push, assistance, validation that she is being heard, or some one-on-one time with someone she trusts who will listen then explain why changes are occurring. And guess what? These options do not have to cost you a penny.

You and your team’s time and energy during an organizational change are precious. Use wisely.

When Is the Last Time You Hung A Question Mark?

"It's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted."

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, advocate for social reform, and pacifist

Boy, this sure seems easy to say but can be hard to do. It is a quote I likely will keep in my back pocket to use in organizational change presentations and discussions as a way to set the stage for helping people understand it is okay to consider new ways of thinking and doing. This does not mean that the way your organization, your team, you have been doing things is wrong. Sometimes it just never hurts to try a new point of view, especially if you feel stuck.

ACTION:

To use the simple Nike phrase: Just do it!

Based on the culture of your organization and/or team, decide up front if you want to let people know that you will be explicitly hanging question marks during the next few team meetings.

Or, consider expanding the experiment to engage your team: ask your team members to rotate being the 'hanger' every day for a week or two. Ask them to write a brief reflection at the end of their day to share with the team once the experiement ends. Reconvene after the set time period, and discuss what you learned collectively. See if there are any learnings that you can weave into how your team operates.

What I know for sure is that organizational changes are pull of question marks; so, we all might as well learn to embrace them vs. fight them. Happy hanging.

Donald Says Location. Sandy Says Communication.

"When you are up to your neck in alligators, it is hard to remember that your primary goal is to drain the swamp."

 I don't know who to attribute this quote to, but I'll guess it is from a wise person from the southern United  States :)

Wow. Who hasn't felt like this lately or while going through any organizational change? When you, your team, your peers, and your company's senior executives are working overtime to re-assess risk, re-scope expenditures, prepare for acquisitions, understand government actions, and anticipate market changes, it is hard to remember you are there to serve your customers.

Communicate Effectively During Organizational Change

Is there a relationship between frequency of contact and client satisfaction? According to the Corporate Executive Board, the answer is a resounding yes.

During an organizational change, when relationship boundaries are shifting, effective communications to customers and employees matters more than ever. If employees are not clear on the 'what' and 'why' of the change, how can they effectively communicate with customers? Often, when I work with clients who've asked for my assistance on an organizational change effort that has failed, what I uncover is that employees are distracted and poorly equipped to communicate. They have obsolete scripts, mixed messages, and uncertainty regarding their own careers and finances.

ACTION:

What can you do to help your stakeholders deal with organizational change effectively?

Prepare and support managers.

Employees will be looking to their managers for cues on how to interpret the change. Develop FAQs, talking points, host small group discussions and/or on-line discussions just for managers. Ask them what they need to perform their roles effectively.

Equip all employees emotionally.

Explain the 'what' and 'why' of the organizational change. Focus on the 'why'...that is really what most people care about. Help employees address uncertainty and negative emotions that may arise within themselves and their customers. Prepare them to exude confidence and competence when interacting with customers. Remind employees to focus on what they can control and to seek assistance or guidance otherwise.

Equip customer-facing employees to handle customers effectively.

Keep client communications materials current and readily available. Remind employees of the importance of frequent client contact, and to stay focused on servicing clients. Share and reward successful ideas and methods.

Ensure consistency across stakeholders.

Inconsistent messages to customers, employees, investors, or regulators can and will surface, causing undue pain. Establish a Communications Coalition across the company (with all geographies and business units) to ensure coherence of messages.

Foster two-way communication.

Listening is an important part of customer communications (any communications, really). The distance between inbound teams (e.g., sales, customer support) and outbound teams (e.g., corporate communications, marketing) makes it difficult to have "closed loop communications." Establish tighter collaboration between these teams. For example, look for new shortcuts you can create between customer-facing staff and communications executives.

These are just five of many communications tactics to consider when building your organizational change strategy. One of the opportunities organizational change presents is the ability to play with the elasticity of relationship boundaries. Don't be afraid to test some boundaries in the name of change. And remember, as the venerable former coach of the Chicago Bears football team, Mike Ditka, said: "Success isn't permanent, and failure isn't fatal." Now go test a boundary!

Adapted from the Corporate Executive Board, my former employer, 2008.

Struggle Can Bring Ingenuity and Inventiveness

"Anywhere the struggle is great, the level of ingenuity and inventiveness is high."  Eleni Gabre-Madhin, former World Bank economist

Times are tough now. But, I am also seeing some pretty amazing solutions and ideas coming from my clients looking to handle effectively the current market turbulence. Whether changing at the personal, team, organizational, country, sector, or world level, remember that there is a silver lining...you just have to seek it out. On the business front, organizational change is imminent - you'd better embrace it. I am not sure what other option we really have.

ACTION: For one day (how about today?), make an explicit effort to welcome struggle and to explore some out of the box thinking. You just never know what you might create.