Category: culture

Bias

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It takes mental effort to identify our own bias.

Few months ago, I was putting together a presentation about Coaching and Leadership. I wanted to have one slide to stimulate some discussion, and I wanted to ask people in the audience to describe leadership with one single word.

Along with the question, the slide was supposed to feature a collage of known leaders. To my dismay, I quickly realised I was victim to bias. The first few names that came to mind were (in order) Steve Job, Mark Zuckerberg, Barack Obama and Jack Welch. All male. All American.

I could have certainly stuck with those, and probably nobody would have complained. Yet, as I knew by then I was biased, I forced myself to do a better research (both in my memory and on the Internet), and eventually came up with the following collage.

Leadership-bias

It was great to do that. Not only because I had a far better depiction of what a leader is and might be, but also because I had the chance to identify bias at work. At least, a certain type of bias. Perhaps next time, this list will come more naturally. And perhaps, I will be able to identify similar bias in other situations more easily.

By the way, in case you are wondering who some of the leaders in the collage are, here is the full list (from top left).

Perfect

Fabrizio2 Comments

This week, I have found this beautiful graphic depiction of how resistance works at times.

Do-Something-Ed-Batista

It’s from Ed Batista’s blog (that is strongly recommended, by the way), and it displays how it is incredibly more important to move from doing nothing to doing something, than it is to move from doing something to doing something perfect.

The greatest of intentions pale in comparison to the smallest of actions.

Noah Lomax

Very often, we get stuck in search of perfection. That is useless, as most of the time the difference between something and something perfect is barely noticeable. I like to represent it slightly differently with the following chart.

Do-Something

The fact is, perfection is often an excuse do escape doing. It’s been for me for years, it still is sometimes. But eventually, we’ll have to stop hiding and start shipping stuff that is As Close to Necessary to Perfect. Make a habit of it, it’ll be liberating.

Promises

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We all make promises. Sometimes we say we will do something, other it’s just the mere fact that we are in a certain position that “promises” we will act in certain ways and not in others.

Promises are extremely complicated. Once a promise is made, a pact is established. Nobody likes to be break pacts, yet it is a fact of every day life that most promises are not kept. We forget about them, we do not have time to actually stand by them, we change our mind, we probably did not intend to commit in the first place but thought it was nice or appropriate in the moment.

I found few things to help when it comes to promises and acting on one’s words.

Promise little. Wanting to please people around us is normal, and so we tend to say we will do things even when we already know we don’t have enough time or energy, we don’t really care, we have not the skills to, and so on. Be honest with yourself in the first place, and promise only what you know you can deliver.

Be specific with the promise. Tell what you will do, how, when, with whom, add as many details as you possibly can. This will help you set a plan in your mind that will eventually make it easier to stick to your word. This is particularly helpful also when the promise is done because of the position you are in: if you start in a lead role, it is for example very useful to sit down with the people you will lead and set clear expectations about your role.

Remember and do. This is the tricky bit. Promising little will help you remember, and being specific will help you with doing. Yet eventually, you will still have to follow up on the promise. Doing it is ideal, yet if for any reason you realise you can’t, you will still have to openly and candidly tell something like: “I know I said I would, and for this and that reason it is not possible right now”.

There’s always a reason

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Why are things the way they are?

This is a question we often fail to ask. Yet it is so important to address that before we even attempt change.

Is there something I am not seeing? Is the current situation serving somebody’s purpose? What would the reaction be if I would change that? What is the type of behaviour I should expect once the change has been implemented? Have I talked and listened to people that are involved? Did I consider the different aspects that have contributed in building the context?

Clearly, it is a thin line between asking and remaining stuck. We need to know when we have enough information to take a considerate decision about moving forward (or not). And asking that question will help us being more thoughtful and kind towards those who will see the change as a threat.

 

Exceptions and rules

Fabrizio3 Comments

If a customer (or a potential one) shows up with a request that is not in line with your procedures, processes, habits, or even product or service, the generous thing to do is to make an exception.

If that requests gets asked more and more, than you have two options.

Change your procedures, processes, habits, product or service to incorporate the request. You invest time and energy in making a change, as you see that the customers that are asking for it are the ones you want to serve.

Or you say, “thanks, but that’s not what we do.” Not all customers are your customers after all, so it is ok to decide that those asking for that additional feature are not the ones you want to serve.

There’s actually a third option, one you should avoid, the worst one. Not do anything. Keep getting the request, leaving its satisfaction to the moment, juggling about without any clear indication if that’s something that belongs to you or not.

This wastes your time and that of your customers, and time is not something anybody has to spare.