Category: leadership

Creatures of habit

FabrizioLeave a comment

The place where I usually do grocery shopping recently changed the small bags for fresh produces. They used to have a type with strap handles, and now they have one with no handles. That bothered me. Because before it was easy to close them, while now they are left open, and fruit and vegetables come out when I am at the counter.

Today my 7-years old daughter came with me. She took a small bag with no handles, put pears in it, and closed it with no efforts. She took another one, put tomatoes in it, and again closed it with no efforts.

The point is that we are creatures of habit.

We tend to do things the same way we always did, even when things change, even when it does not work anymore. And that’s why it is valuable to have somebody who does things differently around, somebody who has a different background, who thinks in a different way, who never before had the chance to get used to small produce bags with handles.

The first step is to recognize we do not have all the answers. It is easier said than done.

Compromised

FabrizioLeave a comment

When you underplay a problem that was brought to your attention, you are compromising the relationship.

You might have very good reasons to do that. Perhaps the problem is not a problem to you. Perhaps you are scared the problem might jeopardize your status. Perhaps you just have no idea what to do about it. Perhaps you are set on your goals and targets and do not want to get distracted.

You pretend it is not there, and the other person is impatiently waiting for your response.

You just have to ask yourself: is it worth it?

They started it!

Fabrizio2 Comments

If someone does something you would not, that is not a good reason to go and do it yourself.

Sticking to your values, your best behavior, the best version of yourself is easy when everyone around is nice, pleasant, and accommodating. But can you do it also when you meet the asshole, when your boss sets a negative example, when your group is up to something you would not normally be proud of?

They started it! is a weak excuse for grown ups.

Questions and answers

FabrizioLeave a comment

Leadership means asking questions.

What is the problem?

What can we do that is new and better?

How do we tackle this issue?

What if we do something else?

How can I help you?

If your days, your meetings, your interactions are filled with answers, you are doing something else entirely.

Take Gary Kaplan, who changed the culture of a hospital in Seattle. He took his top people to Japan and said, “Look what they’re doing over here. Do you see anything that might apply to our hospital?” He was very humble. He knew they had to fix the hospital, but he didn’t know how to do that. He was also very autocratic about, “We’re all going to go to Japan”; he managed the process. But the content and what they actually ended up doing, he built from the ground up.

Edgar Schein, In Conversation with Edgar Schein

Sit or stand

FabrizioLeave a comment

In the face of adversity, we can sit down and complain, or stand up and do something.

A couple of things.

Sitting down and complaining makes us complicit in the adversity. If it was not our fault to begin with, it is after we make the decision to merely sit there. It does not matter if we do it because we are desperate or because we have no clue where to start from.

Standing up and doing something is always possible, even after having sat down and complained for a while. It might be to late to manage the adversity, and in that case doing something is about taking responsibility, measuring the damages, showing a way forward.

One way or the other, it is an active choice we need to make.