Tag: entrepreneurship

Bare minimum

FabrizioLeave a comment

You need to subtract, not add.

You need to cut, not expand.

You need to combine, not fragment.

You need to connect, not divide.

And when you are down to the bare minimum, that’s when clarity kicks in. In life, in writing, in business, in projects, in marketing, in communication, you do not get to deep understanding by adding chaos on top of chaos.

And when you are down to the bare minimum, that’s when you can slowly start building. On solid foundation, in the direction you have chosen, taking the right people with you.

Folly

FabrizioLeave a comment

Companies have a strong tool they can leverage to influence behaviour: rewards.

The problem then is not that companies cannot figure out how to increase employees collaboration, how to break down silos, how to foster innovation, or how to build a safe space for feedback. The problem is that the focus is – sometimes unintentionally – on a contrasting behaviour, which gets strenghtened with rewards.

Steve Kerr 1995 – On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B.

The camel

Fabrizio2 Comments

Episode nine of the second season of Parks and Recreation presents a plot that many will find familiar.

The boss wants to win a competition and calls for the whole team to come up with ideas. Despite the general disengagement, each one of them presents a proposal; and when failing to agree on which one to put forward for the prize, they come together and combine them all into one. The result is a camel – in the sense of a horse designed by committee – that leaves them with slim chances to win, and yet it is a team effort. Unsatisfied and driven by possible reward, the boss calls the external consultant, who comes up with something that would most likely take the first prize. While further disengaging the team.

The point is that it is more important to achieve something together, anything really. This is how team, morale, and bond are built.

There are very few circumstances when winning matters more then the way you compete. Very few.

Possibly none.

The change you want to see

Fabrizio2 Comments

Be the change you want to see in the world.

It’s great advice. But if feels difficult, sometimes vague, often out of reach.

To make it more concrete, consider this.

You work at a company that fosters a toxic environment. Everyone is only focused on achieving a reward, to the extent that people barely greet each other when they meet in the corridors, actively hide information to get some edge, and only put a smile on their faces in the presence of a manager.

You can’t take it anymore. You are close to burn out, you are tired of being treated as a machine, and you dread the meeting to set your next goals way more than failing at them.

You have some options.

You can quit. Some do that, not many though.

You can muscle through. Most do that, and of course while doing that they lose energy, enthusiasm, well-being.

You can put up a shield of cynicism and sarcasm. I have done it myself many times. Become the one who has a witty response at the ready, a negative comment for every situation, a superior attitude that eventually will make it impossible for others to take you seriously.

Or you can reach out and ask: “how are you?” Very few do that. Despite the awful situation, very few understand that what is most needed in difficult circumstances is connection. Very few understand that they can be the initiator of something that is going to grow around them. Very few understand that they can indeed be the change they want to see in their world.

It is difficult. It can be done.

Draw the line

FabrizioLeave a comment

We know that people prefer to work for leaders who give a sense of security, who distribute responsibilities, who show a genuine interest in their direct reports, who care, who have integrity, who listen.

Yet, very few leaders do any of that.

And that could be for three reasons.

They might be not skilled enough. Many top performers are promoted into leadership roles and they simply have no experience creating an environment where people can develop and feel secure. The idea is that if you are good at making things happen, you will eventually figure that out. Of course, it rarely happens.

They might believe that those things will come when _______ (fill in the blank). When the recession is over, when the urgency of the moment has passed, when the company will grow, when the next campaign will fix everything, when the new year will come. It’s never a good time for them to take ownership.

They might be genuinely interested in themselves more than in anything else. They move from one role to the next, from one company to the next, achieving above average results, and then leaving fear and destruction behind.

There are certainly other reasons, and other types of dysfunctional leadership.

But the main point for you is that you are not going to change that. You will not convince your team lead that they need training, that the time is now, or that putting their needs second will actually serve them in the long term.

None of that is going to happen.

All you can do is decide what type of leader you want to follow and where you draw the line.