Tag: team work

Frameworks

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Frameworks, matrices, canvas are great tools to organize thinking and guide action.

And they should be approached with two things in mind.

First, you need to understand how they work. To do that you often have to read articles and papers from the people who have proposed the tool you want to use, and possibly also from people who have challenged their usefulness.

This is particularly problematic with models that are very well known and frequently quoted in organizations, such as the 5 forces by Porter, or the S.W.O.T. matrix, or the Competing Value Framework by Cameron and Quinn. People use these without actually knowing what the authors had in mind, or without having any reference to get them started, and as a result they are often misused. Even when a colleague suggests they have all the information you might need to get started, challenge them and dig into the original material.

Second, they are simplification of reality. And so they might not fit 100% to the specific case you are trying to apply them to. They might need some adjustments. And that is one more reason why it is important to study them, so that when rules need to be bent, it’s not going to betray the purpose or the essence of the tool.

Slavishly applying a framework, a matrix, a canva to your business, and doing that by only looking at the superficial level, it’s most likely not going to bring about the change you are seeking.

Nice and rude

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Both nice and rude are roadblocks to change.

One because it hides a truth, the other because it distracts from it.

Being in the middle is worth the effort.

Give yourself a reason

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What is the reason you give yourself to continue doing what you’re doing?

If it’s to make things better, to support, to spread an important message, to grow and make others grow, to change toxic habits, to repair something that is worth it. That is fantastic, and you are lucky.

If it’s to feed a habit, to continue a routine, to leverage information that no one else has, to make yourself indispensable, to add layers of complexity and titles to your business card, to keep your mind busy so that you do not have to face bigger, more painful questions, to share your opinion on things you don’t know even when not asked.

Then it is time to find new reasons.

Mentor

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In December 1997, Los Angeles Lakers played the Bulls in Chicago. Many consider that the first real face-off between Kobe Bryant (who had been drafted the year before) and Michael Jordan (who had already won five championships).

During a break in the game, Bryant is close to Jordan. Bryant grew up watching Jordan play, he’s his idol. Bryant is bold enough to ask Jordan a question about his game: “how do you feel the defense when you turn around on your jump shot?”.

Now, Jordan could have done many different things here. He was the undisputed star of the NBA, he was going to win another championship that year. Yet, he knew that could not last forever, and many thought Bryant was his successor, the new rising star destined to take his place in the hearts of millions of fan.

Jordan could have done many different things. He could have walked away, he could have laughed it off, he could have hidden his secret, he could have shared the wrong information, he could have told the newbie to come back after winning five rings.

And he decided to share his expertise. “You feel them with your legs.”

Knowledge is no longer a limited resources (provided it ever was). Knowledge is incremental, and every time you share your knowledge, you add another person’s perspective, experience, take to it. Knowledge grows, and eventually it makes a community (whether it is the National Basketball Association, your team, your neighborhood or your family) better.

Mentoring is the very act of sharing knowledge. We can make of it a practice and be generous with what we know, be open to give it away, and perhaps see it returning in time with some new twists.

And if you are in the young Bryant’s shoes, be bold enough to ask.

This is the practice of leadership.

What feedback is not

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You can’t respond to feedback with a counterargument, a justification, an elaboration of the original idea.

Feedback is not a discussion, something you ought to win, a way for you to influence others with your perspective. Feedback is not an attack, something you have to defend against, a way for others to bring you down. In most cases, feedback is also not supposed to start an action, something that puts an obligation onto you, a way for others to have your work rectified or changed.

The only, immediate, acceptable response to receiving feedback is always: thank you!