Tag: team work

A road way longer

FabrizioLeave a comment

When we set our mind onto something, it is particularly challenging to accept we might have to wait and bleed to get it done.

We see it so vividly in our mind, we know that it would be a great thing, we can’t wait for others to see its benefits as well, and we are sure that the best way is to actually just let us go ahead however we prefer. No restraints, no questions, no doubts.

Of course, ideas are easy while execution is when stuff gets real. I wonder if it is perhaps our fear of failing that makes us so convinced what we want to do is the greatest thing ever thought. This way it is much easier to simply give up, blame the others and a challenging work environment, simply continue coming up with new ways to not commit.

Doing requires consistency.

It also means taking a road way longer than the one you had imagined. As we walk it, we just have to make sure we are in a mindset that adds rather than one that subtracts. It is a challenging act of balance, and the only way to end with something more than when you started (versus nothing at all).

Selfish and harmful

FabrizioLeave a comment

For a very long time, when somebody would pay me a compliment I was going to diminish it.

Either I was going to switch the attention on the indefinite number of things that were still far from worthy of a compliment (in my work, in my deliverables, in myself, in the world), or I was just going to play down the importance of what I did with reference to the bigger picture (this is not going to help us achieve what we want anyway!).

Somehow, I now realize this is a selfish and harmful thing to do.

It does not give resolution to the person paying the compliment, therefore fostering a culture that is not incline to doing so. And it tends to increase self-expectations, setting yourself up for continuous disappointment.

“Thank you!” is a great way to reply to a compliment.

There will always be ample time later to think about what is still missing and to consider the value of the compliment for your broader story.

Enamored

Fabrizio1 Comment

Doing more of what you have done so far is seldom the recipe for growth.

This is valid both for individuals and organizations. At different stages, there’s a need to identify what can take you to the next level. And the more you can do this without putting what took you so far front and center, the more likely it is that the exercise will be successful.

Studying hard will most likely get you a degree, but won’t get you that far once you land your first job.

Putting all your marketing budget in acquisition can be effective at early stages, but the value of this operation will decrease as your company grows.

Taking on different projects and trying various things can be great when you are in your twenties, but it’s going to become counterproductive once you get older.

Assuming a directive approach to leadership can work as long as your team is extremely junior, but as they start making experience you’ll most likely get more benefit (and commitment) from letting go of the reins.

This is the tricky part.

Once you find something that works, you’ll probably have to adapt to changing conditions soon enough and find a new way. Don’t get too enamored.

We could try this

FabrizioLeave a comment

A dialogue that is often heard in organizations of all sizes and in all industries is the following.

Manager: We have taken the decision to do this. Go and do it.
Employees: Who has taken the decision? Based on what? Why are we doing this? How does this fit with all the rest we are already doing?

There are two problems with this approach.

First of all, managers very rarely share information about the decision-making process. This is problematic, since if you want people to be committed you probably need to give them a better idea of what is going on. Chances are, though, that the decision-making process is one or two persons following their intuition, and so there’s probably not much more context to add to the outcome itself.

The second problem is that it sets the employees mainly as executors. It is challenging to give your best when you are not involved in shaping what needs to happen, and if that is the case the manager can already expect some sort of resistance, either in the form of low-quality work or in the form of time-delays.

A far better way to handle this dialogue would be the following.

Manager: We have decided we want to be there next year. How do we make it happen?
Employees: We could try this. And this. And this.

Of course, it sounds scary, as it gives control away. Expect a lot of ideas, initial chaos, and perhaps a bunch of changes in direction (also the other approach has such features, they are just more hidden). And yet, this is the only way to prepare your employees to give their best, to act for what they have prepared, and to deliver incremental value to the whole organization.

Give it a try.

A shortcut

Fabrizio1 Comment

There is an old joke, I am not sure where it is originally from, but at least I am quite sure I have heard it in the series The Middle.

It’s about a wife, frustrated at her husband as he never shares his feelings for her. “You never say I love you”, she says. “I told you when we got married”, he counters. “If anything changes, I will let you know.”

This reflects quite well the attitude towards praise in business.

Managers think members of their teams know where they stand, because they once shared a “good job!” with them, or at the very least because if things would not be ok, for sure they would let them know.

It is an easy shortcut to avoiding a serious conversation about the job that is being done, one that requires a careful look at the whole (what we are doing as a company, why it does matter, where we are headed, …) and at its parts (how does what you are doing fits into it, what I did like of your job in particular, what can be improved, …).

If you do not express sufficient (and specific) appreciation for the people you lead, chances are they are going to look for it somewhere else.

Do not be surprised when they do.