"Punish Inaction"

I've become a major fan of Dev Patnaik's book Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy I'm looking forward to interviewing Dev tomorrow for an upcoming People and Projects Podcast episode.

Don't wait for the interview--get the book now and start reading.

While prepping for the interview I came across what I expect to be my favorite quote for this entire month, from a recent article Dev wrote for BusinessWeek.

The quote is credited to Stanford University engineering professor Jim Adams who said, "Good companies reward success, punish failure, and ignore inaction. Great companies reward success and failure and punish inaction."

This hits on a common theme in both my interview with Michael Roberto about his book Know What You Don't Know: How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Happen and in my discussion with Ralph Heath, author of Celebrating Failure: The Power of Taking Risks, Making Mistakes and Thinking Big: we too often seek first to punish failure instead of learn from it.

Yet the even greater wisdom of the quote has to do with how we deal with inaction. You be the judge. How have you seen inaction most often handled?

Tolerated? Expected? Ignored? Seriously. How many times have you said, "I thought of that years ago!" as someone makes money off an idea you had in the shower but went down the drain because you didn't take action.

"Punish inaction."

Do you want to excel at delivering projects and leading teams? Take those strong words to heart today. And don't just consider the inaction of those on your teams and the stakeholders you work with.

You and I both need to look in the mirror to consider the inaction that has been holding us back.

Do you want to make big things happen this year? Reward success. Enthusiastically learn from mistakes. And develop a disdain for inaction.

P.S. Have you still not taken action on getting a copy of Dev's book? :)

Labels: accountability, Books I Love, executives, innovation, learning, managing stakeholders, mistakes, podcast, project management, teambuilding, teams

posted by Andy at 1:52 PM  

"What did they say?"

How often does this happen to you? You're flipping through some notes of a meeting that could have been a week or two ago. As you try to interpret the hastily written scratching you try to remember, "What did they say? What was the context of the meeting when I wrote that down?"

Or it could be you're with a project stakeholder who told you one thing two months ago and they're now changing their story. "No, that's not what I said. What I've been saying for months is...."

My talented and insightful colleague Payson Hall recently shared one of his favorite new tools with me. It's called Livescribe. Here's how it works:

• While you're in a meeting (or class or any other context where you're taking notes while someone else is speaking), you use this special pen which has an audio recorder built-in.
• You take your notes on a special notebook that has uniquely identifiable markings encoded every millimeter or so--so small you don't see the markings. The pen understands where you are writing because of this encoding so it can sync your notes with the audio.
• Later on when you review your notes, just tap on the note and you can hear the accompanying audio. Imagine that project stakeholder's reaction when you can play back what they said!

Beyond that functionality, you can transfer your notes to your computer, organize them, and even search for words within the notes allowing you to find what you want in seconds. They even have the ability to transform your notes and audio into interactive movies.

The notebook and pen refills are reasonably priced, not to mention the very high cool factor. Looking for a new tool to help you manage your notes and stakeholders? Check out Livescribe on Amazon!

Labels: managing stakeholders, requirements, tools I love

posted by Andy at 4:04 PM  

What I "Can" Do

There are times when saying 'No' seems like a career-limiting move. Yet a clear personal productivity principle is learning to say 'No'.

Easier said than done.

I often cover this topic in our project management and leadership development workshops. Here's a link to my article "How to Say 'No' (Without Saying 'No')" that provides some helpful advice.

In addition, here's a piece from Rachel Zupek for your consideration as well. I like her focus on "What I can do..." as well as the coaching on watching your body language and vocal tone.

Clearly there are times when "No" needs to be the answer (for example, when asked to do something illegal, unethical, or against your value system). Yet some people err on the side of over-using "No" when there may be better ways to finesse the same result.

Ultimately, we need to be known as people who deliver--who make things happen. That will often happen by saying "Yes" to opportunities. But when "No" is really the best answer, it's helpful to be armed with techniques that can help you influence a "No" without always using the letters N-O!

Labels: communication, influence, managing stakeholders, managing up, time management

posted by Andy at 12:49 PM  

"Could I have a translator for what this IT guy said?"

If you're not an Information Technology (IT) professional, you probably have to work with one. A common complaint about communication across organizational boundaries is the use of jargon, and the IT people I interact with are often guilty of this communications sin.

According to the results of a survey conducted by IT recruitment consultancy Computer People, 75 percent of respondents admitted that they waste over an hour a week finding out what something means so they can complete their work.

For the record, that seems like an exaggeration to me (but then again, I grew up as an IT guy). Regardless we can all use a reminder to be careful with the jargon that we inadvertently insert into our written and spoken communications.

Potential actions
Consider re-reading your e-mails today before hitting the Send button. Double-check that presentation you're sending to your project sponsor. Do they really understand the metrics?

An extra minute of review now can save much more time later in confusion or poor decisions.

For advice on how to use e-mail more effectively, check out my e-book How to Organize Your Inbox & Get Rid of E-Mail Clutter.

Labels: communication, e-mail, managing stakeholders, project sponsors

posted by Andy at 10:28 AM  

A Really Bad Way to Approach Conflict (Plus a Free Offer!)

There are many ways to approach a conflict situation. The one I describe in today's newsletter is definitely not recommended! Make sure to check it out.

While you're there, check out the special offer. The first 10 people to respond get a free license to our e-learning offering entitled Beyond the Rock and the Hard Place: How to Deal With Conflict More Effectively.

Get helpful learning. For free. Contact me today.

Labels: Beyond the Rock and the Hard Place, conflict, managing stakeholders

posted by Andy at 4:38 PM  

Improving Your Influence

How effective are you at influencing others? How can you convince someone to agree to your proposed approach, particularly when you don't have authority over them? Or when it's not as simple as getting a bunch of facts together? Or when there may be some natural tension between what you both want?

How would it impact your job (and life) if you could be more influential?

John Maxwell summarizes leadership in one word: Influence. One of my favorite books on the topic is from Robert B. Cialdini. In Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Cialdini offers up what he calls the "weapons of influence" to help us all better understand how influence works.

This book is packed with insights that can help every aspiring leader be more influential. You will find the ideas in the book easily accessible even if you don't have a background in psychology.

Cialdini serves up an enjoyable, practical, yet scientifically documented work that centers around what he calls the weapons of influence. Packed with entertaining and insightful stories, Cialdini helps us understand how each of the weapons work. Perhaps as enlightening is his advice on how to defend against the weapons when others wield them on you.

Here's an example: one of the weapons is referred to as reciprocation. The rule says that we should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us. In fact, Cialdini's research finds we often feel obligated to future repayment of favors, gifts, invitations and the like.

However, he also finds the rule of reciprocation can trigger unequal exchanges. I have a friend who raises funds for a non-profit. Like me, he uses Send Out Cards (SOC) to stay in touch with people using real cards instead of e-mail or e-cards. One of the many nice features of SOC is you can include a gift along with the actual card. He included a $10 Starbucks gift card inside a "we missed you" card to 10 people who were unable to attend an event. Within a week, two of those people sent him checks for more than $1,000.

It's reciprocity in action.

Ever get free return mailing labels from an organization asking for donations? How about free samples where you shop? As it turns out, Cialdini finds they all may not be as free as we think! In fact, researchers have found that simply giving customers a candy or mint along with their bill significantly increases tips!

I'm not suggesting you use sleazy, deceptive means to get what you want, on the job or outside work. There can be a fine line between influencing and manipulating.

But Cialdini's book is packed with ideas that, with some consideration and proper intentions, can help you persuade a project stakeholder that a certain decision is best. Or that another group needs to deliver on time when they normally don't share your sense of urgency. Or when you need a team to work longer hours but don't want to force it on them.

Actions for Leaders

• I wholeheartedly recommend you add Cialdini's book to your reading list. I'd love to hear your insights after you read it.
• Contact us about our keynotes and workshops that can help you and your organization significantly improve your ability to influence others. We help develop leaders around the world on this vital topic, and it would be a privilege to explore the potential of helping your organization as well.
• Send Out Cards is a simple and practical way to improve your influence and show people how much you care about them. To learn more (and send a couple free ones on me) click here. Then click on the banner with the moving arrow.

Labels: Books I Love, conflict, influence, leadership, managing stakeholders

posted by Andy at 11:11 AM  

Stakeholders and Trust

Ever find yourself complaining about people in other departments or on other teams? You have to rely on them to get things done but they're always challenging you?

Or maybe it's management. Yeah, they're the problem. They're so pushy, won't listen to logic, and too often micro-manage.

If you run a company or are in sales, maybe you slip into whining about customers that are a pain to deal with.

In project management terms, those people are stakeholders, defined as individuals and organizations who are actively involved in what we're doing or whose interests may be effected as a result.

When I hear an executive coaching client or teams complaining about stakeholders, I typically reframe the conversation to a discussion about trust.

Trust.

We know it's important. We know it's difficult to develop and easy to betray. Yet I find too many aspiring leaders who are not actively, intentionally working to develop it.

If you have the time, I strongly recommend you read the Edelman 2006 Annual Trust Barometer. It's bursting with analysis on trust, slicing data on the topic in ways I found incredibly engaging.

Here's one snapshot that is relevant to those who are actively managing stakeholders. It's a quote from Dr. Jennifer Scott, president of StrategyOne, the research company that conducts the Trust Barometer studies:

"When there's trust, stakeholders cooperate more eagerly. They challenge
less. They tend not to ask for verification or look for other partners. With
trust, things get done. Without trust, things cost more, take more time,and
exert more strain on an organization. Stakeholders will double-check every word you say before cooperating with you. They’ll make almost any task more ponderous and exhausting.”

Are you actively, intentionally working to develop trust with your stakeholders? Don't answer flippantly. What more should you do?

Instead of being annoyed by your stakeholders, look at it as a sign that you need to improve trust. Trust me. :)

Labels: leadership, managing stakeholders, project management, teams, trust

posted by Andy at 10:08 PM