Distraction Turns To Tragedy

Motorcyclist Fatally Struck by Car; Cops Say Other Driver Painting Nails

That was the headline in our local paper Sunday morning after a tragic accident the day before. The outrage continues to pour in, especially when it appears the nail-painting driver will only be charged with "failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident."

My guess is there will be additional fines and litigation against the offending driver. Yet I suppose the most painful sentence for her will be living with the result of her lack of attention. One comment on a discussion board mentioned the driver is a nurse: someone who helps save lives. In a split second, for no good reason, she ended one.

The discussion boards on local news sites are filled with "lock her up for life!" sort of judgments. My first reaction to the tragedy was similar: "What a loser! Painting her nails?"

And yet I couldn't help but be reminded of one of Jesus' comments about someone who had obviously made a mistake as well: "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

How often will I text someone (while I'm driving) that I'm running a couple minutes late? Or scroll through a list of names to make a call? Or twirl the selector on my iPod to find the podcast I want to listen to? Or eat? Or review some notes before a meeting? Or shave?

Or [fill in the blank]? The answer: too often.

I've posted about attention and distraction a number of times and discussed it on my podcast with the author of The Myth of Multitasking. We are a culture of distracted multitaskers. The data clearly indicate it's not just the phone or iPod or nail polishing that impairs our driving. Reaching across the car to grab a bottle of water can make the difference between stopping now or a half-second too late.

I understand that many of us fancy ourselves as great multitaskers, and certainly some seem better than others. But brain science increasingly makes it clear that we are fooling ourselves: "To put it bluntly, research shows that we can't multitask. We are biologically incapable of processing attention-rich inputs simultaneously," says Dr. John Medina, author of Brain Rules. He goes on:

"Cell-phone talkers are a half-second slower to hit the brakes in emergencies, slower to return to normal speed after an emergency, and more wild in their 'following distance' behind the vehicle in front of them. In a half-second, a driver going 70 mph travels 51 feet. Given that 80% of crashes happen within three seconds of some kind of driver distraction, increasing your amount of task-switching increases your risk of an accident. More than 50% of the visual cues spotted by attentive drivers are missed by cell-phone talkers. Not surprisingly, they get in more wrecks than anyone except very drunk drivers."

This isn't just an issue on the road. People are distracted by e-mail in meetings. Managers try to draft something on their computer while having a one-on-one with a staff member. Noises from a cubicle next door make it difficult to focus on your work. Thankfully the results are not typically as tragic as someone dying, but there is a toll nonetheless.

Our local paper's editorial board had a good response this morning: "Don't _____ and Drive"

That's good advice for the road. And it can be a good reminder for us all to manage our distractions more aggressively as we go through our day today.

P.S. As I was finishing this post up this morning, my 12-year old son wanted to talk. I found myself bouncing between the conversation and this post. How ironic. I had to turn away from the keyboard and focus on him. Otherwise the likelihood of him feeling I wasn't listening (and a typo showing up in this post) would have dramatically risen. Here's to less distractions in your day today!

Labels: denial, mistakes, multitasking, podcast, reality, time management

posted by Andy at 7:41 AM  

The Illusion of Knowledge

So what are you reading? I just started Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, which is certainly a departure from the business books that typically keep me busy. I had to present a paper on Gibbon's classic back in high school and I’ve been wanting to re-read it. With trips to Europe and Africa in the months ahead, the timing is perfect for a book nearly 3 inches thick!

Daniel Boorstin’s introduction had an interesting quote: “For Gibbon, while human nature is anything but unintelligible, it remains only partly explicable. For him the menace to understanding was not so much ignorance as the illusion of knowledge.”

In my business of speaking and executive coaching I have the opportunity to help leaders become more productive by learning rich theories and models that explain personality styles and other aspects of human nature. Yet upon reflection, I’m probably less immune than I want to admit to the illusion of knowledge—that I can explain it all because “they’re an ENTJ” or “a High D”, when in fact I’m over-simplifying and perhaps being held back from greater understanding because of it.

I can too easily jump to conclusions about people. I can put people in a style box and not recognize when they're trying to be more versatile. I can try to apply simple solutions to complex problems.

What about you? Are you being held back from deeper understanding on something because you hold up the illusion of knowledge? How willing are you to take a fresh look at long held convictions? When was the last time you admitted, "I'm not really sure. I will look into that more."

As we discuss in our keynote "Lipstick on a Pig: How Illusion Leads to Crisis in Real World Projects", reality has this annoying way of always winning. Here's to all of us gaining greater understanding by being more willing to combat the illusion of knowledge.

Labels: illusion, Lipstick on a Pig, personality styles, reality, uncertainty

posted by Andy at 10:52 PM  

Leadership Lessons from William A. Osborne

A recent Crain's Chicago Business "Talking Business" episode included an interview with the Chairman and CEO of Northern Trust, Bill Osborne. I've had the distinct pleasure of facilitating training & offsite meetings for the Northern, as well as some executive coaching. You can often learn a lot about a leader by what people in their organization say about him or her. Here are some things I consistently hear people say about Bill:

• "He's so personable."
• "He's very approachable."
• "He doesn't talk down to you."
• "He's very down-to-earth."
• "He's sharp. He knows the business."

Here are some notes from the brief video:

• You're not a leader if you're not respected. We continually need to be reminded that we're not a leader simply because of our title. In many of our leadership workshops (such as Influence & Accountability for Project Success), we discuss the difference between positional power (you follow me because of my position) and personal power (you follow me because of who I am). There are times when leaders need to exercise their positional power, but the most effective leaders for the long-term are those who have a well-developed arsenal of personal power. One of the keys to increasing your personal power is increasing the respect others have for you, and respect is something that is earned day-by-day, decision-by-decision, one interaction with a person at a time. Contact us to learn how we can help you better develop your influence.
  

• Leaders are visible and accessible. Bill spends half of his time visiting offices, meeting with employees. I don't remember meeting a partner (what the Northern calls their employees) who had been with the organization for more than a year that has not met Bill. We coach leaders to Manage By Wandering Around, which sounds a lot like Manage By Walking Around, with some subtle differences. Wandering implies less of an agenda, with the true agenda being available for interaction. The ivory tower syndrome hits too many leaders, often due to death by meeting. Certainly you are required to participate in more than you share of meetings, but you must carve out time to be on the floor, available to team members.

• Leaders listen to all levels. I appreciated Bill's comments about not simply listening to his direct reports. It's been observed there's an inverse relationship between someone's level in the organization and their ability to see reality! We can joke about that, but the truth is that reality is often obscured in the executive ranks because the food chain under them overly massages the information to the point that it bears only a shadow's resemblance to the original message.
  

• Leaders learn from others. Though Caterpillar and Northern Trust are quite different enterprises, Bill provides a good example of how serving on the Caterpillar board has benefited his business. Too many leaders have the mindset that they already have the answers, and stop actively working to learn from others. In discussions with friends and colleagues in other companies, ask them questions about the business. Try to understand the business models and operating principles. Intentionally watch for ideas you can apply to how you manage your areas of responsibility.

I strongly suggest you invest the time to learn from one of the great leaders in the banking industry, Bill Osborne.

Labels: accountability, executives, illusion, leadership, learning, listening, reality

posted by Andy at 4:22 PM  

Oversimplifying the issue

“Idealism increases in direct proportion to one's distance from the problem.”
John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright

A customer recently shared this quote with me based on a topic we had covered prior to a break. I had to share it with you… Have you seen Galsworthy’s wisdom in action?

We are a culture that loves the sound bite. Wrap the concept up in a 10 second blip… that’ll do just fine. From a cultural standpoint, think about how we oversimplify issues. For example, you’re either a liberal or a conservative. You’re either for saving the lives of millions of people through embryonic stem cell research or you’re a religious whacko. It would appear there’s no middle ground or shades of grey.

In business, think of how many times training classes or articles state we need to “do the right thing”, “put the right people on it”, “ask the right questions”. A recent article recommended that prospective leaders make sure they “do the right thing at the right time”. Uh, thanks for the insight.

At 30,000 feet, everything looks pretty simple. As Galsworthy states, “Idealism increases in direct proportion to one’s distance from the problem.”

Think about projects that, once you dig into the requirements, are not as simple as they might have seemed on the white board with the sales & marketing folks. How about an employee who is struggling with his performance but has some real world challenges going on in his personal life? Or maybe you can think of processes that are a good idea but require changes to the culture to allow for acceptance?

Start digging into issues a little deeper and we’ll often find there’s less black and white and more shades of grey. It becomes more apparent that answers aren’t quite as easy as we may have thought.

For example, the whole stem cell debate has caught my interest. Did you know that while the politcally active mud wrestle about funding of stem cell research, adult stem cells are being used to treat over 67 diseases... today? And there’s promising research (here’s one example) that may make embryonic stem cell usage irrelevant some day.

In business, the reality is some things are black-and-white. There are generally accepted accounting principles that need to be followed. It’s not all shades of grey. Also, we need to simplify at times. In fact, I’ve found many an aspiring leader who failed to influence a situation because they presented too much detail to their executives. They should have provided more headline, less encyclopedia.

We can often win when we do a good job of simplifying.

But oversimplifying can be deadly. This blog entry is a call for you to be wary of oversimplifying.

Suggestions:

• Spend some time in the mud. If you are not spending enough time managing by wandering around, your idealism might be unfounded.


• Check yourself to see if you too often speak with the “right ______” phrasing. If you catch yourself saying, “We need to do this the right way” or “use the right tools”, let that be an alert that your altitude may be causing you to not appreciate the reality of the situation. Is it really a matter of right and wrong? It might be! But often it’s a matter of trade-offs.


• Surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth. You need people around you who will tell you the truth, not just defer. Though it can drive me crazy at times, I purposely develop relationships with people who look at the world differently from me to make sure we’re not all sharing the same Kool-Aid.

Labels: culture, idealism, illusion, planning, project management, reality, requirements

posted by Andy at 3:18 PM  

Mind Over Water

In a recent newsletter I shared the story of my five year old daughter getting victory over her fear of swimming. If you haven't read it yet, click here to take two minutes to read the story. Then return here to learn more.

So, what is your story? What made the difference?

Chances are you have stories yet to be told. I’m guessing there are some areas that haven’t clicked yet for you—that are holding you back, that still have you bound by the chains of “Well, I’m just not very good at that.”

What is it that, if you actually did it, would give you a similarly joyous, “I can do this!” “I did it!” “I am a ___________!”

Here are a couple strategies I share as a coach, to help you cross the line.

A clear principle of change is that if you want different results, you must take different actions. Sounds obvious, but it’s a principle that is often ignored. Have you actually tried taking different actions? In my executive coaching practice I find too many people that have checked out on their dreams or ambitions, choosing the rut of complacency to actually changing areas of their life that would add meaning and satisfaction.

Yet let’s face it… Doing things differently is difficult. That’s why another critical principle is that if you’re having trouble doing different things, maybe what you need to do is start looking at the problem in a different way.

Click here to learn more about my book,
Navigating the Winds of Change:
Staying on Course in Business & in Life.

For example, you might really want to exercise more faithfully but always find good excuses to skip it. You’ve tried “doing different things” (creating a museum of useless exercise equipment in your closets and basement), but the excuses always win.

I have a friend who was diagnosed with diabetes. Suddenly his perspective on exercising changed from “a good idea” to a necessity. It was a different way of seeing the problem.

How could you look at your issue differently? It’s not about losing pounds—it’s about being healthier 20 years from now so you can better enjoy those you love. It’s not about being less nervous when you deliver presentations. It’s about gaining one of the critical skills required for the senior leadership position you want some day.

A wise friend and mentor, James MacDonald, teaches: “Name the lie, insert the truth.” Reframing the way we think often means we have to slay the lies that hold us captive. I’ve found those dragons are apt to reappear unless I replace them with something else: the truth.

Could there be some lies that you’ve been clinging onto, not realizing they are the fetters that are holding you back from victory?

My little daughter found a way to reframe swimming in her mind. It wasn’t a matter of sneaky mind altering techniques from daddy’s coaching practice—it came from inside, and the result will be years of fun and fitness.

I invite you to click "Post a Comment" below and share your story....

May you experience the joy that our little five year old did this last weekend. We are here to help.

Labels: leadership, managing change, reality

posted by Andy at 12:17 AM  

Join me for a Day at the Races!

If you plan on being in the Chicago area on September 12, I invite you to join me and other Chicago area leaders for the Daugherty Day At The Races at Arlington Park.

Come enjoy a great lunch and an afternoon of networking with other leaders. I'll be sharing our Lipstick on a Pig: How Illusion Leads to Crisis in Real World Projects keynote. It's an outstanding event sponsored by the good people at Daugherty Business Solutions.

Click here for more information and to register. I look forward to seeing you there!

Labels: illusion, keynotes, Lipstick on a Pig, reality

posted by Andy at 10:02 AM