Andrew Wojecki

The Job Hunt - do we talk about the times 'in-between' enough

Today's job market is more competitive, uncertain, and intimidating than my generation has seen (let me speak for myself - more than I have ever seen). Over a year ago, based on my own decisions, I attempted to try something different and transition into a new role and new industry. I was lucky. Any later and that gamble might not have paid off.

One thing I wasn't prepared for was the time inbetween. What one did with oneself while looking for work? Yes, the job search should be seen as full-time work, but I struggled with the isolation and lack of meaning that working toward a particular business or team objective provided. For many who are in transition through no choice of their own must now manage the tension and emotions that naturally arise.

Seth Godin has written a recent post questioning if the resume is still relevant.
Guy Kawasaki has written on his dos and don'ts on resumes.

Thomas Teal, in his HBR article The Human Side of Management,(Nov.-Dec. 1996):

"Managing is not a series of mechanical tasks but a set of human interactions."

How lop-sided are your leadership strengths?

Kaplan and Kaiser in this month's HBR write an interesting piece contributing some critique to the strengths-based movement in the field of leadership studies. I'm a strong proponent of strengths-based approaches, something I picked in my narrative work and in my further studies and engagement through the Dulwich Centre. However, they offer some good insights and it reminds me of the saying a colleague once told me " A weakness is a strength overdone." As they close the article with, they speak to this issue in saying,  "Managers are always at risk of being one-dimensional - and often to what they sacrifice as a consequence."

I'm teaching the module Leading and Motivating, from the Harvard ManageMentor program in a few weeks, and the article has spurred my thinking around some covnversations and possible activities to design.

They offer a useful framework/model in which to conceptualize these competing dualities of leadership. Describing the "what" of leadership along the duality between Strategic and Operational, and another duality on the "how" of leadership between being Forceful and Enabling. In conceiving these dualities, they write "It is just as harmful to overdo a leadership strength as it is to undo it." 

Possible Activity:

1. Individually, have each leader write down a list of qualities, competencies, and strengths they most want to have for both their current role and future roles.

2. In small groups, have each leader go through their lists and describe how they are overdoing any of their selected strengths? If so to explain why and how they might find themselves over-emphasizing those strengths? Does it occur within particular situations and contexts; with particular individuals; or, as a result of particular behaviors, triggers, or business problems?

3. Those who are in the role of 'listener' provide their observations and share 1 suggested action toward addressing the overcompensation the individual displays. 

4. Facilitator guides group reflection using the two dualities discussed above on the what and how of leadership. Questions could be developed in relation to each duality and, in small groups, participants could discuss the tendencies of where they tend to  'stay' in within the dualities and why. 

5. In identifying their strengths, focus could be placed on developing an action plan in which to begin focusing on competencies to improve (when and how and what support might be needed).

While all of us can point to strengths overdone by others, it is harder for us to identify strengths overdone in us. Perhaps, this reflective space becomes a good starting point in which to begin checking if our leadership stance is lop-sided.

What changes will emerge through this downturn in how we manage our work, ourselves, and others?

As Prof. Lynda Gratton sees it recessions are the perfect time to really gain and develop one’s business knowledge, as this is the time where innovations emerge out of not necessarily out of desire, but sheer necessity. Following along the lines of Gary Hamel’s work with The MLab, Gratton sees opportunities in how we can innovate and drive forward new management practices and mental models that have remained largely unchanged since the rise of management practices from the 1950s.

What past recessions have taught us:
•    1981-1982 – ended the notion of a ‘job for life’ and gave rise to the knowledge worker as the ‘free agent’
•    1990-1992 – globalization and the sourcing of cheaper talent ‘elsewhere’

Gratton sees two fissures for possibly innovating the work of management. The first is in the evolving notion of distributed leadership, or tasking the work of decision making amongst more individuals, than fewer. A direct challenge to the prevalent command and control model in use over the last century. As she writes, “This is a fissure in the norms of organizational life that could well lead to the acceleration of a more democratic and decision-making process and the idea that leadership can be held by a wider group of people.”

The second fissure is the role of virtual teams. With the rise of technologies and current travel restrictions for many businesses it is becoming difficult to justify the large travel budgets organizations face. This helps us call into question two assumptions on the notion of ‘work’, a) that you have to meet face to face everyday to get things done and b) that if working at home they slack off. Both of these myths have been overturned. If people have meaningful, well-structured work schedules and tasks they can complete the required work without the discipline of the office.

For training professionals this current context provides opportunities to focus in the areas of change management, managing and working in virtual teams, meeting facilitation, and leading and motivating others. Having a conversation with my VP of HR the other day we were discussing the role of mental health awareness to focus on the anxieties and emotions individuals and teams might be experiencing, and the skills necessary in being proactive and attune to any particular experiences employees may be experiencing.  I think it also presents opportunities to be proactive in organizational design activities and generating solutions to support our business leaders.

In thinking about innovating management practices, what training and development practices must be rethought?

Training is the last resort

 Could it be that we as learning professionals tend to err on the side of training because it's what pays the bills. What happens when you find yourself saying that training isn't the answer?

I'm finding that the more you spend in conducting needs analysis and repelling the "training grenades" (the managers coming to your door with problems that only training will solve), and really inquire around the performance issues: that training can be a catalyst. It might create the forum for broader team-focused or organizational conversations around expectations, behaviors, and practices. But it is never the sole answer.

The concept of MBW (management by walking) is useful here. Translated into our professional context it might be TBW (training by walking). The more I am out, talking to our project teams, inquiring into the business, and the projects we are executing, the more I am engaged in performance consulting. Yes, I'm finding out what our needs are, but in situ with the problems, assumptions, and behaviors surrounding these needs. It's leading me to shorter, tighter, more focused learning solutions, rather than larger training events (like 1/2 day programs or larger).

Today I was planning the Knowledge Cafes I'm facilitating for the Time Management module (Harvard ManageMentor). In thinking about these larger concepts around work breakdown, goal setting, eliminating time wasters, identifying strategies and systems to accelerate through tasks, I began thinking of the tools we use everyday in the workplace. Of course, we have our speciality software programs, but I kept coming back to Outlook. We use it everyday. But do we use it well? Collectively as an organization are we accruing the value from this tool? Or are we missing opportunities and inefficiencies through underutilizing it? So I started roaming the hallways asking people questions, ducking into people's cubicles and watching them, sending emails with links to a questionaire I cooked up. It was Anthropology 101, but it quickly gave insight into developing a learning solution to compliment the Time Management modules. Rather than just talking about Time Management we are going to embed our conversations and activities around little snippets of skills development or key functions and capabilities to improve our performance.

 

 

Saturday mornings with Bob

It is always a treat when I can carve out a few minutes to focus on Work Matters. I think Bob's blog is one of the greatest value-adds out in the blogosphere, and I view it as an opportunity to get a view into what his conversations with his students might be like at the d.school.

In catching up on his posts he's written a nice piece on the recent airplane landing on the Hudson, with a focus on how the crew worked together in managing the crisis into a successful landing.

Thinking about group dynamics and effectiveness from a cockpit point of view and applying it to the everyday work of management teams scattered across the globe, currently navigating their businesses through the downturn, really hooked me.

From the work of Richard Hackman the data indicates:
1. 44% of errors that pilots make is on their first flight together, of which 73% of those errors occur on their first day
2. Fresh crews working together for the first time made more errors than tired crews who had been working together previously.
3. Good groups, who have experience working together, quickly divide tasks and create a division of labor, they focus on people's strengths.
4. If you are designing teams focus on bringing people who have worked together before. Yes, teams can get stale, but a core group who have worked together may be more effective. (of course, there are variables such as the notion of low-performing teams. Why would you bring them back together?).

There is a strong role here for facilitators of teams. This has gotten me fired up to read more around group effectiveness!

 

The Slipperiness of Strategy

Strategy is a slippery word. It is value-laden, open to many competing perceptions and interpretations. I've been working lately with a group of executives and it has been quite challenging to facilitate and focus their energies around a strategy. This has been compounded with the uncertainties, anxieties, and ambiguity within the markets and economy, in general.

Some brief lessons:
1) Define the purpose of the strategy in clear terms. (In fact, you may find that using the word strategy gets in the way of the work you want to achieve. For example, I'm now using the term Operational Improvements to help get my immediate tasks and deliverables achieved, which will comprise some of the overarching strategy-work).
2) Repeat the clarification
3) Before holding a strategy session invest in the time to have one-on-one conversations with each individual to ensure they are prepared, focused, and clear of the expectations. (This also provides a valuable space for any whinging and getting things off their chest, rather than this taking up valuable time and space in the meeting).
4) Evaluate your time frame, I've found it takes longer than you think. (I believe this partly to allow time for individuals to develop and gain a sense of ownership with the inevitable changes).
5) Given the need for agility in our decision-making activities, most likely you'll revisit this process. Make sure that as the facilitator you are strengthening your relationships with the stakeholders, because you'll be doing more of this. (For example, I can be lenient in allowing people to speak. Given the time pressures and responsibilities of team members I am forcing my self to be a task-master and time keeper. While challenging, I'm performing better in the role. Thus increasing my contribution to the team and process.)

Have you fallen victim to the IKEA effect?

Browsing though my latest copy of the February HBR, I was struck by one of their top breakthrough ideas for 09 - The IKEA Effect by Norton, Mochon, and Ariely.

The gist is that people who are involved in the hands-on creation of a task or object, project, or process, who become emotionally invested through their 'construction' efforts - have a propensity to overvalue the outcomes of their creative work. Therefore, leading to a blindness of overvaluing or clinging onto something longer than they should.

Not an uncommon idea, but delightfully couched within a metaphor we can all appreciate. Who hasn't been touched by IKEA, and who hasn't struggled in making that Expedit bookshelf!!!

How do we prevent managers and leaders, who are often quite invested in particular mindsets and frameworks, from overvaluing their own ideas, intentions, and actions? The authors introduce the concept of sunk-cost effect - the act of devoting resources to failing or unproductive initiatives and investments. As they write, "Managers should keep in mind that ideas they have come to love because they invested their own labor in them may not be as highly valued by their coworkers - or their customers."

What happens if we aren't making decisions?

I left a meeting the other day confused. The team faced the reality of making some serious decisions regarding both sort term tactical/operational issues, while needing to be responsive and proactive in shaping a longer-term view of the business and the markets they are choosing to focus on, in response to changing market conditions. I left confused as to how a sense of urgency had only come recently to the team in addressing these issues. In looking back there appeared a path of complacency over the last several months as the downturn has accelerated.

Afterwards, I was flipping through a text I often refer back to - The Living Company by Arie de Geus, former head of Group Planning for Royal Dutch Shell. I began reflecting on his comments of decision-making as a learning activity. I jotted down the following thought afterwards, "If decison-making is a learning activity then what happens when we aren't making strategic decisions?'

As workplace learning professionals, an opportunity amidst the downturn is to optimize our skill-sets in facilitating strategic planning work. As the feet of our CFOs begin to ease off the pedals of training resources and output, emphasizing and applying our organizational development tools may assist our business leaders as a surge of decisive choices are made regarding the future of businesses and their workforces.

But it speaks back to de Gues's point that decision-making is a learning activity: we just need to ensure that our business leaders are learning from the actions and decisions being taken.

Got talent? Will you after the downturn?

In the December 2008 McKinsey Quarterly there is an article on Upgrading Talent through the economic downturn. All L&D folks should be quaking in our boots as we know the first thing our CFOs and executives are looking to cut is us - much to the businesses long-term detriment. This is a time for us to be emboldened, proactive, and fearless in communicating and reinforcing our messages on what our value propositions are to the business.

However, in these tenuous times there are many opportunities for us to optimize our impact on talent management. Some key points from the article:

• Job redesign - rather than the tendency of just lumping more work on everyone's shoulders, is there a way to engage workers in redesigning roles and responsibilities addressing the business needs, while engaging and seeking solutions with employees? Where employees become engaged and feel a sense of ownership to the changes and increasing demands and expectations being placed upon them?
• Innovating the L&D function - in what ways does limited resources help the learning function to seek creative ways to enhance and connect employee development at all levels. For example, in my case, through a downturn, senior executives might be more easily persuaded to be engaged in leading learning. Helping to accelerate a Leaders as Teachers initiative I'm currently working on.
• Performance Management - are you and your leaders asking the rights questions? What's the critical talent and competencies you can't lose? Which ones will take the longest to recover or retool? Which talent drives the greatest business value today? Which will drive the greatest business value in three years?

In these times, organizations' brands are truly put to the test - both internally and externally. How we treat talent in these times will have a great impact on our brand's strength when accelerating out of the downturn.

As the first sentence in the article suggests, "Downturns place companies' talent strategies at risk." But it also provides opportunities in establishing new processes, redesigning work and role functions, enhancing organizational cultural practices, breaking down silos and building internal talent marketplaces, and enhancing the business brand.

Let's get to work.......