Put Your Head Trash Where It Belongs

This blog is 380 words, takes 1.6 minutes to read (for the average reader).

Gerry spent last week leading a European Summit on innovation. Attendees ranged from corporate to small entrepreneurs....all with a common problem: “We need more innovation to grow – operational efficiency isn’t enough to succeed into the future.”

The common challenge? “We have lots of ideas but can’t get them done.”

The million dollar question: Why not?

Maybe you think getting your sales force fired up is the answer. Maybe it’s an acquisition, expanding into a new market, or putting out the latest evolution of your product faster. But making these things WORK are the real “innovations” you need. 90% of innovation is not at the iPod scale, it’s executing on clear goals .... not 20 or 30% of goals, but every person executing 100% of their goals. We have yet to see a business that does that in any given year.

Most efforts to grow your business aren’t stopped by ideas, technology, or strategy. Growth is killed in execution. People don’t deal with their “head trash” – thoughts and limiting beliefs that create unwillingness to change even when it is the best thing to do.

When you look for head trash you find it everywhere:

• "This wasn't my idea"
• "Don't distract me with the facts"
• "It has never been done this way"
• "It's working well enough"
• "I already know that"
• "I'm too busy"
• "What's in it for me?" 

A university leader from the Summit related his story. “The only way we will be able to do research in our future is to secure investments from the customers who can commercialize it. Since the government is withdrawing most of its funding for research, we have motivation to change! But trying to build an alliance between our organization and our customers is very difficult. We face huge resistance. Even though we know it’s what we need to do, we’re afraid of change.”

What to do about it in your world? Ask your team for a detailed list of the mindsets and reasons for the last thing you failed at. Don’t stop at the surface answers – drill deep.

Maybe what’s in your head – not in your budget – is the real culprit stopping good ideas in their tracks.

Great Goals Are Magic!

As I pulled up to the drive-through for my wet skinny cappucino with a shot of pumpkin spice ... I was handed a piece of white paper with a bold title at the top: "The Starbucks Coffee New World Record for the fastest, friendliest drive-through is about to be set at Wadsworth & Bowles."  It went onto describe the specific ways customers could help that Starbucks store win their challenge ("What you can do to help us succeed)". Seconds later, the guy at the window handed me my drink and asked "Does that feel like the right weight to you?" 

Fast-forward to a week after the deadline. This time I enter the store seeking research with my caffeine.  Here's how it went:

I ask the guy behind the counter "Did you win?"

"Oh yeah, we totally set the new world record." 

"How did that feel?" 

"AWESOME. We were so energized, it really pulled our team together, got everyone involved, you know? We had a great time."

"Did you get any financial incentive for it?"

"Uh, no.  It was just a lot of fun. We were looking to lower our drive-through speed anyway, and so we came up with this as a fun way to make it happen.  There were a couple of guys who just OWNED it, really made it fun, made it happen and it caught on -- everyone was pulling for it."

Attention managers: Goals can be fun, energizing, catalyze teamwork, involve people, and improve the business. They just have to align with human psychology: There's something in it for me, I can do something about it, and I know how.

Stop making goals a snorefest that drive more excuses than performance!

 

Accountability and Nice: Do They Cancel Each Other Out?

Today at the grocery store, I waited 15 minutes to buy turkey at the deli (and finally gave up). There were 5 high school kids buying made-to-order sandwiches in front of me, and one employee behind the counter. I mentioned to the checkout clerk "Your manager might consider adding a deli employee during the high school lunch hour."  He rolled his eyes and said "I'm an old timer. I don't believe in this new-fangled permissive management. He lets all the deli employees go to lunch at the same time because they want to socialize ... and customers are left hanging.  Shees."

If there is a single FLC (Frequently Lamented Concern) among leaders we work with, it's  "we need greater accountability from teams and from our people."

This lament is code for a variety of  concerns: Not owning results. Being afraid to admit mistakes or call "Uncle" when you're in over their head.  Forgetting who is the customer (or not caring).  Assuming what the boss wants but never asking. Simple laziness.  Lack of inspiration.  The legal maze post-Enron. 

Boil it down to a primary root cause? The growing trend not to speak up and speak the simple truth plainly and swiftly. We like to call it "Parenting-We-Never-Got Syndrome." We SO want to be nice! We love approval!  We've been told "Consensus is King!"  People need a "say" to engage them and motivate them! Whether a backlash from child-rearing in a post-Puritan era or just increasingly fuzzy communication, it's wreaking havoc on performance in the workplace.   

People with "emotional buy-in" keep their agreements (assuming they are not or should be in therapy).   They want to be held to a high standard.  Unfortunately, conversations that support clear contracts and agreements in the workplace are an endangered species.

Want to harvest better performance? Plant the seeds in regular conversations with your reports about their performance.

The first time you force true clarity is the hardest.

(it helps if you make it a habit).

It really is one of the elegant and simple answers in a complex world.