Posted: November 18, 2021 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building

I’ll start with two words:  Apple and Disney. These names don’t just stand for some products or services. When we hear these names it can trigger the “kid” in us.  For decades these companies have never seemed to lose their enthusiasm and continuous profitability. Instead of becoming too set in their ways, they believe in the old maxim, “Yesterday’s methods produce yesterday’s results”. Apple and Disney are driven by innovation and constant reinvention. What does it take to have these qualities?  Perhaps we need to go back to our childhood to find out.

Many years ago, NASA did a study of 1600 individuals from infancy to adulthood. The goal was to measure the percentage of creativity in all the actions they observed:

Ages 1-5:          98%

Ages 6-10:        35%

Ages 11-15:       12%

Ages 16-20         5%

We know these observations are true. Just watch an infant during their waking hours. A couple of weeks ago I was babysitting for my 8-month old grandson. He was in the playpen and for all his time he was playing with toys, practicing his crawling, or keenly noticing his surroundings. Before we know it, he will be attending school, and will begin the process of learning the rules of life. He will also begin to sacrifice some of his creativity for compliance.

What can we do as teachers, coaches, bosses, and parents to make sure we tap into the creativity of our team member? First, we need to build a working environment that encourages idea fluency. To do this, we start with brainstorming. This step focuses on the quantity of ideas – not the quality. We get all our thoughts on the table. To successfully perform this step, we need to outlaw any “judgment” or “red-light” language. Here are some examples:

• “We tried that once”
• “We’re different”
• You can’t…”
• “It won’t…”
• “We have never…”
• “We don’t do things that way”
• “It’s not practical”
• “It’s against tradition”
• “That is not our responsibility”
• “It’s too…”
• “We don’t have time”
• “We’re not ready for that”
• “Let’s give it more thought”
• “They would never go for it”
• “Not THAT again!”
• “Where did you dig that one up?”
• “We’re doing alright”
• “That’s not us”

These “red-light” phrases should be avoided when you are in the brainstorming stage to get all the ideas written down. No judgment is allowed!  (That comes in a later step when we are working towards solutions) Remember to activate creativity by starting with all the ideas…without judgment. It is fun, and you’ll feel like a kid again.

Posted: March 12, 2021 | Categories: Management, Self-Improvement, Time management

Last week I was working with a team on time management skills.  We began by looking at a list of common barriers to good time management.  Each participant reviewed the list and chose the barrier that they thought was the biggest threat to using their time productively.  By far the most common barrier was DISTRACTIONS!

According to research from McKinsey, the average employee gets interrupted 50-60 times a day with emails, texts, phone calls, drop in visitors, sports scores, stock market updates, and “click bait” just to name a few.  Expert’s say if we can get focused and stay focused, we can double our productivity (Assuming we are working from written goals)

A couple of years ago, I did an experiment.  I had a large report to put together that included 18 separate assessments.  Just for fun, I worked on one of the assessment without interruption, and measured the time.  I then took this time and multiplied it by 17.  (The number of remaining assessments)  I took that projected time and made it a goal.  I stayed focused, allowed no interruptions, and completed the project in 1/2 day.  Normally it would have taken me a full work day.  By not allowing distractions, I was able to get into the “flow state” and stay there without my thoughts straying.

I often hear people say, “I’m working more now that I was 10 years ago”.  We may be spending more time at work, but are we getting more work done?  If we want to double our productivity by greatly reducing distractions, here is what we can do:

1. Plan you work.
2. Categorize and prioritize your tasks and activities.
3. Work on one thing at a time in order of its importance.  Stay focused.
4. Put an “I” sign on your back indicating you are in focus time.

Achieve more!

Posted: November 18, 2020 | Categories: Leadership, Management

If you are the owner or manager of a business, the past 8 months have probably been extra stressful. One of the most abrupt changes we have all had to deal with is wearing protective masks.  Some people like them, others put up with them, and the rest despise them.  Many times, those who are resistant to the mask rule are not the most compliant.  When someone is defying the rule, we need to confront them.  If we don’t handle this confrontation well, we can create ill-will and resentment.  That is not good for productivity or turnover.  Here is an example of an instance where a boss needed to approach an employee about wearing their mask:

Susan is a lively, gregarious team member with a beautiful smile.  She hates wearing masks, so she decided to take hers off for a while.  Wouldn’t you know it?  The boss walked by.  He was upset, and approached her in a not-so-friendly manner.  Susan was hurt and resentful.

The next day the boss noticed the difference in Susan’s mood and countenance.  He called her into his office.  The first thing he did was apologize for the way he had approached her the day before.  Next, he showed empathy by saying, “These masks are awful!”  She sure agreeded with that.  The boss then went on to state the rule that he was obligated to enforce, and asked for her compliance.  She gave him her full compliance, and now wears the mask when she should.  The problem is solved.  My message to you is to remember the old saying, “approach in a friendly way” and do your best to understand the other person’s point of view.  It can increase team productivity and reduce turnover.

Posted: October 23, 2020 | Categories: Customer service, Leadership, Management, Presentation skills, Sales, Team Building

Charisma.  Every boss, professional athlete, politician, or PTA president seems to like that word.  We hear people say, “He or she has charisma.”  We have also heard someone say, “He or she has no charisma.” OK…so charisma is good…but what is it?

I toiled with this question for many years until one day 20 years ago.  I was reading a book by Barbara De Angelis, and she defined charisma as “paying attention”.  What a boring definition for such an energy noun!  In many ways, she was right:

Several years ago our family was on a cruise ship in the Caribbean.  We had two main servers when we dined:  Peter and Ozzie.  We liked them both.  Ozzie was a natural showman, and knew how to perform.  Peter was also engaging, but his demeanor was slightly more tempered.  Peter ended up being our favorite.  Afterwards, we tried to figure out why.  Our thoughts kept going back to Peter’s attentiveness.  He was the most genuine, and put his focus on others, being in tune to us as individuals.  He would sense needs, and respond with help.  It seemed his thoughts were so focused on helping others, he did not have time to say, “Look at me!”  We did anyway.  Peter had true charisma:  He was enthusiastic about his work, and he put his focus on serving others.  He put these two magic ingredients together.  So everyone…pay attention!

Posted: September 2, 2020 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building

You may have heard the expression, “Don’t throw away the baby with the bath water”.  This is a saying we may want to keep in mind when considering layoffs during this Covid-19 crisis.  If we are at this crossroad, here is an example we may want to keep in mind.

In their 50-year history, Southwest Airlines has never laid off a single employee.  Remarkably, they have also made a profit for 46 years in a row.  When Southwest faces an industry-wide crisis, layoffs are the last thing they do.   For many companies, it is the first action taken to cut expenses.  Who is right?  That is a judgment call.  If we want to operate a business that makes a profit for 46 straight years, maybe we should tune in to Southwest’s philosophy about layoffs.  Here they are, as outlined in a Business Week article in October of 2001:

Consequences of layoffs:

• Severance and rehiring costs
• Potential lawsuits from aggrieved workers
• Loss of institutional memory and trust in management
• Lack of staffers when the economy rebounds
• Survivors who are risk-averse, paranoid, and political

Benefits of not laying people off:

• A fiercely loyal, more productive workforce
• Higher customer satisfaction
• Readiness to snap back with the economy
• A recruiting edge
• Workers who aren’t afraid to innovate, knowing their jobs are safe.

As illustrated in these bullet points, if we are considering layoffs, this situation should be carefully weighed so that we don’t look back and say “OOPS!”