As we enter the last quarter of 2014, I’m reminded of a story by Mike Greene that I read recently in the Business Journals (check it out here).

Paraphrasing, the story went something like this:

A man walked into an old country store late one afternoon. As he wandered around looking at the merchandise, he was occasionally interrupted by a low moan coming from behind the end of the cash register counter. He continued to peruse the shelves until his curiosity finally got the better of him. He approached the counter and asked the store owner about the sound.

The owner nodded his head toward the floor where an old dog lay sleeping. “He’s napped there every day for the past several years. So much so that he’s worn the wooden floor down and an old rusty nail pokes him in the side as he sleeps,” offered the store owner.

The man looked questioningly at the dog and then at the store owner and wondered aloud, “Why doesn’t he just get up and move to another spot?”

“Good question,” replied the owner, “as much as it hurts him, I guess it’s not enough to do anything about it.”

The end of the year is traditionally a time to reflect on the prior year and to set goals for the next 12 months. As you consider the direction you’d like to take in 2015, spend some time thinking about the things you’ve been living with and ask yourself, “Do I hurt enough to change, to actually do something about it?”

It may mean making a career move or signing up for training to expand your knowledge. Maybe it’s seeking out a mentor to help you navigate the difficulties or uncertainties in life. Or maybe it’s something else entirely.

Whatever it is, resolve that come next December, you’ll be able to look back with a sense of accomplishment and pride in what you’ve done.

photo courtesy of freeimages.com

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Because I said so!” Ever hear that growing up? I certainly did on more than one occasion, typically when I had exhausted my parent’s patience with me.
Unfortunately, many IT Leaders adopt this behavior as part of their leadership style. What most don’t realize is that using the dictator style of management doesn’t bring out the best in your team. In fact it can be counterproductive. To really motive your team, you need to share why what they are doing is important.

Adam Grant, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania recently conducted an experiment which illustrates this point. In his study, a group of university call center workers soliciting donations from alumnus were given a chance to meet and talk with some of the recipients of scholarships funded by the callers’ efforts.

As you might expect by the end of the experiment, there was a substantial difference in the amount of time spent on the phone and the total money raised by each caller who had spoken with scholarship recipients. In fact, those call center works who had spoken with scholarship students spent twice of much time on the phone and raised over 2 and 1/2 times the amount of money as those callers who didn’t talk with the scholarship students. You can read about Grant’s study here.

Understanding why is important. Help your team be more productive and stay motivated longer by helping them to see why what they are doing is important.

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The synthesized voice over the speaker startled the crew, “Ugly, ugly giants bags of mostly water.” Star Trek The Next Generation fans may remember this quote from the “Home Soil” episode that originally aired in February, 1988.

Despite the capabilities of the universal translator, much was lost in that translation. Although the words may have been translated accurately, Captain Picard and the “microbrain” did not understand one another. They just didn’t connect.

These kinds of misunderstandings don’t just happen on the Starship Enterprise. They happen all the time in businesses all around the world. Many managers and people from non-technical teams simply do not understand their technical colleagues.

In a 90-minute breakfast workshop, Kevin and I will discuss the challenges of leading and working with a technical team. Whether you manage a technical team or work with one regularly, this session will help you understand the motivating factors that drive technical people and will help you to build a stronger sense of cohesion with the team.

When: 

Tuesday, Oct 22, 2013,  7:30 – 9:30 am

Schedule: 

7:30 am: Check-In and Networking
8:00 – 9:30 am: Program and Q & A

Location: 

Williamson College
274 Mallory Station Road
Franklin, TN 37067

We hope to see you there.

The post Understanding Technical Teams Breakfast Workshop in Franklin, TN appeared first on The SERO Group.

If you don’t know who to block, that’s a mental mistake. You should know who to block. Period. But if you don’t know who you’re suppose to block, don’t just stand there; block somebody, hit anybody! Just standing there looking stupid is your second mistake. It’s better to make one mistake at full speed than making two mistakes by just standing there looking stupid.”

Inaction Is An Action

Much of the advice that I received from my football coaches doesn’t apply well to life off of the grid iron; it was far too sports-specific. However, that one piece of advice, “just hit somebody”, has stuck with me all these years.

Sometimes in business, in personal affairs, or even in spiritual matters, it’s far too easy to not make a decision. We tell ourselves that we need more information. Or perhaps we have enough information, but we need time to consider it all.

I certainly understand that. In fact, that’s my natural tendency. I’ve never taken a DISC assessment, but I probably have high values in the S and C dimensions which lean toward being cautious and deliberate.

But I’ve come to realize that often not making a decision is indeed making a conscious decision to do nothing. Continually asking for more information or trying to further analyze all the information that you already have leads to what’s known as Paralysis of Analysis. The opportunity is lost due to the time it took to reach a decision.

Sometimes it’s better to make a decision, any decision, and move forward.

Don’t Make Rash Decisions

To be clear, I’m not advocating that you should dispense with due diligence, that you should go around making a series of rash decisions. No, that’s short sighted and will lead to suboptimal results.

Each decision should be well researched and carefully analyzed. To a point. Then a decision should be drawn and action taken. Without action, there is no decision. You only have a wish. A decision requires an action.

Developing A Bias Toward Action

So how do we develop a bias toward action? It’s actually far easier than you may think. First you must recognize that no decision can be made with perfect knowledge beforehand. You simply will not be able to fully anticipate every aspect, every contingency, every possibility in a reasonable amount of time. It can’t be done. So there’s no point in allowing the perfect to be the enemy of the good.

Second, you must consider your options based on what you know now and determine the best approach. Notice that this does indeed require that you do your due diligence, that you analyze your situation and options, and that your draw a conclusion (decision) from those options.

And finally, you must consider the opportunity cost of inaction. Will the marginal benefit/cost of delaying action result in a substantial gain? Will gathering additional information produce a significantly better result? Or will it only delay the result? What are the consequences of inaction?

At that point, you have enough information to reach a decision. To act immediately, or to act by intentionally delaying a final decision while you do more research. If it’s the latter, set a timeline to collect the required information and repeat the process.

If all things are equal, consider just acting now.

As Winston Churchill once said “I never worry about action, but only inaction.”

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