What's On Their Minds?

My classes at Drake have a high percentage of students who have been in the workplace less than 10 years.  Last night, I asked them what survival skills they wished they possessed now and/or what they wished they had known how to do better when they started their careers.  Here is the list in no particular order:

• Communication (creating and delivering)
• Being approachable/Playing well with others/Diplomacy/Compromise
• Better decision-making skills
• Resourcefulness/creativity
• Practicing tough love/accountability
• Prioritizing/time management
• Having better negotiation skills
• Being more resilient and adaptable to change
• Stress management
• Staying abreast of technology
• Effective delegation
• Problem solving and contingency planning
• Giving and receiving constructive criticism
• Gaining respect/Perception management
• Critical analysis and learning

We talk a lot about the Y Generation that's coming into the workplace.  For various reasons, HR professionals say they are challenging to work with.  But it sounds like they have some of the same things on their minds as professionals of other ages.  Instead of criticizing the newest members to the workforce, how can you help them succeed at some of their big concerns?

Not-See-Ism

"First they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew.  Then they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Communist.  Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Trade Unionist.  Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me."  Pastor Martin Niemoller, on the progression of Nazi occupation in Europe.

Adolf Hitler was a powerful leader, no two ways about it.  When somebody can rally an entire continent to carry out his plans, that's saying something.  No, I'm not defending what his plans were.  Decades later, millions of people and many countries still bear the physical and emotional marks of his activities.  At his core, Hitler was a prime example of a bully.  Not just a run-of-the-mill bully, but a bully of extreme measures.

Having run across a few workplace bullies in my career, it interests me how these people are allowed to get to where they are.  And it scares me.  Bullies of all ages tend to operate on two basic principles:

1. Abuse of power - as playground bullies operate on the principle of "give me your lunch money or you'll get beat up" workplace bullies operate under similar auspices:  threat of being fired or reprimanded, explosive and public tirades that degrade and humiliate.
2. Divide and Conquer - the true core of a bully's power is his/her ability to isolate, as demonstrated by the Niemoller quote, above.  Hitler couldn't have pulled off what he did without attacking the most vulnerable first.  So, too, do bullies attack those they perceive they can bully, isolating the "weakest of the herd" and leaving other people to watch helplessly or try to stay out of the way.

But it is these very witnesses to bullying that I'm addressing with this post.  Robert Sutton shared some fascinating statistics about witnessing bullying in his last book:

"...a British study of more than five thousand employees found that while 25% had been victims of bullying in the past five years, nearly 50% had witnessed bullying incidents.  Another British study of more than seven hundred public sector employees found that 73% of the witnesses to bullying incidents experienced increased stress and 44% worried about becoming targets themselves...."  (The No Asshole Rule, pp. 32-33)

So the ill effects of bullying go beyond the target; observing the bullying has negative impacts also.  But there is a solution.  It is called "safety in numbers" - it becomes very difficult for a bully to carry out his or her plans when people stick together.  Following my workshop in North Carolina, one gentleman shared his story with me.  He and his team had been victims of a bully, who intimidated the team to perform (one by one).  When the team found out that he had been given a promotion and a huge bonus for their performance, they collectively went to Human Resources with documented evidence of his behavior.  Not only was he subsequently demoted, but his bonus was retracted.

Hence, one of the most effective ways to deal with a bully is to gang up on him or her.  Using documentation and facts, go to HR as a group.  Human Resources can be pretty proficient at ignoring individual complaints and dismissing them.  When a group lodges a complaint, it becomes much harder to ignore, as there is a much more obvious liability issue.

While Hitler is a blatant and extreme example of bullying, the principles of how he got there still apply.  Are you witnessing bullying in your office?  How can you help the target handle the bully effectively?

Get Out of the Way, Old Timer

The interview seemed to be going well.  It was a few years ago, but far enough into my consulting career that I was confident with my skills.  The client manager seemed pleased with my answers to that point, and she was happy that I had proven my knowledge of project management.  Then came the "kicker question":  What is the main objective of an effective consultant?

I'm sure she was looking for some kind of rhetoric about results... or communication... or teamwork (yeah, that's always a good one).  Whatever she was looking for, she was not prepared for my response:  "The main objective of an effective consultant is to make himself obsolete as quickly as possible."

Dead silence.  Oops... I made her stop and think.  Maybe she had met too many "parasite consultants" who just burrowed in and made themselves comfortable.

Planned obsolescence should be true of anybody in a leadership role.  If you are not striving for your exit, you're doing a disservice to yourself and to those around you.  If all you do is master one job and stay in it for years and years with the same people, you severely limit your skills and your network.  In fact, the most difficult people I've experienced at client sites are those who have been in their jobs the longest.  They are dogmatic, set in their ways, unyielding, and stubborn... but at least they are hard-headed about it all, in a territorial sort of way.

Eva Muchtar of the Chipping In Blog mentioned this very thing a few months ago.  She's spot on with her advice... if you don't make yourself obsolete, you don't get to go "on your merry way" (as she puts it); instead, you become a slave to your position.  And you become a prime target for downsizing when the business environment passes you by.

I've actually fired myself from clients in the past because I felt they were becoming too dependent upon me.  And I've left a church family for the same reason.  I think it's a sign of a good leader to know when to back away slowly (or sometimes yank the bandage off and let others yell "OW!").

What about you?  How long have you been in your current position?  Have you accomplished everything you wanted to do?  Is it time to knock yourself out of your comfort zone?  Are you already obsolete and just don't know it yet?  Is there a dust imprint of your butt on your cubicle chair?  And what are YOU going to do about it?

(By the way, I got the client engagement, and I was told that it was because of that one answer.)

Dancing With The Tsars

And in this corner, we have our celebrity Tsar:  Peter The Great.  For his first selection, Peter will choose a very aggressive break-dance/hip-hop hybrid to Disney's "Get Your Head In The Game."

Seriously, of all of Russia's rulers, Peter the Great always interests me.  He certainly understood the concept of Carpe Factum, and he's credited with creating some amazing infrastructure for the Eastern power:  great cities and buildings, water passages, military might, not to mention dumping both an undesirable wife and a threatening female rival into convents to get rid of them.

But at what cost did all of his accomplishments come?  Let's just say he "churned through" quite a few little Russian worker bees to get things done.  I've known a few people like that in the corporate world.  They require their people to "step up to the plate" ... in my opinion, personal heroics and project performance do not go hand-in-hand.  My first project recovery involved saving two programmers for the six straight months of 70-80 hour work weeks.  Our biggest constraint when we recreated the project plan was that NOBODY work more than 45 hours per week.  And we held the team to that.  And we completed on time.

Burnout is a serious issue in today's work force.  The PsyBlog posted some interesting findings on burnout at work, especially symptoms and indicators.  I found it interesting that "influence at work" and "job demands" were actually NOT predictors of burnout.  If that's the case and this study is valid (we'll make that assumption since they cite their source), then is it safe to assume that burnout is actually a personal decision of the one who is burning out?  YIKES!

One of the things I pride myself on is knowing when to determine that enough is enough.  The fall tends to be a busier time for me, but I've also learned how to say "no" to maintain a balance.  And people generally respect that.

So, are you suffering burnout?  Are you taking charge of those feelings?  What have been your best burnout mitigation strategies?

Or can you dance through on your good looks?

Communication = Angle + Timing

Happy first day of Autumn!  We're coming up on my favorite time of year... the cooler temps, the colors, football, holidays... and, oh yeah, the Mayan ruins.

Huh?

The Mayans, whose culture centered around southern Mexico and the central Americas, were amazing astronomers.  The ruins at Chichen Itza in the Yucatan peninsula are evidence of this.  Every year, on both the vernal and autumnal equinox, a shadow forms on the staircase of the main pyramid (the Castillo) and takes the appearance of a giant snake.  Accident?  I doubt it, or the Mayans would not have created a giant snake's head at the base of the stairs.  I was there 19 years ago (next spring) and it is truly a phenomenon to behold.  Still, it only happens twice a year, at exactly sunset, on this one building.

That's also how it happens in communication, isn't it?  It's all about timing and the angle with which the message is delivered and perceived.  I was checking out Ron Karr's blog, and he provided a great example of timing in communication.  Our timing is a constant conscious decision... or at least it should be.

So... how can you adjust your communication to achieve just the right angle or perception at just the right time?  Well... there's an ART to timing and perception:

• Ask - start your communications with the question:  "is this a good time?"  Often body language will give you the answer, but be sensitive to the message recipient if it's not a good time.
• Role Play - test out your message on somebody else before you deliver it to your intended target.  You may have some unintended sub-messages imbedded.
• Target - determine the outcome of your communication.  Instead of asking what you want to say, ask what you want your target to hear.

And if you can make it Chichen Itza by sunset, say hi to the tourists for me.

Why Is This Such A Hard Concept?

I challenged my leadership students with one question for their final paper:  how will they use their leadership style and the concepts covered in the course to change the world?  I have a few students who are seriously freaking out over this assignment.

Whether they realize it or not, each of us changes the world in some way.  Some for the better; others... well... not so much.

Should I have changed the assignment to 1) do a biography on your favorite leader; or 2) share your application of your favorite leadership theory; or 3) if you could be any kind of plant, what would you select and why?  OK, maybe that's not the best approach (namely since I just responded to a student's question about whether effective leaders can use sarcasm).

German photographer Till Erdmenger recently created an informed post about how a single photograph can change the world.  His summary could also be applied to leadership:

It´s not easy to determine what gives a photo the power to change the world, but often it seems that it´s related to showing the truth and opening up people´s minds – what do you think?

So... to my readers... I ask... do you feel that you have the power to change the world?  A simple yes or no would suffice, but as always, I welcome the dialogue.

Image is from Till Erdmenger's Fast Fish Series (2000)

Poetry and Prosen

I remember the goosebumps I got when I heard JK Rowling read the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on the night of its release.  It was similar to the feeling I got when I watched a live performance of Movin' Out after reading Twyla Tharp's Book, The Creative Habit.  There's just something magical when you can connect the author to their creation.  It becomes real.  They become real.  Sometimes the event becomes a little surreal, and you have to pinch yourself to make sure you didn't dream it all.

Such was the case yesterday.  Bob Prosen, author of the highly acclaimed book, Kiss Theory Good Bye, was in town yesterday.  His publicist had sent me his book this past spring with a request that I write a book review on it.  I read the book months ago, and actually did one better than wrote a review... I made it required reading for my students in my Drake MBA leadership class.  Then something truly amazing happened:  Phil Gerbyshak (who, of course, knows everybody) introduced me to Bob.  During one of our conversations, it was revealed that Bob would be in Des Moines... on the very day I had scheduled in the syllabus for my leadership classes to be discussing his book.  The "university gods" don't smile on a professor that often, so we made arrangements for Bob to be present in my class last night to share his insights with my students.  Even better than that, I was able to watch Bob in action Wednesday morning, as he single-handedly "tackled" about a dozen CEOs, providing them with tools to achieve results-based performance.  Later after class, Bob and I were able to enjoy a nice dinner at the Drake Diner (a Des Moines institution), where our waitress, Molly, matched her sales prowess against Bob's abilities (I'm still not sure who came out on top).  All in all, it was a great day.

Now, about Bob's book.  It really wouldn't be fair for me to review it, because you already know enough that I would not assign it to my students if I were not wowed by it.  Hence, I'll let some of their comments speak for the value of the book.  (Disclaimer:  my students know that they have license to disagree with me and that they do not have to speak favorably about the book.  There were a few dissenters, but they were very rare.  Most of the criticism actually centered around the core value of Bob's book:  He has packaged "common sense" very well... what makes this book valuable is that he demonstrates that the sense isn't all that common.)  So, here are my students' comments about Kiss Theory Good Bye:

• "Packs quite a lot of advice into the last five chapters... I like the fact that he repeatedly makes reference to the ideas he poses in the book being common sense but asks if they are common practice."
• "I really identified with the accountability aspect of this book."
• "Kiss Theory Good Bye is one of those books that I kept getting the sense I had already read.  It must have been Prosen's consistent flow throughout the book.... This stuff makes perfect sense.... The daily check list went up in my work cube one day after reading the book."
• "I can picture myself looking back at this book many years from now and using it as a leadership guide."
• "Kiss Theory Good Bye was a great read full of insight on how to get extraordinary results.  The characteristics of ... superior leadership, sales effectiveness, operational excellence, financial managment, and customer loyalty... I will definitely use now at my current position and when I run my own business."

My students have very strong "crap filters" and they bombarded Bob with tough, honest, pressing questions for the better part of an hour last night.  As they left, many genuinely expressed their gratitude to Bob for coming to class.  If your organization is seeing more excuses than execution, more whining than winning, more "get over it" than "git'r done" then you should invest in Prosen's book.  If nothing else, you'll know that the man behind the book is also the real thing.

The Fantasy Project League

Every sporting season brings with it another league from a parallel universe... the fantasy league.  This is where people get to "play Frankenstein" with their sport and build the perfect team specimen.  I'm always amused by the fervor with which sports addicts approach this little scenario.  They amuse me.

But maybe I shouldn't be so condescending about it.  What if... and mind you, I'm just saying what if... we project managers could do the same thing?  Who would be on your fantasy project team?  (The rules are simple... pick anybody... living or dead... fictional or non-fictional.  Once somebody has been chosen, they're off the roster for another person's team.)

For example, as my ideal project manager, I think I would choose Moses.  Relatively level headed, he's able to lead massive resources over long durations.  Although, the long duration would have been a lot shorter if he and his team had just listened to their Project Sponsor in the first place.

For the project controller, how about General Petraeus?  After all, can that man write a status report that gets people talking?

The risk manager is easy:  Bob the Builder.  All he ever says is, "Can we fix it?  YES WE CAN!"  I really want that go-to/can-do mindset on my project team.

Subject matter experts?  Hmmm, I suppose it would depend on the project, but how about a team of Leonardo da Vinci and Hermione Granger (Harry Potter fans know who she is).  After all, you want people who really know a lot about a lot of stuff and aren't afraid to tell others how much they know.  Perhaps throw in some of Albert Einstein's humility just to make them bearable.

For the project office manager, my pick would have to be MacGyver.  Richard Dean Anderson's character could make anything out of duct tape and discarded wire, and I want that level of innovative scrappiness when devising our project templates.

The project sponsor is the toughest of all.  Maybe Jesus.  He was able to set a vision and then entrust it to others to execute and knew when to get out of the way.  He also knew when to kick some Pharisee tail, when they tried to sabotage his project.

OK, that's MY fantasy project team.  Who would be on yours?  Let the games begin!

This Project Is a Bear... um, Lion... Er, Giraffe

As you may recall from last fall, my Drake Project Management MBA class usually gets more than they bargain for when they sign up.  To make the concepts real (rather than just dwelling on academic theory), I team my students up with a local not-for-profit organization, and they get to develop a business case and project plan for projects of the organization's choosing.  This year's not-for-profit?  The Blank Park Zoo.

We met with a representative from the Zoo's management team yesterday, and the positive challenge has been set.  I have an AWESOME group of students this semester (including two brave souls who have me as instructor for both of their classes).  It's going to be a blast!

Home Again, Home Again

What a rewarding week!  After my speaking engagement in Green Bay, it was wonderful to go down to the campus of North Carolina State University for the annual NC Chapter PMI Professional Development Day.  Despite the fire alarm going off in the middle of my workshop, it was a fun morning of sharing.  I was able to meet some of the other speakers (OUTSTANDING people with whom fast friendships were formed).

I have some other professional association speaking engagements coming up, including the Legal Support Professionals of Iowa (LSPI) and the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA) chapter of NE Wisconsin.

I've attached a few pictures from the workshop this past Thursday.  Now it's time to refocus on central Iowa activities, client needs, Drake classes, and family activity.  Have a great week!

Multi-Taskers: Take a Licking

"Consider the postage stamp:  Its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there." -Josh Billings

This one needs no further explanation.

Have a great day and Carpe Factum!

Breaking And Centering

"The difficult is that which can be done immediately; the impossible that which takes a little longer." -George Santayana

I'm finding that expectations are a tricky thing in life.  In project management, we say that 90% of a project manager's job is communication.  What we don't tell them is the small print:  90% of that communication is expectation setting (and resetting).

This year has been about career transitions for me.  While I'm not opposed to sitting in a cubicle and doing a client's bidding, I find myself more energized by actively working with people and organizations in a focused environment to seize their accomplishments.  This comes through coaching and speaking engagements.  To make this change, there have had to be trade-offs, but they've been worthwhile and I've expected them.  But sometimes the unexpected comes busting through, and I have to learn how to integrate that into an existing set of expectations.  As my wife keeps reminding me, "winging it is a life skill."

I was chatting with a few people last night after my presentation in Green Bay.  They had worked for an insurance company who was going through a reorganization/merger.  They said that many of them had waited for over a year to see if they had a "box" on the organizational chart.  Some of those who were informed that they had a box were now wondering if it had all been worth it.  Some who had been released early had received an invitation to reinvent themselves.  The unexpected had broken in, and rather than react to it, they found a place for it and embraced it.

Jeanette, a new elementary teacher whose blog is entitled A Piece of My Mind, wrote a beautiful piece last month about expectations.  I was fascinated in how she differentiated between the expectations she set for herself (and the detours to that) vs. the unmet expectations she had of others.  It's a good read and will leave you thinking.  Whether of ourselves or of others, we do own our own expectations.  It's how we react to and integrate the UNEXPECTED that really differentiates us.  Often, we have our own road blocks and perceptions that prevent us from seeing the unexpected in the first place.

What do you do when the unexpected occurs?

Are You Dry Yet?

Our trusty Maytag dryer started acting funny over the weekend.  We would turn it on, and it sounded like it was working, but nothing was getting dry.  Sure, it tumbled and tumbled and tumbled clothes (all night, as a matter of fact), but nothing was happening in the way of heat.  A simple call to a local appliance repair shop and $114 later, and all was happy again in the land of laundry.

We see that a lot in our professional lives, too.  People seem to be busy.  Really busy.  Excruciatingly busy.  "Don't talk to me now or I'll bite your head off" busy.  And yet... are they accomplishing anything?  Like our dryer, are they just spinning their wheels without getting anything done?

There are a lot of "busy mongers" at work, but few accomplishers.  When people start discoursing on how busy they are, I counter by asking them what they are getting done.  I do it gently and politely, because - besides being busy - they're probably also stressed.  Some people actually try to hide their lack of accomplishment with busy-ness.

However, there comes a point where being too busy is bad for accomplishment.  I found an effectively written post about this topic.  Jeff at The Blue Sky Ahead has been sharing about his new job and his new work habits.  He'd discovered through past employment experiences that being busy just led to burnout.  Now he's trying to plan out his work before diving in, and he's giving himself some extra buffer room.  It seems to be working for him, but I'll be checking back in at his blog to see for sure.

What are your cures for busy-ness?  What are the symptoms you observe?  How can you trade busy-ness for accomplishment?  What is your "heat element" that helps you get dry?

And Just Where Do You Think You're Going?

"He who chooses the beginning of the road chooses the place it leads to.  It is the means that determine the ends."  -Henry Emerson Fosdick

I'm getting ready for a few days of business travel, and I'm developing those butterflies in my stomach.  It's not so much nervousness about flying, but I am just excited about the unknown... what lies ahead... what people will I meet... what experiences will I gain?

My perception is that - as a society - we don't just let ourselves go ... we don't release ourselves to the possibilities nearly enough.  I know I'm guilty of trying to cram a lot into a schedule without leaving enough wiggle-room for "what if" and "I wonder" ... that's what is so cool about business trips.  I was at a dinner party the other night where I referred to business trips as "sanctioned running away from home."  I'm throwing my backpack over my shoulder and setting off for parts unknown.  OK, so maybe Green Bay and Raleigh-Durham don't count as being that glamorous... but it's still an adventure.

So bring it on... we'll see where it leads.

No Way, Dude!

It seemed like an ordinary letter.  A guy was having workplace issues and wrote to Office-Politics.com for assistance and resolution.  He had worked for a creative team, who now told him that his services were no longer needed because he was over 40 and they were seeking the 20-something skateboarder type.  Outside of the obvious HR violations, I provided him with some suggestions, and wished him well.

It seems, though, that it is not the end of the story.  Then Executive Skateboarder, Mark Conahan (pictured above, photo by Rich Burton) commented on it.  Then the folks at Silver Fish Longboarding picked up the story.  Now it would appear, I'm getting a small following of skateboarder dudes zooming in on my office politics advice.

Of course, it is true that I've been working on my own skateboarding skills.  In my leadership class tonight, we were discussing Steve Farber's book, The Radical Leap.  I wanted to drive home the point of "posers" (those who look nice in a suit but couldn't lead their way out of a paper bag), so using the skater/surfer culture and the idea of posers in this context seemed to work.  Of course, when dealing with MBA students, one needs to provide tangible examples to drive it home... like a professor who is a klutz on a skateboard (see second picture, taken by one of my students).  I survived class uninjured.  My students, however, will probably be scarred for life.

Righteous, Dude!

Sure, It's a Pile...

"For God so loved the world, that He did not send a committee."  John 3:16 (New Corporate Translation)

Springboarding off of yesterday's post, another scenario that the SWAT teams practiced was called a "Covered Pile."  In short, the covered pile is a hostage technique more commonly seen in Europe (but gaining popularity here in the states) where the hostage-taker and the hostages are all covered under a tarp or blanket when making their exit.  This makes it far more challenging - yet not impossible - for SWAT officers to see who is who.  It took some practice, but these guys took down the covered pile very effectively with little effort.  (Note to bad guys:  don't try this technique here in Iowa.  They'll nail you.)

I want to bring the SWAT teams into some of the organizations with whom I've worked.  We have covered pile hostage situations all the time.  They're called committees, teams, and task forces.  Decision and accomplishment are the hostages.  Passing the buck is the tarp.  Accountability is completely non-existent.  We hear comments like "We're waiting on the team to make a decision" or "The committe is reviewing that; you'll just have to wait."  GRRRR.  Lacking a corporate SWAT team, I found a good blog post with some helpful hints to alleviate the covered pile hostage situation:

1.Create an intentional communication strategy. Your Management team must understand and support a common vision. This requires clarity. Clarity begins with effective communication. Make sure communication from your Management team reaches all employees.

2.Do not set up intentional competition in the workplace. Try to insure that individual skill sets compliment one another rather than compete with one another. Spread the responsibility and authority around by alternating leaders for various tasks. Look for star potential and introduce coaching & mentoring as a skill set.

3.Create team ownership in the decision making process but its not management by committee. Avoid group think by making sure that individuals express opinions openly without intimidation. Responsibility must be accompanied by authority and accountability.

4.Build trust and respect by giving trust and respect. Act as a coach or mentor and not a boss.

5.Create off site team building activities quarterly. Social gatherings, athletic activities, laser tag or other activities that build unification and trust in each other.

6.Dont just talk about empowerment and delegation, believe in it and demonstrate that belief by allowing the team members to make decisions and take independent action.

7.Take complex plans and strategies and assign accountability and ownership. This creates more efficiency and leverages creativity. Assign responsibility according to individual passions.

8.Brainstorming must be encouraged to release team innovation. Bouncing ideas off one another stimulates creative thinking which leads to creative solutions. This in itself bonds individuals into a common purpose.

9.Ask for solutions assigning both responsibility and empowerment. Ownership of ideas and initiatives builds commitment. Involving the team in creating direction and solutions through empowerment generates commitment to the tasks necessary to meet objectives.

10.Challenge your management team. Reliance on team effectiveness minimizes risk by being more flexible and adaptive than relying on a single individual. No one individual alone can jeopardize success. The loss of one team member can be overcome without losing sight of the objectives.

Sometimes, the basic strategies can be the most powerful.  Granted, it's nothing new or earth-shattering, but - as my SWAT buddies will tell you - following the basics saves lives.

Things That Make You Go Boom

Today was another opportunity to spend more time with the local suburban SWAT teams.  As I mentioned before, these guys have been helping me with some needed business research, and I'm very appreciative of the fact that they let me tag along when they are practicing various scenarios to improve their skills.

One of the purposes of today's practice was learning how to retreat effectively.  Recently, one of the SWAT reality TV shows had shown a team that penetrated a house only to find a bomb.  Instead of acting like a team, it became every-man-for-himself, and they ran helter skelter out of the building.  The commander and team leaders today did not want their teams to react similarly when faced with those circumstances, so they created the "bomber" scenario.  I was fortunate enough to be in the room where the bomber and his hostage were located (but when you wear the bright orange vest, that puts you "out of play" and you get to enjoy just observing).  Of the three teams, two retreated fairly effectively when the knowledge of the bomb was introduced.  One team, in their effort to dominate, continued to proceed into the room... and were promptly "blown up."  (No SWAT team members were hurt in the writing of this blog... but the noise was really loud.)

One of Stephen Covey's seven habits is to seek the Win-Win, but too few people actually read the entire chapter to find out the "or else" of this habit.  There are times a win-win isn't possible, and you have to be willing to walk away.  In other words, you must embrace the possibility that a "no deal" scenario may occur.  Brian McNary of the Sun Valley Idaho blog posted his commentary on Covey's habit a few months ago.  While it was in the context of local government and community, he summarized his point nicely:

I think many of us grow up with the win lose mentality. It is clearly evident in sports where it should be. It is clearly evident in the court room. But when we apply that mentality to other pursuits, particularly our work, it creates nothing but hardship and distrust and mires us in a tar pit where future leaders will say, “what the hell happened to them?”

We all have to know when to retreat.  If the win-win isn't going to happen, we need to quit throwing good money and energy after bad in order to force it to happen.  The SWAT teams today learned a valuable lesson about retreating when it was evident that they were in a no-win situation.  Listening to their debrief provided further evidence that there's a reason why these guys are so good at what they do.  I've had a couple of projects recently that I was up for, and I was willing to walk away from?  Why?  I knew that the win-win wasn't possible.  The hiring managers both had issues and hidden agendas which would have made my job as a consultant very challenging.  At the same time, a former client presented me with a wonderful and challenging project, and I know that I'll enjoy working with them again.  If I had not been willing to retreat to the "no deal" of the two earlier projects, I would not have been able to open myself up to the win-win of this one.

What projects, relationships, habits, and activities should you be retreating from rather than engaging?  Are you in danger of being "blown up" by forcing your way into the door?

Miscellaneous Monday

It's Labor Day... the "unofficial" end of summer... sigh.  Now we all have to brace ourselves for cubicle hybernation until next summer.  Are you feeling ready for it?

According to Bob McIlree and Phil Gerbyshak, GUST - The "Tale" Wind of Office Politics should have been on your summer reading list.  Considering it takes less than two hours to read and there are over two weeks left of summer, you can still accomplish this goal.  Troy Worman even referred to it as a "political thriller."  Ann Michael is reading it at the moment.  Thanks to all four of you for the positive reviews.  The bottom line is that that office politics will start heating up again now that vacations are over and everyone is back in the office full-time, pushing toward their year-end goals.  Are you ready to deal with it?

Also, I will be speaking at three different venues during the month of September.  If you are "in the neighborhood" I'd love to be able to meet you in person.  The three locations include:

• September 11 - Northeast Wisconsin Chapter of PMI in Green Bay, WI
• September 13 - North Carolina Chapter of PMI in Raleigh-Durham, NC
• September 22 - Legal Support Professionals of Iowa in Ames, IA (sorry, no link)

I'm excited to be speaking at each of these events and hope to see some of you there.

If you can't make a speaking event but want to learn more about office politics, project management, or creativity, there are still some openings left in the October and November Carpe Factum workshops.  In a day (or a day-and-half), you can obtain some much needed and very applicable take-back-to-your desk skills.

Enjoy what's left of the last extended weekend before Thanksgiving, and get ready to Carpe Factum come tomorrow!

Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap

I know what you're thinking, and NO, I'm not going to expound on Senator Craig's recent indiscretions.  I'm not going to speculate whether he is or he isn't... whether he did or he didn't.  That's for the attorneys and political pundits and talking media heads to figure out.  There is a lesson in this news story, though.  How often do we communicate something (sometimes on purpose; others, inadvertently), and have the message come crashing down around us as things go terribly wrong?

There was a recent post in the Leadership Experience Blog that caught my attention.  In it, Casey shares some ideas about various common sense guidelines, but it was this paragraph early in the post that grabbed me:

Communication is how you verbalize what you want, when you want it and how you want it done. It also serves to give visual cues about your mood, your passion, your responses. These body language clues are not only seen but also felt and heard.

In the quest to accomplish things, we see people mess up communications in some pretty large ways.  Let me ask you, my readers, what the following communicate to you?

• Arms folded, legs crossed, eyebrows furrowed, scowl growing
• Yawning and looking at watch
• Consistently showing up late to meetings
• Cutting off a face-to-face conversation to answer email or take a cell call
• Not delivering on a promised report/assignment/task without prior warning?

Now, without being busted by an undercover communications sting operation, what can you do to avoid sending unintended messages?

Accomplishing Relaxation

Have a great Labor Day Weekend... Carpe Factum Style!