Most of the management and leadership literature on the market, in my humble opinion, is a bunch of highly specialized, slickly marketed, fear mongering crap. At best, it is light entertainment. At worst, following this well intentioned dreck can create highly destructive systems in your organization.

In the wilderness, there are a few voices (very few) who will lead you (kicking and screaming) in the right direction. I will introduce you to one today.

The subject area is work. What is work? And why is work so important that it must be done?

We will start this discussion by talking about a job. Let me introduce you to Lee Thayer and the Leader’s Journey, On Getting a Job.

Some of my thoughts tomorrow. -TF

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I have been with the company for only 7 months now, and am very thankful I’ve found this site.

The biggest problem I face is three years of rapid growth in a family owned company. The culture is not keeping up with the changes in methods required to handle the increased volume. People still are working from memory instead of set processes, and are reluctant to train others in what they were solely responsible for years. Trying to force these changes seems to only increase turnover.

How can I influence my “older,” and most valued for technical skills, employees to change their ways of thinking?

Response:

If you continue to force these changes, two things might happen that will solve your situation. Turnover will eventually remove the resistance. The inevitable recession (Q1-2009) will reduce your volume so you won’t need to worry about it.

In the meantime, think about these two things, planning and execution. Of the two, which is more difficult?

Flawless execution, to the fundamental processes, with speed and accuracy is best accomplished under a form of organization government known as a dictatorship; tyrannical may be the most effective. (BTW, you cannot be the dictator).

But, to be able to execute flawlessly, requires a planning process to support it. And this planning process must be created under a very different form of government, a democracy. I know it is slow, requires participation, accommodation, discussion with divergent points of view, but it is absolutely necessary.

Plan like a democracy, execute like a dictatorship. It sounds as if you have things backwards. You are planning like a dictator, and you are experiencing democratic execution. You are dictating and forcing processes, but the execution is slow, with much discussion (grumbling), divergent points of view and resistance.

You have to reverse the process. Call a meeting. Explain the situation. You have increasing volume and the need for greater speed. Tell them the meeting will reconvene in twenty four hours, at which time, you will listen to their plan to handle the increased volume. Adjourn the meeting.

This message was brought home to me by Peter Schutz. You can read more about him in a post from November 10, 2006, Winning Depends on It. -TF

Once again, I am in awe at the collective wisdom and the willingness to share among the people who read Management Skills Blog. Yesterday we published a question from our mailbag. Here is the essence:

I have difficulty getting anything done because the people lack interest. They do not realize how much the business hinges on IT. I have tried introducing standard policies like email, AUP, DRP, a disaster recovery plan, but they just have no interest despite the importance.

To read the full story and all of the comments, please follow this link. Silly Policy.

One thing I have found over the years in classroom teaching, no matter how smart I think I am, no one listens. My son doesn’t listen, my wife doesn’t listen, my class members don’t listen. Yet, I am a teacher. How do I get people to listen? It’s the same conundrum for our IT manager. How can he get people to understand how important his IT policies are? It’s actually the same conundrum for any manager with any policy. How do we get people to listen?

We don’t. People will not listen until they see the benefit to listen. Here is what I would do if I were the IT manager in this situation. The objective is to raise awareness of the importance of these policies and procedures.

I would start with a survey. This can be administered via email without anyone’s permission. The questions should follow something like this:

1. On any given day, how many hours do you spend at the computer?
2. What tasks do you perform each day that are made easier with the computer?
3. How would you accomplish those daily tasks if the computer system were to fail this Friday?
4. How important is our computer system to your ability to perform in your role?
5. How could the computer system better help you perform in your role?
6. What could the IT department do to better help you perform in your role?

Remember, this is just the beginning to establish two things.
1. How the computer system is really helpful.
2. How much you are interested in their success.

And this is just the beginning. -TF

“Culture should be practiced and not need to be communicated,” says Naill in a comment to the post last Thursday about culture and how it is communicated through the company.

Hmmm. I agree culture should be practiced, but actively talking about the positive aspects of the desired culture is critical.

All kinds of conversations will occur about people and behavior in every company. These conversations will take place at the water cooler, the coffee break room, the smoking lounge, in meetings and in emails. They will occur in official communications and unofficial whispers. All of the conversations drive and document the culture inside the organization.

For the company that has determined its values mindset, actively talking about the positive aspects of people and their contribution (behaviors) is critical. The purpose is to identify those conversations and amplify them so they become the driving force, the tribal history.

These are the conversations that keep us alive. These are the conversations that distinguish one company from the next, one that is struggling and the other that sees success. -TF

Last Thursday, we received comments about the practice of communicating culture through official communication channels like newsletters. Eric observed that “the problem with company newsletters is, they come from headquarters, no wait, they reek of headquarters/HR etc.”

So, Eric points out a fundamental principle of management. Cluetrain calls it the “voice.” Dale Carnegie calls it “being genuinely interested in other people.”

This culture stuff is powerful. Most companies that merge together often fail, not because of financial difficulties or unsound business practices. They fail because the acquiring company failed to understand the culture.

And, yes, even an official company newsletter can find its voice, communicating like we are all sitting down over a cup of coffee, telling the truth and talking about things that matter. -TF