Management Craft

Fireside Chat with Dave Crenshaw - The Myth of Multitasking

Are you a multitasker? Check out this podcast!

During this 24 minute podcast, I chat with Dave Crenshaw, author of The Myth of Multitasking: How Doing it All Gets Nothing Done. If you have been reading Management Craft for a while, you know that I agree whole heartedly that multitasking can rob even the most hard working professional of his or her ability to focus on what's most important. If you suffer from an addiction or habit of multitasking, or manage employees who do, check out this podcast and Dave's new book. Focus, grasshopper!

You can listen to my podcast with the Dave Crenshaw by clicking here:

You can also download an MP3 version of the podcast here.

And just a reminder.....

Here is the Podcast Feed for the entire Fireside Chat podcast series:

To see the complete list of podcasts in this series, select the Podcasts and Webcasts category on this blog or see the list on my main website here.

You can also find this series on iTunes (and several other podcast sites), just search under my last name for Fireside Chat.

Stop Trying to Change Your Boss's Mind and Make His/Her Lousy Idea Work!

This is a true story (names have been changed).

When I worked for ABCXX, the CEO and owner had questions about whether the six person field sales team were a good investment - he doubted their ROI. For several years at quarterly planning meetings he voiced his concerns and questions, but each time the VP of Sales and  VP of Marketing were able to talk him out of getting rid of the team. Even so, he was never satisfied that he was getting his money's worth.

Then he decided. The sales team would be eliminated. The VP of Sales and VP of Marketing were disappointed and in shock and asked for my help. I got them and a few others together for a day long planning meeting.

You might think that the topic of the meeting was, "How do we change Drew's mind?" but this would be incorrect. The agenda for this meeting went as follows.

1. We know that Drew has made this decision and we know that you disagree. But it is Drew's company and we have seen this coming for years.

2. We need to stop fighting this decision because it is already made. We cannot influence the decision but we can influence how the change is made and what lies in place of the field sales force.

3. Today we are going to design the ideal transition plan for making Drew's decision work.

The day quickly shifted from one of trying to change Drew's mind to designing an alternative system that would make Drew's decision work. The result? ABCXX created (with Drew's eager support) a state-of-the-art online community for sales partners (the folks the former sales people called on) and provided online customizable selling tools for agents that were better than they had received in the past. They started a blog, webinars, and other programs that engaged travel agents in a new way that enhanced their ability to grow their business. Their sales grew to record numbers in the years following the elimination of the sales team.

It was a huge success because they gave up fighting for a different decision and instead poured their hearts and minds into making the "bad decision" a big success.

When I speak with the folks that were involved in this effort, they still remember this work fondly and as a major moment of growth in how to make a positive impact.

We need to make sure that we do not fall into the trap of defining success as "winning" or getting what we want. Success should be measured in terms of our impact to the growth and success of the organization.

Let's Spend Two Great Days Together in DC or Dallas!

Preview: This post tells you how to join me (and David Zinger and Terry Starbucker) in Dallas and DC for exciting conversations about state-of-the-art management.

ASTD (American Society for Training and Development) asked me to partner with them to provide a kick butt two day conference on developing great managers. My book by the same name is apparently a very popular seller for ASTD and they want to extend the conversation about management development.

The design for this two day conference is very cool.

It is a two day workshop whereby the participants will create and share many (maybe dozens, depending on the group size) of Power Hours - ready to take back to their workplace and use to help develop great managers.

What are Power Hours? A power hour is a one-hour informal learning conversation that is designed to get managers into discussions that will help them generate and implement new/renewed ideas to move the business forward and build their management and leadership craft.

All of the participants will get access to everything that's generated during the two days - no licenses, no limitations. Bottom line: Participants will leave the two days with years worth of management development materials and the ability to easily blend power hours into their training regimens.

Managers who develop managers, trainers of managers, and HR professionals are the target audience for this conference. Anyone interested in management and leadership will love it.

But there is MORE. You will work with me for most of the two days, but there will be a guest speaker - who I am calling the provocateur - that will spend 2-3 hours with the group talking about:

The new management skills and requirements - what are the emerging management topics that ought to be a part of your training programs but probably are not yet? Emerging, new, cutting edge, under recognized - we will be focusing on creating power hours for NEW or underdeveloped management topics.

That's why I am calling the guest speaker a provocateur - he will provoke our brains and create head spinning goodness that will then lead into our creative work for the rest of the conference. This is going to be an energizing two days.

I am thrilled to tell you that my guest speakers are people you might know and read on a regular basis! My "provocateurs" for this conference are:

David Zinger! David will be joining me in DC (Alexandria, actually) on December 9th and 10th.

Terry Starbucker! Terry will be joining me in Dallas on December 4th and 5th.

David and Terry are amazing and I am really looking forward to working with them. For those of you wondering how to pitch your desire to attend this conference to your boss - how does this sound?

When I come back from this conference I will have with me many hours of management development training we can use, reproduce and modify with no additional costs or caveats. No licensing, nothing more to buy. I will be set for great material for the next year. And I will be creating this material with a group of very smart professionals and we will be sharing all the work. This is an ASTD conference, so we can trust that it will be top notch and valuable.

And besides, with the strong economy and the drastic drop in fuel costs, the travel expenses will be very low. The take-aways from the conference will make this well worth the travel and conference expenses.

And besides, nobody gets any real work done between Thanksgiving and Christmas anyway, so I might as well go to the conference.  Early December is a great time to go because it will give me lots of information I can use to help us kick off a great 2009.

And besides, our current training topics are lame - the same ole stuff. People are sick of it. Our training could use some updating, this is a new world and managers have a lot more to deal with than they used to.

How about it, will I see you there? Drop me a note if you register.

Oh, here's one more thing that might really appeal to my blog readers - on the evening of the first day, I will invite you to an informal chat in the hotel lounge - we can talk about whatever you want.

I hope you join me. Let's do some great work together! You can find out more information about these conferences on the ASTD website here.

Also, pass this post along to the fine folks who work in your training departments, OK? (Especially if you think their training could use some updating.... :-)

Oh, this is going to be so much fun! Here's your not-so-subliminal visual.

Fireside Chat with Russ Edelman - Nice Guys Can Get the Corner Office

Are you an overly nice guy/gal?  How do you know? Check out this podcast!

During this 30 minute podcast, I chat with Russ Edelman, co-author of Nice Guys Can Get the Corner Office. You can download an excerpt from their website, Nice Guy Strategies. We talk about the all too common issue of whiplash (hear why I think this is another  name for not being a straight shooter) and some of the special challenges overly nice professional face and how they can improve their results.

You can listen to my podcast with the Russ Edelman by clicking here:

You can also download an MP3 version of the podcast here.

And just a reminder.....

Here is the Podcast Feed for the entire Fireside Chat podcast series:

To see the complete list of podcasts in this series, select the Podcasts and Webcasts category on this blog or see the list on my main website here.

You can also find this series on iTunes (and several other podcast sites), just search under my last name for Fireside Chat.

Missed the Anniversary Again - Best of Four Years

This is the fourth year I have missed this blog's anniversary date. I have missed it every year. Management Craft started in August 2004, so it turned four years old last month. 1227 posts and 2607 comments from you.

I have been struggling because I feel like I am starting to repeat myself. I guess this is natural and bound to happen after so many posts. According to Feedburner, here are the posts that you have clicked on the most:

Partner Better with Peers: Here Are Eight Ways

People Acumen (a guest post from Ram Charan)

Total Compensation

And the posts that get the most hits from Google are:

Leadership is Just One Thing

An Alternative View of Management vs. Leadership

It is interesting to see what resonates with readers. Dear readers, thanks so much for making Management Craft part of your life. Let me know if there are any topics you would like to see me address more fully.

Fireside Chat with Nancy Ortberg - Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands

What is non-linear leadership and how do you "do" it?  Check out this podcast!

During this 22 minute podcast, I chat with Nancy Ortberg, author of Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands: Lessons in Non-Linear Leadership. We discuss what it means to stretch people (too much, too little, just right) and how the focus of leadership is growth and development. Perhaps you are not growing as much as you would like? Maybe you are a leader who has gotten a bit too comfortable with comfortableness? Tune in!

You can listen to my podcast with the Nancy Ortberg by clicking here:

You can also download an MP3 version of the podcast here.

And just a reminder.....

Here is the Podcast Feed for the entire Fireside Chat podcast series:

To see the complete list of podcasts in this series, select the Podcasts and Webcasts category on this blog or see the list on my main website here.

You can also find this series on iTunes (and several other podcast sites), just search under my last name for Fireside Chat.

Flow - Revisited

Over the weekend, I picked up the one CD version of the book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It's highly abridged and just a summary, but it was a nice reminder of the eight characteristics of the flow experience:

1. CLEAR GOALS: We know what we have to do, the rules and our goals are clear (not confusing, not conflicting). We know what we want to accomplish each moment. The whole activity is very clearly focused.

2. REAL TIME FEEDBACK: We know if we are getting closer to our goal or moving away from it. Feedback is immediate, we know how things are going in real time. Clear feedback enables us to improve, monitor progress, and to concentrate.

3. SKILLS MATCH THE CHALLENGE: What we can do and what there is to do are in balance. We are neither overwhelmed nor bored. The job is appropriately demanding and this makes the work more interesting and enjoyable - even addictive. When our skills and activities are in balance, we get slowly sucked into it and feel compelled to continue.

4. FOCUS: In everyday life, we often try to do many things at once and pay attention to more than one task. When experiencing flow, our attention focuses on a single activity. We focus and concentrate on what we are doing. When focused, we can accomplish more and experience a feeling of inner harmony.

5. NO WORRIES: When having a flow experience, we cannot be distracted by other problems. We do not think about everyday frustrations. Our concentration and focus ensures we do not worry about these things. We can´t afford to let our mind wander. It is a great feeling of relief to be living in the present. A flow experience can be a form of forward escape. Instead of dealing with the usual reality, it creates a new and more interesting reality. Relief from the past and constraints moves us into a whole new experience.

6. CONTROL: We feel that we can be in control of our life, and are in control of our experience. Being in flow is about being on the edge of control and no control. Control is possible, but only when we are doing our best work. We know that if we prepare ourselves, we can match anything that comes our way.

7. NO EGO: When they are having a Flow Experience we are not self-conscious - we lose our ego! We do not worry about what other people think about us. When in flow, we don´t have the luxury of worrying about ourself, we are busy concentrating and very involved in what we are doing. In the depth of flow, we feel as though we are transcending our individuality to become part of the larger experience. No longer isolated, and part of the energy flowing about. Ironically, this sense of transcendence builds self-esteem after the flow experience is over. We forget ourself for the moment, but after, we feel stronger.

8. SENSE OF TIME TRANSFORMS: When experiencing flow, our sense of time is transformed. In flow, hours get condensed into minutes or visa versa, seconds become minutes (because so much is packed into the moment). Time adapts itself to the experience rather than the other way around.

The beauty of flow is that you can achieve it doing every day things, even when stuck in rush hour traffic or while waiting for the dentist to drill holes in your mouth. Those who live in flow, set many goals throughout the day and measure their actions against them. I do this when riding my motorcycle with how I turn and where in the road I position myself, etc...

And you can achieve flow as a manager in the way you conduct your day and the smaller goals you set for yourself throughout the day. Don't be a victim of your chaos and circumstances, build this into your day by setting and working goals for how you deal with the daily fire fighting and ad-hoc interruptions. As I write in Focus Like a Laser Beam, use tiny pockets of time to get big things done and see the momentum of your day go way up.

I realize that Bill is in flow a lot when he works on the computer doing mathematical modeling for his geology work and also while cooking. He loses all track of time and seems to be in an impenetrable bubble. I need to remind myself that this is a good thing the next time his being in flow causes him to lose track of time and be late!

Fireside Chat with Christopher Scott - Nonprofit Leadership

Want to get more involved in nonprofit leadership?  Check out this podcast!

During this 22 minute podcast, I chat with Christopher Scott, blogger, nonprofit leader, and founder of A Day of Hope - a small nonprofit that anonymously gives baskets of food to needy families for Thanksgiving. Have you been thinking about working in a nonprofit? If so, or if you want to get more involved in a nonprofit organization, you will enjoy this podcast. Christopher's blog is called Nonprofit Leadership, Innovation, and Change. Learn more about how a $25 donation to A Day of Hope will help feed two families this Thanksgiving (or how you can help families in your community). Christopher has written an ebook called Young Leadership: How a Young Person Can Make a Difference available for free on Lulu.com.

You can listen to my podcast with the Christopher Scott by clicking here:

You can also download an MP3 version of the podcast here.

And just a reminder.....

Here is the Podcast Feed for the entire Fireside Chat podcast series:

To see the complete list of podcasts in this series, select the Podcasts and Webcasts category on this blog or see the list on my main website here.

You can also find this series on iTunes (and several other podcast sites), just search under my last name for Fireside Chat.