Management Craft

Control does not produce openness. Modern conundrum. #leadership

Check out this NYT OP-ED from David Brooks called, "It's not about you." Here's the money quote:

"No one would design a system of extreme supervision to prepare people for a decade of extreme openness. But this is exactly what has emerged in modern America."

Applies to workplaces, too. Worth reading and letting sink in.

Stop working, get more done. Go. Now. Pulse, don't plow. #management

I love this piece from Tony Schwartz on BNET called, Working Harder Doesn't Get You Ahead. Check it out. Here is a teaser quote:

"I hunkered down, powered through, stayed the course. Along the way, something insidious, inevitable, and mostly unconscious happened."

Insidious, indeed. Yes, we have all been there (might be there right now!).

I'd Rate Myself a 10! Or a 2! #management @hrbartender

To use self-appraisals in the performance-appraisal process or not?  That question has been debated for years (and will continue to be for many more).  But Sharyln (a.k.a. HR Bartender) makes one of the most convincing arguments for using self-appraisals I have read.  How an employee rates himself/herself and the specific examples to justify that rating can give you a much greater understanding of that employee.  Read Sharyln's post here.

She also mentions that some people think performance appraisals ought to go the way of the typewriter and punch card. I am in that camp. We might (might) be able to fix the system by pouring in a lot of work and reinventing nearly every aspect of how we do appraisals. Would we do this for any other failing system? No. We would set it aside and start over.

All that said, the vast majority of you will have to do evaluations and Sharlyn's suggestions will help a lot.

Your #happiness seeps in from others. Or does it?

Check out this study from James Fowler and Nicholas Christakis, called Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study.

Here are a couple of quotes from the abstract to whet your interest:

"the relationship between people’s happiness extends up to three degrees of separation (for example, to the friends of one’s friends’ friends). People who are surrounded by many happy people and those who are central in the network are more likely to become happy in the future. Longitudinal statistical models suggest that clusters of happiness result from the spread of happiness and not just a tendency for people to associate with similar individuals."

"People’s happiness depends on the happiness of others with whom they are connected."

Makes you think about your network and with whom you spend time. It should also make us all think about how we are impacting others - positively and negatively.

I talk to a lot of folks from many organizations. The complaint I often hear is that people are dissatisfied with their jobs because the place/department/team is a ball of negativity and no fun to work within.

As organizational leaders, how ought the results of this longitudinal study (which likely backs up what we believed to be true) change how we manage, select, promote, measure, and relate? How ought these results change our talent management systems and practices?

How Much Is Your Time Worth? @rajsetty

A few sentences can have a powerful impact.  I recently read a story on Raj Setty's blog about a young boy and his father.  I won't tell you any more so as to not dull the impact.  Make sure to check it out here. Let's just say that it is an excellent post to read as you head off into the holiday weekend. Enjoy!

How to Have a Killer Brand

James Bond is one of most successful of all movie franchises.  By examining how the franchise has achieved such terrific branding success, David Brier came up with ways for your company to duplicate that success.  David created a list of 11 attributes that lead to branding success including:

• Unforgettable
• Extraordinary
• Chocolate
• Nimble

I am partial to the third one on the list. Read David's very entertaining piece here on the Fast Company blog. Enjoy a martini while reading it - shaken not stirred, of course.

Resources & Handouts from my #ASTD2011 Talk

I am doing a talk this morning at the ASTD conference in Orlando. I thought I would share the links and resources that I am recommending here so that anyone can access them.

The talk is about how to create a workplace environment where learning and collaboration happen between diverse people and teams (I call it multi-directional learning).

1. Openness: We learn better from each other - an in general - when we are open. I recommend checking out Psychologist Carl Rogers, "The Concept of a Fully Functioning Person." Find it here. I love this piece for many reasons and hope you will check it out. 

2. Active Constructive Responding - Read about how to use this technique to build better relationships in Dr. Martin Seligman's new book (which I LOVE) called Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being. You can also see a video clip of him explaining the technique here.

3. The Workplace electric - I shared the idea of a workshop that helps co-corkers fall in "love" with each other by helping them learn how to explore and uncover each other's unique talents (keep it PG folks). Here is the PDF of the outline of the course I do that you can use as an idea for creating your own.

And here is a PDF of my talk slides.

Do You Have A Diva ony our team? The 5 Faces of the Performance Review

Here is a post from Kris Dunn at The HR Capitalist about a white paper titled The 5 Faces Managers See During Performance Reviews (to download it, you will have to register, but it is free). His post offers a good intro.

I find it humorous and true and helpful. Many managers struggle with the performance evaluation conversation (don't get me started on the fundamental question of WHETHER we should do traditional evaluations...no...).  If that's you, please check it out. What is the most common face you have seen during your performance review?

Top 5 Ways to Innovate

There's a great video on the Fast Company website of Jeremy Gutsche from Trendhunter.com talking about his top five ways to innovate during times of change and chaos (which is all the time, right?).  He advocates for getting rid of the walls that separate people and ideas and checking out other industries.  Watch him discuss his full list here. Love the Peter Drucker quote.

Promote, Train, Rinse, Repeat - nice post from @hrbartender

It makes perfect sense that when someone becomes a manager, they should get management training.  But the reality is, many people don't.  Sharlyn, the HR Bartender, discusses the reasons for this and why training is a must.  She makes a great argument for training even if the employee was a manager at a different company because

"Every business has their own philosophies and it's important for managers to understand exactly what the company's viewpoints are when it comes to employee coaching, performance, discipline, etc."

Click here for Sharlyn's post.