The Happy Burro

Times are tough all over. Your budget rarely gets increased. Your fixed expenses are going up. As a manager, you have more daily priorities than you have people or time to accomplish them. And then you get one more request, urgent, from the ‘top’. How do you balance all this while ensuring you are prepared for the coming year and another budget reduction?

1. Be the best. Whatever your job, do it like Michelangelo carved marble. Do your work so well that those before you, those that work with you, and those that come after you must pause and say, “There lived a great manager.”(from Martin Luther King Jr.).
2. Return on Talent. Now is not the time to back off on performance appraisals, rigorous and disciplined hiring, or rewarding your best people. You need the right people, in the right jobs – right now.
3. Innovate. Sacrificing the future to live through the present? That will not work for long. Reward new ideas in the area of continuous improvement – thus keeping alive the entrepreneurial spirit of your team.
4. Continuous Improvement. Get better at what you’re already good at. Your work will suffer if you don’t take time to ‘sharpen the saw.’
5. Strategic Quitting. ala Seth Godin and The Dip. You didn’t get to be a manager by doing everything. You chose to systematically quit doing some things so that you could be the best at others.
6. Resource the vital few. With a limited budget, you cannot give resources to everything. What are the critical drivers to success in the near term and longer term for your organization? Focus on these areas first.
7. Celebrate success. Even going a month with no one in the department getting sick could be a good time to cheer!
8. Involve everyone. Let your team help figure out how best to deal with the budget issues your organization is facing. Don’t work alone.
9. Rest. Take one day a week and do not work. Seriously – no BlackBerry, no email, no files, no papers. Give your brain a break. You’ll get more done in six days than seven in most cases. Resting is that powerful.
10. Stop Perfection. Don’t try to ensure everything is 100% perfect. Sure, you cannot waver from policy or law. What about other outputs? Does your demand of perfection end up with a 5% better product and a 45% drop in morale? Think about it. Not everything has to be perfect.

What do you do in your organization as a manager to contribute to the bottom line in tough times?

Joe Raasch :: Apr.27.2008 :: Change Management, Employee Engagement, Innovation, Leadership, Organizational Development :: No Comments »

Ever catch yourself telling your colleagues about that one time, during the big project, at another company, how you (Insert incredible achievement):

1. Saved the day
2. Won a big award
3. Received a big bonus
4. Scored the largest account ever

Why the Past Doesn’t Matter

Glory Days, my friend. Bruce Springsteen sang about this back in 1984! How boring to have to listen to stories about past glories in a job that isn’t the same, an industry that no longer applies, and a decade that is quite different in every way from today. Why do people do this? Does it matter that I received an award for work I did in 2001? That was seven years ago. S-E-V-E-N. What have I done lately?

Why the Past Does Matter

Who we are today is the amalgam of experience, education, and maturity gained over time. Our past, the triumphs and failures, shape the way we see today’s challenges, relate to the world, and experience others. There is no discounting the value of any of this.

The Art versus the Science

That said, filter early, filter often. While my experience 14 years ago may have made a tremendous difference in my life, my colleagues may have little interest. What we are able to apply, produce, change, today – that matters.

Joe Raasch :: Apr.21.2008 :: Innovation, Leadership, Organizational Development, Performance Management :: 2 Comments »

I am a voracious reader and have at least two or three books ‘in play’ at any given time. One for work, one for pleasure, one because it was just too interesting to not read.

Recently, Jim Stroup from Managing Leadership tagged me with the opportunity to discuss the book I am currently reading and ones I may have lined up for the near future. I am also supposed to excerpt the sixth through eighth sentences on page 123 of my current book. Will do!

• The book in play right now is Discourses On Art by Sir Joshua Reynolds. This book is about the history of European art and is written as a composition of lectures given by the author at the Royal Academy in the late eighteenth century. The general topics are a summary of the previous 300 years of art theory and the education of the artist: the purpose of art, the nature of the creative process, and the artist’s relation to tradition.

Excerpt from page 123, sentences 6 – 8: Of the judgment which which we make on the works of art, and the preference that we give to one class of art over another, if a reason be demanded, the question is perhaps evaded by answering, I judge from my taste; but it does not follow that a better answer cannot be given, though, for common gazers, this may be sufficient. Every man is not aligned to investigate the causes of his approbation or dislike. The arts would lie open for ever to caprice and casualty, if those who are to judge of their excellences had no settled principles by which they are to regulate their decisions, and the merit or defect of performances were to be determined by unguided fancy.

WHY READ?

How would the message in this excerpt be translated into managing organizational performance? One way could be in communications. If an organization does not communicate to its employees on a subject, the employees will make up their own stories. Is that good or bad? Another application could be with innovation. “Bring us new products!” may sound like a motivating rally cry. Without some guidance or parameters, will companies get the most sustainable opportunities? Hmmm…your thoughts?

The rest of the books listed are just started or in line to be read soon (no particular order):

• The Trusted Advisor by David H. Maister, Charles H. Green and Robert M. Galford. We are all advisors in some capacity.
• How to Escape Your Comfort Zones by Lee Johnson with Albert Koopman. I feel I don’t need to read this. Exactly the time to do it.
• The Dip by Seth Godin. This is a book I re-read every time I prepare for a strategy session. Highly recommended.
• Churchill: A Biography by Roy Jenkins. There is something to learn from anyone who has faced adversity and demonstrated courage.
• The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp, M.D. We’re expecting a girl in late July and are inundated with ‘sleep’ theories.
• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. I read something by Shakespeare at least once a year. This writing style helps me expand my creative writing skills, and conversely teaches me to write succinctly for business. I enjoy the eloquence of language and the exercise of trying to summarize a lengthy passage in 25 words or less.

WHO IS NEXT?

I am going to tag the following people because I experience them as life-long learners and readers of a variety of topics. I look forward to learning more about their choices – I trust you are as well!

• Valeria Maltoni at Conversation Agent
• Dr. Alex Pattakos at The Meaning Difference
• Jack Cafferty at the Cafferty File
• Bear Grylls at Man v. Wild
• Jamie Notter at Get Me Jamie Notter

I know these people will have outstanding selections to offer. Some are already linked on their sites. The rest we’ll hope they share soon!
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I would appreciate your input on what YOU are reading. Any suggestions for my stack? Comment on this post or email me at thehappyburro@gmail.com

Joe Raasch :: Apr.12.2008 :: Life, Personal :: 4 Comments »