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A Word About The Wise
Posted on April 24, 2012 by Al Watts
A Word About The Wise

by Al Watts and Lola Fredrickson

Who’s the wisest person you know?  Why does that person come to mind, and what are some characteristics of other wise people you know?

Competency, skills and expertise are desirable, but cannot take the place of wisdom.  There are competent, highly skilled and even expert sailors, for example, but not all of them are wise.  A saying among Lake Superior sailors comes to mind: “The Superior sailor uses superior judgment to avoid situations that require superior skills.”  For examples closer to home, think of organizations getting bad press lately that have no doubt been run by smart people;  if they had exercised more wisdom, they likely would have saved a bundle on legal fees.

As we think of truly wise professionals that we know, here’s what comes to mind:

  • It’s not about them; they are relatively ego-less.  Whatever the profession, it’s not about proving knowledge, displaying expertise or being right; there is a genuine focus on whomever they are helping and on arriving at the best solutions.
  • They do more asking than telling, and ask great questions.  They are great listeners.  They ask questions that cause us to think, reflect on our goals, diagnose a situation properly and often arrive at the best solutions ourselves.
  • They’ve “been there and done that,” usually multiple times under many different conditions and circumstances.  An article not long ago described the false confidence that golfers can acquire after a successful afternoon on the driving range or consecutive great rounds at their favorite course.  Golf pros, on the other hand, develop a kind of wisdom that comes from hitting many more shots on many different courses, in all weather conditions and circumstances.  Wisdom does not come from one year of the same experience ten years in a row.
  • They display exceptional discernment and judgment.  Discernment precedes good judgment; it is the capacity for keen observation, sensing subtleties, distinguishing true from false, questioning assumptions and evaluating alternatives.
  • They see the bigger picture.  Amateur chess players typically react to threats or opportunities on a section or two of the game board at a time, and think one or two moves ahead.  The wise, like great chess players, can take in a whole picture and its implications all at once.  Wise professionals and leaders consider the 2nd, 3rd, 4th-order and beyond likely consequences of decisions and actions.  They consider an immediate task or object as well as its context.
  • They see the “smaller picture” too.  They see not only the bigger picture; they focus on details when appropriate, and distinguish important from unimportant details.   
  • They don’t always “go by the book.”  Perhaps because of the above, they are as or more attuned to the value of exceptions than they are to rules.  To paraphrase the jazz great Miles Davis, they “don’t play what’s there; they play what’s not there.”  Wisdom comes into play when there isn’t a rule book, manual or “standard operating procedures” to go by.
  • They are still learners.  Have you noticed how the smartest (at least wisest) people don’t act that way?  There’s a kind of humbleness that comes from a mindset of suspecting there is always another answer or way, and perhaps a better one.  They have curious, questioning minds – a large part of why they are usually the wisest in a group.

What’s the big deal with wisdom, and why be concerned about it?  For one thing, many of our wise human resources are heading out the door from attrition or retirement.  “Knowledge management” was a hot topic a while back, and now “talent management” carries the day.  What about “wisdom management?”  What are we doing to acquire, cultivate and retain wisdom in our organizations?

Whether in-house or contracted, wise resources contribute value that is distinct from merely competent or even expert talent.  Their depth of experience and personal characteristics bring a different dimension to problem solving.  Instead of merely helping solve problems, they help us discern which problems are worth solving or how to avoid them in the first place.  Competent, skilled or expert resources can answer our questions; wisdom helps us make sure that we are asking the right questions.

When facing a challenge in your organization, make sure there’s wisdom on your team.  Sometimes an outside view helps – fresh eyes that have seen a lot and bring new perspectives, making sure that we’re asking the right questions and solving the right problems.  We need to give more thought to the role of wisdom in our work and organizations – when we need it, how to get and grow it, how to leverage it and how to retain it.

In what ways are you wise?  What can you do to cultivate your own wisdom?

How can you cultivate, retain and leverage wisdom in your organization?

 

“The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

“Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.”

Doug Larson

Posted in Education, Leadership, Personal development
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4 Comments
  • Al Watts
    Thanks, Carolien; I appreciate your wise observation about the importance of balancing a "knowing" and "not knowing" orientation. Thanks too ...
  • Carolien Moors
    Great article Al! I love to meet, listen to, and learn from wise people. Your 'ingredients' are spot on. When ...
Is It Time To Part Company?
Posted on March 7, 2012 by Al Watts
Is It Time To Part Company?

What’s the first thought you have about your work or employer when you wake up? Are you energized, enthused and eager to get on with your day, or just hoping to get through it?  If you’re energized and looking forward to the day, you likely reflect the 21% of nearly 90,000 employees surveyed by Towers Perrin’s in 2011 who said they were engaged.  (Only 8% reported being “fully engaged.”)  If you feel anxious, resentful and unmotivated, you probably identify more with the 38% surveyed who said they were wholly or partially disengaged.   For sure the cost of disengagement for employers is high, including lost productivity, less innovation, more conflict and higher health care expenses.  If you’ve been there, you know about the personal toll that it takes too.

I remember an article targeted to employers about “5 Signs That You Made A Bad Hiring Decision.” (CBS New Money Watch, April 4, 2011.) It got me to thinking about the other side of the coin – signs that maybe we’ve gone to work for the wrong employer, or better yet that we shouldn’t sign on in the first place.  Here are my top ten signs that might be the case; they might also serve as indicators for employers of things to shore up if they want a more engaged workforce:

  • Unclear or muddled direction – The organization either hasn’t articulated its mission, strategy and priorities, or it’s hard to buy in to its value proposition.  Is this an organization or unit in an organization with a clear understanding of how it creates value?
  • Lack of fit – Is the organization’s mission one that you identify with?  Can you get behind the goals and are you excited about helping achieve them?  Will you have the opportunity to employ your most motivated skills?  This is about Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s “flow” – when we are “stretched to our limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”  (Flow; Harper Perennial, 1990)
  • No “center” – What does the organization stand for?  Core values, principles or beliefs are easier stated than practiced consistently, so look beyond a web site or posters on the walls.  Ask others who know the organization or check places like glassdoor.com to learn what a culture is really like.  Dr. Charles Hughes’ research at the Center For Values Research demonstrated that compatibility of individual and organizational values correlates highly with workers’ desire to remain with their employer.
  • Stunted growth potential – Is this someplace where you can learn and grow?  Much of this is linked to an organization’s value proposition and strategy, but not all.  Selfish managers with no interest in your aspirations or inclinations to help you achieve them play huge roles.  How do the organization and your likely boss invest in training or mentoring others?
  • Clueless leaders – Is your immediate supervisor or a sizeable group of managers severely “E.Q.-challenged?”  Do they exhibit significant blind spots and a severe shortage of self-awareness or self-control?  Is there no concept of how much additional workload is too much?  I still remember the sense of dread, cynicism and resignation among employees I interviewed in an organization headed by a modern-day Simon Legree.
  • Poor alignment – Is everyone and everything pretty much “in-sync” with the organization’s stated direction?  Or do you get the sense that as much or more energy is spent arguing, posturing or engaging in office politics than on “keeping the main thing the main thing” and satisfying customers?
  • Confusing “unity” with “sameness” – Unity is great, but that doesn’t mean that everyone should look alike, think alike, act alike or always agree.  Are different perspectives and respectful disagreement encouraged?
  • Lack of truth-telling and transparency – Is the culture overly secretive?  Is it unsafe to surface “bad news,” or is it hard for people to get information that they need?  Are financial statements or other information that investors, customers or other stakeholders want easy to find and understand, or opaque?
  • Toxic culture – “Toxic” means just that, poison, or a health hazard.  Contributors to toxic cultures beyond those mentioned here include gossip and rumors, unfairness, bullying and blatant disrespect.

Try assigning a rating from “0” to “5” for each of these, with “5” being worst.  If the total rating for your work or employer is 20, or 5 on any one of these, I’d say start making a move.  Update your resume and social network profiles, fire up your network and exercise due diligence evaluating future potential opportunities. I hope that this serves as a useful checklist of what to look for and what to avoid then. It’s hard to evaluate most of these factors on our own, so ask around; check sites like glassdoor.com and employerreviews.net

I know that in some organizations there is a fair amount of pent-up interest in jumping ship when the opportunity arises.  It has been mainly an employers’ market the last few years, but that will likely change.  As the market improves and competition for talent heats up, applicants and employees will be in a position to be more discerning. If not too late, I hope that this checklist proves useful for organizations that want to minimize their loss of talent when the tide turns.

How does your employer rate for each of these dimensions?  Is it time to think of parting company?

Employers – do you know how talent in your organization rates you on each of these dimensions?  How will you find out and make adjustments in order to keep your best talent?

 

“What we really want to do is what we are meant to do.  When we do what we want to do money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels lie play to us.”   (Julia Cameron)

 

 

Posted in Culture
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1 Comment
  • Carolien Moors
    Great article Al, it fits with the Oct. 2011 Gallup report stating that 71% percent of American workers are "not ...
Four Stories of a Leader
Posted on February 9, 2012 by Al Watts
Four Stories of a Leader

by Bill Gjetson

(This month’s guest author is Bill Gjetson, who shares my belief that stories play an important role shaping a leader’s and organization’s identity.  After a 30 year career in Human Resources  with Caterpillar, Bill is now engaged in experience-based leadership coaching and consulting; helping leaders  harness the power of storytelling is an integral part of his practice.  Bill can be reached at gjetson789@comcast.net)

 

Leaders must know how to set direction as well as how to engage followers.   A great strategy without a fully committed workforce prepared to execute it is a failed strategy.

Storytelling is a powerful way to engage team members.  Leaders who master the craft of storytelling have a potent arsenal for explaining strategy and inspiring performance.  This is not to suggest that leaders tell tall tales or spin yarns.  This is about authentic stories, stories true to the leader and true to the organization.  An authentic story, fiction or non-fiction, is one that is relevant to the business context, sheds light on the situation, reveals meaning, defines a larger purpose, and motivates performers to give their very best.

For example, stories to inspire perseverance range from The Little Engine That Could, to the 1914 Shakleton expedition to the Antarctic, to the Battle of Britain and  Churchill’s speech to students at Harrow school.  In his closing remarks Churchill told them “This is the lesson.  Never give in.  Never give in.  Never, never, never, never—in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give  in…”.

Stories enable leaders to engage employees because people understand the world in terms of stories.  There are four story categories a leader must master: Who Am I? Who Are We? Where Are We Going? How Will We Get There?  In addition to story content, the leader needs to learn context (what story to tell and when to tell it) and process (how to tell the story).

“Who Am I?” is the gateway story.  Employees need to know who the leader is on a personal level, before they will listen to anything else the leader has to say or ask of them.  The “Who Am I?” story must be faithful to the people and events that shaped the leader’s life.  Telling the story opens the way to building connections and trust.  Noel Tichy, in The Leadership Engine, puts it this way:

“The most effective leaders are those who are in touch with their leadership stories….When we know our stories, we know ourselves….(The leader’s stories) allow other people to know us.  Stories create real, human connections by allowing others to get inside our minds and our lives.”

The next three stories are all about the employees and the journey they are on together.  Employees need to know who they are where they are going, and how they’ll get there.  According to Howard Gardner, in Leading Minds:

“The story is the basic human cognitive form.  The artful creation and articulation of stories constitutes a fundamental part of a leader’s vocation.  Narratives that help individuals think about and feel who they are, where they have come from, and where they are headed….constitute the single most powerful weapon in a leader’s literary arsenal.”

“Who Are We?” stories encompass the organization’s history, critical events, and core values.  These are stories about the people and events that brought the organization into being , guided its development, and insured its long term success.  These are stories about founders, builders,  and anyone and everyone who contributed to the creation of a strong, values-based organization.  “Who Are We?” stories build organizational identity and loyalty.

“Where Are We Going?” stories are about the organization’s mission and strategy.  They are stories about the future, about aspiration, about “who we will become”.  These stories give meaning and purpose to the organization, and help employees understand what they are working for.

“How Will We Get There?” stories are the most demanding  to craft and tell, because they are  about how the organization will solve its most pressing problems, overcome challenges, deal with crises, or handle adversity.  There are times in the life of every organization when things go wrong, dark clouds form, discouragement settles in and employees begin to lose hope.  On these occasions, the leader can draw on the history of the organization, or use stories from another time and place, to keep hope alive, sustain effort, and show employees that they can prevail.

Developing narrative competence (knowing how and when to tell stories) and mastering the Four Stories will go far towards enabling a leader to build a fully committed workforce and execute strategy.

How will you harness the power of stories?

 

“Lessons of wisdom have the most power over us when they capture the heart through the groundwork of a story, which engages the passions.”                                 Laurence Stern

 

Posted in Leadership, Personal development, Values
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1 Comment
  • Becky Albrecht
    Thanks for the great reminder. I really admire leaders who can tell stories naturally, the rest of us need ...
Recipe for Success in 2012
Posted on January 10, 2012 by Al Watts
Recipe for Success in 2012

We pulled out a time-honored family recipe over the holidays, and that got me thinking about what a recipe for success in 2012 might be.  I tried to follow the criteria for most good recipes: they should be relatively simple and clear, employ what is ideally at our disposal, allow for some flexibility or minor errors, and yield the desired outcomes.  Here’s what I came up with:

Start with the end in mind.  What are the outcomes that we want?  Where do we see ourselves ideally in 2013?  What’s new; what’s different?  Why is that important – how will the outcomes advance our longer-range vision and goals?

Take inventory.  What resources do we already have on hand that we can employ – friends, contacts, materials, assets . . .?  Which will we need to acquire?  This step is like a basic navigational principle: before we can get to where we want to go, we need to first know where we are – and it’s critical to be accurate.  If we take on a complicated recipe from a renowned chef, and it’s in a foreign language, the chances of failure are high.  Stretch goals are great, but we need to be realistic.  Before we set out we need to see things for what they are, not what we wish they were.

Follow a plan, but be flexible.  Think through which steps, in what order, will give us the best chances of success.  For example, just like I know that the chocolate chips get added last when making chocolate chip cookies, it’s better to research a prospect before making a marketing call.  If I’m out of chocolate chips, maybe I can use chocolate shavings or peanut butter chips; if I haven’t done the research yet, maybe I can reschedule.

Ask for help.  I tried a recipe once that called for white sauce, and had no idea what that was.  Instead of wasting a lot of butter and flour or scratching the project, I asked my wife Carley for help.  If an associate knows some part of what I need to deliver better than I do, I would rather pay for the help than jeopardize project quality.

Monitor progress and ask for feedback.  Even a good cook is smart to get others’ opinions about whether to add any spices or serve something again.  Likewise, we are not always the best judge of our work or efforts; take advantage of others’ ideas or suggestions of ways to approach things differently.

Stir in equal amounts of courage and discipline.  Almost anything that’s new or hard requires courage.  We need courage to follow our own path, try something new or untested or make investments when rewards are uncertain.  Discipline essentially means replacing old habits or routines with new ones, and sticking to them; without it we are likely to be among the 80% or so who drop their new year resolutions by the end of January.  As Aristotle said: “We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Hang in there, and be good to yourself.  Challenging goals (or recipes) can be discouraging; sometimes we’re tempted to just chuck it all and eat out.  Keep at it, and “keep your eye on the prize.”  If we keep doing our best, something positive will develop; if nothing else we will learn something.  Stay focused, but remember “all work and no play . . .”  Put on some music, have a glass of wine, visit with company (or the equivalent at work) and keep things in perspective.  Even if all seems lost, it’s not.

That’s my take on a recipe for success in 2012; what’s yours?

 

“The secret of success is constancy to purpose.”

Benjamin Disraeli

“When you get right down to the root meaning of the word “succeed”, you find that it simply means to follow through.”

F. W. Nichol

 

Posted in Integrity, Leadership, Performance, Personal development
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1 Comment
  • Carolien Moors
    Hi Al Great post, it can get a lot of people moving. I like it that you incorporate minor errors, the ...
My Left Hand
Posted on December 8, 2011 by Al Watts
My Left Hand

This article is brought to you by my left hand (I’m right-handed) – courtesy of a torn rotator cuff and surgery a few weeks ago.  I am a firm believer that almost any hardship, unfamiliar situation or adventure offers lessons for life and leadership, and a few weeks with my right arm in a sling is no exception.  Here are some lessons so far:

Just because pain is masked doesn’t mean that damage isn’t being done.  Ibuprofen made me feel better, but an MRI revealed a rotator cuff tear, which never heals and only gets worse without surgery.  A cortisone shot helped me engage in some magical thinking about how maybe the problem was going away; it was only after a second cortisone injection began wearing off and some coaching from the doc that I committed to surgery and actually solving the real problem.  That got me to thinking about denial of underlying problems and their real causes in organizations; “shots in the arm” like motivational speeches or training here and there might feel good initially, but unpleasant realities always come home to roost.  Without surgery my rotator cuff tendon would have eventually given way, or there would come a time when it couldn’t be repaired.

Think of organizations you’ve known or heard of where “surgery” or difficult decisions were put off and led to disaster.  (There have been several notable examples in the news lately.)

Are there any tough calls in our organizations that should wait no longer, or root problems that need to be addressed?

 

Preparation pays.  After research and talking with acquaintances who had the surgery, I prepared myself for a long, painful and frustrating recovery; my mantra became “expect the worst and hope for the best.”  Most everything has been better than I expected so far, and I was reminded that anticipating unpleasant events is often worse than just getting on with them.  I practiced brushing my teeth, dressing and other tasks one-handed, and got as many things that would require two hands done ahead of time; that made it easier adjusting to things the first few days after surgery.

What personal or professional tasks might we better prepare for? 

Is there anything we need to do where fear is holding us back or we are over-anticipating bad consequences? 

Are there upcoming realities in our organizations that we can better prepare for? 

Are there potential scenarios for which we should develop contingency plans?

 

Disruption can be positive.  It’s good to know that there are more ways to do things than just how we are used to doing them.  For me lately those things have been tasks like personal grooming, eating and making coffee one-handed, dressing and computer work.  Learning to do things differently increases our flexibility, open-mindedness about others’ methods, problem-solving skills and range of capabilities.  Disrupting our patterns and usual routines also gives us the opportunity to examine traditional ways in a new light; we are likely to discover things we otherwise wouldn’t, and replace habitual ways with better ones.  My world temporarily shrunk and became much quieter; I couldn’t drive for a while, I didn’t feel like engaging in much phone conversation (‘probably not a good anyway under medication!) and I had less energy than usual for customary tasks.  That wasn’t all bad; I had more thinking and reflection time, and opportunities to knock some things off that had been neglected. 

Are there things that we should try doing differently or habits that we should disrupt? 

How might we create more thinking and reflection time for ourselves and others we work with?

 

Relationships matter.  Tougher times remind us how important friends are; I am grateful for their cards, support and well-wishes.  I was also surprised by the impact of unexpected kind gestures – like good friends who dropped off home-made lasagna on their way out of town, neighbors across the alley who delivered home-made venison stew, a neighbor with his two boys who raked our entire front lawn and my accountant who called the day before surgery to wish me well.  (See my last article: “Random Acts of Kindness.”)

Are we investing enough in building relationships and paying sufficient attention to how we can help others in difficult times?

 

No pain, no gain.  This lesson was of course driven home in post-op physical therapy.  For a few days after surgery, it was hard to even imagine using my right arm and hand as before; sure enough though, each day I notice some improvement by disciplining myself to follow the therapist’s instructions.  PT in my case is mainly stretching and reawakening traumatized tendons, muscles and shoulder parts.

How might we need to stretch or “reawaken” anything to make the gains that we hope for in life or work? 

Where / how might more discipline help us make progress?

PT offers additional lessons; my therapist is good at providing feedback and reinforcing progress – a reminder of their important role stimulating growth.  How can we use feedback and reinforcement to help ourselves or others grow?

 

I chose the title for this article with apologies to makers of the 1989 Academy Award winner “My Left Foot,” and to Christy Brown, whose autobiography by the same name the movie was about.  Christy Brown was born with cerebral palsy, and despite having control of only his left foot became a renowned painter and writer.  I think that above all my temporary condition has gifted me with more empathy.  It is hard for me to imagine what courage and fortitude those with much more serious conditions muster – disabled armed forces vets, those borne with debilitating conditions, victims crippled by accidents or Gabby Giffords.  They all deserve our admiration and no doubt have much to teach us.

What hardships have you experienced, and what lessons have they offered?

Posted in Leadership, Performance, Personal development
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2 Comments
  • Tom Horner
    Thoughtful comments. Not only are your prescriptions useful for corporate and non-profit organizations, but would be useful guideposts for government. ...
  • merry glover
    I will have rotator cuff surgery at the end of this month. I am physically and mentally preparing now. ...
How Penn State Fumbled
Posted on November 11, 2011 by Al Watts
How Penn State Fumbled

It is sadly ironic that Penn State University and its leaders, concerned as they were about legacy, will perhaps best be known for their failures.  Over fifteen years, at least eight young boys were molested, some at Penn State’s athletic facilities, by the defensive coach of its revered football team, Jerry Sandusky. Despite awareness of the behavior, no one in charge reported Sandusky to outside authorities, he was kept on staff and more boys were victimized.  The fallout continues, but so far Penn State’s iconic head coach Joe Paterno, its Athletic Director, VP of Administration and President have lost their jobs over the matter.

I can’t help looking at Penn State through the lens of the four integrity pillars in my book Navigating Integrity – Transforming Business As Usual Into Business At Its Best: Identity, Authenticity, Alignment and Accountability.

Identity – An institution’s mission and values – its stated purpose and principles intended to govern how its work gets accomplished – serve as the foundation for its identity.  At one point, Penn State’s football program was no doubt considered as means for accomplishing the University’s main ends of higher education and character formation.  Over time, however, Penn’s football program likely became the sun that the rest of the University revolved around.  When Penn State is mentioned, its football team is usually the first thing that comes to mind; few could name the University President, but most know about coach Joe Paterno.  What began as means to an end no doubt got confused by some as the end; they neglected to keep the main thing the main thing.

My research revealed no statements about Penn State University-wide institutional values, although I did find some for individual departments and programs.  Ironically, one stated value of Penn State’s athletic program is “to promote traditional values of honesty, integrity, commitment and hard work as the foundation of Penn State’s reputation and continuing success.” (italics mine)  My guess is that there were no or few strong, institutional and systematic initiatives for communicating Penn State University core values, what they meant and how they would be enforced.

Authenticity – Penn State and its leaders failed the three main tests of authenticity: trueness, truth-telling and transparency.  Trueness is a measure of how institutions and their leaders live up to their mission, brand promise and core values.  The athletic department clearly did not live up to its stated value of “promoting traditional values of honesty, integrity, commitment and hard work . . .,” nor its published Vision to maintain  a “consistently high level of competition that does not compromise the integrity which has characterized the Penn State program from its inception.”  To give coach Paterno some credit, his failure to do more in the light of what he knew violated the very same ethical principles upon which he based Penn State’s football program and that accounted for much of its success.

Truth-telling and transparency failed on multiple fronts; behaviors were overlooked, details were omitted from reports, and the full ugly reality remained an inside story.  Penn State and its athletic program displayed a conspiracy of silence instead of a culture of transparency – comparable to the dynamic that we’ve seen undo many institutions and that contributed to our great recession.

Alignment – Institutional cultures are products of their stories and traditions, reinforced behaviors, leadership modeling, and institutional systems like hiring, pay, training, what gets measured and performance management.  As Peter Drucker said, “Culture eats strategy (and good intentions for that matter) for breakfast.”  No matter what, if Penn State’s intentions, stated values and policies were not in alignment with its culture and institutional systems, they counted for little.  To paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson, when culture and institutional systems are not aligned with stated intentions, “actions speak so loudly we cannot hear what they are saying.”  If we want explanations of what transpired at Penn State, a review of who got hired or disciplined and why, what got rewarded or didn’t and why, and what people paid attention to or didn’t will reveal answers.

Accountability – I still like Roger Connors, Tom Smith and Craig Hickman’s take on personal responsibility in their book The Oz Principle: “seeing it, owning it, solving it and doing it.”  Penn State’s assistant coach Mike McQueary clearly saw Jerry Sanduskey raping a 10 year-old boy in the football team’s locker room, and reported that to Paterno.  Paterno reported that to Penn State’s athletic director and to campus police, but there was insufficient action and follow-through; no party took responsibility for actually solving the problem.  We need to remember as Moliere said: “It is not only what we do, but what we do not do, for which we are accountable.”  Why did Penn State leaders and staff look but not see?  Why did they know but not act?  I suspect that more answers are forthcoming, but integrity gaps in the University’s and its athletic department’s culture will account for many of the failures.

Accountability requires paying attention to what matters.  If honesty and integrity really mattered, Penn State and its leaders would have paid more attention to that.  They would have instituted measures and evaluation mechanisms to help them “keep the main thing the main thing.”  They would have examined their decisions and practices more thoroughly in the light of stated institutional and department values; they would have evaluated personnel and based hiring and disciplinary actions on different criteria; they would have paid as much or more attention to whether University leaders embodied University core values as to the football team’s win / loss record and how much profit it generated.

Penn State University is only beginning to experience the negative consequences of inadequate attention to institutional integrity.  Inattention to integrity gaps of its leaders and in its culture will not only adversely affect its ethical reputation, but severely damage its brand, and in turn engagement of students and faculty, recruitment prospects, its finances and overall University effectiveness.

“If you have integrity, nothing else matters; if you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.”  (Alan K. Simpson)

 

Do you have clear core values or principles that serve as a guide for your decisions and actions, especially in difficult situations?  Does your organization?

In any situations where decisions or actions did not model a core value or principle, why was that?  What needs to be different for that not to happen again?

Where and how do you think you or your organization might be at risk because of integrity gaps, and how do you know?  How can you close those integrity gaps?

Posted in Education, Ethics, Integrity, Leadership, Performance, Values
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5 Comments
  • Fael
    No way am I making exuescs for paterno; just trying to explore the Why of all this. Why ...
  • Ani
    I agree. The size, reputation, and anomut of money that the university makes deterred each knowing person from going to ...
Random Acts of Kindness
Posted on October 14, 2011 by Al Watts
Random Acts of Kindness

Can you remember the last time you were the beneficiary of a “random act of kindness” – an unsolicited, totally unexpected kind act from a stranger?  How did you feel, and how did that affect the course of your day?  Can you remember a time when someone else benefited from your random act of kindness?

I’ve been collecting them for a few months now; the last one was in a giant French metro station when my wife’s ticket didn’t work and she was stuck behind heavy metal bars with her luggage.  A woman behind her used her pass to unlock the gate and motioned her through.  I didn’t have time before one long trip to mow our lawn; imagine the pleasant surprise when I returned to discover that our neighbor mowed it for us!  Earlier this year, as my wife exited our car on a busy street she dropped a book; an Excel Energy truck driver noticed that her arms were full, got out of his truck, picked up the book and returned it to her.  The random act that got me thinking about this was when a woman in front of me at Starbucks offered to buy my coffee.  I thanked her and declined the offer, but she insisted, saying: “I’m just having a good day and wanted to buy someone a cup of coffee!”  There were more, and they were all “game changers” of sorts; in each case I immediately felt positive about the initiator (and in the truck driver’s case, Excel,) it brightened up my day and caused me to “pay it forward” with others.

What difference has it made for you when you were the recipient of a random act of kindness?  How about when you were the initiator?  These are challenging times, with many of us preoccupied about our own sets of concerns and agendas; the environment seems a little unfriendly, or indifferent at best.  I wonder what the impact would be if each of us made a commitment to initiate a random act of kindness daily, or a few per week.  In most cases that should be pretty easy; there are adequate opportunities if we’re paying attention.  Opportunities could be as simple as opening a door for someone (a lost practice!) or picking up dropped change (and returning it of course!)  At work we could help someone with a workload to help her leave earlier, treat someone to a cup of coffee or favorite snack, ease a new employee’s transition or take the time helping someone reload a complicated printer.  It’s amazing what just an unexpected smile can do to brighten things up.  (If we’re ever at a loss for ideas, of course one can find multiple resources on the web merely by searching “random acts of kindness.”)

Many businesses already give via community or charity efforts, and in most cases those are planned, budgeted and promoted programs.  I’m intrigued with the prospect of a business or institution incorporating random acts of kindness in its business model or culture; if any of you are aware of that, please share it.

Big random acts of kindness can make a big impact, including help with rent, repairing a vehicle or taking care of someone’s yard.  The impact is magnified when help isn’t requested and there is no sense of obligation; the “surprise” factor can totally redirect a relationship, course of events or outcomes.  We all have opportunities to be change agents, and some of the changes can be transformational, by initiating random acts of kindness.  May you be the beneficiary or initiator of one or two soon!

 

“To cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life.”

- Samuel Johnson; English poet, writer

 

“No kind action ever stops with itself. One kind action leads to another. Good example is followed. A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves.”

- Amelia Earhart; Aviation pioneer, author

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Lines and Ropes
Posted on September 13, 2011 by Al Watts
Lines and Ropes

“What’s the difference between a line and a rope?”  That is one of my favorite questions to ask new LOON crew members.  The answer is that a rope just sits there, with no purpose or use yet, like a pile of rope on the dock or extra rope in your locker.  A line is rope with a purpose that’s put to use, like a dock line or halyard for raising sails.

On a recent sail we got to talking about how there are “lines” and “ropes” in organizations, too.  You know them; the lines are usually engaged in some constructive pursuit, and the ropes seem to just sit there with little meaningful purpose or activity.  On some teams, lines sometimes take most of the strain, including work that some of the ropes should be doing.

It’s not always a rope’s fault that it lacks purpose or isn’t engaged.  I think it was in Robert Mager’s book Analyzing Performance Problems (with the catchy sub-title “You Really Oughta’ Wanna”) that I first heard there are four main reasons that some people (lines) don’t perform:

  • They don’t know what.  For lack of familiarity with a task or setting, they may simply not know what needs doing.  They need an explanation and clear expectations.
  • They don’t know how.  This is an educational or training opportunity.  Inexperienced crew members likely know that good knots are important, but no matter how many times they are asked to tie a bowline or clove hitch, if they aren’t shown how it won’t happen.
  • They don’t want to.  This is a motivational issue.  I am not especially motivated to climb my mast or dive in Lake Superior to free a fouled line, and fortunately so far have had willing and able crew to perform that task!   If there was imminent danger that required me to do so, though, I would be motivated.  Sometimes people simply don’t want to because it’s not their thing; there’s an interest or skills mismatch.
  • There are obstacles.  Earlier this summer LOON’s engine water pump blew on our way to Isle Royale.  No matter how motivated and able we were to continue our journey, we had to stay put in Grand Marais’ harbor until a replacement pump was shipped.  Likewise, if for example a worker’s attempts to assume more responsibility or improve processes are constantly thwarted by an insecure boss, meaningful contributions slow down.

Maybe this counts as an “obstacle” or it’s a fifth reason that someone is a rope instead of a line in our organizations:  Lines wear out if not properly cared for, and can snap (at very inopportune times) if over-loaded.  I’m afraid that many of our one-time best lines, the doers and innovators in our organizations, are getting worn out and close to the breaking (quitting) point.  Given downsizing and relentless cost-reduction efforts, lines that before held their own are now performing the work of two.  Everything seems to change at dizzying speeds; social networks are disrupted and work routines altered, often without reasons about why or needed support.

 

Here are some tips if we want more lines instead of just ropes in our organization:

  • Help people understand not only what needs to be done, but why it is important.  Give them more of the context about how their contributions tie in with the bigger picture.
  • Satisfy the desire that many have for meaning and a sense of purpose.  What needs do your products and services fulfill?  What would be missing without your organization’s and their contributions?  What’s the vision, where is the organization headed, and why is that important?
  • Assure that they have the necessary preparation , and provide training and support, to perform as required.
  • Make your organization’s culture and values visible, and encourage self-awareness to facilitate the best matches.
  • Remove obstacles – inefficient layouts, unnecessary rules and procedures, unsupportive or intimidating co-workers, outdated tools or technology, bureaucracy, etc.  Ask yourself (or better yet ask others) what you might be doing that’s getting in the way.
  • Create “truth-telling” cultures.  Make it easy for people to talk about how they feel like ropes but want to be lines, and engage in problem-solving with them about how.
  • Be a “servant leader.”  We may be “the captain of our ship,” but instead of focusing mainly on how others can help us get where we want to go, focus more on how we can help others help us reach a shared destination.  It’s a subtle, but important, distinction.

 

Are you feeling more like a “rope” than a “line” these days? What action will you take to re-engage and contribute more value?

How might you help any “ropes” whom you work with be more like “lines”?


Fair winds!

 

 

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It’s The Journey, Not Just The Destination
Posted on August 11, 2011 by Al Watts
It’s The Journey, Not Just The Destination

I just returned from ten days sailing Lake Superior.  After crossing from Bayfield to Grand Marais, our plan was to take three or four days circumnavigating Isle Royale, one of my favorite destinations.  Five miles outside of Grand Marais’ harbor LOON’s water pump broke, and with absolutely no wind we were dead in the water.  The bad news was breaking down, waiting three days in Grand Marais for a part from Massachusetts and having to change our plans. The good news was that it didn’t happen in a storm, in the middle of Lake Superior or on a rocky lee shore of Isle Royale.  Also, since we were basically bobbing like a cork just outside Grand Marais’ harbor, likely presenting a navigational hazard, North Superior’s Coast Guard kindly towed us into port.  (Not to mention that if you’re stranded anyplace, Grand Marais is a pretty good deal!)

Whenever sailing LOON, especially on longer cruises, I almost always learn something new about seamanship, and usually lessons that translate to leadership and life.  Lesson #1 on this cruise was “count your blessings, and make the most of the hand you’re dealt.”  Not only were we spared the danger of breaking down in a far worse place; we learned about water pumps, got to explore Grand Marais as never before, rested up and discovered a master marine mechanic (Randy at A&E Marine in Grand Marais.)  As we’ve heard, “wherever you go (or don’t go,) there you are!”  I was reminded that there are simply some things that we cannot control or plan for; we just have to deal with them and adapt.

I was also reminded of a lesson that I learned early, and that is reinforced on every sail: “Get the right people in the boat, and the wrong ones off it.”  Mike, Angelika, her daughter Lisa and friend Zoya were no doubt unhappy about our breakdown and change in plans, but you’d never know. They didn’t overreact, helped where they could and took full advantage of all that Grand Marais had to offer.  They never complained about being stranded in the harbor as our power drained, kept the captain and crew fed, and helped make it an enjoyable experience nevertheless.

After repairs, we had just enough time for an overnight sail to Isle Royale and a day of exploring Windigo’s trails.  All sails out, cruising at a comfortable clip under a starry sky and passing the Rock of Ages light at dawn, we couldn’t have asked for anything more.  As it turned out, we arrived on perhaps the season’s best day; a ranger told us that the prior two days were cold and rainy. Our 18-hour return crossing was uneventful except for an amazing sunset, shooting stars and a spectacular sunrise over Lake Superior.

My biggest takeaway from this cruise was realizing that a journey can be successful even if we do not reach our intended destination.  The lessons and experiences may be different ones than we planned, but if we are open to them may yield more in the end.  The day after we returned, 61 year-old Diana Nyad began her quest to swim the 103 miles from Cuba to Miami.  Injured and sick from exhaustion, she ended her attempt about half way.  She did not reach her intended destination, but I would not call her attempt a failure.  To even set that goal, condition herself for achieving it and accomplish what she did at 61 is inspirational.  Think about 3M’s “failed” attempts at making glue stick that led to Post-It Notes, or when Christopher Columbus failed to find a northwest passage to China in 1492 and what he found instead.

 

Does it look like you might not reach your intended destination? What unexpected opportunities might you take advantage of?  How can you capitalize on the situation?


What lessons can you take away from any “failures” or unsuccessful efforts to reach a destination?

 

It is good to have an end to journey for, but it is the journey that matters in the end.

Ursula K. Le Guin

The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change, and the realist adjusts the sails.

William Arthur Ward

 

Contact me, and I will be happy to send you my collection of “SeaChange” lessons for life and leadership gathered from over 2,000 miles of sailing adventures.

Fair winds!

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  • Carolien Moors
    Great post and great thinking Al. It is so true that our mind, our beliefs, and our thinking determine how ...
Lessons From News of the World
Posted on July 8, 2011 by Al Watts
Lessons From News of the World

Rupert Murdoch pulled the plug on NEWS OF THE WORLD, Britain’s nearly 170-year-old tabloid journal, in the wake of its unethical and illegal phone hacking practices.  As I heard that, I couldn’t help thinking of the analogy about “closing barn doors after the horses escaped.”  Shocked and appalled as the Murdochs claim to be, it is hard to imagine that apparently years of such unethical practices went unnoticed and not corrected.  But isn’t there a ring of familiarity here?  Think back to the shock expressed, and efforts to distance themselves from accountability, by those involved in Wall Street’s meltdown, the BP spill, Japan’s nuclear disaster and church sex scandals.  These are all instances where more attention to foundational principles, trueness to those principles and the discipline to craft “integrious” cultures would have avoided disastrous consequences.

The kind of integrity that insulates organizations from disasters like those wrought by NEWS OF THE WORLD, BP and Fukushimi Daiichi cannot be bolted on, managed as a PR initiative or separated from foundational business strategy.   It must be built in to an organization’s DNA and reinforced daily.  I would wager that had these four practices been followed by NEWS OF THE WORLD it could have prospered another century and more:

  • Articulate a meaningful mission and core values.  More than likely NEWS OF THE WORLD had something in writing stating its mission and values, as did BP, Fukushima and failed Wall Street banks.  Also more then likely, however, those organizations did not communicate their mission and core values in as many ways and as many times as they could.  For mission statements and core values to be memorable, they need to be articulated in the hiring process, in performance reviews, during training and as part of all internal and external communication.
  • For mission statements and espoused values to be believable, hire, reward, train, measure, hold people accountable and in every other way behave in ways that reinforce them.  I don’t know much about NEWS OF THE WORLD’s CEO Rebekah Brooks, but indications are that she doesn’t exactly epitomize the highest standards of professional, ethical journalism.  Promoting her to editor and CEO, and protecting her as Rupert Murdoch did, communicates volumes about what really counted at NEWS OF THE WORLD.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “What you are doing speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you are saying!”
  • Nurture truth-telling cultures.  No doubt there were some in the NEWS organization, as in BP, Fukushima and failed Wall Street institutions who questioned their organizations’ practices and ethics.  More than likely any who did either left (voluntarily or not,) or valued their jobs more than speaking their truth.  Real leaders need to invite, reward and build capabilities for constructive questioning and criticism, and take care not to discourage it – intentionally or unintentionally.
  • Above all, as Stephen Covey put it: “Keep the main thing the main thing.”  I say this knowing full well how incredibly difficult that is, especially in markets and a world that are hyper-competitive and seemingly more short-sighted and focused on near-term rewards every day.  “Keeping the main thing the main thing” is not what’s happening when the journalistic mission of a newspaper becomes about entertainment or sensationalism to drive sales – any sales.  Nor is it what’s happening when school districts are distracted from their educational mission by a myopic focus on teaching to standard tests, or when a university’s mission gets hijacked by athletic recruiting improprieties to pump up ticket sales or opaque research contracts with drug companies.

The best-of-the-best organizations – the sustainable institutions that attract and keep the best talent and customers – are those with noble purposes and values that possess the discipline and moral imagination to stay true to those purposes and values amid all the distractions in an increasingly competitive, short-sighted world.

I suppose that NEWS OF THE WORLD had to go; as with old boats with rusted fittings that haven’t been cared for, sometimes the rot is so extensive that restoration is impossible.  I hope that instead of just a reactive measure to cut losses and distance themselves from bad publicity, however, that the end-of-the-world for NEWS OF THE WORLD is a wake-up call for the Murdochs to build up “integrious” cultures elsewhere in their publishing empire.  Indeed I hope that it serves as a wake-up call for all organizations and their leaders to do the same.

How well is your organization:

  • Articulating its core values and a mission with meaning?
  • Hiring, rewarding, training, measuring and in every other way reinforcing its mission and core values?
  • Nurturing truth-telling cultures?
  • “Keeping the main thing the main thing?”

(If you really want t know, check out the Organizational Integrity Survey)

 

Winners see trials as opportunities to reinforce values, not abandon them.

Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO


The lame person who keeps the right road outstrips the runner who takes a  wrong one.

Francis Bacon

 

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