You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.
Friedrich Nietzsche
German philosopher (1844 – 1900)
I’m interested in anyone else working on job design and happiness. Do let me know if you are!
flowingmotion Posts
Weak succession planning has led to weakness in the management chain
I was sitting in the office of a thirties-something – a young, dynamic and intelligent man.
We noted that in many firms there is a horrible gap between the Baby Boomers and the next level. Sometimes there is a gap of 20 to 30 years. Do you see that gap in your company? Grey hair – a long gap – slightly inexperienced manager?
If there is any succession planning, it is certainly not evident.
Generational demographics
The breaks in the chain are largely a function of demographics – the number of babies who were born.
Baby Boomers, as the name suggests, are many. They are also used to dominating politics with their votes, and dictating taste with their purchasing power.
Gen X are few. Generally, while Boomers had 3 siblings, they had none. They are outnumbered by Boomers at least 2:1. Known as the latch-key kids, they are used to cleaning up the world after the Boomers have swanned-through. They are the unseen generation.
Gen Y are more numerous and are having more children than themselves.
Can we mend the breaks in the chain?
The gap between those in charge now, and those in charge tomorrow, is horrible. It even became an issue in the American Presidential election. “Obama is too young (47!) and has too little experience”, people cried. The gulf is much bigger in business.
How will the mantle of leadership be handed on from Boomers to Gen X or Gen Y?
I wanted to know how my young friend thought change would come about.
He smiled and said: “One day, one of them will go out to play golf. And his friends will follow.”
All over in day?
How will the mantle of leadership be passed from one generation to another in your industry? And what will be the consequences?
Chaos from lack of skill and exposure? A breath of fresh air?
What are the elements of succession planning with these unusual demographics before us?
How will the generation shift affect you? Good or bad? And if it is sudden, will it be in your favor, or not?
UPDATE: Perhaps we can begin by not slagging off Gen Y, be reopening management training schools and having explicit policies to pass on the mantle of leadership?
- Image via Wikipedia
In My Friends and Other Animals, 10 year old Gerald Durrell taught me the most important trick of leadership.
He wrote a list of everything he wanted for his birthday, divided it up, and sent everyone to their favorite shops – his sister to buy cotton wool and pins for his butterfly collection, his author brother to a book shop, and his outdoorsy brother for supplies like formalin.
In all the years that I have spent teaching and consulting, I don’t think I have come across a better description of leadership.
There are three questions to remember about leadership. That’s all, three questions
1 What brings us alive?
What lifts my soul? And what lifts the spirits of my companions?
What do they like to do, and what brings the light to their eyes?
2 What excites me about my companions?
What do I find fantastically good about the people I am with?
What do they do with ease and grace? What do I love to watch? What do I think they do magnificently well?
What brings out my smile and an impulse to applaud?
Even when they have been irritating me horribly, I must bring myself back to their story and their attributes that bring so much pleasure and opportunity to my life.
What makes me want to clap my hands in pleasure? What can I say about this person to someone else?
What am I so confident that they will do so well because they always have.
3 Is this collective project sufficiently important for me to give it my full attention?
Will I be watching as events unfold? Do I care enough – or was I just ranting?
And what will be watching? Can I play it through in detail in my mind and will it hold my attention as events unfold?
What information can I pass on to each person that will help them do better what they do so well? How can I keep the light in our eyes?
Is this the most important project for me right now?
“. . . this is all, this is perfect, this is it . . .”
Does my project raise my compassion and my ease with the world?
. . . this is all, this is perfect, this is it . . .
Words from my friend Anand Raj . . .
I had a great sense of relief when I read those words. But in other times and other places these words would have driven me to suicide. They would have heightened my panic. I found the place unacceptable and any conversation I had with anyone needed to begin from that sentiment.
Positive psychology and despair
Because I’ve had these soul-destroying moments in past lives, I have deep doubts about some aspects of positive psychology.
I suspect the best that a positive psychologist can do when someone is deeply miserable is to AVOID theorizing.
I suspect our theory is little more than our distaste for someone else’s misery. So our garrulous ways add to the alienation and horror felt by our companion. And thus, is unethical if not immoral.
We need to walk-the-talk and keep the conversation on every aspect of the situation that is positive. Gradually, we might be able to help a person out of their dark place.
Leading when life is dark
And when life is dark for us too, maybe the best we can do is to exercise leadership.
It is not helpful, IMHO, to deny that we are in a dark place. We need to walk-the-talk, pay active attention to real threats, and take active steps to protect ourselves. We need to focus on positive aspects – not to cheer people up but because of the genuine merits of those things – and highlight whatever is under our control.
From that appreciation, we may be able to move forward.
But leadership must be active and sincere – even from a psychologist working for money. It’s not enough to talk about the people we lead. We must share the journey.
The post I had planned for this morning is more cheerful. I’ll post that this evening!
- Image via Wikipedia
Social Media Strategy
Social media strategy is like our marketing strategy, our HR strategy, our IT strategy, or indeed, strategy for any part of our business.
Our social media strategy is part of our overall business strategy and it looks specifically at the events, opportunities and difficulties that we expect to encounter in the next five years. Our strategy plan and document describes what we intend to do about the challenges and events as they occur.
Because social media strategy is so new, our social media strategy is likely to begin with “we don’t know what will happen in social media but we do know that we will use it more”. “We also know that younger people will expect us to use it and older people may have difficulty understanding it”. We know that we are going to need resources to monitor developments, develop policies, and deliver training.
A loose structure is probably the best to use. In a large corporation, I would pull people who are interested in working in social media into one place. I would survey our skill levels across the corporation, and I would organize unconferences to suggest ways to use social media in part of the business.
Far from banning Facebook at work, I would encourage it – but in a thoughtful way. I would ask associates how they would feel if our business encroached their personal space. I would ask them which of their friends are interested in our business. I would bring together their ideas about how we would use social media, and their thoughts on the opportunities and risks that social media brings, and about the policies and training that we need.
Social media as business strategy
The wider question about social media in our business strategy is a lot more interesting. When we jump up two levels of management to the Board and ask “What business are we in?”, we find that businesses are changing dramatically because of social media.
At this level, the specifics of social media are less important. At this level, the general principles help us think about the way whole businesses will change.
Now if we are in a business like deep water oil extraction it may be quite difficult to imagine how social media will change our business. If we are in a knowledge and service business like universities, it may be hard to take in that our industry may just get trashed by this emerging art form.
It is very likely that our Directors, being older, have little ‘feel’ for changes on the horizon. It is also very likely that the Gen Y in the business have neither a ‘feel’ for our business nor indeed, the conceptual understanding of social media to be able to brief the Board on the possibilities.
Herein, therefore is another task for the ‘social media function’ – to gather ideas – wild and woolly or concrete and specific – any ideas about the impact on our business.
The purpose of a social media unit
The purpose of that unit is not to define the answer. That is the work of the Directors.
The purpose of the unit is to structure the conversation so that Directors can start to ask better questions.
We are winning once the Directors are asking good questions for the social media strategy group to answer.
Wouldn’t it be fun to do this work?
And for your business and mine?
- What are the questions that you ask about your business and social media?
- What questions are you asking?
- What puzzles you?
- What would you like to know more about?
- What do you dismiss with a wave of your hand – and so really should put back on the table?
- Where will social media put your business significantly ahead of your competitors?
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It is Sunday today, and I want you to do three things for me.
1 Watch Dan Pink’s TED lecture on Motivation
2 Flick through Jane McGonigal’s slides for SXSW 2008 or fixing reality.
If you have seen them before, remind yourself of slides 22 through 24.
3 Login in to Facebook and play FarmVille.
Why?
First, today is Sunday. I know you want to catch up with your reading but you should also be having fun.
Dan Pink, former speech writer, speaks good too. Jane McGonigal’s Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) is to win a Nobel prize for games design and she designs games that ‘give a damn’. And FarmVille, though childish looking, is actually fun, and will probably get you chatting with a couple of old friends over your farmyard gate.
Learn about the Ryan and Deci (2000) 3 principles of design (ARC) in an enjoyable way
But mainly, because if your goal today was to keep up-to-date with what the gurus are saying, you should know that leading gurus are popularizing the research results of Ryan & Deci (2000).
Ryan & Deci boiled down the principles for designing for work, games and events that are compelling, engaging and ‘moreish’ to
Autonomy. Can we make our decisions in this place?
Competence. Does the game, work, or event help us learn, and do the conditions keep pace with our growing ability?
Relatedness. Can we play with others? Is this event socially-rewarding?
Dan Pink and Jane McGonigal may use slightly different terms, but these are the 3 attributes that are being described.
9m people are playing FarmVille (for free) on Facebook
As you play FarmVille, you can admire the ‘assets’ the games have deployed for our leisure and imagination and marvel that 9 million people will seriously attend to their farmyard online and nip over to their neighbours to chase the cows out of the strawberries.
You can also admire the way FarmVille draws you into the game by appealing to your autonomy. This is your farm and your avatar. They gently guide you through the possibilities and in a short time, you are as keen as mustard to develop some competence.
FarmVille has levels. I mysteriously found myself at level 3 – possibly it starts at three. There is clear feedback that tells you how well you are doing and lets you work out the best strategies. There are rewards that entice you to make an effort. And there are levels that are both badges of honour and opportunities to try new things. FarmVille even throws in some random rewards which, of course, are massively reinforcing.
And it is social. You can see at a glance whom of your friends are playing. You can send them free gifts. And they can reciprocate. You can visit their yards and admire their work (and aspire to catch up.) You can ask them to be your neighbour. You can rush over to help on their farm when you they are out and something urgent needs doing.
So a Sunday well spent?
Master the Deci & Ryan model. When the gurus start propagating a model, you know it will become common knowledge very fast. Everyone will be quoting Autonomy, Competence and Relatedness soon (ARC).
And when we are all talking about the psychology of design and trying and learning to use ARC in our own work, Jane McGonigal will achieve her dream of seeing our ‘broken reality’ fixed and become a lot more like a game.
Will you fix reality with the 3 principles of design?
Will you be up there with the games designers, event managers and entrepreneurs who can design work and play worth living?
Or at least understand why some tasks are tedious beyond belief and others bring a light to your eyes, a bounce to your step, and a gentle smile, if not the singing of your soul?
Have a good Sunday, and if you are in the UK, a good Bank Holiday weekend.
- Image by Getty Images via Daylife
I woke up at 6:30 today, unusually early for me, and turned on the radio to hear the sad news that Edward Kennedy has died. My condolences to his family and people close to him.
Being a UK resident, my thoughts turned a little selfishly to the consequences for the world and I reflected how great it must have been for Kennedy to have attended Obama’s inauguration – even though he had to leave early by ambulance.
Obama’s inauguration was the zenith of the Kennedy’s legacy and the Civil Rights Movement and brought life around in a full circle. While Kennedy’s brother was seen as the marker of new generation – TV savvy and much more connected to the wider American people – Obama marks the changing of the guard to the next generation – social media savvy and much more connected to the wider world.
Edward Kennedy was also an important reader of history. He is the man who said to Obama: This is your time.
The role of the older generation
It is the role of the older generation to reflect on history and to bring into focus the sense of possibility of the people who come after them.
To do that we need to
- Know our history
- Be part of events and have a deep sense of what is unfolding
- Be in touch with younger people, having a deep sense both of their capacity and the skills they are developing – which might be a little beyond our personal understanding.
There is much written on the mid-life crisis – the point where we suddenly go from having the whole world ahead of us to the point where we realise that whatever happens in the world is down to us.
Often, around this time, we also find we no longer have mentors. Life is so much easier when we have mentors. Kennedy was one of Obama’s mentors.
Who are your mentors?
Who went before you and who brings your path clearly into focus for you?
Who are the great mentors of this time in the UK?
- Image via Wikipedia
Your personality, your wine, your personality?
Via Flowing Data, a useful little chart on the personality of wine drinkers by wine preference. A little fun and worthy example of good marketing.
Our first job in any business is to imagine our customers
The 1st of the 10 Sun Tzu Rules of the Networked World asks us to imagine communicating with each one of our fans. But for noobes, we have a bigger problem.
Just who are our fans and when do we interact with them?
An easy hack to get started
A good hack is to collect the scenarios describing our meetings with our customers – even those in our imagination! – and sort them into a colour wheel – like the vintners did with their wine.
What is your wine by the way?
Mine was always a Shiraz. But I have mellowed to a Pinot Noir.
It’s a good thing they don’t know
Today I had glass of warm water and a few drops of lemon juice for breakfast to allow the medics to do a fasting blood test. A fasting blood test helps them get ‘reliable’ readings for something for other. Happy in my ignorance.
We spend most of our waking hours in ignorance of what we are doing or why – happy to let someone else decide.
So, for those of us who have taken it upon ourselves to teach, we find ourselves in a daft situation. We can be annoyed when the knowledge of our profession is not taken seriously. We are seriously annoyed when the professionals in our field don’t know the basics.
And none of us really know
To talk glibly of “evidence-based practice” is really rather irritating. We boil water for our glass of warm water, in many countries in the world to kill bugs. But let’s face it. Many bugs survive boiling water. Some thrive in concentrated sulfuric acid. What we mean is that of the things we know how to do and can do in our kitchen, boiling water is pretty useful at killing some bugs that kill us. A very northern hemisphere idea, btw. It’s just as good to put your water in a clear bottle and leave it in the sun. But of course, there is not to much sun in the UK. It works fine in hotter climes. Do you get my drift?
We need to communicate in terms that can be understood
All our knowledge is based on custom and folk-lore and we are not exempt. To pass on knowledge to people who are not experts in our field in language and practice they can relate to is not a disgrace. It is a professional necessity. They don’t want to know the ins and the outs. They want to know what to do. They are leaving uswith the responsibility for the result.
It is a disgrace not to know the basics
But what a disgrace it is to not know the basics. When we start to believe that boiling water kills bugs rather than some bugs do not survive boiling water, then we perhaps should have our license take away.
Knowing the basics leads to creativity
It is knowing the basics that helps us think of new solutions.
Imagine if I were on the proverbial desert island, wouldn’t it be better to have the idea in my head that I must get rid of bugs in the water that might kill me. I am abundant in my ignorance. There are so many bugs that can kill me and fair handful that scientists don’t even know about yet. Therefore, the question is not what is the solution but what are the many ways I can ‘purify’ [another misleading idea] the water. And the right action is to do what I can and begin as General Colin Powell says, when I have a 40-60% chance of being right.
Research-based practice or more snake-oil?
So don’t talk glibly of research-based practice. You are trying to wave a spell in the air. Actually, you are trying to get me to pay you more money.
Show me your protocols. And make sure
a. They are intelligible to me
b. I don’t know more than you
Otherwise, we might just chase you out of town. We won’t call you a witch, because that is still illegal in UK, but we won’t allow you near our food. Get your own.
Show me your protocols – in language and experiences I can understand and where I can see the goal and the basic idea.
- Image by Stabilo Boss via Flickr
20 questions: which do you agree with?
- The internet allows me to reach out and meet people I would never otherwise meet.
- The internet allows me to find what I want and organize it the way I like it.
- I love the way I have internet friends all over the world.
- I am amazed by the diversity of opinion that I encounter on the net.
- The beauty of the web is that I can hear the opinions of less powerful people before we make a decision.
- We can make our voices heard on the internet.
- It’s great the way that so much on the internet is free.
- I love the way people reward each other with gifts on the internet.
- It’s incredible the way we put together Wikipedia by donating whatever knowledge we each had.
- I love the way that my little contribution makes something bigger like Flickr work.
- It terrible the way people only talk to their own friends on the net.
- The information on the internet is so disjointed.
- I fear that people on the internet follow their own interests and disregard the views of others.
- I get so tired of the same opinions being voiced over and over again.
- It’s too easy on the internet to manipulate the opinions of vulnerable people
- It is too easy to bully someone on the internet.
- Valuable industries like newspapers will die because of the internet.
- If we don’t have property rights, then there will be no reason to compose good music or write good books.
- Wikipedia will drop to the “lowest common denominator”.
- At the end of the day, great works are accomplished by talented people who have worked hard and practiced long.
Are you an internet optimist or internet pessimist?
Scoring. The top 10 questions describe internet optimists and the bottom 10 describe internet pessimists.
The original list, in much more academic language, was written by Adam Thierer He is looking for a publisher, btw.
Your score? Are you an optimist or pessimist about life with the internet?
With my psychologist’s hat on
I ask:
- What are the defensive positions that we want covered by the pessimists?
- And would we trust them, anyway, to cover the weak spots?
It’s funny how the difference between optimists and pessimists is a canyon of trust.
- How can pessimists lay out an approach to the internet that makes optimists trust them?
- How can optimists lay out the internet so pessimists can trust it?
Have I got the questions right?