Posts in Meandering Genius

Academia is not the real world…wake up

Meandering Genius

I’m sitting here listening to a Doctoral professor lecture at the importance of APA format and the fact that no one has an original thought, so everything you say needs to be cited.  She claims that no one comes up with anything on their own and everything is based on research.

Really?

This comes from someone who claims that her “job” is academia.  In other words she is 100% employed as a professor.  I’m not saying that being a 100% professor is bad or less than others.  However, this psychology professor that has never held any other type of job, has ever applied anything in the business world.

Research is great and yes, much of our thoughts are influenced by the environment around us, be it people, books, or experiences.  However, in business–the real world–you apply what you’ve learned to the situation and then come up with independent thought to apply to the specific situation.  Thus, in business, you must come up with things on your own–have original thought!

I find this all too often with doctoral and even some master’s professors who spend all their time teaching and not doing.  The team of faculty here is very condescending to the students when they don’t spend anytime in the real world applying what we’re learning.  Very frustrating.

Why processes exist

Meandering Genius

Just some quick thoughts this morning about processes.

Why do processes exist? For what purpose do we create a process–write down the step-by-step on how to do something?

In essence, so we do it the same every time.

But why? Why do we want to do it the same every time?

When you have determined that the process that you have created is effective and efficient, then you document it and ensure it is followed.

– Effective means when it is followed it delivers the best result possible.
– Efficient means when it is followed it delivers the lowest cost results possible.

If you don’t follow defined processes, you will probably get whatever you are doing done. However, it will probably not deliver everything you desire and will undoubtedly cost you more to get the work done.

Who are the worst offenders of not following a process?

Watching teamwork in action

Meandering Genius

Over the last week, I’ve…actually we’ve…had the opportunity to watch true teamwork in action.

I’m not a huge basketball fan and like most sports, I generally only watch playoff games. Additionally, I’m from Detroit and I live now in San Antonio, so I am generally split when it comes to basketball between the Pistons and the Spurs.

However, the Spurs would be the only non-Michigan team that I normally support…maybe A&M sometimes because my wife graduated from there…it’s a civic duty.

If you watched the last three playoff games between the Spurs and the Heat, you were witness to what teamwork is all about and how it pays off. Clearly, San Antonio Spurs played as a team, where Miami Heat did not. And it was so obvious, it was almost painful to watch.

Many years ago, in my early years in the Air Force, I was going home to Detroit (Beverly Hills) on leave. My dad got us tickets to an expo match between the Red Wings and the Russian Olympic Team. He was pretty excited because the previous year’s game was full of fights and he expected the same level of rivalry this year. Everyone loves the fights at hockey.

Instead, to our disappointment, the Russian team demonstrated their skill and prowess and literally skated around the Red Wings to slaughter them in points. I was witness to true teamwork of skill and passing.

Over the last week, this memory came back to me. I was reminded why I have chosen to openly like the Spurs even thought they are really the only non-Michigan team I follow. They play as a team.

Last night, the Spurs clinched their fifth NBA title and they did it in style. The Heat came out fighting after losing horribly two games at home. LaBron James, the key player of the Heat, was playing very aggressively and the Spurs were down by like 16 points or something at the end of the first quarter.

The Spurs rallied back in the second quarter and took the lead before halftime. They went on to totally demoralize the Heat and beat them by more than 20 points at the end of the game.

I literally was counting the number of passes the Spurs would take versus the number of passes that the Heat would take–on average, six passes to two. In many cases, with the Heat, they never passed the ball…whoever took the ball to the defender’s side, took the shot and most of the time that was LaBron James.

This is what I witnessed in the last three games of the finals, the Spurs were like the Russian Olympic team and through skill and teamwork, they walked away with the title.

Everyone knows where this comes from…

The Spurs are a great team, but their greatness comes from the leadership of their coach, Gregg Popovich, two-time NBA Coach of the Year award winner. Pop has installed this level of teamwork to complement their skill. Clearly the Heat have the skills to be great basketball players…what they did not possess is the level of teamwork that leveraged every player’s skill against their opponent.

In the last game, one of the Spurs’ top players, Tony Parker, didn’t score a single point until the fourth quarter. Yet, the Spurs had a commanding lead by then. How could they possibly do that? Because everyone was shooting…everyone was passing…no one was standing out.

Additionally, at the end of the game, Kawhi Leonard, a 22-year-old rookie with the Spurs, was selected as the MVP. Not Duncan, not Manu, and not Tony—no, A relatively new player with the franchise.

His team let him shine…they gave him the opportunity through teamwork.

Teamwork means that everyone gets the ball and everyone gets the opportunity to score. Thus, everyone gets the opportunity to shine. Sure, the limelight won’t be on the best player(s), but if their leadership can guide them well enough to accept this, then others on the team can also become the best players as well.

What would be wrong with everyone on the team scoring and being your best player versus just one or two? In game four of the finals, in Miami, that happened for the Spurs…every single player on the team scored!

Leaders, pay attention…

Get some playback reels of the last three games…

This is what a real team looks like and how it dominates over the competition.

I have seen many companies and organizations that rely on single players and they fail when that single player leaves. I have seen this in nonprofits, specifically where one person–generally a dedicated leader, like the President–dominates the organization and makes all the plays. Then they leave and the rest of the team and organization falls apart.

Leaders; be like Pop.

Grow and develop your team. Give everyone the ball. Make sure you’re leveraging the skills of your team by passing the ball constantly.

It really is that simple.

Do this and your team will dominate!

Do you have an open door policy or an open door?

Leadership Meandering Genius Organizational Commitment Strategic Communication

A lot of good leaders out there will tell you that they have an open door policy. They will share with you, when talking about communication in their organization, how they have instituted an open door policy to facilitate communication in their organization. “My door is always open,” they will say.

But is it really?

How many employees ‘walk through your open door’ to talk to you on a regular basis?

If your answer is a low number or none–aside from the senior leaders in your organization–then maybe you should ask yourself if you really have an open door?

Now an open door policy really is a misnomer, because the reason leaders have offices and others have cubicles is so that they can have closed door meetings. These are either discussions where they want to discuss things in private or they want to have a meeting without being bothered. This way, leaders can have a series of meetings without finding a conference room all the time. Makes sense.

But then their door really isn’t ‘open’ all the time, now is it? But an open door policy really doesn’t mean that your door is actually always open when you come by or that you are free to walk in at any time. An open door policy is really about how approachable you have made yourself.

Your open door policy is really about a level of trust and honesty you portray in your organization and a level of openness to talk freely to employees. It’s not about actually having an open door.

Some things to consider to promote more of an open door culture in your office is to get up from your desk on a regular basis and walk around talking to people that you normally would not.

Take the door to them so to speak.

Get to know people by name. Know if they are married and have kids, are they going to school or do they have hobbies, if they like sports or volunteering, ect. Basically, find out a little more about them that demonstrates that they are more like you than you or they realized.

Sure, probably, as the leader, you make more money, park closer to the front door, and probably live in a different part of town, but in many ways you are very much alike. I think that people forget this.

Everyone from the lowest level employee to the highest paid CEO are the exact same–a human. They’ve just had different experiences in life that have led them to where they are today and the CEO now has access to way more information than the other employee. If you treat everyone like a fellow human being and not an employee, you will promote an open door policy.

I work for a guy that loves coffee. He’s very good at management by walking around. He can often be seen, especially in the morning and late afternoon, around the office talking to people. But he made his actual door more approachable one simple way…

In the front office, he put in an instant coffee maker and keeps it full of different coffees, teas, creamers, and sweeteners. When his door is open, his desk faces straight at the coffee maker. The coffee is open and free to anyone in the office and people often come by to get some. If he’s not busy, the door is open, and he’s in the office, it is not uncommon that he say hi or even get up and come get a cup of coffee for himself. He even has a time blocked on Thursday, that he tries to keep open for people to come get a cup of coffee and sit down in his office and simply talk.

Think about the simplicity of an open door. It’s not about the policy, but how you promote open and honest communication and make yourself approachable.

Change Agents need to learn to Embrace Change

Change Management Meandering Genius

I have been dealing with major changes most of my life. This blog is dedicated to those who work in the world of change and are not themselves ready to accept and implement changes happening to them. Yes, they exist.

When I was in elementary school (my second to last year) my parents moved from Berkley, MI, to Beverly Hills, MI. That moved me from one school district to another. The new school was further ahead in studies, which significantly put me behind my last year of school. One of the things the new school had already adopted that my old school had not was New Math.

The next year I went to Junior High and then to High School, but of course, the changes affecting were now starting to occurring with frequency.

My parents also traveled/camped a lot when I was a kid and I travelled all over the United States in everything from popup campers to truck campers to fifth wheels to motor homes.

I went to college for a year to Northern Michigan University and then moved back home and went to work. I wasn’t very dedicated in college. I went to a few classes at night with Oakland Community College. These were my first two colleges that I attended up to this point. All total, I attended 11 colleges since graduating high school.

At home, for about three years, I worked seven different jobs. After jumping around from job to job, I finally decided to join the Air Force at the age of 22. Basic Training was only four weeks then and I was over to technical training for another four weeks. At least those two trainings were at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX. Then I was in a month of pipeline training at Fort Dix, NJ–Ground Combat Skills Training.

My first real Air Force assignment was in Ft Worth, TX, at Carswell AFB. There I worked the longest in one job–three years. Even though I spent six years at Carswell, I had five separate jobs, to include being one of the last 30 active duty members that closed the active duty portion of that base. In the two years I was at my next assignment in the states, Vandenberg AFB, CA, I worked on the flight line for six months and then as the Staff NCO for a year and a half.

It was then off to an undisclosed location in Turkey for a year–at least there I only did one job, although I did try to get on the staff while I was there, which would have been two different jobs in one year.

After Turkey, I ended up in Germany in the USAFE Elite Guard at Ramstein AB, but I was only there for eight months and retrained from Security Forces to Manpower and Quality and moved from the headquarters to the wing staff. In another less than three years, I was up at headquarters staff again, but not after having two very distinctly different jobs on the wing staff (running the wing’s quality training program to being a dedicated manpower and quality consultant to four units). In the two years I was at the headquarters, I also did a year in two jobs…one running competitive sourcing and privatization and the other managing the major command’s strategic planning activities.

My last assignment was here in San Antonio, TX, at Lackland AFB–specifically Security Hill and Air Intelligence Agency. In my six years there, until I retired, I did two years in plans and programs as the senior war planner for Air Force Intel, two years as the superintendent of a speech writing and special projects staff for the general, and two years running their premier enlisted awards program.

Even after retirement, I was only in Booz Allen Hamilton for three years before I ended up at USAA, where I have been for two years and I’m now working a totally different job there then I started.

All total, I attended 11 different colleges, lived in 8 different cities, visited to 14 countries and 43 states, and I’ve lost count of the number of jobs I have held.

That’s a lot of change. When I was really young, I wouldn’t say I handled or embraced the change, but by the time I was in the Air Force, I actually started to look forward to the change. Today, I find myself uniquely suited for my job as a change agent.

Now I know my experiences are not typical, but if you have chosen a role in work as a change agent–you work in strategy, change, process, performance, project managent, or the like–you should be expected to not just accept change, but champion it.

When change affects you…how do you handle it?

As a change agent, let me apply a little Prosci ADKAR questioning to you:

Are you currently aware of what is going on in your organization strategically that has fully prepared you for possible change?

Do you recognize that in all change, there are great opportunities and have you built your desire to change by examining the positive aspects of any potential changes, versus dwelling on the negative?

Have you spent the time ensuring you have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to accept and embrace whatever change comes your way, giving you the ability to make the change quickly and step up to whatever opportunity is presented?

Do you recognize that all change is good if you focus on the positive and not the negative?

If you are a change agent–you exist in a line of work that drives changes to others and you should be able to answer yes to all of these questions.

If you cannot answer yes, or you are going through a change that you are negative about and other change agents have to do everything in their power to lead you through the change, you need to reconsider your role. It is your job to devise and implement change. You, more than anyone, should be fully prepared to accept and implement change that affects you.

I have seen people that are not ready, but are in the role of a change agent.

To those people–you know who you are because of how you answered the questions above–either change how you react to change or change jobs. It really is that simple. As a change agent, you need to always be ahead of and ready to implement any change that impacts you in the same way expect it from others. This will help you better understand how to help others implement change and become more change ready.

I know that many people out there might have not had such a change-filled life as I have. However, you have chosen a field that is built on change–embrace it or get off the bus.

Speaking

Stop Jumping to Do

Business Consulting Meandering Genius Speaking 1 Comment

SpeakingLast night I provided the Keynote Presentation to a packed house for the local ASQ Section.

Thanks to all that came out…I hope you enjoyed the presentation and took away some good information and a helpful tool.

Here are the slides for your review:

http://www.slideshare.net/johnknotts1/asq-keynote-presentation-pdca-planning-approach

Please take my survey and let me know if I was successful at anything.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/527XFXK

Remember to Follow my Blog and join with me on LinkedIn…those Tweeters out there can hook up too!  🙂

Running a business like you drive a car

Business Consulting Meandering Genius

Do you run your business like you drive your car?

Do you speed up and slam on the brakes in traffic? Do you cut in and out of cars to get a few paces ahead? Do you push your car’s engine to its limits for a few seconds and then throttle back? Do you constantly exceed the speed limit, operate in a less than safe manner, and push the envelope hoping not to get caught and fined by the police? Do you signal changes to warn others, or do you just drive like you’re the only one on the road? Does your car look like it’s been through a parking lot full of shopping carts?

Or do you drive slower than the speed limit in the right lane all the time? Are you so tentative that people behind you are constantly honking? Do you let everyone pass or merge in because you’re unsure of the limits of your car or worried what others will do? Are you afraid to drive at night, in the rain, or pretty much anytime the conditions are not pristine? Are you super cautious and slow when looking for a store or address because you don’t know where you are or where you are going? Does your car look like it’s never been driven before?

Are you the one that drives in the left lane regardless of the speed of cars around you? Is your car on autopilot every day, regardless if you know where you’re going or not? Are you the one that exits the freeway from the left-hand lane or turns left from the right-hand turn lane? Are you always lost when driving and constantly missing your exit or turn? Does your car look like it doubles as a hobo shelter on weekends?

Are you…

The Aggressive — The Tentative — The Oblivious?

I know you see these drivers all the time–they are in every city and on every road, all the time. My question is, do they run their business like they drive?

Or…

Do you plan out your drive before every trip and think about your commute to work to ensure you get where you want to go with limited hassles?

When you run into unexpected delays, are you aware of alternate routes that get you where you want to go in a timely manner?

Do you find yourself traveling at a steady, safe, and legal rate of speed most of the time, operating in the right lane except when passing?

Are you sure that you’re not going to get pulled over for anything because you are confidently operating within the rules all the time?

Do you find that your car lasts longer than others because of the way you drive and maintain it?

Are you proud to invite others to ride with you because you don’t have to move mounds of trash out of their way to sit down or constantly apologize for the dirtiness or broken seat belt?

Do you always drive confidently, knowing your surroundings, the capabilities of your vehicle, and where you are most of the time?

Are you getting the most out of your vehicle from gas mileage to longevity?

—–

As I watch people drive, I often think about how they are at work? Do they operate the same way driving a desk as they drive their car?

It’s scary sometimes to think about, but I suspect in many ways, the answer is yes. The aggressive, tentative, and oblivious are everywhere on the road and in business.

How do you drive your car?

Then again, some of us, just walk to work…

ASQ Keynote Presenter, Tuesday, May 13th

Meandering Genius Speaking

For those interested, I will speak this Tuesday night at the ASQ Section Meeting.

The meeting will be at the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center (STBTC) Donor Pavilion and starts at 6 pm.

I will provide a keynote presentation called Stop Jumping to Do designed to provide the audience with a simple method to build effective project plans in less than an hour.

Guests are welcome…would love to see you there.

Culture, most important aspect of establishing continuous improvement

Meandering Genius Process Improvement

We talk about “culture” all the time and there is often a misconception of what culture is.  According to Gallup, 30% of the US workforce is can be considered engaged in their work.  A Continuous Improvement Culture depends on an employee based that is engaged.  Building and Sustaining and Quality Culture had over twice as many sessions as three of the other theme and focus areas at the recent ASQ Conference, which presents it as one of the most important aspects in quality today.  Continue on my journey with National Graduate School as we explore my Continuous Improvement Culture Model and discuss ways to drive this culture into your organization.

http://ngs.edu/2014/05/08/building-culture-continuous-improvement-culture-building/

ASQ Conference Recap–Day Three

Meandering Genius

Have you ever heard of the saying, “saving the best for last?”

Well, that pretty much sums up the last day of the ASQ Conference. It’s unfortunate too that some of the best sessions were on the last day of the conference.

Why is that you ask?

See, yesterday when I blogged about day two, I said I expected the attendance to drop on day three because it is only a half day, the exhibit hall is closed, and their isn’t a lunch. I was right.

The two presentations I sat through yesterday were the following:

– Leading Your Business Forward for Sustainable Success, Shane Yount
– Engaging Employees as Change Agents, Alan Shaw and Gautam Mehra

Shane turned out to be the best public speaker, aside from the keynote speakers I saw, that presented at the conference. His message from his book, Leading Your Business Forward, was very good. His public speaking skills were great! It’s just too bad that only half the room was filled–given the nature of his topic, if it were Monday or Tuesday, that room would have been filled to capacity.

Alan and Gautam were good presenters, but that wasn’t the highlight of their presentation. They, along with BMC Software, have done what everyone is looking to do–build a culture of continuous improvement owned by the employees. Their story/message was well presented, but it was only given to a crown about a quarter of what should have been there. For anyone reading this that attended the conference, get the videos and watch their video!

I guess successful quality journey’s don’t apply to everyone. The guy in front of me had filled out his evaluation form and I caught a glimpse of it. He gave highest marks to the presenters, but when it came to meeting his expectations, he scored them very low.

Why do I think that could be?

Well, the guy I went to the convention with, Ken, told me the reason he didn’t attend this session was because it was a software company and he thought it was going to be a presentation about software as a service that leads a quality deployment. I have to say that the thought had crossed my mind as well, but the write up did sound different–it was. So, maybe that guy was looking for a software solution.

My hat is off to the Wednesday session presenters that I saw.

Michelle Rhee rounded out the event with her closing keynote address. But before that was the recognition of the Quality Team Award. I’ll talk about the award in a second. Michelle was great…her message was very powerful, but extremely political. She was using the podium to send her political message with a very weak tie to quality. Not that her message wasn’t important, just that it was what it was.

Michelle talked about the importance of public education and how the US needs to improve it. Let me add my two cents, which I will probably blog further about in the future. Educational Quality is much needed! Quality in Healthcare is hurting, but Quality in Education is pretty much no where to be seen. This made me stop and think for a moment. I did not see one session that addressed any quality in education topics at this conference and don’t ever remember one from last year or anything the the Lean and Six Sigma Conference a month ago. ASQ has an Education Division and I plan to learn more about what they do, but I think this is a huge opportunity for the US, not just because of Michelle’s message.

However, Michelle’s message was specifically on public education and dealt very specifically with government and political issues reading education, which are probably huge in themselves. If government run education is any example of every other government run organization, quality isn’t in their language.

Back to the Quality Award…

Last year in Indianapollis, I remember sitting in a much reduced audience group watching all the teams parade down the aisle and I was sad that many of the people had already left the conference early. I remember now commenting on that in my trip report back to work. Again, I saw the same effect. The room felt full, but there were many empty chairs. Not at all like day one!

Since ASQ reads these blogs — thank you by the way — I want to send a suggestion. Take it or leave it. I will also share this on my feedback regarding the conference as a whole.

For five years, while in the Air Force, I ran the Chief of Staff Team Excellence Award (CSTEA) Award competition in USAFE–that’s in Europe. I was on the technical review committee every year and then I flew with the two finalist teams to the Air Force Association Conference Exhibition in DC to coach and support the teams through the competition.

The storyboard presentation is interesting, but this is how the CSTEA did it a bit differently. Each of the teams had an actual booth space in the back of the Exhibition Hall that was paid for by the Air Force. The teams had a couple people manning the booths at all times, except when it was time for them to present for their formal part of the competition. The CSTEA had a technical review score from people like me–one from every command. And there was a presentation score given by a panel of senior officers and civilians at the actual conference.

We didn’t gather a score from the audience that visited the booths and talked to each team, but I think that would have been a great addition. I like that you give out the Storyboard Award. Improvement to that would be to allow viewing and voting via app. Even if they could post a video of their story online that people could watch would be even neater…this allows more people to view and score–even if they are not at the conference. Having the Quality Impact sessions done as open webinars to ASQ members could also generate interest in attending the conference for the future.

But, back to the idea of the booths. Instead of just storyboards, each team has a booth and are expected to man the booth during the exhibit hall hours, unless they are presenting. Put them all in a line against the back wall, so they are all together–perhaps facing each other. This would allow attendees to not just read a quick snippet of what they did, but really stop and ask questions and discuss. Since the Quality Impact sessions all kind of run together in groups, this gives everyone the opportunity to fully understand what every team did.

Just a suggestion.

The three days were well worth it. It is always impressive to see so many quality professionals in one place. So many presentations to choose from provides almost too many options, but that’s great too. As one might expect, you will always end up with a dud here and there, but I’m fine with that. As you can see, there are clearly diamonds in the rough and the videos of each presentation are available for only $49, which is pretty awesome.

Nashville in May 2015…be there and see how things have grown and changed. I suspect it to only get better.