Anticipation – Are You a Penguin or a Polar Bear? A Friday Funny
By Michelle Malay Carter on June 20, 2008
If Friday is the last day of the workweek in your part of the world, I hope you are excited about the prospect of some relaxation, recreation,?and rejuvenation this weekend.
But my greater hope would be that on Monday morning, you would have that same sense of optimistic anticipation as you return to work.? For about 80% of workers, this is not the case.? My optimistic anticipation when I head into my office to work is to change that heartbreaking statistic.
Come Monday morning, are you a penguin or a polar bear?? Watch the video below and take 43 seconds today for a smile.? (Audio alert:? There is music with this video, if you don’t want to share, turn down your volume.)
Filed Under Employee Engagement, Requisite Organization | Comments Off on Anticipation – Are You a Penguin or a Polar Bear? A Friday Funny
Join Me at BlogTalkRadio’s The Epic Living Hour – Friday, June 20
By Michelle Malay Carter on June 18, 2008
I’ll be a guest on Eric Pennington’s BlogTalkRadio show, The Epic Living?Hour.? Please join us Friday, June 20th, at 12:30 EDT.
Click here to both set up an email reminder for yourself and?to listen live.? If you care to participate on Friday, you can in at +1 347 945 5139.
If that time is not convenient for you, I’ll post a link to the interview next week.
I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s Fix the System.
Filed Under Requisite Organization | 4 Comments
Organizational Structure – What If…
By Michelle Malay Carter on June 18, 2008
Jack Fallow had this to say about my lamentation on organizational structural failures:?
Yes it is a problem that we under-engineer work environments and structures.
Typically, the engineer, first decides that weight bearing strength of 1000lbs is necessary, then adds 50% for security. Next, they choose the best material to carry the strain. Then, they make over-abundant connections so that should any fail, there will be back-up. This is followed by the installation of a safety net underneath.
But as for people? Well, they can sink or swim!
What if we?.. established workers, offered them 50% more training than they needed, doubled their connections inside the organisation, built safety nets underneath them and checked that they were carrying the weight? We might do better. That would be engineering with an attitude!
Wow, what if?? I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system
Filed Under Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Talent Management | 2 Comments
Structural Failures within Organizations – Close is Not Good Enough
By Michelle Malay Carter on June 17, 2008
Steve Roesler throws out the concept of applied management in his latest post?on employee survey research.? I couldn’t agree more that we need more applied management within organizations.
And I would ask, just what are we applying?
Is Close Good Enough?
Engineers take natural laws and science-based knowledge and use this inform to inform their designs.? If I need to build something that can bear 1000 pounds of weight, I dare not choose a building material that bears 950 pounds.? It’s just a little off, but it’s a mistake that could have devastating consequences.? Close is simply not good enough.
Requisite Design – Requisite Means As Called for by the Nature of Things
Until we understand and apply the natural laws surrounding work complexity and human capability, we will continue to suffer “structural failures” within organizations, and our employees, managers, and organizations will continue to?suffer the consequences of this ignorance.
Matching People to Jobs – When Close Isn’t Good Enough
If I have a level 2 job (which can be scientifically measured using time span of discretion), and I fill it with someone currently capable of high level 1 work (which can be assessed as well), it’s very close, but the person will not be capable of performing level 2 work at this time.?
Structural Failure
The result is?a “structural failure” which will impact the employee, the manager, and obviously the organization.
Structural Failures Often Masquerade as Competency and Personality Issues
My consulting work is rooted in pointing out structural failures to clients.? Structural failures often masquerade as personality conflicts, attitude problems, and incompetence.? As long as we continue to view them this way, the answer will be to fix the people.? How is that going for you?? Have you read your employee engagement survey results?
I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s Fix the System(s)
As you know, I will argue that the system has failed in this case of mis-hiring.? First, the job design system is not science-based and without a much needed measurement component for role complexity level,?and the candidate screening process fails to screen for cognitive capability level.?
One in Three Employees is Mismatched to His Role
PeopleFit research shows that 35% of employees are mismatched to their roles.? We have a structural failure rate of 35% on this one factor alone.?
Save the Planet!
Would you ride in an elevator that had a structural failure rate of 35%?? How about 0.35%?? Yet, many of us spend five days a week optimistically?”giving our lives over to organizations” that suffer from severe structural failures.? If you don’t think that depression, stress, abuse, and all forms of mental illness are not fueled by this reality, you’re missing the big picture.
Have you suffered from a structural failure within an organization?
Filed Under Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Talent Management, Work Levels | 7 Comments
Are You Open to the Idea that You are Closed Minded?
By Michelle Malay Carter on June 15, 2008
I came across a job announcement the other day and one of the personal characteristics they were looking for in a candidate was open-mindedness.?
My question is, if you asked 100 people if they were open minded, how many would say no?
I suspect that closed-minded people view themselves as being principled, right, or knowledgeable, but not closed minded.? And if you are closed-minded, would you be open to the fact that you are closed-minded?
The Ebb and Flow of Open-mindedness
From a work levels perspective, I’ve been in discussions where some have hypothesized that our degree of open-mindedness might ebb and flow relative to our current cognitive problem solving capability stage with the odd numbered stages being more “closed” and the even numbered stages being more “open”.? This is based upon anecdotal evidence only.
Requisite Work Levels Link to Open-mindedness?
To further illustrate this thought, I’ll briefly summarize the problem solving pattern at levels one through four.? Do you see a pattern?
Problem Solving Pattern:?
Level One:? or, or??
i.e.??The solution is either?this or that not both.
Level Two:? and?
i.e.? The solution is this and this and maybe that too.? All are important.
Level Three:? A leads to B leads to C leads to…
i.e. I will follow one cause and effect pathway to get to the solution or answer.
Level Four:? A leads to B leads to C…? But A, B, and C must be balanced with 1, 2 and 3.
i.e.? I have to balance and consider multiple pathways because they are all relevant to my solution.
Do you see the pattern – closed, open, closed, open?? So my hypothesis would be that as we mature, we move through stages of being more open-minded and less depending on our current problem solving pattern.? This would make for an interesting doctoral dissertation.
The Problem with Categorizing
The sad part is that once we’ve categorized a person as open-minded or closed-minded (or anything for that matter), we often fail to revisit or classifications to check their validity over time.? Our perceptions of people can be based upon interactions and impressions we formed years prior.? Many of us sing from an old sheet of music.
Spotting Untapped Talent
I’ve got a client who may be missing some untapped talent within his organization because he has not updated his impressions of a certain employee lately.
Update Your Perceptions.? They are Likely Dusty.
When was the last time you sought to update your impressions of people using current data instead of mindlessly humming the old tunes in your head?
I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.
Filed Under Managerial Leadership, Personal Observation, Requisite Organization, Talent Management, Work Levels | 1 Comment
Performance Evaluation One Liners – A Friday Funny
By Michelle Malay Carter on June 12, 2008
What you’d really like to say…
- Bright as Alaska in December.
- A room temperature IQ.
- One neuron short of a synapse.
- Still one step ahead of the law.
- He’s so dense, light bends around him.
- This person is not really so much of a has-been, but more definitely a won’t-be.
- Needs a new title, e.g., jester, dunce, former employee, etc.
- Gates are down, lights are flashing, but the train just isn’t coming.
- A clock watcher who’s in a different time zone than the rest of us.
- This employee should go far — and the sooner he starts, the better.
- This young lady has delusions of adequacy.
- Has a full 6-pack, but lacks the plastic thingy to hold it all together.
- Has?reached rock bottom and has started to dig.
- Donated his brain to science before he was done using it.
- A prime candidate for natural de-selection.
- It’s hard to believe he beat out a million other sperm.
- If brains were taxed, she’d get a large refund.
- Some drink from the fountain of knowledge, he only gargles.
- I wouldn’t allow this employee to breed.
- This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.
- Has two brains: One is lost, the other is out looking for it.
- If you give him a penny for his thoughts, you’d get change.
- Finds twenty reasons to do anything except original task.
- Was left on the Tilt-A-Whirl a bit too long as a child.
- Got into the gene pool when the lifeguard wasn’t looking.
- Needs more to do. Might I be so bold as to suggest looking for a job?
What do wish you could have said?
Filed Under Managerial Leadership, Talent Management | 1 Comment
Help Candidates Self Select with Work Levels Job Descriptions
By Michelle Malay Carter on June 8, 2008
Because we don’t?have?science-based understanding?about work, i.e.?that it occurs in discreet, measurable levels, we do a really poor job of writing job descriptions.
What About the WORK?
Most job descriptions are a mishmash of ambiguous competencies, personality characteristics, and often include arbitrary educational qualifications.? They do a lot of talking about the candidate qualifications but precious little about the job.
Effectively Narrow Your Candidate Pool
My experience has been that the better my clients get at actually describing the work involved in the role, the smaller and more targeted their pool of interested candidates becomes.
Know Your Work Levels
Of course, I suggest using a work levels approach to describing the work.? Why?? Because if you were to accurately describe a level-four sales role to a level two-capable sales person, s/hewould not be interested.? Humans are really good at self selection if the work is well described.
An Additional Candidate Characteristic to Consider
From a selection perspective, you could have two candidates of the same age,?who graduated from the same school, had the same sales experience within your organization, who were both enjoyed sales work, but one of whom was capable of being promoted to the next level and one who was not due to current cognitive capability levels.
There are ways to assess current cognitive capability, but my argument today is if you simply explicitly described jobs by work level, most unqualified candidates would not apply.
Mismatching is Rampant
PeopleFit research shows that 35% of employees are mismatched to their roles currently, either under utilized and bored (20%) or over their heads and incapable (15%).? Properly matching employees to roles is a critical component for engagement.
I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.
Have you ever been mismatched to your role?? How did it feel?
Filed Under Employee Engagement, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Talent Management, Work Levels | 4 Comments
Old Consultants Never Die – A Friday Fill in the Blank
By Michelle Malay Carter on June 5, 2008
I couldn’t find a one-liner on consultants so I wrote one of my own.? I give it a B+.
- Old consultants never die, they just fail to report.
Your turn.? Anyone got anything better?
- Old consultants never die, they just……
Filed Under Personal Observation, Talent Management | 6 Comments
Intuiting Work Levels – Justin Foster’s Strategy Hierarchy
By Michelle Malay Carter on June 3, 2008
Jamie Notter mentioned coming upon Justin Foster’s idea of Strategy Hierarchy.?
Justin does a great job of describing work levels 5, 4, and 3.
Here’s Justin’s description:
- Vision – Develop the simple idea. This is very likely the original reason a venture or effort was started. In addition, the Vision is the picture of success in the mind of the founder, CEO, et al.? (aka work level 5)
- Systems – Determine the business model, infrastructure needs, tools, etc. (aka work level 4, business model decision is probably made at 5)
- Execution – Get things done on-time and on-budget.? (aka level 3)
Work Levels are a Natural Phenomenon
The reason why we keep intuiting work levels is because they are natural phenomenon.? The reason why we organize ourselves in hierarchies is because it is natural to do so.? Human cognitive ability to solve problems exists in levels too.
We don’t have to know anything about thermometers to sense that there is a difference between 50 degrees and 90 degrees.
Want Research?
There is over 50 years of research on the subject, started by Wilfred Brown and Elliott Jaques.? If?you care to peruse it, you can access it in exchange for filling out a brief survey here.?
Or you can bop around this blog and read about it yourself.? Just type your area of interest (succession planning, talent assessment, performance management, leadership, strategy, compensation) in the Mission Minded Management search box, and see how work levels impact it.
Work Levels Described
For a reminder on my descriptions of level 5 – 1 work, click here.
Hierarchies Have Existed for?Thousands?of Years
As I’ve said before, hierarchies are not the problem.? It’s is our ignorance of how to structure organizations to naturally align with naturally occurring work levels that causes dysfunction.
I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.
Have you ever sensed work levels?
Filed Under Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Succession Planning, Work Levels | Comments Off on Intuiting Work Levels – Justin Foster’s Strategy Hierarchy
Being True to Yourself is Hard Work
By Michelle Malay Carter on June 2, 2008
Wouldn’t it be great to:
???? 1.?be who we are
???? 2. to be accepted
Why do we so often have to sacrifice one for the other?
Is Who We Are Who We’ve Become?
It?s unfortunate but, we all suffer at the hands of the cultures within which we travel – our family, our church, our workplace, our society.? We ingest their influence about who we should be, and we become what we eat.? The line blurs between who we are and who we?ve become.
It’s a life long challenge to be true to oneself.? I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.
What have you done to be true to yourself?
Filed Under Employee Engagement, Personal Observation, Requisite Organization, Talent Management | 2 Comments
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