Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? A Friday Funny
By Michelle Malay Carter on May 30, 2008
Albert Einstein: Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road moved beneath the chicken depends on your frame of reference.
Darwin: Chickens, over great periods of time, have been naturally selected in such a way that they are now genetically disposed to cross roads.
Karl Marx: It was a historical inevitability.
Captain James T. Kirk: To boldly go where no chicken has gone before.
Social Worker: It crossed the road to be able to understand both sides.
Martin Luther King, Jr.: I envision a world where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.
Moses: And God came down from the Heavens, and He said unto the chicken, “Thou shalt cross the road.” And the chicken crossed the road, and there was much rejoicing.
Machiavelli: The point is that the chicken crossed the road. Who cares why? The end of crossing the road justifies whatever motive here was.
Freud: The fact that you are at all concerned that the chicken crossed the road reveals your underlying sexual insecurity.
A management consultant: Deregulation of the chicken’s side of the road was threatening its dominant market position. The chicken was faced with significant challenges to create and develop the competencies required for the newly competitive market during the current war for talent. Our consulting firm, in a partnering relationship with the client, helped the chicken by rethinking its physical distribution strategy, implementation processes and talent management system. Using the Poultry Integration Model (PIM), we helped the chicken use its skills, methodologies, knowledge, capital and experiences to align the chicken’s people, processes and technology in support of its overall strategy within a Program Management framework. This was conducive towards the creation of a total business integration solution.
Colonel Sanders: I missed one?
Filed Under Talent Management | 2 Comments
Three Organization Design Principles – Why Engagement Sits at about 20 Percent
By Michelle Malay Carter on May 28, 2008
Organizational Engineering
At PeopleFit, we consider ourselves organizational engineers.? Meaning, we use scientific knowledge and natural laws in order to design and implement structures, systems, and processes that realize a desired objective and meet specified criteria – i.e. we design requisite leadership systems which produce work enabling organizations rooted in trust, fairness, and accountability.
It’s As Easy As 1, 2, 3
When we understand some scientific basics about work levels and human capability, we can apply that knowledge toward effective design.? This is what engineers do.
Here are three organization design principles that we use:
1. Employees should occupy roles that match their current cognitive capability
–PeopleFit research shows this design principle is violated an average of 35% of the time.
2. Employees should report to managers who have cognitive capability one level higher.
-PeopleFit research shows this design principle is violated an average of 39% of the time.
3. Roles in any given stratum should report to a role within the next higher stratum.
-PeopleFit research shows this design principle is violated an average of 17% of the time.
The average percentage of employees who have all three principles satisfied in their current work situation?is 17%.?
Tying this to Employee Engagement
Can you connect the dots as to why current employee engagement figures show about 20% of employees describing themselves as engaged?
The Solution to Employee Engagement
We can continue to bribe employees with bonuses and provide spiffs and perks, but instead, we could just fix the design of our organizations.? What people really want is satisfying work and satisfying leadership.?? Science-based design is the way to achieve this.
I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.
Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Talent Management, Work Levels | 7 Comments
Insightory – A Management Information Repository
By Michelle Malay Carter on May 27, 2008
If you haven’t stumbled upon it yet, you should check out Insightory.
It’s a platform for management professionals, academicians and graduate business students to share their knowledge and insights with the corporate world, solve management issues collaboratively, and network with peers who have similar professional interests.
Their goal is to do for management knowledge what Wikipedia has done for general knowledge i.e. put it out on the “open” web, so that those who have expertise can add to it, and those who need the expertise can tap into it.
Short Management Articles
Although latetly most of my writing has been in the form of blog posts, I do write articles as well.? I posted a sampling of them on Insightory.? I’ll link to them here, as well, for your reading pleasure.
- What To Do About Attitude Problems?? Promote Them!
- But I Really Like Her.? When To Risk Hiring Someone With No Experience.
- Looking For Talent in All the Wrong Places
- The Answer is Communication and Leadership, But What Was the Question?
- Why HR Can’t Get No Respect
Have you heard, I’m OK. You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system?
Filed Under Accountability, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, High Potential, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Succession Planning, Talent Management, Work Levels | 2 Comments
Memorial Day in the United States
By Michelle Malay Carter on May 26, 2008
Today is Memorial Day in the US.?
I honor and appreciate all who have given their lives for my freedom.
?
Filed Under Personal Observation | Comments Off on Memorial Day in the United States
What Shape is a Watermelon? A Friday Funny
By Michelle Malay Carter on May 23, 2008
Watermelons, though tasty, are quite difficult to deal with in terms of shipping and storing.? They create a lot of “wasted space” in stores and refrigerators.?
Not in Japan!? Much to the pleasure of Japanese retailers and consumers alike, some innovative farmers started growing watermelons in boxes, and ta-da, square watermelons.? Which, by the way, fetch four times the price than the oval ones.
So the next time your customer asks you what shape something is, maybe the answer should be, what shape do you want it to be?
I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.?
Thanks to George at Strategic Development for the heads up on this in the box thinking.
Filed Under Personal Observation, Strategy | 3 Comments
Blogwear from Social Media Butterfly
By Michelle Malay Carter on May 22, 2008
Nathania Johnson, while with Bold Interactive, was instrumental in helping make Mission Minded Management a reality.? She has spread her wings and flown into new pursuits to include creating a line of Social Media Wear.
Her line includes 11 themes.? My favorites are:
- Social Media Butterfly
- I Think, Therefore, I Blog
- Social Media Schmoozer
She’s a wise woman.? Although there is rarely real money to be found in blogging,?there’s big money in?t-shirts!? Check out her line here.
If you buy one, the next time someone brings up blogging you can truthfully say, “Been There.? Done That.? Bought the T-Shirt.”
Filed Under Personal Observation, Strategy | 2 Comments
The Dangers of Promoting from Within – Avoid “Right Place at the Right Time” Promotions
By Michelle Malay Carter on May 21, 2008
It’s a noble thing when organizations strive to promote from within, but this can really become a mess during times of explosive growth.
HR’s Image Problem May Be Rooted in Promoting From Within
In my last post, I eluded to the fact that this happens in HR quite frequently, and this may be why HR has an image problem.
HR Evolved from Personnel
Over at Maximize Possibility, Chris Young features?quote from a report released by the Human Capital Institute and Vurv that says:? “The HR profession, which evolved from “personnel” in the 80’s and 90’s, seems unable to make a definitive move up the corporate ladder ? in prestige or influence.”? My questions:?Is this because we’ve tried to “evolve” our personnel clerks into strategic HR staff?
When Organization’s Explode Up From Under Hard-Working, Loyal Employees
When organizations try?to use their HR employee hired to cut paychecks back when the company had 50 employees to now design an integrated Talent Management system when your company is?20 times the size, you’ve got trouble.? I’ve seen organizations do this.? “Right place at the right time” promotions wreak havoc.
I’ve seen organizations explode up from under people who end up in a job way out of their capability level through no fault of their own but from an organization’s noble intention to want to promote from within.
Purchasing Example
Another example is when the person who volunteered to buy the office supplies 5 years ago because they had a friend at the local office supply store ends up as vice president of purchasing – accountable for purchasing systems design and continuous improvement.? Danger!? Danger!? Will Robinson.
Staffing Under the Tenured Employee Rather Than Staffing Over
As the company grew, they hired staff to fill roles under this original person, when in reality, it would have been in the best interest of everyone to hire over this person.? Someone level 4+ capable, i.e. strategic capability, to design, implement and improve the purchasing system.
Legitimate Internal Promotions Exist
I’m not saying people don’t grow in capability and that there aren’t legitimate internal promotions, but you simply cannot rocket people up multiple levels – even with?heroic training efforts.
When Current Executive Leadership Doesn’t Understand Strategic HR
Because strategic HR is a relatively new concept, it is executive level ignorance surrounding what contribution a?strategic HR?role could make that leads executive management not to properly scope and staff a strategic HR role when their organization has grown to require one.
They either don’t create the role in the first place, or the give it to someone who is not capable of designing and owning an integrated?system.
Honoring Tenure
Honoring tenure is a great thing, but granting “right place at the right time” promotions is dangerous business.? ?Chances are the employee who was satisfied and excellent at cutting paychecks is not the person to fill a strategic HR, systems design role.? Both roles are important to the organization, we wouldn’t want to stop issuing paychecks, but the roles are vastly different, and call for vastly different capability.
I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.
Have you ever seen an organization explode out from under someone?? Have you ever worked under one?
Filed Under Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Succession Planning, Talent Management, Work Levels | 7 Comments
The Chicken-Egg, HR “Seat at the the Table” Argument
By Michelle Malay Carter on May 19, 2008
Regarding the long-suffering demand that HR be granted a seat at the table, I’d like to address this issue using my work levels goggles.? Is it really about HR needing to acquire this competency or that competency, or is it about organizational structure?
I’m Talking About a Strategy Table
If we assume that “the table” is a place where strategy, not current operations, is discussed, then seats at the table must be filled with people capable of thinking strategically.? Unfortunately, most competency models don’t have a valid or reliable definition of “strategic thinking capability”.? I’d like to offer one.
Strategic Thinking Capability Defined
Using work levels terminology, this means people capable at level 4, i.e., those capable of mentally managing,?planning, integrating, balancing and coordinating?multiple serial pathways to deliver goals with delivery times falling between?two and five years.
Level Four Work Example
An example of level four work I offered in a previous post was:?
Expand our sales footprint beyond the US by establishing a sales force in Mexico which should be responsible for 15% of total sales at the end of four years. (i.e. Integrate multiple serial pathways: recruiting, staffing, facilities, technology, Mexican human resource law and customs, customer identification, sales process, product offerings, marketing, advertising, operations, delivery, warehousing. etc. to deliver a four year objective)
Catch 22
You’ve also heard the complaint that no one will hire you without experience, but how can you get any experience if no one will hire you?? HR is entrapped within this classic, catch-22 dilemma.
If your only experience with HR has been in an organization where HR was relegated to?cutting paychecks, planning picnics, and offering soap to smelly people, then you might not be able to appreciate the value a strategic HR role could add to your organization.? Picnic planners need not be in your strategy sessions.
We’re back to work levels, not all HR roles are created equal.
You Get What You Design and Pay For
Assuming your organization is of sufficient size and complexity to merit a strategic HR role, in order to attract strategic HR talent, you must create a strategic, level 4 HR role, embed it with level 4 work and then pay accordingly.? No organization is going to pay $120K for picnic planning, and conversely, no strategic-capable HR professional is going to take a $40K, picnic-planning role.
If You Build It, They Will Come
To grab a line from the movie Field of Dreams, if you build it, they will come.? If you built a role that was tasked with creating an integrated?recruiting, screening, selection, compensation, development, performance management, managerial leadership system to build a talent pipeline capable of staffing our organization to meet our strategy 3 to 5 years down the road, you wouldn’t dream of excluding that person from the table.? And your applicants for?a role?that was scoped at this?level of complexity and specificity?would well deserve a six figure salary.
To Seat or Not To Seat?
If your organization is of sufficient size and complexity to merit a structure containing a truly strategic HR role,?then it would be?imperative to have them at the table.? If HR in your organization isn’t structured to add strategic value, save the seat for someone else.
I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.
Is HR in your organization strategic?? Should it be?
Filed Under Executive Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Talent Management, Work Levels | 5 Comments
Five Degrees of Separation – A Friday Funny
By Michelle Malay Carter on May 16, 2008
An oldie but goodie for this graduation season:
–A graduate with a Science degree asks, “Why does it work?”
–A graduate with an Engineering degree asks, “How does it work?”
–A graduate with an Accounting degree asks, “How much will it cost?”
–A graduate with a Law degree asks, “Are you sure beyond a reasonable doubt?”
–A graduate with a Liberal Arts degree asks, “Would you like fries with that?”
Technical ProblemsNo fancy text formatting today. Notice the dashes rather than bullets on the list above? My WordPress rich text editor has disappeared so I’m having to write this post using purely HTML. I’ve found some fixes recommended online but am waiting on my “technical team” to do the fix.
I tried to get my subheads in bold, but once I got the bold “turned on”, it continued throughout my post, even though I used the end code, so I took it out.
What’s the Delay, WordPress?This seems to be an ongoing, common bug with no single explanation. (The text editor, not the bold formatting issue. That’s just my ignorance that I don’t have the time nor interest to overcome this morning.)
Experts or Generalists?
Maybe WordPress hasn’t nipped this problem in the bud yet because they are relying on “experts” to fix the problem, and they need a generalist to integrate information across seemingly “unrelated” fields to fix it. Maybe a Liberal Arts grad? Might find a few working at McDonalds.
Have you been successful with a Liberal Arts degree?
Filed Under Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Personal Observation, Requisite Organization, Talent Management | 4 Comments
Positive Manifestations of Overhiring and Underutilization
By Michelle Malay Carter on May 14, 2008
Last week, I asked you how you channeled your cognitive surplus. One reader responded by saying that she created and carried out extra work. This is a fabulous thing for an employee to do. However, when you have people mismatched to roles, dysfunction can strike as quickly as the paparazzi on Britney Spears.
Two examples of dysfunction than can creep out of this scenario are:
1. Fair Pay – The extra work you choose to do will likely be of higher order, i.e. more complex or at a higher work level, than that embedded in your current role because you are more capable than your current role.
Felt fair pay theory says that we all have an intuitive sense of what fair pay is for our work relative to the work others are doing. So, when we choose to do higher level work to keep from getting bored, eventually, we will begin to resent our pay, which will reflect the lower level work of our role.
2. Talent Hoarding – One of my experiences of delivering above and beyond the expectations of my role while hoping to be noticed and promoted was that my manager actually did her best to shield my talent and capacity from others so I wouldn’t be noticed. She hoarded my talent for herself!
We had openly talked about my being bored, but it was only after I sought a promotion in another division that she, within days, all but secured me a promotion in my current division.
Overhiring is Not To Your Long Term Advantage
It’s just not wise practice to mismatch people to roles. Even when your employee responds maturely eventually a toll is exacted.
I’m OK. You’re OK. Let’s fix the system.
Have you ever been disappointed by not being monetarily rewarded for your extra work? Have you ever had your talent hoarded? Do tell.
Filed Under Employee Engagement, Felt Fair Compensation, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Talent Management, Work Levels | 4 Comments
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