If a Tree Falls in the Woods, How Will It Affect Its Performance Appraisal?
By Michelle Malay Carter on April 8, 2008
If a man speaks in the woods and there’s no woman around to hear him, is he still wrong?
Being a woman, I found this humorous, I would credit the author but do not know who she is.
On an organizational level, the question becomes:
If a staff member gives advice to a line manager, and the line manager declines, is the staff member done with this task?
Providing clarity around this one issue will greatly reduce those pesky “personality” issues that persist within your organization.
Do your line and staff employees understand their accountabilities and authorities with regard to one another?
I’m OK. You’re OK. Let’s fix the system.
Photo Credit:? Steven Allen Watts
Filed Under Accountability, Employee Engagement, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy | Comments Off on If a Tree Falls in the Woods, How Will It Affect Its Performance Appraisal?
Fertile Innovative-Risktaker Recruiting Terrain – A Friday Fascinating
By Michelle Malay Carter on April 3, 2008
Companies frequently lament the lack of innovators and risk takers within their organizations. Maybe instead of B-schools, recruiters should start hanging out at freestyle motocross events.
Filed Under Employee Engagement, High Potential, Personal Observation, Strategy, Talent Management | Comments Off on Fertile Innovative-Risktaker Recruiting Terrain – A Friday Fascinating
Is Training Anything More Than Putting Lipstick on a Pig?
By Michelle Malay Carter on April 2, 2008
A friend sent me a Financial Times article written by Sathnam Sanghera, a gentleman who was thrilled when his Icebreaker training course was canceled.? Even though I frequently play the role of trainer, I found it a funny article worth a read.
In the article, Sathnam cited these statistics:
- In 2006, Hudson, a New York company specializing in human resources, published a survey of 1,674 employees in which one in three workers said their last training program was not worth the time. Another 12 per cent went further, saying it was a total waste of time.
- A previous poll of 2,500 British workers conducted by the Industrial Society and Training magazine also painted a grim picture: only 2 per cent of people said their training covered new ground, while 23 per cent said the courses they attended were not appropriate to their needs.
Yet, US companies spend $51 billion on training each year. Sanghera offers the following explanation:
“People write nice things on feedback forms because they do not want to be horrible to someone they have spent a day playing games with.? Corporate training continues to boom because:
- people are told to attend by their bosses;
- people cannot help hoping that they might meet someone on the course they can flirt with; and
- sometimes it is nice to get out of the office, even if it means sitting in a classroom and being treated like a halfwit.”
The Training Cure-All
I think we throw training at employees out of desperation and ignorance.?? We do this in a noble effort to address all that ails organizations.?
You can put lipstick on a pig, but as soon as he returns to the trough, it will disappear.
The Root Cause of Dysfunction
Most dysfunction is not an issue of lack of knowledge or skills – for which training can be a viable solution – but rather, dysfunction is a result of piecemeal, inconsistent, and default organization design and leadership systems.
Even when employees are fortunate to learn new skills in a training course, they are often rendered useless when employees leave the cozy classroom cocoon and return to their dysfunctional work environments.
It’s the System Stupid!
Employees know they are not the problem.? Let’s stop treating them like they are. I’m OK. You’re OK. Let’s fix the system.
What’s the most ludicrous training program you have attended?? What’s the most ridiculous training course you’ve ever taught?
Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Talent Management | 7 Comments
Are You a Happily Employed Superstar? Cash In with NotchUp
By Michelle Malay Carter on April 1, 2008
Here’s a new twist on the war for talent. NotchUp is a free, resume-posting site for superstars who are not looking for a job.
The twist?
Employers pay for the opportunity to woo you by paying you to interview.
The Process
You post your resume, set your price, and go about your career. Employers who are willing to pay your price contact you.
Calculating Your Worth
Not sure how much you’re worth? Try the Notchup calculator.
My Ego Took a Beating
It didn’t do much for my ego. Apparently, my interview market value as a management consultant is $200. This appears to be a bottom of the barrel asking price. If I identify myself as a writer/editor, the price jumps to $550. Who says blogging doesn’t pay?
What is the suggested asking price for an interview with you?
What are your thoughts? Will this site be successful long-term?
Filed Under Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Felt Fair Compensation, Talent Management | Comments Off on Are You a Happily Employed Superstar? Cash In with NotchUp
Trouble in Egalitarian Paradise – San Francisco Strippers Go Co-Op
By Michelle Malay Carter on March 31, 2008
Egalitarianism sounds good in theory but falls apart in practice. Everyone takes credit when times are good. When things go badly, it was someone else’s fault.
Egalitarianism often includes the dismantling of structure, processes, and policies. The mindset being – we’re all good, hard-working people. If everyone does the right thing, we’ll be OK.
This feel-good structure begins to erode as people discover that even with the best of intentions, you can’t get much done without structure and leaders.
Strippers Go Co-Op
According to a Reuters article, when a San Francisco strip club was bought by its workers and became a co-op, they came upon trouble in paradise.
The article states that, “The club’s mission statement, which seeks to break down hierarchy, made the creation and enforcement of managerial policies difficult.”
One of the club’s owners quipped, “On a good day, it’s like Peter Pan,” said Lili Marlene. “On a bad day, it was like Lord of the Flies. We can do whatever we want, and there’s nobody to tell us what to do.”
Most co-ops?I’m familiar with?live on the edge of bankruptcy.? About every six months, valiant pleas for help turn up an angel who saves them from closing their doors.?
What do you think? Can egalitarianism be a sustainable business model?
Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy | 3 Comments
Seamless Server Switching Serves Squirrels
By Michelle Malay Carter on March 29, 2008
Mission Minded Management is in the process of switching servers.
I was hoping for seamless but have found some things squirrely.
Please bear with us while we work out the bugs, and I upgrade my skills to match my upgraded software.
Filed Under Personal Observation | Comments Off on Seamless Server Switching Serves Squirrels
It’s Lonely In the Total Systems Leadership World – A Friday Fascinating
By Michelle Malay Carter on March 28, 2008
You’ve likely seen this 60 second video by now. If not, invest 60 seconds before reading further.
The video is a test, and I failed. Watch it to see if you are better at paying attention than I was.
What Are Our Eyes On?
It seems that we all have our eyes on getting individual employees engaged and producing while the macro-level answer is as obvious as a moonwalking bear- adopting a total systems approach to organization design, talent management, and managerial leadership.
It’s time to see the forest for the trees. Do you have eyes to see?
If you want to move beyond counting passes to integrating all the pieces and parts of the game, call me for help with requisite system design.
I’m OK. You’re OK. Let’s fix the system.
Did you pass the awareness test?
Filed Under Corporate Values, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Requisite Organization, Strategy | 2 Comments
Why We Don’t See the Forest for the Trees – A Cultural Thing?
By Michelle Malay Carter on March 27, 2008
Steve Roseler at All Things Workplace reported on a research study that examined cultural influences upon perception.
Systems Drive Behavior – Let’s Use Systems Design for Obtaining Engagement
Just in case you are new here, my blog is a soap box for building awareness around the fact that – systems drive behavior!!!!! If we don’t take a step back and look at the systems within which our employees are working, we severely limit our influence upon productivity and engagement. We can design for productivity and engagement instead of focusing our efforts upon “fixing” individuals through misguided coaching and training!
Study Summary – Bold Emphasis Mine
Participants viewed images, each of which consisted of one center model and four background models in each image. The researchers manipulated the facial emotion (happy, angry, sad) in the center or background models and asked the participants to determine the dominant emotion of the center figure.
The majority of Japanese participants (72%) reported that their judgments of the center person’s emotions were influenced by the emotions of the background figures, while most North Americans (also 72%) reported they were not influenced by the background figures at all.
“Our results demonstrate that when North Americans are trying to figure out how a person is feeling, they selectively focus on that particular person’s facial expression, whereas Japanese consider the emotions of the other people in the situation, said Takahiko Masuda, a Psychology professor from the University of Alberta.”
Drumroll Please
“East Asians seem to have a more holistic pattern of attention, perceiving people in terms of the relationships to others,” says Masuda.
“People raised in the North American tradition often find it easy to isolate a person from its surroundings.”
Do you see a parallel here? I’m OK. You’re OK. Let’s fix the system.
Shall I pack up my practice and move to Asia like Deming?
Filed Under Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy | 7 Comments
In Systems We Trust – Do You Have a Leadership System?
By Michelle Malay Carter on March 25, 2008
Humans Find Consistency Comforting
It’s often been said that McDonalds is the world’s most prolific food chain not because of its haute menu, but because of the consistent experience it offers its patrons. That consistent experience is achieved through systems. Would you like fries with that fact?
Managerial Leadership Systems And Employee Engagement
Research shows the number one driver of employee engagement is one’s relationship with his manager, and employee engagement is currently at 21%.
It stands to reason that to increase engagement, we need to put some serious thought into our managerial leadership systems – not piecemeal programs, processes, and policies but rather an integrated total system for managerial leadership.
It’s time to upgrade the level of sophistication of our leadership systems.
The History of Quality Control – From Piecemeal to Total System
Quality control has migrated from end of line inspection to -> in process inspection to -> statistical quality control to -> total quality management with Deming and the Japanese shaming the US into following along.
Who Will Lead the Leadership Movement?
Time will only tell who will lead the way and who will follow along as Integrated Leadership Systems create a competitive advantage for those with eyes to see. This blog pulls a fair amount of eyes from India.
I’m OK. You’re OK. Let’s fix the system.
Do your leadership systems induce trust and fairness through consistency or do they breed cynicism and confusion through lack of integration?
Filed Under Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Talent Management | 2 Comments
Employees Experience Your Organization at the Hands of Its Systems
By Michelle Malay Carter on March 23, 2008
Why is Engagement So Low?
The reason employee engagement is so low these days is because organizations keep trying to fix individuals while paying no mind to the dysfunctional systems within which their employees are working.
Were Your Management Systems Thoughtfully Designed or Left to Default?
Systems drive behavior regardless of what is written on your mission statement or your corporate values webpage. Employees experience the organization at the hands of its systems, and your managers, who are accountable to work within those systems, serve as extensions of those systems.
Change is Necessary
Until we design and scrutinize our management and leadership systems with the same level of sophistication that we scrutinize our financials, our purchasing, our inventory systems, etc., we will get more of the same – 21% employee engagement.
I’m OK. You’re OK. Let’s fix the system.
How has the system gotten in the way of your work or your ability to lead?
Filed Under Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy | 4 Comments
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