What's Your Emotion of the Day?

HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY? WHY?

Right now we are all facing sometimes unfathomable change. Whether it be the economy, your job, your investments, your relatives or what you ate at lunch, we react to our reality based on what possibilities we see. According to William Bridges, author of the book "Managing Transitions", we progress through some or all of these emotions during Endings, Neutral Zone, New Beginnings. If your emotion is: ...within ENDINGS: work on acknowledging what you are losing due to this change and let it go.
...within NEUTRAL ZONE: work on coming up with some possibility of a good thing happening due to this change
...within NEW BEGINNINGS: work on staying in the happiness you feel right now!


To learn more about these phases, check out what Jeff Feldman wrote in the book we co-authored IT LEADERSHIP ALCHEMY.


Lou Russell, lou@russellmartin.com
www.russellmartin.com

Corporate Addiction

Corporate Addiction
Lou Russell 7/3/04


It is common today to be at lunch with a customer and find out that due to the ‘diet of the moment’, carbs are not an option. Some of these people selectively pick from each ‘diet of the moment’ to justify their cravings. For example, in a single day they avoid carbs to munch on pounds of bacon, eat large carrot muffins to ensure that they meet their required five vegetables a day and spend evenings drinking glass after glass of red wine to lower their cholesterol. Weirdly, their weight doesn’t go down and their health doesn’t improve. They complain often about how difficult it is to loose weight – NOTHING seems to work.

I have noticed many businesses falling victim to the same type of reasoning. It is easier and very tempting to go for each quick fix, selectively ignoring the aspects of the intervention that are difficult. As my father still says “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Business people are a little spoiled by the late 90s boom, lulled into thinking that systemic business improvement can be done quickly and without pain. It ain’t so. Look at the parade of management books, each being touted as the be-all, end-all. As one of our customers once said “We dread when our boss flies overseas, because whatever was in the flight magazine will become our top priority when he returns.” I heard Peter Senge once say that if a company today needed to learn calculus to survive, they could not because it would take too long.

The exhibit attached shows a pattern of addiction that repeats both in personal lives and corporate initiatives (see The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge for more on Systems Thinking or email me for more info). Each of the individual loops is a story: in the Quick Fix loop, initially investing in something new appears to create focus and some initial improvement. The Strategy Takes Time loop shows that quick, fad fixes steal focus from the long-term strategies that are required to grow and sustain a business (see Built to Last and Good to Great by Jim Collins). Quick fixes are the delusion of improvement - insidious, tempting and often fatal. Staying the course on long-term strategies is something that is very difficult, and requires that a CEO have the courage to resist this temptation showcased in the Wall Street Journal or latest bestseller. As my father would say when we were kids, “Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t make it right.”

Remember when Six Sigma was the ‘low carb’ initiative of all business problems? Many companies attempted to copy the success of Jack Welch when their situation (business maturity, profit picture, market share, etc.) was entirely different than the context that was in place at GE when Six Sigma was successful. Jack Welch had simultaneous strategic initiatives in place aligned to his strategy, not just Six Sigma. Few like to read those chapters. Seldom, if ever, has any fad alone, including Six Sigma, truly provided a return worthy of the invested resources.

Then why do ‘fad fixes’ seem to work for some companies and not for others? Successful companies know how to integrate new initiatives into their long-term strategy, essentially staying the course while improving their techniques for improvement. Smart companies do not confuse tools and techniques with strategy and plan. Smart companies are aware of what other successful companies are doing while strong enough to say ‘no’ if it doesn’t apply to their own direction. This is leadership – the ability to align the entire organization toward a common end point. A fool with a new tool is still a fool.


To find out more about Systems Thinking training and consulting options, contact Margie Brown mbrown@russellmartin.com or

Have Too Much To Do?

Do you ever end the day thinking "Where did the time go?" Does your to-do list get longer instead of shorter by the end of a day. Are you physically and emotionally exhausted? With all the technology available to us to work 24/7, there seems to be more work than ever. Here are some common barriers to positive-end-of days that you may be struggling with and some tips:
* Confusing projects, processes and tasks
Many of us have TASK lists (ex. in Outlook) that are completely out of control, packed with hundreds if not thousands of tasks, many of which are late and many that we keep 'snoozing' until we 'have more time'. Looking at the definition of a TASK, PROJECT and PROCESS may help. A TASK is something you can do in one sitting uninterrupted(let's say a few hours or so), without anyone else's help and it is easy to measure. PROJECTS are composed of many tasks, and have a Start and an End. PROCESSes are also composed of many tasks, but go on and on. For example,

Reply to an email is a TASK
Design a corporate protocol guide for email use is a PROJECT
Responding to emails each day is a PROCESS

You most likely have many projects and processes on your TASK list. Instead, put your project and processes in a spreadsheet, and keep the 'next tasks to be done' on your TASK list. More on this in Step 1 of my book The 10 Steps to Successful Project Management.

* Confusing duration with elapsed time

Replying to an email probably takes less than five minutes. That's duration - the amount of time the average person takes uninterrupted. Replying to that same email at your desk today may take you half a day as someone drops by to ask you a question, you deal with a text message that pops up, and you do some research on the email request. That's elapsed time. We WAY overestimate how much we can do in a day.

* Confusing how much ‘task time’ you get in a day

Given your 'normal' work day, how much time do you have to work on tasks? For example, I have 4 - 6 hours of meetings scheduled today. I'm guessing I'll get about two hours today to work on my to-do list.

* Confusing how much ‘task time’ you NEED in a day.

Given that I have two hours to work on tasks today, what tasks can I reasonably plan to get done? Putting duration on your task list (with your tasks) helps you plan a reasonable day.

The BIGGEST LIE is when we tell ourselves that we will catch up tonight or over the weekend. Working tired or too much guarantees poor quality work and rework creating MORE tasks. AARRRGGGHHHH...

Take control, take your day back, and be reasonable. You're the only one who can help YOU.

For more about organizing projects or to buy the book, check out our website

Practice flexible structure!

Lou Russell lou@russellmartin.com

Is it a project?

Most of us have long to-do lists and get into trouble when we treat the things on our to-do lists as tasks when they are really projects. Why is that a problem? Because we don't really know how to start, or end these tasks so avoid them. We can't get them done in one sitting, so they are hard to 'check off'. Take a look at your to-do list today - got any projects?

www.10stepspm.com

Flexible Structure,

Lou

Managing Your Project Sponsor

Admit it... like most your Project Sponsor thinks the job is to write you a check and then you poof him/her a project in a set period of time. He or she does not want to be bothered with things like ROI, scope, risk, BLAH! That's your JOB!!

Well, if the Sponsor isn't involved in these things, your project will not be successful. It is so important to educate (yup) the Sponsor on their role and the importance of their oversight at the very beginning of a project.

If you need help doing this, check out our Project Sponsor Kit at www.russellmartin.com. Click on store!

Chapter 10: The Pig Saga Continues

The sun had just come up. The three pigs and the Big Bad Wolf went down to the local diner to grab breakfast together. Everyone there was very surprised to see them all come in and sit together as friends.

As they ate, they talked about all the times they had been through together. The wolf explained that his family business had started when wolves were forbidden by law to eat pigs, their primary food source. Instead, the wolves had to poke around in the barns where the pigs lived to hunt for leftovers. One day, it dawned on the Big Bad Wolf’s grandfather that he could huff and puff around the stalls instead of moving things with his giant paws. This tradition was passed down through the family until this very day.

Big Bad Wolf discovered that you could also just threaten to huff and puff and most pigs would run away. Yesterday, he had tried to threaten and get food, but none of the pigs would leave and he was getting very hungry. It wasn’t about huffing and puffing – it was about survival! This surprised the pigs. They often had extra food.

The pigs explained to the wolf the three different strategies they had taken. Speedy realized that he had moved a little too fast through his building project because he refused to really believe the wolf was going to come after him. As he rushed, he deviated from his original stick plan, and slapped a home together that did not meet his original goals. Finally, he was unable to focus on the task at hand, completely distracted by the wooden instruments he had accidentally constructed.

Goldy realized as he listened to Speedy that he had made a few mistakes of his own. He often moved much too slowly as he tried to figure out the least expensive way to do something. He had found free straw, but quickly ran out. By then, it was too late to go buy more so he ended up using small pieces of trash to finish his house. The structure was never stable, and the original plan was never solid enough either.

Although Demmy’s house had finally saved them, Demmy realized looking backward that there were some flaws in his approach as well. He was so focused on building the perfect house that he was paralyzed for long periods of time over planning. When he finally began to build, it was almost too late. The wagon addition at the end was not the best work ever. If it had not been for his brothers, the roof would never have held.

They all laughed at the stories, now that they were over. Then, there was a silence between them. Finally Demmy said, “Well, we really haven’t solved the food problem yet.” Speedy jumped up with an idea. “What is we used Demmy’s plan, fixed up the roof a bit, and went into the building business? The wolf could show how stable the building was and help us with the physical work!”

Of course, Goldy had concerns about the price, and Demmy wanted to plan a bit too much, but eventually the four worked out the business, and lived happily ever after.

Chapter 9: The Pig Saga Continues

It wasn’t long before the pigs heard the noise of the Big Bad Wolf crashing through the woods. There was a moment of quiet before Speedy’s cell phone rang. Although Speedy was tempted to let go of the wagon to grab his phone, he did not. Each pig held on a little bit tighter to the wagon.

Then, a big voice bellowed from outside the brick structure. “Little pigs, little pigs, let me in!” Again, none of the pigs moved other than strengthening their grip.

It started as a small wind, but within minutes the pigs could hear the mighty huff and puff of the Big Bad Wolf. The walls of the structure stood firm, although the wind through the cracks kicked up some dust into the air, and the pigs started to sniff. The wagon hadn’t moved a bit, but it seemed that the wolf was concentrating the air on the side of the structure.

The wind abated, and there was an enormous thud on the room as the wolf jumped on top of the structure. The wolf huffed and puffed down at the wagon, actually pushing the wagon down which made it easier to hold tight by the pigs. Again, the wind stopped.

After a few minutes, the pigs heard a knock at the door. They heard the wolf’s voice bellow, “Okay, you win. I can’t blow this house down. Anybody want to go get some dinner?” The pigs knew that the only thing the wolf knew how to do was huff and puff houses down. They weren’t surprised that when he could not do that, he quit. But they needed to be very sure that this was the end of all this trouble.

Demmy thought a moment and then said, “Wolf, we are tired of running from you, and tired of building things for you to knock down. Can we agree together that this will stop?” through the cracks around the door.

The wolf sounded tired as he said, “That would be great. I really don’t like doing this anymore. I’d like to retire and get involved in something else. Something that doesn’t take so much physical energy. It’s time for us all to move on to other things. You have my word.”

With that, Demmy looked to his brothers who nodded in agreement. He opened the door and the three pigs walked out. Each of them shook the wolf’s paw and a deal to end this chapter was struck.