Are you "chugging" your way through life?

A group of friends sit around a table talking, sharing stories
and memories. The dark burgundy tablecloth is broken up by a scattered
grouping of wine glasses and three open bottles of wine. The
pastel-splattered labels show scenes of small villas surrounded by fields of
flowers. Bach’s Mass in B minor is playing over the stereo as the host of
the party reaches for a bottle. He gently cups the bottom of the bottle in
his left hand supporting its neck with his right hand. He’s in no hurry to
pour. Instead, he talks for five minutes about the small vineyard in
Southern France that produced this bottle of wine. When he’s finished, he
pours some wine into each glass. Each person watches as the smooth, silky
wine flows softly into the glass. Then, one by one, the friends slowly
pick up their glasses, hold them up to the light and marvel at the dark red
color of the wine. They give the glass a slow swirl and watch as the
wine’s legs slowly crawl down the glass. Then each raises the glass to
sip, but pause briefly to savor the aroma. They are in no hurry to
drink. They swish the wine in their mouths to feel its texture and take in
its flavor.

OK, rewind 20 years

It’s 12:45 am and the group is sitting elbow to elbow in a
dimly lit bar. They try to talk but can’t hear one another because Def
Leppard’s Armaggedon is blaring over the sound system. They aren’t too
concerned. In the absence of actually understanding one another, they
mirror each other’s laughs, frowns or looks of surprise. The only time
they notice their beer drenched clothes is when someone stumbles into them
pressing the sticky fabric against their skin. Between the dim lights and
cigarette smoke it’s hard to see one another. The only image they can make
out is their friend, hair matted down to his head for some unknown reason and
face glimmering from sweat. He grabs a pitcher of beer, screams
"CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUG" at the top of his lungs and downs the pitcher barely tasting
a drop. But he’s achieved his goal. The beer is gone quickly and
efficiently and he is still standing. They all scream in approval and the
night goes on.

Many of us would like to think that we've increased in our sophistication since college. Perhaps, but I think maybe we've just traded the pitcher of beer for a Blackberry.

In his book, How to Think Like Leonardo DaVinci, Michael Gelb reflects Leonardo’s lament that, the typical person “looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness, inhales without awareness of odor or fragrance and talks without thinking” And that was before the information age and internet. I could only imagine what he’d think of our sound-byte driven life and executive book summary culture.

As we experience the ongoing onslaught of information bombarding our senses, many of us have developed filters and other mechanisms to help us "focus". But focusing comes at a cost. We've become information and experience "chuggers."

We've learned to filter out anything not relevant to the answer we are pursuing. One executive told me that he skips the narrative parts of memos and only focuses on the bullets. CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUG. But can I blame him? He is busy, memos can be long and he wants to get to the "point".

There is more to life than the "point". Often the answer to really hard questions doesn’t lie in a few simple facts. It is hidden in your experiences. Most people agree that we learn from our experiences. Yet we tend to minimize those experiences in the name of efficiency or productivity. We need to find a balance between efficiency and experience. It’s time to rekindle our senses, opening up and experiencing more.

The first way we inhibit our senses is by turning them off. Think about all of the things you do in autopilot mode. How many gas stations are there between your home and work? Do you ever notice? Do you look much at your surroundings on your way to work or are you just trying to get from point A to point B as efficiently as possible. Without looking, what color is the shirt on the person sitting next to you? I bet you already greeted and talked with that person a bit so you probably know they are there. Have you ever noticed all of the unique decorum McDonald’s puts up in its restaurants to reflect local themes or culture? We do a lot of things in autopilot mode and in doing so, we tend to miss a lot. Autopilot is intellectual chugging. It’s about getting the job done with as little external interference as possible. It makes us more effective by dulling our senses. Instead, try to make everything that you do new. Try to find a twist on what you already know.

The second way that we inhibit our senses is by putting a buffer on them. Our euphemism for this is "focus". We measure focus on how quickly we cut through the facts and eliminate distractions to our problem. Focus creates a strange paradox. Greater focus yields greater detail. Yet, greater focus reduces your field of view. When you look through binoculars, how much of the horizon do you really see? When you participate in an overly scripted presentation or interview protocol how many stories and experiences do you miss? The greatest illustration of this is a Random Image Stereogram (RIS) or "Magic Eye". An RIS is a three dimensional picture hidden within a random collection of images. I’ve included one below. The funny thing about these is that the harder you try focus on the image, the less likely you will be able to see it. Give it a try and remember, don’t focus. If you are having trouble, stare at the center of the picture but try to "look" at the two dots on the top.

To experience more, we need to loosen up and take in more of what is going on around us. Over the years, I have built a unique set of Excel skills. Many of my friends are convinced that I stay up all night pouring through software manuals. It’s much more simple. When I get a spreadsheet, in addition to looking at the facts the person wanted me to see, I do something else. I notice the formulas, features and functions the person used. Sometimes I'll access help to understand more, but that's all it takes. It’s that simple! This is the primary mechanism through which I’ve built most of my knowledge and skills. By loosening my focus I discover so much more about what is going on.

How often do you turn off the autopilot or loosen your focus? Have you ever stopped to listen to street musicians or do you rush past them to get to your destination? How quickly do you check your watch and meeting agenda when someone goes off on a "tangent"? When talking with someone, do you listen for key words or phrases or do you listen to each word? In familiar situations, do you look for something new or let past experience and expectations take over?

Try this last exercise. Close your eyes for a second and think about the backside of your right hand. How many wrinkles are on it? How many scars, birthmarks, freckles? Is your skin smooth or rough? Hairy or bald? Do you have marks on your nails? What color nail polish are you wearing? Then open your eyes and look. How close were you? You may be surprised. Keep this in mind next time you enter an experience in an area that you think you know "like the back of your hand". The more you take in, the greater your experience. The greater your experience, the greater your opportunity to learn.

Conclusion
If you want to become a trusted advisor to your customers, you’d need to learn a lot about them. How well do you know that? How much do you listen when talking with them? Do you focus on their broad concerns? Their preferences? Their ideas? Or do you focus on gathering just enough information to complete a transaction?

Of course, like anything we need balance. Sometimes you need to focus and get things done. However, don’t let that become an excuse. Don’t only think in the short term or of the next discrete task or event. Take a broader perspective. Become a connoisseur of life, work, family, friends and your passions. If you do, you will not only be happier, you will learn a lot more.

Go out and notice something new in something old. Each day next week, try to identify five things you haven't noticed before on your way to work.

My problem is your opportunity, but it is still my problem

About four years ago, I realized that I had a major weakness. I didn’t communicate clearly. I focused on that problem and improved. Today I have a different problem – I need to fill my pipeline. I’m not ashamed to admit these problems. In fact, by recognizing these problems and getting them out in the open, I’ve been able to do something about them.

I’ve always found it odd that in so many big organizations, the word “problem” or “barrier” is taboo. The conventional wisdom in performance evaluations is that you should talk about people’s “strengths” and their “opportunities for development”. The same is true in how we talk about our organizations. I once had an executive tell me to change the title of a slide from “Barriers to sales” to “Opportunities to improve sales”.

The most common reason that I’ve heard for using the word “opportunity” for individuals is that we don’t want to de-motivate people. We don’t want anyone to feel like they aren’t special or good. Similarly, at the organizational level we worry that if we admit to having problems it will undermine our confidence as an organization. Worse yet, it might create the appearance that we aren't perfect? How can a big, powerful organization have problems? Problems are a sign of weakness and incompetence, right? Wrong. Problems, weakness, and barriers are a sign that something isn’t working and needs to be fixed. It’s that simple. Calling them anything else, simply masks the problem and removes accountability. By changing the language, we might make people feel better about themselves. But feeling good about yourself doesn’t usually fuel action.

The 70,000 people whose jobs were cut on Monday have a problem. They need to act and they need to act now. The people whose jobs are still intact have an opportunity to get a raise, a bonus, and a promotion. If they are satisfied with where they are at, the don’t need to capitalize on the “opportunity”.

Problems and barriers are not the same as opportunities. When you soften the language, you soften the message and ultimately, soften the response. There are plenty of ways to help people maintain their self-esteem. Not being clear about the impact and urgency of issues is not one of them.

Avoiding job cuts - make yourself indispensable

Yesterday, according to the New York Times(1), organizations around the world announced over 75,000 job cuts. How do you stay relevant? Today's post is a reprint from last year*. Since writing this, I have continually referred back to it in conversations. It seems to be more relevant today than a year ago. The purpose of the original post was to help people move ahead in their organization. Today, many are hoping to keep their jobs. Regardless of your goal, the point is the same - if the value you add is based on the role you play, you are easily replaceable. If the value you add is based on your unique expertise (regardless of your role), then you can become essential.
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What's so special about you anyway?

Take out a piece of paper and write down the ten ways that you add the most value to your organization.

Now go back through your list. Put an “R” (for Role) next to each item that would still be true for someone else who played your current role in the organization. Put an “M” (for Me) next to each item where you bring something special--your own unique skills, interests, or passions.

Count the Rs and the Ms. How did you do? Many people find that they have more Rs than Ms. The more Rs you have, the more you add value based on your role instead of based on who you are.

Just playing the role you were hired for may be holding you back—even if you do it very well. If you are a designated hitter, you may only get to play a few minutes of a baseball game. If you are a good financial analyst, you may only get to play when someone needs a financial analysis. In fact, the more you excel in your specific role, the more limited your opportunities may become.

Want to stand out in your organization? Want more opportunities to add value? Then find and bring something unique to the table--something that goes above and beyond your normal role.

High performers generate value from within
Look at the people around you. Who stands out? Who seems to be part of all the special projects and task forces? Who gets more visibility with senior leadership? Who is on the fast track? These people have found a way to inject their personal strengths and passions into every role or task that they encounter. They differentiate their value from the value of their role.

Have you ever said to yourself,, “I did my job really well this past year. I hit all my goals and made my customers happy. It doesn’t seem like that was taken into account.”? The reality is that it was taken into account. If you work in a high performing organization, most people are doing their jobs well and hitting their goals. You were hired to do your job well. If that is your contribution then you are only meeting people’s expectations.

Breaking the mold
Differentiating yourself from your role is not hard. It just requires focus and persistence. They key is to remember that every interaction has the potential to be a showcase for your own unique talents. There are three steps for standing out in the crowd.

Step 1: Be good at what you do

The point of this article is to move you beyond the basic expectations of your
role. However, you must start there. You must be good at what you do. If you
can’t perform well, you won’t get the leeway to do something else. The first
step to differentiating yourself is building a strong foundation from which to
deviate. Remember, you can’t break the rules until you have demonstrated mastery
of them.

Step 2: Decide what you want to be known for

Jen** was a manager in a large multi-national company. She felt that her career had stagnated and wanted to move up to the next career level. When asked what she wanted to be known for, Jen thought for a few minutes about what she was good at and replied “Project Management.” The problem was, Jen worked for a company where project management was a core skill for everyone in her role and even for most of the roles around her. There were expert project managers everywhere she looked.

We often try to emulate other people's success. While you should certainly learn from others' success, trying to copy it can be a mistake. Why do you want to compete against a standard that is based on someone else’s strengths? Set yourself apart so that your strengths become the criteria for success.

Ultimately, Jen decided that she wanted to focus on her passion for innovation and build on that as a key strength. She wanted to be the person who could identify creative and innovative solutions, then use her strong project management skills to complete them on time and on budget. That was unique in her organization. There were creative people and there were good project managers. However, few people had both.

Jen began pushing people to think differently about their solutions. When other teams had a creative idea but dismissed it as being too hard to implement, Jen helped them figure out a plan. When coworkers fell back on the status quo to ensure cheap and timely delivery, she pushed their thinking and helped them come up with a better solution.

Jen eventually became known as a pragmatic innovator. People wanted her in meetings and sought her advice. Soon she was promoted into a more substantial role and has excelled ever since. Most of the “good” project managers who were her peers are still in the same roles.

What are your strengths? What is unique about you? What do you care deeply about? Ask yourself how you can bring those elements into your current role. Use your strengths and passions to find a differentiator that is meaningful and you will find that you have more access to opportunities across and beyond your organization.

Step 3: Bring your perspective everywhere you go

Once you’ve identified your differentiator, bring it with you at all times. If you get this right, you won’t even have to be present to stand out.

Linda worked in the HR department of a medium sized organization. Like all good HR professionals, Linda understood employment law, performance measurement, learning, organizational behavior, and recruiting. In fact, she was very knowledgeable in all of these areas. However, Linda was also an extraordinary advocate for the people in her organization. This advocacy started out as a natural passion surfacing in the meetings she happened to attend. She would always say, “Let’s think about this from the perspective of our employees…” or “How would our employees feel about this?” Over time, Linda’s advocacy became a differentiator that helped her rise above her peers.

In every conversation, Linda became the voice of the employee, no matter what topic was being discussed. People invited Linda to meetings where they knew the employees’ perspective was important. They found that she made every business discussion and decision better by bringing a unique perspective.
Over time, even in meetings that Linda couldn’t attend, people started saying, “What would Linda be asking about our employees right now?” It’s not surprising to hear then that Linda was the Vice President of Human Resources in this organization. She got there, not just through her expertise in recruiting or employee relations, but through her unique strengths and passions and her ability to bring them to her role every day.

Bringing yourself to your role

You have a choice: you can let your role define you, or you can define your role. Be great at what you do, then make it better by turning it into an opportunity to demonstrate your unique strengths and passions. You’ll be amazed at the new possibilities that open up for you.

Resources

Read "The Big Moo: Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable" to find out how to unleash your inner strengths.

Read "Goal Free Living" by Steve Shapiro. Steve will help you understand how to lead an extraordinary life.

Notes

* An abridged version of this post appeared in the February, 2008 issue of Personal Excellence magazine
** Names have been changed

(1) Wall Street Waffles as It Searches for Direction, New York Times, January 27, 2009

Generic questions yield generic answers

Asking the right questions is an underlying theme of my workshops and writing. This isn't an earth shattering or new idea. Many people have written about the power of questions. Yet it seems like leaders are starting to come around to the value of questions. I usually have one or two people approach me after a workshop asking for the list of questions that apply to the topic at hand. They say that they buy-in to the idea of asking questions but just don't know the right ones. I'm usually hesitant to provide such a list. It's not that I don't think that asking general questions is helpful. It is certainly better than not asking questions. But generic questions lead to generic answers.

The point of asking questions is to delve into YOUR world and YOUR circumstances. A popular question on the lists of questions leaders should ask is, "What value do we get from doing this?" It's a good question. It will make you stop and think about your actions. But it only scratches the surface. I could answer it without knowing anything about your business (other than the costs and savings of the new line).

But we don't do "this" out of context. It's part of a bigger whole. A better question is one that takes the "this" and puts it into the context of the "thats" that the organization is facing. For example, a more specific version of the question above could be, "Should we be investing in retooling our production lines while we are considering off-shoring production?" That's a better question. It's specific to your business and your business' context. Retooling the line won't provide any ROI if that line is shut down and moved to China.

Specific questions are much harder to ask than generic questions. You have to understand your business very well. As a result, many leaders shy away from them and turn toward the general lists. That's a mistake. Learn more about your business. After all, if you don't understand your business enough to ask a specific question, you probably don't know enough to provide a useful answer to a generic question.

Hitting targets the easy way

A guy is walking through the woods. He notices that almost every tree has an arrow shot into it. Every arrow is planted dead-center in a target. He is amazed. He passes over a hundred trees - all of them with perfect bulls eyes. Finally he sees a frail old man crouching down to pick up a quiver of arrows. He approaches the old man and says, "Do you know who shot all of these bulls eyes?" The old man replies, "Sure I do. It was me." The guy gives him a quizzical look and says, "YOU made all of these shots? Would you show me how to do it? I'll give you five hundred dollars." "OK" says the old man. The guy gives the old man $500 and picks up a bow. "You won't need that" said the old man. "Then how are you going to teach me?" asked the guy. "It's really quite simple" the old man continued, "You shoot first and draw the circles after."

Unfortunately, I can't remember where I first heard that joke yet I tell it at least once a month in business meetings. As leaders we often do the same thing as the archer. We set our targets AFTER we've seen what we are going to achieve. And just as with the archer, we tend to always hit those targets.

Sometimes this is subtle. We have a formal goal-setting process at the beginning of a year and set our targets. Then throughout the year we adjust and revise our targets. When we do this, we are redrawing the circles. It is as if accuracy of the target is more important than actual performance. Some argue that changing the target manages expectations. Managing expectations is important, but that's not the purpose of a target. Targets are measurement tools. They help you make decisions about the effectiveness and efficiency of the work you are doing. Missing a target means that you have to change something about the work you are doing (other than the target). By continually adjusting the target, you mask the real problem and delay taking action.

Setting expectations is done through forecasts. Forecasts should change as new information becomes available (although if they are changing often it might mean that you are not thinking them through and they will eventually become useless). They key is to separate your forecasting process from your goal setting and tracking process. Otherwise you undermine both.

A less subtle example of drawing the circles after shooting occurs when management teams don't have an efficient process for setting targets and goals. In those cases, the goal setting process takes several months and final goals aren't agreed upon until the organization is three months (or more) into the year. Not surprisingly, the targets often align very closely with the first three months performance.

Setting and managing against targets is an important management tool. Targets let you gauge performance and determine whether you need to make changes. Hitting a target retroactively might feel good, but it doesn't help your business move forward.