Martin Luther King had much more than a dream

Today we remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his work, his achievements, and the work that he left behind for the rest of us to finish.

A focal point in nearly every tribute I’ve seen is Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech. There is no question that his dream was an inspiration. However, Dr. King was much more than a man with a dream. A lot of his contemporaries had dreams as well yet his is the dream we most remember. That is because, in addition to having an idea, Dr. King was a leader and an agent of change.

Many leaders have a vision. Some have the skill to communicate in a way that rallies people’s hearts, hopes, and actions. But for many of those leaders, their dreams are never realized. The speeches and powerpoints give way to the practical realities and challenges of their day to day work. Their dreams become reduced to faded memories of a nice speech.

Dr. King’s success was due to what he did with his dream. He didn’t just speak about it, he acted upon it. He put himself on the front line to bring his dream to reality. He worked side-by-side with the people who he asked to help support that dream. He was an active player. He didn’t wait for someone else to bring his dream to life.

As leaders, we can learn a lot from Dr. King. But I think that his on-the-ground approach to carrying out his vision is a model for all.

After the Powerpoint is turned off and the microphone silenced, where are you? Are you in your office waiting to see what happens or are you marching, arm and arm, with your people?

Dr. King, thank you for your dream.

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Brad Kolar is the President of Kolar Associates, a leadership consulting and workforce productivity consulting firm. He can be reached at brad.kolar@kolarassociates.com.

Beam me up Scotty – Constraint-driven innovation

You don’t have to be a Star Trek fan to be familiar with the phrase “Beam me up Scotty.” The creators of Star Trek imagined many far-out future technologies. The transporter is probably one of the most recognizable and famous. Ironically, the transporter wasn’t originally supposed to be used.

According to the 2005 documentary, “How William Shatner Change the World” (business is slow in January, I’ve got a lot of time on my hands), the crew of the Enterprise was supposed to land on the target planet. However, landing scenes required additional sets and props. When it came time to film the first landing sequence, the design shop didn’t have those sets and props ready. The writers had to come up with a different plan. They needed to come up with something that they could do quickly and cheaply. That “plan B”, the transporter, went on to become one of the signature features of the series.

This reminded me of one of my favorite innovation scenes in a movie. This one is also based on space exploration (although this wasn't science fiction, it was real): Apollo 13.

Due to an accident after takeoff, the crew members had to fly the ship from the lunar module rather than the command module.

Because its filters were designed to accommodate two crew members for one and half to two days, they were reaching capacity (since they now had to support three crew members for four days). The carbon dioxide levels in the lunar module were beginning to reach toxic levels.

Ironically, there were plenty of filters in the command module. However, the command module’s filters were square while the lunar module’s filters were round. The ground team had to figure out how to connect the two using only materials that were available on board (e.g., plastic bags, cardboard, and duct tape).

The ground team ultimately met the challenge of “putting a square peg into a round hole” and saved the astronauts.

Putting a square peg into a round hole
(http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/apollo13.html)

Both of these are excellent examples of innovation. Three things make these particular innovations stand out:

• Both happened in situations where a high degree of innovation already had occurred: the development of a science-fiction television series and the United States space program.
• The initial innovations (TV show, Space Program) took many months (or even years) of planning and used large amounts of resources, yet these two specific innovations had to occur with extreme constraints (time, resources)
• Both went on to be among the most memorable symbols of their respective events

Too often, leaders complain that they are stifled from being innovative due to constraints (lack of time, resources, people, money, etc.)

The game changers and legends in business and history are those people who find ways to overcome constraints rather than being shut down by them.

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Brad Kolar is the President of Kolar Associates, a leadership consulting and workforce productivity consulting firm. He can be reached at brad.kolar@kolarassociates.com.

How good is your memory?

Did you watch Saturday morning cartoons as a kid? If so, how good is your memory? What Saturday morning cartoon character wore a hat like this one?

My new hat - just like the one I used to see on Saturday morning.

How confident are you in your answer (or how confident were you before I asked you how confident you are)?

Did you guess Elmer Fudd? If so, you are in good company. Most of the people to whom I show this picture make that guess. Most of them are also quite confident in their memory.

By now you’ve probably guessed that Elmer Fudd did not wear that hat (click here to see Elmer Fudd’s hat) You might be surprised to see that the ear flaps aren't even down (if it even has ear flaps - it's hard to tell).  That's interesting because many of the people I talk with say that the ear flaps are the most vivid part of their memory.

So, why do we associated that hat with Elmer Fudd? How come you were probably able to close your eyes and see it on his head? And, why is that memory so strong?

In “The Invisible Gorilla”, Daniel Simons and Chris Chabris argue that our memories are not simple recordings of events. Rather, they are a combination of three things:

1) the actual event.

2) your thinking and planning prior to the event

3) your reflection on that event.

Often, as we try to process an event, our expectations of what SHOULD HAVE happened begin to creep in.

We add associations to things that typically occur at the same time or are thematically related to the original event (e.g., when reflecting on a meeting about employee performance ratings it’s possible that we will also remember talking about their promotions or development needs since often those conversations take place at the same time).

This is what is happening with the hat. Our memory is that Elmer Fudd’s character was a hunter. The plaid, furry ear-flapped cap is iconic of hunters. As a result, our brains combine the two into a single memory. The result: we have a fond vivid memory of Elmer Fudd wearing that hat.

So what does this have to do with leadership? Often leaders get frustrated when people don’t follow their directions or when a group doesn’t seem to “get it” after a presentation or discussion.

Very often the problem is that they didn’t get the message in the first place. Although your memory of the discussion or presentation may seem vivid, it is often flawed. It might include how you practiced giving the message. It might include a reconstruction of the conversation drawing upon past conversations or interactions of a similar nature. It might even include follow on conversations that occurred days or even weeks after the initial conversation.

So the next time you aren’t getting the results you expected pause and step back. Take a lesson from my friend Madeleine Van Hecke, author of the book “Blind Spots”. Madeleine suggests that we teach ourselves to shift from “furious to curious”. When you start to feel angry, reframe the problem. Ask yourself how the misunderstanding could have occurred. Ask what other memories might be seeping into the memory of the actual event. Ask what others might have heard and how their memories might have been altered. And, when you run out of questions, talk to the people around you to find the answers.

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Brad Kolar is the President of Kolar Associates, a leadership consulting and workforce productivity consulting firm. He can be reached at brad.kolar@kolarassociates.com.