THINKING ABOUT IDEAS

Ideas motivate me.  I don't work well without a kind of guiding idea that intrigues me and that seems to me to be just right for the situation.

For me, an idea is not a vision, not a solution, not a plan, not a strategy.
It's a concept that keeps me going.  It spurs me to action to test the idea.
It's not grandiose, nor mundane.  

I see companies that are straining to get lean with no purpose but leaness.
I see companies trying to pump up everyday work with too grand an effort.
I see companies with no overall idea of what they want to do or be.

Creativity research shows that the same idea comes to people who are geographically and culturally different.  It happens in science research all the time.  Don't be blind to the idea that your company wants to have happen.
How?
-Notice repetition of issues
-Be quiet and listen
-Don't bat away "foolish" ideas
-Drive by yourself for an hour or so
-Visit where your work hits customers. Do this in depth for one week.
-Scan whether Internet or books or magazines for headlines only. Notice what catches your interest

You'll catch trends (design is in by the way) but that is not the purpose.
The point is to fill your brain so that your business instincts and intuition
have something to work with.

One I have in my mind is "simplify the business don't multiply products that need solutions for complexity".  There is a point where individuation of services and products leads only to fragmentation and chaos.  Just an idea. 'Just'?????

THE ART OF LETTING GO

I'm thinking of how the ability to 'let go' matters immensely to the top team or person. Much organizational pain has been caused by hanging on too long to all kinds of things, such as:

*the strategy that looked so good and was so exciting in its conception that just is not going to deliver

*the person who was your close colleague in the past but who now reports to you and is not competent (enough) in his or her role

*the grudge you carry against someone who seemed to be a dirty player and who now you see has some good qualities 

*the stereotype you have about certain functions that prevents you seeing their contribution accurately

*past mistakes, your own or others that stops a fresh start dead in its tracks

*a wonderful tradition or ritual that has become stale

*the fantasy budget, the stretch goals that are a joke to the organization

*pride in past success and methods that keeps you stuck in repetition

*the reality that the day will come for you to leave ready or not

The art of letting go involves intuition, receptivity to input, flexibility and an awareness that you too will have to let go and go when the dance is over

FALL BEAUTY TRUMPS BLOG

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!!

CEO'S LIVE IN PARADOX LAND--IF THEY WANT TO BE EFFECTIVE

Effective CEO's need a broad range in behaviors.
They have to be flexible on a continuum of opposites i.e. paradox.

Here are some to think about in terms of your own flexibility on qualities that differentiate CEO's from other leaders as studied by Russell Reynolds Associates:

—strong bias toward execution BUT not impulsive

—tough skinned BUT not insensitive to others

—urgent BUT patient in timing of action

—inclusive in decision making BUT pragmatic in owning the ultimate call

—expressive of emotions, BUT disciplined in sharing them

—seeks different perspectives, BUT does not over analyze

And some of mine:

—warm BUT not intimate

—open BUT private

—optimistic BUT healthfuily paranoid

—dominant BUT collaborative

—innovative BUT prudent

The skill is to be fluid along the continuum, able to move easily toward one end or the other, never stuck. This is why being CEO demands such self-awareness and maturity and character and judgment. Now you see why there are not enough great CEO's