PLEASE ACCEPT MY APOLOGIES FOR MAINE

I live in Maine and vote in Maine.
We have a Governor (Paul LePage) who is embarrassing at best and vile at worst. He may be a good person. Being an ex-HR/OD executive, I won't judge who he is, but I will hold him accountable for what he does--that I can document. You as a top leader would probably have to fire him or tell him he is on notice and put him on a major performance improvement plan. 

Not your business. But, once again, I am supporting you to remember how important you are in setting the level for civil behavior and for demanding that differences be used as an asset not a hate gauge.

I did lots of work in diversity of the broadest kind. Inclusion not just tolerance, all kinds of differences not just the differences protected under the law, and a commitment to the belief that talent and competence comes in varied people.
AND that usually involved creating a safe environment of civil behavior. And yes, there were people in high agreement and in no agreement with these standards and efforts. But, they knew they had to manage their mouths and their behavior.

I write this blog primarily to remind top level leaders of the blind spots of power that come with the role. This is a thank you for taking a lead in seeing the power of differences and, more so, for demanding civil behavior (and learning
too) that seems to be far ahead of public arena. Thanks

ENTREPRENEUR HALO

Intrepreneurship is in again. Large companies want the best of entrepreneurial skills to work in a corporate environment OR So they think.

It sound so good from afar. Entrepreneurs are creative and think outside of the darn box and invent things and make things happen----easily. That is the fantasy when looking at entrepreneurs from the outside. 

Here's what it's like inside the life of the entrepreneur as told by top 500 Fastest Growing Company CEO's in INC magazine

CHAOTIC--Everybody is doing everything. There are lots of mistakes and hurried attempts to fix things. There is duplication and frustration and irritation

NO CONTROLS--there is no fixed strategic plan or budget in most cases. Money comes and goes without awareness. 

SURVIVAL IS THE PRIMARY GOAL--Most entrepreneurs said survival was the top goal and doing anything to survive often caused problems later. Fear of failure is a constant thought.

INSANE--Most entrpreneurs had an idea or stumble on an idea that excited them and they wanted to bring it to fruition. And so they are fierce and nuts to do it. Work never stops and is the top priority of their lives.

LUCK MATTERS--Many businesses got started by a chance meeting of a possible partner or a chance opportunity. 

CONTACTS HELP--Most entrpreneurs mentioned someone who gave support, mostly of money to help them start

TIMING IS THE DIFFERENCE--Catching the wave of a new trend or market need made all the difference in success. Good ideas late, fail. 

PARTNERS ARE INTIMATE FRIENDS--There seemed to be a very close relationship between the CEO and one other business partner. This is what kept things going in tough times and gave meaning to the work. And great pain if there was a falling out. 

FASTEST GROWING DOES NOT ALWAYS WIN--Forget the title of the INC article. Managing the pace of growth with the needed resources was a primary issue in success. Most would say, "don't get out ahead of what you can sustain."

WORRIES--Retention of talent in a high risk endeavor is top on the worry list followed by cash flow and then beating back domestic competition

In summary these three traits are held in common by the top 500 entrepreneurs:
-Ambition
-Audacity
-Tireless work ethic

Now, how does this relate to your company? What parts do you want? Can you have just part of the entrepreneur spirit in your business? What would happen if your business created this kind of fierceness (and wildness)?

VACATION TRUTHS

Eight year old boys wiggle.
Girl cousins do giggle.
These things are just experientially true.
iPads are the guilty sedative for eight year old boy wiggles.
Logistics rule--What food,when? What activity,how? Squabbles,who? 
Ice cream solves most problems.
Most lovely moments arrive on their own; planning is a wet blanket
Sitting at one table to eat matters
Separateness has to happen once a day for two hours
Sun matters. Rain is ok for one day.
When things fall apart there is always a bounce back moment

THOUGHTS FROM MAINE VACATION WEEK

Food for Thought:
What is your experience when you come back to work after vacation?
What is your mood?
What do you notice about the "tone' of the company as you enter?
What do you dread?
What are you eager to get back to doing?
How are you different when on vacation? Like it? Does your business need some of the vacation 'you' at work?
It's a moment when you can see with a fresh eye if you us the opportunity.

CHANGE, WHERE TO BEGIN?

"Change almost always starts at the edges and moves toward the center"  says Seth Godin.

The assumption of Seth Godin is that those at the center (of power, of attention, of the resources) have too much to risk and so they are the least interesting and interested in anything being very different. So those with less to lose and more to benefit from change are those at the fringe or edge of any organization.

Sounds good.

What do I know about change from my experience?

--Regardless of where it starts, change will eventually meet with resistance

--Resistance is usually not made overt. It disguises itself in all kinds of ways including agreement

--Don't think of 'change'. Think of 'creating'.

--Involve as many people in the creation as possible, regardless of time and messiness

--Don't make a big deal of change by giving it a grandiose title. 

--Grow the change through contagion

--Let  positive impact or result grow the change energy. Do not over market.

--Let change happen, don't make it happen.  Figure out the difference

--Conversation creates change.  Tell and sell talks create resistance

--Change need a good narrative to support it--a history, a crisis, a challenge, a challenge met and a victory.

--Don't let change become omnipresent and ambiguous. Make demarcations of movement

--Keep anchors of all kinds to hold onto while the change creates the necessary chaos to create something new

--Changers are happier than changee's.

(nuggets from a former change agent)

WONDERING ABOUT WASTE

It's actually hard to distinguish what is waste in an organization and what is a kind of investment. And the definition is very different among a start-up, a high growth company and a huge old dinosaur organization.

Each on has its own particular agony. An older industry will work hard to be lean and mean and cut costs to gain new footing or keep Wall Street on their side.
A fast growing company often doesn't have a good picture of what kind of  looseness produces and what is just chaos. And the poor start-ups usually have both problems--trying to be lean and loose at the same time.

When I was an EVP in food retailing heading up learning and leadership development and talent planning among other good stuff, I hated that time for learning and development was called 'non-productive' time for budgeting.
Waste!

So I'm wondering what constitutes 'waste' in your company:
--casual conversations to explore or complain or enjoy?
--a meeting that runs over by half an hour?
--using too many people for a decision?
--board presentations that take weeks to prepare?
--involving too many people in a meeting?
--not involving enough people in a meeting?
--the organizational grape vine?
--too many check lists?
--too many people checking up?
--elaborate reports?
--decisions made too fast/too slow
--bad hiring?

Others?????????