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On Separating Breakthrough Strategic Plans from the Others

Have you ever been presented with a strategy document that appears to be nothing more than a list of projects? If so, the good news is that you aren’t crazy if you thought that something was missing. A sound plan is more than a grab bag – it should bring an intangible hypothesis to life in words and images that staff members can use in their daily activities.

On an assignment recently, I was asked to look at a strategic plan put together by a public sector organization. Fortunately, it had all the boxes ticked. Every single item was cross-referenced with Vision 2030 Jamaica, United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals plus a number of other guidelines set by esteemed international bodies.

However, there was a gaping hole. The plan lacked any connection between detailed project plans and the reasons they were created in the first place. Apparently, the consultants who assembled these projects left out an important activity, such that employees were forced to take empty steps. With little emotional or logical guidance to the original ideas, they were going through the motions, but missing the point. How can you ensure this never happens to your team?

1. Stick to Breakthrough Goals

If your strategic planning team isn’t intent on crafting breakthroughs, then cancel the retreat. Save your North Coast hotel money and just follow business as usual. If the idea of producing breakthroughs sounds daunting, it should. By definition, these stretch targets don’t produce themselves, yet they are the reason leaders are appointed. Even with little explicit training in how to do so, executives are expected to realize the unimaginable and unforeseen.

One method I use to move leadership teams into this zone is logical: I request that they step into and create a specific 15-30 year future. I ask: “What are you willing to create?” and “How does it translate into numbers?”

As they follow the process to sketch out these results by the chosen year, they naturally produce stretch targets which cannot occur by accident.

To find an example of a breakthrough commitment, look no further than Vision 2030 Jamaica: “…the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business”. We can probably all agree that this extraordinary outcome has no chance of being realized by routine actions.


2. Fire-Test and Adjust Breakthrough Commitments

The big problem leaders have when sharing such lofty targets is that the first reaction is one of disbelief. People hear the words and immediately dismiss them as fantastical; to be ignored.

A good way to alleviate this pressure is to build a logical bridge between the future to the present. This can be done by back-casting – working one’s way back to the present using the current day facts and future targets as anchors on opposite ends. Unfortunately, teams sometimes discover that such a connection is impossible to build. It could be that the goals, when taken together as a whole, are infeasible.

In this case, they must be readjusted in order to remain credible, a task leaders must undertake to retain their followership. This simple act restores trust: it’s the opposite of the nonsensical “I Don’t Care, Do It Anyway” pressure that some managers try to apply.


3. Preserve the Emotional Connection

Perhaps the hardest challenge is to help project teams who are executing each day to retain their link to the original intent of the Breakthrough Goal.

For example, I have met few at the lowest or even mid-levels of the public sector who are inspired by Vision 2030. Even though it articulates our citizens’ deepest commitments, it has gotten lost in mundane business-as-usual execution.

One approach to retain the link is to explain executive reasoning in words, images, videos and interactives. Together, they show how the Breakthrough Goals of the organization were derived in tones which are both logical and emotional, making them easy to understand.

Another way is to give staff the means to translate Breakthrough Goals into personal objectives. This exercise helps them retain the underlying intent, but own the outcome for themselves.

If your organization is looking at a list of projects which don’t add up to more than an empty bunch of activities, consider that your leaders skipped a task along the way. Instead, take actions to restore them. Trust that staff who appear to be merely going through the motions can be inspired. Shift to seeing them as people who are waiting for you and your fellow managers to step up and lead.

Like many solutions of this nature, the best examples are wrought from the very top of the organization. Leaders must tell the truth about their own lack of inspiration if they are to forge the kind of commitment which leads to sacrifices and risk-taking. These are a few of the essential ingredients needed to see a breakthrough goal become a reality.

Posted on

On Separating Breakthrough Strategic Plans from the Others

Have you ever been presented with a strategy document that appears to be nothing more than a list of projects? If so, the good news is that you aren’t crazy if you thought that something was missing. A sound plan is more than a grab bag – it should bring an intangible hypothesis to life in words and images that staff members can use in their daily activities.

On an assignment recently, I was asked to look at a strategic plan put together by a public sector organization. Fortunately, it had all the boxes ticked. Every single item was cross-referenced with Vision 2030 Jamaica, United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals plus a number of other guidelines set by esteemed international bodies.

However, there was a gaping hole. The plan lacked any connection between detailed project plans and the reasons they were created in the first place. Apparently, the consultants who assembled these projects left out an important activity, such that employees were forced to take empty steps. With little emotional or logical guidance to the original ideas, they were going through the motions, but missing the point. How can you ensure this never happens to your team?

1. Stick to Breakthrough Goals

If your strategic planning team isn’t intent on crafting breakthroughs, then cancel the retreat. Save your North Coast hotel money and just follow business as usual. If the idea of producing breakthroughs sounds daunting, it should. By definition, these stretch targets don’t produce themselves, yet they are the reason leaders are appointed. Even with little explicit training in how to do so, executives are expected to realize the unimaginable and unforeseen.

One method I use to move leadership teams into this zone is logical: I request that they step into and create a specific 15-30 year future. I ask: “What are you willing to create?” and “How does it translate into numbers?”

As they follow the process to sketch out these results by the chosen year, they naturally produce stretch targets which cannot occur by accident.
To find an example of a breakthrough commitment, look no further than Vision 2030 Jamaica: “…the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business”. We can probably all agree that this extraordinary outcome has no chance of being realized by routine actions.

2. Fire-Test and Adjust Breakthrough Commitments

The big problem leaders have when sharing such lofty targets is that the first reaction is one of disbelief. People hear the words and immediately dismiss them as fantastical; to be ignored.

A good way to alleviate this pressure is to build a logical bridge between the future to the present. This can be done by back-casting – working one’s way back to the present using the current day facts and future targets as anchors on opposite ends. Unfortunately, teams sometimes discover that such a connection is impossible to build. It could be that the goals, when taken together as a whole, are infeasible.

In this case, they must be readjusted in order to remain credible, a task leaders must undertake to retain their followership. This simple act restores trust: it’s the opposite of the nonsensical “I Don’t Care, Do It Anyway” pressure that some managers try to apply.

3. Preserve the Emotional Connection

Perhaps the hardest challenge is to help project teams who are executing each day to retain their link to the original intent of the Breakthrough Goal.
For example, I have met few at the lowest or even mid-levels of the public sector who are inspired by Vision 2030. Even though it articulates our citizens’ deepest commitments, it has gotten lost in mundane business-as-usual execution.

One approach to retain the link is to explain executive reasoning in words, images, videos and interactives. Together, they show how the Breakthrough Goals of the organization were derived in tones which are both logical and emotional, making them easy to understand.

Another way is to give staff the means to translate Breakthrough Goals into personal objectives. This exercise helps them retain the underlying intent, but own the outcome for themselves.

If your organization is looking at a list of projects which don’t add up to more than an empty bunch of activities, consider that your leaders skipped a task along the way. Instead, take actions to restore them. Trust that staff who appear to be merely going through the motions can be inspired. Shift to seeing them as people who are waiting for you and your fellow managers to step up and lead.

Like many solutions of this nature, the best examples are wrought from the very top of the organization. Leaders must tell the truth about their own lack of inspiration if they are to forge the kind of commitment which leads to sacrifices and risk-taking. These are a few of the essential ingredients needed to see a breakthrough goal become a reality.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20191103/francis-wade-separating-breakthrough-strategic-plans-herd

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Productivity: Are You Cutting Meetings to the Bone?


Is it possible to simultaneously cut the total time people spend in meetings while improving their quality? Not only is it possible, but there is a natural link between the two results that your company could exploit to increase its overall productivity.

How many hours do  folks in your organization spend in meetings each year? Usually, this number is a mystery, yet the majority of attendees would agree that it’s too high.

You may know from bitter experience the painful minutes lost in a poorly run meeting. 
Perhaps it took twice as long as it should have. Maybe you would have bolted out the door if there were no social downside for doing so. Here in Jamaica, if the big man/woman doesn’t leave the room, no-one does, regardless of the time being wasted.

Bombarded by thoughts of the things we could be doing instead, we have all had such moments. However, the fact that we care means little. The larger cultural forces at play keep us in check, perpetuating a measurable travesty which costs the best employees’ precious time. After all, meetings tend to attract the most important people. In most organizations this cost is not only hidden from view, but it’s rarely tackled in a forthright way. Complaints may occasionally lead to weak improvement efforts, like putting up posters with tips in conference rooms. But few companies do anything more. 

Often the worst culprits are top managers themselves who don’t encourage dissent, thereby making the problem harder to solve.

But if your company decided to do something one day, what process should it follow so that it can get to a place where no-one can recall a badly run meeting?

1. Measure the impact

It’s not hard to make a decent estimate of the total cost of meetings: all that’s needed is careful tracking. Some companies ask their administrative assistants to account for these statistics which are fed into a central database. Sunk costs like those related to the room are ignored: only the total time spent in the meeting by participants is counted.

As you may expect, this cost varies by level of attendee. A meeting of executives is the most expensive because it includes the highest-paid employees.

Expect big numbers. Studies show that some 35% of a middle manager’s time, and 50% of executive time, is spent in meetings. In the US, some 25 million sessions take place each day, of which 67% are considered failures.

2. Analyze meeting issues

Collect information on the faults which proliferate in meetings. Do they start late? Is the purpose unclear? Is the agenda a secret? Is there no end time set? Should they never have been called to begin with?

These common mistakes are the reasons why productivity is low in these gatherings. Poll staff to uncover other causes at play which are peculiar to your culture.

3. Create targets

Take a conservative estimate of the improvements which can be made if behaviors were to change. Don’t pick the maximum savings. Instead, use a more realistic mid-point as a goal for everyone to head towards.

4. Pilot changes

Go through the company and test the changes you want to introduce in small settings. Share the results to show which improvements your culture can withstand, and at what pace.

5. Implement

Once you have an improvement plan, implement it using the best change management techniques. You will have to work around the un-productives: those who benefit from bad meetings. Don’t underestimate their willingness to hide their lack of productivity.

6. Measure the Gains

At the end, determine how much has been saved in hard numbers, and also gauge the overall experience of your staff. Use both metrics to declare whether or not the targeted improvements have been made.

Look for discrepancies. Staff may point out where a cancelled standing meeting is causing problems, for example. But don’t overreact. You are seeking to reach a place where the number of employees who are asking for more meeting time is equal to those asking for less.

Keep in mind that the hidden cultural forces which drive bad meetings are considerable. They exist at every level, starting with the highest i.e. the board. A company that commits to achieving the same results with fewer meeting hours makes a public commitment to work-life balance. Why?

The sad truth is that there are employees who are coming in early and staying late because they have too many meetings. Act in everyone’s interest by cutting this form of corporate waste to the bone.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20191020/francis-wade-cutting-meetings-bone

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What Does it Take to Truly Be In Communication?

Most people consider the phenomenon of “being in communication” to be a simple matter: it’s the state which follows a discussion between two or more persons. But is this standard high enough to get your organization through challenging times?

Others believe that communication is just about sending messages in the general direction of their intended recipients. Based on what we know of electronic messaging, that’s also not true. It’s too easy with new technology to blast another person with loud, confusing or random notes that do nothing to achieve the precious end-result of “being in communication”.

A definition: to “be in communication” means to be on the same page as others. People are together and in sync, achieving a high level of cohesion. A large frequency of authentic conversations occur which put prior issues to bed.Take a look at working groups in your office. Sometimes, the least effective ones are stuck with a list of matters which cannot be discussed. The breakdown in communication inevitably drags down performance, making it hard to complete the simplest of tasks.
Given these realities, what should leaders do to bring about a new level of communication to their organizations?

1. Understand that Being in Sync Is Unnatural

Functional teams are an aberration. Getting people to work well together is always going to be an ongoing, uphill challenge. Why?
To explain, it’s somewhat abnormal for a group of individuals to “be in communication”. If anything, our survival instinct leads us to scan our world for threats. We have a natural, inherited suspicion.

This invisible vigilance treats vulnerability and openness as weaknesses to be shunned. In other words, our very nature constantly pushes us out of communication with each other and ruins teamwork. Unfortunately, these are the very traits that teams need to bring into reality in order to “be in communication.” Just take a look around. Most people would rather stick to themselves and share as little as possible with others. In spite of this challenge, too many managers prefer to effect a level of casual nonchalance in their working groups which makes things fun and easy in the beginning, but causes havoc when the going gets tough. Instead, the best leaders don’t let their guard down.
Fully aware that mediocrity is always at the door trying to sneak in, they prepare themselves to communicate in group settings in a focused, intense way. Others react by calling them anal. But they persist, insisting that certain processes be followed by every high-performing team they  sit on, bar none.

What are some disciplines your leaders can implement to ensure quality teams operate from the same page?

2. Tune into Group-Based Routines Which Work
Here is a process Caribbean groups should follow to allow communication to flow. First, it’s important to start every team activity by giving people an opportunity to connect. Once that requirement is satisfied, the approach is the same as that used in other countries: define the purpose of the gathering, the agenda / steps to be followed and the logistics which must be in place. (I was taught to use PAL – Purpose, Agenda and Logistics.)

When this formula is adopted, “being in communication” becomes easier to accomplish because the team’s core activities are already being managed in the background. In other words, taking care of the basics yields added bandwidth. It can be applied to the careful speaking and keen listening required to get on the same page and stay in communication.
3. Tune into the Group’s Connections
When humans aren’t working closely together, but should be, some surprising behaviors manifest. For example, they may start blaming each other for what appears to be minor matters. This sometimes escalates into name-calling and even acts of verbal violence – “Bad Mind”.

As a leader, you must be hyper-aware of these small gaps before they become major issues. Often, all that’s needed is an insistence that people talk to each other, rather than rely on electronic channels. However, in extreme cases, you may need to intervene with outside help.

Therefore, it’s essential to learn how to tune into and monitor the degree to which individuals in your team are in communication with each other. Call this a kind of ESP if you will, an ability to tap into intangible, emotional data that your inner self serves up. Most of the time we ignore these private urgings, but a leader should never do so.
The success of your enterprise may rely on the accomplishment of difficult goals. They won’t happen without the deep cohesion that brings people together on the same page. It’s a phenomenon which most leaders must consciously will into existence or it just won’t happen.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20191006/francis-wade-what-it-takes-be-truly-communication?









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Why You Need to Sweeten Up Your Emails

As a manager, have you ever been shocked at someone’s adverse reaction to a seemingly innocuous email message? Perhaps you also wondered “What is wrong with him?”, then questioned your own judgement. The answer is that neither sender nor receiver is at fault. People’s response to email messages is unique, making this communication skill a must-have for leaders of all organizations.

Daniel Goldman, brain expert, confirms something you may already know: email  can be dangerous. While it’s a necessary element of corporate life, problems often  arise when no harm is intended.

Why? Compared to visual and auditory channels, text communication is bereft of all the emotional cues we, as humans, are conditioned to distinguish. Consequently, miscues occur.

For example, someone asks you a question and you respond with a one-word answer. Their conclusion? “You are probably angry.” Or, you get busy and take a bit longer than usual to reply. “You must be unhappy,” they assume.

Perhaps you yearn for the day when recipients of your messages will simply read your words without adding unintended meaning, but that’s not likely to happen soon.  In fact, Goleman reports, “people interpret your positively intended email as neutral, and your neutrally intended email as negative.” Their survival instincts thwart your best intentions.

You may complain that this isn’t fair.

However, you are better off adapting to this reality, while correcting for the fact that we live in a nation with a violent past. Even today, disrespect sometimes triggers death.

It’s no wonder then, that your email style may need a makeover, especially when communicating with those below you in the chain of command. Here are some recommendations.

1. Never send emotionally fraught communication via email.
While some managers have fired employees via email messages, avoid this temptation. Instead, reserve your text communications for good news and sharing information. Don’t try to coach, give feedback, correct, counsel or apologize for anything critical.

If you must have a paper trail, write it out before the conversation and send it afterwards, as clarification. But never let it be the first point of contact if the message is likely to be a sensitive one.

The reason is simple. Imagine if your note is read an hour after the recipient receives news of someone’s passing. Obviously, if you were speaking to her in person, you would sense that the timing is bad and change gears. However, it’s easy to violate this accepted norm via text.

But what should you do to prevent a face-to-face conversation on a difficult matter from escalating into a shouting-match? Instead of looking for shortcuts, practice the challenging discussion with a colleague who can provide feedback in real time. This technique, often used by life coaches, should become a part of your regular training.

2. Never communicate in haste.
The worst moment to hit “Send” is when you are upset. A better alternative is to save the message in your drafts until you have calmed down and can reconsider your options. After a night’s sleep or a day’s work, things may look dramatically different and you want to be in your best, right mind when you make your final decision.

However, if you have difficulty knowing when you are upset (or in denial about ever being off-kilter) then try improving your Emotional Intelligence (EQ.) Doing so will benefit every aspect of your life.

3. Learn modern writing skills.
You may hate emojis. Ending a sentence with an “LOL” might be something you think you should never do. Perhaps in your world, “GIF” means nothing.

Even if you believe that these elements of modern communication “are not my style”, consider adding new skills. These seemingly silly add-ons are now part of the language most are using because they impart important, emotional context to dry textual content.

Here in Jamaica, for example, WhatsApp has long surpassed email as the most effective form of daily communication. One reason is due to its flexibility. A short message can be sent in multiple ways, via a range of media, enhanced by a variety of optional elements. The result is a faster, more precise method of sending brief messages that reduces the risk of misunderstanding.

But these fancy add-ons are not the point. Instead, the idea is to use every tool at your disposal to convey the emotional intent of your communication. Remember, Goleman tells us that recipients are likely to downgrade your message from  positive to neutral and from neutral to negative. To be an effective leader, you must compensate for this tendency.

If you willfully refuse to sweeten up your messages, be warned: it’s only a matter of time before they bear bitter fruit. Don’t blame the recipient. Instead, improve your skills.


http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20190922/francis-wade-emails-can-be-dangerous-lets-sweeten-them

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How to lead when technology makes people less productive

Do all technology improvements have a positive impact on productivity and the bottom line? No, but in some cases, the reason is not because of unintended consequences. Leaders in your organization must learn to consciously constrain technology in cases where the overall benefits are outweighed by the costs.

The best executives I have met care deeply about the role of worker productivity as a driver of bottom-line results. Like most, they embrace the promise of new technology. However, they also look for the hidden cost of innovations.

Case in point: sending someone a written message used to be an activity reserved for the office. Typing pools were required to transmit even the shortest letter.

Fast forward to today’s world in which technology allows us to send text messages at night when we should be sleeping, while driving when we should be focused on the road, and during conversations when we should be listening. As a consequence of the latter, our meetings take longer than they should.

Furthermore, each employee has the power to drag down the productivity of their colleagues by simply using the cc: function. We have all been there. Two people engaged in a disagreement cc: other employees to gain support. By copying them on messages, they entangle hundreds of innocent bystanders.

These are all cases in which technology-based improvements in personal efficiency can lead to overall disastrous results. They all have a negative impact on the bottom-line, even though they are supposed to have the opposite effect.

What should leaders do to prevent technology from running amok? Should they become Luddites, ridding themselves of email? Here are three practical suggestions for your organization.

1. Track Waste

In most organizations, bad expenditures are difficult to hide for long. However, the time lost in low-quality social interactions involving email and meetings is an open secret that’s never confronted. Why? Only the rare company tracks group or individual time usage so the cost is invisible.

As a result, people who convene meetings or send bad emails never receive clear feedback. At best, they may overhear some vague murmurings or hear a passing mention in a performance review session. But the chances of a true change in behavior are slim.

The way to tackle this issue is to create a mindset: the path to success requires a sustained effort to eradicate waste, especially when it’s caused by new technology. Employees who are able to see waste clearly are more likely to try to eliminate it. As they look back to the past, they recall times when they suffered from the effects of poor-quality meetings and email messages.

2. Implement Training

The best way to create this new mindset isn‘t to exhort staff through speeches, slogans or posters. While these may help, there are more effective methods.

While all have been trapped by at least one poor meeting or email, that’s not enough. The right training can help bring them into a shared experience. Here’s how.

Design an online game that gives employees opportunities to solve issues related to technology excess. The goal is to help them appreciate why these issues are so challenging and require everyone to tackle them at once. As they play, they’ll be free to  explore different decisions without incurring real-life repercussions.

Such a shared experience can be used as a starting point to generate solutions.

3. Impose Friction

Sometimes, it’s possible to claw back some of the dangerous freedom that technology affords. Take the reality of 24-7 email messaging. Most firms have no policy against it, which means that staff have to continually check their smartphones, just in case something new has been sent. This forces them to develop bad habits which affects sick days, holidays and vacations.

To fix the problem, some local organizations implement written rules along with sanctions for those who break them. (Some are actually forced to do so by financial regulators.)

Other companies (like Volkswagen and BMW) turn off their email servers on nights and weekends. This blocks staff from working for the company on their own time, when they should be resting.

Leaders who create such policies on their own accord have developed the ability to look ahead and predict the adverse impact a new technology will have. For example, if your organization were to give smartphones to the drivers of its delivery fleet, you should probably expect that texting and driving would ensue… along with its catastrophic consequences.

Multiply this simple case several hundred times across your enterprise and you may see: it pays to anticipate the moments when free technology destroys productivity. As an executive, you must balance the gains against the risks and do what no-one else can do: implement limits in order to preserve your bottom-line results.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20190908/francis-wade-how-lead-when-technology-makes-people-less-productive

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Responsibility, Authority and Accountability

What is the difference between responsibility, authority and accountability? Does it matter to most Jamaican companies?
One of the challenges that faces your organization is simple: how do people relate to each other to achieve goals that its individuals can’t accomplish alone? A part of the answer lies in the following quote:

“Responsibility is always taken. Authority is given, but Accountability is negotiated.”

Of course, this is no ordinary list. In fact, it corrects a problem staff have in most companies who use the terms interchangeably.

The reality? They aren’t the same. And when your employees mistakenly merge them into one, it perpetuates a confusion which blocks the path to high achievements.

Here’s how you can untangle them.

Responsibility
The quote indicates that people who are responsible create a special relationship with particular results. Furthermore, they do so using nothing more than an inner will or conscious intention. While this requires a level of intrinsic motivation, it’s also true that the trigger to initiate a new “zone” of responsibility may come from anywhere. Possible sources include a direct invitation from another, a catastrophic event or an inspiring biography.
Therefore, don’t think that you can “hold someone responsible.” The most important step takes place within the individual who exercises his/her free will.

However, some managers argue otherwise: they honestly believe they can use force to conjure up responsible subordinates. The result of their muscle? A Jamaican workplace full of Bredda Anansi-like fake-responsibility.

It’s tricky to spot: At the start it appears that someone has truly stepped up. The truth only reveals itself later, when the first big obstacle shows up and the blame game starts. Consequently, it becomes clear that they weren’t in the responsibility game at all: they were simply taking credit while things were going well.

Beyond such shenanigans, the amazing thing is that anyone can take responsibility for any outcome they wish. Our National Heroes were elevated precisely because they willingly did so for a large number of people, putting themselves in harm’s way to accomplish a grand, shared objective.

Most of us may never take responsibility at that high level. Fortunately, your organization doesn’t need you to be famous or a life-risker. All it asks is that you keep generating fresh zones of responsibility in service of shared goals. It’s up to you to continually define these areas and act accordingly.

Authority
By contrast, authority is granted by the leaders in an organization to those who play pivotal roles. Ideally, authority would only be given to employees with a long track record of responsibility. By virtue of stepping up to be responsible repeatedly, they would already have garnered a critical mass of credibility.

Unfortunately, most organizations don’t wait for this to happen. They promote people (even to the highest levels) whose only skill is buck-passing and complaining. According to one Caribbean CEO to his new subordinate: “I learned ages ago to never sign my name to anything around here. All you get is grief.”

Perhaps you can also recall a leader you met who is that twisted.

Sometimes, such persons are exposed as the frauds they truly are, but it happens too rarely. More often, they are tolerated and enabled by others who are petrified by the authority they wield.

Accountability
However, when authority works in daily life, it’s comprised of individual accountabilities. These are defined as discrete agreements (or partnerships) between a leader and a stakeholder to produce a particular outcome according to specific conditions of satisfaction. For example, I may promise my manager to “Sell x units by Sep 30th at a 50% profit margin.”

Such agreements are the sinews of an organization. Without them, it’s impossible for my manager to have a proper follow-up conversation with me on October 1st. In other words, when accountability is missing, any result will do.

Once again, in an ideal world, persons promoted to positions of authority should have a firm grasp of this unique relationship. Usually, they can point to a number of accountable partnerships which helped them produce results, and explain the special role of this ingredient.

Unfortunately, you probably also have met managers who occupy important positions  but don’t know how to hold people around them to account. Therefore, when good things happen, it’s by sheer luck; not because they reinforced the sinews of accountability.

For example, sometimes weak leaders are fortunate to hire great employees. These rare workers reverse the tables, forcing (or shaming) their manager into an accountable relationship by insisting on high standards.

As a result, such cases are few and far between. For too many staff-members, their manager fails to create either accountability or responsibility. These rich worlds simply don’t exist.

Companies who separate and teach these three elements empower everyone. When they occur together, but separately, they open the door to outstanding results individuals cannot produce by themselves.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20190825/francis-wade-responsibility-authority-and-accountability

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On Making Sure Your Innovation Works

Introducing a new product or service is risky business. For your firm, it may be the only way to grow, so how can you ensure that your hot, fresh idea doesn’t fail?

Top leaders may relate to the following quote from Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran: “The most important lesson you WON’T learn in school is to get out there and try 100 things and get over the fact that 98 of them won’t work!”

Perhaps you are like most business-owners who are trying to improve that dismal prediction. At first you may have applied sheer energy, like I did early in my career. My “youthful exuberance” helped me come up with new ideas every other day. Just like Corcoran predicted, few worked.

Now that I am a bit older and a lot greyer, failure has taught me to spend more time thinking before acting. As a result, I am planning a book launch using the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) concept. (You may remember that I originally shared the idea in a Gleaner column of 20-11-2016.)

To recap, JTBD dictates that before you create a new product, delve into the world of the customer to understand how they are attempting to meet a specific unmet need. What half-measures are they taking? If they are still dissatisfied, that signals an opportunity. In the launch, I’m going to focus on meetings.

Many executives I consult with express their frustration at the total number of person-hours lost in meetings. I suggest  that they should be proactively reducing this metric, while preserving profits. Doing so should immediately increase the total productive time employees have available to them each week.

Executives want answers like these delivered in digestible ways, so my idea is to create an interactive, mobile game that can be completed during the book launch within just a few minutes. During the design process, I have learned the following three insights about the JTBD they have of improving meetings that apply to all innovations.

1. People are trying
In my consulting work, I often run into leaders who are working to simultaneously reduce the number and duration of meetings, while minimizing attendance and increasing quality. Their attempts include: complaining aloud, coaching chair-persons, passing around tips, offering training, mandating books to read, putting up posters and giving out checklists. But these measures have little impact. (In many cases, CEO-led meetings are some of the worst.)

From the JTBD perspective, an innovative approach would replace some of these activities. When they play the interactive game, I want them to discover these solutions, thereby moving them past their sense of defeat.

If you happen to be an innovator, the frustration experienced by people trying to complete a JTBD can be a good sign. If your solution works, the unique value it creates will have an emotional component. Conversely, a lack of frustration may indicate that you are barking up the wrong tree.

2. Your prospects need a new mental model
As attendees play the interactive game on their phones, I want them to experience what it’s like to solve the meeting problem using a fresh paradigm.

In most firms, meetings have become the worst time-wasters. Thanks to email, any staff member can call a meeting, and invite anyone. Due to a lack of feedback, if they execute the event poorly they may never realize that an improvement is needed.

In the new line of thinking I’ll introduce, meeting time should be managed like money. As a shared but scarce resource, it must be budgeted, monitored and spent with care. Giving an employee the total freedom to call meetings is like allowing them access to blank checks. This mental model destroys that practice.

3. They may respond to a new experience
It’s no longer enough to blast customers with: “My New Innovation is Better Than Anything You Are Doing!” Instead, it’s better to offer an experience that allows them to draw their own conclusions.

Think of new car salespersons. They don’t merely show pictures and point out features on a screen. The test-drive simulates the experience of ownership by immersing the buyer in a brand new, multi-sensory environment.

In the interactive game, I hope to do the same. As participants play, they assume the role of a fictional CEO who must solve his company’s meeting problems. Just like in real life, they have limited information, and uncover hidden surprises, plus the  consequences for their choices.The big lesson is that new innovations start with the JTBD your prospective customer is doing, not with anyone’s bright ideas. If you begin in the right place and apply enough rigour, you can dramatically increase the odds of success for your new idea.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20190811/francis-wade-making-sure-your-innovations-work

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Why Electronic Messaging is a New But Critical Competence

Why aren’t people replying to your emails? At first blush, you may believe it’s personal, but it’s not. You simply may not be using an approach that suits the preferences of your intended recipient.

Contrast your experience with the one I had taking my first Uber a few months ago in Washington, DC. On the ride, I immediately understood why traditional taxi service was dying. It can’t compete. Uber delivers custom messages via numerous channels (mobile and PC) that are a near-perfect fit for the individual customer. He/she can tailor the information the company delivers with the click of a button, making them feel unique.

It reminded me of the 1990’s when email was first popularized. Back then, you sent a message and expected a timely response. It’s receipt was a rare and special event.

However, the strength of email became its downfall. Because it’s free and quick, people receive too many messages. They fall behind. And those who send them without seeing an answer complain bitterly.

Try this approach: become as precise as Uber. Consider that the days of massive “email blasts” are over. Now, you need to be exact to pierce your customer’s Inboxes. Here are three strategies for you to try.

1. Pick the right channel
A few short years ago, WhatsApp was hardly used in Jamaica. Today, it’s become a replacement for email for many people who find the channel to be more versatile.

Also, while their Inboxes are filled with thousands of messages, they respond to WhatsApp within minutes. Others prefer to use Facebook Messenger, Instagram or Twitter.

As for voicemail? Many don’t even bother to activate their accounts.

The point is, in 2019 each person has their preferred mode of communication. If you choose the one they habitually use, you’re more likely to receive a timely response. And no, you can’t send the same message to every channel , hoping that one will work. That’s just a creepy practice.

2. Pick the ideal time
Once you have chosen the right channels you need to be be careful about your timing. The hours before noon on Monday morning are often the worst, according to research. Why? As someone enters the office and struggles to adjust to the loss of their weekend, they must face all the incomplete communication from the prior week. Plus, anything delivered on Saturday or Sunday also sits waiting.
If they were away for a few days, it’s even worse. Upon their return, they are only in the mood for brutal culling and your message could get cut without ever being read.

Instead, use a version of the Golden Rule. Send messages as you would wish they were sent to you – on your preferred schedule. Do so skillfully and you’ll improve the odds dramatically that it won’t be lost.

Thankfully, scientists have given us some further clues. In a recent summary of 14 studies on the topic, Coschedule.com reported that Tuesday is the best weekday, followed by Thursday and Wednesday.

The optimal times of day? Just before lunch or before bed.

Unfortunately, these are US studies where work norms are somewhat different. You’ll have to do your own experiments to determine top results.

3. Use automated software
A surprising number of local organizations don’t collect any kind of contact information. As a consumer, this puzzles me. After all, once I have become a customer, I am quite likely to repeat the purchase, if only I were reminded via electronic messaging.

My sense is that the practice is uncommon because decision-makers at the top of the organization are simply backward. They don’t understand the power of internet marketing and can’t imagine the impact of a custom, online campaign. Consequently, they hire people who, like them, prefer old-fashioned interruption-marketing i.e. advertisements in print, television, radio and billboard. The poor decisions they make aren’t questioned.

Fortunately, automated messaging on both email and social networks is relatively inexpensive. They also allow you to collect data easily, often putting the onus on customers to join via your landing pages.

Furthermore, once they join your network, you’re able to track their behavior and learn a great deal about their individual preferences. Once you analyze this information, you can understand how to speak to their needs in increasingly surgical ways.

The fact is, if your company isn’t using these tools and knowledge you are setting yourself up for disruption: the moment when a competitor figures out that your business is stale. Don’t be like the taxi companies who may never catch up to Uber. Adjust your digital communication to fit your customer’s needs.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20190728/francis-wade-electronic-messaging-new-critical-competence





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The Art of Being Strategic

Why is it that strategic plans often languish on the shelf? Some would say it’s a matter of lazy executives but experience shows that it has more to do with creating the right context from the start.

A client I work with has an idea: “let’s put up our own website.” At first blush, it makes sense. Every organisation has one. It’s an easy, inexpensive way to let the world know you exist.

However, a brief survey of websites of similar organisations reveals an inconvenient truth: they are all embarrassingly stale.  The layouts look tired. Not a single site is current, or has been updated in ages. Whoever had the original vision has long gone, leaving behind an obsolete artefact.
But it’s likely that when the idea was first pursued, people were excited. They invested personal energy in the project and when it was done, felt satisfied that their vision had come to life.

Unfortunately, they also made a deadly mistake. In their minds, the purpose of the activity was to produce an object (a website) versus to launch a process (a way to keep staff in touch with the public.) In other words, the context they created for the project was limited.

This particular error happens every day. Imagine the typical family. The kids want to adopt a dog, but their parents refuse. The fact is, the older, wiser heads know that owning a pet is more than possessing an animal object. It also means engaging in a process of feeding, exercising and cleaning that takes time and money. They understand that this job is likely to fall into their laps when their children lose interest.

As adults, they see the real cost.

This also happens in strategic planning retreats when companies try to compress the activity into a single day. It’s possible to create a report in this time-frame if the team focuses solely on producing unlimited visions of the future. They walk away feeling inspired, as if they have just adopted a dog or launched a website.

However, the typical second day is usually focused on adding in real-life constraints – the true cost. Once they are included in the plan, tradeoffs must be considered which lead to the team making difficult decisions. Among them is a choice to kill certain initiatives.

The sad reality? There just isn’t enough time, manpower, money or energy to accomplish all the goals set on day one. That initial mood of boundless creativity must be balanced.

Apart from spending two days on this activity, what else is required to be strategic versus just producing a plan?

1. A Context of “Being Strategic”
Paradoxically, the main output of each planning exercise may not be the plan. Perhaps, it’s better understood as the start of a process which engages everyone.

In this process, a new paradigm is introduced which reshapes everyday work. Now, instead of simply doing their job, an employee is doing so for a greater purpose which inspires them.

This means that the plan should be changed as often as necessary in order to play its role as a guide for daily actions. These updates keep it fresh and relevant.

Some companies unwittingly rob employees of learning how to “be strategic.” First, they  hire outsiders to write their strategy. When the final document (the object) is handed over, the company finds itself unable to execute because no-one possesses the requisite way of being to be successful. It disappeared out the door with the consultants.

2. Make Concrete Commitments
In prior columns I accused executives of failing to treat their time with the same level of rigour as they do their budgets. Consequently, their strategic plans are unrealistic and are treated as if they can all drop their overfull schedules at a moment’s notice.

One antidote is to book the same time in each executive’s calendar for implementation: e.g. Monday morning from 9-12 am. Doing so means cancelling or delegating existing commitments. It’s a way to ensure that the new projects and processes in the plan have a chance of survival in the real, post-retreat world.

3. Make Behaviour and Process Changes
Pay attention to those strategic initiatives which are as painful to implement as the challenge of learning to write cursive with your non-dominant hand. At both the individual and corporate levels, old habits and processes will assert themselves, resisting the planned changes.

Instead, put in place new systems for performance management, rewards, recognition, training and automation. Hardwire these improvements to reduce the possibility of failure.

Part of being strategic is acknowledging all these obstacles and finding ways to work around them. Admittedly, they are harder than simply producing a document but they will ensure that your plan is realistic and provide a unique pathway to future success.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20190714/francis-wade-art-being-strategic