Just finished reading an article in the Sunday NY Times that addresses the issue of a Growth Mindset.  What is a Growth Mindset?  According to the article by Janet Rae-Dupree (commenting on “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol Dweck), it is a mental state where a person believes one’s talent is not finite, can be expanded over time and has the resilience to convert life’s set backs into future successes.  I like that!

My personal success mantra is “Fall Down Seven Times; Get Up Eight!”  That goes along with my nickname as a handball player: “The Mudder.” Like a racehorse that runs better on a muddy track, I slog my way through most situations based on perseverance, resilience and a determination to learn from my mistakes.

It’s good to find out that attitude is a growth mindset, and is more successful over time than the alternative - the fixed mindset.  Those who have a fixed mindset believe they were born with all the attributes they are ever going to need to be successful and do not fulfill their potential because they fail/refuse to stretch themselves confront their mistakes and learn from them.  Of course, they can change but why would they?  No one is prompted to change by having success.  Only failure motivates/necessitates change.

And what kind of employees should companies be hiring?  A no-brainer!  Not necessarily the best and the brightest, (the “know it alls”) but rather someone who has some talent but, more importantly, has a passion for learning, and who thrives on challenge and change.

Sound like my definition of a Core Employee!  And the ultimate requirement of the Knowledge Economy - the perpetual learner.

Feel free to comment about your experience with the fixed mindset and the growth mindset.

A Slightly Different Take on

BRAINSTORMING: A Mentoring/Coaching Tool Often the Brainstorming Process is a waste of time! Why? Because those who are experienced in the area being Brainstormed, can analyze the issue under consideration and create a solution that will be 80% effective when implemented, without the need for the time consumption involved in the Brainstorming Process. That rate of success, added to the quickness with which the solution can be implemented, makes the expert successful in nearly all situations and the value of the Brainstorming Process suspect at best and a waste of valuable time at worst. If the Brainstorming Process does not produce better solutions arrived at in a more productive and efficient manner than what is the value of the Brainstorming Process? The real value inherent in the Brainstorming Process is not for the established expert, but rather is its use as the ultimate mentoring/coaching tool. A properly conducted Brainstorming Process provides an ideal “teaching moment.” The real purpose of a Brainstorming Session should not be to arrive at the “right” answer (even though the Brainstorming Session Facilitator/Leader needs to be on the lookout for that rare occurrence), but rather to give those Employees who are learning their craft the opportunity to practice innovation and creativity in a safe environment where they can “stretch” and learn without fear of failure. In particular, the Brainstorming Process is ideally suited to the new generation of Employees entering the workplace. Generation Y Employees enjoy the opportunity to interact in a collaborative fashion with others in a Team based Brainstorming Process, and it also satisfies their desire to be included in solving organizational issues. So, while the Brainstorming Process is time consuming, it is an essential step in the growth of the Employees involved and in the development of the relationship between Mentor/Expert and Mentee/Learner. With this understanding of the value of a Brainstorming Process, here is how to make a Traditional Brainstorming Session as productive as possible: The Rules for a Productive Brainstorming Session

1. You Need Three to Tango! There needs to be at least three people participating to effectively Brainstorm.

1. Eight or More Will Tangle! Involving more than seven participants causes the Brainstorming Process to lose effectiveness.

3. The Background Memo! The Background Memo describes the reason for the Brainstorming Session, and includes a well defined Creative Challenge. The Creative Challenge is specific, concise, to the point and stated in the form of a question (i.e.“What new feature can we add to Client XYZ’s PR Campaign?”). The Background Memo is sent to the participants at least a day before the Brainstorming Session so they can begin thinking about The Creative Challenge. It also allows Introverts to prepare to effectively participate in the Brainstorming Session.

1. Bosses Are Not Welcome! Managers, who are not members of the Brainstorming Team, will inhibit the generation of unusual ideas by participants.

5. Location! Location! Location! Brainstorming must be performed in a relaxed environment which allows participants to stretch their minds and be creative.

6. The Brainstorming Group! The Brainstorming Process works best with a varied group of participants - those who are and are not familiar with the Creative Challenge. “Fresh eyes” will see the issue from a different perspective. Each Brainstorming Group needs a Team Lead/Facilitator and an Idea Collector.

1. The Idea Collector! Records the ideas but does not participate.

1. The Team Lead/Facilitator! Guides the session and encourages participation.

1. Keep it Short! Any longer than an hour and the Brainstorming process runs out of steam or the Group loses focus. Remember Parkinson’s Law: “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”

10. Conducting the Brainstorming Session! · The Team Lead engages the participants in creativity exercises before the Brainstorming Session “officially” begins, to relax the participants’ minds.· The Team Lead begins the Brainstorming Session by presenting The Creative Challenge. · The Team Lead asks the Brainstorming Group for their solutions.· Participation by each member of the Brainstorming Group is not only expected but required.· Participants shout out solutions while the Idea Collector writes down all the solutions presented.· There is absolutely no criticism of any solution presented even when it is apparent the solution will not work as presented. · The Team Lead controls the discussion by cutting “the talkers” short and encouraging “the listeners” to participate.· The greater the number of solutions generated, the greater the chance of producing an effective solution. A minimum of five solutions per participant is required. · When there are no solutions forthcoming, the Team Lead poses a Lead Question to encourage creativity, such as “Can we look at this issue from another perspective?” 11. After the Brainstorming Session Ends!· When the set time for the Brainstorming Session is over, the Idea Collector presents a list of the collected solutions to the Brainstorming Group. · The list of solutions is reviewed by the Brainstorming Group to ensure everyone understands the ideas.· Duplicate solutions and obviously infeasible solutions are removed from the list by majority vote of the Brainstorming Group.· The Brainstorming Group then selects the five solutions the Group likes best by deciding on five criteria for judging which solutions best addresses The Creative Challenge. Each of the five criteria will includes the word “should” (i.e. “it should be cost effective”, “it should be possible to finish before Labor Day”). · Each remaining solution receives a score of 0 to 5 points, based on how well each solution meets each of the five criterions. · Once all of the remaining solutions have been scored, the top five scores represent the five best solutions to The Creative Challenge.· The Brainstorming Group members then elaborate on each of the five solutions to improve their quality. · While the solution with the highest score should best solve The Creative Challenge, be prepared to revisit the other four solutions in the event the best solution becomes unworkable.

12. Results Required! Within 24 hours after Brainstorming Session ends, the Brainstorming Group must submit a preliminary written solution to The Creative Challenge. This document must address the implementation of the proposed solution in the context of the best case scenario, the worst case scenario, what constraints exist, and what is non-negotiable in resources (people, money and time).

Why Traditional Brainstorming Fails

The ugly truth about the traditional Brainstorming Process is it often leads to mediocre results. The reasons why the Brainstorming Process fails to generate creative ideas are:

1. Badly formulated Creative Challenge. If you get the Creative Challenge wrong, the best solutions will not solve the problem.

2. Poor Team Leads/Facilitators. Team Leads or Facilitators who do not understand Creative Problem Solving are unable to properly manage a Brainstorming Session.

3. Squelching. Criticizing the wacky ideas during the idea generation phase of a Brainstorming Session de-motivates everyone and generates uninspiring and predictable ideas.

4. Dominating Personalities. If one person dominates the Brainstorming Session, only one person is really doing any brainstorming and the other participants’ ideas are ignored.

5. Too Much Noise. In a Brainstorming Session, participants are sharing ideas verbally. That means everyone has to listen to other ideas before sharing their own. The result is more time and energy is spent on listening and interpreting than on generating ideas.

Non-Traditional Brainstorming

Here are some non-traditional Brainstorming Processes which generate solutions to The

Creative Challenge, but avoid the reasons why traditional Brainstorming does not work well:

1. Nominal Group Brainstorming:

Instead of verbal participation, participants in the Brainstorming Session write down their solutions anonymously. This allows all participants in the Brainstorming Group equal opportunity in the Solution Generation phase of the Brainstorming Process.

2. Group Passing Brainstorming:

Each participant in the Brainstorming Group writes down one solution to The Creative Challenge, and passes the paper to the participant to their right. That participant adds one thought to the solution and passes it on until every participant gets their original piece of paper back. Another Group Passing technique is to create a “Solution Book” and place a routing list on its front. The first person to receive the Solution Book writes his or her solutions and then routes the book to the next person on the list. The next person adds new solutions or adds to the solutions of the previous person. This continues until the routing list is completed. A follow-up “read out” meeting is then held to discuss the solutions placed in the Solution Book. 3. Electronic Brainstorming: The Team Lead sends the question out to the Brainstorming Group’s members via email, and each member contributes independently by sending their solutions directly back to the Team Lead. The Team Lead then compiles a list of solutions and sends it back to the members for further feedback. Electronic Brainstorming enables much larger groups to brainstorm on a Creative Challenge.4. Visual Brainstorming:

Visual brainstorming generates ideas without using the spoken or written word. Items such as children’s toys, arts and crafts materials or persons in spontaneous role play are used to encourage the creative thinking process. In Visual Brainstorming, each participant tries out new solutions which must be implemented with the material provided and not simply vocalized. Once the session is completed the solutions are presented, explained and considered by the entire group.

The advantages to Visual Brainstorming are:

· It is harder for one person to dominate.

· Less “squelching” occurs.

· There is more creativity.

· Participants have more fun.

However, Visual Brainstorming requires a higher level of creativity in the planning stage to devise an effective approach for the Brainstorming Group and to determine the appropriate materials to use. Finally, Let’s Get Physical!

Research in the area of creative thinking concludes thirty minutes of aerobic exercise considerably enhances creativity. And the positive effects of this amount of physical exercise last at least up to two hours after completing the physical activity. So, to improve the Brainstorming Process:

• Go for a 30 minute walk before the Brainstorming Session.
• Schedule lunchtime walking groups to encourage creativity during the afternoon.
• Consider mini-workouts in the middle of creative sessions.

Since Delegation remains a tricky, but required task, for anyone and everyone, both in business or in a personal setting (does anyone really want to iron dress shirts?  Does anyone still wear dress shirts?), I occassionally write about it in my weekly Time Management enewsletter “The Monday Mantra.”  Here’s the latest edition:

GLOVER & ASSOCIATES P: 630.960.4372 Email: paulglover@trainingeverydayleaders.com The Monday Mantra # 56: June 23, 2008 (“Mantra”: a word or phrase believed to possess supernatural powers) Delegation: Part 2 Now that you have eliminated the “Schmidt” type activities from your daily activities, here is how to decide which of the remaining tasks can be delegated to others (remember: the task does not have to be done as well as you could do it, but only as well as necessary): · Delegate as much as possible = more time for you to do more important things. · Delegate tasks you are good at = easiest to explain and to train others to do. · Delegate tasks others have more experience doing = better results. Never delegate motivating, team-building, praising or reprimanding. Delegation is very difficult for most people because it involves trust and control issues. Trust = will the person you delegate to have the ability/desire to do the task correctly? Control = can you handle the loss of control over the task? To trust that someone else will correctly do the delegated task, you must communicate clearly so:

• They know what you want and when you want it.
• They have the authority to achieve it.
• They know how to do the task or they know where to get help.
• They believe they can achieve the task.

To control the delegation, you must establish at the beginning:

• The sources of information available to the delegate (you or others).
• Determine with the delegate the criteria on which the outcome will be judged.
• Monitor the tasks delegated through a regular progress check with the delegate.

Delegation is a difficult Time Management skill to develop, but it is absolutely essential if you are going to have the time to do what you should be doing and for the development of others. Enjoy a Productive Week!

Paul Glover – a “Certified Grand Master Manipulator of Time”

Next week’s edition with finish Delegation by looking at how anyone can delegate those crappy tasks.

Anything to say about delegation, have at it!

I’m a true believer when it comes to compensating people only when they perform.  And this goes to all levels of employment - not just the sales team.  While it takes some effort and thought to arrive at an appropriate pay-for-performance plan for some groups, it can and should be done!  Here’s why:

Research establishes that a Company needs to give a 10% compensation increase just to catch the Employees’ attention! An increase of less than 10% is taken, but will not lead to greater Employee effort to improve business results. Giving Employees an annual merit salary increase of less than 4 percent is a joke (the after-tax difference = a Starbucks coffee) and causes erosion in the energy of the Company’s Core Employees. Furthermore, WorkQuake© Companies recognize there is no ROI in giving “The Others” any increase in pay since that is rewarding poor performance behavior and takes money away from the Company’s Core Employees who are performing “above and beyond.” Because small annual merit increases do not increase Employee performance, Companies must change their compensation systems to include a Pay-for-Performance Component. An effective Pay-for-Performance Program will achieve the following: · It Directly Aligns Employee Performance with Achieving Clearly Communicated Company’s Goals! And connects Employee performance to compensation. · It Differentiates! To catch a Core Employee’s attention and send a signal to “The Others”, a Pay-for-Performance Program must significantly differentiate between the two. · It Increases Productivity & Core Employee Retention! By fostering an Owner vs. A Renter Mentality. · It Ends Entitlement! Just like a union contract, merit pay is predicated on lifetime employment with steadily rising, virtually equal wages for all workers in a grade or job category, with little regard for performance· It Culls the Herd! If the Company doesn’t fire “The Others”, it cannot pay high performing Core Employees more. · It Rewards Individual & Team Performance! Pay-for-Performance Programs can be based on individual or team contribution through traditional salary adjustments or through variable pay techniques such as one-time performance = one time reward. · It Communicates! Pay-for-Performance sends an important message about the Company’s culture and its priorities and values. · Improves The Bottom Line! Companies providing variable pay to their Core Employees are 68% more likely than other firms to report outstanding financial performance. · It Increases Accountability! Pay-for-Performance establishes a pact with Employees that says “We’re going to hold you accountable, and we’re going to reward you for performing.” Are there addtional pros and some cons to pay-for-performance?  Absolutely!  So, let’s hear some from the “true believers” and the non-believers.

Since I am still struggling with becoming a better blogger (time committment issues), I am going to try something different.  I publish two weekly email articles (one on time management and one on management in general), so, when appropriate I’m going to stick them on the blog!  Comments/questions are appropriate about these topics are any topics I post.  And I do tolerate criticism.  I may not agree with it but improvement can only come with awareness.  So, don’t hesitate to make me “aware” of anything you don’t agree with.

Here’s this week’s Time Management article

Delegation: Part One

An essential part of any effective Time Management System is determining what you really should be doing with your time and whether someone else should be doing some of the tasks you are doing. However, there is no reason to consider Delegating a task that no one should be doing! To make a realistic and accurate assessment about Delegation, the very first thing to consider, after conducting your 5 Day Time Audit (not that pesky Time Audit thing again!), is whether you or anyone else should continue doing some of the things you are doing every day.

Curiously, once we settle into our “Essential Routine”, the set of necessary work habits that allow us to get the basic daily routine tasks done without reinventing the wheel or thinking a lot about how we should do them (i.e. doing the weekly Mantra at 5 am every Monday morning – except for this last Monday because I was still celebrating Father’s Day), we seldom re-examine the routine tasks we do every day to determine if they still remain important/necessary enough that we, or a Delegate, should continue doing them. The importance of doing an annual examination of these routine/mindless tasks is highlighted by a scene from the 2002 movie “About Schmidt”, with Jack Nicholson playing the lead character.

Schmidt has been an insurance claims adjustor for 30 years and is retiring. His successor visits him in his office and Schmidt points out an entire wall full of bankers boxes, containing all of the records Schmidt has produced while performing his job. Schmidt tells his successor how important these records are and how invaluable they will to the successor. A few minutes later, Schmidt is exiting the parking lot as a retiree and sees his successor emptying all of the bankers boxes into a dumpster! This causes Schmidt to re-examine whether how he spent his time at work was important.

Before I discuss Delegation Techniques next week, take some Time to determine if there are some “Schmidt” type activities you should eliminate from your Daily To-Do List.

Enjoy a Productive and “Schmidt” Free Week!

I’m very selective when it comes to whom I’ll listen to when it is something I don’t want to hear (I’ll listen to all the good news anyone wants to bring me all day long).  Even if I don’t agree with the person giving me information or just don’t want to hear it, but that person is someone I trust, then I will still listen to what they have to say. I know I may learn something important that will give me an opporunity to improve myself.  If it’s a person I don’t trust, I can’t wait until they shut up and go away.

Employers should look at Exit Interviews the same way.  If the person who is voluntarily leaving is a Core Employee (one of the 20% of the Workforce who makes your Company hum) that by itself is a HUGE clue that something ain’t right.  It behooves every Employer to conduct an Exit Interview to discover why this person is leaving.

If the Core Employee is leaving because of an organizational issue (i.e.bad supervisor), make sure to ask them how to fix it so no other Core Employee leaves for the same reason.  In the Knowledge Economy/Information Age you do not want your Talent walking out the door if you can stop them.

And don’t burn any bridges in the Exit Interview!  Even though you may not like what they have to say about your Company, this person is a Core Employee, someone you don’t want to leave. And they are telling you the TRUTH! This person may come back if they feel good about the way they left the Company.  There are not enough Core Employees around for an Employer to refuse to accept one who left because of an organizational issue and is available to come back in the future.

However, if the person leaving is one of The Others (the 20% of the Workforce you should have already fired), don’t waste your time with an Exit Interview since you have better things to do with your time then waste it listening to unadulterated whining by a certified Slug.

Finally, if the person leaving is a Temporary (60% of the Workforce that could become Core or one of The Others, depending on how the Company motivates them), you want to do an abbreviated Exit Interview, based on the detemination of their immediate Supervisor as to whether they were headed in the right or wrong direction.

More about the value of Exit Interviews tomorrow!

To complete that axiom “…everything looks like a nail.”  I sometimes feel that way about Employee Satisfaction Surveys and Focus Groups.  Because I have so much success using them to ferret out the real problems afflicting a company, I can never understand why companies don’t conduct them on a regular basis!   Or refuse to conduct them at all!

One company I recently spoke to was particularly interested in conducting Focus Groups with the 30 Employees who had been laid off and were raising hell on a blog the owner of the company was writing.  Based on my experience in conducting Focus Groups for the last 20 years, I could guarantee that the comments by the laid off Employees, which were freaking everybody out, were but the tip of the iceberg.

To allow  Employees the opportunity to say what is on their minds in an environment that protects them from retaliation is a great healer when things have gone wrong in the company- as long as the company intends to do something other than collect the information - and a huge dose of reality for the company that real wants to know the whole truth.

Unfortunately, once the “noise” on the blog died down, so did the company’s interest in finding out the truth.   Many companies would rather ignore the truth as perceived by the Employees then become aware of it and be required to do something about it.  Surveys and Focus Groups will raise Employee expectations.

But just because you don’t want to hear the Truth doesn’t mean the Truth has disappeared.  It has merely gone underground, waiting for the day when it will be revealed.   And then it will always makes for An Inconvenient Truth! (Sorry Al, but I couldn’t resist).

Of course, I could be wrong.  But I’m not.

Two weekends ago I conducted a Communications Workshop for a Metal Service Center Client in Savannah, Ga.  While that isn’t noteworthy, what is noteworthy is the composition of the group who attended the Workshop:  the fifteen participants were Front Line Supervisors, whose jobs consist of moving steel into the facility, processing it, and delivering it to the customer.   These were “old school”, bottom line, no-nonsense guys, dedicated to getting the job done, period.  And they were spending all day Saturday with me learning better communications techniques!

What a clear indication of the extent of the effects of the WorkQuake(c) on the Workplace!  Ten years ago the only employees who attended communication workshops were working in middle and upper management.  Now there is a growing recognition by companies in every industry from basic steel to health care that every person who can affect performance and profitability needs to be developing skill sets that will assist them in getting the job done better and more effectively.  For the most part, that means developing better interpersonal skills to deal with an increasingly diverse workforce demanding to be treated with more respect and included in the decision making process.

And what better group to have their communication skills honed then front line supervisors who have the greatest impact on the majority of employees in any company (as a union organizer, I quickly ascertained that 90% of the time a group of employees decided to join a union it was because of the way they were disrespected by their immediate supervisor).

Of course, I found their after Workshop comments that upper management needed to take the Workshop to be very amusing and most likely true.

Wow!  I’m finally going to do it!  I’m finally going to post a message on my very own blog!

Of course, the question from those of you who are reading this  may be:  “Why would you want to blog anyway?” And, perhaps more importantly, ”Why would I want to read anything you have to write?”

The answer:  I’m a very opinionated guy, who has had a variety of business experiences, and I want  to share my opinions and insights based on those experiences with others.  All this sharing is in the hopes you will benefit from what I have to offer and, because any good blog should be a dialogue and not a monologue, I will likewise benefit from you have to say in response.

Who knows?  You might even change my opinion about how a business should be run.  But I wouldn’t count on that happening (you did read the part where I said I was a “very opinionated guy”?), unless you can make a very good argument for your position.

So, let’s begin with some ground Rules (Hey!  I’m a “recovering” lawyer, so there has gotta be Rules!).

First, even though I don’t mind sharing personal stuff, this blog is primarily about business and what has to be done to make it better for both the owners/managers and the employees.

Second,  any suggestions I make or opinions I have may be based in theory, but they will have been tested in the reality of the workplace, either while I was the head of a union, a practicing labor/employment lawyer or a management consultant (my current occupation).

Third, respectful disagreement is encouraged.  Disrespectful disagreement will cause me to call my friend Vito.  And no body wants that to happen!

My first official blogger observation is nothing startling, to paraphrase Dylan: The workplace is a changin’! But what is startling is how much it is changing and how fast.  I’ve even coined a word for the volatile and chaotic transition period we are currently in :  The WorkQuake(c). Note the word “WorkQuake” is copyrighted so every time you say it, please send me a dollar.  Failure to do so will require another call to Vito.

The deal with the WorkQuake(c) is that all the Rules of Engagement that used to govern the workplace and the people in it are either already useless or are rapidly becoming useless.  So, for those of us who are caught up in this cataclysmic change - and that’s everybody who still works for a living or who employs people who work for a living - it’s time to adopt a new perspective on work.  A good place to start is by reading Daniel Pink’s book “Free Agent Nation.”

Since I’ve already accepted the fact the old way of doing things ain’t working, let me tell you what I tell my business clients who are attempting to figure out how to not only survive but thrive in the WorkQuake(c): the most profound changes are yet to come!

What those profound changes are and how they need to be addressed constitutes the main reason for this blog.

Time for me to quit rambling on and ask you for your comments/experiences in the WorkQuake(c).

And remember the greatest fear I have at the moment is “What if I started this blog and nobody comments?”