Wednesday 30 January 2019

Not intending to take action, then forget doing the survey

I'm amazed at the number of organisations who do employee engagement surveys, post online purchase surveys, you name it, and then fail to use the data.

Worse still is doing the surveys and not taking actions that mean the employee/customer/stakeholder experience is better.

Worst of all is not getting back to people who completed your survey/s with what you've done from their input.

We are in an age where the employee/customer/stakeholder experience is paramount to your success.

In the most remarkable workplaces what I see happening is:

the tendency to be overwhelmed by data is top of mind and therefore surveys and the like are used wisely and sparingly

action is taken,

people are communicated with about the actions and wherever appropriate engaged in them.

Who will you become?

What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 28 January 2019

Is the tale wagging your dog?

A feature of the nightly news is the stock market report, yet listed companies employ less than 40 percent of the people. In Australia another interesting number is that about a dozen companies represent half the value of the stock market.

Why don't we learn about small businesses who clearly are the majority as the graph below from the Australia Bureau of Statistics demonstrate?


I expect one answer is data is difficult to come by.

This has got me thinking.

In your business are you focused on the things where data is easy to gather? 

Or are you digging deep to ensure you know what you must?

“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.”
William Bruce Cameron in 'Informal Sociology' published 1963.

We share stories (tales) about what we know. These tales are the directors of our lives. We must continually ask Is the tale wagging the dog?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Friday 25 January 2019

Everything remarkable begins with human-centred design

There's many big turnaround's happening in management as this Forbes article by Sunnie Giles articulates.

My favourite piece from her article.

"Return to humanity

To deliver on the Industrial-era mantra of efficiency and standardization, we dehumanized people. Corporate Legal departments have systematically attempted to eliminate all elements of emotions and touch in the workplace, because they are messy, unpredictable legal liabilities. As result, the workplace has become sterile: void of human connection. However, the best way to deliver on the new basis of competition—learning  and innovation—is through trial and error, diversity of thought, and self-organization, all of which require unleashing our human potential as unique, idiosyncratic thinkers with diverse perspectives."

The diagram on the left is from IDEO's Field Guide to Human-Centred Design which you can download here.

I recommend the field guide as a tool for ensuring your workplace is a place where humans can thrive.

Everything remarkable begins with human-centred design.

Be remarkable.
Ian

PS In my new Remarkable Workplaces book I restate my long held belief that management is not about people rather the processes, policies, procedures, practices and systems we design to ensure people can bring the best version of themselves to their work every day, and that mean value is simple to deliver.

Wednesday 23 January 2019

Agile is just common sense

Agile isn’t anything new, it’s just a re-emergence of something we already knew and it boils down to these 3 things says Martyn Puddephatt in this great article.

Martin's 3

1) Focus on the real constraints and design the work to meet that schedule.
2) Give the team autonomy to innovate.
3) Deliver incrementally to validate and adjust as needed.

Agile is just common sense. Wishing you more common sense in every aspect of your life

Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 21 January 2019

How to be a better human

I'm enjoying this series of articles from the folk at TED and where I copied this image.

Being a better, wiser, more valuable human is a journey we can all take this year.

The world will be better as a consequence.

Be remarkable.
Ian


Friday 18 January 2019

The red and green zones of communication from Peter Milligan


I love this concept from my friend and colleague, psychologist Peter Milligan.

You can view Peter and myself exploring his model under Sparkenation 3 Convention here.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Wednesday 16 January 2019

Are you certain of the key actions you should and shouldn't take?

I like the story of Peloton bikes that you can read yourself here.

CEO of the company John Foley refers to himself as the Chief Culture Officer.

How do you refer to yourself?

In your business today what are you doing as an individual and as a business that you shouldn't be doing?

What are you not doing as an individual or as a business that you should be?

Your answers to these three questions and taking action are a key to ensuring that 2019 is your best year yet.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 14 January 2019

Playing a good short game works in golf not business

I used to laugh at Trump. More an uncomfortable giggle really. How could he possibly be for real?

And yet he is. And sadly he seems to believe his own words and rhetoric.

I seriously laughed with his boasting about dealing with China. He is seemingly oblivious to the fact the Chinese are masters of the long game and are not really bothered by his short game. After all 6 more years of Trump (hopefully it's only two) is it for him.

Focusing on thriving and being sustainable (not economic growth) are the key to longevity in business. Economic growth is a result not a reason.

Playing a good short game works in golf not business.

Who will you become?

What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Friday 11 January 2019

Elevate conversations in order to enrich relationships

What topics dominate your conversations?

For some people I reckon Trump, the economy and growth would be high on the list.

What topics make your list?

This year one of my key objectives is to influence changing the topics to more meaningful matters like kindness, society well-being and thriving.

It's all part of Convention in my new book. Here's an extract:

Here’s my mantra:
Enlightened Language elevates conversations, 
Conversations enrich relationships, 
Relationships enable business.

Language is the fertile ground (starting place) for achieving your personal and business purpose and any outcome you desire. When language elevates conversations and conversations enrich relationships the work (transactions and interactions) is enhanced and results take care of themselves.

My objective is to make my language enlightened. I use the word enlightened as a reference to enlightened self-interest the philosopy in ethics that’s about ‘doing well by doing good’, or as Zig Ziglar so wonderfully put it “You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.”

Be remarkable.
Ian

Wednesday 9 January 2019

Our great human problem and the one solution we can all apply

My theme for 2019 is being a better, wiser, and more valuable human being to my family, friends, neighbours, community, colleagues and clients.

This is part of the reason why I chose better, wiser, valuable, as my 3 words for this year.

Read more about the great 3 word concept and then choose your own.

I believe that when all of us are better, wiser and more valuable in our own best way, we will solve our great human problem - disconnection.

We've become disconnected on a massive scale. 

We're disconnected from our planet.

We're disconnected from reality.

We're disconnected from each other.

I came to disconnection being our great human problem via several sources:

HT to Seth Godin for his post about David Hilbert's 1900 problem list and his own list. I too made a list (see PS).

HT to Johann Hari for his book 'Lost Connections'.

HT to Gerd Leonhard for introducing me to the concept of androrithms "those qualities that makes us human".

In 2019 let's master androrithms and focus less on algorithms.

HT also to "The Internet of Things".

Here's an extract from my new book:

There was no television in my home when I was born in 1953. 

Consequently I am in awe of the vast array of technological advances of my lifetime. Many are simply breathtaking.

The only ones I truly value though are those that genuinely enhance the human experience ethically.

Our lives are entangled in the so-called ‘Internet of Things’, the network of connected “things” that we have allowed to invade our lives.

I’m grateful for the convenience that the things bring. 

Yet I’m increasingly skeptical of their real value because what I am seeing is more human disconnection, less sense of belonging, and an absence of meaningful and caring communities. 

Consider how much of social media is anti-social?

And how much of this new media is really just the old media on steroids? Where would the social media companies be without advertising?

Add to these Reality TV that isn't real and artificial intelligence that by definition is artificial!

There’s a better way forward.

Who will you become?

What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

PS My problem list and the order I wrote them in is below. It was only on completion that I realised disconnection was something that you and I can directly do something about.

1. interruption advertising and marketing
2. traffic in cities
3. imperfect streaming
4. plastic packaging
5. pollution in general
6. greedy energy companies hanging on to fossil fuel technology
7. medical fraternity good at trauma, not so good at prevention and cure
8. pharmaceutical companies not helping our health and well-being
9. many drugs like addiction in the sense that we need to keep taking them to stay well
10. cars with human drivers
11. pharmaceutical companies involvement in food industry
12. disconnection
13. no universal basic income
14. taxes to high
15. consumerism in the sense of buying stuff for the sake of it
16. political systems not good for democracy
17. financial system is broken and another crash looms
18. society part of economy instead of economy being part of society
19. worker exploitation through hanging onto industrial age systems
20. education system
21. privacy
22. algorithms
23. lack of internet and technology ethics and code of conduct
24. domestic violence
25. treatment of women

Monday 7 January 2019

Mindfulness is noticing

Who and What do you notice everyday? Your answer tells you how mindful you truly are.

Learn more from the mother of mindfulness Ellen Langer.



Be remarkable.
Ian

Friday 4 January 2019

Tom Peters' 18 number 1's

Love them all. Thank you Tom. You said steal them!

THE EIGHTEEN "NUMBER ONES"
*Investment #1: TRAINING
*Asset #1: PORTFOLIO OF FIRST-LINE MANAGERS
*Core Value #1: LISTENING EXCELLENCE!!!
*Obsession #1: EXECUTION/"THE LAST 95%"
*Job #1: ESTABLISHING/MAINTAINING "60/60/24/7/365" A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE-BY-PUTTING-PEOPLE-REALLY-FIRST
*Calling #1: LEADING IS A HUMAN-POTENTIAL-MAXIMIZATION ACTIVITY—THERE IS NO HIGHER CALLING.
*Value-Added Strategy #1: DESIGN EXCELLENCE/RADICAL HUMANIZATION
*Success Credo #1: "ARE YOU GOING TO COST CUT YOUR WAY TO PROSPERITY? OR ARE YOU GOING TO SPEND YOUR WAY TO PROSPERITY?" "OVER-INVEST IN OUR PEOPLE, OVER-INVEST IN OUR FACILITIES." "COST CUTTING IS A DEATH SPIRAL. OUR WHOLE STORY IS GROWING REVENUE."
*Organization Effectiveness/$$$$ Payoff #1: WOMEN BUY EVERYTHING (Consumer/ Commercial)/WOMEN HAVE ALL THE MONEY/WOMEN ARE BETTER LEADERS
*Missed Opportunity #1: OLDIES/RICH, MEGA-NUMEROUS, IGNORED—PLENTY OF TIME LEFT
*Economic Cornerstone #1: SMEs RULE (create all the jobs, are responsible for the lion's share of innovation)/Motto: "BE THE BEST, IT'S THE ONLY MARKET THAT'S NOT CROWDED"
*Innovation Strategy #1: WTTMSW/WHOEVER TRIES THE MOST STUFF WINS/Extended: WTTMS(ASTMSUTF)W/WHOEVER TRIES THE MOST STUFF (AND SCREWS THE MOST STUFF UP THE FASTEST) WINS
*Personal Habit #1: READ. READ. READ. READ. READ.
*Time Management Must #1: SLOW DOWN
*Making Things Happen Dictate #1: LUNCH!!!
*Daily Activity #1: MBWA/MANAGING BY WANDERING AROUND
*Commandment #1: EXCELLENCE IS THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES.
*Axiom #1: HARD (NUMBERS, PLANS, ORG CHARTS) IS SOFT. SOFT (RELATIONSHIPS, CULTURE, LISTENING, EXCELLENCE) IS HARD.
Be remarkable.
Ian

Wednesday 2 January 2019

Your real life connections are the key to your well-being

I watched the TED talk below after I read this book.

I highly recommend both.

As I have written about often, social media, reality tv, artificial intelligence all worry me when they fail to help us connect with real people in real time.

Your real life connections are the key to your well-being.

Make it a priority this year to do more deep work and connect with fellow human beings.

More about Johann Hari.



Be remarkable.
Ian