Great Ideas bosses never hear

I read a really interesting article today on “Great ideas Bosses Never Hear.” Working on the Employee Engagement panel at work this article seems very relevant.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443819404577635740959514600.html?mod=WSJ_mgmt_below_LeftTopNews#articleTabs%3Darticle

Burris makes three main points:

1. Employees should think more about whom to target with their ideas

2. Managers shouldn’t perceive employees ideas as threats

3. Organizations should develop systems to leverage employee feedback

After reading the article I’m struck by how well the Employee Engagement panel we have addresses many of these concerns.

Employees should think more about whom to target with their ideas- Burris states that front line agents often talk among themselves. They have doubts if the idea will be acted on. And so finally the idea just slips thru the crack, DOA.

With our Employee Engagement panel the target audience is provided. VP’s attend the call and listen. Ideas are refined thru a trained project manager. The Panel itself has a sense that the company can be changed. So instead of killing ideas, the panel acts to sift out the crummy ones, and nurture the ones that might have value.

Managers shouldn’t perceive employee ideas as threats- Burris points out that it is difficult to learn to take constructive criticism. There are some people who never learn the skills. Instead of separating the wheat from the chaff, these bosses toss out the baby with the bathwater. Out go the ideas.

The Employee Engagement panel takes frontline agents, managers, and leads from all around the country. In this setting, the hierarchy has been switched. A Front Line agent might be a Team Lead, and a manager might instead be a panel member. By placing everyone on equal footing, and even changing the normal hierarchy the Employee Engagement panel looks to avoid situations where a manager can shoot down an idea that feels like a threat.

Organizations should develop system to leverage employee feedback- Burris discusses the idea of panels, portals and other ways that employees can put feedback into the system. Problems begin when it’s hard to know how ideas are evaluated, how to prioritize the responses that comes in, what division should be involved. If things aren’t handled quickly and efficiently employees lose faith in the system.

Our Panel has taken a unique approach to these problems. Each year we focus on 2-5 different issues that the annual survey noted. Employee feedback is focused on only the topics that are being addressed. It does mean that we are unable to give our full attention to excellent ideas that come in that are totally off topic. The ideas that are on topic though, have our full attention.

Overall, the panel is certainly a viable solution to make sure frontline employees have a voice. It doesn’t solve all the issues. It gives the employees the correct target audience, it ensures that management hears what is being said and doesn’t feel threaten, but it is a limited system for feedback to com

Most Improved

“Charity, I have to tell you, out of everyone here, your presentation skills are the most improved.” I smiled. “I mean, you’ve really come along way. Well done.”


“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
One year ago this same friend sent me a candid email and detailed all my flaws. And he was right on all accounts.
My own inner demons of shame and self-doubt had run rampant in my life. They were leaking out like a corrosive acid. I wanted to do everything, be everything so that maybe I would find some self-worth. I was always reading articles, bombarding my team with reams of “analysis” until my team was sick and tired of me. I just wanted to be useful.
A girlfriend pointed out that the only real difference between the successful people and the not so successful people was confidence. It wasn’t so much what they know, but that they knew that they knew it. They were done proving it to other people.
At some point during the summer I realized I didn’t have to be everything. I was done proving myself to the world. I reached the point of knowing I was okay, I was good enough. I don’t have every skill in the book; there are some things I’m not good at. I’m not your ideal sales rep to go do cold calls. I’m not your computer programmer to write awesome new scripts. I’m an analytics person who can pour thru heaps of data and make sense of it all.

It’s like that Amy Grant song “All I ever have to be is who you made me . . .”
I finally know who I am, I’m okay with that. And yeah, I’m probably the most improved. I chuckled; I know I was pretty crummy to start with!

Thankful

“I keep having this uneasy feeling that I’ve left something unfinished, that I need to do SOMETHING!” I told my mom. “And then I realize there is no homework!”


My mom laughed and helped me take my Thanksgiving leftovers out to my car. “Guess it’s been a while since you could relax like this, hasn’t it!?”

I smiled.

There is a lot to be thankful for this year. There is the easy stuff, parents who love me, a God who helps me, and MBA that was a ton of fun. And then there are the small things, friends who text me when I really need a boost, awesome yellow paint that looks so cool, a daughter who did pen and ink drawing with me last night.

I really do have an awesome life. I truly am happy, and content. There are hard moments when I have to work hard. Just five days ago, on Sunday I was pushing really hard to finish everything on my MBA. It was hard. I was worn out. I felt like I kept reaching into myself for more strength. But my Heavenly Father met me, and I did it. My life’s not perfect. My kids scream at each other. I have my daughter’s school on speed dial so I can call back the principle when I get those messages we all fear. “I was calling to let you know that your daughter is in my office because she screamed at someone in class.” There are times when the bank account gets really low, and I wonder where the money is going to come from.

But I really do have an awesome life. I have happiness. I know who I am, what I can do, and what I like to do. I have interesting challenges to face at work. They are hard, and require my attention. But I know I can rise to the challenge. I have meaningful relationships with my children. We sit together and snuggle. I ruffle my son’s hair, and tease him.

I am thankful for an absolutely awesome life.

Conflict is a good thing

"I am happy to report that we are all still friends after this exercise."

I glanced at my team mates.  Eyebrows were raised in surprise.  A jaw was hanging slightly slack. 

"They weren't willing to argue," one of my team mates whispered in horror.

The team at the front of the room continued to explain the things that had led to their abysmal last place performance.

I leaned back in my chair realizing that conflict had been a big part of my team winning first place.  Conflict can actually be a good thing.

• Conflict uncovers driving forces
• Conflict forces you to examine your beliefs
• Conflict leads to trust
  
   

"One of our mistakes was that we weren't willing to challenge each other about the  numbers.  Our Marketing person was forecasting more sales then we could ever produce.  I simply never questioned her numbers," he went on to explain.  My mind flashed back to a similar discussion my team had argued over.  In our simulation we had faced a situation where the market demanded more than we had capacity.  The emails flew in quick succession that day.  Too much demand, not enough supply.  Typical economics.  Finally we decided to buy  more capacity, and raise our price.  As we argued we found the driving forces, we found the true decisions we had to make as a team.


Conflict also forces you to examine what you believe.  I'll admit it, I was the aggressive member of our team, always willing to take the risks.  I came up against the conservative member of our team.  She just held back, pointing out times other teams had caused their companies great harm.  Finally though we found the genesis of our conflict:  I believed you have to invest to grow, and she believed in waiting to see if there was a growth opportunity.  With that understanding I was able to create a tool, a forecasting equation.  It allowed her to see the historical data in a new way.  The model I created ended up being a powerful tool that contributed to our winning score.  The conflict that existed drove me to create something powerful.

The conflict in our team actually built trust rather than tearing it apart. 

"Oh my word, Charity, I kept on thinking I had gotten to the bottom of it, and then you would email me again, challenging me."  A wry smile spread across my team mate's face.  "Each time I didn't think I could get more out, but you forced me to dig in deeper."

"That was fun!"  I grinned from ear to ear.

The debate had allowed me to see the inner workings of my team mate's mind.  The perspective was different than mine, but just as steeped in fact.  She had given my a guided tour of all the facts she had been accumulating.  I respected her well founded arguments, even if she did come to different conclusion than I did.  By the end of the project I knew the each of my team mates were just as passionate, dedicated and invested in this project.  I could trust them to make well thought out decisions.

Good conflict is like a kiln.  It takes the  raw pot and turns it into something solid, and beautiful.  It strengthens and refines.

Human Doing

My throat hurt with the uncried tears.  It was done.  Finished. 

Where most of my classmates were celebrating our completed MBA I was grieving the loss.  In a cohort program like our's the team spirit had become very strong.  I had found a place where I belonged, a safe and honest place where I was accepted for my talents.  I felt appreciated and trusted.

Being in school meant that I didn't have to figure out life's priorities.  Instead they came in the form of a syllabus.  Focus on this project up until this date, and then focus on this test, and finally focus on this presentation.  Things like laundry and getting the oil changed then had to be scheduled around school work.  It was easy to figure out what my next task was.

School also brought alot of feeling of success.  My inner critic is fairly talkative.  She's got lots of messages about unworthiness, and how I simply am not as good as everyone else.  But school had this awesome self esteem booster called grades.  My inner critics voice is being reevaluated in light of new evidence of success.

I've been so busy doing.  I almost don't know what to do with myself now that there is no pending assignment looming over my calender.  I've lost the art of being.  I need to relearn how to just sit.

I need to be a human being.  I need to snuggle my kids, and go smell the roses.  I need to cry, and grieve.  I need to relax and be quiet, enjoy life.  And quit asking what to do next.

Libertarianism and the problem of the commons

Libertarianism seems to be the next big ideology. Lower, or total withdrawal of government control, and government taxation, and let free business govern itself. When people have ownership, and responsibility for something they are more tied to it. Instead of making business fight against the EPA let them find out that sustainability is best for business.

There are some valid points to this. Chevron Oil in the Kutubu field is an excellent example of the Libertarian principles. Kutubu Oil field is in Papua New Guinea. As a third world, developing nation Papua New Guinea does not have strong environmental laws. Neither do they have a strong enforcement of environmental conservation. But Chevron’s compound is maintained on stringent environmental guidelines. Why? Why would a large profit oriented company insisted on a very clean environmental compound? Because they have seen that maintaining a sustainable environment is good for their bottom line. When asked what had prompted these policies, a Chevron safety representative responded “Exxon Valdez, Piper Alpha, and Bhopal.” Exxon Valdez we all know. Piper Alpha was an oil platform in the North Sea who’s fire killed 167 people, and Bhopal was a chemical plant that killed 4,000 people, and injured 200,000. Chevron Oil proves that a company can figure out that sustainable, responsible development is in its best interest. In a county with very few regulations, and very little ability to enforce the regulations they do have, Chevron has proved that they can set the bar very high. They are the shining example of Libertarian ideals. Without government there to police them, they have policed themselves. (http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/dsd_aofw_mg/mg_worktradunio_specday/casestud5.shtml )

As a whole though, the ideals behind libertarianism do not always and forever work out that way. The problem of the commons often the downfall. First of all each company has such a small investment in the commons, they rarely feel like Chevron, that they need to do everything in their power to protect things. And when they do feel that way, often times they can’t figure out how to protect the infrastructure vital to their growth. Secondly, sometimes they business cannot see the whole of a resource. The fishing industry is an excellent example of this. We cannot accurately estimate the health of fishing areas simply because we can see how much is there. We always think there is more elsewhere.

The problem of the commons is the problem that many people use a common resource. I heard an amusing story from the Central Asian steppes. Someone decided that the nomadic pastoral people needed to be integrated into “capitalist” society thru land ownership. The objective being to prevent overgrazing. As this was being organized the literate, and modern people of this tribe realized what was happening, and very quickly got their land title drawn up. Promptly they fenced in their land. It was now their private stash for a rainy day. They put their lands on the common land, and held their fenced land in reserve for drought and famine. Instead of solving the problem of overgrazing, title created more problems. Why should they graze their own land when so much common land was available? The problem of the commons is that no one is personally responsible for the commons. If it is overgrazed the cattle, and sheep can simply be taken elsewhere. (http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_details.php?seriesid=1906978337#15943 Independence or Dependency 2)

Another problem is the lack of ability to accurately know the whole resource. A lake is an excellent example here. How many fish are in the lake? We don’t know. We can take some guesses. But there might be some fish hiding in that shallow. So if we heavily fish the open area, maybe we can go fish the shallow. In Jared Diamond’s book Collapse he gives two historical societies as examples of this experiment.

The first is the Polynesian Islands. As a whole, the small islands tended to fair well, and the large islands did quite well also. It was the midsized island that often decline, collapse, and ruin. Why? On the small islands the people were intimately connected with all the resources. With 1000 people or less on the island, the trees were known, the soil condition was known. If you made the choice to over plant, and exhaust the soil, you knew there was no other place to go to. There wasn’t another free bit of soil for the next year. The people knew, absolutely the finite quality of their resources. But in the midsized islands people could always deceive themselves that there was another forest, another bit of farmland just over the hill. The midsized islands didn’t have the resources, and human populations to organize and centralize. Instead they were left with just enough resources to think that over the next hill the grass was greener. On a large island though there was enough land to support a centralized government. When a King, or Chief, or Headman finally gained power he was able to take stock of the resource. He might decide that farming in one area had to stop because it was having a negative impact on the island as a whole. He had the authority to insist, and force the issue. Though that particular village couldn’t see the negative impact. They didn’t see that they were stealing from the resources of the whole island. The King could see the impact. He saw the reports about the impact on the trees that were cut down. He knew that the soil erosion was causing silting in the lagoon affecting fishing. He knew the reports from the other side of the island. He knew, and could make the choice. Either the society has to be small enough to know all of it’s own resources, or the society has to be large enough to centralize, and prevent it’s further ruin. (http://www.bec.ucla.edu/papers/Diamond_Ecological_Collapses.PDF )

Japan is an example of a society that centralized. In the 1600’s the Shoguns finally gained enough power over the island as a whole. Large warring landlords had tore the island into individual factions. The landlords kept milking someone else’s resource. Each landlord thought that his problems would be solved with more land. Just get more resources from his neighbor, and the problems are solved. When the Shoguns came into power they were able to take stock in the Island of Japan as a whole. The forests had been terribly degraded. Regulations were put in place. The island began to flourish. It grew, developing true military, and economic strength. In the 1910’s they conquered Korea, and Russia. Once the large centralized government was able to manage the resource as a whole, warring landlords were kept in check. No longer was each landlord stealing resources, thinking his neighbor had more than him. Well, if they did think that, they were unable to act on it. Instead they had to make the best of the resource they each had. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_period )

Libertarianism believes that each business can, and will police themselves. That’s like asking the Japanese War Lords not to conquer his neighbor because his neighbor has more trees. I do believe that each business will police themselves on the resources that they can clearly see. Chevron has come to understand. They strongly believe in sustainable compounds, high levels of environmental stewardship. At the same time, the same company has shown atrocious abuses of power in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Their history of oil spills, and political abuses is a contributing factor to the failure of Nigeria to achieve their full political potential. Nigeria shows that even though a company might police themselves, and live up to the libertarian ideal in one area, they don’t do it consistently. A company will only police themselves as much as they have to. When it doesn’t show a bottom line impact, as is the case in Nigeria, they will spill oil into the water, and generally degrade the land in such a way that human habitation becomes no longer possible. (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LA242679.htm)

No Child Left Behind

“Mom, I can’t do it, it’s too much!” my son whimpered at the dining room table.

I hadn’t even counted how many pages were stacked in the folder to be done at home. It overwhelmed me!

All the busy work. That’s all it is. Busy work. He long ago comprehended the work itself. Lines of perfect cursives “f”. Each one much better than I ever created. Science homework that is simply a reading about someone else doing a science experiment, and not even an exciting, interesting experiment, just something about an oven being on or off. For a kid who listens to Mom’s pod casts of college genetics, and for the most part follows the experiments discussed by the college professors, it was super boring.

For Pete’s sake, I realize that drills are essential. I know for myself they are. Repetition causes things to stick in my brain. I get it. But can’t we find a way of making them interesting.

He’s falling behind. And now the teacher’s have asked me to come in. I know what they want to do. They want him to go on meds for ADD. And I know they are justified in asking it. He meets the criteria.

So I’ll have both of my kids on medicine for their behavior. I know it’s made a huge difference with my daughter.

But I think this epidemic of childhood psychiatric medicine has more to do with the school system then with my children. I have noticed a marked increase in homework since No Child Left Behind. My Step-daughter attended the same school for forth grade, and now my son is getting more worked piled on him than she ever had.

I don’t know what the solution is. I have no choice but to have the kids in public school. Since I work full time I can’t home school them.

I know nutrition plays a part. They would both benefit from a diet high in essential fatty acids. High levels of Magnesium have been shown to have as much impact as Ritalin in clinic studies. My insurance doesn’t cover magnesium supplements, but it does cover Ritalin.

It is so upsetting that on rain days, the school chooses to show videos in the classroom. When I was young we would play in the gym. When my son falls behind on his class work they keep him inside. He doesn’t get to play outside. I know that both of my kids are much more efficient with their school work when they get to run and play.