Corporate Journey

Sometimes in the morning I realized that sometimes I can find victory in the effort, although I was sick in the morning... so that was my theme for that day, so here are my victories... Collateral change management, and that's when it hit me. Of course I thought team performance was perfect. I'd created it. I would be more than happy to review it.

Here's what I realized:

- My perfect is not other people perfect.

- They don't have a perfect. In fact, there is no they. There is an individual, who wants something a little different.

- The more perfect I think it is, the less willing I'll be to let anyone change it.

- The only way to make it useful to everyone is to allow each person to change it to suit him or herself.

- The only way people will use it is if they do change it in some way.

- The only way I will encourage them to change it and make it their own is if I make it imperfect.

And I changed everything to make it half right, half finished. It wasn't pretty, but it was usable. I always asked the same question:

Why won't this work for me?

One by one I dealt with all the issues people saw as obstacles. One by one they made their own changes. One by one they took ownership for the system and became accountable for using it. Is this only a large-scale change effort idea? I don't think so. It's useful whenever I need someone else to take ownership for something. Just get it half right.

Here's the hard part: When someone changes my plan, I might think the new approach will be less effective. Resist the temptation to explain why my way is better. Just smile and say Great. The drive, motivation, and accountability that person will gain from running with its own idea will be well worth it.

Imperfectly, that is me.

Keep Trying...

Over the weekend, my mother and I fell into a serious discussion about the challenges of people management. “Why don’t people feel accountable?” I mumbled that to her.

Well, I guess I’m not sure.

I’m excited to come to the office every day and face whatever challenges are in front of me. I love to work (addicted may be). I’m excited about the industry I work for. I wish everyone in my team could feel like that, but I understand that some don’t.

Many times, the solution boils down to better communication and better attitudes. Management can communicate better by keeping everyone informed on critical issues, delivering frequent team updates, conducting open-forum activities, etc. Better attitudes? Well, that’s entirely up to the individual. I had the privilege of working some years at a business software company. At the first company meeting I attended, my boss said something like this: If you don’t like it here, leave. If you spend most of your day complaining about your job, find something else to do... well... shocking me at that time!

Anyway, blast to current situation, I have words throughout my team that say “Be the person you want to work with.” Most of us think a little differently: everyone else should work like me. That is nasty! haha...

I formed teams with different personalities and talents. I have to keep that in mind as I look around at the people I am work with. Different people, naturally, work differently. Maybe someone I find difficult to work with will bring a fresh perspective to a problem. Maybe the person who barely speaks in a group setting has brilliant ideas if I let them write down on paper first.

Well, I am open to other points of view, if I try to help instead of criticize, and if I try being the person I want to work with, others might follow my example. Even if somehow my job isn’t my most passion, I can still make the most of it by having a good attitude, and being grateful to have a job in such a tough economic climate.

Questions: Do you think my boss will think the same? Wake up Alf!