Posts Tagged ‘recovery’
Network our way through the recession?
There is a funny video about Linkedin going the rounds that I found from @jackiecameron1.
Unemployed people sign up to Linkedin in a desert of jobs. Everyone is networked, but to each other, to no one has a job.
What use is networking if there are no employers in the group?
Networking is not hitching a ride!
What is very apparent in the rather delightful (and accurate) spoof is that no one is doing anything. Everyone is trying to hitch ride on everyone else!
Who in that network is trying to make anything happen? Who is inviting other people to help, even for free?
Networking out of a desert of jobs
To take the metaphor of the desert further, if anyone got the group organized to look for water, they might find some!
Why doesn’t anyone start some useful activity?
The simple answer is that no one there trusts anyone else. If they did, they would invite them to do something!
How do we begin to organize that group?
Here are 7 steps for organizing a group who seem to be out of ideas, out of resources and who don’t know each other well.
A Show Confidence in Your People
#1 Begin!
#2 Be active.
Do something! Sit down and make a sandcastle! See who helps.
B Help Your People Gain Confidence in Each Other
#3 Change the sandcastle so that people are helping each other.
Move your position so that you are handing sand to the person building. When another person joins in, move to the the end of the line.
#4 Move the line slowly in the direction that seems most promising.
At the same time, get people to sing so that they become more aware that they are a group.
Keep your attention on the sandcastle by-the-way! People are only going to be bothered with the sand castle if you are!
C Work with People Who Trust the Group
#5 Position a reliable person at the end of the line while you start a new line.
Make sure the person at the end of a line knows to sing out if they see anything unusual on the horizon.
D Bring Information About Opportunities Into the Group
#6 When someone sees something unusual on the horizon, don’t create a stampede.
Move the whole bicycle wheel, by changing the direction that the sand moves. Move the sandcastle builder to the other end and reverse the direction of sand. In an orderly way, move the other spokes. Keep it playful!
E We Are All In This Together
#7 Continue and continue!
You might decide to abandon your group and go it alone. Yes, it might be slow moving the group along and it might feel as if the group is slowing you up. But aren’t your chances of finding water higher in an organized group looking out for each other?
It is easier to think straight when things are really bad
It sometimes feel that deserts are too much to cope with. I am also going to tell you that deserts are better than abandoned farm land. You are lucky. Yes, you are!
Let’s imagine, you simply find yourself in a abandoned but essentially sound farm. You don’t start building a useless sandcastle. You do something useful. You start to plough the land and plant seeds. The difficulty is that you have now fixed your group to that field. You will be unable to move slowly across the horizon to a better place. In modern parlance, your solution is not scalable!
That’s why I like the idea of deserts. We are willing to abandon sandcastles and rebuild them elsewhere.
When you chose your seed project, build something, anything, where we can see results and where we can all help! Keep the projects short and sweet so that people can see results and move them as we spot other things on the horizon.
Experiments in extreme living
What I want you to do is to build something with the resources under your feet. And invite someone else to join in.
When the person joins in, give them a prime spot and support them. Invite another person. Keep building.
That’s is the challenge. That is the task!
- Image via Wikipedia
Overwhelmed by the threat of the ongoing recession?
In Africa, we have a lovely though terrifying expression.
When we up to our armpits in crocodiles, it’s hard to remember that our goal is to get to the other side
What do we do when we are surrounded by crocodiles? Ignore them ~ they’ll have you for lunch. Scream – a stress reliever that accomplishes nothing?
Read on!
Threat captures 100% of our attention
The threats of job loss, business failure, mortgage default etc and boring etc have become very real. For everyone. These are the crocodiles. They grab our attention and we can think of little else. At best, we hope they will go away.
Well they won’t. Like crocodiles, they have found us. We didn’t find them! They are not going away unless we make them! And right now they are taking over our entire lives.
Reclaim your attention by labeling threats as threats (not goals)
The trouble with crocodiles, and recession-type threats, is that they are so scary, we completely forget our goals, and indeed that we ever had any at all.
The mental trick to claiming back our attention and capacity to think straight, is to label a threat as a threat. Neutralizing a threat is not my objective. Fighting crocodiles isn’t the goal (for most of us). Getting to the other side is our goal. We need only to neutralize the threat to getting to the other side ~ not neutralize the threat itself.
Go it? This is how it works. When we label a threat as an annoying distraction, we focus all our knowledge, knowhow and strength on sorting it out, and sorting it out quickly. When a crocodile threatens us, we get over our initial panic and we poke our fingers in the crocodile’s eyes . The crocodile is neutralized sufficiently and get on our way to the other side!
Pick our battle ground and have the battle it promises
It’s still a battle, of course. We could lose. We will get hurt. We are still frightened. So it is heaps smarter not to play in crocodile infested waters in the first place!
If we am going to, and sometimes we have to, sometimes we find ourselves there by mistake, then we’d be very wise to keep a sharp look out for predators and to be ready to paddle into the deep water they don’t like. The battle goes not to the swift or the strong, but ye who thought ahead and pays attention?
We must also be prepared to have a fight, win quickly, and not worry to much about it when it is over. There is no point in ranting and raving about crocodiles when they are a part of the very life that we have chosen.
They are there. Deal with them. On their own terms, not in terms of some fantasy.
Deal with them as threats to be neutralized sufficiently to be on our way.
On our way!
Which is . . . which way? We have been so busy fighting crocodiles that we have forgotten!
Do an elementary SWOT on the back of an envelope!
- T = Threats. You know those. That’s all you’ve been thinking about lately. The crocodiles that threaten to eat us up.
- W= Weaknesses. You know those. All the little things you’ve been angsting about. All our worries about crocodiles are bigger than us! The things that are out of our personal control.
- S=Strengths. You have a canoe and you know the crocodile hates deep water. You read books and it doesn’t! What have you got going for you? List every small thing at our disposal.
- O=Opportunity Where is the opportunity? Have you forgotten? Where is the opportunity in a crocodile infested river? Look around and spot it. Get there! Now!
And poke out the crocodiles eyes. You are bored with crocodiles now. They are just at threat. They are not our purpose.
Don’t forget your goal is to get to other side!
A long recession
This recession is going to go on for a long time. Live your life anyway. Get on with it! Pay the recession as much attention as it needs just as you pay the crocodile as much attention it needs. Then go on your way!
Related articles by Zemanta
- It’s your frontier that fascinates me! (flowingmotion.wordpress.com)
Management in the 21st century
He died under a cloud but Agha Hasan Abedi said something sensible:
The conventional definition of management is getting work done through people, but real management is developing people through work.
Do you agree?
Real management is understanding how people will grow through our work so that our collective value grows and we all benefit.
You will understand the economic indicators of the US with this visualizaton
Posted on: November 6, 2009
Did you study economics?
I’ve never studied economics formally but I wish I had. Not because I think Economists get right. Some of my best friends are economists (:) really!). They are intelligent, thinking people. But they rarely get anything right.
I wish I’d studied economics because I think it is important to understand economic statistics. How can we function without knowing where the economy is going? How can we make political choices if we don’t understand what is happening around us?
Thankfully contemporary visualizations help us understand economic data
I might be let off my need to improve my economic literacy by the accelerating trend to slurp numbers and arrange them so that more of us can understand them.
Here is a marvelous visualization of the US economy.
On almost every indicator, the US economy seems to have bottomed and turned. It’s a snappy little presentation allowing us to click quickly through ten indicators. The data readjusts with a springy look which reminds us, I think, the short-term instability of economic data.
Before I saw this visualization, I hadn’t appreciated how well the American economy is doing.
I wish we have an equivalent presentation on UK economy.
Who is audacious enough to hope?
Do have a look. I find myself not daring to hope that they are true. I wonder how many more people want to wait a bit before they get their hopes up?
- Image via Wikipedia
10 Sun Tzu rules for the networked world
I am currently writing about 10 Sun Tzu rules for the networked world and I stopped to consider the specific issues faced by startups – defining their fans & customers.
For HR too
HR are another group who face special problems. HR are last to the party and we often feel that there is little we can do about the structure and climate we inherit.
Well there is.
HR in the Recession Stressed World of 2009
First, promote positive psychology.
Full press. Positive psychology is the biggest favor we can do for our organization.
And to develop an infectiously positive outlook, we personally will take more vacations, play more golf, laugh more, and have fun! It begins with us.
Second, read the 10 Sun Tzu rules for the networked world
Originally written by Umair Haque to defend networks under attack, the rules provide a framework for an organizational structure that will work in today’s fast moving world.
Our structures will be a little different to the ones we have now.
The job of corporate HR in a networked world
Why do we need an organization anyway?
In the ‘corporate’ office, our task is to develop the collective properties of an organization that the people out in the field need to compete effectively.
We, for example, work on discounts that make it easier to get good rents in the shopping malls. But we don’t sign exclusive deals that block the initiative of the people in the front line.
We conceptualize the meaning of the collective. But ot in terms of return on our funder’s capital. Interest on capital is incidental to our business. So are we, actually.
We conceptualize why the field units are better off working under one umbrella and we work out which aspects of the organization must be coordinated and which do not have to be.
That’s what we went to university to learn and that’s how we contribute significant, inimicable value that exceeds the cost of our salaries.
Just how lightweight can the organization be?
And then we execute those aspects of coordination in as light weight form as we can.
If capital is needed, so be it. But we don’t become prats and hand-over the business lock-stock-and-barrel. We let the funders have their % return. That is all.
Take the initiative to lead us into the networked world
And we step-up! This is the age of sweat equity. We are in the age of organizing ourselves around our talent and around our relationships with customers.
This is our task as HR managers of the 21st century
1. Conceptualize the organizational structures that add value to the business.
2. Organize the corporate office to add that value.
3. Help talent make the transition from solo operator to team player and from talented employee to customer-oriented professional.
That’s what we do now. We are the entrepreneurs of the 21st century!
And if you are not in corporate HR?
Start learning.
You can activate positive psychology in the workplace without anyone’s permission.
Indeed, if they are inclined to say no, that is all the more reason why you must activate positive psychology, for the sake of your own mental health.
If you don’t understand that argument, contact me, and I will explain.
And activate social media for the functions you do control.
All works parties, sports teams and fund raising can be managed with social media.
Begin, so your skills are up-to-speed when you need them.
To recap: HR in the Networked World
1. Positive psychology
2. Social media
Why?
1. We want to find the organizational structure that brings value to business.
2. We want to organize the corporate office to execute the structure to add that value.
3. We want to help each and every person in the organization go from being solo-performer with talent to a customer-oriented professional who is supported by a team and supports a team in turn.
I have my mission. I hope I have helped you find yours.
Related articles by Zemanta
- 10 Sun Tzu rules for the networked world (flowingmotion.wordpress.com)
- Image by Reith Lectures 2009 via Flickr
I think Michael Sandel’s Reith lectures may be relevant to management
Have you been listening to Michael Sandel’s Reith lectures? These are my favourite quotations from Lecture 2 on morality & politics that seem to have an intuitive bearing on the task of management.
Sandel’s thesis
“A politics of moral engagement is also a more inspiring ideal than a politics of avoidance . . . that our debates about justice are inescapably arguments about the good life then a politics of moral engagement is also a more promising basis for a just society.”
Core idea
To determine rights we need to determine the essential nature of the activity – and “virtues worth honouring.”
Aristole
Artistotle: Justice means giving people what they deserve.
“The best flutes should go to the best flute players because that’s what flutes are for.”
Refereeing contemporary disputes
Can we reason about social practices in the face of disagreement?
What was the conflict really about? The reasons given in a dispute may not be the real reasons.
“Debates about the rights . . . are about the purpose of social institutions, the goods they allocate, and the virtues they honor and reward.”
We cannot make decisions on neutral grounds. . . we have to look at the version of morality that we advocate. When we referee, we are clarifying the moral purpose of an institution.
What is the sine qua non of the institution? Which interpretation of the purpose or essence “celebrates virtues worth honoring”?
“Contested moral terrain” . . . “we cannot remain neutral toward competing conceptions of the good life”.
[How do we clarify the various arguments about the ‘good life’ that are being put forward? Do we aid the organization by clarifying the alternative arguments and the agreement that we will enact?]
Revitalizing our pubic discourse in democratic life
Is it possible to conduct our politics on the basis of mutual respect?
Does respect mean ignoring the opinions of others? [e.g., what most people call PC]
Robust public engagement with more moral disagreements could provide a stronger not weaker. . . basis for mutual respect.
Attend to the views of others – sometimes contesting and sometimes listening & learning.
A politics of moral engagement is also a more inspiring ideal than a politics of avoidance . . . that our debates about justice are inescapably arguments about the good life then a politics of moral engagement is also a more promising basis for a just society.
Notes from the questions
Offer reasons and listen to the reasons given in reply [Isan answer invited? Do we expect to learn?]
There are dogmatic secularists just as there are dogmatic others
Re: Barack Obama. Hunger for spiritual discourse and bring it to bear on public life. [Is it so repulsive to bring spirituality into discussions of work? Presumably only if no answer is invited – which is why CCTV cameras are offensive and why it is so satisifying when the security apparatus is filmed committing misdeeds.]
We don’t know in advance what the moral argument will be. Hence we need to open the discussion to all sectors of the community. [Diversity = talking to people who are unfamiliar and scary.]
Change takes place when people are persuaded by circumstances and the debates taking place around them . . . ambitious engagement with what the good life is . . .
[Can we ask people at work about the good life? I think David Cooperrider does in Appreciative Inquiry. But the answers may change our strategy as we clarify the essential activity of our institution, as we resolve tensions about the ‘goods we allocate’, and under stand the ‘virtues we celebrate honor and reward.’ And this discussion is ongoing because we don’t know what the next discussion will reveal. So we need an organizational design – itself subject to debate – which allows us to clarify and act – clarify and act. That is consistent with Weick’s work, is it not?]
My own questions
Does the general argument apply to workplaces? Why does Sandel think this is soooo important? There may be issues to resolve but a high level change to politics is separate argument that might require a large problem to justify engagement. Phrased alternatively – who might argue against Sandel and what would their argument be?
Where do we debate the ‘essential activity’ of work, the ‘goods we allocate’ and the virtues we celebrate, honour and reward? Are the virtues we honor and reward still worth celebrating? I think many authors would say not and that many if not most of us feel a deep weariness about the social institution of work. We would dearly love to have the notion of work revitalised.
So then how does Sandel’s work fit in with the work of David Whyte, Otto Scharmer? I suspect they would like it. Do they quote each other?
Are you listening to the Reith lectures?
I’d love to hear your thoughts if you have any. Sandel’s Reith lectures are available on BBC as podcasts – about 45 minutes each with question time. The next one is on Tuesday 30 June 2009 at 9am BST. That’s around midday in Washington, DC where he will be speaking.
Day One at Xoozya (cont’d)
Mary, the HR Body put her cheerful face around the door and said “Lunch”. Yep, I was keen. There is just so much that I can take in at one time and the Dashboard at Xoozya is pretty comprehensive.
She dangled a key. “Bring valuables,” she said, “but leave everything else as it is. We’ll lock the door”.
The canteen wasn’t far and I could hear the buzz as we approached. It was just as hyped. Salads, fruit and hot food and the refreshing absence of the cloying smell of old fat and overcooked vegetables. Sweet.
Mary, ever the professional, asked nimbly whether I ate fish. I do, and she said, “I’ll get two fish pies – they’re good. You grab some salads. I’d like plain lettuce and tomato and pear or some fruit. Water OK to drink?” I caught up with her at the cashier where she introduced me as noobe and I put my food on my tab. We grabbed napkins and cutlery and she led the way to a corner table. “We’ll join Peter Wainwright, the HR Director. You remember him, of course?”
As we approached, Peter rose, smiled warmly, and said “Hello, Jo. Welcome to Xoozya! Here’s to a prosperous and happy alliance.”
We fumbled around, as one does, arranging trays and getting comfortable and he asked about my morning. I told him it was clear I have some thinking to do to set up a communication system that leaves me informed but not overwhelmed with information.
He nodded and added: “Well, take your time. Every minute that you spend in exploration now pays off handsomely in comfort and organization later. We also want you to base your judgments on what matters. You’ve joined us with your skills, as has everyone else here,” he said, waiving his hand at the crowded canteen.
Future capability and value
“There are skills that are essential to what you do and there are skills that will change with technological change.”
- “We want you to jot down the skills that are absolutely essential to what you do. These we will nurture and respect.”
- “Then there are skills that are going to change significantly over the next five to ten years. We want those on a separate list because those require significant investment in time and energy”.
- “And there are skills that we don’t use anymore. Those we give a respectful burial.” He smiled. “When we have identified a skill or process that we no longer use, we get an occupational psychologist to document it and we make a display for our skills museum. Then we have a little wake,” he chuckled, “to see it off. It’s quite cathartic.”
Nostalgia for skills & practices of the past
“So which skill in the museum is best-loved?” I asked. “Which grave attracts the most flowers?”
“Ah, we hadn’t thought of doing that. Good idea. We should put the skills up on the intranet with the choice of . . . flowers or . . . a good kick . . . or a big ? mark for ‘who was this!’. And see what we get back!”
My induction so far
Well, I obviously have some thinking to do. It is only lunchtime and I have to think about
- my future avatar
- my pattern of friending and following
- my skill base and future investments
BTW
Which skills are utterly essential to your work?
And which will change so fundamentally in the next five years that you will need to retrain?
And which skills deserve a respectful burial?
Which are you happy to see go and which will you miss?
And if you are enjoying this series, please do feel free to join in!
- Leave your thoughts in the comment section
- Grab the RSS feeds for posts and comments top right
- If you comment on this post from your blog, please link back to this post from the words Jo Jordan, flowingmotion, or Xoozya
- Tweet the post
- Stumble the post
And PS, if you are new to this blog, Xoozya is an utterly fictitious organization. This series began on the spur of the moment as I started to explored the principles of games design and Ned Lawrence of Church of Ned mentioned how much time people put into designing their avatars, or online identities. Xoozya is an attempt to imagine what an organization would look, sound and feel like if it were run along lines recommended by contemporary management theorists.
And PPS Ned is an online writing coach and is available for hire.
Related articles by Zemanta
- Avatar as a role description (flowingmotion.wordpress.com)
In the UK, talk about reclaiming bonuses’ and pensions was quickly swatted away without serious debate.
There may be legal grounds to recover scandalous bonuses
I was interested to see this article about the general legal position of excessive bonuses in the Harvard Business School blog from a former GE internal counsel and now Senior Fellow at Harvard Law School.
“Moreover, countless legal experts have already suggested numerous reasons why it is likely that there is no ironclad legal obligation to pay the bonuses to the people who caused the problem. These range from legal theories about non-performance to equitable theories of recission or reformation due to fraud or unconscionable terms to the doctrine that governmental take-over excuses bonus payment because the point of the contract has been destroyed. “
HR needs to become more incisive
Why are we in the UK quite so fuzzy about what is going on? Did CIPD discuss these matters during its recent conference on Managing through a Downturn?
Who is taking seriously the reformation of HR that must happen as we work out way out of the recession?
About 30 people a day come to this blog looking for information on HR and the recession. What are the best links you have found?
Please drop a comment telling me of the best work you have found!
flowing motion 
Recent Comments