- livingthedash.tv

I like improving things

• if something is good, I want to make it great

• if something is broken, i like to fix it

• if something is complex, i try to simplify it

I bet your organization has lots of people like that

Your people want to improve things

Do you make it difficult for your people to improve things?

Before they can improve things, do you make your people…….

• ask permission

• fill out forms

• get sponsorship

• jump through hoops

• provide justification

• take it to a committee

• prioritize it

• gain consensus

• escalate it

• seek approvals?

Nothing really bad, wrong, or evil with any of those things.  In fact, many times those things are necessary, especially in larger organizations.  But if your people are spending the majority of their time on those things, that means they aren’t spending their time on actually improving things.

Do you make it difficult for your people to improve things?

(image by striatic)

I ran across a blog post last night that could easily be turned into a best selling book.

In the post, management guru Tom Peters offers 48 pieces of advice.

Here are a few from the list……

• Hire enthusiasm.
• Do not reject “trouble makers”—that is those who are uncomfortable with the status quo.
• Become a student of all you will meet with. Big time.
• Construct small leadership opportunities for junior people within days of starting on the job.
• Hire-promote for demonstrated curiosity. Check their past commitment to continuous learning.
• Walls display tomorrow’s aspirations, not yesterday’s accomplishments.
• Simplify systems. Constantly.
• Measure everyone on demonstrated commitment to Excellence.

Check out the rest of the list here.

BONUS:  The post includes this PDF file.  The file includes all 48 pieces of advice plus The Have You 50 and Success Equations.

These are crazy times.

DOW is showing 7,293 as I type this.

Unemployment rate is rising.

but business leaders should remember……..

I am 100% convinced that the state of your business on January 1, 2010, has less to do with the Dow Jones Average, the unemployment rate, or the price of gas than it does with how YOU act in the meantime.    – Steve Yastrow on tompeters.com

You can read the full post here //  2009 Readiness: Part 1

I work for a global corporation with a very distributed workforce.  In an average week, I interact with other employees across the globe:  California, Washington, Idaho, Chicago, New England, India, Singapore, United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, and various parts of Europe.

It works most of the time.

• Our company can hire the best and the brightest…regardless of location.
• Technology has shrunk the planet.  Email, IM, screen sharing, online shared workspaces, and video conferencing make it relatively easy for people to communicate and collaborate across great distances.
• Diversity of backgrounds and diversity of cultures brings value to the team.
• Our company can save money by utilizing less office space as employees work from home.

Sometimes it doesn’t work.

• No whiteboards.  We lose the power of the whiteboard.
• Less conversation.  Stuff like hearing the story of your son’s little league home run and talking about last night’s episode of The Office and just chatting over lunch do make a difference when it comes to teamwork.
• There is something about having the team together in one room for a brainstorming or problem-solving session.  We can use technology to try and replicate that with a distributed workforce, but it is not quite the same.
• Timezones.  Early morning, lunch time, and late night meetings are just part of the deal when you have to accommodate numerous timezones.

I’m torn on this issue.  I’m a lover of technology and I’m confident that it is going to get even better at eliminating the barriers that geographical distance brings.  But I also miss the days of gathering with teammates face-to-face in front of a whiteboard to tackle a big issue.

Which model do you prefer?  Going global or face-to-face?

I have a love/hate relationship with the large corporation.

I love large corporations. I work for a large corporation and the income and benefits that I earn by working there are truly a blessing to my family.  In addition, the power, resources, and scale of large corporations have produced and will continue to produce products and services that significantly enhance the world we live in.

I hate large corporations. I work for a large corporation and, if I’m being honest with you, there are days when the nonsense that happens inside my large corporation makes me want to bang my head against the wall of my 6 x 6 cubicle.

Size.  Magnitude. The very qualities that make large corporations so powerful are the same qualities that make them so difficult to change improve.

That change improvement might not be easy, but this is where I would start.

Large corporations need…..

Less rules, policies, standard operating procedures.  // More vision, purpose, direction.

Less managers. // More leaders.

Less confusion.  // More clarity.

Less suits and ties. // More blue jeans.

Less silos. // More collaboration.

Less knowledge hoarding. // More knowledge sharing.

Less coworkers. // More teammates.

Less status meetings. // More brainstorming sessions.

Less boredom.  // More fun.

Less commanding & controlling of people.  // More unleashing of people.

Less status quo. // More change, creativity, innovation, improvement.

Less PowerPoint presentations. // More whiteboards.

Less playing it safe. // More risk taking.

Less “That will never work here.” and “That’s impossible.” // More dreaming.

Is that kind of large corporation even possible?  What do you think?

Oh, i almost forgot one.  Less email.