- livingthedash.tv

I have been in the workforce for almost 10 years now.  So not really a veteran, but also not a rookie.  I have spent time in a number of different roles on many teams in various organizations at 2 large companies.  Each role on each team in each organization at each company was a unique experience, but interestingly there are 6 common attributes that I have found, in varying degrees, in most of my work experiences.

{ 6 Common Attributes } 3 positive attributes & 3 negative attributes.

The 3 positive attributes that I have found in most of my work experiences are…….

1)  Talent, Talent, Talent

I have had the privilege of working with so many talented people.  People with leadership skills, great communicators, star project managers, technology gurus, etc.  A shortage of talent has rarely been an issue in my work experiences.

2)  Effort

In my experience, most people are willing to work hard.  Most people take pride in what they do and they are willing go above and beyond to accomplish great things.  I have also found that people will go out of there way to help their coworkers.

3)  Ideas

Light bulbs are flashing on above people’s heads all the time.  All the innovative and creative ideas needed to transform teams, organizations, and companies are sitting there in the minds of current employees just waiting to be unleashed.  People in the trenches live with organizational frustrations, problems, and inefficiencies daily and they have tons of ideas on how to eliminate them.

The 3 negative attributes that I have found in most of my work experiences are……..

1)  Lack of a Clear, Consistent, Compelling Vision

In some cases, there has been a vision, but it wasn’t clear.  It was confusing and people couldn’t follow a vision they couldn’t understand.  In some cases, there has been a vision, but it wasn’t consistent.  Leaders would cast the vision, and then it would disappear or reappear in a different form.  I recently heard Bill Hybels say, “Vision leaks.”  So true.  People need to be reminded of the vision, consistently.  In some cases, there has been a vision, but it wasn’t compelling.  People like to follow a vision that they can get excited about.  The lack of a clear, consistent, compelling vision means that Talent, Talent, Talent gets wasted, wasted, wasted.

2)  Disorganization

Organizations are not organized.  Documents and files are scattered in various locations.  Project data is not typically documented and maintained properly and made visible to project team members.  Enterprise project management tools that enable task management, resource management, and project collaboration are rarely used.  Knowledge is not shared across the organization.  Time gets wasted on processing email and sitting in meetings because other more efficient forms of communication are ignored.  In disorganized organizations, employee effort is spent going sideways instead of moving forward.

3)  A Status Quo Mentality

In most of my work experiences, a status quo mentality has been strongly embedded into the culture.  I call it the “That’s the way we’ve always done things” syndrome.  Innovative and creative ideas die a quick death in organizations with a status quo mentality.  And worse, employees within a culture like this will eventually stop presenting their ideas out of fear of rejection.  An organization with a status quo mentality will often, unintentionally, kill the very ideas that are needed to transform it.

I’m not saying these 6 common attributes are present in every organization.  Obviously, there are some organizations without one or more of the 3 positive attributes.  For example, a company with a talent shortage.  And clearly, there are some organizations where one or more of the 3 negative attributes are not an issue.  There are many cutting-edge technology companies that definitely do not have a status quo mentality.  But the fact that these 6 common attributes stand out so clearly to me over almost 10 years, makes me think that others must have experienced the same thing to some degree.

Have you experienced something similar in your work experience?  If so, I would love to hear about it.

Have you experienced a work situation with the 3 positive attributes, but without the 3 negative attributes?  I would really love to hear those stories.