Author Archives: Barry Gruenberg
The hero culture is alive and well in many organizations. Riding in on a white horse to rescue the company from a downward spiral, occasioned by a history of poor decisions, will win you lots of recognition and rewards. On the other hand, insisting on the importance of truly understanding customer needs prior to deciding on a product’s features… or really thinking through the technical challenges associated with achieving a desired outcome… or taking the time to engage people before instituting a difficult reorganization, will likely gain you the reputation of being an obstacle, poor team player, or just plain indecisive. Unfortunately, being the person who seems to know all the answers and can turn things around by telling everyone what to do is often what we are looking for these days. Creating an organization that is agile and can run on its own — where decisions are made close … Continue reading
When somebody asks if you can do something, pause for a moment before saying “NO.” Your first thought may be “that’s impossible,” but upon reflection you can probably figure out how to pull it off. Indeed, there is a very good chance that what you are being asked to do is not what is really needed, anyway. Think about it. We usually evaluate what we can contribute to a situation by imagining that there is someone else who really has the required expertise — and then we interpret our feelings of uncertainty as proof that we are inadequate compared to this all-knowing other (who, by the way, is going through the exact same drill with someone else.) Sound familiar? In reality, our uncertainty (and the humility that, hopefully, accompanies it), are the essential elements of what we really bring to the table — a curiosity about “the situation” — and … Continue reading
Yes, we know you want your organization to be more innovative. And yes, we know you want to improve your organization’s culture of innovation. The best place to start? With YOU. Give up needing to be the smartest person in the room. Seek out people who think differently than you do. Reward new thinking. When you delegate, delegate. Listen more, tell less. Create an environment where no idea is considered dumb. Be a learner, not a know-it-all. Require that 30% of all budget proposals include innovative products, processes, strategies, business models, or management approaches. Celebrate failures and learn from them. Don’t rush to resolve differences. Tolerate ambiguity while gaining a deep understanding of the thought processes underlying all positions. Surface conflict and support minority positions. Let go of your way of doing things. Explore the territory before seeking a destination. Reward people who disagree with you. Protect the new from … Continue reading
It’s often the case that people expect their leaders to be decisive — able to make difficult decisions quickly. Indeed, this kind of behavior is interpreted as one of the hallmarks of good leadership. The reality is different, however. The “rush to judgment” mindset creates undue pressure on leaders — the kind of pressure that causes them to prematurely choose a path forward even when confronting a complex problem. To be truly effective, leaders need to balance the need to quickly converge on a single solution with the conflicting requirement that multiple perspectives be considered. Yes, spending time to gain an understanding of the thought processes behind conflicting perspectives slows down the decision-making process. But it also creates a rich opportunity for much more robust solutions. Slowing down is not necessarily a sign of procrastination or indecision. More accurately, it is a sign of impending wisdom about to be applied. … Continue reading
Most high level executives do not expect a lot of recognition from others. Nor do they give a lot of recognition to others. Many managers are like the guy who, when his wife complains that he doesn’t tell her he loves her any more, responds that he told her he loved her when he married her — and he would have let her know if anything had changed. Similarly, most managers act as if the act of hiring an employee is recognition enough — and they would have let them know if anything changed. This in spite of the fact that every one of these managers wants to be valued and appreciated by their superiors, and is regularly disappointed by the lack of appreciation coming their way. There is a great fear that only the most extraordinary achievements warrant recognition and that all “just good” or superior performance is merely … Continue reading
If you’re interested in raising the bar for innovation in your organization, start listening more. Listening, quite simply, is the most powerful form of influence. Generally speaking, when we think of influencing others we are thinking about our ability to get others to think and act in ways we want them to, in ways that serve our interests and objectives. The influence process is most often conceived as the ability to provide compelling arguments — that is, arguments that are indisputable and indicate there is only one way to proceed. The influence process is seen as the ability to turn aside all alternative ways of thinking, to demonstrate their inadequacy in the service of making one’s own position more compelling. The ability to influence goes beyond the ability to make a compelling argument, of course. It can also involve the use of power, seduction, or fear to drive others to … Continue reading
