Success = Complacency. Antidote = Urgency

Billy Joel has song called Second Wind…here are some lyrics,

“We’re only human, we’re supposed to make mistakes –So take it from me you’ll learn more from your accidents–
Than anything that you could ever learn at school”

The reality is that we reward people who are ‘successful’ and think that ‘failure’ is bad. If babies thought that, they would never walk!”

In an excellent article titled, “Success: A Breeding Ground for Complacency“,  John Kotter reminds us…

“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” Bill Gates

I live in Rochester, NY, home of Eastman Kodak; another great American company that has filed for bankruptcy. Why? Because we (yes I worked there for 17 years) became arrogant. We stopped being hungry for change. Success spoiled our drive.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com CEO has a mantra, “every day is day one.” In other words, whatever we did yesterday isn’t enough to ensure success tomorrow.

Look at your organization or your job search or your family goals? Is there a sense of urgency (that’s different from desperation, exhaustion, hamster wheel running)? Be clear and energetic. It’s contagious.

Photo credit: http://fashionrunher.com

Shopping for a New Boss

About 15 years into my career I figured out that WHO I worked for was as important as what I was doing for work. So when it came to looking for a new job, my search became about looking for a great person to work for.

This may sound crazy; particularly in this tight job market. It takes a lot of confidence (and some money in the bank) to alter our perception of how to find a new job by figuring out who we want to learn from.

My approach was pretty simple. I looked for great places to work; places that were growing and had a focus on customers and building trust. During the interview process, I would pay close attention to the person I would work for. I asked a lot of questions and thought about:

- Would I learn from this person? Do they have skills I want?

- Are they happy and growing in their work?

In an interesting blog post called, “Get Hired, No Resume, No Interview, No Joke,” the author suggests that you “go to good managers you’d like to work for.” Talk to them, understand their issues and see how you might fit into their organization. I’m not suggesting that you abandon networking or applying for work. But author Corcodilos’ suggestion that we pick  “three companies or managers you really, really want to work for because they are shining lights in their industry.”

Like any good sales effort, you may pick 3 and find out that 2 won’t work. So pick two more. If you are not sure how to identify these excellent managers? Ask other people! They will tell you. But you won’t find out unless you ask.

It always worked out for me. I learned a great deal and respected the people I worked for.  It may not be easy but I can assure you it is very worthwhile. Happy shopping!

Photo credit: Icanhazcheezburger.com

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. Progress Not Perfection.

If a beaver really thought about all the work it would take to build a new home (dam), (s)he might never start. But since the need, desire and drive to build are innate… he doesn’t stop before he starts.

Somewhere along the way, human beings, who start out curious and driven (just watch a baby learn to walk) – we stop learning new things. How many times have you stopped yourself from trying something new because you were afraid?

Is it looking, acting or sounding stupid or admitting you don’t know something? We think that if we act like we’re not sure that we’ve somehow failed.  The older we get, the less likely we are to try something different.   We need to recalibrate our ideas so that learning new things is what’s good!

Here are my suggestions for staying hungry. Those of you who know me, know I’m already foolish (thank goodness!)

1. Everyday do something you don’t want to do… just for practice.  Don’t gripe or complain, just do it. If you say one word about it to anyone, it doesn’t count. Do it for 7 days in a row and then talk with someone about the experience.
2. If you have a chance, watch a child learn new things. Do they get frustrated easily?
3. Make a list of the last 5 things you learned. Is it an easy list to construct or did you have to think about it for a while?
4. Set a goal to learn something new and take one small step towards it.

If you want to be Steve Jobs (author of ‘stay hungry, stay foolish’ and noted perfectionist) then this  post is not for you. If you’re a mere mortal, then please tell me…. how do you stay hungry?

True Grit and the Marshmallow Test

When my daughter was in college, her softball team’s t-shirts had this saying on the back…

“Hard work beats talent when talent refuses to work hard.”

So while this title’s post may sound like 70′s rock band, it is, in fact, the core of some research on the future of work. In “The Future of Self-Improvement:  Grit is More Important Than Talent” the notion that as work continues to  dramatically change over the next 5 years; self control will become more important than ‘talent.’

This excerpt clarifies the concept:

“More and more, we set our own long-term goals, determine our own work schedules, work at an office or at a coffee shop, decide about what we focus on today, and tomorrow. But this freedom also brings a responsibility that demands a vastly increased capacity for self-control.”

The link between grit (hard work in the face of obstacles) and self control (the test of children who successfully delay eating a marshmallow) is central to the new way we accomplish work. Hierarchical work structures, standard job descriptions  and “siloed” work areas are already becoming ineffective work practices.

So how will you as a manager adjust to this new reality? How will you as an employee adjust? Will you lead the way with your own actions?  Will you educate and train yourself and your employees in grit and self-control? Will you make sure that your hiring practices are shifted to include these qualities?

We have a choice… we can determine those skills that will allow us to compete effectively like flexibility and focus or the rest of the world will get there before us. Take Duckworth’s Grit Scale Test here.

Image Credit: Inner Light News

New Executive Title – “Custserv/HR/Mktg/IT” Leader

Functions in the workplace are converging.  Social media is jumbling responsibilities at the enterprise at an alarming rate. Let’s take twitter for example.

You may know the online shoe retailer Zappos.com – they make a big deal out of using technology to give customers what they want and need 24 x 7. This is NOT because Zappos thinks that technology is cool. Their culture is totally built around superior customer service.  Check it out here.  Here’s an example of their twitter feed…

“Oh whoa! Truly sorry about that. We will try not to let that happen again. We had some slight hiccups in out Tweets today. ”

Check out Zappos employees communicating here.  And they are not alone.  Check out this tweet from a satisfied Southwest Airlines customer:  “Southwest completed my name change within 2 hours of my faxing them the info! #customerservice #newlywedtweet”

What about when an employee goes on Glassdoor,  Facebook  or twitter to complain about your company, whose responsibility is it to monitor and follow up?  HR? Marketing?

When things go wrong with a sale, who hears about it? The sales person? Customer service? Marketing? Maybe the IT department if it’s a web sale? Is response via social sites in your organization’s workflow?

Is a company’s Facebook or Twitter pages the responsibility of marketing, advertising, customer service or public relations? Smart companies are actually co-creating products with customers in real time. So now do the product development folks need to monitor twitter too?

What if I need to  download a 3rd party app to my desktop and cell phone to monitor twitter for my job… Does IT support that? Across which platforms (Apple, Blackberry, Droid or tablets?)

If you manage marketing, sales, customer services, human resources, IT or finance; are you paying attention? The head in the sand thing isn’t going to work any more.

Image Credit: All News Wire

Spectacular Failure – An Aspiration

When was the last time you had a spectacular failure?

I don’t mean “oops”— I mean whoa, that did not work out the way I thought.

No one likes failure –  BUT, I know if I’m not occasionally failing and — failing fast, then I’m not taking enough risk.  Most of the good stuff in my life came to me because I could not get what I needed or wanted via  ‘the safe road.’

But remember this. I’m a Capricorn; the goat. We do not leap or pounce; we plod.

So for all you who are thinking… yeah, it’s easy for her.  STOP RIGHT THERE.  Taking risks is hard, scary, unsafe at any speed.

Here’s what helps me take more risk:

– My mentors are in their 20′s & 30′s.  I am eager to learn from them & they are patient and generous.

– I gravitate to people who are trying new stuff and look for opportunities to associate with entrepreneurs.

– I try to read books that challenge my thinking. (I know, books are long and take a lot of time to read but I skim.) I visit the library. You can add your review to your Linked In profile. Here are a couple of suggestions that I’m going for:

Thomas Friedman’s new book, That Used to Be Us or Burg and Mann (Go-Giver), It’s Not About You.

Change is good, timing is everything, patience is the key. However… the good Lord helps those that help themselves. If you always do what you always did… you’ll always get what you always got. How’s that working out for you?

Then: Get Thee to a Classroom — Now: the Teacher is Waiting…Online

Ok, I’m an old dog and everyday, I have to learn new tricks. I don’t like it but…  I like to eat so…

Here are I a few things that work for me.

– I read Mashable everyday. A daily news brief that talks about tech in business.

–I use Tweetdeck/Seesmic (Twitter application) to search for an article that I think would be of interest to my network. Then I post the link with a comment to Linked In. I do this 3 times a week.

–I talk to Millenials (20’s somethings). I am a digital immigrant (a Baby Boomer) and I can’t think like a digital native no matter how hard I try. They give me perspective and ideas and are most gracious about helping an old dog.

– Video. I use it everyday.

1. Want help with your job search? Or social media training in general? Check out Grovo.com
2. Over 50? The Encore Career Institute offers retraining & certifications.
3. The world’s leading universities have put hundreds of courses (+ audiobooks, movies, etc.) online FOR FREE! Check  out Openculture.com
4. Workforce training and continuing education:   The e-Learning Center.com
5. Don’t forget to look on  YouTube   or Vimeo for a tutorial of whatever you’re interested in learning. It’s probably out there!

Now go have some fun!

Photo credits: IELTS in 30 days 

What The World Needs Now… Connection

“We systematically overestimate the value of access to information and underestimate the value of access to each other.” C. Shirky

I admire Clay Shirky. Not because he’s smart or because he’s at MIT but because he has common, human sense.

When I speak to groups about Social Media,  I work hard to make sure that they understand the difference between the power of social (connectedness) and the web 2.0 toolkit (Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, etc.) The real revolution is not in the toolkit, it’s in the way we can care for and about each other.

Social media changes everything but ONLY for those who understand it.  I like this because it means that selfish people think that social media is a stupid waste of time. They’ll never realize the benefits and that’s as it should be.

In a recent article in Fast Company titled, For Brands, Being Human Is The New Black the author points out that, “more and more, brands are gaining traction by embracing qualities like honesty, kindness, and simply having a sense of humor about themselves.” Hmmm… it makes me sad to think that these qualities are ‘in fashion’ now which implies that they will ‘go out of fashion.’

But I have faith because I see the younger generation of leaders and entrepreneurs using their ‘digital native’ abilities to make the world a better place. The rest of us can learn a thing or two.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

The saddest and trickiest part about discrimination is that many people (myself included) are not aware when we’re engaging in it. This distinguishes us from the people who are simply bigots and don’t care.  In both cases, however, if you are the ‘discriminee’ it doesn’t really matter.

In this ad for Nivea skin products, the company created an ad campaign for African Americans called, “Recivilize Yourself.” Hmmm.  Bad move. Implying that people are civilized or uncivilized based on their race is well… infuriating. And yet, Nivea paid, I would guess, millions of dollars to put it’s prejudice into full color!  Note the ‘head’ (presumably the model’s uncivilized self). WOW. How could something like this get approved in 2011? By the way, Nivea did apologize (on Facebook!)

“It was never our intention to offend anyone, and for this we are deeply sorry. This ad will never be used again. Diversity and equal opportunity are crucial values of our company.”

Don’t know about you but I’m not feeling it…. 

I think the bottom line for all of us is that we need to be diligent in examining our beliefs and stereotypes. Discrimination is rampant these days is against 20 somethings. I implore you to think again about this generation. As digital natives, they have skills we desperately need to learn and understand.

As a woman in business, I have experienced discrimination many times; sometimes overt, sometimes subtle.  Like all those before me who have felt this sting, I have a couple of choices.  I can either be upset and let it affect the way I conduct myself or I can look the person in the eye, speak my peace when appropriate and move on. There’s too much good in the world to let ignorance or someone else’s opinion of me change how I live my life.

photo credit: http://www.sodahead.com/living/

Oh Those 20 Somethings… um 50 Somethings

Stereotypes are not usually helpful. In some cases, however, examining our own attitudes about them may teach us some important lessons.

Executives teams often complain to me about their 20-something (Millenials- born between 1980 – 1995) employees.  They claim they are:

- Obsessed by their phones, lazy, distracted, self-absorbed and entitled

I don’t happen to share those attitudes but I can see their point. I work with, teach and constantly learn from Millenials.  I find them hardworking, thoughtful and eager to learn.  Technology (phones etc.) are part of their DNA.

Here’s what I hear from those Millenials about their Boomer (born 1946 through 1964) bosses. They say Boomers are:

- Rigid, rude (poor listeners), afraid of technology and unable to adapt to changing times

I don’t happen to share those attitudes either, but I do see their point.  I suggest reading this article to learn more about the issues of the generations working together, “How Has the Recession Shaped Career Attitudes…”

My hope is that by having the generations share ideas and help each other, we can compete effectively not with other Americans, but with the global workforce.  I’m interested in your stories about effective cross-generational work environments.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joi/455111587/ Notice in the photo that despite their differences; they are riding on the same train… heading in the same direction.