organization

4 Keys to Thriving in an Unpredictable World

4 Keys to Thriving in an Unpredictable World

Fortune Magazine recently published its annual list of the largest U.S. corporations. Among the top 500, the names are all familiar. Only about 5% of the overall companies are newcomers or returnees. But understanding the challenges some of these companies have faced over the past years tell a clearer story of the shifting headwinds. One popular acronym today is VUCA which stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. According to writers Nathan Bennett and G. James Lemoine in the January-February 2014 issue of the Harvard Business Review (What VUCA Really Means For You), your level of VUCA reflects how much you know about your situation, and how well you can predict the results of your actions. (more…)

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Insanity Check

Insanity Check

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” This often quoted statement has been attributed to a variety of people (including Albert Einstein), but it provides a good motivation to begin your new year.

With the beginning of 2015 many people are thinking about New Year’s resolutions. What do they want to accomplish this year? What do they want to do differently? Even for those who swear off such annual declarations (many of which are only kept for a month or two), most people still take the time to pause and consider what they want to experience in the New Year.  Whether or not you advocate setting resolutions, it is important to periodically assess your activities to make sure they’re properly focused to support accomplishing your objectives.

Insanity CheckSo take an insanity check. This is the time to evaluate your personal, professional and organizational strategies and make the necessary adjustments to ensure not only progress, but attainment of your goals. In what areas are you sticking to the same plan, but expecting different results? What isn’t working…yet? Where are you or your organization struggling? Where are you and others frustrated? Here are several keys to your insanity check.

Build Momentum

The change initiatives you have started may take time to build momentum until you actually see visible progress. You’re laying the groundwork for improvement, building a foundation, and driving beliefs and values that will spill over into behavioral changes. You may be personally impatient, or stakeholders may be pushing you for quick results. But make sure your plan is solid and that you’re on track in following it. Stopping or pausing will undermine your momentum and you’ll almost literally have to start over. So keep pushing, and build momentum, your goal is in sight.


Pull The Lever

Identify the critical lever for change and focus on it. This critical lever is at the center of the problem, and supports and reinforces what is not working. Like a house of cards, if you pull it, everything that it supports will collapse, and that may be a good thing. Pulling the lever may require repositioning your team, changing your structure, developing a different strategy, or shifting your own leadership style.

Manage Time

Time is one of the most valuable resources you have, so use it wisely. Rather than succumb to the many demands on your time, control how you spend it by prioritizing those activities that add value to what you’re trying to accomplish. I admit that I can get caught up reading business books and articles that are really interesting, aren’t necessarily relevant to the project that I’m working on. , so I have to refocus myself as well. Determine what activities add the most value; find the ones that are really drivers of significant change, and adjust your time accordingly.

Decide Now

Deeply embedded problems require tough decisions. You must be willing to let go of people, processes, or products that you previously invested in, but now are not providing sufficient return. Further delaying these decisions means that you’re expending and wasting valuable time in areas that won’t payoff. You likely know what you have to do, but you’re avoiding the unpleasantness of doing it. Instead of focusing on the negative, focus on the positive outcomes.

Move your people to positions where they can add more value, or provide a bridge for them to transition outside the organization where they can find a better suited opportunity. If they’re not delivering, they typically know it and are feeling some level of stress related to that. Avoiding the obvious issue only makes the pain worse over time.

Your team or customers will tell you the processes that aren’t working (if you don’t already know it). Set an aggressive and almost impossibly quick timetable by which they need to be fixed or eliminated. Others will thank you for it and be relieved that you finally addressed the problem.

Unprofitable products or services draw resources from the rest of the organization and literally pull others down with it. Think of a rose bush that through careful pruning of dead or unfruitful branches enables the remainder of the bush to receive the necessary nutrients to bloom beautifully. Such products and services may have a legacy with the organization, or be a favorite of some leader, but culling them quickly will add value to the remainder of the organization.

Remember…working harder on a bad plan doesn’t make the plan good. Doing the right thing at the wrong time won’t achieve the desired results. Smart moves at the right time are key to getting what you want.

Picture courtesy of Google Images

Copyright 2014 Priscilla Archangel

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Water and Trust – Priceless

Water and Trust – Priceless

What is your most valuable and powerful commodity? Many of you might say money, your home, or investments. As important as those are, I believe your most valuable commodity is water. This may surprise some of you, but think about it. If you live in America, you are rich in this natural resource because you generally have access to clean water, and use it constantly throughout the day.

I admittedly use water like I have an unlimited supply. I take wonderfully long hot showers, I run the water constantly while performing tasks like brushing my teeth or rinsing off dishes. I put small loads in the washing machine. During the summer I water my lawn at least every other day.  I buy bottled drinking water because I like the taste. I pay for all of this water usage, but the cost is easy to rationalize because of its importance to me. Yet, I take the availability of water for granted.

Over 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water, however, millions of people in underdeveloped or war torn nations lack access to clean drinking water, and suffer from sickness and diseases as a result. Water is basic need and a common commodity throughout the entire world, but uneven supply and cultural differences in demand result in great variability in the cost of obtaining it.

IStockPhoto

Trust

Thinking about the value of water to the environment led me to focus on organizations as an entity or environment, and to ponder the most basic yet valuable thing needed to make them function. It occurred to me that trust is that fundamental element. Trust is the foundation upon which all positive relationships are built. Steven M. R. Covey, author of The Speed of Trust (2006,  CoveyLink, LLC) describes trust as a requirement for the credibility and empowerment of organizations, financial systems and human interactions.

Like water, we sometimes take trust for granted in how we communicate with our employees, our customers, our shareholders or our stakeholders. There are plenty of examples in the past decade of corporate CEOs and financial leaders who abused the trust of the people they served, and many paid for it with their jobs, their bank accounts, their freedom, or their health.  Organizational leaders may wrongly assume that their employees will remain loyal and inspired to put forth extra effort for the success of the team, in spite of failure to acknowledge the employees own needs.

Like water, we sometimes use trust as if there’s an unlimited supply, until one day we find ourselves in a crisis of short supply.  The cistern of trust, like a cistern of water, is depleted because it’s constantly being used without being replenished.

Like water, lack of trust may result in organizational sickness or malfunction. Low trust breeds insecurity, instability and incapability. Ultimately the inner glue that binds a team together dries up, and it falls apart.

Like water, trust is a basic human need. It’s used to build relationships and connections between people as a basis for accomplishing goals and objectives.

Like water, trust can be gained by gathering it. The steady consistent drip of a faucet will ultimately fill a bathtub. The steady consistent actions of leaders will build a reserve of trust.

Like water, trust is a precious commodity.  A certain amount of it must be saved and preserved for a drought or time of need.

Like water, that same pool of trust can quickly dissipate.  Strike a big hole in the side of a container of water and it splashes out onto the ground never to be gathered again. Similarly, a single significant despicable act can destroy trust forever.

Building A Reservoir of Trust

How do you build trust in your organization? Do you fully recognize its value and treat it as a priceless commodity, or do you take its existence for granted? Building trust requires the active demonstration of care and sincerity between people. It provides refreshment to the soul, and like water it lubricates and smoothes the rough patches in our daily interactions. Trust overlooks inadvertent slights and missteps. Trust looks for the good, and assumes the best. What’s the trust level in your organization?

Copyright 2011 Priscilla Archangel

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Stress Test

Stress Test

Physical Stress

Several weeks ago I had my annual physical. This time it included a stress test because I hadn’t had one in over five years.The purpose of the stress test was basically to determine my general physical condition and the strength of my heart.To do this, they hooked me up to a machine via electrodes connected to various points on my chest and legs.They measured my heart rate, pulse and blood pressure while lying down, then put me on a treadmill.Over a period of 10 minutes, they increased the pace and the incline of the treadmill to measure my heart’s ability to withstand physical exertion or stress, taking measurements periodically during that time.By the end, I was gasping for breath and begging them to stop, but I passed with flying colors. That means my heart muscle is strong, blood is flowing through it normally, and I have little chance of having a heart attack in the near future.

(IStockPhoto)

Fiscal Stress

In a different environment, the European Banking Authority (EBA) recently administered a stress test to 90 banks across 21 countries to determine if they had the necessary capital to sustain an intense two year downturn.According to an article in the BusinessBanking Review, leading up to the test, the EBA permitted the banks to prepare for it by raising their capital positions. Ultimately however, eight banks failed, representing a total shortfall of 2.5B euros (over $3.5B).Sixteen more banks are reportedly on the brink of failure, and another 20 banks would have failed the test had it been conducted at the end of 2010, representing a shortfall of 26.8B euros ($38.5B).These results provide information to investors on the strength of the European Union banks, so that they can make informed investment and financial decisions.

Organizational Stress

Now the premise of a stress test is to determine the health of an individual or organization by simulating extreme pressure similar to that which could be experienced in real life. The results should be used to determine what needs to change to improve the ability to withstand the threats and pressures that exist. For instance, had I failed my stress test, the doctor would have given me specific instructions (dietary, exercise, etc.) on how to strengthen my heart muscle, might have prescribed drugs, and would have made sure that my coronary circulation was clear. The EBA in turn issued recommendations to the banks which failed its stress test regarding steps necessary to boost their capital position, and consequently avert failure or lack of funding.

As a leader, it’s important that you ensure your organization or team can withstand high stress situations. Stress may come in the form of crisis projects, absence or loss of key team members, leadership changes, quality spills, material supply shortages, or public relations dilemmas. To successfully survive these crises the team needs strong communication skills, broad understanding of everyone’s roles, knowledge of available resources, mutual trust and respect, strong decision-making capabilities, deep leadership talent, and a vision for the future.

Jesus prepared His leadership team for the stress that they would encounter as they ministered to others before and after His death. One moment people were praising Him as He rode by on a donkey, throwing their clothes on the ground along with palm branches, and saying “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matt. 21:9 NKJV). Then within a few days, they saw Him snatched out of their midst and wrongly accused and mocked as the King of the Jews. One betrayed Him. Another denied Him. Others watched helplessly as they saw their leader brutally and horrifically beaten and crucified.Yet their organization didn’t fall apart. Jesus arose from the dead and commissioned them to go forward and continue His work. They boldly preached the gospel, risking and giving their lives to share it with others.

Jesus’ disciples passed their stress test. They survived the crisis, continued the work, exhibited strong leadership skills, and started the early church. He had prepared them for the work and showed them how to tap into the power of the Holy Spirit.

Are you prepared for your stress test? When crisis comes, and it will, can you remain focused to pursue God’s plan for your life? Will you continue to follow His commandments? Will you consistently display the love of God to others? Build your spiritual muscles now by digging into God’s Word daily, follow the instructions He provides, and build a storehouse of energy for Him.

Copyright 2011 Priscilla Archangel

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