If You Can’t Get The Job Done …

There is an old adage that we tend to over-estimate how much we can get done in the short-term and under-estimate how much we can get in the long-term.  If you think back through your experiences you may find this holds true for you.  Last weekend I got a lesson that could turn that on its head.

This weekend I again had a chance to accompany my sons to Patriot’s Point Naval and Maritime Museum in Charleston, SC.  The centerpiece of the museum is the USS Yorktown “The Fighting Lady” CV-10, an Essex Class Aircraft Carrier which I knew was built near the beginning of World War II and with her brave crew beat back the Japanese in the Pacific Theater.  As scouts we spend the entire weekend at the museum where we get to actually sleep in the berths of the Yorktown each night, just like sailors did 70+ years ago.  There are times in the evening when the ship is only open to scouts who are staying the night .  It was during one of the evening strolls that I found this:

The crew that built the Yorktown completed the task in just 16 1/2 months.  That is unbelievable, but it got me thinking  … Exactly what can I and my team get done in 16 1/2 months?  It’s time to set some stretch goals.

Imagine just how much Capt.  Joseph Clark could get done in the long-term … I call that inspirational!

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10 Lessons to Change the World

Happy New Year!  This is the perfect time to reflect on our purpose and impact we make in this world.  To be thankful for the Opportunties and the Challenges we have been given and to make our resolutions about how we can make the most of these in the coming months.

To that end I wanted to share this awesome video of a commencement address to the University of Texas in 2014 by the Admiral in charge of the Navy Seals.

Enjoy …  now I’ve got to go make my bed!

10 Lessons to Change the World

You Gotta Say Something

Read this blog long enough and you’ll hopefully see my given talent.  No it’s not the writing; unless you happen think that’s my talent …. then if so, you have my undying gratitude for your seemingly low standards.  It’s also not my uncanny ability to identify actors just by their voices which happens to be my lame superpower.

No, “I see patterns”.  I just whispered that like the famous line from Sixth Sense, and the woman sitting next to me in the restaurant is now staring at me wondering “what’s wrong with that guy”.

I recognize patterns in many structured and unstructured environments.  It’s kinda like being the opposite of Jeff Goldblum’s character in Jurassic Park.  Where Dr. Ian Malcom sees chaos … I see patterns.  This “talent” often helps me break the log jam on problems by thinking of a different problem with an analogous pattern to one I’m facing and it can give me a direction to start heading in.

Let me give you an example, I was watching my youngest Benji play baseball last week.  Benji really likes playing baseball, he loves going to the field, getting his uniform on (although sometimes it can be hard to find every piece), he loves running the bases and being on the field and always sliding at home.  There is nothing he doesn’t like about the game … even when his team loses.

And this season … his team has lost  … not that’s too weak a term.  They have been repeatedly destroyed.  And this game was no different.

In fact by the 4th inning they are losing 20 – 0.  They would have stopped the game due to the mercy rule but in this case Benji’s team hadn’t even made it through the entire batting order yet, so they continued the game just so each player would get once chance to bat.

Losing hurts, it can break down your will to play, to coach and to try.  I know because I lost a lot in my sporting career.  I played three sports in high school Football, Wrestling and Track and wasn’t particularly good at any of them.  I’ve seen the look on a players face when they are just going through the motions (just look at the current NY Giants).  And I could see it that night on the baseball fields but not in the face of the players, I could see it in their coaches.  Benji’s coaches are broken men.

Late in the game, Ben was playing Third and I was a little worried because the other team could really smack the ball (did I mention the score was 20 – 0) and I was a little afraid that his fielding skills wouldn’t be up to the task of protecting himself, let alone fielding the ball cleanly.  So I yelled and reminded him to be “Baseball Ready” as the first batter came up.  The first batter hit a ball passed the second baseman and he eventually ended up at second.  The next batter steps up and hits the ball toward third.  Ben leans to the left and cleanly fields the ball and as he looks up the unforced runner from second is standing next to him, inches away, so what does Ben do …. (despite the cries of “Tag Him”) he turns and darts in the other direction so he can tag third base.

By this time the base running Coach has send his base runner back to second and he is safe.

Now this is a developmental season, the fall always is.  It doesn’t have the over the top pressure that is so prevalent of the spring season.  So I expected Ben’s Coach who was less then 10 yards behind him to explain that tagging a runner also get’s him out.  I wasn’t expecting him to break into an extended lesson on forced and unforced base running, but they needed to say something so Ben could understand why the boy he saw running to third wasn’t out.  But there was nothing.  Nothing except the head coach for the other team yelling out to our coach that “someone needs to fire that third baseman.”  Ben didn’t hear it … and he was “joking” … but I heard it.

After the game when coach had given his post game message to the boys and as all the other kids and parents we leaving.  I took Ben back out on the field and placed him right back in his third base position.  We then talked about how he could have tagged the boy to get him out and even introduced the forced/unforced runner concept to him.

I took him out on the field and placed him back in that position so that when I gave him new information to use he could place it in the proper context.  If the Coach had tried to talk about the same concept at the next practice three days later the opportunity to provide the best learning, or feedback, would have already been lost.  Whether it sticks or not may be a different story all together, but thinking about this got me thinking about how we deliver feedback as managers to members of our teams at work(Pattern).

The same rule applies when we are working with our teams in business.  For feedback to be effective it has to be timely.  No one wakes up in the morning and says “man I can’t wait to deliver some hard hitting negative feedback today” … it’s got to be the most unpleasant part of any manager’s job.  So naturally it’s something that many managers drag out instead of addressing immediately.  But by waiting you are not helping the employee and you are not doing your job.  Feedback, like bad news, doesn’t get better with age.  I’ve even seen some managers wait so long to deliver negative feedback that they admitted to me they can’t even discuss the issue with the employee.  When that happens those Managers look exactly like those broken men who coach Ben’s baseball team, they look as though they are just going through the motions.

Wait too long and your team will start turning on you … they can see the problems and they also see that you aren’t doing anything to address them.  Believe me, I’m speaking from personal experience here.  They may start hollering for someone to be fired … and you may find you are the Third Baseman.  It may not be your favorite aspect of being a Manager but you have to say something.

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Disclaimer:  I am not writing this to be critical of Benji’s coaches, this was simply an observation I made.  I’ve been a youth league basketball and soccer coach as well as Cub Scout Leader and I know that incredible amount of thankless work these volunteers do.  I am very appreciative of all of my boys’ coaches, as the bulk of my free time is spent leading Cub Scouts and there is no way I could do both.  I actually like this head coach because prior to each game he gets all the players together in the outfield, everyone get’s down on one knee and they say the Lord’s Prayer together, he’s a good guy.

The Gold Medal Role For Leaders

This morning Team USA wrapped up their second consecutive Gold Medal in Men’s Basketball under the leadership of Coach K*. But unlike his incredible Duke teams, this team is not made up of amateurs who are hustling to earn a spot in the pros. No, this team is made up of professionals. And not just any professionals; these are the very best players in the World. These are pampered superstars who can have every wish catered to by appreciative owners and adoring fans. Men who don’t even really have to the listen to their Coach, because they can get their coach fired.

So how does Coach K do it? How does he make these twelve superlative individuals work together as a team? Do we really think, that they could do it without him? Is he just a figurehead that allows them to check the box “Head Coach” on their entry form?

I would say not, just look at the USA Basketball team in 2004 where the United States lost to Argentina. It’s not a forgone conclusion that as long as you fill the roster with NBA players that they will win.

Enter Coach K in 2006, and the USA has never looked back. In 2008 the US looked like a TEAM again and in 2012 they were incredible. But did you know that despite the importance of a Coach in basketball, the coach does not win a medal if the team does? Which means that after Coach K won in 2008, he came back even when he knew he would not get a medal that properly acknowledged his contribution to the effort. The old West Point graduate instead is satisfied knowing that he filled the role the team and perhaps the country needed him to fill.

Coach K exemplifies the idea that as leaders we can be called on to fill a role that provides guidance to our teams to help them excel but not to take up room in the spotlight. After all they were the ones “on the floor”.  We should be satisfied that we got to work with champions.

* = I understand that simply mentioning Coach K in Raleigh brings strong feelings of hate from NC State and North Carolina fans.  You should read on anyway.

What would you do if you could not fail?

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Technology

This is a truly inspiring video from TED done by Regina Dugan from DARPA.

 

“You Gotta Cover Your Ass”

…. that is the advice I saw a grizzled vet pass on to a new employee over lunch on his first day in the office, “You gotta cover your ass in this job!”. My first thought was “I’m glad they don’t work at my credit union.”. My second was what terrible advice to provide to such a young new employee …

Now to be clear, I typically don’t spend my lunches eavesdropping on conversations of other patrons, but the seat next to this unknown couple was the only one left open in the dining area and neither of these fellows was trying to be discreet. So they have become Kofacts fodder.

Many years ago I had the great fortune of going to a Disney Institute Training Seminar on Disney’s Keys to Excellence. I had a healthy respect for all things Disney prior to the training, but only as much as was appropriate for a man my age. After the class was an entirely different story. The business leader in me, was then and continues to be in love with Disney, the business processes, and the innovation behind their company. Just ask my team how often I bring them up as an example.

As a part of that training they discussed the need to actively tend to the culture of a company and witnessed to the power of sharing stories which reinforce the values of the company. They offered as an example Walt Disney’s (the legend himself) habit of walking through the park and picking up small pieces of trash off the ground and putting them in trash cans. One day a supervisor came over to him and said “Mr Disney, please you don’t need to do that, we have custodians and janitors to do that work, you are the CEO you have more important work to do”. As the story goes “Uncle Walt” gave the young leader a dressing down and advised him that it was “All of our jobs to make the park clean for our guests” and no one has more important work to do than that.

Even today this story is shared with every new Disney employee in their Traditions Class and clearly sets the example for them. Just last year, I had the opportunity to take a behind the scenes tour of Walt Disneyland in California. And as Mike, our Disney tour guide, was taking us through the park, he would without breaking a stride or stopping his speech bend down and pick up every piece of trash he saw; 50 years after Walt’s example. That is the power of sharing stories in action.

Now I contrast that with the “You’ve got to cover your ass” guy. And challenge you to think about what stories you are sharing with your team. Are you passing on your burdens as this guy was at lunch or challenging them to rise up and achieve their best?

Handling A Customer Problem Needs to Be Your Priority

So on May 28th, I took took the Celica in for an oil change to Jiffy Lube Store # 2741 in Garner, NC.  I also needed get a state inspection for my upcoming registration so I asked that they also perform that.  They performed all the necessary work very quickly and provided me with my receipts which clearly show the Safety and Emissions Inspection was completed and I passed.  So far everything was great …

This afternoon, when I went to pay my registration online, it says that my vehicle requires inspection and they have no record of one being performed, because of this I could not renew the registration on my car.

I retrieved my invoice and called the store and spoke to Aaron.  He apologized profusely took my information said indeed their system showed it had been performed and passed, but he would need to do some more research and call me back.  No problem, I said.

Then I started to wait …. and wait …. and wait.  At fours I thought I had waited long enough so I called back and spoke to Aaron again, he assured me that he hadn’t forgotten about me, but both of the State Inspection computers have been really busy to day with new customers coming in that they hadn’t had a chance to look my up in those systems yet.

Excuse me? Did you just say that an inspection I paid for 7 weeks ago, which apparently wasn’t filed correctly with the state, one which, as we speak, prevents me from registering my vehicle with the state was less of a priority then the next person who comes through the door who HASN”T ALREADY PAID FOR THEIR SERVICE.

I shared with him, that the logic he shared with me doesn’t really make sense, and that I needed to get a call back soon with what they expected to do next.

Another hour later …. I’m still waiting.

I would expect that when any of us encounters a customer with a problem that resolving that problem should become our number one priority.  The old adage is that anyone can make a mistake but it builds intense customer loyalty when you make a mistake and then fix it an a manner that impresses your customer.

A mistake is your moment of truth do you truly believe in providing good customer service or are you only interested in the next sale that walks through the door.  I guess I now know where Jiffy Lube’s priority is … and it isn’t the customer.

 

Disney’s Rules of Brainstorming

So a couple of months ago I attended a conference where a Disney trainer shared their secrets or rules for brainstorming sessions.  I used them several time already and have had a couple of employees ask me for them so they could use them in their meetings.

I thought I would share them here for everyone and document them for my own future reference.

Disney’s Rules for Brainstorming

1.  No Boundaries – Nothing is too far a field of “off subject”.  Go with it and see where you end up!

2.  Be Positive – Nothing will sour a brainstorming session faster than if you start complaining about something or someone.  Everyone is here to find solutions to the problem not to wallow in it.

3.  No Judgements (Positive or Negative) – Negative judgements on someone’s contribution can shut down the individual – Positive Judgements create barriers that limit discussion.

4.  Ideas are Seperate From Your Identity – Once you share it the idea belongs to the team you don’t need to defend it or make your idea better, the entire team can do that.

5.  Everyone is Creative – Everyone Can Contribute to the Discussion

What is D-Day?

I was appalled yesterday by the number of people who were celebrating D-Day as National Doughnut Day.  They thought that’s what D-Day was.  There were thousands of tweets saying “What’s D-Day?”  “Glad I got my D-Day Doughnut”.  It made me sick.

So for those of you who don’t know what D-Day is I offer this history lesson:

The fact that many people, especially young people, don’t know what D-Day truly means is a failure of our school system, their parents and perhaps society at large.  Our public school systems have become academies of mediocrity, parents have neglected their responsibility to truly educate their children and instead try to bribe their good behavior with more material things.  As a society, we are becoming so disgustingly obsessed with ourselves that there is little need to know anything but what our next status update is going to be.

D-Day forces us to consider that EVIL exists and is manifest in the world, even today.  And that is it the responsibility of the righteous to confront and destroy it not for our own sake but for those who cannot fight for themselves.  Remember the American, Canadian, and British forces that landed on D-Day were NOT defending their homelands but instead were defending the right of those who could no longer fight to life and liberty.  65 Years later that lesson is more important than ever.

FDR’s Speech on the 6/6/1944

Regan’s Speech on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day  6/6/1984

Facebook Note:  Click on the Pictures to See the Embedded Videos.

Know The Rules . . And Win

.So I’m listening to Jack Welch’s book Winning on tape.  Part of the book’s chapter on Managing your Company stressed hiring the right people and specifically hiring people who know the rules.  Presumeably people who understand the rules of their business are able to spot opportunities for pushing the business while still abiding by the letter and spirt of the law.

Jack’s got a lot of great insight in his book and he’s a great companion on my early morning walks, when I can get out of bed in time 😉

But Jack’s words did not ring true until something I just saw a couple of days ago.  In fact most Rule Mavens I know would rather beat you over the head with their knowledge of the rules then look for ways to push the boundaries of the business within them.

On Friday I saw a link to a great story, it was about a couple of high school football coaches in California that spent the better part of  3 years developing a completely new offensive strategy called the A-11Offense.  This new offense is so revolutionary that the coaches weren’t completely sure it was legal.  But they poured through the rule books and were confiedent that it was. 

To be sure they when meet with league officials and referees who agreed that the new offense scheme was both legal and revolutionary.

Unlike traditional offenses which telegraph which players are eligible and which are not by the way they line up, the A-11 makes it appear as though everyone is a eligible receiver and now the defense doesn’t know who to cover.  The base offense also includes two quarterbacks lined up in shotgun formation.

They installed this offense in the spring of 07′ and ran it 40-60% of the time in the 07 Season.  It took them a couple of games to work out the finer points, looking at the reaction of the opposing teams but then then ran off 7 consecutive wins.

The coaches have been fielding questions from all of the country about their offense.  They started a website http://www.a11offense.com where they document their offense and provide information and support to other teams interested in learning how to run this offense.

Then it occurred to me this is the advantage of having players on YOUR team who understand the rules.  They can rethink how we do business and create completely new ways to be more efficient and profitable.   Helping us to be as successful as the Piedmont Highlanders of Piedmont, CA.