No news flash here ... except that many of us share the frustration over the relentless flood of email that washes ashore 24/7. There is a nugget somewhere in various ideas companies are trying to dam the waters, particularly with internal email. This Wall Street Journal article summarizes some of…
Many of you have seen articles about this general theme recently – in part a function of "The No A**hole Rule" published last year by Dr. Robert Sutton of Stanford University. Lars Dalgaard, President of Success Factors, a company with whom I have an affiliate relationship, spoke recently about his…
I must admit that's a new phrase to me ... but it's a kissing cousin to "Death by PowerPoint", it seems. You'll enjoy the recent NY Times article about the U.S. military use of PowerPoint slides and how numbing it's become ... witness the slide that accompanies the article and…
Last time, we discussed how to create a responsible culture where each individual accepts accountability for their actions and decisions.
In our discussion of this subject, we’ve ranged from the baseline of personal accountability to a broader organizational culture, to the battle-tested power of after action reviews.
So, if the power of an accountable organization is so obvious, why aren’t we all doing it?
In “The Oz Principle,” a book by Craig Hickman (recently reissued in a revised and updated edition 10 years after its original publication), the overgrown roots of a victimization mentality is chronicled as one of the most corrosive forces in American business.
[pullquote]The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.~ Lou Holtz[/pullquote]
Mr. Hickman pulls no punches in deriding the plight of victimization that he believes has a stranglehold on American industry.
How many of these lines have you heard during your business career?
* “That’s the way we’ve always done it.”
* “That’s not my department.”
* “Someone should have told me not to do that.”
* “Why didn’t you ask me?”
* “Nobody’s followed up on this. It can’t be that important.”
[pullquote]Victimization is a corrosive force in American business[/pullquote]
It’s fodder for a Saturday Night Live skit, isn’t it? (more…)
“When is it no longer my responsibility to get people to complete their assignments … and where does their responsibility to perform begin?” a North Bay CEO asked me recently.
“Your responsibility never ends … and neither does theirs,” I said.
“Your job is to work tirelessly to build accountability into the organization so that your team understands that being held accountable is the cornerstone of a strong, successful organization. It is not punitive.”
In this column recently, we’ve discussed personal accountability as the “singular touchstone of professional success over which we have the greatest control.”
We’ve also discussed the After Action Report, a valuable teaching tool that reinforces accountability and inspires a culture of continuous improvement.
An organization focused on accountability might be seen as the thread that connects our personal accountability – walking the talk – and the After Action Report – talking the walk. But what is it, really?
In simple terms, accountability is a willingness to accept responsibility for our actions.
It’s being reliable and making certain that the commitments we make, from the perspective of others, have been kept. For a responsible culture to prevail, each of us must make certain that those commitments are honest – and honored. (more…)
Checklists? Those lists I prepare each day and don’t help me get everything done – don’t really need to know more about them … or do you mean those checklists that airline pilots use to keep me from getting killed? Now, those I like.
Some of you will remember an earlier post in the GTD context about the value of checklists. Now comes the book, The Checklist Manifesto, inspired by issues found in operating rooms but expanded to the many areas where simple checklists are invaluable.
Checklists couldn’t be simpler. (more…)
Many years ago when we lived in the Midwest, we became very good friends with a young couple down the street.
He was a fellow fraternity brother, from another college, but I remember him as a very capable physician with a unique ability to describe complex medical subjects in layman’s language.
One day, he asked me if I’d like to go to work with him on Saturday. He’d show me around, we’d have lunch, hang out. He couldn’t leave for lunch, but he would bring along some homemade sandwiches, bologna with lots of ketchup, he said, and I could sit in his pathology lab as he performed an autopsy … and while he was cutting and sawing, we would enjoy our lunch together.
It was when he started laughing that I realized why my vision of an overloaded bologna sandwich, dripping with ketchup alongside an autopsy table, was kicking up a firestorm in my gut. I think that’s how many business executives view an After Action Review (AAR) — a gruesome business designed to relive the pain of failed projects. (more…)
Have I given you anything yet for Christmas, or maybe to celebrate the New Year? Well, I have now. Consider this part of the Exkalibur Stimulus Package for 2010.
I don’t know about you but there are occasions … and they seem to be increasing in my case … when I feel a nap coming on … yes, during the business day, around 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. if you have to ask. Traditionally, there’s nothing we can do about it, hang in there, head for the coffee pot, slip out early, frog around on the web … something other than work. (more…)
For those of you attempting to follow the meandering health care reform debate ... gold stars if you have any idea where this sits today ... you might be interested in the recent Business Week article, Radical Surgery, about a hospital that slashes costs AND delivers high quality with innovative…