Market Awareness & Orientation :: Not for R&D?

Core R&D groups, should they carry market awareness.

• Should they know where there product operates?
• Should they know what is their customers’ profile?
• Should they know sales cycle of their products?
• Should they think about numbers in terms of sales (or no sales)?
• Should they know the size of their market segment?

Please leave a comment on these points above.

I am planning to write an article and then a booklet on ‘Market savviness is not for field only’. Would love to see your comments before I write on the subject.

Sense of Urgency :: What is better ‘Self Driven or Created’?

Almost all leaders quote about the need of sense of urgency. This is true of all organizations and all companies in all walks of different industries. Though quoted as indispensible attribute of a successful and scalable organization, very few give comments and references are available on ‘what creates it’. You ask a few people in the industry and following responses are what you are likely to get.

• It is a culture thing, you can drive it on your own
• Depends on the attitude of the people in an organization
• If people are held to their accountabilities, sense of urgency is shown, otherwise, no
• It depends on a leader, if he drives it, sense of urgency becomes an attitude of organization
• If leader shows urgency in what he does, organization follows in footstep and demonstrates a sense of urgency

There are very few comments and references are available, where comparative impacts of self driven and created sense of urgency. Usually texts are focused on significance of self urgency than discussing merits of one type as compared to another type. I believe impacts of one kind of sence of urgency (self driven) to other kind (created) are very different and merit a discussion here.

There are myriad tools and tricks, systems and processes and managerial behaviors possible to create a sense of urgency in the people. Focus group, war rooms, motivational talks, appraisal specifics, leader talk, etc are a few of those. All of these create a sense of urgency, which is expected to benefit the organization. There are many more tools of the trade, which can ensure a sense of urgency in the people of an organization.

So, what happens, once a sense of urgency is created using these tools of the trade, organization stay on course (and demonstrare sense of urgency at all times). Sadly not. Majority of times a sense of urgency, which is result of a procedural intervention or system impementation, fizzles out soon. Or else, even if it does not completely fizzles out, it needs continuous investment into more interventions to keep sense of urgency in organization.

How do you get out of this strange cycle of more investments needed in the organization to keep sense of urgency going? Make sense of urgency a people driven thing. Let people think, believe, act and follow on the lines of

• If I don’t do this on time, it will is inherently bad for me and for organization
• If I don’t deliver as promised, I am not a good professional
• No matter what happens, a commitment is a commitment, and it has to be met
• What kind of an individual one is, if he does not rush to complete a task on time

Question is ‘how do you let people think, act and follow on these lines?’

My experience has been that procedural interventions and implementations rarely get people to think, act and follow on these lines. I believe that sense of urgency is not a attitude, which can be created in a sustained fashion by implementing processes. Let’s take an example of one of those process, let’s say performance appraisal. One could argue that right design and implementation of appraisal should be rewarding an employee for his sense of urgency. If an appraisal system is granular enough, maybe, a reward or appreciation of an employee for demonstration of sense of urgency can be done. But even that would be a recognition of only ‘an’ example of sense of urgency. It will be a result of one or more specific events, where a manager had its reason to focus and he realized that employee was on top of those situations. As soon as those reasons will be gone, appraisal system will miss those points and in turn employee will have no specific incentive or disincentives to demonstrate a sense of urgency.

Sense of urgency is a relationship thing. Why is it that all of us carry an uncomprimisable sense of urgency when it comes to our personal matters (specifically urgent matters)? It is because there is an equation of relationship and its respect. Nothing is more important to people than respecting someone (or something) and being respected. The point most of the organization miss is, this relationship needs to be cultivated. And, please mind the word here is cultivated, not created. Once you establish a relationship between employee and its work, between employee and its eco-system, you create a permanent reason for sense of urgency. Cultivating this relationship (specifically the one around trust and respect) is not simple. A transactional relationship is far more simple to get established than one based on respect.

People tend to respond to a relationship, which is based on their need of security and safety. This need of safety and security is not transactional in nature. It is mostly personal and psycological. People respect relationships, where they find safety. People marginalize relationships, which are transactional in nature.

Question is ‘How do you let people and organizational elements  create a relationship with each other, which is based on safety and security and in turn respect’.

Find an answer to that question and you will have a sense of urgency established in the organization, which will far exceed and sustain any procedural intervention or system can implement.

In one of the future blogs, I will cover, ‘What do you do to cultivate a genuine relationship between employees and organizational elements, which is based on respect’

Spirit Unlimited

 

This morning I talked to one of my friend who has been at the help of few companies during the last decade. He called me this morning to comtemplate a return to India. His thoughts of return are a result of combination of issues on personal and professional front. Most of these issues are anything but simple. The situation with him is such that not many will envy. Despite the multitude of these problems and his contemplation of returning to India, I found no trace of depression anywhere in his voice. His voice as confident and as comforting as ever. His thoughts on future as optimistic and as positive as ever. I have always been appreciative of his spirits but today my recognition of him has gone several notches up.

There is something about genuine leaders, which makes them think only in one direction and that is optimism. Their expectation never takes a beating from the situation. Their hope finds a way out of the most difficult and hopeless situation. And what makes it possible .. is spirit .. Spirit Unlimited.

All of us are made of different physiological and psycological material and respond to different situation. But, spirit is something a person cultivates and develops. Spirit is something, which comes to you when you go through the grit and grind of times to make something happen. Leaders develop it .. almost continuously .. throughput their journey. They develop a behavioral strength, which keeps their spirit unscathed. They develop an inner strength, which keeps their spririt unbounded even in toughest of the times.

Most of all think of the tough times with a shudder down our spines. No one wants to face it. Everyone is scared and concerned about the tough times with varying degree of fear but everyone is. In reality tough times build a leader. The ones, who can face tough times without letting their sould and intent shattered, are the ones, who develop strong will and strong spirit. And these are the ones, who are enabled to lead.

So, keep one thing in your life uncompromised in your life .. and that is .. your spirit. Keep it .. Unlimited!

That thing called ‘Best Practices’

Talk to anyone now a days. If the person is from corporate world and if he is in some distinguishable ranks of management, best practices as a term will come up within 30 min of conversation. Everyone seem to be in a rush to make a profound sounding statement such as ‘best practices are foundations of a robust organization’. So, what are these best practices.

Following would be rattle off, if you ask someone the question ‘Can you define best practices?’

• Proven way of accomplishing something like following
• A means to save time on a process which is already established and proven in the industry
• Analyzed and adopted set of practices, which really work
• Processes which minimize the risks and enable organization for success
• Ensured way of operational and tactical efficiencies

 Going by these points, every organization, every company should be

• operating efficiently
• would not be making mistakes
• would be leveraging learnings established by other companies from the past

Because almost all companies are following and/or adopting one or other set of best practices in all departments or functions they have.

So, why it is that we find inefficiencies (of all kind) so common place in majority of the organization. No one can comment conclusively, but here is an opinion. The following words are not a complete answer and definitely not a ‘best practice’ for ‘best practice’. These are just some random thoughts.

Best practices are usually based on rationalization of predictive ability (of an organization). They are founded on a simple premise of ‘planned output’ of a set of activities. The reality of life in organizations if very different. Output of an activity mostly does not matter, its impact does. So, if there is a best practice, its genesis should be impact of an activity not the output of an activity.

Mostly placing the conditional boundaries around a set of activities (and their outcomes) is simple, so organization and consultants come up with ‘best practices’. Thinking of impacts of a set of activity and walking backwards to output and activities is inherently difficult. So mostly everyone seem to retire to comfort of defining set of constraints (call them processes) around a set of activities and their desired outcomes. And bang you go, ‘best practices’.

There are no cookie cutter available in the world. A set of best practices are best definable by one world. And that is a template.

Dealing with Technology Shift :: An Organizational Perspective

Technology shifts and evolutions in the past  decade has caused several companies and industries to shift. Sometime the shift has changed companies and shaped up industries in alltogether different way. On occasions companies have been wiped away because of these shifts. And on some other occasions new companies and industries have spawned as a result of these shifts in technology.

So, what makes some companies deal with technology shifts successfully and other ones fail.

• Is it just the ability to deal with new technology?
• It it the ability or inability to change the business model and adopt the one, which will work in a different technological world?
• It it smartness of leaders to deal with new business eco-system?

I would say, all of the above. But for most part, it is the ability of the company to deal with the changed technology (and business model) at an organizational level. Center piece of this organization level dealing with change is people’s feeling, attitude, motovation (or lack of it), incentives (or disincentives) and their understanding (of new world). Changing the business model, processes, support system and operations is the easy part of dealing with the technology shift. Dealing with organizational inability to understand and cope with the new technology is the tough part.

Usually organizations (read people and unit) respond to technology shift in seven distinctive ways at seven stages during transformation.

1. Excitement
2. Expectation
3. Confusion
4. Understanding
5. Acceptance
6. Adoption (or Rejection)
7. Institutionalization

Whenever a technology shift happens, and companies become convinced about the need of changing the core business model, they get on the job of redefining strategy. The strategy gets defined after a series of efforts to analyze and place the current business model in perspective to radical shift in technology. Once companies have the first level of details of new or changed business model, they work on preparation of organizational communication. The strategy and new business model gets filtered and an ‘appropriate content’ gets prepared to communicate the organization about the new business model (along with new strategy of organization). The organization listens to then new business model, which largely is fashioned around new and higher growth in the face of changing technology horizon. Organization listens to new strategy and business model and gets all excited. Everyone loves ‘New’.

Now, organization expects the details to come through and they expect it fast. What comes to them is mostly first set of execution plan, not the detail of new business model. This is where usually the first mistake is made. Organization expects details of new business model in a legible form. What they get to see is high level execution plan. Organization expects the details to be comfortable and convinced with the excitement new model business model created at the first stage. Following up the initial communication about new business model with a carefully orchestrated details will ensure that organizations expectations are responded to.

Now, third stage is execution plan explanation to the organization. The linkage between the execution plan and first communication (of new business model) is the key here. If linkage is not established properly, this stage usually results into massive confusions. Even if execution plan is explained to organization properly, amount of change is too much to absorb for anyone. So, conusion is unavoidable at this stage. How much confusion is created and how quickly it is cleared up, depends on content clarity at these three stages, clarity of linkages between communication content, timing of each of these three stages. Compromise on any one of these fronts leads to massive confusions in the organization. Sometime becoming cause of the failure (or rejection) of new business model and its demands. A carefully thought out detailing of the execution plan and its staged communication to organization can reduce the amount of confusion at this stage. Though nothing can be done to eliminate the confusion all together at this stage.

Once organization gets through the explanation of execution plan and organization has had time to sync that information in, next stage is understanding. This is where organization develops its understanding and interpretation of the execution plan. An organization has to translate a proposed execution plan into something which is of their own. And this translation happens through interpretation. It takes time for organization and people to find interpretations of the execution plan, which can work in the practical realities of their work place. People handling at this stage is key. Leaders of the organization can assist in the process of interpretation here. When people interpret a large execution plan, which is supposed to implement a big change, they need hand holding. A leaders patience and willingness to become a mentor can work wonders with the organization at this stage.

Next stage is usually of acceptance. This acceptance is not adoption. This acceptance is of the new business model and its execution plan. The acceptance happens because organization and its people have found their interpretation of the execution plan and they can look at things more clearly and with more sense of ownership. During this acceptance the key is to let organization gain momentum on the new plan (and its new found interpretation by people in organization). A lot of companies get impatient at this stage and start hard driving of the execution plans. In reality organizations are still not ready for hard driving. They have just accepted the new reality of a changes business mode (and changed world they work in).

Adoption (and/or rejection) is next stage to acceptance. Adoption is a function of organization and its people’s successes and failures. Successes and failures during execution and dealing with them defines adoption cycle. Usually this stage has a cycle of its own. Several successes and failures and finding their way through them leads and organization to adoption of the execution plan, its details and in turn new business model. This is the stage, where leaders are supposed to build momentum. Quick pitching in where people have failed and get them to success points ensures people adopt what they have. Quick recognition of the successes ensures people become proud of their new ownership of changed world. The key here is momentum. Let organization and people get past both their successes and failures quickly. Let new reality get adopted.

Now, the final stage of the change is institutionalization of the change done by technology shift. Usually this is a function of the operational and people processes in the organization. More robust the processes are, more quickly the institutionalization will take place. This is where leaders place organization on a definitive new path. They let process maturiy of the organization ensure that new reality of a new world has been settled in the DNA of the organization.

So, a technology paradigm shift is happening, which will mandate a change in the business model, get prepared. The job is not just to come up with a new strategy and business model. Job is also not to communicate an execution plan to organization. To make the change happen and new business reality get sunk into the organization, job is multi staged and it is complex. Tighten your belts and carefully orchestrate and lead organization through these stages of changes.

Appreciation takes Nothing but is Priceless

 

In our professional lives, which is by definition competitive, on majority of occasions we tend to ‘not to appreciate things’. There is this uneasy feeling about excellence, which stops us from appreciating small yet important things. We think, if we appreciate something, which is trivial (and/or commonplace) in nature then I lower the bar. We also think, people will start believing that I do not understand and appreciate excellence. And hence we stay away from appreciating small stuff around us.

I strongly believe that the world of ‘excellence’ starts forming with small blocks of ‘usual’ and ‘common’ elements. It is appreciation of ‘not extraordinary’, which leads people on the path of ‘extraordinary’. When you drop a thank you note to someone, who did some small stuff, it is a starting point of inching forward towards excellence. When you stop someone in the hallway and tell him a few good words about something he did (however small), you give him a positive nudge towards excellence.

A lot of us learn to criticize ‘the common’ and ‘the ordinary’ in the rush of appreciating excellence. Sometimes (or call it most of the times) a passion of excellence makes us blind towards very formation/foundation blocks of it. The formation/foundation block of ‘excellence’ is ‘common’ yet ‘consistent’ work.

Your appreciation of ‘common’ but ‘important’ can become the force and momentum, which will lead to ‘excellence’.

A leader ought to know ‘How to create this force’ – By appreciating and recognizing the small stuff.

Aspiration, Effort and Time

 

• What one can accomplish in one life?
• How much one can accomplish in a single life?
• Are there any limits to what one can accomplish in one life time?
• Is there a need of measuring what one did in a life time?
• Scale of accomplishment, does it serve a higher purpose?

Most of us confront this question at one or other point in our lives. These questions get most of us in reflection mode. All of us find one or other answers. Some answers convincing some not so convincing. Some of us get satisfied with the answers and some of  us don’t. These answers are found, discovered and invented via different sources depending on our personalities, preferences and opportunities of conversations and interfacing. Some of us find ‘em through mentors. Others discover answers through their experiences. And some more invent them by chance, when they bump into situations or else when they have their Eureka moment.

Here is another attempt to explore these questions. I will stay away from claiming to an answer to these questions. All I can claim is to have explored (sighted) the hazy boundary of horizon of potential answers to these questions.

A thought about drawing a physical or logical boundary on ‘what one can accomplish’ is discomforting at best. We can think of a three corner model as a virtual bound of ‘what is possible in one’s life’. This three corners of model are made of ‘Aspiration’, ‘Effort’ and ‘Time’. The nature and characteristics of these three points on the corners can define the ‘potential’ and ‘scope’ of ‘what one can accomplish in life’. Each one of these points are major forces and factors in anyone’s life.

 

Now let’s have a look at each of these points, which are major forces and factor in anyone’s life.

‘Aspiration‘

It is unbounded, has no physical limits and is completely dependent on personality, preference and attitude of an individual. ‘Aspiration’ also does not have any external dependencies or influences such as geographic location, demographic context, social pressures and familial compulsions. It is also one point, where one (individual) has least control (it is a personality and attitude thing). So, one corner of triangle model is largely fixed (though not similar) for most of the people. Actually there would be quite a bit of variability in where this point is placed for different people in the three corner model.

‘Effort‘

This point of the triangle model is quite opposite to first one. ‘Effort’ varies depending on commitment, passion and resolve. There is no calculated limit on ‘how much effort can be placed on something’. Though a few influencing factors for this point are there. These are bandwidth, energy levels and circumstances. This point is pretty flexible in a three corner model and will be very different for different people. Since it is driven by people, this point can vary a lot in the model for different type of people. This is one point, which will vary a lot even for similar kind of people.

‘Time‘

This is one corner, which is pretty much fixed in everyone’s life. One can squeeze every ounce of ‘available time’ but overall quantity of time is fixed. This is where, a person can not do any thing. In three corner model, there is no flexibility for this point.

So, if we have this triangle model for defining vague (and probably virtual) boundary) of ‘what one can accomplish in one’s life’, then what is the measure of ‘What’.

‘Realizations ‘ in one’s life get represented by what lies in the triangle.

The larger the triangle area, larger will be realization. Since one point, ‘Aspiration’ is kind of defined by ‘personality’ and another one ‘Time’ is fixed in ‘nature’, ‘Efforts’ can and will drive ‘what one can and will achieve in one’s lifetime’.

‘Efforts’ – If that defines ‘what one can accomplish in one’s life’ – Then everyone should have control on ‘what one accomplishes’. No, everyone does not. The triangle model is potential of ‘what one can do and achieve in one’s life’ not the prediction.

‘Efforts‘, which is called ‘Karma’ in Indian mythology and philosophy, is the driver of ‘What is possible’

That is why, you will find that ‘Leaders are more concerned about their efforts than outcomes’!

Nudget #9 – Discipline, First Yourself

 

A lot of time, we are too busy controlling things around us. Telling people what to do and what not to. Asking team members to keep a schedule. Forcing people to keep a discipline.

Leaders display a different behavior. The first set of discipline they impose is on themselves. They make sure that their activities (and actions) are planned, predictable, expected and appreciated.

Get yourself to a meeting on time. Keep the discussion to a length you committed to. If you planned to do a communication on a date, keep the date. Take every possible measure to complete an activity on time.

Once you are disciplined in your approach, actions and ways of life, you will find others around you will more or less, will be. The definition and application of discipline starts from ‘You’.

Trappings of Professional Relationships

 

Our race is social by nature and probably is most dependent on social interaction among any living species. Whatever be the individual personality, everyone creates his circle in and out of the organization we work for. In a professional setup, these circles (called professional relationship) get created because of reasons much beyond liking or disliking (or preference) of an individual.

In a  professional organization, several of us form working relationships, which are driven from ‘comfort factor’, some more of us form relationship, which are result of ‘influence factor’, some further more of us form relationship, which are result of ‘political equation’. These relationships, developed for whatever reasons, become a tangible force in the organization. Several decisions and sometime directions get decided based on relationship map and its influences on organization.

As a professional developing these kind of relationships in the organization is good. Actually many/most of these relationships form a ‘binding and acceptance glue’ in an organization, which makes the daily working a lot more effortless than it would be in absence of these relationships. The ‘question’ and ‘apprehension’ element is dealt with far more ease in the organizations, where strong working relationship equations exist.

But, as a leader, people need to watch out for certain eccentricities, these relationships can bring in their behavior, decisions and actions.

A relationship is based on trust, and hence by definition, once established it diminishes the ability to question and doubt between two people. A lot of time, when a strong working relationship exists between two people, we tend to support ideas, concepts, opinions and decisions (coming from one in two people in a relationship) with far less discretion than if the relationship did not exist. That is NOT a good situation, and it calls for specific leadership behavior and precautions.

No, matter, what the relationship is and how strong it is and with who it is – it should not play a role in a decision, action and opinion in a professional context. Probably everyone understands the significance of not mixing the ‘personal’ and ‘professional’ elements. But on very many occasions, we tend to honor relationship more than our professional ethics and let it play a role in a professional opinion, action or decision. We do this because somewhere in the back of our mind, we keep a thought that our relationship is a professional one and it can not play a role in our actions. Reality is far from it on many occasions.

A leader specifically can not afford to let his opinions, actions and decisions get biased because of his preferences of relationships in the organization. A leader is to be seen as an example of fairness, so it is critically important that we keep any form of relationship and corresponding biases out. 

Trappings of professional relationship are many, leaders know how to deal with them!

The Thin Line Series – #1 – Self Assertion and Rudeness

 

Many of us use our self assertion as a tool to get heard or to make a point or to force an opinion. Quite a many of us become very good on exerting assertion.

Some of us do it because our ingrained personalities and beliefs  Other do it becase noise factors in today’s corporate make in mandatory. Listening is not a common quality in majority of corporate denizens today, so assertion becomes a tool, which is used by many of us.

Whatever be the reason, good or bad, mandated or by nature, there is a fine line between self assertion and rudeness, that is not to be crossed. In the rush of discussion, I have found  that many times this line is crossed. On more often than not, this line is crossed inadvertantly, than intentionally. Actually a lot of time even the realization that we have crossed the line does not come to us, unless someone draws our attention to it.

We tend to cross this line often because of several and various reasons. After a while this tendency overshadows over natural self and starts becoming part of our behavioral traits. Rudeness, creeping into our behavioral traits, is surely concerning.

Rudeness of any form, in any forum, to any audience is never taken in positive spirits and lights. It hinders our ability to make clear and concrete points. It also limits our ability to communicate naturally. Rudeness also has some very dark side effects (other than not being able to make proper points). These side effects are related to – developing relationship complexities, negative interpretations of opinions, etc.

So, we got to make sure that do nor cross the fine line, which is there between self assertion and rudeness. The line is fine but differences between the world on both sides are huge and they are in stark contrast to each other.

Let’s take time, identify that line and make sure that we do not cross it.