Moving the Blog!

I've decided to transition to Wordpress.  You can follow my blog here!

You have a choice

I know, the whole choice thing is pretty cliche these days.  Many people are afraid to hit the proverbial road and look for a position that will allow them to feel fulfilled, or get a raise, or whatever their reason for not liking their current position.  Why are they afraid?  Many are just paralyzed by the fear mongering you hear on the news, through friends, or, heaven forbid, coming from their leadership.  Here is a good example: "We're waiting for the other shoe to fall".  I've heard this mantra coming from my leadership for THREE years.  It's been said at staff meetings and at the company Christmas party!  How is that going to instill confidence in your team?  You get the point.  Negativity will come  at you from all directions, and it oftentimes feels like it is an insurmountable opponent.  But guess what?  You have a choice.  You can stand your ground and refuse to drink the Kool-Aid (or Flavor-Aid if you are old-school) and make it known, right then and there, that you will not be going on that magic carpet ride.  If you walk the talk, then you are going to be surprised at how easy it really is to find that position you have always been look for.  However, you have to overcome, as Steven Pressfield says, the resistance.  In fact, if you are feeling trapped, go find The War of Art and take a couple of evenings and read it.  It will change your world!  And remember, sometimes the hardest choice is the best choice.  Don't just sit back and let someone else drive your life, you need to be in the driver's seat 100% of the time.  You have a choice!

The Danger of Assuming

 

The world spins based upon assumptions.  I don’t know if you realized it, but the very fact you are reading this blog is based upon your assumption that it will provide some type of insight or impart some wisdom.  I won’t disappoint!  Assumptions are the crux upon which mid-level leaders and companies stand.  Great companies, however, do not assume, at least on the level that their lesser competition does.  Why is this?  The answer, I’m afraid, is not as exciting as you are hoping.  The answer is: because not assuming means you have to be engaged in the process.

I cut my teeth in leadership capacity in the military, and this is the root of my retisence to assume anything.  Mission preparation meant rehearsals, period.  It didn’t matter how many times you had performed the task, whether it be a simple patrol or an ambush, you still rehearsed every step.  Assumptions were a sure fire way to get someone killed or injured.  But I also found that those leaders outside of combat arms didn’t always understand the consequences of assumptions.  Time and again I have read, heard, or witnessed the aftermath of a poor leader’s assumptions.  You can easily transfer this to the business world.  Many companies have a revolving assumption wheel, where the result is often the blame game.  Sure, the consequences aren’t as severe in the short term as the military, but they get exponentially more severe as time goes on.  Many times these assumptions lead to team failure or team disarray.

How can you stop the assumption train at the station?  Simple – ask the question, regardless of how trivial it may sound.  Middling leaders don’t often know if their assumptions are valid, and are often too busy beating their chests to understand that their whole plan may be based on one very invalid assumption.  I find it easy to sketch out a timeline of expected results and work backward.  Erroneous assumptions will raise their ugly heads at some point in this process.  Again, this is a holdover from the military days, and it works in any planning situation.  Plan your work and work your plan.  If you don’t have the vertebral fortitude to ask the hard question then you may find yourself on the stinky end of the blame stick.  Asking that trivial question, and getting everyone on the same sheet of music, will result in the team performing good work, instead of flailing around needlessly when the wheels start to fall off (due to missing lug nuts).  Make your life easier, don’t be afraid to challenge the assumptions, and for goodness sake, don’t assume that your leadership has all the bases covered.  That’s what they turn to their teams for!  Game the project out, and don’t assume anything.  Your life and well-being actually depend upon it.

Dealing with That Person...

You know who I mean - that one person who crawled out of their own personal hell to spread hate and dissension at the office.  Hopefully you are not that person.  If you are, stop reading now.  They may be a project manager, or even worse, the head cheese.  Nothing says I value you like sitting in a meeting and listening to someone find a flaw in everyone or everything that people in the office do on a daily basis.  Even worse is getting cornered in your cube or office.  The situation can be dire, and you may contemplate passing out to get rid of the person (bad idea, they may try to resuscitate you).  How do you, the cube dweller, a person not in a position to change personnel, deal with "that person"?  There are a number of way to confront this situation, so let's start with the worst way and work backward to the best situation

Confrontation

You spend a few hours the night before role playing the confrontation (with or without Wild West music), and bide your time to finally put "that person" in their place.  It may be that someone told you to confront bullies when you were a kid.  I did that once in high school, to the star wrestler who had a penchant for bullying soccer players.  Not a good result.  I escaped (barely).  Confronting the office bully will result in one of two things - they will curtail their genetic disposition for a little while, or you will get it even worse from that point forward.  Mostly likely the latter.  You might as well paint a bulls-eye on your back.  As Andy Andrews says, "Directly confronting what someone believes is a waste of time".  Or, as Dave Ramsey says, "Those convinced against their will are of the same opinion still."  Resist that urge to unleash the dogs of war.  It will not go as planned.  Trust me.

Complain

You rally the troops and spend productive work time complaining and gossiping about "that person".  End result?  Same situation, only now there is a underlying tension throughout the office.  If you work for an effective leader this may lead to your release back to the wilds of unemployment.  Even worse, the very person you are complaining about gets wind of the dissension, and decides to turn it up a notch.  Way to go, hero!

Remember the Golden Rule

No, this isn't a cop-out attempt.  There is a high probability that there is absolutely nothing you can do to change the personality of the office bully.  Best thing you can do for yourself, and your ever increasing cortisol levels, is to just chalk it up to another one of life's lessons and move out smartly.  Treat that person the way you would like to be treated.  Don't gossip, don't complain, and don't confront.  Try to knock them over with kindness.  I'm not advocating sucking up, I'm just trying to clear the air in the office.  Maybe, and this is just a maybe, you can help the entire place by setting the example.  You'll be a better person and a better co-worker regardless of the outcome.

How Steve Martin Can Help You!

I am a HUGE Steve Martin fan (it's okay Steve, I forgive you for the Father of the Bride movies).  What I especially admire about him is the way he takes calculated "risks" that may be viewed as extreme (like when he walked away from stand up comedy) to the "bizarre" ( Grammy award for Best Bluegrass Album).  I don't think banjo playing is bizarre, but hey, there are some who aren't quite enlightened just yet.  What's the point?  Steve has changed as the times have changed.  Look at his role in "The Jerk" to his most recent role in "The Big Year".  He's matured as an actor, and you can really tell that he doesn't necessarily take himself too seriously.  I follow him on Twitter just to see what off the wall things he has to say.  He's an accomplished musician, author, multiple Grammy award winner, Emmy award winner and, best of all, the winner of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.  When you start to feel like you cannot make that next step in your career or life, just  remember that you need to change with the times.  Don't be that guy who doesn't understand how to use a computer because you never had one when you started in the industry. But, most importantly, don't be flaky, be real, and be humble.  I saw Steve in Colorado last year and he was amazing.  He's not pretentious about his success, he just embodies it.  He truly loves what he does, and he has helped others to the top along the way.  And buy a banjo!  Steve Martin and Mark Twain can't both be wrong!

Positive Attitude Conquers Everything

It sounds cliche, and for some it really isn't something they will opt to implement.  But for those of us that aren't in a leadership role, this is the most important mantra you can have in your arsenal.  There are days when everything is going to go wrong, where the one time the boss is actually paying attention you or your teammates drop the ball.  Each day is a new day, and how you choose to approach that day sets the stage for how it will end.  So you hit every red light on the way to work - does that mean that you can treat your clients or your co-workers poorly?  Take a deep breath, let all that negativity go, and smile.  That's your reset button.  Just say to yourself, "Positive Attitude Conquers Everything", or if you are more inclined, "P.A.C.E".  Most importantly, remember that if you are having a bad day because of something that happened at the office, chances are you are not the only one rowing that boat.  Go shine it on a little bit and spread some cheer!

Keep the Momentum

In the aftermath, you always ask yourself, "Where did it all go wrong?".  I'm willing to bet it was the loss of momentum that was your undoing.  Momentum is often the friend of the cubicle dweller.  Without it we tend to wander like a herd of sheep, first in one direction, then another.  Multi-tasking is a momentum killer.  Don't confuse this with working on multiple projects, or even project planning.  Proper planning prevents poor performance.  Skipping from project to project will result in team fatigue.  A fatigued team doesn't fire on all cylinders.  Pretty easy concept?  Yes.  Easy to fix?  Not necessarily.  Team leaders need to plan for contingencies in such a manner as to take into account the multi-task fatigue.  But the reality is this: the project manager has less to do with keeping things on task than the people working on the project.  Keep a simple bullet list of action items and bring that to the planning or team meetings.  Keep on top of what is needed before it is too late.  In the end things will go much more smoothly than waiting for your project manager to step up and intuit what you need.

Keep on top of your action items is one part of the puzzle.  The other part is keeping the multiple tasks and projects rolling on toward completion.  Some people prefer to use something similar to the Pomodoro technique or to use the task list in Outlook.  Others are old school and use sticky notes.  Whatever your preference, use it!  Without it you will inevitably miss an important task and cause a small (or worst case a huge) pile up.  Take reliance off of your project manager and put it more on yourself to manage the tasks you were assigned.  Use the manager to procure items that you cannot do without coming off task.  Don't think of yourself as another cog in the wheel, instead think of yourself as an important piece that keeps the machine rolling (you need each spark plug to make the car run optimally...).