Food for Thought, Links for Inspiration

Links that are food for thought!   Enjoy!

http://thoughtsandphotos.com/

Gerhard Gschwandthner – he does the photography himself and I am a lover of deep thoughts and quotes.  He pulls them together by theme, which is great when you are looking for inspiration.

http://www.ted.com/

This is a site hosting videos of speeches given at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) yearly conferences for the sharing of new ideas.  Some of my favorites are:

Jill Bolte Taylor http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

Ken Robinson http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Scott McCloud http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/scott_mccloud_on_comics.html

Is Happiness the New Dr. Phil of the Workplace?

At first I cringed as I read the recent article in Fast Company, “Director of Homeland Happiness”. I thought it was another gimmick for becoming “happier” and making the workplace more “fun”. As I read on, the human resources services company, Kenexa, seemed to be doing quality work that is not only helpful (in ways they can prove via the bottom line), but innovative in “combining psychology and technology” in big name companies.

However, my initial reaction was not unfounded. A friend said it initially sounded like a kind of Dr. Phil for the workplace and he wanted to know what people in my line of work (as an organizational consultant) thought about it. In the same way Dr. Phil represents to some psychologists a watered down version of psychology (an intervention changes significantly when it is intended for mass consumption – partially the age-old medium/message debate), some recent interventions to bring “happiness” into the workplace can often be viewed similarly.

We may resonate with the need to confront an unhealthy work life – and promote a different type of work environment.  The problem is that change doesn’t happen by one confrontation, even if it is on national television.  And happiness does not happen by just bringing in fuzzball to the workplace and having office parties every week.  It is a culture shift that starts as we question and challenge the status quo.

Everyone is looking for happiness.  Now, organizations know to use the buzzwords as part of their recruiting.  People don’t want a shallow happiness that happens when companies are trying to make employees happy. You can smell that from a mile away.

At the same time, there seems to be a real desire for work to be about MORE than just work. People want it to be satisfying. They was to know how they are adding value and to see a company’s recognition of this value.  This is somewhat of a new focus (especially embodied by younger generations, taking their cues from those who have come before them). What is also new is how organizations go about trying to respond to this demand by employees in attempts to retain this new generation of workers.

The old paradigm would be to tell people that this is just work and we’re at work to work. The work is enough – many high powered, fast-paced companies may feel this more – there are hundreds of people lined up to replace you so there is no room for complaining.  Some companies are swinging to the opposite extreme of touting happiness and sunshine – making it hard to take the work seriously.

The new paradigm is to start by allowing the dialogue…allow this voice to be heard. There is not a magic answer that satisfies all employees. There is, however, a huge opportunity to find ways that add a dimension to the work week we might not have thought possible and further engage employees.

Job satisfaction can come when both employees and organizations ask the question of what work means and how individuals do their best work. And keep asking the question as times change and people change.

The Generational Choice: Will You Take Advantage of the Generational Differences OR Will The Differences Take Advantage of You?

Given as Toastmasters speech #5 on December 3, 2008.

Aren’t we all just trying to get things done at work??  Unfortunately, there are a great many things that impede productivity and potential.  40% of HR Professional surveyed in a recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management observed workplace conflicts as a direct result of generational differences, specifically in the areas of 1. Work Ethic and 2. “Work-Life balance”.

65% of employees say that generational differences get in the way of getting things done at work.  That is a huge percentage.

So, Generational differences are very much a part of the current challenges that more and more organizations – and management in particular – are facing.

Given this reality, organizations are faced with a choice:

1. They could either try to cope and tolerate

OR

2. They can look at how they can leverage these diff and create opportunities for increased ENGAGEMENT and productivity – and ultimately profitability.

Engagement

A study done a few years ago showed that only 11% of workforce are totally engaged (engagement being defined as doing more than asked, helping others, choosing to stay instead of choosing other opportunities)

Only 13% are totally disengaged though. 76% are ambivalent -engagement agnostics – not sure if they want to engage.

The critical question is whether people are moving toward engagement or away from engagement.

Guess what the key variable is?  The relationship with his/her direct supervisor.

We suggest that giving supervisors tools to help them leverage generational difference is a key to helping people engage more at work.  This is based upon a paradigm shift of moving from the Golden Rule to the Platinum Rule of management – from traditional rule of management (manage others as you prefer to manage)…To the platinum rule -  focused on the DIFFERENCES – manage how people like to be treated. The evidence points – that when management chooses to focus on understanding the differences, people choose engagement.

That’s the OPPORTUNITY – And the question that I leave you with is…IF YOU DO NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF DIFFERENCES, WILL THE DFFERENCES TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU?

Toastmasters Speech #3 – Get to the Point

Title: What’s the Point?

Toastmasters and guests, most elevator speeches that I’ve heard remind me of being in an elevator.

I want out!

How many of you have heard a memorable elevator speech?

Why so few??  Is this not the whole point of an elevator speech though – to be memorable by ENGAGING others in who we are or in our ideas in as few words as possible? 30 seconds or less…or the span of an elevator ride. Supposedly the phrase elevator speech came from politicians that had only an elevator ride for an aid or a colleague to brief a congressman/woman on important issues on their way to the floor to vote. They had to be concise and convincing.

Entrepreneurs have to do this to get people to fund their ideas….that’s how they weed out the good ideas. If the elevator speech doesn’t catch their attention, it’s out – that’s the end. Business women and men have to share who they are in networking meetings – to get people to want to ask more questions and ENGAGE their work.

A Pulitzer prize nominated 20^th century writer and theologian, Frederick Buechner says, what we do should be “the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet”.

Our elevator speeches should convey exactly those two things: – found not in technique (do this, then that), but it is an emerging sensibility.

First – where are “you” in what you’re saying? – a connection with what makes you passionate about your work or your ideas….your deep gladness meeting the worlds deep hunger or need. That’s how you’ll ENGAGE others – when you are engaged.

As I was preparing for this speech and struggling with my own elevator speech, my mentor asked me – well why don’t you make a list of conversations – that touched on what you do – the ones you can remember are the ones that likely had some effect – where a person responded with interest or you felt more in your skin. There was engagement!

What conversations would your list include?

Second, how do we communicate how you meet the world’s deep hunger – do you have a metaphor that could help someone see the connection? What helps ENGAGE – draw people to want to ask more questions?

When I thought about what my mentor asked, I remembered a recent interaction with a potential client. We got to talking about organizational dynamics and generational differences. I got a little worked up when I was telling her that every generation has a very different conception of what work even is – organizations have fundamentally different conceptions on the spectrum of how to treat employees – what an employee’s work means. How do organizations get things done when everyone is working off of a different set of definitions?? It’s like that Indian story of the elephant and the blind men or men in the dark – they all try to describe the elephant from where they are touching and then they compare notes and dramatically disagree with their findings.

I see myself as the person who gets the people to even compare notes and start talking about this elephant called work.

I’m still working on my elevator speech – how to ENGAGE my audience. And I wonder how do you see your deep gladness meets the worlds deep hunger? And how can you ENGAGE others in 30 seconds or less?

Speech given October 8, 2008 at the BostonSpeechParty chapter of Toastmasters International; Boston, MA

Toastmasters Speech #2: Organize Your Speech

Good evening toastmasters and most welcomed guests.

What organizations will survive this next decade? What orgs will not only survive, but will thrive?

The global economy is changing. Here in the states, markets are shifting after many years of prosperity. An entirely new and different generation is entering the workforce. Another is contemplating or actively planning their exit strategy…

What are organizations doing to prepare for the significant challenges AND opportunities they will face in the next ten years?

This is where my story comes in… As I have begun my consulting practice with organizations that feel the pressure of this question, there are 3 learnings I’d like to share that are critical for organizations to not only survive but come through this next decade in a place of greater integrity. These learnings center around the role of Support, Questions, and Choice:

Support: Am I willing to intentionally seek partners that will be honest about how things really are –both challenging and supporting my efforts to change?

Ask: Am I willing to ask and be asked probing/strategic questions to bring current realities and desired future into further clarity?

Choose: Am I willing to choose to take initiative in a strategic way that produces the results I envision?

I shared in my icebreaker speech the metaphor of the river in which first I sat by the river banks, watching the river flow by. Then, through a key relationship with my mentor, the old way of being began to be called into question. I realized that my ability to be successful with one of my first clients was dependent on changing this way of being. I chose to jump in but felt myself grasping for branches to keep from being pulled under by the current…victim to the river. As I’ve continued along the journey of development, others have helped me see that I can choose not to become victim, but to wade through with others supporting my efforts, even creating new tributaries out of our combined energy and creativity.

My mentor (and the founder of The Genysys Group, the company I now contract for) speaks of organizations like rivers as well. From his 30 years of consultation, he’s found that most organizations see themselves as “puddle” organizations that do what they can until the puddle dries up by the forces of economy or usefulness. It cannot be helped. Many people see themselves as puddle people, along for the ride in their small puddle boats. Instead, in his work he suggests organizations view themselves as a part of a powerful river with life preceding them and wanting to envision and help carry forward life after them. They can become aware, like I did, of their passivity and choose to a more active role.

The Genysys model helps fill this out further because consultation has everything to do with helping organizations seek Support , Ask the critical questions, and Choose their future. The model is called Initiating Organizational Transformation (IOT), which implies this continual developmental process that forms an org culture that values awareness and looking forward and calling itself into question to be able adjusting to the changing economy and workforce dynamics.

The IOT model is formed around 6 areas and 7 strategic questions

Leadership : Determining Responsibility

Is there sufficient leadership to initiate and manage the desired transformational change?

Opportunity: Assessing Reality

What opportunities and challenges are facing us today?

Vision: Clarifying Identity

Who do we see ourselves becoming in the future given who we are today?

Energy: Aligning Resources

Do we have sufficient energy/motivation to take advantage of our challenges and opportunities, while moving toward our future?

Planning: Defining Direction

How do we develop goal-oriented strategies that will provide sufficient focus for us to realize our future and transform our organization?

Partnering: Focusing Collaboration

With whom do we need to partner in order to effectively carry out our strategy and how should we best develop these partnerships?

Leadership: Determining Succession

Is there sufficient leadership to sustain the desired transformational change?

I’ve described how individuals and organizations have opportunities to allow themselves to be Supported (through intentional partnerships) as they Ask the important strategic questions (like I’ve shared in the IOT model). This allows the possibility to Choose an empowered path of initiative, instead of becoming victim to some unavoidable fate like the puddle people.

I’m learning that the extent to which organizations are willing to seek partners, ask and act on what they have learned, they will have the opportunity to not only survive, but will thrive.

Speech given August 27, 2008 at the BostonSpeechParty chapter of Toastmasters International; Boston, MA

What Is Toastmasters?

Thanks for pointing out that not everyone knows what Toastmasters is.

Toastmasters is an international organization set up to simply help and support individuals become better public speakers.   There are chapters/clubs in most cities and 92 countries – many hosted by colleges/universities.  Programs or jobs (like mine) often encourage individuals to become a member, especially if they will have many public speaking opportunities.  However, Toastmasters is beneficial for anyone that simply wants to communicate more effectively.  It is one of those life skills that can only increase in usefulness over time.

Toastmasters clubs are communities of people devoted to improving their speaking abilities, supported by a structured program and resources (like a book that outlines each speech and what it’s intention is -#1 is always The Icebreaker, #2 is “Organize Your Speech”, giving pointers to form a clear argument, etc.).  The chapter that I attend in Boston (at Fisher College) is the Boston Speech Party.  It meets twice a month and I’ve been encouraged to do SOMETHING every time.

There is no pressure to participate, but many opportunities are offered to simply jump in and practice speaking!  This is what I’ve done.  Every time we meet, I have the opportunity to take on a role in the meeting, participate in table topics (1-2 minute impromptu response to a question), or sign up to give a prepared speech.  Below are the different roles and their purposes in the order that they usually happen in a meeting.

Toastmaster:  MC/moderator of the meeting

Cobweb Cleaner: Helps clear minds of extraneous noise and become present at the meeting

Word of the Day: Helps increase vocabulary – speakers are encouraged to use it in their speaking that meeting

Tip of the Day: Provides something that is helpful to members

Speech: 2-4 prepared speeches are given each meeting – the content is up to you, the type of speech is in the book, along with helpful tips to form your speech

Table Topics: Questions asked in the meeting – people give a 1-2 minute impromptu response

Speech Evaluators:  Each speech is given an evaluation by a fellow member in the meeting

Grammarian:  Reporting all the “um”’s and “uh”s so people can continue to decrease their use of filler words

Time Keeper:  Times all the speeches to help keep speeches i hear are short and succinct.

General Evaluator: Comments at the end of the meeting to provide highlights

I have found the structure, resources and people in this group profoundly helpful as I work to become a more effective communicator and continue to define who I am in the field.   I will continue posting my speeches so you can track my progress through the content of my speeches.

Toastmasters Speech #1: The Icebreaker

Good evening Toastmasters and guests.

What has brought me to toastmasters is a quest to bring a very private self to integration with an emerging public self. This is a journey not unique to me, as many of you can likely relate, but one worthy of deep exploration. Today, I’d like to give you context to my presence in this group by telling you about my family and husband that has shaped my personal self and then my graduate program and initiation to a vocation that is forcing me to develop a new public self.

I was profoundly shaped by being #3 of 6 children –fraught with middle-child dynamics (peace-maker, harmonizer, “doormat” in the middle of dominant personalities). I was described as a child as very quiet, watchful and taking everything in. Having so many voices, the accepted role for me was one of invisibility – blending into the background and not stretching my own voice.

The river of life was going by under my watchful eye, but I was not a part of its current.

My husband and I met in college in California and I continued in this posture. He is very extroverted, passionate and gifted. I imagined myself as even heroic at times…”the woman behind the man”. Truly though, that was a place of safety and one of hiding. It allowed me to remain invisible, as I was accustomed.

In my graduate program, this way of being began to be called into question. It was a business program, but focused on how individuals develop within organizational culture and how organizations as a whole develop and change. I started to become more aware that I was functioning in my work in the same voiceless manner – feeling powerless/victim to the organizational culture and therefore unable to truly contribute. I sat at departmental meetings – I was assistant director of a department in higher ed – and I would try out my voice, but I hadn’t really jumped in with both feet.

Because I was in this program though, I was approached by my brother-in-law to consult with him regarding some of the challenges he was facing in his company – a small family-owned manufacturing plant. This was a turning point. I did something that I wouldn’t normally do – I voiced a need for help. I created an Independent Study proposal and asked one of my professors that I knew had extensive experience in consulting if he would be willing to basically consult with me as I was consulting with my brother-in-law. In dialogue with my professor, I began to find my voice and also recognize that my ability to help my brother-in-law and his company move forward depended on it. I needed to reconstruct, as one of my favorite authors (David Whyte) says, “where the self meets the world”.

I had chosen to jump into this river of life, but hung on to branches at the outskirt, praying not to be swept downstream. Through the support of my professor, I began to make my way to standing.

I asked that professor to continue meeting with me in a mentoring relationship after our independent study. A year ago I signed on with his consulting company. I moved to Boston from California and am starting the east coast contingent of his company.

I have chosen and continue to choose not to be victim to the current, but to be part of life’s swift pace in a way uniquely mine.

Now I am committed to helping other individuals and organizations do the same – in my role as a consultant. I anticipate that joining Toastmasters will be a powerful vehicle to bring to expression and to refine this emerging self!

Speech given July 9, 2008 at the BostonSpeechParty chapter of Toastmasters International; Boston, MA

On The Train to Somewhere

I was riding the T today and witnessed a few teenagers approach a woman who looked to be in her late twenties.  They asked, “Is this the train to Park Street?”  Like many in Boston, they were trying to find their way around the city.

“Is this going Inbound or Outbound?”  What a good question.

I watched the woman kindly respond that she was pretty sure they needed to go to the other side of the station and go Inbound.  She led the way up the stairs and over to the other side…they eagerly followed.

I had a contemplative moment as I realized that it still surprised me when others were willing to go to great lengths to help perfect strangers get to their destination.  Perhaps they came in touch with the feeling they once experienced – the feeling of being unsure.  Feeling lost.  Not sure if they’re headed Inbound or Outbound.  Wondering if, like the train system, it’s all relative to one central point…but you don’t know what that is.

When the woman came back and sat down next to me, I told her it was really kind of her to go to all that effort.  She repeated that she wasn’t totally sure, but she thought that was the way.  I was still glowing in the amazement that she was so nice.  At the same time I realized I was confused.  Why would she go all that way if she wasn’t sure.  Why didn’t she ask someone else.  Why did the girls follow readily?  I wondered why I didn’t volunteer to tell her that she was in fact correct – I knew for sure.

It struck me that there was something of how we do life in this story… even when we have a clear destination (which finding that is a whole other story!), we ask others if we are on the right “track”.  Those we ask may not know for sure, but oftentimes are willing to lead us as far as they are aware.  Others will sit by and see our struggle, but not chime in.  Today that was me.  Tomorrow, I may be the one wondering if I’m headed inbound or outbound in this life.

Something to Say

I have something to say…I just don’t know how to say it.  As life is happening, there is the me that is experiencing and the me that is commenting on the experience and trying to make sense of it and learn from it.  Some people can put those together and write about what they’ve learned – truly interactive with the real human drama. This has been my struggle and one that I admittedly have avoided these last months. It requires access to an authentic voice it seems few writers obtain. Those that do are recorded in history as the greats. They draw the reader into their story in a way that is undeniable. The reader leaves sensing that they have truly experienced a different reality that challenges their own.

Perhaps what I am describing is not so uncommon.  The struggle to relay the way we make sense of the world is one that I have been told only happens with:

1. Practice articulating yourself
2. Reading/experiencing the stories of others

There are other ways as well…please do add to the list. I’m going to go ahead and find a bit of courage to re-enter the struggle yet again after previous opportunities STILL don’t seem congruent.  See you next “practice”.

A Question of Questions

I am working on a project right now in which many questions arise, curiosities that easily turn to frustrations.  My tendency is to ask those questions of myself and look in the literature…anything but to engage PEOPLE that might be most helpful.   Then, as my curiosity goes unanswered or lacks direction, my ability and desire to continue engaging my questions diminishes. 

What role does curiosity or questions play in getting things done?  Many have touted the importance of cultivating curiosity that keeps things interesting, creative and challenging.  Where do questions get directed to be useful in encouraging forward movement?

Rainer Maria Rilke, famous 20th century poet, says “try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Live the questions now.”

I have more questions than responses these days, that is for sure.  I am trying to live the questions and ask them of you as well.  I look forward to your thoughts.