Category Archives: Judgment

Can you become more tolerant of ambiguity?

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People differ greatly in their tolerance for ambiguity, though it is uncommon for leaders to admit that they don’t like situations that are unclear. As leaders, they feel that they must be seen to roll with the punches, help people find clarity in uncertain situations, and act decisively.

To get a more realistic understanding of your own comfort with ambiguity, start with assessing yourself on four modes developed by David Wilkinson regarding the ability to deal with increasing degrees of ambiguity and complexity.

Mode One – Technical Leadership. These leaders usually deal with ambiguity by denial or creating their own certainty. Mode One leaders are also more dictatorial and are very risk-averse by nature.

Mode Two – Cooperative Leadership. The aim of Mode Two leaders is to reduce uncertainty and to build teams around them to mitigate risk.

Mode Three – Collaborative Leadership. Mode Three leaders have a tendency towards consensual methods of leadership. They prefer to work towards aligning team members’ values and getting agreement. Their approach to ambiguity is for the group to examine it.

Mode Four – Generative Leadership. These leaders use ambiguity to find opportunity. They tend to be habitual learners and innovators.

People have a certain threshold for dealing with ambiguity and that capability can be developed through structured practice and coaching. How can you start expanding your tolerance of ambiguity?

Banish availability cascades. These are the assumptions that something is true simply because we have often heard that it is a fact, or can think of examples where it is true. Availability cascades keep you stuck in the past, clinging to misconceptions (for example, leaders need to have the answers, strategic planning always looks five years out, the most effective motivator is money).

Explore the “new world.” Carefully examine the changes that have occurred in your field in recent years. What new rules, facts and beliefs are pertinent now? How do these jive with your “old world” view? Learn something from the system outside your current reality – a younger employee or a different industry – and implement it to improve your own performance.

Look for cognitive dissonance. When confronted with situations that challenge your beliefs, knowledge or values, what is your reaction? Carefully examine your thoughts and behavior in the face of something that seems “just wrong.” You may not change your world view, but you will at least recognize that reality is less fixed and homogenous than you once assumed.

Dealing effectively with ambiguity means slowing things down at times and not rushing to find “the solution” to every dilemma. “The creative person is willing to live with ambiguity. He doesn’t need problems solved immediately and can afford to wait for the right ideas” (Abe Tannenbaum).

 

Want to become a generative leader who embraces ambiguity? Contact Humanergy.

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Strategy and your brain

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It might seem that when it comes to strategic thinking, the brain is your ally. Not always. Our brains aren’t always rational, and we are unaware of the extent to which the mind takes shortcuts and makes assumptions. Charles Roxburgh writes about the brain in Hidden Flaws in Strategy (McKinsey Quarterly):

“Over the millennia of its evolution, it has developed shortcuts, simplifications, biases, and basic bad habits. Some of them may have helped early humans survive on the savannas of Africa (“if it looks like a wildebeest and everyone else is chasing it, it must be lunch”), but they create problems for us today. Equally, some of the brain’s flaws may result from education and socialization rather than nature. But whatever the root cause, the brain can be a deceptive guide for rational decision making.”

Roxburgh points out eight flaws that every leader should be aware of as they solve problems and make decisions. For example, our brains are overconfident in our own abilities. We think we can estimate far more accurately than we can, and we believe that enterprises that we’re involved in are above average. Related to this overconfidence is being overly optimistic – skewing toward the most positive projections about factors that are uncertain.

You can compensate for your overconfident brain by:

  • Testing strategies over a wider range of scenarios, and giving people a choice between an even (2, 4, 6…) number of options. If given an odd number of choices (e.g., 3), most will choose the safer middle option.
  • Mitigating the risk of getting monetary projections wrong by reducing your most optimistic estimate by 20% to 25%. If you’re estimating revenues of $5 million, reduce that “best case” figure to around $4 million.

Read the full article on McKinsey’s website (registration required), so you can plan around your flawed brain. You’ll be way ahead of your competitors who think their brain is just fine the way it is!

 

Want to be more strategic and execute well? Contact Humanergy for helpful tools that will make your brain even bigger!

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Change your body to change your mind

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Most people are familiar with the idea of a mind/body connection. We typically think of this as being the power of our thoughts to impact our body. However, did you know that your body’s position can affect your mind as well? Research shows us that the association between our brains and our bodies is a two-way street.

“Embodied cognition” is the term for the interdependent and collaborative relationship between the brain and body. Shaun Gallagher, director of the cognitive science program at the University of Central Florida was quoted in a recent blog: “In any particular instance, what’s going on inside the brain in large part may depend on what’s going on in the body as a whole, and how that body is situated in its environment.”

Upright posture affects confidence. Research published in 2009 showed that people who were sitting up straight were more likely to be confident in the things they were asked to write about themselves. People who slouched were less confident of their own thoughts.

Use of non-dominant side of your body builds creativity. It may be no accident that many creative people are left-handed. Forced to operate in a right-hand-dominated world, lefties create new, usual neural connections. Run backwards or use your non-dominant hand for a short time each day to build mental capacity and even slow the aging process.

Exercise prepares your brain for learning. Dr. John J. Ratey of Harvard says, “We really need to think about exercise to keep the brain functioning well, and that it also happens to be good for the body.” Numerous studies show that rigorous activity (at least 40 minutes four times a week) improves your brain’s functioning, regardless of age. While exercise doesn’t make you smarter, it does prep the brain for learning. Our bodies were made to move, and we must do so vigorously and regularly to maintain optimal circuits in the brain.

Body position impacts memory.You’ve left an important client meeting and are struggling to remember a vital detail. Improve your chances of recalling the information by assuming a body position similar to the one you maintained in the meeting. Like smells, textures or emotions, body position is a strong mental trigger for memory.

Emotional response depends upon body position. Psychological Science reported on research showing that people’s brains responded differently to anger-inducing stimuli, depending upon their body position. People who were lying down experienced less activity in the left prefrontal cortex (where anger is “located” in the brain) than people who were sitting up. Some researchers believe that the upright body position signals a sort of “I’m ready” state in the brain, making it more prone to react angrily. Similarly, the simple act of smiling (or frowning less) has been correlated with increased happiness, even when the smiling was forced. In fact, people whose ability to frown has been limited due to botox injections were found to be happier and less anxious, even if they did not feel more attractive.

Your body influences your mind. So what? Here’s a summary of leadership to-dos that will help your body influence your brain in positive ways:

Sit up straight. Use your non-dominant or weaker side. Exercise vigorously. Use your body to remember. Smile. Angry? Lay down. Pretty soon your brain and body will be in sync, ready to tackle any challenge – intellectual or emotional – that comes your way.

 


Leadership requirement: X-ray vision

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High performance leaders know how to read the pulse of the organization. They regularly adjust strategies and tactics based on their understanding of what is really going on. This type of X-ray vision is the ability to see the unknown, inner mechanism of people and organizations. Leaders with x-ray vision:

Understand the meaning behind surprises. When people are surprised it gives you insight to their internal landscape of beliefs and expectations. You will also learn more about your own assumptions and recognize that not everyone views the world as you do.

Gain insight from people’s emotions.  When people have an emotional reaction, they are really communicating about something that is important to them. Conversely, if they are working hard to contain an emotional response, that also gives a clue that the issue is significant. Be aware of and sensitive to people’s responses, and your analysis will be better informed.

Recognize the importance of noise.  We’ve all seen it. A seemingly minimal change creates a furor. People become frustrated, distracted and unproductive. This “noise” tells you that something isn’t right or a process is not working. Dig deeper and listen carefully to analyze what is happening, before you respond.

Watch for the vacuum. The signs are chaos, stress and an increasing number of unanswered questions. These symptoms indicate that some aspect of leadership isn’t being filled. Respond quickly with a clear vision and the direction that your people need to move forward. No matter what, the vacuum will be filled. It’s up to you to ensure that it happens productively.

Practice “show me.” When you’re fuzzy about what’s going on, get out of your office. Go connect with your people, see firsthand the challenges they encounter and observe how they resolve them. You will have a more complete picture of their world and be better equipped to support them in their work.

Practice “teach me.”  There is no substitute for direct personal experience. You will further deepen your understanding (and credibility) if you ask others to teach you what they know. Ideally, you should then roll up your sleeves and grapple with this new task. You’ll be better able to strategically address gaps and foster learning when you know from experience how hard it is to get the job done.

Summarize their understanding for others. You’ve gone out there with your x-ray vision, and you think you’ve gleaned just the right information. Before you leap to making changes, restate your insights to others to make sure you’ve got it right. You need to be open to the possibility that other eyes “reading” the situation have picked up on a nuance you’ve missed.

Are fully present. X-ray vision requires that you are not caught up in your own head, your own thinking and your own agenda. In Mark Goulston’s blog on presence for Fast Company, he quotes Wilfred Bion about the importance of listening without memory or desire: “…when you listen with memory, you have an old agenda that you are trying to plug/maneuver someone into and when you listen with desire, you have a new agenda that you’re trying to do the same thing. In neither case are you listening to their agenda and in neither case are you present.”

X-ray vision gives you a new perspective on reality – allowing you to experience its full, connected complexity over time. It takes dedication and hard work to look beyond the surface as an ongoing discipline. As Alfred North Whitehead said, “It requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious.”

 

Want to find out how you can acquire x-ray vision or teach this super-power to others? Contact Humanergy.

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I’m always right

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I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty much always right. I may be able to put on a face of openness, but I am at heart a very opinionated person. Ask me about almost any subject, and I most likely will have a strong (and well-reasoned) opinion on it.

The difference between me and the folks I find downright scary? I am willing to admit that I don’t know everything, and there are whole areas about which I am clueless (e.g., opera and poetry). I am also willing to change my mind based on a compelling set of facts, personal experience or the counsel of wise people. In other words, I know I’m right AND I’m not so rigid that I am unwilling to listen, learn and change my mind.

Leaders are supposed to be open to new ideas and shift strategies when circumstances dictate. Not all do that effectively. It seems to come from a deep need to be right, which is really just masking a deep fear that they aren’t as competent as they should be.

Since it’s unlikely that you’d identify yourself as a person who must be right all the time, how can you work with someone else who is sure they’ve cornered the market on brains?

Know thy know-it-all. You’ll work more effectively with the alleged wiz if you understand what makes him or her tick. How does this person like to receive information? Do they need to know the details, or would they be more impacted by the big picture view? Would it be better to provide a visual, a bullet point list or a detailed report? Align your interactions to meet their needs, and you’ll eliminate some of the roadblocks to working together.

Appeal to their (fragile) egos. I’m not a big fan of sucking up in any form. When dealing with people who are insecure and can never be wrong, it is sometimes necessary to employ the “you-said-something-the-other-day” strategy. If you have a compelling argument for a certain decision, start from something the know-it-all said (and feel free to take a little license from there). For example, “You mentioned the budget for the ABC acquisition yesterday, and I figured you were wondering about the numbers. I took a look at them, and you’re right. We are 20% over budget! Here’s a strategy for coming in on target.” The most important part of this strategy was the “you’re right” part, which is music to their ears.

Combat their unrealistic optimism. Leaders who must be right find it difficult to appropriately gauge risk. They are overly optimistic that everything they touch will turn into gold. Proceed with caution, but do bring the facts to light. Portray it as the way to “maximize their brilliant innovation” and it will be an easier pill to swallow.

Here’s one of the most frustrating things about people who think they’re always right. Even when they do switch sides on an issue based on more information, know-it-alls find it hard to view themselves as being wrong in the first place. As Ashleigh Brilliant said, “My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I am right.”

Want to find out more about working with your (un)friendly neighborhood know-it-all? Contact Humanergy.

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Failure or success? Either way, you win!

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Raise your hand if you prefer success. How about failure?  When we succeed, we often say “whoopee”and quickly move on to the next thing to do. When we fail, we hurry past the mistake and try to erase it from memory. Both of these choices mean that we don’t learn from our experiences.

Many experts believe that people and organizations are far more likely to examine and learn from their failures than they are to analyze why things went well. Others say that the impulse to attach blame to mistakes encourages people to sweep them under the rug or only delve into mistakes on a surface level.

How can you make sure that you gain insight and learn, whether you fail or succeed?

A recent Harvard Business Review article by Francesca Gino and Gary P. Pisano called Why Leaders Don’t Learn From Success points out the pitfalls inherent in your golden moments. The authors say that success can actually breed failure. They note that we make key psychological errors when we succeed, including:

Fundamental attribution errors. We attribute success to our talents, model or strategy and don’t even consider that something unrelated caused our windfall.

Overconfidence bias. When we succeed, our self-confidence increases; too much success can lead us to think we’re infallible.

Failure-to-ask-why syndrome. We succeed. We throw a party. We don’t ask the tough questions to figure out why things went so well or to increase our knowledge about how to replicate success.

The HBR article gives several practical tips for overcoming the pitfalls of success. One of the authors’ recommendations is simply to examine your success with the same rigor as you do your failures. At least spend as much time investigating the causes of success as you do congratulating one another! (Read the article. It will be the best $6.95 you’ve spent in a while.)

The Mistake Manifesto: How Making Mistakes Can Make Us Better by Alina Tugend examines the other side of the coin – learning from your failings. Tugend says “mistake avoidance creates workplaces where making changes and being creative while risking failure is subsumed by an ethos of mistake-prevention – at the cost of daring and innovation.” Bill Gore, founder of the company that makes Gore-Tex, is quoted about the fact that organizations often don’t distinguish “above the line” mistakes from “below the line” mistakes. “Below the line” mistakes can sink the ship, but often “above the line,” minor errors are treated with the same gravity and severe results. People shut off their creative juices if they think that they must always produce success.

Tugend recommends that mistakes be not only accepted, but even rewarded. Even exploring hypothetical options that seem wrong can illuminate what is right. This opens the door to wider thinking, more experimentation and ideas that break the mold. (Tugend’s other recommendations include how to communicate when you make a mistake, and many more brilliant ideas too numerous to list. Read that article, too!)

Both good fortune and mistakes can be barriers to understanding and continuous improvement, if you don’t have your priorities straight. If it’s been awhile since you’ve experienced a major (or even minor) slip-up, think about if you’d view it as lessons to be learned or a failure to forget. Also, did you dissect your last big breakthrough and figure out what really made it so successful? Your answer to those two questions may give you a clue as to whether you value success over achievement. What’s the difference? No one says it better than Helen Hayes:

“My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others. That is nice, but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about success.”


Have a question about this topic or want some input from Humanergy? Contact us!

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Most rules are unnecessary and some are really dumb

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Let’s just clear this up, for those of you who are rule followers: Yes, there are a few rules that organizations need in order to comply with the law and create necessary structure and standards. Other than a scant supply of dictates, what more do you really need? (Even Moses came back down the mountain with only 10 commandments!)

The whole question of rules was reinforced by a blog called “What Every Manager Should Know About Managing Gen Y.” It advised leaders to create ‘Gen Y-friendly rules.” In fact, the authors recommend that you review all rules that people seem to try to work around.

Better yet, put all rules on the chopping block. Start with these:

Rules you can’t or won’t enforce. If people are breaking a rule right and left, ditch it. Either it’s impossible to enforce or the organizational will isn’t there. Lack of enforcement promotes cynicism and apathy about rules in general, even the ones you really need.

Rules that upper management folks break. If rules apply to some and not to others, get rid of them. Selective enforcement of the rules contributes to a toxic work environment.

Rules that don’t help you achieve your goals. We could insist that all of our staff maintain X hours of office time. We don’t because we realize that time in the office has little, if any, relationship to our goal – delighted clients. Keep your eyes on the prize and only create rules that are necessary for achieving it.

Rules that are micromanagement in disguise. Rules that tell people what to do and how to do it should raise alarm bells. Instead of dictating the “whats” and “hows,” only require that people orient towards the right goals and adhere to your ethical standards. Then let them exercise judgment and creativity in their work.

There are some pretty outrageous rules out there, if online postings are to be believed. Even if your policies don’t include a requirement that you give 2-weeks’ notice before dying, you may want to review your list. There may be some oppressive or just unnecessary rules that are doing your organization more harm than good.

Lots of rules may be an indicator that you’re spending way too much time on the activity of work – what you will DO. When your focus in on what you will ACHIEVE, you need fewer rules. Organizations can’t dictate their way into success – that requires an unrelenting focus on where you’re going and the crucial few non-negotiable rules that will help you get there.

Have a question about this topic or want some input from Humanergy? Contact us!

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Why superheroes can’t be strategic

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Think you’re not focusing on strategy because you don’t have enough time? Maybe it’s because you’re afraid to fail. You want – or even need – guaranteed success at every step.

Being too successful can actually work against you.  If you are accustomed to being invincible and have little experience with failure, you may find it difficult to contemplate the future with a truly open mind. While you’ll prefer to keep doing the “important” things you do that are familiar and that have won you accolades. You’ll be the hero to some, you won’t achieve your true potential. You won’t do what strategic action requires – fast forwarding the organization into a new, unexplored future that will keep it vital and relevant.

What can you do if you’re now sheltered and comfy in the trenches but want to be stretching yourself into strategic thinking and action?

Recognize your emotional comfort zone. Intellectually, you can tell yourself that you’re okay with risk. You might make excuses, like, It’s just this workload that keeps me from focusing on where our organization should go. The reality is that if you’re saying this year after year, there is something driving you to stay where you are. There is some competing commitment that keeps you fighting fires day after day. Could that competing commitment be a need to be seen as successful 100% of the time?

Amp up your motivation by visualizing new results. Take time to explore the results you’re getting now, with your current thinking. Then contemplate the new results you will need to achieve in order for the organization to thrive in the future. What new thinking is required to attain those results? (Hint: One part of this new thinking is, Sometimes I will fail AND I will learn from it.)

Identify how to be more strategic. Being strategic isn’t just about thinking great and expansive thoughts. When it comes right down to it, a spectacular strategy will fail if it cannot be properly executed. Therefore, strategic thinking really should be conceived of as strategic execution, where strategy informs execution and execution informs strategy. Step one of this process is to fast forward yourself into the future. What new realities face you? What new opportunities? What is your new vision of success? Step two involves looking back from your future perspective to create a plan for execution. As you implement this plan, allow lessons learned from execution to enlighten the strategies you’ve put in place.

Alan Lakein said that “Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” Don’t waste your opportunity to strategically execute just because you need a perfect win-loss record. The biggest win is yet to come.

Have a question about this topic or want some input from Humanergy? Contact us!

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Get real about procrastination

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“If it weren’t for the last minute, I wouldn’t get anything done.” Author unknown

Okay, in the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit to you that I’m working on this blog at the very last minute, and I’m woefully behind on a number of projects that really need to happen. So one of my resolutions is to get off my butt and address the pressing issues I have been ignoring.

Are you starting 2011 with a renewed commitment to stop procrastinating? Millions of people are in your (our) shoes, but how many of them will succeed in tackling those critical things that never seem to get done? Sadly, not many. How can you banish procrastination once and for all?

Be brutally realistic. Subconsciously, you have already decided that some of the items on your list are never going to happen. Maybe they’re not that important to you, and you’ve taken them on simply to please someone else. You may be incapable of doing a task, but reluctant to accept that fact. It could be that it’s really not essential. Whatever the reason, erase the work you realistically won’t do from your list. Then you can direct your energies to the things you must do.

Conquer time. Many people complain that the reason they don’t get important work done is that they don’t control their schedule. That simply isn’t true (unless you are in prison, perhaps). The real truth is that although you may not have a lot of time, you have some. What you do with that time is your choice. Read our blog called Ruthless time management for the frantically busy.

Do it first. Don’t allow yourself to start the day without addressing the most vital of your put-off-tasks. Otherwise, you’ll get distracted from what is truly most important. See our blog post called Act strategically. Eat the frog first.

Chunk it up. If just thinking about the enormity of the job makes you queasy, start by breaking it up into manageable bits. Don’t allow yourself to wallow in the vastness of the task; as Dorie in the movie, Finding Nemo, said, “Just keep swimming…just keep swimming.”

Get help. If you think you have to do it all yourself, think again…and read our blog post called Help! I need somebody. Recruit someone to tangibly help, be a sounding board or hold you accountable.

Make a public commitment. Nobody wants to be caught not doing something they’d committed to do. Use your fear of embarrassment by making your resolution specific, deadline-driven and public. Explicitly tell people how they can help keep you on track.

Build in consequences. Finally finished that basement renovation? Schedule a massage. (You might need it.) Consequences can be positive or negative, but they should be incentive enough for you to do this hard work.

Give up on perfection. Remember The Cult of Done Manifesto, part of which states, “Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being done.” Perfection is unattainable and unnecessary. Your best has to be good enough. Otherwise, delegate it to someone else who could do a better job.

You show what you value not by what you talk about, or lay awake pondering, but by what you do. So get off the computer and spend a few minutes zeroing in what you’ve been trying to avoid. You may find that it’s easier than you think. Olin Miller said, “If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it.” Like writing blogs, for instance.

Have a question about this topic or want some input from Humanergy? Contact us!

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Build courage when you need it

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Remember the Cowardly Lion in the movie, The Wizard of Oz? Here’s how he introduced himself to Dorothy, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow: What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the “ape” in apricot? What have they got that I ain’t got?

Have you ever felt like the cowardly lion, hoping for the courage to speak up in a meeting? Tell your boss your new idea to cut costs? Have a difficult conversation with a friend?

According to dictionary.com, courage is defined as the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger and pain without fear. We often equate courage with warriors, superheroes and cancer survivors.

We polled the Humanergy Team and have six techniques to help you muster your courage.

Blow up your fears. Ask yourself: “What is the worst thing that could happen? How likely is that to happen?”

Consider the other person’s greater good. Take a moment to walk in her shoes. Am I the right person to deliver this information or have this conversation? What will be her discomfort with this situation? Long term, is this the right thing to do? At the other end of this challenge, will there be more trust and a better relationship?

Have a pep talk. Pick someone you absolutely trust—a friend, spouse or co-worker. Ask him for counsel and to cheer you on before and after the conversation. Have him remind you of your core values and the absolutes you won’t compromise.

Think, plan and prepare. Before the conversation, do your homework. Write a script so you’ll say the right thing the right way. Rehearse aloud. Anticipate and prepare for the other person’s reactions and questions.

Know that perfection is a myth. The conversation doesn’t have to be perfect. And it won’t be. Have positive intent and do your best.

Consider the consequences of not having the conversation. Ask yourself: What is the compelling “yes?” If it is important to have the conversation, then do it.

Feeling more courageous already? Consider what Eleanor Roosevelt said: Do one thing every day that scares you.

Now, if we only had a pair of Dorothy’s ruby red slippers!

Have a question about this topic or want some input from Humanergy? Contact us!

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