A Question of Priority

I just received an email from a colleague that has worked as a contractor for my organization over the course of several years. I worked directly with him for about two years. Although not hard charging (much like I am), he was consistent in producing consistent meaningful results. Of greatest value to me, was his ability to scrutinize a situation or process and ask, "Why?" In this way, he was able to challenge the status quo and get our group to see if we could not think about things a little differently.

I knew his contract was coming due, but did not expect him to leave because he had been able to get his contract renewed at least once that I know of. I was suprised to see a notice from him in my inbox entitled, "Farewell to friends and colleagues."

I read his comments and they gave me significant pause for thought. I include them here:

"To my friends and colleagues,

"I wish you all a fond farewell. It has been a great privilege to work for [Comany Name Redacted]. A company that I believe exemplifies integrity and innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. In the brief time that I shared here I had the great fortune to work with a number of extraordinary individuals. I wish you all continued good fortune as you continue to play your role in bringing life saving drugs to the patients that need it.

"As for me, I’m going skiing. Though few may be aware, in April of 2008 I experienced a bit of a health related wake-up call in the form of the autoimmune disease Rheumatoid Arthritis. My experiences over the past year and a half have compelled me to radically reorganize my priorities. Under the care of an open minded physician I focused on anti-inflammatory factors, nutrition, and stress reduction. Though not clinically “cured” I significantly reversed a condition that was, at times, very debilitating.

"So, as I make my journey East to Vermont, I leave you with something to consider. I believe health care reform starts at home. It starts with the simple choices that we make every day. Great companies like [Comany Name Redacted] will always be needed to produce drugs that save people’s lives. However, we have a choice each day to seek balance in our own lives and reap the reward of growing older, well.

"Best regards, [Name Redacted]"

This made me think of a time years ago. My son was only 7 years old, if that. I was working full time and going to school full time. In addition, I was helping run the family farm. Time was at a premium. I decided I would take the day off; from everything. At the time, I raced ATVs in the desert and my son rode as well. I put on my riding gear, loaded up the truck with our machines and went to his school. I went to the office and signed in and then went to his room and signed my son out. We went out on the west desert and camped and rode for two days. It is one of my, and I hope his as well, most cherished experiences. The image above is one I captured one night when we were goofing around.


I wished my colleague best of luck in a personal response to his communication. However, the provocation of thought from his email still lingers. How often do we stop to consider those things that are really and truly important? We have business needs that must be met. The organization does not stop and we must continue to produce for it. At the same time, we must also consider family, friends and loved ones. Are we building lasting relationships and meaningful experiences and memories? Or are we just going through the motions?

Each of us can only answer those questions for ourselves. What will your answer be?

It is simply put...

A Question of Priority.

Does An Attitude of Gratitude Help The Bottom Line?

Recently the question was posed in a discussion group I belong to, as to how to develop a culture of gratitude. It made me wonder: Does an attitude of gratitude help the bottom line?

Gratitude and feedback are nearly synonymous. If you receive gratitude from someone, they they are providing positive feedback. The lack of a display of gratitude is also feedback. However, lack of gratitude does not necessarily represent "bad" feedback. It can mean ambivalence to gratitude in general, it can also mean that what you have done is expected, and finally, it could mean that your performance did not meet expectation.

There are some simple rules to giving gratitude that will carry you a long way. First, Show gratitude frequently. My organization has an eCard system that you can use to send a Thank-you internally. Some you can attach dollars to, but most are just a Thank-you and nothing more. The system keeps track of all you send. In 2009, I sent over 150. Some people think that excessive. However, I rarely have difficulty when I need to ask someone for help on an urgent matter to take on an extra assignment.

Second, be specific. You should always specifically state the behavior or task for which you are grateful. The system I use requires no more than 200 characters. This forces me to be brief and specific so it is clear as to what I am grateful for. "Thanks for your help," does not cut it in my book. It is too general. If you state specifically what you are grateful for, you are more likely to have a positive impact. You are also more likely to get the same behavior you recognized when you ask for help again from that individual.

Third, following the first two rules help when you have to deliver an uncomfortable message. Face it; we live in the real world. From time to time we need to coach others on what could have been done differently. These discussions are much easier to digest by those to whom we deliver the message, when you have established a pattern of gratitude. Explaining to someone how to change a behavior or activity to produce better results is much easier to accept if the bearer of the message is frequent and consistent in delivering messages of gratitude.

Fourth, Coach and Challenge others in your organization to do the same. Life is usually not made of step changes. As a matter of fact, step changes typically represent something bad that has happened in our lives. The positive things we see in our lives come from positive incremental change, (http://findingfault.blogspot.com/2010/01/door-to-change-swings-on-small-hinges.html). If you work on developing an attitude and behaviors that reflect gratitude, others will notice. Of those others, someone will adopt the same behaviors. Others will notice, and of those others someone, perhaps some others, will adopt the same behaviors. Eventually you will have critical mass in your organization and voila! You have cultivated gratitude in the workplace.

A culture of gratitude is one that values the individual and values results. A culture of gratitude is more collaborative and more productive. A culture of gratitude has a higher probability that it will resolve conflict and position itself on a more competitive footing.

Does and attitude of gratitude help the bottom line? Please...

...Help me understand where the down side is!

The Door To Change Swings On Small Hinges

The door to change swings on small hinges. That's what my grandmother used to tell me when I was too anxious for something to happen. Her parents crossed the plains to the Rocky Mountains in a covered wagon; one step at a time. It took months. One small change at a time. Some days the horizon looked the same as it did the day before. Eventually they made it and saw big change when they finally made their way to the Great Basin of the Rocky Mountains. The door to change swings on small hinges.

I think about that statement now, more than ever. I think about economic bubbles. Why do they exist? People want things to happen faster than the economic environment is prepared for them. Take the real estate collapse for example. Many people wanted homes. In many cases more house than they could really afford, or than they needed. This created paper wealth for other people in the form of mortgages. But not enough wealth. Real Estate hedge fund managers saw the opportunity to leverage, already leveraged mortgage paper to generate "wealth". Lots of it. More than they really needed. Then there was a failure, and another and now we have an economic recession we think we might be getting out of. Or maybe not. Time will tell.

Our society seems to have become an "I want it all now" society; at the expense of what? Banks? Bond Holders? Stockholders? Neighbors? Taxpayers? What happened to the idea of frugality? What happened to the idea of an honest day's work for an honest day's pay?

I have come to the conclusion that if you try to make it happen faster than the natural process will allow, someone will nearly always suffer. There are no shortcuts. A thoughtful disciplined approach will get you where you want to be. Patience must be applied and developed. This enables one to see the pitfalls and circumvent them. On the other hand that does not excuse a lack of progress, growth and development either.

The same is true of investigations. When conducting an investigation, there is nearly always a time line. A target due date. The nature of business dictates such. On the other hand, the quality and depth of the investigation is an exercise of executing proven methods with discipline. This may be painful at first. Over time, investigators get better and better at finding Root Cause and applying the appropriate counter measures. It all of a sudden seems to get easier.

I remember a couple of years ago when I was hammering through investigation after investigation. I usually had 3 or 4 going at the same time. At one time I had 8 investigations I was conducting. It was a grueling time for me, but I kept at it and I stayed true to the process. Then something happened. I realized one day that investigations in general got easier. Upon deeper thought and consideration I realized that I reached a step change in my skill and ability. However, it didn't just happen. It took a lot of little activities repeated consistently time and time again.

In church not long ago, a woman trained in classical performance of the violin, performed a solo. It was powerful and had great feeling. Everyone in the congregation was visibly moved, including myself. I was astounded at the technique demonstrated. When she was through, she sat down and the speaker got up. He thanked the violinist and then made a statement that has since stuck with me. He said, "I'm sure most people don't appreciate the THOUSANDS OF HOURS that went into being able to play such a moving piece for those few moments.

Money and finance, business, having a nicer home or nicer car, conducting investigations and yes, even playing the violin, and doing any of them well, require practice, patience and diligence as the skills and behaviors for success are developed.


In the late seventies, famed actress Shirley MacLaine was asked in an interview at the height of her career, "To what do you attribute your overnight success?" She responded that the overnight success she was enjoying took her 25 years to develop.

The Door To Change Swings on Small Hinges.

The Incentive Continuum

There is a balance between individual and team incentives. It is important to realize that this balance is dynamic. To assume it is static risks the potential of "stale" performance.

Think of incentives as being on a continuum. This continuum starts with individual performance and ends with team performance. If incentives are at the "individual" end of the continuum, then personal agendas will supersede team performance. Behaviors exhibited at this point in the continuum usually produce short term results and are sycophantic in nature. This is not something that all people are given to, but it is something that all people will exhibit to one degree or another, when the incentive is for individual performance alone.

On the other hand, at the opposite end of the continuum, if incentives are strictly for "team" performance only, confusion may occur. Who will lead when there is no incentive to lead? Who will make decisions? Ambiguity ensues and individuals, especially highly motivated individuals, become disenfranchised. They will disengage and results will be slow in coming and as ambiguous as expectations for the team.

Given this data, the correct balance must be identified. Such a balance depends on organizational values, objectives and business needs. Determining the correct balance cannot be arbitrary, but rather should be a disciplined, proactive process that is aligned with organizational strategy. This also anchors the incentive program to the organizational culture.

To ensure that the incentive plan does not become stale, it should be evaluated for change on a periodic basis. This will ensure that the incentive plan has the correct balance, at that period of time for the organization, between individual and team performance.

It is also important to keep in mind that not all incentives are monetary in nature, and not all incentives are formal. Leaders within the organization can exercise creativity for short term projects or plans, which will help drive results. The same criteria for developing these incentives are the same for broader organizational incentives.

Finally, incentives are a form of recognition and nearly everyone wants to be recognized for their efforts. Not all want to be recognized in the same way. George Washington was keenly aware of this during the American Revolution. A highly puritanical congress thought that the Continental Army should aspire to the greater good of the country and quit complaining that the worthless Continental Scrip they were issued had no value. During Valley Forge, there were large numbers of troops deserting daily, most of which deserted for lack of "real" pay. Washington was keen on recognizing the folly's of this congressional thinking and met with many of his men who had deserted upon their capture and return. He asked them of their concerns and promised with full intent, and the integrity known to be characteristic of him, that he would do his best to redress their grievances. His troops returned and others on the cusp of desertion remained.


These men of the Continental Army were only seeking recognition for their efforts, trials and contributions. They wanted to be validated as individuals, as soldiers, as human beings. They also had to work as a team. Through the instrumental skills of Baron Von Steuben, Washington was able to give his troops pride (read as recognition) as an army that would be a force to be reckoned with; a team.

Balance had to be found on the continuum. So it is with every project for every organization. Incentives must exist, but they must be balanced between the individual and the team. They must be appropriate to the time and the task. And they must not be allowed to go stale.

When performing an investigation, it is important to consider incentive, both for the team and the individuals on the team, to ensure the investigation is sound and completed on time. It is critical that your plans for your team are found at the right point on...

The Incentive Continuum

Leadership & The Drill Master

I prefer learning leadership from historical lessons, rather than theorized concepts found in the current contemporary literature. That is not to say that the contemporary literature does not have value and merit. I read much of the contemporary literature as well. However, learning from others in the past, which have had to lead during trying and difficult times (when leadership is truly put to the test and demonstrated), brings me great pleasure and something I can wrap my mind around.

Given the above, here are my favorite books on leadership:

1. Washington's Secret War: The Hidden History of Valley Forge
2. Henry Knox
3. The Drill Master of Valley Forge
4. We Were Soldiers...Once, And Young: The Battle of Ia Drang Valley

I love that all these people, although they demonstrated excellent leadership when called upon, saw leadership as a character trait rather than a technique, and that although they were great leaders, suffered from some flaws in human frailty as well. Great leaders are human. All too often we think them infallible. It is the human side of their nature, aspiring to something great, which in times of difficulty allows leadership to rise within them.

This is even more important when one considers that each of us are of the same mettle. To what level though, do we build leadership as a character trait, such that when called upon, we too may lead? This is the question we must all face, whether leaders by design or by circumstance. It cannot be ignored.

Below is an image of Baron Von Steuben "The Drill Master of Valley Forge" working with Washington's troops on learning drill. Von Steuben demonstrated exemplary leadership at a time when our nation's greatest need were for his skills in leadership.


Here is what Von Steuben expected of his troops:

1. Excellence in execution through daily practice
2. Officers (read as supervisors) participating in daily practice
   
3. Officers taking care to ensure their troops needs were met as much as could be expected
4. Officers developing their careers through results, rather than pandering for promotion

Here is what Von Steuben expected of himself as leader:

1. Lead by example
2. Orders (read as assignments) are best completed when understood why they are important
3. Humor is important in engaging others
4. Be firm and decisive when appropriate
   

Understanding leadership and building it as a character trait will ensure that all the objectives of any investigation are met, that it is robust and definitive in the root cause, or exhausted entirely in the pursuit of root cause. Von Steuben gave a great example of how this is the case. You can read about it in "The Drill Master of Valley Forge." Just think about the next investigative team you either lead or participate in, and consider...

Leadership & The Drill Master