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Why leaders subconsciously reject change

January 25, 2012 By 1 Comment

When our brain senses that our status is being threatened, our thinking shuts down.  We avoid the person or situation making us feel so uncomfortable, and we often stay away from any activity or idea about which we’re not confident. Worse, we label the other person as “wrong” so we can be “right.”

We don’t necessarily do this consciously. It’s just our brains’ natural response when our status is under attack, say the neuroscientists.

So when  corporate rebels and mavericks challenge an organization’s status quo and executive decisions, leaders’ brains go on high-alert. Their decisions, their plans, their position feel threatened and under attack. The neuroscience research says this threat to status activates the same brain regions as physical pain.

The leaders’ knee-jerk reaction is often to label the people with the fresh new ideas as troublemakers. Or not having enough experience to really know what they’re talking about. And jeez, that kid isn’t even a manager, what could she  know? (See how put downs can make you feel better and restore your status?)

Guess what this reaction does to people with the fresh ideas that you need to lead? They run for the hills. Maybe they try to approach you or another executive again, but you’re likely not to welcome what they have to say.  Through words, tone or body language you broadcast the message throughout your organization: your ideas are NOT WELCOME.

And then you wonder why the culture isn’t more innovative and creative. Why too few people speak up with substantive comments at meetings.  Why it seems like you’re the only one with the answers.

Time to get your brain in line and recognize your “threat” triggers so that you can control them –  instead of them controlling you.

Who needs to change their ways: leaders or rebels?

Some executives have told me that “rebels and change agents need to learn how business works. You can’t just disrupt things and expect everyone to change.”

But should the corporate rebels be the ones to have to adapt their style? Or should leaders find ways to better understand how to control their threat triggers so that they can create a safe, welcoming climate for new ideas?

To me, this is the responsibility of the leader. All people can benefit from understanding and managing what trips them up. But with the prestige and financial compensation of being a leader comes the responsibility for first and foremost managing oneself. So your head is ready to be in the game of leading.

Humility and reappraising

This is why so many great leaders are humble. Humility reduces the status threat. It puts people at ease talking with you. It clears the leader’s mind of emotion so that he or she can really understand what people are saying.

Another way to manage the brain is to reappraise situations that start to trigger your emotions. What’s  the other person’s perspective? What does he want me to understand? What does she want me to do and why?  Look at what’s being said as data and nothing more.

Economic and competitive threats are relentless, causing their own set of threats and associated behavioral responses. But to succeed companies need new ideas and the best ideas are likely to come from the rebels and mavericks inside your own organization.

As a leader, help those people who can most help you succeed. Even if they make you uncomfortable. Maybe especially because they make you uncomfortable.

Help yourself by seeing challenges to the status quo as possibilities not attacks on your position.

Filed Under: Activating change, Corporate Rebels, Innovation, Leadership, Organizational change Tagged With: , , , ,

There’s another woman

December 22, 2011 By 1 Comment

Last week my husband told me there is another woman.

My reaction was denial. After all these years, how could there be another?

Flash back 14 years ago to a fundraising auction at our son’s preschool. Greg and I were like over-excited kindergarteners trying to win the bid for this painting by Ron Ehrlich, an extraordinarily talented artist whose children also attend the school.

Win we did, putting the large painting in the living room.

My family and friends tease me about how much I love this painting. Every time a new child comes to our house I  ask him or her to look closely to see how many women they can find in the painting. I love watching them concentrate on trying to see what ‘s not apparent. When they excitedly point at the painting and say, “There she is!” We talk about her. Is she an African woman wearing a basket on her head? How long are her legs? Is she part of the horse? When they don’t think there are any more women I point out all my girls.

Up until last week I thought I had seen them all.

But sitting at the far end of the living room while the dim December sun lit the painting, my husband saw another woman. She’s been in our living room for 14 years, but neither of us had ever seen her. Now that we are aware of her big silhouette we wonder how we ever missed her.

As the year ends and we enter the dark season, I’m wishing that you, too, can see more in what already exists – find fresh opportunities in your work by thinking more about possibilities than problems, recognize qualities in your family and friends that have been overlooked, challenge your own certainty to let in new views, new people, and new courage to help you achieve what you really care about.

That other woman is waiting to welcome us.

 

 

Filed Under: Activating change, Musings Tagged With: , ,

Video: rethinking innovation, organization, leadership

December 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

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Rebels at work: Interview with Janet Swaysland of Monster.com

November 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

What fun to be interviewed by friend and client Janet Swaysland, senior vice president of Monster Worldwide, for the Monster corporate blog. Here’s what we talked about.

1.    When you told me you were doing research on corporate rebels my first reaction was, “Why look at the troublemakers? To what end?”  What attracted you to this work?

I heard Carmen Medina, recently retired CIA deputy director of intelligence, talk about how she was part of an informal Rebel Alliance of employees at the CIA, and how questioning assumptions and the status quo helped two rebels at the agency create the Intellipedia, a groundbreaking approach to intelligence that was awarded a Service to America national medal.

I began wondering how innovation and change happens in big organizations. You hear about innovators in start-ups all the time. But not so much in big companies. I was curious about the people in big organizations who blaze new trails and find ways to change business as usual. What are their characteristics? What makes them tick? How do you find them? Could they be an untapped resource for creating more innovative, engaged corporate cultures?

Carmen graciously let me pick her brain for a day about her personal experience as a “heretic” and about the Rebel Alliance at the agency. Then I had to know more.

2.    Are there “good” rebels and “bad” rebels?

There are always those people who are frustrated and bitter, more focused on stirring things up than making things better. Unfortunately those “bad” rebels get noticed while so many of the good rebels do not. The good, or what I call benevolent rebels, aren’t looking for attention. They want to help their organizations succeed, and fix things that aren’t working as well as they could be.

In my quantitative and qualitative research about rebels, I’ve found that these benevolent rebels are creative (88%), curious (82%) people not afraid of risk (88%). They are motivated first and foremost by wanting to feel like they’re making a difference. (92%).  They also tend to be positive, which has led Carmen to say, “Optimism is the greatest act of rebellion.”

3.    What’s most important for leaders and HR executives to understand about rebels?

Rebels have the courage to name the elephants in the room, see new ways to solve problems, bring outside ideas into the organization, and be the first to try new approaches.

However, these change and innovation rebels will make you feel uncomfortable. They call out problems others are afraid to (92%) and challenge assumptions and sacred cow practices (92%), both of which are essential to real innovation, but often shunned in organizations.  They also tend to go around the rules, question executive decisions, start projects without all the official approvals, and ask a lot of questions.

4.    What has surprised you the most in your research about rebels?

Rebels are not motivated by formal recognition or financial incentives. They’re self-motivated to want to make a difference and to solve things that are not working as well as they could. The research found that just 27% want formal recognition. What they do want is to be asked their opinions more often and be invited to work on special teams to solve specific issues.

I was also surprised by what I call the 90/30 conundrum. Approximately 90% of the survey respondents agreed that activating rebels can improve corporate culture and create a more innovative company. Yet only a third said they were very satisfied with rebels’ ability to provide that value in their organizations.

5.    Is there a rebel inside everyone? Should there be?

I think there is a rebel in everyone, but our rebel spirits has been suppressed. We have a couple of generations of people in the workforce who have been rewarded for keeping routine things going and for conforming.  That goes for everyone from CEOs to front line workers. The result is complacency, fear of doing things differently, and resistance to change. People complain but don’t act. Rebels are the kind of people who act.

6.    How can organizations bring out the inner rebel-ness of their people?

There are many ways. The most essential is creating more collaborative ways to lead and manage. The days of leader-as-hero are over. No one person — or handful of people –has all the answers or the best answers.

To activate the inner rebel in their people, leaders need to set clear purposes or missions, ask questions that challenge people to think in new ways, and then create safe, collaborative ways for people to get involved in creating the ideas that support the mission.  When I guide collaborative sessions where people dig into meaty issues, real magic happens; the power of diverse thinking coupled with people’s desire to create something bigger and better than they could alone or in their departmental silos is pretty amazing. No surprise, this type of involvement and collaboration is what rebels most want with their companies.

7.    Can people really afford to be rebels – making change can be risky — when they are just trying to hang on to the jobs they have?

If you are a “keep the routine going” person you face far greater risks than someone with the skills and courage to question the status quo and create new approaches.  When things get tough – as they always will — who do you want to keep on your team?  The benevolent rebels who see ways to improve and have the fearlessness to pioneer new ways? Or the person who keeps the engine running? Who do your most talented people want to work for?  Safe, complacent Charlie or innovative, risk-taking Charlie?

Rebels are proactive thinkers and creators.  There will always be a market for those skills in capitalistic economies.

8.    Are you a rebel?

All my life. Like Lady Gaga, I was just born that way. Sometimes my velocity for seeing emerging patterns and opportunities — and wanting to do things in new ways — has put people off. A boss once told me, “You’re always three years ahead in spotting what’s next. You have to help us catch up with you.”  I wish someone had taught me early on how to more effectively introduce new ideas and navigate organizational politics to get those ideas adopted.

My struggles as a benevolent rebel is one reason why I’m so intent on helping rebels learn how to be more effective change agents inside big organizations. Similarly, my admiration for leaders who embrace and empower rebels is why I’m driven to help leaders be more effective and courageous.

 

Filed Under: Activating change, Corporate Rebels, Leadership, Organizational change Tagged With: , , ,

CIA’s Carmen Medina on rebels, optimism, leadership

September 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

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20 ways to be a more effective rebel, maverick, edgewalker, change agent

August 15, 2011 By 1 Comment

So many corporate mavericks and rebels have great ideas, but those ideas often never see the light of day because of the way we truth-tellers and fire-starters behave. As a lifelong outlier — yet successful business executive — here are some of the things I’ve learned, often the hard way,  that may help you or the rebels in your organization.

1. Be positive: recommendations that are stated in the affirmative, that show what’s possible vs.what’s wrong, are more likely to be heard and acted on.

2. Frame it: frame how your idea helps the organization’s goals, cause, purpose. The more relevant the idea is to what everyone wants to achieve, the more open people will be to the idea.

3. Ask questions that highlight the possibilities vs. further damn the problems.  Possibilities create energy, problem dissing saps it.

4. Judge ideas, not people.  The first creates useful conversations, the second hurts, disrupts and usually dead-ends.

5. When angry, stop and wonder why. This has been especially helpful to me. I used to get so angry that I’d immediately react, or should I say over-react. Wondering why a person or company did or said something provides helpful perspective. The more we understand hidden motivations the more we can frame our ideas.

6. Strive for influence not power: influence inspires and motivates people to believe and act; power requires them to do so. Influence evokes possibilities, power evokes fear.  Power requires authority, titles and positions. Influence can be earned by anyone, no titles required.

7. Start the flame, tap into the collective brilliance of others to fuel the fire:  Change agents and rebels are the ones with the courage to be the first to stand up. To move from ideas  to action, bring in others who want to help. One person with a contrary idea usually gets little attention. Three people with a shared passion around a contrary idea start to get noticed.

8. Share the glory:  Revel in achieving something that benefits many, sharing the credit and the glory of all involved.  During my freshman year in college a philosophy professor told us, “Those who know know.” Even if it’s never publicly shown.

9. Communicate in ways that create clarity from complexity:  People need to understand what the idea is, why it’s relevant, and how it will provide value. Too often we get caught up in the “how we’re going to change things” before addressing the other important issues: context, relevancy, value.

10. Address the cost/value tradeoff:  are the benefits and value of the new way commensurate with the costs of change?

11. Let it breathe:  people often need time to absorb a new way, think on it for a while. As rebels we see things sooner and clearer than most and  get impatient with other people who aren’t as fast and decisive as we.  If we go too fast, we can mow over people, hurting the chances of being able to affect change.  In my corporate rebel research study, one write-in comment summed it up, “know that our velocity scares people.”

12. Pick the right boss or executive sponsor: find that person who appreciates your creativity, your fire-starting ideas, your naked truth-telling — and who can help guide and protect you  through the complexities of organizational politics and decision making.

13. Ask good questions, become a keen listener:  These two skills will serve as your advanced navigational systems as you chart through often foggy and potentially dangerous corporate seas.

14. Learn how to facilitate messy collaboration workshops to improve on your ideas, get buy in from others. People act on what they believe in. The more people who participate in shaping a new way, the more likely it is that they will adopt that new way.

15. Show how success can be measured.

16. Address the fears:  understand what people fear about the idea; respect, explore and test their assumptions; and/or explain how you plan to remove or minimize those fears.

17. Learn how to have constructive conversations. Most organizations are use to discussions (usually in the form of PowerPoint) that advocate for ideas, a win/lose form of communications. Constructive what/if conversations examine assumptions, open up possibilities, invite everyone to contribute, and value all points of view. A good book on this topic is “Naming Elephants: How to Surface Undiscussables for Greater Organizational Success.”

18. Be thoughtful in all you do: Thoughtfulness engenders support, abets truth telling, brings more humanity to our work, and adds more meaning to our cause.

19. Know when to walk away: perseverance is important. But so is knowing when to walk away, when the support for your idea just isn’t there. It may have nothing to do with you or the idea, the timing might not be right. Or the risks may be too great for the corporate culture.  Or people might not believe it’s really possible.  Don’t let your idea turn into a negative soapbox, where you lose your influence and rob yourself of energy and health. As Yogi Berra supposedly once said, “If no one wants to come, there’s nothing we can do to stop them.”

20. Believe you are enough.

Filed Under: Activating change, Corporate Rebels, Innovation, Language, Leadership, Organizational change, Problem solving Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Does you organization support culture of change, innovation?

June 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

Does your organization support a culture of change and innovation?

While most leaders want to be more innovative, often their cultures, business practices and management values don’t support such an environment.  Foghound’s study on corporate rebels found that just 34% are very satisfied with rebels ability to provide value in their organizations.

Here are six questions for leaders to consider as they assess how “change and innovation-friendly” their companies really are.

  • When you look in the corporate mirror do you see a culture open to new perspectives?

“Rebels often butt heads with their supervisors who want helpers not idea people. Rebels don’t want to hear, “That’s not the way we do things around here.” Foghound Corporate Rebel survey respondent

  • How do you lead management discussions so that people learn how to make decisions within a paradox of innovation?

How do you balance getting work done – with finding new ways to work? With adhering to standards – with taking risks? With rewarding employee cooperation – with recognizing employees for challenging the status quo?

  • Does your culture create obstacles or opportunities for people with the courage to challenge assumptions and ask new questions?
  • If people are your most valuable resource, how are you creating ways to tap into their collective brilliance? How do you make diverse perspectives heard?
  • Who and what filters new ideas? Are they helpful filters — or blinders?
  • Do your corporate values and beliefs encourage behaviors needed to innovate? (Or are your values rather bland and safe?)

Foghound Corporate Rebel Study: Value Rebels Provide to Companies

 

Filed Under: Activating change, Corporate Rebels, Innovation, Leadership, Organizational change Tagged With: , , ,

The 90-30 conundrum

June 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Approximately 90 percent of people who participated in Foghound’s recent Corporate Rebel Study said that they agreed that involving rebels more helps improve corporate culture and develop a more innovative company.

BUT only 34 percent percent are “very satisfied” with rebels’ ability to provide that value inside their organizations.

Companies want these rebels’ fresh thinking but many corporate cultures are getting in the way of that happening.   For while companies want to innovate the study found that they are uncomfortable when people challenge the status quo, question executive decisions, go around the rules, and ask too many questions.

If changing quickly to  tap into marketing opportunities and challenges is more important than ever, perhaps it’s time to change what our organizations value, model new behaviors as leaders, and teach rebels how to share their ideas in ways that trigger conversations vs. provoking anger.

I’ll be blogging more in the coming weeks about rebels.  Please feel free to share this research in your organizations.  I look forward to hearing more about your experiences in creating organizations where change agents are valued vs. viewed as trouble makers.

Corporate rebel ebook
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Filed Under: Activating change, Corporate Rebels, Innovation, Leadership, Organizational change, Problem solving, Research Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Collaboration: the courage to be messy

April 5, 2011 By 1 Comment

Real collaboration requires that we get messy — asking new questions, questioning what we know, and putting aside our urge to get things done. It takes time to think together, letting thoughts meander, listening to different people share stories and ideas that may or may not be directly related to the topic at hand.  It takes recognition that thinking is acting.

Learning to collaborate  has been a long and challenging journey for me, a former Type A, “let’s get it done now” kind of person.  While I’m open minded I’m also skeptical, a paradox that many executives share.

But having experienced what can happen when people check their egos at the door and open their minds to “structured unstructured” collaboration  has been transformational for me.  And, believe me, that “transformational” word is one I rarely use.  The outcomes can make such a difference to company success that I now dedicate much of my client work on facilitating  strategic collaborative processes for complex organizations and companies.

With every workshop I’m reminded that the most creative, strategic answers come from people within a company. Not outside management consulting firms or the latest best selling business book author.  The secret is guiding people through a messy process where they are able to talk about questions that rarely get talked about, with people in the company that they rarely have the time or opportunity to talk with in any meaningful way.

A great article on the messiness and value of collaboration, “Collaboration: The Courage to Step into a Meaningful Mess,” was published this month by Alycia Lee and Tatiana Glad over at the Berkana Institute.  Here are a few of the authors’ key points that especially  resonated with me:

  • We are so driven to attain results that we often bypass one of the key components of creativity: the ability to question what we think we know.
  • Sole motivation to meet goals and generate outcomes comes with a sacrifice — deflated creativity.
  • Cooperation comes when people work to share ideas, whereas collaboration is that magic moment when we take a step beyond the individual needs (financial gain, meeting objectives) and co-create from a higher shared value, when you realize “we can’t NOT do this.” That shared value moves the process forward to generate new possibilities.

One last thought. It seems that every CEO in the world talks about innovation as a strategic priority, but few are pushing their companies to work in new ways to be innovative.

The secret is simple: step into messy collaboration that asks the big questions and involves diverse people far beyond the C-suite.

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Getting to Maybe: How the World is Changed

March 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In the movie Jerry Maguire, Renee Zellweger’s character tells Tom Cruise that he had her at the first hello. Well, this warning to the book “Getting To Maybe: How the World is Changed” had me at the first page:

Warning: this book is not for heroes or saints or perfectionists. This book is for ordinary people who want to make connections that create extraordinary outcomes.

What riveted me to this book on social innovation:

  • The authors fascinating yet easy to understand application of scientific complexity science as a way to understand social innovation.
  • The book’s thorough research and presentation of patterns of social innovation
  • The compelling stories of diverse social innovators – what triggered them to start, how they navigated their journeys, and the shared patterns of those diverse journeys
  • The use of poetry to ground each chapter, counterbalancing the art of change with the science of systems change.
  • More thoughtful, original, and thought provoking insights than I usually find in a professional book.
  • Many, many practical ideas that I can see how to apply both to my professional organizational change management work and my responsibilities as a trustee on non-profit organizations.
  • How relevant it is in today’s world with nations in the Middle East transforming and our school systems, unions, health care institutions and governments undergoing complex, profound and needed change.

The yellow highlights in my book are too numerous to list, but here are some of my takeaways.

Getting to maybe vs. concrete, measurable outcomes

“Maybe” comes with no guarantees, only a chance. But “maybe” has always been the best odds the world has offered to those who set out to alter its course…”Maybe” is not a cautious word. It is a defiant claim of possibility in the face of a status quo we are unwilling to accept.

Why complexity science?

  • Traditional methods of seeing the world compare its workings to a machine. Complexity science embraces life as it is: unpredictable, emergent, evolving and adaptable.
  • Connections or relationships define how complex systems work; an organization is its relationships not its flow chart.
  • Using insights about how the world is changed, we can become active participants in shaping those changes.

Being heard: speaking the vision and passion

Effective and innovative organizations keep alive the that vision and passion, that sense of calling…Part of the challenge in being heard is to hone what you have to say and practice saying it in a way that connects both emotionally and intellectually, both affectively and cognitively

Working with powerful strangers

  • If the system is to be transformed as opposed to overturned, collaboration between the radical and the establishment must be created.
  • In any discussion of power and its redistribution, link the issue directly to the organization’s mission and keep it in that context.
  • Power dynamics will surface in connection to mission fulfillment; which is appropriate; there it will challenge those in power to examine the depth of their commitment to real change.

Evaluation, measurement, accountability

  • Set information targets, not just performance targets.
  • Use developmental evaluation, charting a changing path of innovation by providing rapid feedback.
  • Frame changes from you’re learning as developments, not just improvements, and a key difference in perspective. Especially with funders.
  • Support learning as a meaningful outcome – and reporting on learning as a form of authentic accountability.
  • The highest form of accountability is internal. Are we being true to our vision? Are we dealing with reality? Are we connecting the dots between here-and-now and our vision?  Are we walking the talk? How do we know if we’re not?

Scaling innovation

Scaling up is rarely a linear process that involves doing more of the same.

A different approach to strategic planning

  • Make big-picture, strategic thinking an ongoing part of decision making, not something done only periodically in retreats.
  • Devote resources to identifying and tracking important trends. Make strategic analysis about the connections between local efforts and major trends a regular part of your work.
  • Develop a fierce commitment to ongoing reality testing, especially seeking and being open to critical feedback and standing still to see the bigger picture.
  • Instead of cheerleading, cultivate the skills of rigorous pattern analysis and reality testing.

Quotes I loved

  • Thinking is a form of action.
  • A goal helps to channel the energy but doesn’t create it.
  • Keep the goals front and centre –  let the means emerge.
  • Hell is not failing, hell is delusion.
  • It takes courage to act in the absence of certainty and clarity. But to not engage, to not connect does not mean we protect ourselves from uncertainty.

I’m a voracious reader, and highly recommend this book by Frances Westley, Brenda Zimmerman and Michael Quinn Patton — especially for those involved in innovation, organizational change and social transformation, or for those who wonder and perhaps worry about how we can solve today’s seemingly insolvable social issues.

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A CEO’s view on rebels

February 1, 2011 By 1 Comment

I’m about to launch a research study on corporate rebels to better understand these change makers. Some executive friends have suggested that maybe I should use the word “change agents” instead of rebels.  This morning I stumbled across this video from Steve Jobs in early Apple days and decided to stick with rebels.

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Innovation & problem solving: 15 thought provoking questions

July 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Uncovering Possibilities

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“Accidental Genius” can change your thinking

July 21, 2010 By 1 Comment

So I’m behind on my business reading because of all these fascinating conversations with strangers this summer. But one book I just finished is a wow because it can help you solve problems, find new ideas, have that “aha” marketing or sales breakthrough. And its advice is simple and easy for anyone to do.

The book is “Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight and Content” by Mark Levy.  Mark’s view — which I can attest to — is that by slamming down your ideas on paper within a short time frame, say 12 minutes, you can find insights, get unstuck, and find ways to express your business or yourself that are genuine to who you are. (I believe that when this “realness”  happens, you begin to like doing marketing and sales because the message means something to you.)

Mark’s book explains the freewriting process and shows how to put it to use for practical business and professional purposes.  By writing out your thinking on paper really fast, you push aside that ego lizard brain and tap into deep seated ideas, which are often both startling and right on. The speed of the writing pushes away the conscious editor that usually filters those wacky, odd ideas and thoughts.

I’ve used freewriting for the last 18 months and it has opened up tremendous creative thinking and strategic ideas. (And brought more value to my clients.)  When there’s a gnawing big opportunity or potential obstacle in our work one of my executive clients now says, “Lois, why don’t you go off and do some of that narrative writing.”  (Note, though, that most freewriting isn’t to be shared publicly; it’s a way of privately figuring things out.)

This approach also helped me finish my book “Be the Noodle.” For four months the manuscript sat because I couldn’t figure out what wasn’t working with it. I used one of the techniques in Mark’s book and did a Q&A with myself, wrestling in writing about the creative standoff.  I speed wrote a question, and then wrote a reply. No thinking. Just slamming it down, keeping the pen moving and never leaving the page until the alarm rings. (Part of the trick is setting an alarm and writing fast before times up.) The answers led me to a new book title and format change and within two weeks the book was finished and a publishing deal was put to bed.

Here are some of the things that I’ve highlighted in “Accidental Genius”:

  • Prompt your thinking: prompts are helpful way to jump start your thinking and writing. Mark includes an extensive, helpful list of short, open-ended prompts like: “I’m scared by….This sounds insane, but my organization would be 500 percent more productive if….I’d like to tell you a story about…”
  • Be open to what shows up: “When you freewrite the page is alive. The ideas that appear on it will change radically, if you let them. You must be open to the truth of the material as it shows up.”
  • Marathons: “Each time you formulate a starter thought, demand that it sends you in a new direction…Force yourself into uncharted waters, even if doing so seems artificial or uncomfortable. Pursue novelty and uncertainty; head toward anxiety.
  • The fascination method: Mark asks people he works with to make an inventory of everything that has fascinated them at any point in their lives — any ideas that have energy for them, whether or not they “fit” with the person’s business or book concept.  The fun starts by putting the ideas together and seeing patterns and insights. “From these places of energy,” he writes, ” we find the book’s premise and much of its supporting material. This material comes from an honest place within the client. It comes from the spot in their brain where they keep things they can’t forget.”

There’s so much more in the book. I hope you find it as valuable as I have.  When in doubt, write it out.

Filed Under: Activating change, Books, Communicating, Innovation Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Look up

July 9, 2010 By 3 Comments

One of the things that struck me about the fascinating behind-the-scenes documentary about Vogue Magazine (“The September Issue”) are the different behaviors of a decision maker — editor Anna Wintour — and the creative director, Grace Coddington.

In one scene they are both in a car driving into Paris. Wintour is heads down on the phone or on her Blackberry, checking emails. Coddington, on the other hand, is looking out the window, taking in the world.  Wintour is very much about commanding an executive presence. Coddington, dressed simply in black without makeup, is about finding ideas.

The IBM Institute for Business Value’s recent study of 1,500 CEOs identified “creativity” as the most important leadership quality. But can we be genuinely creative when we’re tethered to devices, status, best practices and corporate politics?

Grace Coddington looks up and is of the world. Maybe this is one of the simplest and most elegant ways to find the inspiration to create new corporate cultures, business models, and services and products.

Or maybe it’s a Friday afternoon in the summer and I’m wishing you all a weekend to look up and beyond business. I think it’s both.  Enjoy.

Filed Under: Innovation, Leadership Tagged With: , , ,

Research: women in male fields not seen as competent, likable

June 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I’m writing a rather important speech for an executive to give in Washington, D.C. next week about women in innovation and came across this rather alarming piece of research by Madeline Heilman, professor or organizational development at New York University.

The study found that:

  • People viewed women in male-type occupations as less competent than men, unless there is concrete, visible performance information to prove otherwise.
  • When evidence showed that the women were as successful and competent as the men, they faced another challenge: people said the women were unlikable. People like men more than women in male-dominated fields like engineering.
  • Both competence and likability play a role in workplace success and career advancement. So women in science and technology fields have a double whammy to overcome: prove they know their stuff and overcome biases that they are cold, pushy, unfeeling and generally unlikable.

Other research has found that women in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, math) drop out of their fields mid-career, about 10 years into it. No wonder, with such ingrained biases among both men and women. Who wants to get up and go to work in that environment?

Heilman’s research also found that when people were told that the woman demonstrated “communal” behavior, e.g.,  she encourages cooperation and fosters a sense of belonging for her employees, people began liking her.  Similarly if people learned the woman was a mother, they liked her more.

Women have made progress, but not enough. The guys may have unfounded biases about women in these male-dominated fields, but we working women should know better, and be open and supportive of women who are still breaking the glass ceiling and lab walls.

Filed Under: Activating change, Innovation, Musings, Research Tagged With: , ,
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