Flexible or Wasteful?

One of the things I love about being a college professor is the flexibility I have in performing my work.  I also find that flexibility can be problematic.

In the principles of lean operation, one source of waste is unnecessary transportation.  Well, because I have so much flexibility, I seem to move things from one work place to the next -- and then back again.  My campus office is great, but it can be hard to concentrate there, so I reserve my writing projects for my study at home.  Sometimes it is hard to get motivated to work at home (e.g.,  I really need to clean out the pantry), so I take my laptop and go to the library or Barnes and Noble.  In any given week, I may be working from half a dozen computers in more than fifteen locations.  Clearly, I need to simplify things.

My first step has been to move as much as I can to the proverbial cloud.  I do save quite a bit in my email folders on the Exchange(TM) server, but have to purge those every few months because of space limitations.  The courseware we use at my university is also a good place for me to keep teaching-related materials, although it is cumbersome to organize it well.  In the past few months, I have come to rely extensively on Dropbox (www.dropbox.com).  It has an intuitive interface and makes it easy for me to a) access my files from any computer, and b) share files with colleagues.

Yet I still have paper and books that I seem to tote back and forth.  So in the spirit of a popular lean technique, 5S (sort, straighten/set in order, scrub/shine, systematize, and standardize/sustain), I have decided to impose some structure on my flexibility.  The first step of sorting requires that I identify all of my active projects in one place, so that I may then take step two and set them in order (or more specifically, determine where I will work on them and keep the necessary materials).  It helps me to think of my projects role-by-role.

1. Instructor 
1. Weekend MBA - work on campus, files in courseware
2. Flexible MBA -- work on campus, files in courseware
3. Professional MBA -- work from home (teach off-site), files in courseware
4. Next semester preparation -- work on campus, files in courseware
5. Advisement -- work on campus, files in campus office and mainframe
2. Scholar
1. Textbook supplements -- work on campus (supports MBA classes), files in Dropbox
2. Textbook revisions  -- work at home, files in Dropbox
3. Peer review -- work at home, files in email
4. Business novel -- work at home, files on laptop
3. Service
1. Strategic planning committee -- work from home, files in Dropbox
2. House of Delegates -- work on campus, files in email
3. Rotary -- work from home, files in email (communications) or Dropbox
4. Habitat Board -- work from home, files in email (communications)  and Dropbox

My other roles, in my personal life, I generally keep at home.  Again, though, the family computer and some home files are on the first floor; my study and other files are on the second floor.  I seem to be constantly staging things to go up/down.  I am in the process of moving all of the home management "stuff" downstairs, so that my study is just for professional activities.

Once everything is in place, I will scrub/shine my work with good file organization and labeling.  Then I will be systematic about working and keeping things where they belong.  If I can be successful and do this throughout the summer, I just might be able to sustain it during the regular school year.

Productivity is a two sided coin.  One side is flexibility, the other side is efficiency.  It is time for me to flip the coin.

Reflections from my Hiatus

It has been a long time since my fingers last visited this blog.  Ironic, really, because just before I went on a hiatus I blogged about how you have to be disciplined and "make" time.

Well, I have been making time for a lot of things.  Probably too many things.  But not blogging.

My writing energy has been devoted to a couple of other projects.  This summer, I'll be using a new textbook that a colleague and I wrote and edited, for our MBA strategy/capstone classes.  I developed a paper with another colleague about measurement systems for social ventures; it won a "distinguished" research award and is forthcoming in the Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal.  My favorite, though, is an article I wrote to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Fredrick W.Taylor's Scientific Management. The call for papers from the Journal of Management asked whether his work was still relevant in today's businesses.  You betcha!

A key insight of Taylor's was that overloading workers made them less productive.  Well, that's certainly still true today, although the overload tends to be mental rather than physical.  My paper specifically addressed the issue of information overload, why it is so detrimental, and how scientific management and lean manufacturing principles could alleviate the problem.

All this is to say that I have realized I need to take a dose of my own medicine.  I am overloaded.  And very, very tired.   So the stories I will be writing this summer will be reflections about applying scientific management and lean principles to my personal and professional lives.  Comments and suggestions are welcomed!

Help! I'm Becoming One of "Them"

With an engineering background and information technology industry experience, I have long considered myself to be self-sufficient in personal technologies. Until now.

About two years ago, I became an Apple customer -- after being an "IBM user" since 1984, when the first PC was announced by IBM. I did this to challenge myself (and because my teenage son was an Apple devotee).

Now, I have an iMac at work, an iPod at the gym, and an iPhone in my bag. None of them really came with a user manual. And I just do not find any of it intuitive. Where is the on/off switch for the iPod? How am I supposed to know that Time Machine is a backup tool? And the interface in iTunes makes no sense to me (and I have been syncing for years with a PDA).

Last night, my son and I were helping my mother with her iIssues. She wanted to move her audio book from her iPod to her iPhone. First we had to install iTunes on her new computer. Nope, that was the wrong version -- she needs the 64-bit version (who knew?). Done.

Next we File-Transfer Purchases so that her e-book is on the computer. Done. We synced her iPod. Done.

At this point, the Jets-Patriots game was getting down to the short strokes, so my son was checked out. I eject the iPod, connect the iPhone and click on its audio book tab and tell it to sync. Abort! Abort! Abort! Doing this operation will erase everything on the iPhone. Why? Because I didn't transfer purchases with the iPhone plugged in, so her apps didn't download. Argh.

Anyway, I had created about 80% of a blog with my BlogWriter app last week. It's no longer there. Where did it go? It is not in my blog. It's not in my drafts on the cloud. It's not on my phone. Double argh.

I must be getting old. Or overloaded. The rate of change in technology is faster than my rate of change in learning technology (we were talking about differential Calculus this morning, sorry). I just don't get it.

Business Cycles

One of my favorite things about my profession is that it is cyclical. As a college professor, I have the sense of a "new beginning" every fall (actually, every August). This is another opportunity to "get it right," whatever that may be.

This is not to say that I don't work during the May 15-August 15 hiatus. I do (although obviously my blog was not part of that workload)! I teach a fun course at one of our satellite campuses, which entails 4-5 weekends away from home. I also try to produce at least one paper, either to present at a conference or to submit to a journal. But I relish the less structured time and especially enjoy the time I can spend with family and do projects around the home.

Around this time in the summer, though, my entropy becomes overwhelming to me, in the sense that I have less energy for work and feel more random. (Boy, do I get spacey!) It is time to embrace a routine, institute self-discipline, and build my enthalpy.

So I approach the academic year with a renewed sense of drive, purpose and commitment.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if businesses could leverage their cycles like that? Some do, e.g., closing for a week or two during the slower summer months. One company I worked for had half-days on Fridays during the summer. I do not think throughput suffered as a result.

When I was in corporate sales, business cycles were more of a mixed blessing. At the beginning of the fiscal year, my quota was reset -- and my attainment went back to zero. That did not mean that my energy and enthusiasm were restored, though.

Recently, I read an article in the Harvard Business Review (Perlow and Porter, October 2009) about the benefit of enforced time off. The context was the consulting business and the point was that consultants had better staying power when they could anticipate and permit themselves some "down time."

Wouldn't we all benefit from that?

When Initiative Can Backfire

John Maxwell has what he calls "the law of respect," explaining people naturally follow leaders stronger than themselves.

I believe this is true. I also believe it can make working for a manager who is not as strong a leader as you are EXTREMELY frustrating. You need to make an extra effort to "manage up" in a way that is not threatening to that person. Otherwise, you may find that showing initiative can backfire on you.

Managers who "micro-manage" tend to be insecure, making them more controlling and less trusting. When others show initiative, micro-managers try to lead from behind, i.e., hold back or stall the effort.

For people in this situation, I have several recommendations:

1. Remember that the relationship will not last forever.
2. Find out how your manager likes to be kept informed -- and do it.
3. Keep your boss from being surprised -- let him/her hear from you, rather than someone else.
4. Show your boss respect, if only out of common courtesy.
5. Avoid the politics and backbiting that often accompanies such situations.

Basically, I'm suggesting that you want to take the high road, while still doing your best work. Document your accomplishments. And dress for the next job!

The Best Laid Plans

There are some who would say, "Why plan? Things change as soon as you step onto the proverbial battlefield." In the months since I last blogged, I have been a bit "shell shocked," to continue the military metaphor, with unexpected and conflicting demands on my time coming at me from several fronts.

So, while I agree that it is generally true that things do not work out as they are planned, I still believe that planning is valuable, for several reasons:

1. Plans help me to visualize what is to be done. According to Stephen Covey, one of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is to "begin with the end in mind." Planning forces you to define what the end is to be.
2. Plans help me to adjust to changing circumstances. Rather than simply react, I can be proactive in how I respond when things change. Do I adjust the plan? Do I put the plan on hold? Do I persist?
3. Plans help me to stay focused on my priorities. If I haven't planned, then I am likely to overlook someting that I should do. Like everyone else, I have a lot of demands on my time. I want to be intentional, and address the most important things first.
4. Plans help me to be more realistic. My eyes are bigger than my stomach, and my heart is bigger than my brain! There are so many interesting projects and possibilities and worthy pursuits -- and so little time. Planning forces me to take something off, when I take something on.
5. Plans make me a better colleague and friend. If someone asks me for help, I want to give a reliable response as to if and when I am willing and able to do what is asked.

William Ward, the inspirational writer and speaker, identified "four steps to achievement: Plan purposefully. Prepare prayerfully. Proceed positively. Pursue persistently." Proverbs 16:9 tells us, "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." I hold these thoughts close.

Eliminating Waste?

I've been thinking about lean operations, a lot, lately. What makes them lean is that they eliminate waste, i.e., any activity that does not add value. Generally credited to Toyota, the main sources of waste are typically:

1. waiting
2. defects
3. inventory
4. overproduction
   
5. unnecessary transport
6. unnecessary human motion
   
7. unnecessary processing.

As I explain in my forthcoming book, McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course in Operations Management, "In examining a lean transformation system, activities are considered value-added (e.g., patient diagnosis); non-value-added but necessary (e.g., requiring patients to sign a HIPAA form); or non-value-added and not necessary (e.g., waiting for the doctor)."

Lean concepts are applied to a wide variety of operations, and can certainly apply to personal effectiveness. I recently learned of an application than I thought might have gone too far.

According to American Public Media's radio show, "Marketplace," Ireland-based "Ryanair, a budget carrier... is considering a plan to charge for use of its lavatories on short flights." Unnecessary... processing? According to the report, the airline wants to modify passengers' behavior on short flights. I can only imagine. I suppose an infrequently used toilet requires less service? Ultimately, if they are able to reduce the number of lavatories needed on each plane, they can add more revenue-producing seats.

But really, is it in the spirit of lean operations that they are eliminating... eliminating waste?

Lateral Thinking

When talking about the value of lateral thinking for the creativity of leaders, I was reminded how much fun it can be.

From a business perspective, lateral thinking improves problem solving skills, and is a great way to kick-off a planning or problem-solving meeting. The general idea is that verbal and analytical processing tends to occur in your brain's left hemisphere; visual and graphic processing happens on the right. By translating pictures into words or words into pictures, you are brain-shifting (in layman's terms). Cultivating this ability enables you to view a problem or an opportunity in a wider variety of ways than without lateral thinking.

How do you cultivate this ability? One of my favorite ways is to play a form of Pictionary(r), a game that gives you a word or a phrase that you have to get others to guess by using only non-verbal images. So if you are the player who is drawing, you first read the card (left side), and then translate it into images (right side). The audience looks at your scribbles, and tries to verbalize what it is that you are drawing.

As a meeting ice-breaker, it not only gets the brain-shifting circuits working, it tends to energize and relax people at the same time. I will often use terms related to the purpose of the meeting to get people thinking along those lines. For example, if I were facilitating a project planning session, I might have terms such as: project, schedule, scope, and milestone. I start the meeting with the easy one, and draw something like you see in the diagram below.

If that didn't work I might try a chart with a forecasting arrow, to represent another way to "project." If that still did not work, I might try a "sounds like" and draw a dog protecting a house. How would you picture it? How about the others?

Another good exercise for lateral thinking is a rebus puzzle. Here, the idea is to look at the words in the puzzle as a graphical image, to understand the implied word or phrase. For example:

MOON
MIAMI

would elicit the song, "Moon over Miami." The Franklin Institute has a page of fun puzzlers.

No shift -- try it, it's fun.

Self Control

I am giving a talk this evening, to a student-led conference on leadership and health.

The basic premise of my talk is that you cannot expect to lead or influence others if you are not in command of yourself. Self-control is crucial. It affects how you prioritize, what you say to other people, how you react to emergencies -- as well as on your ability to lead.

Self-control is a practice of discipline. It comes from what is described in the Bible as the "Fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22-23). It takes time to develop, but is easy to lose!

Why do we lose self-control? I believe one of the biggest reasons is what Dr. Richard Swensen (Margin, 2004) calls a "lack of margin." Just having margins on a page, we should have blank space in our schedules and cushion in our finances. When we are overextended, either with our schedule or our finances, we are more likely to explode when something unexpected arises. Certainly, we lose the positive attitude that draws followers to leaders.

How do we develop more margin? I think Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989) has a lot to offer to someone looking for more margin. I will highlight two key points that he makes: 1. Sharpen the saw, and 2. Put the big rocks in first.

Sharpening the saw means taking care of yourself. Getting enough rest, eating healthful foods, and exercising even moderately will go a long way to improving your self control. Covey identifies the need to invest time in yourself for physical, social, spiritual, and intellectual renewal.

To make the time, you have to "put the big rocks in first." That means that you prioritize and protect the time that you need. We often spend too much time on things that are urgent, but not so important. Sharpening the saw activities are important, but not necessarily urgent -- so you need to schedule those activities ahead of the urgent (but not important) ones. Be aware of the time you spend on things that are neither urgent or important (e.g., watching TV, being immersed in MySpace, etc.), and set boundaries on those.

You also have to break the procrastination habit, something I have already blogged about.

No fun? Well, actually, you might find that by creating more margin for yourself and focusing on the right priorities that you will enjoy life more, be a better leader, and have more time for intentional fun. Self control pays dividends.

Individual Throughput

When I was younger, I found it hard to understand why other people could not "get it all done." I was a hard worker, efficient, and results-oriented.

That changed dramatically in my early thirties, for two key reasons. The first is that I had a child. Suddenly, my ability to manage and control my time was greatly diminished. My priorities were divided. There was never enough time to do all that I wanted to do as a mother and as a professional.

The second reason was my career change, from the corporate world into academe. I was better able gto pick and choose the things I worked on, but never really felt completely done, especially as I was developing my expertise. There was always more to learn -- and there are still so many interesting problems to solve!

As a result, during that season of life, I allowed myself very little downtime. As I often said, "I'm a working mom. I'm either working or mom-ing." No wonder I became stressed, cranky, tired and overweight. But I had good throughput!

As I approach 50 (and a new season!), the need for downtime is crystal clear to me. I do not believe this is a function of age, but rather, a result of wisdom. Downtime is beneficial because it restores and re-energizes. And I believe that, by giving yourself the freedom to shut down (and disconnect), you are actually going to improve your overall throughput.

This belief is supported by a recent article published in the Harvard Business Review's October 2009 issue (Reprint # R0910M). In their study of management consultants, Leslie Perrow and Jessica Porter suggest that "Making Time Off Predictable -- and Required" produces better overall results for individuals, the teams, the professional services firm, and the clients.

In our family, we have a few ways in which we achieve downtown. One is the "mental health day," when we are absent from work and/or school to recharge and de-stress. More often, though, we observe the Sabbath (although not always the same day/time of the week). Napping is encouraged and accomplishing tasks and chores is forbidden. We also try, with mixed success, to have disconnected vacations. To achieve this, my son and I have to shake down my husband and get his phone and watch. Otherwise, it becomes a "virtual vacation."

Try this yourself. Set aside a day and give yourself permission to be a human being, not a human doing.

To Rant or Not to Rant...

... that is the question.

I try to live with a grateful spirit, but lately it seems like I just have one thing after another that really irritates me.

On the customer service front, a light on my street is out. This is a problem for me because I walk my dogs at night, in the dark. Of course, I notice it at 8:30 in the evening, when I cannot do anything about it. Then, just this week, I received the quarterly bill from the county for street light and sewage service (I'm not sure how they service the sewage, but we pay for it). There was a phone number on the bill, so I called it. After wading through the audio response interface, I reached a human voice who told me I had called the wrong number -- and gave me another number to call, which I did. The person who answered that phone was so rude that I think I would have preferred a computer interface -- but I digress. The county does not change the street light bulbs, the electric company does, and she did not have their number. Who knew? My payment goes to the county. Could we not have that information on the bill? Or am I just ignorant in the ways of the world?

Continuing with being ignorant, I am continually challenged by Apple's design paradigm. I should mention that I worked for IBM when they introduced the first PC, and have been a Windows/Intel user ever since. However, I switched to an Apple computer at the office a few months ago (long story). And I received an iPhone for Christmas. So, I love the capabilities of the technology, but it makes me nuts how nothing in the Apple world comes with decent instructions. For example, I added an external hard drive to my iMac. The little pamphlet explained how to plug it in (that I could I figure out). When I plugged it in, a window popped up and I happily formatted the drive. Then I opened the electronic "user's manual," only to find out that it told me how to plug in the drive (a bit of a Catch-22). Nothing about how to run a backup. So I harkened back to my IBM days and thought, "Hmm... it's probably in Utilities." No. Do I drag my files to the drive icon? No. It is in "Time Machine." How intuitive (not)! And my son's iMac is broken, displaying only the "grey pinwheel of death." What about -- just a thought -- an error message? I don't get it.

What really got me started on this rant trajectory, though, was a magazine I picked up. I don't normally read Self, but I grabbed it from the magazine rack where I exercise, to read a feature about someone whom I admire. I could not believe how much of the rest of the issue was dedicated to telling women how incredibly inadequate we are: overweight, haggard, old, unsexy, forgetful, toxic, etc. No wonder so many of the young women I see in the classroom have low self-esteem! I'm pretty sure that the guys don't get those sort of messages. Why do women buy these publications and buy into the ads? I don't get it.

OK, so, trying to restore my grateful spirit, let me say that I am thankful my street light is going to be repaired and that our neighborhood has streetlights. Thinking about Haiti, I should be thankful for electricity and a safe home. I am thankful that I have such great access to technology and that my travails are so insignificant. I am thankful that I am raising a young man with healthy self-esteem.

Whew. No rants next week, I promise.

The Spectrum of Customer Service

Is there anyone that thinks that customer service is not important? There are certainly people and organizations that do not treat customer service as important. Customer service is integral to financial performance, reputation, referrals, and of course, repeat sales.

I have had a range of experiences of customer service this week, ranging from far exceeding expectations to mediocre and beyond.

On the outstanding end, is Nordstrom's. Now, they generally have a great reputation for customer service -- but let me tell you MY story. I bought a pair of Brighton slip-on loafers at Nordstrom's some time (i.e., several years) ago. I don't wear them frequently, but they are fantastic for cold, wet weather because of the rubber sole and chunky heel. Recently, I put them on and noticed that the microfiber fabric that covered part of the shoe was fraying. I no longer live in a town with a Nordstrom's (much to my chagrin and my husband's relief), so I packed up the shoes in the box (with the Nordstrom sticker, but no receipt) and a letter and sent them to the nearest store. In the letter, I asked for replacements or store credit. You could see the rest of the shoes were in great condition, but that the fabric was irreparable.

Well, let me tell you, I received a call within the week. It was a voicemail, asking me to call. I girded myself for a conflict, only to find out that they were crediting MY CREDIT CARD for the FULL AMOUNT. Do you think that makes me a loyal customer? You bet! In fact, I drove all the way to that store location and spent an equivalent amount at the store, just because I was so grateful.

On the other end of the spectrum, I needed a halogen light bulb for my desk lamp. I visited several stores, but none of them stocked the particular size I needed. I ended up going to a distributor in town who caters to contractors. I ordered the part, paid for it, and was going to get a call when it was in next week. That was last November. After several visits and calls on my part, I have asked for a refund. Oh, by the way, it was Lowe Electronic Supply Company.

I have a measure for the spectrum of customer service, based on the glass half full/half empty premise. If you think about having a glass of water in a restaurant, on one end you have someone topping off your water within seconds of you having a sip. On the other end, you can't find the waiter to ask to refill your empty glass.

So, instead of stars, I rate customer service from full glass, half full, half empty, or empty.

Bottoms up!

To Resolve or Not To Resolve -- That is the Question

It's the second week of 2010, and if the accounts I've read are accurate, most New Year's resolutions have already been broken.

That sounds like a process failure to me.

A "resolution," is a firm commitment to a course of action. If you already know that you're not going to keep the commitment -- then don't call it a resolution, call it a "wish." But assuming that you are truly intent on keeping your resolution, you need to have a specific idea of the course of action. Think of it as a process of change. If a process is unclear, or vague, it cannot be followed consistently.

So, if you are resolving to do something differently (e.g., lose weight, eat better, network more, etc.), I suggest that you define the process you are going to follow. What should the definition specify? Target behaviors, undesirable behaviors, environmental supports and distractors, and specifically when you are going to do the target behavior. I also like to build in rewards for good behavior!

Let's say that you want to eat more healthfully. To eat more healthfully, you are going to have to make time to go to the grocery store. Block that time in your calendar every week. It is time consuming to plan, purchase, and prepare healthful foods. Set yourself up so that it is convenient to reach into the refrigerator and munch on some sliced vegetables. (That would be an environmental support.) If you're hungry, are you going to take the time to cut up the broccoli, or are you going to reach into the pantry for a handful of...?

You are also going to have to avoid environmental cues that encourage you to eat poorly. That may mean: packing your lunch for work, avoiding movie theaters because you can't go to the theater without eating popcorn, avoiding television at night, and cleaning out the pantry of foods you cannot resist. It also helps if you plan ahead so that you can make good choices. If you are going out to eat, pick a place that does not serve your favorite fried chicken!

Build in rewards. It is better if the reward is not the undesirable behavior, as in the case of, "I've eaten so well all week, I'm going out for a double scoop of ice cream." Reward yourself at specific, measurable points.

Be fanatical for the first three weeks. I believe it takes generally about twenty days to engrain a new habit or behavior.

I used food as an example, because that is something we can all relate to. Perhaps your resolution is to stop using profanity. I have one friend who suggests that you "pay the pig" for each transgression (e.g., cr#p might cost a quarter, but the f-bomb is two dollars). Perhaps you will need to avoid people or movies that use a lot of profanity, to help you break the habit.

I have resolved to blog weekly and have blocked time on Wednesday mornings to do so. To make a supportive environment, I have my blog as my home page when I open my browser. And if I blog thirteen weeks in a row, I get a new car as a reward (just kidding, honey!).

If you are going to have resolutions, then be resolute with scheduled commitment, clear action, supportive environment, and rewarded milestones. Let me know how it works for you.

Another hard thing

Last time, I mentioned how hard it is to stop something when you've been doing it for a while. Well, it's also hard to start something, when you've stopped it for a while. Newton's Law about inertia (an object in motion will stay in motion, while an object at rest will stay at rest -- in the absence of other forces) seems to apply to human behavior as well as the realm of physics.

So, even though I don't have a specific topic in mind for this blog, I wanted to get moving and start the year off better than I ended the last one. I had tried to blog every Tuesday, more or less, and let a panoply of obstacles distract me. I can do better, and will do better, this year.

As I reflect on last year, I am thankful for many blessings -- one of which is a more grateful spirit. In fact, it has become a bit of a mental exercise for me, when I'm inclined to complain about something, to figure out how to be grateful for that very thing. For example, as a regular migraine sufferer, I get tired of being laid up with these painful and nauseating episodes. I have learned, however, to be grateful for the rest they provide. When my husband and I walk our dogs, and he complains about how the grass becomes yellow as it goes dormant in the cold weather, I am grateful that it is not snow that we are seeing on the ground. When I am hitting eight and my ball isn't even on the green, I'm thankful to be outdoors and have the opportunity (if not the ability) to play golf. When I think about our teenage son breaking away, little by little, I am grateful for the time we have had together, and for how special he is. Being grateful for moving into a new season of life has been difficult (calling it an "empty nest" does not help), but having a grateful heart does keep me mindful of how small our troubles are.

In the new year, I have many goals. Largely, they center around embracing this new season in my life and being truly grateful for it: polishing my classes until they shine, finishing my book to my publisher's and my satisfaction, being more connected to my social network and resuming my consulting practice. On the personal side, I plan on savoring each moment with my family, playing team tennis with gusto, improving my golf game with patience, and investing in community service with passion.

"For everything there is a season, and a time for very purpose under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace." Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, American Standard Version.

Best wishes to all for 2010!

A Tough Decision

One of the hardest things for organizations -- and often, individuals -- to do is to stop doing something. Examples that come to mind are canceling a project, breaking a tradition, and changing a process.

There are many explanations for this phenomenon. On an individual level, a person might be loathe to stop doing something for fear of disappointing other people. Organizationally, it might be impolitic to acknowledge that something is failing and should be stopped. It can also be problematic when no one feels ownership of the issue. And then there is always the challenge of inertia -- an object in motion stays in motion.

Successful people and organizations challenge the status quo mindset and step up to the tough decisions required to stop doing something. To continue doing it wastes resources and complicates operations.

My church's leadership is trying to become a "Simple Church" (Rainer and Geiger, 2006, The Simple Church, B & H Publishing), to reduce the complications and increase the focus of the staff and congregation on discipleship. Many organizations are working on becoming "lean," i.e., reducing wasted effort by following the "Toyota Way" (Liker, 2003, The Toyota Way, McGraw-Hill). Both types of initiatives require the courage to stop doing things that have been done before.

What brought this all to mind is the change to Eastern Standard Time. I do not like it, and think it is an outdated tradition. The idea is credited to Ben Franklin and certainly made sense in an agrarian, un-electrified country. As I understand it, different regions would adjust in different ways, not necessarily in one-hour increments. The time changes became standardized because of the trans-continental railroad's need for a sensible timetable. Some states, e.g., Indiana and Arizona, no longer follow this tradition.

Think about how much time is wasted... changing clocks!

A Surprising Illustration of Process Management

Today I attended a luncheon meeting of the Career Women's Network. Our guest speaker, the Honorable Trip Self, superior court judge, was the guest speaker. It turns out that he is also an official for college football. He managed to enthrall 75 women by talking about football, if you can believe it.

First he described the selection process for becoming an official, and the way one moves through the hierarchy of different divisions and regions. Who knew it was such a difficult thing to achieve?

Then he talked about how often he hears variations on "how could you not see that?" Besides trying to see around 22 200-300 lb. men in gear, things happen incredibly fast. I didn't take notes, so don't hold me to these numbers (because we know how my memory is getting!):

• 8 seconds to place the ball from the completion of the last play
• 25 seconds to make sure there aren't too many people on the field and that players are not positioned incorrectly and communicate that to the referee
• 15 seconds for a play to unfold.

Within the 25 seconds, each of the seven officials on the field has a specific thing or things to check for, some of which are amazingly detailed. For example, the line official has to evaluate a potential receiver who is not on the line, but is in the neutral zone (which I think is the area between the ball and the quarterback), to make sure he doesn't catch the ball within 10 yards from the line of scrimmage.

What I really enjoyed hearing about though was the amazing process of quality control they have in place, for officials, even at the college level. There is an observer at every game who gives the team feedback immediately after the game. Then there is a league supervisor for the officials, who reviews the games and EVERY call for every game in the league. The officials are graded on EVERY play, whether a call is good, bad or questionable. They may also hear from the head coaches. And if that wasn't enough feedback, the team of officials gets together Friday night before the next game and reviews the tape on last week's game themselves. They are on one-year contracts, so too many bad calls by an official may mean his contract will not be reviewed.

In addition, they spend one weekend in training each year, take two tests on the rules each year, and review the rules before every game. (It's a good thing he's a judge; that's a lot of... ruling?)

Part of me is amazed at how much care and attention is placed on these games -- they're just games, right? But college football is really a business, and the quality of the officials is an integral part of the integrity of the ... game. There can be a lot of money at stake, whether it's for television broadcasts, bowl games, or alumni donations.

I will never watch a football game the same way again.

Life Cycle Assessments

My training and education as an industrial engineer taught me to be a systems thinker, i.e., someone who can see the whole and the parts and how they work together. In my opinion, this is a fundamental skill for effective management. At a minimum, for my classes, I teach that:

* a system is a purposeful collection of components,
* a business system can transcend organizational boundaries,
* a system's environment consists of factors outside its control but can affect its operation, and
* good management systems have measured and actionable feedback loops.

One of the reasons it is important have a systems perspective is to understand how changes in one part of the system can affect the other. Optimizing one part of the system may be suboptimal for the system as a whole.

This comes to mind because I have been reading Daniel Goleman's Ecological Intelligence. Understanding the environmental and social impact of products we produce and purchase extends the system perspective to include the dimension of time. He describes life cycle assessment (LCA) as "a method that allows us to systematically tear apart any manufactured item into its components and their subsidiary industrial processes, and measure with near-surgical precision their impact on nature from the beginning of their production through their final disposal" (p. 14). The complexity is staggering.

One example he gives is glass packaging (pp. 18): "The basics for making glass have changed little since the time of ancient Rome. Today, natural gas-powered furnances... melt sand into glass... But there's far more to it than that. A chart showing the thirteen most important processes deployed to make glass jars revealed a system stitching together 1,959 distinct "unit processes." Each unit process... represents an aggregate of innumerable subsidiary processes, themselves the outcome of hundred of others, in what can appear an infinite regression."

Producing a glass jar requires the use of hundreds of substances (and 659 different ingredients) throughout the jar's supply chain. According to Goleman (p. 18), around one hundred substances [are] released into water and fifty or so into soil along the way... [with] 220 different kinds of emissions into the air." In addition to these ecological concerns, the LCA examines the energy use and health risks, such as carcinogens, in the product and its various unit processes. Incorporating recycled glass saves hundreds of gallons of water and mitigates carbon dioxide emissions, so the LCA incorporates negative as well as positive effects.

Increasingly, consumers and environmental advocates are pressing manufacturers to disclose such information. With the Internet and social networking tools, it is easy to build a groundswell of support for -- or against -- a particular product for its impact. Independent information providers, also known as "infomediaries," are compiling this vast array of information and developing summarized and simplified indices. Manufacturers and retailers are gradually recognizing the need to be more transparent. The NYTimes published an interesting article describing this trend earlier this summer.

I find this trend to be heartening, yet overwhelming at the same time. I'm still not sure if "paper or plastic?" is the best option when I don't have my reusable grocery bags. Or what kind of light bulb I should buy. Flourescent bulbs use less energy to illuminate, but if you consider the production process and hazardous materials, are florescent better than incandescent bulbs?

I don't know -- I guess I'll sit in the dark and think about it.

Clarity in Communications - Not!

In my Leadership class yesterday, we were covering Andy Stanley's suggestions for the necessary characteristics for leaders in his book, The Next Generation Leaders. When we covered "Clarity," I explained that this meant not only did a leader need to communicate clearly, but that s/he must have clarity in the vision of what is to be done. As Stanley explains, it's uncertainty that creates the need for leadership. With certainty, the actions needed are clear.

To protect one's credibility -- and ability to be an effective leader and provide clarity -- it is important to be honest and forthcoming with people. It is much better to say, "I don't know the answer to that, but I'll look into it," than to bluff your way through a situation. People will see through you, pretty quickly.

You can also undermine your credibility by being vague. "Vagueness sands the clarity off of vision," says Stanley. Having plenty of scratched reading glasses, I like the metaphor.

So, here I am in class, trying to think of a story to illustrate the point, and was really coming up blank. There wasn't even something on the "tip of my tongue!" (4:00 in the afternoon is NOT my sharpest time to teach.) Grasping at straws, I said, "what if there had been several cases of swine flu detected on campus?"

"Here's a situation in which people would be uncertain of what to do. Being honest and forthcoming doesn't mean shouting, "We've got swine flu on campus!" and encouraging people to panic. But it also doesn't mean to say something vague, like "A few students have reported flu-like symptoms. I encourage everyone to take special precautions." A leader in this situation would have to be very clear about what precautions to take (e.g., quarantine, class cancellations, extended health services), and very deliberate about how to get the correct information out and how to get it updated. Communicating clearly usually requires repeated messages over a variety of pathways."

As an example, it was ok, something the students could relate to in their life experience. But a few of my students apparently missed the part where I said "what if," and thought that there really were cases of swine flu on campus. (There aren't, as far as I know.)

There's an irony in being misunderstood when talking about clarity in communications.

Life is a Process

As I write about process effectiveness, I think about how much of life is really a process: inputs turn into outputs through a system affected by its environment.

For example, procrastinating. This is a process at which I excel, and teach students to avoid. (It takes one to know one.) People tend to procrastinate because they are perfectionists, or because they are overwhelmed, or both. To overcome this, you projectize whatever you are procrastinating about, and then you break it into smaller pieces that are less overwhelming. Visualize the end result. Allow yourself an imperfect beginning. Do the most distasteful task first and get it out of the way. (Have you read Eat that Frog, by Brian Tracy? -- it's the same principle. While I'm at it, let me also recommend The Now Habit by Neil Fiore.) You can see, I am quite knowledgeable -- and if I may say so, adept -- at procrastinating.

My procrastinating process goes something like this: Whatever I am avoiding is usually something on paper: grading, bookkeeping, or in this case, some writing. The process begins with either carrying the papers around for a while, or looking at the pile in an unavoidable place. My anxiety increases, the longer this part of the process continues. Then I think, "Hmm, maybe I should clear my mind of all the little things distracting me from concentrating on this pile." So, I clean out my email boxes, organize something, plan something else, and sometimes even cook dinner. Yet the pile persists. So, the next step is usually a nap -- so I can feel refreshed and focused. Then -- and only then -- do I tackle something ELSE I have been procrastinating about. For example, when I had a stack of term papers to grade last semester, it was a terrific time to rewrite the by-laws for an organization of which I am a member. (I had been putting that off for several weeks, because it was a bit overwhelming, and kind of boring.)

This week, I've been avoiding working on a textbook chapter about process effectiveness. (The reference file has been on my desk for eleven days.) This time, it's an issue of perfectionism: I really, really want to make this chapter life-changing for my students. Truly, I have a passion for processes.

So, my email boxes are current, I have re-organized my closet, planned the first three weeks of classes, and even prepared to make my C, C & C (chicken, couscous, and carrots mixed together) for dinner . The nap was great. And now I'm writing the blog that I wanted to update two days ago, but have been avoiding. See how this works? You have to channel the procrastination, and make it work for you. Eventually, you get it all done.

Maybe I'll start the following chapter, procrastinate about IT, and then go back to process effectiveness. Hmmm...

A New School Year

One of the things I love about my job is that I gain closure when a school year ends, and enjoy anticipation of the new year in the fall.

Tom Peters has said that knowledge workers should "projectize everything." Turn all of your work into projects, i.e., temporary endeavors to create a unique product or service (www.pmi.org). Temporary means only that the work has a start and an end; it does not necessarily mean short-term. A unique product or service is the desired result.

Besides enjoying the anticipation and closure that a school year provides, I find that projectizing myself is very helpful. It keeps me interested in what I am doing, and focused on the desired results. For example, I treat each course I teach as a project, even if I've taught the course before. I find that my classes vary greatly, depending on the engagement of the students, the current events we have for discussion, time of day, etc., so each one is unique.

Another way that projectizing is helpful is to provide a warning system for OVERLOAD. I have developed a sense of how many projects I can juggle at one time: my optimum is two classes, one writing project, two volunteer projects, one home improvement project, and one self improvement project. More than that, then my relationships and home responsibilities suffer.

Since I am teaching three different courses this fall, I know I need to cut back on volunteering (but will probably just let the home project idle!). In the same way, projectizing helped me realize that having five self-improvement projects, four home improvement projects, one class, two volunteer projects and four writing projects for the summer was probably unrealistic.

Finally, I like to projectize because it helps me to avoid becoming overwhelmed. Taking each project and breaking it into work packages or tasks (i.e., creating a work breakdown structure), helps me to better gauge how long the project will take. Then I can make realistic commitments to my students, colleagues, and family. (The dogs don't get it, though -- they are all about, "What have you done for me lately?")