Month: September 2021

leadership dot #3374: flatten

September 10, 2021September 7, 2021by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

The only time I purchase marshmallows is to make S’mores and apparently, I am not alone in this. I recently saw flattened rectangle-shaped marshmallows designed specifically for that use. Brilliant!

It is a good example of paying attention to the customer and observing how a product is actually being used. For years, manufacturers only made rounded marshmallows. The company produced what it thought the customer wanted. But the customer had other ideas and continually modified its usage until someone realized they could grab part of the market by acknowledging that change.

How are your customers actually using what you produce? Do you know? Observing or conducting listening sessions to hear real-life stories may clue you into new opportunities. You think people come to your conference for the educational sessions but they really care about the vendors — could you create a virtual vendor fair instead? You require people to open a checking account to bank with you but they really use Venmo — could you have your base product become electronic transfers through you in place of checking? You suspect people read your newsletter for the information but the cartoons are the real draw — could you create infographics and sketched videos to convey your important announcements?

Let the end-user drive the evolution of what you offer. If you flatten the gap between intended use and reality you may find a sweet spot to leverage.

leadership dot #3373: old house

September 9, 2021September 7, 2021by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

You hear a lot about a cultural revolution or an organizational transformation, but Kevin Oakes has a different take on how to frame your efforts. The author of The Culture Renovation suggests that you will lessen the resistance to the change if you speak about it in terms of a renovation instead, likening it to bringing a historic house up to code with technology, electrical power, etc. You still keep what gives the house its character, but you make it better.

In a podcast with Brené Brown, Oakes talks about the essential strategy of figuring out what to keep. It can be a tough call to know what to let go of and what to carry forward, but ascertaining the good and reminding people of what you are preserving helps the organization make progress. As in a renovation, we typically focus on what is new, but for a change effort to be successful you need to explicitly point out what will remain the same.

Oakes outlines 18 researched strategies that can serve as a handbook for those involved in a change effort (and who isn’t these days?). They follow a structure of Plan, Build, and Maintain — and whether you read the book or not, the renovation analogy can be a useful framework for any innovation. Too often, the Maintain element is forgotten, and “this old house” falls into disrepair again.

The next time you want to make changes, set out to implement a renovation. More people can agree that updating is a good thing — whether it be a new coat of paint, faster wifi, or a whole new kitchen — and you’re apt to get more buy-in than if you trigger their fears of losing everything they know.

The Culture Renovation by Kevin Oakes, 2020
Dare to Lead podcast — Brené Brown with Kevin Oakes, January 11, 2021

leadership dot #3372: too fast

September 8, 2021September 8, 2021by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I was whizzing through a Solitaire game last night, quickly putting many of the cards onto their respective Aces.

And then I got stuck.

It seems that I put too many of the cards there instead of leaving them in the rows where they could serve as connections to the other cards I needed to play. By putting some of the cards from the Aces back into the game, I was able to complete the round as a winner.

It reminded me of change efforts and the downside of trying to go too fast. Sometimes, we zip along on our own and make lots of progress — but fail in the end because we have not spent the time to make the bridges necessary for ultimate success. We then need to backtrack which, of course, takes more time in the end.

Play both Solitaire and the game of life with enough intentionality to value connection over speed.

leadership dot #3371: dark side

September 7, 2021September 6, 2021by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

My niece recently had surgery and as part of that process, there was a nurse in the operating room texting updates to the family. This was very helpful during the hours-long operation and comforting to know that things were going well (which, fortunately, they did.)

But what if they didn’t?

Would the nurse deliver bad news via text? Or, if they just stopped the updates the family would convince themselves that something had gone wrong — which may be worse than waiting to hear from the doctor when the procedure was finished.

A junior staffer may be able to speak with the press about routine business but do you have a plan in place to communicate the news when a tragedy happens? Your internal newsletter may work well for information and updates, but how will you let your employees know about negative situations?

When you design a process or share information, you need to prepare for undesirable outcomes. Before you give someone the combination to the safe, access to the checkbook, or knowledge of the secret formula, consider what would happen if their morals went astray. (e.g. Can you require two people to be present before access is given or can you receive a notification if a withdrawal of over $X is made on the account?)

It’s nice to assume the best about people and to develop practices that presume good intentions, but it doesn’t always turn out that way. You don’t have to prepare for doomsday, but anticipating an occasional dark side is best done in advance rather than in the moment.

leadership dot #3370: labor

September 6, 2021September 14, 2021by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Recruit for this job: pick corn every day during the summer starting at first light. Or stand outside all day at a farm stand to sell it. You would think — in this environment of a tight labor market — that those positions would remain unfilled, but our local farm family has learned that people are attracted to work for more than money.

Farm stand manager Carol Fincel is quoted as saying: “My staff are like my own children. They have to be 14 (years old) to start, and a lot of them stay through college. They learn so much, and I get to see them blossom.” Her relationship-building efforts not only earn her accolades with current staff, but multiple siblings rotate through the years and serve as a pipeline for future labor. Word travels, and the buzz is that the Fincel’s are great employers (and great farmers!).

Organizations today are offering all kinds of incentives to entice front-line or assembly-line workers to fill their positions: sign-on bonuses, college tuition, four-day work weeks, free meals, extra vacation time, and more. But people have always worked — and quit — because of their manager.

On this Labor Day — and the other 364 days — take a lesson from the Fincel’s and treat your current employees in such a way that they become life-long ambassadors for the company and actively recruit their friends. It’s the ultimate competitive advantage.

As quoted in “Sweet corn delights tri-state palates” by Sage Smith in the Telegraph Herald, July 7, 2021, p. 1A

leadership dot #3369: towels

September 5, 2021September 4, 2021by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

When you think of partnerships, oftentimes elaborate collaborations come to mind involving sponsorships, letters of agreement, and many meetings. But it doesn’t always have to be that way.

An example of a low-key partnership involves our city pools and the local aquarium. The city donates all of the unclaimed beach towels that accumulate over the summer. The aquarium then uses them to transport ducks and turtles and they provide bedding for the popular otters. It’s great for the budget and the environment and both entities benefit from the arrangement.

Think about the small ways you can work with other organizations to benefit both parties. Collaborations don’t have to be lofty to be effective.

leadership dot #3368: not brilliant

September 4, 2021September 3, 2021by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Several people sent me a copy of the Inc. magazine news story that carried the headline: “Customer discovered their $350 Lego set was missing pieces. The company’s response was brilliant.” You may have seen it as it was tagged as a top story and featured on several consolidation sites.

In short, the customer purchased a rare and coveted $350 Star Wars Lego set and it was missing a bag of pieces. The story is getting all the buzz because when Lego replied they said “…This must be the work of Lord Vader. Fear not, for I have hired Han to get that bag right out to you…”

While admittedly clever, the rest of the email is what caught my eye: “Your order number is XXX and will be arriving in the next 7-10 days.” To me, Lego’s response was not only not brilliant, and certainly not newsworthy, but I don’t even classify it as acceptable. The guy paid $350 for a defective product and they put the replacement in regular mail? No additional special product included compensating for his delay and disappointment? Just wait a week or so and you’ll be right back to where you should have been from the start.

To me, it seems like Lego forgot that their focus should be on service, not on witty banter. You can do better.

leadership dot #3367: to do

September 3, 2021September 14, 2021by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Have you noticed that when you are working on an important project that your task list expands with every step instead of contracting?

If you’re doing dishes, filing an expense report, or stocking shelves when you’re done, you’re finished.

But if you’re working with a financial planner, when you leave the appointment you have several more tasks to complete: see a lawyer, update the beneficiaries, contribute to your IRA, etc. At the start of a new committee, one meeting leads to setting up communication infrastructure, creating a logic model, and scheduling meetings for the upcoming term. When teaching a class, as soon as the syllabus is finished it triggers setting up the learning management system, creating the grade book, and gathering the materials for the first class.

Often, it seems that the more you do, the more you have to do. When that is the case, remind yourself that it’s a sign you’re working on the big stuff. As this type of list grows, so does your impact.

leadership dot #3366: bathtub

September 2, 2021September 1, 2021by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

The book Systems Thinking for Social Change reminded me of a common-sense principle that is often overlooked — the Bathtub Analogy. The concept is simple: the level of water in the tub is determined by the rate at which the water flows in and the rate at which it drains out. Too often, we only focus on the faucet.

The analogy is applied in many settings such as John Sterman’s Carbon Bathtub (describing the level of CO2 put into the atmosphere vs what nature can disburse) and the analogy framing homelessness (decrease the number becoming homeless/increase those moving to permanent housing). However, it can apply to many constructs in our organizational or personal life:

We can reduce the calories we eat to lose weight — or increase the number that we burn
We can increase hiring to expand staff — or reduce the attrition of current employees
We can reduce spending to meet our budget — or increase income
We can purge possessions to have more room — or increase storage space
We can increase new membership — or increase retention of those we serve

The Bathtub Analogy reminds us to pay attention to the flow rather than focusing only on the level. When we consider both inputs and outputs — and the relative rates at which they are occurring — often new solutions come to mind as well as a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the whole.

The next time you are trying to shift behavior, draw the system through the lens of a bathtub. The analogy might help you find solutions that otherwise would have gone down the drain.

Source: Systems Thinking for Social Change by David Peter Stroh, 2015

leadership dot #3365: frequency

September 1, 2021August 31, 2021by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I write my sister a letter every day and somehow manage to ramble for a few pages, but when I write to those on my “occasional letter” list, I sometimes have to think before I can even fill a notecard.

I see the same principle in action with coaching clients: when I meet with them weekly, there is always more to discuss than time allows, but when we switch to bi-weekly or monthly it takes longer to get into meaningful topics. This is also true for 1:1 sessions with supervisor/employee, meetings of project groups or task forces, and most other encounters.

Frequency — and then by default, recency — allows for more depth, emotion, and substantive interactions. You spend less time ramping up and returning to where you ended and can have greater continuity and flow to your engagements. If you find yourself starting with “where did we leave off…” it’s time to connect more often.