Month: June 2022

leadership dot #3647: ready-made

June 10, 2022June 7, 2022by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I remember not long ago when houseplants used to be inexpensive. They came in disposable plastic containers — you could buy them for cheap and replant them in pots to replace others that had died. But then some retailing mastermind had the idea to sell the plants already potted, increasing the price from a few bucks to twenty.

The shift not only changed the financial equation but also altered the impact on time. The plastic container version requires supplies and effort to achieve the same end result. You may not think about it explicitly, but time is what you get for your additional $14, not just a pretty planter.

People pay a premium for time in many other situations such as pre-cut fruit and vegetables, curated gift baskets, outdoor planter “refills”, Lunchables, and craft kits — but often don’t think explicitly about what they are buying. If it comes ready-to-use, you paid more for that convenience. If you trade your money to buy time, use your purchase wisely.

leadership dot #3646: carrot

June 9, 2022June 6, 2022by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

My 10-year-old dog was due for shots so I asked the vet about the difference in price between the 1-year and 3-year rabies vaccination, thinking that my girl wasn’t going to need the extended coverage. “Nothing,” she said. “They are the exact same shot; it’s only about the bureaucracy.”

It seems that if your dog gets its rabies vaccine on or before the expiration date, the State of Iowa considers you covered for three years, but if you miss by even one day you need to get another shot the next year. Apparently, the regulation was designed to serve as an incentive for owners to keep the shots current — and it may have even accomplished that — if anyone knew about it. I have been a dog owner for 30+ years and all this time I thought they were different doses.

When you create a policy to incentivize a particular behavior, include an ongoing communication strategy as part of your implementation. Carrots don’t have much impact if no one is aware of them.

leadership dot #3645: relinquish

June 8, 2022June 3, 2022by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

It’s tempting, and maybe even prudent, for a manager to form a search committee and allow others to do the time-consuming task of interviewing candidates. For many reasons, involving multiple people in the hiring process makes sense.

But too often, with the invitation for input comes a (false) expectation that the committee’s evaluation is the final word. If you’re the hiring manager, never relinquish your ability to make the ultimate decision. Selecting your staff is too important to leave to others.

One way to avoid awkwardness is to be clear upfront regarding the role of those asked to participate in the search. A better technique to eliminate any false expectations is to ask the search committee to outline the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate, but never to ask them to rank the candidates. With this system, the search committee can provide you with valuable insights regarding areas where the new hire may need coaching or allow you to ask references about perceived deficiencies, but it leaves the final judgment to you.

Ultimately, if you’re the manager, you are responsible for the performance of the person you hire. You should be responsible right from the start.

leadership dot #3644: intertwined

June 7, 2022June 3, 2022by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

A high-speed chase ended with the perpetrator missing a curve and heading straight into someone’s house. Imagine being in bed and hearing that noise!

Because the vehicle tore through the brick into the house itself, the electricity and water had to be disconnected, and now the owner is displaced. It won’t be easy, inexpensive, or soon that the repairs are made, making this a long-term hardship for the tenant — the one who was not a criminal or involved at all in the chase.

Too often, we are forced to live with the consequences of another person’s actions. We consider the impact of our behaviors or decisions as they affect us or our organization but fail to take others or the community into account. We see it with societal issues such as mask-wearing and gun safety, but it happens on the personal level as well. We use chemicals that seep into our neighbor’s lawn and kill their grass. We allow our dogs to bark at 6 a.m. on a weekend, waking everyone within earshot. We cut people off in traffic or invade another’s privacy with a post on social media.

We’re all more intertwined than we consciously consider. Bring value to those connections by cultivating sensitivity to how your actions intersect with others.

leadership dot #3643: decoy

June 6, 2022June 3, 2022by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Fleet Admiral William Leahy was the top officer in the entire US military during World War II. He held many positions during his tenure, including Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief, and President Roosevelt relied on him for military strategy during this tenuous time.

One of the key operations under his command was D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy, France that occurred on this date in 1944. It was a complex and critical event — yet Leahy was not in Washington to oversee it. Instead, he was visiting his hometown of Hampton, Iowa, a rural village far from any military action. Leahy shared his travel plans widely and intentionally — as a decoy to the Germans who were (incorrectly) convinced that a major assault would not occur when the Admiral was not there to lead the command.

Remember that at this time instant communication was limited — no fax, email, text, or instant messaging. He could communicate via an unsecured phone line — or, trust his staff to use their best judgment to execute orders. He chose the latter.

When I hear about micromanagers, I think of Admiral Leahy and how D-Day happened without his presence. Don’t feel guilty about taking a vacation or setting boundaries about your availability. If you have good people and provide them with resources and clear expectations, you don’t need to be there every minute.

Commemorative monument of D-Day landing at Utah Beach. Sainte Marie du Mont, France.

leadership dot #3642: borrow

June 5, 2022June 4, 2022by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I wrote yesterday (dot #3641) about not purchasing a host of accessories in a quest to buy/own less. One way to accomplish this is through borrowing from the library. Libraries are amazing places that have learned while some things work well in a virtual format (e.g. digital books), there are other items that must be tangible in order to be effective. And so, libraries have transformed into repositories of things-to-borrow, including cake pans, tools, musical instruments, technology, puzzles, and board games.

The latest assortment at our library includes two new offerings: 1) fitness kits, and 2) nature exploration packs. Rather than purchasing exercise equipment you may never use again, you can borrow a toning kit, kettlebell kit, stability ball workout box, yoga mat, or cardio-to-go kit and try it out. Wilderness kits are themed around: rocks and insects, animals and birds, weather, and stars — all of which contain books on the subject, a compass, binoculars, and maps — pre-packaged in a backpack ready to go. For free.

If you haven’t been to a library lately or think of them as musty, stodgy places where only spinsters visit, you don’t know what you are missing. Libraries are one of the community’s greatest resources and one of the best examples I know of how to adapt to meet the changing needs of your clientele. You could learn a lot from libraries — and not just from what is within their books. Borrow their mindset liberally.

leadership dot #3641: s’less

June 4, 2022June 1, 2022by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

S’mores — those tasty treats with toasted marshmallows and melted chocolate bars squished between graham crackers — have been a camping staple since the 1920s. What started out as a dessert for Scouts as they sat around campfires has become popular with campers of all ages.

I suspect that the original S’mores were held over the fire with a stick and no frills. No longer. Almost every store features a S’mores display with not only the three necessary foods but specialty items just for this goody. You can now buy a “deluxe caddy” allowing you to store your ingredients in a carrier with right-sized compartments. They sell a “mess-free S’mores maker,” as if avoiding the sticky marshmallow was possible. There are S’mores-branded grilling baskets, light-up skewers, and cooking forks. Marshmallows now come flat (to make building your delicacy easier) and pre-stuffed with classic milk chocolate.

Just stop. You don’t need all this stuff to make S’mores. The Scouts of the 1920s would be horrified at how commercialized their little concoction has become.

Not just with S’mores, but with most things these days, you can get by with a lot less than the retailers would lead you to believe. Your kitchen doesn’t require a different appliance for every function. Your gaming system doesn’t need every accessory. Your beach bag doesn’t have to overflow with an assortment of toys and sun gear, etc.

S’more is a contraction for some and more. Try to lead your life as some but less (S’less!).

leadership dot #3640: irritate

June 3, 2022May 31, 2022by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

My new printer came with a free 6-month “instant ink” subscription whereby HP monitored my page count and sent me refill cartridges when the supply ran low. I have a very irregular printer usage so their ongoing plans don’t work for me, and I canceled before the paid plans kicked in. It was then that I learned once the subscription ends, even the ink in my printer will no longer work!

This seems to me like a petulant bully on the playground — if you won’t play with me, I’m taking my ball and going home. If you won’t buy my ink, I’m making it so you can’t either. They don’t want it back — they just don’t want me to use it, seemingly out of spite.

It’s yet another example of where a company does something that irritates the customer even though it gains nothing from the process. The grocer who throws away a $7 package of brats rather than redeem my $1 coupon they feel is not for that specific variety. The restaurant that remakes a meal rather than offer an adjustment for an improperly prepared dish. The supervisor who would rather lose a good employee than provide her with some flexibility.

You may be right and you may be following policy or upholding your principles, but in the long term, you’re doing more harm than good. Let common sense prevail.

leadership dot #3639: ten years

June 2, 2022May 31, 2022by leadership dots by dr. beth triplett2 Comments

In Christine Hawkinson’s book 50 Years in the Bleachers, she shares her dad’s coaching philosophy: D.D.S. Richard Maher, an Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame inductee, believed that players must have Desire, Discipline, and Structure for a program to be successful.

D.D.S. is a good formula for many other pursuits, including blog writing.

Today is the 10-year anniversary of leadership dots! I went on hiatus for two weeks when my Mom unexpectedly went into the hospital and then hospice, but otherwise, I have published every single day for the past decade. Ten years. Three thousand, six hundred and thirty-nine dots. Over 870,000 words.

There were many (many!) times when Desire was missing but Discipline and Structure prevailed. I think of those days – or more accurately, those late nights – when I would have chosen a root canal over writing. But I promised myself I would write daily for 10 years, and I would feel worse about breaking my commitment than I did about writing yet another post.

So, as I enter Decade #2, the dots will continue but with some breaks built in. I’ll republish some of my favorites while I’m on vacation and during the holidays — we’ll see whether that modification to the Structure is enough to sustain my Desire for another million words or so.

I hope the dots have been a thought-provoking nugget for you each morning, and that you’ll encourage others to follow along on the journey.

leadership dot #3638: playbook

June 1, 2022May 29, 2022by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I have raved before about Daniel Coyle’s The Culture Code (dot #2278), so when his Culture Code Playbook came out, of course, I pre-ordered. The Playbook consists of 60 “tips” (exercises or illustrations) to put the principles of the original book into action, along with worksheets and question prompts to help you ascertain what is needed in your organization.

I have noticed that more authors are providing tangible, step-by-step guidance on how to apply their theories. Whether included in the original book or as a supplement, the audience is looking for concrete steps about how to use the material. It seemingly is no longer enough to just explain the concepts; now people are demanding instruction on how to apply them.

I wonder if this is a delayed impact of organized activities during youth — after years of play in structured environments, I see less critical thinking and more expectation to be given explicit directions. Whatever the cause, I think it is a trend to note for your organization. People don’t want tomes, they want Top 10 lists; tips instead of paragraphs, worksheets instead of booklets, infographics instead of reports, and clear advice on application.

It’s critical to understand your “why” and to communicate it, but if you don’t follow it up with an explicit “how” your great content may be ignored. Find a way to package your ideas as a playbook if you want your team to apply them on the field.