Month: December 2023

leadership dot #4141: everybody knows

December 21, 2023December 21, 2023by leadership dots by dr. beth triplett1 Comment

Several times lately I have paused to realize that things I take for granted — and think everybody knows — they don’t.

Some examples:

We were playing a game and UPC was given as a clue. The 16-year-old had no idea what UPC was — she knew it only as a “bar code.”
A student learning English shared her favorite holiday recipe — telling us several times that one of the ingredients was “Philadelphia.” After looking at the package, I can totally see why she thinks that and had no idea it was really just the brand name for cream cheese.
A different group of English-language students were amazed by the “shift” key on a computer — and their toggling back and forth with it explained why their passwords frequently did not work.
Another game clue that stumped people was the term “growler.” It was used in the context of beer and the players were too young to have been in a position to know that.

You can’t be too clear in your communication, even if you’re trying to reach an audience with similar demographics as yours. Skip the abbreviations, jargon, and assumptions — especially when giving instructions. What’s obvious to you may be as clear as cream cheese to someone else.

leadership dot #4140: multi-dimensional

December 20, 2023December 17, 2023by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

One of my favorite postage stamps is a bouquet of flowers painted by William H. Johnson. (Yes, I’m a nerd that has favorite stamps!) So when I was in Washington, DC, and saw that it was featured in the National Portrait Gallery, I had to track it down.

I was very surprised to see the flowers in the context of Johnson’s other work — mostly self-portraits or other colorful paintings of Black life. The flowers didn’t seem like his work at all, making it fascinating that it was the one painting chosen to honor him on the stamp.

It reminded me that we all have different dimensions of our lives — some that are more prominent and others that don’t seem to fit with the others but do. We never know the whole of a person, only a fraction of them based on the context in which we see them.

Remember William Johnson’s work when interacting with others. You may see flowers and in addition to that lies a whole range of other paintings, or you may only see brightly-colored people and never know that he also painted flowers. We are all surprising and multi-dimensional.

leadership dot #4139: critique

December 19, 2023December 17, 2023by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Long before there was Rotten Tomatoes or the Tomatometer, people relied on Siskel and Ebert to determine whether or not to see a movie. The columnists from the opposing Chicago papers turned movie reviews into an art — and a franchise. They became the gold standard — not just because of their famous “thumbs up/thumbs down” routine, but because they had rationale behind their choices. It was not just an opinion, rather it was a critique with sound reasoning behind their choices.

Social media has overshadowed any thoughtful analysis and become a mouthpiece for opinion without requiring any basis in fact. There is no thoughtful analysis or critique behind much of what is online — posts get a “like” without any thought-out rationale.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Discipline yourself to distinguish between opinion and critique and engage that critical thinking muscle your English teachers worked so hard to develop. A start comes from adding a “because” after your opinion and anchoring it to a “why.”

leadership dot #4138: tab

December 18, 2023December 15, 2023by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Those who know me know that I love my Diet Coke, but it seems there are people who love their Tab soda more. Tab was phased out by the Coca-Cola company in 2020 but a group of passionate fans are going to extremes to try and bring it back.

The group has formed social media groups, met in person, raised money, placed billboards outside of Coke headquarters, and most recently, presented a petition with 6,500 names. Individuals have purchased hundreds of cans and are treasuring them like the Holy Grail.

All this fervor for a product that is no longer made. Most organizations would love it if their customers were so interested in buying their products.

There are so many niche products on the market, that it seems plausible to add one more. If you had such intensive lobbying from a group of wanna-be customers, it seems you would be wise to listen to them.

Source: Tab lovers continue urging Coca-Cola to revive the once-popular diet soda, by Rodney Ho for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in the Telegraph Herald, December 10, 2023

leadership dot #4137: she built

December 17, 2023December 16, 2023by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

One of the exhibitors on Big Build Day (dot #4136) was She Built, a special effort to recruit girls into construction and the trades. One of the primary tools the organization uses is a children’s book The House That She Built, featuring women in 18 different roles, including roofer, insulation contractor, HVAC technician, drywaller, cabinet manufacturer, and excavator. It’s certainly different from the typical book for girls that has them playing with dolls or being a mommy.

The premise of She Built is that the shortage of skilled trade workers is a growing crisis for the economy, partly caused by the fact that children and parents are unaware of the vast opportunities for successful careers in homebuilding. She Built seeks to increase the knowledge of these opportunities in all underrepresented groups, especially women.

Think about what your organization is doing to feature atypical employees in your materials. If you want greater diversity, whether of background, gender, race, or skills, how can you use nontraditional methods (like a children’s book) to showcase your desired mix? Representation helps people see themselves in a new way; help others picture themselves with you.

leadership dot #4136: build for tomorrow

December 16, 2023December 15, 2023by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

While in Washington, DC, I stumbled upon the Big Build Day at the National Building Museum. The massive atrium was filled with dozens of hands-on displays and hundreds of engaged children, all pounding nails, fastening pipes together, seeing the effects of electricity, and assembling items. The exhibitors made it cool to wear hard hats, make spaghetti towers, apply masonry to build a brick wall, and simulate a flood.

It was abuzz with activity, energy, and — more subliminally — learning.

The building trades have a formalized program to train individuals for future careers in the industry. Big Build Day is just one aspect of helping youth even consider the trades as a job option. The Home Builders Institute provides no-cost training in the trades, preparing the construction and skilled labor workforce of the next generation. They tap into varied audiences, including transitioning military, veterans and their families, at-risk youth, justice-involved youth and adults, and displaced workers.

Their motto — “now is the time to train” — can apply to many more careers beyond construction.

Everyone laments about the worker shortage, and without sufficient training in specialized fields, it is only going to get worse. What are you doing today to showcase your industry for children and teens? How can you communicate the benefits of a career that youth may not have considered? Take a lesson from Big Build Day and make it an interactive, group effort to build your workforce for tomorrow.

leadership dot #4135: flip flop

December 15, 2023December 14, 2023by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

So much for living according to your values (dot #4133).

In a disappointing reversal, those seemingly principled University of Wisconsin regents flip-flopped on their position, just days after their initial vote. It’s not as if they did not know there would be disapproval and pressure as a result of their initial decision, but it took less than a week for them to cave.

Flip-flopping is worse than taking a hard stand in the beginning. If you’re going to give in, do it right away and save the extra layer of angst that an about-face creates.

Some of the best advice I’ve heard is in the realm of manners — if you’re going to say no, do it quickly. (I think that meant on the first vote.) Giving in to threats, intimidation, and power plays is bad for everyone involved.

leadership dot #4134: scheduling

December 14, 2023December 13, 2023by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

It’s nearing the start of a new year and for many, this means populating a new calendar. It’s easy to slot in the meetings, appointments, and events where your presence is required. The real magic comes in allocating time now — while there is still some available — to work on your priorities.

I just scheduled time with a client and once we got past January, her calendar was wide open. How easy it would be now to schedule time for vacation, reflection, working on that project she’s put off, or any number of important but not urgent tasks.

Writing coach Cat Margulis encourages people to align their calendars with their priorities. “Want to write a book?” she asks. “Block out two hours each day.”

Your time is your most important resource. Take charge of it now, while you can, and make 2024 reflect what is important to you.

leadership dot #4133: committed

December 13, 2023December 12, 2023by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

It’s easy to say that you believe in your values, but much harder to put them into practice.

The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents found out just how hard it was when faced with a tough decision last week. The state legislature offered a deal to provide money for pay raises for UW employees, provide $200 million toward an engineering building at UW-Madison, and renovate residence halls at UW-Platteville — about a $1 billion investment across the system.

It sounds like a great deal, but the strings attached required freezing the hiring of diversity positions, eliminating a program designed to recruit diverse faculty, shifting 43 diversity positions to “student success,” and creating a position on conservative political thought.

So, is the system committed to diversity, or not? The regents voted (9-8) to reject the deal.

It’s easy to put values on posters and the website but a much tougher thing to live them, especially with serious consequences that impact thousands of people. But values are meant to be guideposts for the hard calls and I applaud the regents for honoring theirs.

Are you as clear about what you stand for and what you’re willing to defend? The time to answer that isn’t when you’re having to choose which way to go.

Source: Wisconsin regents reject deal on DEI, building The Associated Press in the Telegraph Herald, December 10, 2023.

leadership dot #4132: conversation

December 12, 2023December 11, 2023by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I have a monthly call with a colleague and a monthly lunch with other colleagues that are like Seinfeld episodes — “about nothing.” At least it starts that way, but it always turns into a conversation that leaves me thinking. These conversational approaches yield ideas that reading or writing do not, as one idea forms a stepping stone for other thoughts and soon we’re on to a topic that neither of us considered before we got together.

Two-way real conversations are undervalued today. We rely on email or text for communication exchanges but processing our experiences verbally creates a whole different level of creativity and understanding. I worry about our young people who don’t like to talk on the telephone and have less experience talking face-to-face. Something is lost without that real-time banter and the rabbit holes it can lead to.

The next time you need to think things through or gain a new perspective on your experiences have a conversation with someone. The space between talking and listening may generate unexpected insights for you.