Month: September 2024

leadership dot #4376: repair

September 10, 2024September 9, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplett2 Comments

In my neighborhood, internet service is as prevalent as electricity. We never think about it but rely on it for many tasks and it’s a big deal when the system has an outage.

So, seeing a utility box haphazardly exposed for days without any visible intervention was concerning. It’s not the first time this has happened, either. Finally, a truck and technician appeared on the scene. I thought they would permanently secure the box to ensure that such an opportunity for disruption could not easily happen again. Instead, they covered it in plastic and secured it with tape. Not exactly a premium repair.

If you invest resources to develop a product or service, go the extra step to protect it with more than a tarp. A stitch in time may save nine, but a real repair in time may save much more.

leadership dot #4375: sparkle

September 9, 2024September 4, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

At my pedicure appointment, I picked out a shade of purple but had no specific design in mind. My nail tech asked if she could do what she wanted and I (foolishly) said yes.

I ended up with five different colors on my toes, plus additional glitter on top. It’s a polish job that made my 7-year-old, friendship-bracelet-wearing, sparkle-and-sequin-loving neighbor envious.

I knew as soon as she did it that I didn’t like it. She could tell, and even offered to re-polish them right then. The words: “YES, PLEASE” were formed in my mind, but what came out of my mouth was: “No, it’s ok.”

That’s because in my head all I could think about was what I tell my students and workshop participants — that you need to get uncomfortable with the small things. You need to take risks, experiment, and live with things for a while rather than change them back right away. You need to practice going outside your comfort zone, starting with things that don’t have big consequences.

So, for the next four weeks, I’m uncomfortable with how my toes sparkle, but I’m comfortable with how I leaned into the discomfort on something that doesn’t matter. The next time you’re tempted to instantly remove the polish, try to live with it instead.

leadership dot #4374: text

September 8, 2024September 4, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplett1 Comment

While I’m a big fan of snail mail, sometimes a quick text is just what is needed.

One evening, I helped assemble campaign yard signs. I was one of 30+ people who worked for about an hour — nothing arduous or special about the volunteering for any of us. Yet, later that same evening I received a text from one of the candidates that read: “It was great to see you tonight beth! Thanks for helping with the yard signs!”

It was timely, personalized (even with lowercase b), and a nice note of appreciation beyond her verbal thank-yous.

Even if you say thanks, it’s always nice to see the word, too.

leadership dot #4373: promoters

September 7, 2024September 4, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

It seems that voter advocacy groups aren’t the only ones who like postcards — tourism bureaus and convention centers see their value as well. In places as diverse as St. Charles, MO and Newport, RI, racks of postcards are available for the taking (or sending, to be more accurate!).

These places where visitors frequent see the merits of having friends “recruit” friends to visit through peer-to-peer communication with mini-billboards on paper. In St. Charles, the convention center will even mail them for you — probably to ensure that they get sent!

Perhaps you can adopt this strategy and make it easy for others to promote your message. For less than a dollar, you can capture a testimonial, share a picture, and promote your organization — all in a format that may actually be read. Everything old is new again — maybe old-fashioned postcards should become part of your contemporary media mix.

Thanks, Brian and Meg!

leadership dot #4372: addresses

September 6, 2024September 4, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

If you’re old enough, you’ll remember the ubiquitous slogan of the Yellow Pages — “Let your fingers do the walking.” It still applies today, although now the fingers are tapping a keyboard or touching a phone screen instead of flipping through the pages of a phone book.

I had a momentary longing for those pages when I was trying to write thank-you notes to all my postcard project donors. Many I knew, but there were some for whom I only had email addresses or phone numbers, and it seemed more appropriate to handwrite my appreciation to those who had funded stamps. I either had to pay for an address or give up, and it struck me that these bulky books with everyone’s phone number and address used to be tossed at our doorstep. Today there is less privacy, but the information that once was free is now hard to obtain. I guess we have come full circle.

It reinforces for me that the handwritten, snail mail method of communication is increasingly rare and, thus, has a greater impact than the automated messages that arrive in the mailbox daily. Whether you’re writing a thank-you note or encouraging someone to take action, pen to paper may be your most effective method — but only if you’re lucky enough to have their address!

leadership dot #4371: pens

September 5, 2024September 4, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

We often jump right into a new, big project without forethought as to what will be required. It could involve rearranging priorities to secure time. It may necessitate recruiting a team to help, or maybe it consists of understanding the project’s parameters and budget.

In the case of the postcards I wrote about yesterday (dot #4370), it involved ordering pens. Ultimately, I used 36 pens to complete my writing. I thought I had enough with two new boxes but learned that was insufficient, and had to scramble to order more.

A few thoughts from this:

You’ll always need infrastructure to support your work. It’s a neglected piece of the planning — figuring out what your resource needs are, acquiring them, and perhaps, adjusting your requirements and procuring them again. It all takes time.
When working on a big project, it helps to have tangible evidence that you’re making progress. I saved my empty pen refills so that I could recycle them (a great program at Staples) but got a bonus boost of dopamine as I saw how many were accumulating.
Conversely, if you had laid out 36 pens and told me I needed to write until all of them were empty, it would have been a huge de-motivator. Sometimes, the focus on incremental next steps is required.

We all work on projects — whether figuring out what to make for dinner, planning a national convention, or somewhere in between. Approach your work intentionally to maximize your output and minimize your stress.

leadership dot #4370: projects

September 4, 2024September 3, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Over the summer, I handwrote 5400 postcards that will be mailed in October to encourage voting. This wasn’t the type of task you could do in an evening, a weekend, or even a week. It took me about 200 hours over three months to write them all.

Three things helped me to accomplish this task:

The names were provided on sheets with 25 names, requiring about an hour to write. It broke the task into manageable pieces and allowed me an instantaneous tally of how far along I was in the project.
I knew I wanted them finished by Labor Day, so it was easy to determine how many pages I needed to write each day. I had clear benchmarks as to whether or not I was on track and could make adjustments accordingly.
I created a system where (on most days) I wrote for an hour in the morning and another in the evening, making writing a part of my daily routine. It wasn’t left to happenstance when/whether I would write.

I’m now engaged in another large project and I bring these lessons forward to help me accomplish it. It’s much more nebulous than the postcards, and I have to do the equivalent of creating the names rather than being handed them, but I know I need to create measurable targets, a benchmark, and a system.

Instead of instantly jumping into your next assignment, take a moment to consider the strategies above. Having a game plan may be just what you need to win the game.

leadership dot #4369: recency

September 3, 2024September 2, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

One of my clients was second-guessing whether she should transition one of her employees into a totally new role. That person had recently performed well in some of the responsibilities outlined in the new position, but my client feared she was clouded due to recency rather than a long-term fit.

She was wise to be concerned about “recency bias” — a situation where the most recent action outweighs the history before it and becomes the basis for an opinion, whether good or bad. The employee who performs poorly on a task right before evaluation time will be rated more harshly than if the same act had occurred months before. Conversely, if someone excels at their most recent assignment, the halo of praise will influence how they are perceived by the supervisor.

But isn’t an interview just another case of recency bias in action? The candidate who performs well in the interview benefits from a positive impression in their most recent interaction, whereas the reverse is true. Better to realign roles based on the behavior of a current employee, whose history and loyalty you know.

leadership dot #4368: wasteful

September 2, 2024September 1, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Our city provides yard waste pick-up during certain months of the year. Residents can set their bags out on a separate day from trash/recycling pick-up and the truck will come by to collect them.

Unlike regular collection days when everyone sets something out, yard waste is sporadic. Often, there will only be one house with bags out, yet the truck cruises the street past each house as if on its regular route. It seems that it would be much more efficient if residents could schedule a pick-up so the drivers could avoid unnecessary and aimless driving.

Use this Labor Day as a reminder to do all you can to make the work of those who labor for you as meaningful as possible.

The lone yard waste pick up on our entire block that week

leadership dot #4367: six dollar store?

September 1, 2024August 31, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

The dollar stores used to be one of my favorite places — you could go knowing that you could indulge in an impulse to treat yourself to anything in the store and it wouldn’t impact the budget. No more. On a recent visit, I saw items for 50 cents, 75 cents, $1, $1.25, $1.50, $1.75, $2, $3, $5, and $6. Once they violated the one-dollar threshold, all bets were off as to what it would cost, making it just like any other retailer.

While it has been disappointing to watch the stores lose their distinctiveness and competitive advantage, it has also been interesting to note the levels of complexity their strategy has introduced. For example, many items have prices printed on them (which will make it challenging when they raise prices again). Each item now requires signs on the shelves indicating the price. The stores have installed price scanners so confused customers can figure out which price point their items will be charged.

The more components in your system, the more energy needed to maintain it. Don’t underestimate the multiplier effect of complexity.