You cannot eliminate uncertainty. And, it’s impossible to create complete certainty. Some things remain uncertain, unmeasurable, unpredictable and, so, require faith as a tool of leadership.

We have no faith, so we live and work in a world of fear and mistrust. The degree of fear and mistrust are reflected formally by the intensity of an organization’s processes, systems, procedures and rules, and informally in the behavioral weaknesses of its leaders.

But, you say, fear and mistrust come along with the territory, the human jungle, the fight for survival. Yes, it's true. The human condition is a wretched state of affairs -- brutish, nasty and short. How's that working for you?

Leadership -- like all acts of creation, like all works of art -- is a rebellion. You must rebel against this wretched state of affairs.

Your job is to transcend what fear and mistrust do to an organization, how it pollutes people's problem solving passion and abilities. Remember this -- excessive and rigid processes, systems, rules and procedures are a tax you pay for being afraid and suspicious.

Lead, don't manage. Sprinkle in some faith instead.

It’s a question I’m sure is asked quite frequently, and more than likely in response to a thorny problem, the kind of problem many managers react to by kidnapping twelve people and calling it a meeting.

I think it’s the wrong question.

Do you really want someone to own the process?

The danger in creating ownership of a process is that it makes everyone — surprise — focus on the process. Success, and the value of everyone’s time and attention, is then measured by how good the process is. Or, by some perverse sense of how complicated and impenetrable the process is, or how many spreadsheet tabs it consumes, or how many work teams it sucked into its gravitational pull. You’ve created an organization where people get rewarded for process creation.

That's not good.

Words matter. Words create a culture in an organization. They reflect people’s thinking. They influence people’s behavior.

“Process” is the wrong word.

The right word — the right question — is “who is going to own the solution?”

Everyone’s focus needs to be on problem solving. Reward people for the quality of their solutions to an organization’s problems. Because we should come to work to solve problems, not design processes.

Maybe it’s nit-picky to focus on one simple word uttered by overwhelmed managers in the heat of a moment. I don’t think so. Like signposts, words direct people to what an organization values. Words create a culture.

And more than anything, you need a solution culture, not a process culture. After all, what do your customers want you to do for them — create a process, or solve a problem?

Six terrible, shadowy forces roam this world, all of which have taken aim squarely at you with the purpose of making your life -- and your work -- a long, agonizing slog full of failure and misery.

They are, in no particular order: Stagnation, Irrelevance, Chaos, Fear, Isolation, and Boredom.

Assuming you want to be a happy and successful human being, you have no choice -- you must fight back. You must banish these forces from your life.

Your strongest weapon in this battle? Your problems. Yes, the decisions, puzzles, choices, relationships, obstacles, and challenges that your life and work throw at you every day. Embrace them and love them.

Look at it this way. Your problems are gifts:

• Your problems are a gift in the defense against stagnation. Problems invite you to learn new skills, to grow, to adapt, to venture beyond your comfort zone, to pursue and shape your and others’ future.

• Your problems are a gift in the battle against irrelevance. You matter. Your ideas, skills, knowledge and insights matter. This world, so full of problems, needs you. You have something important, valuable, and necessary to contribute. How dare you not think so.

• Your problems are a gift in the fight against chaos. You really do have a measure of control over your life, over your results, over your direction. It’s your ability to be a great problem solver.

• Your problems are a gift in the battle to defeat fear. Fear, uncertainty, doubt and instability thrive on our inability or unwillingness to address challenges in our lives and work. Embrace problems, and solve them well, and they lose their power to terrify you. Also, look around you. There’s a neverending shortage of great problem solvers in the world. Be one -- it’s terrific job security.

• Your problems are a gift in the struggle to overcome isolation. Reach out. Ask for help. Connect with other people, and other ideas, insights, and experiences. You are never alone.

• Your problems are a gift in the battle to vanquish boredom. Your problems challenge you to let your brain out of its cage. Experiment and play. Have fun. Invent something. Be inspired.

Great leaders (and happy and successful people) love problems. They expect them daily, and embrace each and every one of them. They understand the path to mastery in life is a deep passion and commitment to address and solve those challenges and problems.

Life, and work, is a problem-solving journey. Enjoy the ride, and fight the good fight.

(Note: this article is based on a previously written post, which I updated, and rewrote here. I like to think I get smarter as time passes, and gain new insight)

There are people all around you who want to build great businesses, make money, or change the world. They need you to make it easy to steal your customers and your brightest and most passionate employees. You’ll be doing a lot of people a big favor!

And who wants to go home every night miserable and exhausted? You, that’s who! Being a rotten leader is the first step.

So, we’re here to help. What you are about to read is full of advice on how to give feedback like a rotten leader. It’s good advice. We’ve tried some of it, and we’ve watched others try it, too. Believe us, it works.

This advice is not difficult to put into practice. Giving feedback like a rotten leader is one of the easiest things to do. In fact, we’re proud to say these principles are being put into action all over the world today -- even right now, as you read this. Rotten leaders are everywhere -- learn from the worst!

Enough yakking! Let’s get to it -- The Rotten Leader’s Guide to Giving Feedback.

Don’t Even Bother!

This is the single most important tip we can give a rotten leader. Your direct reports should already know what they’re supposed to be doing, and whether they’re doing it well, or poorly. And, if they don’t, it’s best to keep them guessing -- uncertainty makes for sharper and more engaged employees, right? Besides, you’ve got better things to do with your time than give feedback -- that office football pool isn’t going to fill itself out, you know!

See? Easy! We could (and should) stop right here and you’d already be a world-class rotten leader. But if you must, or feel the slightest or rarest impulse to give people feedback, here’s how to be the mostest rottenest feedback giver ever.

Believe the Worst!

Rotten feedback doesn’t just happen. You’ve got to be prepared! Save yourself a lot of time and inconvenience by making some simple assumptions about the people who work for you:

• they’re incompetent

• they’re out to get you

• they can’t be trusted

• they spend most of the day thinking up ways to make mistakes or otherwise annoy the living daylights out of you

• they’re basically idiots

• their goal in life is to disappoint you

“Oh, my,” we hear you thinking, “this explains everything!” Yes, yes it does, and once you embrace these blissful assumptions, you’re ready to hit the ground running.

Threats Work Best!

Did someone make a mistake? Of course they did! Threaten them with grotesque and disruptive consequences, or threaten them with subtle, sweetly whispered suggestions about their future employability. We don’t care which -- just threaten them! Scared, distracted people work harder and faster. We read it on the Internet, so it must be true.

Raising Your Voice Works Even Better!

Everyone knows the most powerful motivation in the world to grow and improve one’s performance is an angry, red-faced boss who could explode at any moment. Let them know how boiling mad you are, and so easily can become, and they’ll never, ever make another mistake.

Be Vague!

If you’re either happy or unhappy with their performance, don’t be too specific as to why. They can figure it out on their own. That’s what you pay them for. Also, be as vague as possible about your expectations, desired results, or areas for improvement. This is a great strategy for saving time in the future, as the people who work for you really should be able to read your mind, shouldn’t they? Hints, ambiguities, and even mumbles are an important part of their training. Get them started today!

Multi-Task!

Go ahead -- check your email, or take a phone call while giving someone feedback. It’s OK to make them wait. After all, you’re a busy, important person, and your direct reports should be grateful for the opportunity to be mentored by you.

Make It About You!

Having to give feedback has handed you a golden opportunity! Take the credit you deserve! If by some accident, someone who works for you did a good job, make sure they (and everyone else around) understand that it’s almost entirely due to your support, your vision, and your superior intelligence. They probably already know that, but it can’t hurt to remind them.

Feedback. Unless horribly misused by rotten leaders, it creates happy, independent employees who are great at solving problems, making money and changing the world.

You’ve been warned.

Sometimes, we just call it feedback -- a performance review, a disciplinary action, a pat on the back -- and simply leave it at that. But it’s much, much more.

Feedback is information, but it’s also wisdom. Feedback is nourishment. It feeds people’s and organizations’ need to grow, adapt, and thrive. It creates the capacity to repair, renew, and evolve. And, it is what the best leaders are great at. In a great organization, feedback happens all the time, in all directions, and is welcomed and embraced.

After all, feedback is central to the love affair with the truth that great leaders know is vital to all organizations -- the truth of who we are, the truth of our impact on others, the truth of our markets and our customers, and the truth of what we do well and what we don’t do well.

Yes, feedback is sometimes simply a performance review, or a pat on the back. Whatever form it takes (and it takes many) there are a number of very specific beliefs and behaviors that are foundational to great feedback. Here are three that we see in the very best leaders, and in the very best feedback:

It always builds, and never tears down.

Great feedback never raises its voice in anger, never belittles, and never humiliates, no matter the nature and the size of the mistake. It does not roll its eyes, sneer or snort in disgust.

It speaks the truth in love. It understands that people are imperfect, and have imperfect days. It believes in people’s ability and desire to rise above those imperfections and do good, meaningful work. It accepts the principle that no one wakes up in the morning eager to fail. Great feedback cares about people and wants them to learn, grow, and succeed. That’s why feedback exists, and it delivers that message in the spirit and the voice in which it is given.

It always challenges, but never threatens.

Great feedback never seeks to strike fear into people’s hearts. It doesn’t criminalize mistakes, or summarily execute employees for making them. It doesn’t feed on ultimatums. It doesn’t threaten with grotesque and disruptive consequences, or with subtle and sweetly whispered suggestions about job security.

It pushes people to grow. It understands people don’t work well when they’re scared and distracted. It encourages people to learn, and to strive to not make the same mistake twice. It challenges people to leave their comfort zones, and to reach higher and try harder. Great feedback is clear about expectations, and embraces accountability.

It always gives, and never steals.

Great feedback never robs people of their dignity. It never deprives them of a chance to make it right. It doesn’t steal their voice. It doesn’t disturb the peace or steal stability.

It is a gift. It is the gift of the space and permission to learn, or to correct a course of action. It gives clarity, encouragement, insight, meaning and truth. It gives hope. It casts credit and success far and wide. It shares information and learning. It connects people and builds relationships. It gives time - to conversations and relationship building, and to the hard work and investment that makes great feedback so valuable.

There is a simple, practical way to build great feedback skills. Whenever you have the opportunity to give feedback, ask yourself three questions:

1. Is what I’m about to say (and how I’m going to say it) going to build the person in front of me, or tear them down?

2. Is what I’m about to say (and how I’m going to say it) going to challenge the person in front of me, or threaten them?

3. Is what I’m about to say (and how I’m going to say it) going to be a gift to the person in front of me, or will it steal from them?

These are tough questions, tougher than they look on the surface. It is easy to delude ourselves with answers that justify our motives, rather than serve as a genuine reflection of the truth of what comes out of our mouths.

In any case, feedback is difficult to excel at, but delivers an exceptional return on investment. To do it well consistently demands a life- and career-long commitment, regardless of whether your goal is to make money or to change the world. Understanding its foundations is the first step.

We all love the idea of innovation, right?

I want to be innovative. You want to be innovative. Everybody wants to be innovative.

In pursuing or talking about innovation, the danger is that we give it merely lip service, and treat it as a fad or a fashionable idea to toss like confetti in our meetings and in our marketing. We risk using it as a cheap applause line in our conversations about economic development, public policy, and strategic planning without really understanding or acknowledging what it demands of us.

If we’re being honest, innovation is not a fad. It is not merely a fashionable way to think and talk about business, or the future, or the next big social media gold rush.

Survival of the Fittest
Innovation has always been a quiet and persistent foundation of great companies and great organizations. Success and happiness in business and in life has always been about the ability to solve increasingly complex problems at a mastery level. Innovation is really about that daily and often unfashionable pursuit — “is there a better way to solve this problem?”

And so at every level, in every molecule, companies and their leaders are...

Read more...

Data + Asphyxiation = Datasphyxiation 

It is, simply, when the fetish for managing almost purely by data, and analysis, and spreadsheets chokes an organization’s ability to creatively and flexibly solve problems, focus on the customer's needs, or innovate.

Usually, death soon follows.

I want to share an insight with you.

Before I do, you should know this about me: I am not an expert in sustainability. For most of my life, I never gave it much thought, nor did it interest me. I may have even smirked at the idea once or twice.

You should know this about the company I work for: it is a mundane business. We are not superstars in the sustainability movement. Our name certainly wouldn’t escape from your lips should you be asked to name a fashionable triple bottom line company.

I sit on the board of advisors for a new and unique sustainable entrepreneurship MBA (SEMBA) at the University of Vermont because my company wrestles with this new business paradigm every day.

A few years ago, we had a moment of clarity. Suddenly, we realized our entire existence was based on a business model that was simply unsustainable.

We had to ask ourselves a very important question: what will the world — the planet, our markets, our customers, our communities — expect from us in twenty or thirty years? What will we get paid for?

You should know we came to this simple conclusion: we’ll get paid by helping to solve the problem of the world’s limited resources. At that moment, nearly everything changed — the way we hire, build, and treat people, the investments we make, the way we work with customers, the risks we embrace.

Simply put, all our problems are centered around resource limits — natural, environmental, people, time, capital, and so on. All of our opportunities — profit, growth, contributing to society, creating shareholder value — come from our ability to solve those problems better than anybody else. To do that we have to embrace sustainability. We have to become a different kind of company.

And that transformation calls for a different kind of leader.

Read more...

If you’re reading this, you have an itch that may need scratching — the desire to start and run your own business, which is one of life’s most noble impulses. Running your own business is not just a way to make a living, it’s also a path to making a life. In Vermont, making a life is just as important and fulfilling as making a living.

Scratching that itch in Vermont (or elsewhere, to be honest) is not often easy, and I want you to be successful. And, of course, it’s very tempting to rattle off a “Top 10” list of small business tips.

But beyond the sugary, conventional advice you could certainly find somewhere, anywhere else, there are four things – not often talked about – that I’ve watched every successful business owner or leader do very well. You’ll need to master these things as well.

Read more...

 A fearful organization (one breathing the fumes of insecurity and mistrust) too often becomes a complex organization.

A complex organization too often becomes a control-obsessed organization, and values that control much more than it values masterful problem-solving.

An organization that values control over masterful problem-solving too often solves problems poorly, and goes broke and dies.

Fear kills businesses.

Skillful problem solving leads to success and happiness. Poor problem solving...well, doesn’t.

Great, and good, problem solvers expect challenges daily, and embrace each and every one of them. They understand the path to mastery in life is a deep passion and commitment to the challenges and problems life throws at them. And, they’re grateful for the opportunity. After all, having challenges, and doing the work, is what makes you human, and what reminds you that you are alive.

Simply, problems are good things. One of your goals should be to share this love of problems which, when embraced, offers you a path to mastery in your life. In their daily lives and challenges, inspired problem solvers see this path clearly:

• Your problems are an opportunity to achieve mastery over stagnation. Problems invite you to learn new skills, to grow, to adapt, to venture beyond your comfort zone, to pursue and shape your and others’ future.

• Your problems are an opportunity to achieve mastery over irrelevance. You matter. Your ideas, skills, knowledge and insights matter. The world needs you. You have something to contribute to the battle. How dare you not think so.

• Your problems are an opportunity to achieve mastery over chaos. You really do have a measure of control over your life, over your results, over your direction. It’s your ability to be a great problem solver.

• Your problems are an opportunity to achieve mastery over fear. Fear, uncertainty, doubt and instability thrive on our inability or unwillingness to address challenges in our lives and work. Solve problems well, and they lose their power to terrify you. Also, look around you. There aren’t a lot of great problem solvers in the world. Be one -- it’s terrific job security.

• Your problems are an opportunity to achieve mastery over isolation. Reach out. Ask for help. Connect with other people, and other ideas, insights and experiences. You are never alone.

• Your problems are an opportunity to achieve mastery over boredom. Let your brain out of its cage. Experiment and play. Have fun. Invent something. Be inspired.

We are addicted to cheap leadership.

At worst, we pursue this addiction intentionally. This intentional, or conscious, form of cheap leadership can be the cynical exercise of certain management behaviors that are a form of abuse, but what we claim are designed to “solve problems,” “get results,” or “win.” It can also be those behaviors we’ve simply learned or observed, and which we have come to believe without question are the best way to organize and conduct daily business.

More commonly, but no less toxic, we are simply unconscious of both the addiction and its consequences. Our intentions are good; we simply don’t realize what we’re doing, and why, nor do we always immediately notice the damage done.

Either way, cheap leadership is the biggest threat to our personal growth, an enabler of our ineffective behaviors, and a stumbling block to our success as leaders.

Cheap leadership mires our organizations in mediocrity, or worse. It erodes performance and sustainability. It steals, often silently and invisibly, from our bottom line.

Cheap leadership smothers the happiness and enjoyment of work, and the fulfillment that all of us — leaders and followers — seek in organizational life.

Our addiction to cheap leadership chokes the creativity, energy and problem-solving skills of everyone around us. It frustrates and weakens. It annoys and deflates.

Cheap leadership is poison.

So, why do managers rarely see their job is to understand and master the genuine, more powerful drivers of success — like “trust,” “resiliency,” “belief,” and “resolve”?

My guess is blindness, or fear. Or both.

The user of this phrase is seeking to deflect or avoid responsibility for his or her actions, or for a poor result. In some organizations, unfortunately, this skill is actually more important than getting work done.

Mastery, particularly in communicating, seeks to anticipate, understand and address all the consequences, intended and unintended. 

So let’s just call unintended consquences what they are — errors, shortcuts, and cheap leadership.

Well, stop it.

There is no discernable market among human beings — employees, customers, the public — for “messages.” Nobody is looking or hungry for messages. People want the truth.

People want a relationship. They want to be talked to honestly, with humility and without agenda or “spin.”

Organizations love the illusion of control. Crafting a “message” implies you have control over what people will think and how they’ll react. You don’t. The only control you have is whether or not you’re honest, humble, love or care about people, and whether or not you’re living your values, beliefs and your mission.

The worst message is half a truth.

At this point it has essentially bought into a lie — that it’s not possible to have order and clarity by trusting, motivating and inspiring people to organize themselves to solve problems at a high level of mastery to deliver the results the organizations wants and needs.

Or, even if it believes it’s possible, it also usually believes it’s too hard, messy, complex and unpredictable.

In other words, too costly.

And so we drag our imperfections and our flaws to our work, our relationships, and our organizations. They show up in how we treat each other, and treat ourselves. They show up in the decisions we make. They guide what we value, and what we dismiss. 

I see a lot of leaders struggle to hide or lie to themselves about their imperfections and flaws, afraid that those flaws disqualify them to lead.

Great leaders waste no such energy. Great leaders embrace their imperfections as a fact of life, an inescapable feature of human nature. They understand that being imperfect and being ineffective are not the same thing. 

Great leaders aren’t perfect — they’re effective. They simply don’t allow their own personal flaws to destroy the effectiveness and motivation of others. Leadership, in many ways, is about getting ourselves and others where we need to go in spite of our imperfections. 

More simply, we must work daily to rob our imperfections of the power to make us ineffective.

Our success in life and work — and, ultimately, our happiness — depends on our ability to transcend our flaws, not to reach some unattainable state of perfection, but to get things done well, and move others to get things done well.

It is the attempt to limit the downside.

“Leadership,” well, that’s the act of unleashing the upside.

Most striking is the disarming humility, candor and utterly “human-scale” personality of the leader of the world’s most valuable technology company. This is a great communicator — and rare business and organizational leader — at work.

What’s also striking is what’s missing — the all too common mask many CEOs wear, the one that demands (or pleads for) deference, creates an air of inaccessability, and fails to connect as a human being with other human beings from whom they need commitment, trust and understanding.

What we know about Mr. Jobs is that he loves to create great products and do great things. Evidently, this desire consumes far more of his intellectual energy than the need most mortals have for large quantities of smoke to be blown at their posteriors.

You manage with your head — your brain. You solve problems. You design and implement processes and systems. You research markets and customer attitudes and behaviors. You understand and work within generally accepted accounting principles. You can work the right buzzwords into conversations, and meetings.

When something goes wrong, you are very good at analyzing it, and understanding what happened, and how. You love numbers; they are comforting, and clear.

You are very smart.

But people solve problems with more than just their brains, don’t they? Are they moved by the spreadsheet only? Do they come to work each morning looking to bring their blood, sweat and tears to a process or a system?

They want to believe. They want to bleed for the right mission, the right product, the right person. They want to win, to taste the fruit of an investment of their talents, their knowledge and their experience. They want to stretch, trust, and be trusted. They want to feel, and to love, and to commit.

These things don’t fit on your spreadsheet. They are not a system or a process, nor is summoning them a system or a process. They are messy and unpredictable, discomforting and hazy.

They are faith, and faith doesn’t live in your brain. It lives in your heart. While it takes brains to solve problems every day, don’t forget people and organizations achieve mastery with their heart as well. It’s a genuine competitive advantage.

“Big brain, tiny heart” is the most common mistake organizations — and leaders — make. “Tiny brain, big heart” is the second most common.

You manage with your brain, and you lead with your heart. You have to do both — deliberately and intentionally — to be great. Simply doing one, or the other, alone makes you and your organization mediocre.