The Businessmakers Radio Show

He’s a “Weird Cat”

Thu, 14 May 2009 12:46:47 +0000

That’s what Jason Pontin laughingly calls himself. Pontin, editor and publisher of M.I.T.’s Technology Review magazine, was Russ Capper’s featured guest on The Businessmakers Show this past weekend. Obviously, he has a sense of humor, but he’s also brilliant and he is brutally honest. During his BusinessMakers interview, he makes observations based on personal experience and reaches conclusions that, well, most of us know instinctively are true but hard to admit. While he acknowledges that print media and online media address two different audiences and have different strengths, he also believes that print media is no longer sustainable as it currently exists.

True, the print industry is in crisis—it’s in “a tricky place,” Pontin calls it. Newspapers and magazines both are struggling under the competition of information now available online, and advertising and subscriptions for ALL print media continue to slip. The signs have been there for years, but few had the vision, or the courage, to act. Many publishers that have charged for online content have not quite got the formula right—the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune and many more print publications have announced online fees with varying degrees of success. Hearst Corp. is in development with an “e-reader” that could include content from any combination of Hearst magazines or newspapers.

Soon after Pontin joined Technology Review in 2004, he began a strategic overhaul of the magazine, seeking to create an electronic publishing company with a model that is sustainable; he says his goals have largely been met. Pontin delights in “the beautiful parts” of electronic publishing that provide him with immediate feedback and tell him what his readers want. He has embraced the digital world of the future while using the same expertise to make the print model more effective.

Pontin’s interviews are inspiring on so many levels. Pontin tells of mistakes he made earlier in his career. You can bet he won’t make those same mistakes a second time, but neither is he shying away from making the next controversial decision. And he has made some very controversial decisions. This summer, Technology Review will begin requiring paid subscriptions for its online content. Hats off to a Weird Cat at the top of his game and still willing to take a chance.

Why Downsizing is a Good Thing

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:45:24 +0000

In the boom years of the mid-20th century American organizations grew with the assumption that bigger was better. The United States became home to some of the largest corporations in the world. At the time, these companies faced little or no competition from foreign firms or even from smaller American companies. There were ready markets for any goods or services that could be produced.

So what was the problem?

Because of their immense size, there was almost complete insulation of top management from outside perspectives. A command-and-control leadership model, designed for the industrial revolution, left the rank-and-file worker ill-prepared to offer solutions or to take initiative. We did as we were told. We built our skills in deep technical grooves with the thought that as long as we performed the tasks that were outlined for us, and stuck to our specific skills, we would have a job for life. The Industrial Age mindset expected that work was more or less a fixed set of routines or duties. Job descriptions spelled out our responsibilities. We “followed direction”, focused on the work right in front of us, and mostly left the larger organizational issues alone. We could labor away in obscurity and still be assured of a job.

Then The World Changed and So Did the Workplace

In the 1970’s and 1980’s several factors converged which transformed American business. The “quality movement”, which found an initial foothold in Japan, introduced techniques to manage output quality and increase customer satisfaction. Competition became global in reach. Technological change and innovation reduced business cycles significantly, reduced time-to-market dramatically, and made it possible – through the use of high-speed computers and high tech communications – for businesses to accomplish more work with fewer hands. Organizations became leaner and more accountable to the demands of world-wide consumers. Small start-up companies, without the baggage of huge overhead, could enter markets quickly with next generation products and establish a powerful niche. Now consumers had global choices, and they demanded goods and services designed for their needs.

In response to these changes American businesses began to adapt. Organizations began to move from hierarchical-bureaucratic structures toward more lateral and networked structures. They changed from organizations built on size to organizations built around speed. Organizations based on the control of others through boss-centered, command-and-control strategies gave way to organizations based on communication with others – team-centered and collaborative in nature. Organizations that relied solely on systems and procedures gave way to organizations focused more on processes and people. Even the nature of the organization environment changed from a sense of order and certainty to one marked by change and ambiguity. A focus on technology and data gave way to a focus on information and knowledge. A focus solely on products now gave way to a focus on customers. Internal competition and one-upsmanship shifted toward internal alliances and collaboration. Organizations changed their focus from a past and present orientation, invoking the status quo and permanence, to an orientation that was more future oriented – embracing change and potential. Even the nature of employee learning changed from separate off-line training to more continuous real-time learning. The mono-cultural face of the 1950’s gave way to the multi-cultural face of the 1990’s. American workers shifted their focus away from accepted definitions of success toward self-fulfillment and a desire for significance. Role-playing gave way to authenticity. Employee compliance and conformity morphed into involvement and creativity. A continual search for a higher standard of living changed into a search for life/work balance. These changes were evolutionary in nature and largely positive and growth-oriented.

Now, in the crucible of the most recent economic crisis, the playing field has changed in another way. Even adapted businesses have decided to hunker down. They are not hiring and they are paring down workers where they can. Downsizing and outsourcing have become legitimate business strategies. Unfortunately, many of us have lived in our organizations as if just doing our job was good enough. Worse still, many of us tried to get by doing the minimum, saving our best efforts and most of our energy for our off-work times. In this new reality, just doing a job is not good enough anymore.

The Upside of Downsizing?

For those caught in the midst of the crisis, especially those who have lost their jobs, it may be hard to make the upside case. But there is an upside.

What it takes to be a star performer in the new organization is less about background, years of technical expertise, rank or status, and more about competence and contribution, thus opening the door for anyone with the wits and the talent to be a high-performing contributor.

The most productive organizational members now must have a broader consciousness. They will make a visible contribution beyond the boundaries of their immediate assignments. Now each of us is responsible for making the organization what it needs to be – overall. We are held accountable for the success of the whole system – “if you work here it’s your problem”. New organizations require new skillsets. Organizations now look for contributors, not necessarily those with a deep technical groove, but those who show a broader base of knowledge of the workings of the organization and an understanding of system dynamics. A new kind of evolved work style is serving to make us better and more productive generally. In the reality of the new organization, most of us have become “knowledge workers” – finding our value through increased understanding, leveraged information and organizational wisdom earned by paying attention to how things work most effectively, not just what specific work we are doing at the moment. Being effective means being more responsive, more creative and innovative, and more responsible to the larger world environment. Our future is not tied to one organization, one industry or even one career. As workers in the new organization we are developing a set of skills that have broad applicability.

Newer, leaner organizations now push decision-making down as close as possible to the problem, integrating work across functional boundaries to address quality, production or customer service issues. Teams have become the primary work unit in high-performance organizations. There is no more “looking-up the organization” for ideas and direction. Employees are increasingly involved and participative in ways that improve commitment, productivity, quality and innovation. The need for collaboration and cooperation is intense. We now compete for ideas and service excellence – not budget and staffs. Our tasks are not narrowly defined, simple tasks, but system-wide applications and broadly-based. Our suggestions about how to make the process work better are continually sought out. We are asked to be people of influence, taking initiative and making our own decisions within our span of control. We are required to be team-players – collaborating with others as appropriate. The knowledge of how to lead and facilitate teams has become a critical skill. Teamwork represents a set of values that encourages listening and responding constructively to views expressed by others, providing support, and recognizing the interests and achievements of each member.

Forget About Weakness, Focus on Strength

The new organization requires that we sharpen our best skills, focusing not on our deficits but on our strengths. For many of us this represents a significant shift in approach. We have been taught from childhood to focus on improving in areas of weakness rather than building on our strengths. We work hard at fixing what is wrong and overcoming our deficits, rather than capitalizing on our talents. The belief that we can best improve by focusing on weakness, although deeply entrenched in our work culture, flies in the face of research. In fact, it takes far more energy and effort to improve from incompetence to mediocrity than it does to improve from first-rate performance to excellence. Too often we choose to spend our time and energy trying to turn lackluster performance into mediocre performance. Our energy, resources and time should go instead to making our areas of competent performance into star-power.

Our organizations have already evolved, thanks to global change and more recent global economic turmoil. Now it is up to each of us to make the changes in our work habits that will define us responsible organization citizens. When we tailor our work styles to the demands of the new organization, we prosper individually and our companies transform from good to great.

Thoughts From The Rice Alliance Business Plan Competition

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:31:36 +0000

We’re all statistics. I’m what they call “over-informed.” I watch, I listen, I read and I worry. So many challenges ahead of us. What I heard last night at the 2009 Rice University Business Plan Competition makes me believe that maybe the future is not such a scary place. Perhaps there is merit in Russ Capper’s words, “It’s the innovators and entrepreneurs who will save us.”

The Rice competition is the largest intercollegiate business plan competition in the world, this year hosting 42 teams of collegiate competitors who each have developed a product worthy of prize money—more than $800,000—to finance future development and/or research. Any one of these products could change the world. Think I’m exaggerating? Here’s a sample:

A therapy that stops the growth of cancer cells and inhibits metastasis, the process through which cancer cells spread throughout the body.
A water purification system that recycles wastewater on-demand and at dramatically lower cost. (According to UNICEF, deaths from unclean water and poor sanitation are the SECOND greatest cause of death among children.)
Technology that harvests vibration to power automotive sensors without batteries.
A medical device that cures blindness by healing the cornea; this could also be an alternative to corneal transplant.
Light sources that use solar power or ultra-high efficiency LEDs that are eco-friendly, lower cost and enable new applications in purification, security and manufacturing.

Besides being judged on their business plans, these young entrepreneurs compete at being able to “pitch” their company in 60 seconds or less—in other words, why is your product important and why would I invest in it?” Every presentation was well-rehearsed and impressive. In the audience, entrepreneurial roll models and supporters such as Rod Canion, founder of Compaq Computers; filmmaker and serial entrepreneur Ashok Rao; and Linda Spain of OrthoAccel Technologies, a recent Rice Alliance alumna who completed a major round of financing in August 2008. And also present was a young man named Nicholas Seet, a former student at UCLA and winner of the 2005 competition. Seet, who spoke to the group with a poise, confidence and humor that he admitted he did NOT have as a competitor in the 2005 event, advised the team members in the audience, “The people in this room will be the leaders in their industries, so meet as many of them as you can.”

These are the stories we should see in the mainstream news. These focused and dedicated students hold a precarious future in their hands. It’s entirely possible that these innovators and entrepreneurs will save us all.

2 Survival Instincts That Protect Your Job in Tough Times

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:02:01 +0000

When managers are asked “Who are the really productive people in this company?”, the answers invariably go something like this:

“When I need to get an order out the door for an important customer, I call Betty.”
“The best sales manager in the company is Bob, hands down.”
“If I need an accurate cost fast, I call John, he’s amazing.”

The same names come up again and again: the high-performers – the “go-to” individuals. In tough economic times companies build their organizations around these people and discharge the rest. What do these people have that gets them noticed? What gives them that kind of visibility and a reputation for excellence?

Over the last few years the partners in the consulting firm Interpersonal Skills Laboratory have asked those questions of hundreds of managers who have been in the position of selecting only the best and brightest to staff their newly downsized organizations.

In those surveys managers were asked to address the following:

“List the personal characteristics, skills or competencies of those employees who will be most valuable to your organization.”
If you have been involved in selecting employees to staff your re-sized company, what specific skills did you look for?"
Give an example of a behavior that is most characteristic of an employee – with whom you have had personal experience – who you believe is indispensable to the company.”

When the results were analyzed something surprising emerged. Almost no one referenced an employee’s technical skill. It seemed to be a given that the technical ability to do a job well was no longer, by itself, a distinguishing factor. Something else was at the top of those managers’ “must have” list – a set of qualities combining interpersonal facility and system understanding.

These key capabilities are best described in two forms: Personal Initiative and the Capacity for Collaboration. These capabilities appear to be innate value choices, present in all of us – a kind of instinctive way of operating. As human beings we have both the inclination to take action and to seek achievement (personal initiative), and the inclination to associate with and cooperate with others for the common good (collaboration). We are concerned about doing what needs to be done for our own self-interest. At the same time, we are social beings – forming associations and relationships to meet our needs for connectedness with others.

Eighty-two percent of all the respondents in these surveys identified some form of either Personal Initiative or the Capacity for Collaboration as a key capability for success inside the 21st century organization. And, although both competencies were seen as of high value, the most sought-after individual of all was the one who had both these competencies in balance.

Personal Initiative: Becoming an Organization Driver

Personal Initiative involves setting clear goals and pushing to achieve them. It is the belief that it is the active deed — accomplishment – that is most satisfying. Outward, energetic action defines this personal quality.

In the surveys, those with the instinct of Personal Initiative were noted to have four distinct skills.

Proactivity: a willingness to take the lead – to take the action necessary to move forward, rather than wait and react to circumstances as they unfold; a belief that success comes through dogged-determination and follow-through.
An Internal Locus of Control: a belief that their fate is in their own hands; a comfortableness with independent action and a knack for overcoming any roadblocks that might get in the way.
An Achievement-Orientation: an inclination to actively seek challenging assignments and opportunities that put them to the test; a desire to expand their abilities and sharpen their skills. Self-assurance and self-confidence are also part of this mix.
Hope and Confidence: This quality is different than just rosy cheerfulness. Rather, it is the expectation that you can prevail over obstacles through your own efforts; a belief that with the right combination of effort and perseverance, success is just around the corner. These individuals tend to focus on what can happen rather than on the obstacles.

Capacity for Collaboration: Getting the Right People on the Bus and Getting on With Them

The Capacity for Collaboration describes a strong desire to include others when appropriate to leverage impact and involvement. This is the desire to work for the common good, accessing all the human resources in the organization. It’s a mindset of cooperation and interdependence.

In the surveys, those with the instinct of the Capacity for Collaboration display three more specific skills.

An Orientation Toward Others: a preference to work and make decisions with other people rather than toiling alone.
Responsiveness to the needs of others: Like good caregivers in every avenue of life, those with the Capacity for Collaboration are skilled at listening and offering feedback. They cultivate a reputation as someone who rallies around others and helps when needed.
Polished people skills: This is the ability to gain the trust, respect and confidence of different types of people all over the organization. It is a warm and inviting presence that draws others in.

We all know that we have the ability to make the work of our colleagues easier or more difficult – if we have a mind to. The decision we make is largely determined by our willingness to take the personal initiative to solve work problems, and by our willingness to consider others and involve them when appropriate. These two “instincts” in combination establish our reputation as people of influence and worthy of respect.

These two “survival instincts” are the building blocks that underlie everything that effective performers do. These “instincts” multiply our impact, they heighten our personal visibility, and they ensure that our technical skills are valued and utilized. When these instincts are in place, it becomes easier to get the job done. Other people in the organization line up behind us. They listen to what we have to say, and when times get tough, they want to make sure that we are on their team.

Conversation as the New Work Style

Wed, 1 Apr 2009 05:30:00 +0000

The cathedral at Chartres stands on a hill at the center of a charming medieval town in northern France. This spectacular cathedral was constructed between 1194 and 1260, and is considered one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in Europe. For centuries the cathedral also functioned as a marketplace, with merchants at the portals of the basilica selling different items: textiles at the northern end; fuel, vegetables and meat at the southern end. Workers in various professions, such as carpenters, weavers and masons, gathered in the cathedral seeking jobs.

The cathedral itself is a spectacular experience for any visitor. The 92 foot long nave soars 120 feet high at its center. It is flanked by immense stained glass windows dating from the 1200’s. On the floor of the nave is an original thirteenth-century labyrinth comprising a path over 650 feet long enclosed within a 50-foot diameter, where for centuries pilgrims have crawled on their knees around the pattern, hoping to find God at the center

On a recent visit to the cathedral, amidst this spectacular architecture, I saw a human drama that stopped me in my tracks. Outside a small chapel space on one side of the nave was a modest sign - “conversational confession”. There in a tiny glass-walled space sat an elderly French woman across a small table from a chapel priest. The two were engaged in dialogue, complete with earnest looks and animated gestures.

As a lapsed Catholic, (it’s been 16 years since I attended mass and 48 years since my last confession) the notion of confession-as-conversation was a revelation. My recollection of confession was one of entering a dark cabinet-like space, waiting for a small window to slide open, after which I confessed my sins to an unseen priest who listened patiently and assigned my penance. Almost half a century later, I am in an 800 year-old church, witnessing this same ritual, now transformed into dialogue. Here they were – penitent and priest – engaged in a discussion of both the sin and its forgiveness, seeking to come to some decision as to how best to express their faith.

Back across the Atlantic, 21st century American companies have learned a similar lesson. They are making use of conversation as a tool to transform the way they do business. Alan Webber – former editor of Harvard Business Review and co-founder of Fast Company magazine has observed: “Conversation is the core process by which humans think and coordinate their actions. As a result of conversation, collective learning ensues and the resultant collective intelligence co-creates business and social value.” In fact, conversations are the way we discover what we know. We share our understanding with our colleagues and, in the process we create new knowledge for the organization.

The old days of simply transmitting information from top to bottom in an organization are over. Looking up the organization for answers and direction simply doesn’t work in an economy built around knowledge. Being able to bring meaning to the work for all involved has become the core competence in today’s leaner organizations. This process involves a social action perspective – developing a “shared understanding” of what is to be done and how best to do it. Meaning is brought through collaborative discussion. High-performance in the 21st century organization demands conversation. The altered term “co-operation” perhaps best defines the collaborative nature of this way of working.

he capacity for collaboration in this way has to do with what has been termed "social capital" - the ability for people to work together for common purposes. Today an organization’s capital is embodied less in land, factories, tools and machines, and increasingly in the knowledge that resides inside the human mind. Social capital represents people's ability to associate with, and work effectively with, one another. Today the critical differences between companies reside in the utilization of their human resources. The quality of the interpersonal environment - how and how well the employees work together - determines a company's success or failure. The lesson here is that in order for organizations to mine the information that exists in the system, structured, multi-directional conversations, among those most directly involved, are essential.

What does this mean in practical terms?

It means leading meetings in such a way that issues are talked through completely before any decisions are made. It means looking at potential actions from every angle and designing ways to overcome any potential obstacles.
It means making sure that everyone on the team is involved and participating in the process.
It means leveling with others on where you stand on the issues, and encouraging others to do the same. It means developing ideas through discussion with others.
It means demonstrating your ability to work with other people as equals, respecting what they bring to the table, listening to them for ideas, and working cooperatively to accomplish the task at hand.
It means showing that you are someone who really cares about the work of your colleagues. In so doing you develop a reputation as a valuable partner.
It means connecting with other people across the organization, determining who you can involve, and in what way, on the projects over which you have responsibility.
It means forming alliances that enable you to leverage your power and your effectiveness, especially in situations where people need to come together to share different kinds of expertise.

We know that it’s a knowledge economy from now on – driven by the power of ideas and accumulated wisdom. Those skilled at forming alliances put themselves in-the-know. In effect, they work to place themselves at the center of organizational knowledge – wherever, and with whomever, that knowledge resides. Being connected in this way ensures that knowledge is leveraged. When you drill down into the center of the knowledge networks you have formed you’re likely to hit a gusher of collective brainpower.

The formula for maximizing information – and in turn building the knowledge and wisdom available to the organization is this:

The right people….having the right conversations….about the right things….at the right time.

Those who become indispensable in their organizations have moved away from thinking in terms of a “competitive advantage”, especially as it applies to their own colleagues. Instead they seek a "collaborative advantage", mining the information, knowledge and accumulated wisdom that resides throughout the organization.

5 Ways To Cultivate Corporate Creativity

Sat, 7 Mar 2009 21:45:42 +0000

Whenever I speak or teach people about creativity the most common question I have receive is "How can I/my employees be more creative at work?" The short answer is you can't make people more creative. What you can do is create an environment that encourages and fosters creativity. How do you go about creating this type of environment? It's much simpler than you probably think. Here are 5 quick start ideas to help you start building the creativity quotient in your company.

Art involves creativity but creativity is not synonymous with art

Creativity is a mysterious concept for a lot of people. They see it as a skill that you are born with instead of a habit that can be cultivated. The first step in tapping your company's creative reserves is changing the way you view creativity. For most people the word creativity inspires images of orchestras playing a symphonic masterpiece, classic tales by William Shakespeare or great works of art. Rarely do we think of the programmer working on the next great piece of software or the amazing sale person who brought in 200K for the company this quarter. While what they do is different these people tap the same creative reservoir that Shakespeare, Da Vinci and Mozart has access to. Once you realize that creativity is not confined to artist, musicians and poets there is a whole world of discovery and innovation waiting for you.

Overcoming "I'm not creative"

The most common phrase I hear when I mention creativity in a business environment is "I'm not creative". Many people make the mistake of thinking that if their job doesn't involve creating something of an aesthetic nature that they aren't creative or that there isn't room for creativity in their job. The simplest definition of creativity is the process of generating new ideas and concepts, or new associations between existing ideas or concepts. Anyone can do that, right? I am a firm believer that you are what you think you are. The human mind is the greatest machine on the planet. It is capable of calculating complex equations, composing music, and creating artistic masterpieces yet when "logic" takes over this incredible machine can be lose all of its creative capacities. So, If you think you are creative there is a good chance you will be able to find ways to express it. Remember thought and action always overlap. What you think has a good chance of coming true.

Don't pigeon hole people

A quick survey of the people that work for me reveals an accomplished violin teacher, a choral singer, 2 DJs, a trumpet player, several photographers, a few really amazing artists and an interior designer in the making. Of those people only 2 are in what would be considered a traditional "creative" role. Sterotypes can be an incredibly limiting when it comes to creativity. Lots of how we feel and respond to the world is based on conditioned responses. Things we have been taught, things we have learned, and more importantly labels that we or others have applied. These labels can change how we make decisions and the habits and skills we develop. Your job is to ensure that your employees are aware that they have much more creative potential than their role might indicate.

Encourage Curiosity

Curiosity is the root of creativity. Being curious and asking questions can help you hone your creative skills. If you want to learn how to do this just take a look at any child you know. Children are naturally inquisitive. They don’t have to be taught to be creative, it just sort of happens that way. It takes a lifetime of experiences and organized education to kill that natural talent. Kids take chances where adults won’t because they understand that if you arn't prepared to be wrong you won’t be your most creative.

It's OK to play

I grew up with people telling me to stop playing around. I still have colleagues and friends who say "You guys sure do have fun". My response is usually "What's wrong with that?" One of the biggest roadblocks to creative thinking is the terminal seriousness that most companies have. As children we spend a lot of time playing games. We also learn to use pictures and storytelling to communicate our message and explain ourselves. As we grow older we are taught that this type of activity is frivolous and something that adults shouldn’t do. Most of us get beaten into thinking in a linear fashion as we progress through our educational system. By re-learning to play things as we did when we were children it helps us communicate, create and brainstorm more easily.

Any of these 5 steps can be a catalyst for creativity. Use them step by step or in combination with one another and you will be well on your way to developing the creative environment you've dreamed of.

Want more creativity tips? Check out my creativity presentation on Slideshare

8 Ways To Really Empower Your Employees

Sat, 7 Mar 2009 21:00:36 +0000

What manager doesn't dream of having enthusiastic, committed employees who can "make things happen" without constant direction? Some managers have attempted to jump start this behavior by creating programs intended to get "empowered" employees to make decisions and take independent action. What they aren't prepared for is the surprising fact that these programs usually have the opposite effect leaving managers wondering why people won't act in "empowered" ways. Maybe you've heard or said something like this before:

"When I started this program I was pretty sure about what I wanted. I kept seeing employees who didn't care about their work, didn't understand what it takes to keep the business afloat and didn't really seek out ways to help the business grow. I was always really good at doing this earlier in my career so I tend to be hands-on, spending lots of time showing them how to do their jobs the right way. Even though I worry a lot about the decisions they make, I still want to delegate lots of projects that will help them grow. I don't get it...they simply won't take my lead. I don't think employees want to be empowered..."

It's time we all realize - the traditional view of "employee empowerment" simply doesn't work. Why? There are two basic reasons. The first reason is that most managers confuse delegation with empowerment and don't give employees the freedom needed for independent action to take place. Second, you simply can't give people power. The only thing you can do is create an environment where employees understand the company's vision, and feel that they have the freedom to go do whatever is required to achieve it - thereby creating power for themselves.

Empowering employees isn't just about finding lots of ways to give more authority, it's about liberating them so that they can make something happen with that authority. Before you add any programs, take a look at the the habits you might have that are seriously limiting your employees ability to help you run the ship, maybe without you even knowing it. Here are 8 tips to increase the likelihood your employees feel this freedom, how to recognize them, and what to do instead:

You have to be committed first

You can't expect employees to believe lofty goal that you don't believe in and commit to first. Whenever I speak about creativity, leadership or new media marketing (or any new learning objective for that matter) the first thing I ask people to do is commit. It sounds really simply, but even if you hear and agree with advice you receive not committing to following the steps needed to put the advice into action will result in very little progress. If you truly want to have employees who know how to make things happen you have to commit to doing the things that will make that possible.

You have to communicate your vision with clarity

Vision is the fuel that drives your organization. It's the ideal that employees are supposed to be working toward bit by bit every day. To be the most powerful employee, you need to know and understand the vision.. I'm not talking about silly plaques, t-shirts and wordy statements that don't mean anything. A corporate vision or mantra should clarify for an employee why their job exists on the deepest level, regardless of what they do. Also, it's important to note that there is a difference between "sharing the vision" and making sure there is "shared understanding of the vision". If the team doesn’t commit to or more importantly - understand how it relates directly to their role in the company it won’t work. Understanding your vision allows employees to seek out creative solutions to every day challenges because now they know why they are doing it.

You have to really value people

The worst things you can do to derail an initiative intended to help employees be more proactive is to tell them you value them and then not demonstrate it. In today's economic downturn people really should be viewed as appreciating assets. That means understanding the cumulative value of training and experiences employees receive while working for you. Skill and talent simply aren't not the same thing anymore than a stock certificate and cash in the bank are the same thing. If you use "skill" and "talent" interchangeably, and see employees as replaceable expenses you are more likely to cripple or crush a relatively healthy company than you are to encourage people to seek new opportunities to grow themselves and the company.

Coach Them - Then Get Out Of The Way

If you really want to stop employees from seeking new ways to improve the company - be an autocrat. Autocratic managers, who micromanage their staff tend not to be able to utilize employee empowerment because they don't understand its source. Micromanaging diminishes employee self-confidence, kills their ability (and desire) to take initiative and think for themselves. The best policy is to coach your employee how to determine the best decisions by teaching concepts like problem solving, communication, conflict resolution and time management. Coaching allows you to step away and know that for the most part when they make a decision it's probably exactly what you would have them do. If you think it's necessary to oversee all aspects of employee work, and will not give up control you need to examine that first, "empowerment" becomes a futile and demeaning exercise. Start freeing your employees from the traditional shackles and "helpful" managerial intrusions.

Flip your organization on its head

In a traditional environment most of the knowledge and/or expertise resides at the top of the organization or in specialized roles. It's much more about hierarchy and control than it is about efficiently solving business problems. To give employees the ability to move an organization forward you have to flip this model. That means anyone in the organization can be a part of the "brain" because they have access to the information, expertise, learning opportunities, decision-making authority and most importantly the accountability needed to do so. People also need to be able to easily cross boundaries between the roles in the organization in order to make things happen. In this way your job isn't just to be the "boss" and the employees' job isn't just to "complete tasks" as delegated by the "boss". Both become a part of a larger, more capable company brain.

Encourage Curiosity

Many times people are hired based simply on technical skill or expertise and are expected to contribute within a specific narrowly defined job role and an even narrower scope of "this is how we do things". It might be explicitly stated, but no one wants you to ask questions or make suggestions about anything other than what you were hired for. Are you a programmer with a great idea for the marketing team? Don't even think about because it will probably be dismissed and surely be unwelcome. As a manager you can help cultivate an environment of empowerment by encouraging employees to have a voracious appetite for questions and the desire to seek out the answer to those questions. Curious (don't confuse nosy with curious) people don't tolerate mediocrity and definitely don't have a just "doing my job" attitude.

Accept Your Failures And Theirs

Thomas Watson, the founder of IBM, once declared “success lies on the far side of failure.” Most people are taught at an early age that failure is bad and should be avoided at all cost. The truth is, many successes are the result of failures. Employees have to feel free to make mistakes so that can make the most of failure by learning from it. Tell your employees about your own failures and what you learned from them. Instead of saying things like "Anything worth doing is worth doing well", adopt a habit of saying "Anything worth doing is worth having the courage to do poorly." Being OK with failure is a critical step that people need to take because action (good or bad) breeds more action, and soon they will be rolling along.

Challenge Sacred Cows

We live in a world of constant change and thinking that your processes, your policies or even your business model don't ever need to be changed or thrown out is a recipe for disaster. Most companies have at least one "ideal" whose meaning has lost its original impact, but hasn't been abandoned because of the energy invested in its creation. These ideals are often immune to criticism and the people who challenge them are often ignored or marginalized. Why is this a problem? Because even if the old "ideal" was correct when it was introduced, it may be false now because it is based on facts that have changed or become irrelevant. You have to encourage employees to view everything (policies, processes, meetings, etc) as being open to challenge. That doesn't mean that you will change them, it simply means they feel free to and trust that if it's a good idea it will be considered.

Remember this powerful truth: Empowerment actually has very little to do with you giving an employee anything other than freedom. It's all about an individual enabling himself to take action, control their work and make decisions autonomously. Empowerment comes from the individual and isn't just a matter of delegating job authority to the job-holders.

School of Business 07/04/09

Sat, 4 Jul 2009 08:30:00 +0000

Russ and John present the show for the entrepreneurs who will help to bring back our floundering economy. Includes: BusinessMakers Quote of the Week—clever but thought-provoking words from Tal Bright; This Week in Business History includes Lady Godiva, the Declaration of Independence, Boise Idaho, the Wall Street Journal and Spam; Navigating Business Jargon—acronyms, technospeak and trendy new stuff; and Dumbest Moments in Business History—a prestigious Rhode Island hospital needs better oversight on its brain surgeons.

Flashback - Hank Wosiak, author

Sat, 4 Jul 2009 08:30:00 +0000

Erica O’Grady in on the road at the Twitter conference in New York. Erica interviews marketing communications guru Hank Wosiak, author of Change the Way You see Everything Through Asset-Based Thinking. Wosiak explains Asset-Based Thinking and describes the “experience” that is his book. Wosiak believes the power of ABT can help users take control of their futures. He and partner Kathy Cramer are creating their own brand through this series of books.

Harry Fleming - Acro Energy Technologies Corp.

Sat, 4 Jul 2009 08:30:00 +0000

Harry Fleming founded his company as a publicly traded shell to grow by acquisition. Acro Energy is building a portfolio of integrators, companies that design and install solar energy systems. Its first acquisition, Acro Electric, is located in the Central Valley of California. His company is a financial play-Fleming believes that, as the solar energy industry matures, the smaller "mom and pop" installers will be squeezed out; Fleming wants to buy and grow these companies. It’s an interesting approach.

PKF Texas: The Entrepreneur’s Playbook® - Business Intelligence and Productivity

Sat, 4 Jul 2009 08:30:00 +0000

Greg Price explains how organizations in touch with their own data are light years ahead of their competition. Can you know your customers better than they know themselves? THAT is real power.

Advantage Point - What's in a Name?

Sat, 4 Jul 2009 08:30:00 +0000

What’s in a name? Everything! Katie Laird looks at various legal structures for small business.

School of Business 06/27/09