Categoría: organizational culture

About exams and workplaces

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In my life I have been through many exams and tests. I remember those crowded rooms, the tension, the relief once it was over, … And I found interesting making the comparision between exams and meetings/team’s behavior.

  1. In an exam: You cared more about the typo errors than you cared about your answers being right. Workplace: You care more about noticing others’ mistakes than completing the tasks you were assigned.
  2. Exam: you didn’t read the whole test so you made obvious questions to the professor. Workplace: You don’t process what is being explained and you are just waiting for the slot where to ask your «smart» question (which is not).
  3. Exam: You cheat in a test. Or you just made up a story that sounded like a brilliant answer to you. Workplace: You «enlight» the rest of the team on a subject on which you are no expert or that you just heard from someone else without checking if the information was right.
  4. Exam: It always made me nervous that after finishing an exam everyone would gather to compare answers. It happened after all the process: you had gone into the room (Almost always) focused, read the questions, structured your answers, hesitated and by applying what you learned, some common sense and maybe some magic, you wrote down on a piece of paper the solution to the problem. Workplace: for sure you have been in meetings where no one was paying much attention, or they did but each one got a different conclusion. If you compare answers, it’s possible that you will find yourself with a completely different conclusion than the rest of the team. It doesn’t mean you are wrong.

So, why don’t we stick to the exam’s basics principles while we are at work?: be focused on your role, what you have been asked to do, don’t pay too much attention to what other’s are doing  or to what they did wrong. And, finally, you can stay to compare the answers, but just make sure you are confortable with your understanding of the questions and the solution you gave (you had plenty of time during the meeting to double check). This last one, it’s even more valid in uncertains environments.

About books, summer assignments and teams

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Photo by João Silas on Unsplash

Think back to those school days, (no need to say how many), when being kids, we were asked to do different assignments during summer time. One of them could be to read one or two books, elaborate a summary, answer a list of questions and give our opinion about what was the author trying to tell us. We were «responsible» for completing the task. The teacher was «accountable».

We are not in school anymore, but some principles remain the same although the comparision with organizations can be a bit exaggerated.

In modern organizations every person on a team may be responsible for a given task that is required to complete a massive project. Back to school, You are the one to read the book, write a summary of it and answer the teacher’ questions if the moment comes. You can do what you were asked, ignore the assignment hoping that no one will ever ask, or roll the dice by copying from someone…

But leaders, they need to hold themselves accountables for the results. Accountability «is defined as taking ownership to ensure responsibilities are achieved as expected. This means that leaders must clearly understand expectations before making commitments.»  So, as leaders, we are our «team’ teacher». Teachers know the result they can expect, what they want to achieve when having their students doing something, reading, playing, creating. They know each student potential and their limits. They will take ownership for the class lack of performance, they will know how to reward and how to correct. So being a leader means that we can not be the ones asking what was the book about  because the principal shows interest. As leaders, we have responsibilities: to know what kind of book we are asking to read, to prepare them for the future, to track our class progress and provide assistance if needed.

We are not in school anymore. But we still have a lot to read.

resonsilibity and accountability in leadership (Eagle’s flight)

Giver or taker, which one are you?

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In the previous post Explanations, motives and timing. Actions talk about us, we took a look at the «Why, When and How»  that defines our truly personality. In today’s post I would like to elaborate a bit more on the Why, on its impact on us and what surrounds us (colleagues, organizations, society). As an essential ingredient of that «The Why» we see two different kinds of people:

Takers: Who are self-servers in there interactions: What can you do for me?

Givers: Most of their actions are based on a What can I do for you?

So, givers, they take the worst part in the P2P business of interaction between givers and takers. They put a lot of effort. They spend a lot of time trying to improve the team at a high cost for them. Bad for them, good for their organization. They are the key stone for team building, for collaboration and great motivators. But, be careful and remember that they need to be handled with care mainly when they are surrounded by Takers, because we can lose them. They can get frustrated.

We dedicate a lot of time and energy to our organization, there is a lot of us on their success or failure, on the speed of change, … And because we never leave a 100% our personal life out of the workplace neither who we are (behavior=our moral compass + our mood + background + a response to others actions + many other things) we can not afford loosing givers on the way.

Adam talks about 3 possible ways that will create a «net» of successful givers:

  1. Protect them from burnout
  2. Encourage help-seeking
  3. Keep the wrong people off the bus

I highly recommend you watching this TED Talk by Adam Grant, enjoy it.

 

The importance of considering the cultural factor when communicating

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If we have misunderstandings while speaking in the same language, just imagine what can happen when you don’t master a foreign language.

The act of communicating is not a simple matter. There are many things going on (almost) at the same time.

Active, oral communication, what could possibly go wrong?:

On the talker’s side: thoughts, structured speech, actual speech.

On the listener’s side: message heard, understanding, transformation into thoughts (and will keep in mind).

Expectation and result could be completely different.

 

Some components in Written communication:

On the writer’s side: Thoughts, ideas, actual written message (Structure and words), dedicated time to what and how…

On the reader’s side: available and dedicated time to reading, momentum, current mood, understanding and transformation into thoughts/into opinions.

If this amazing process takes place when using a language that we do not master, fun increases. We can fall into using Literal translations, words that mean completely different things, local unknown expressions, …

You want to make it better? What if we get into the game of cultural differences? Every single culture has its own way to express emotions, its own way of doing things, of behaving.

When we want to guarantee that we transmit properly, that the other part understands correctly and is able to respond, time is wanted. Please use simple language, structure as much as possible your message. Try to accommodate your information, go for the best tools. Learn what is accepted in the other culture to express emotions: joy, confusion, appreciation, anger, … Just adapt so you transmit correctly (you achieve your goal): Practice, ensure that you employ the  intonation, written expression that is required and at the right timing. Make yourself understand.

Show respect towards the other person and ensure you earn respect. The right, specific words at the appropriate time can have a great impact, the one we are looking for.

 

Stop, think, act/say/write.

About Companies and fashion victims

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Outfit: Combination of clothes and accessories that we chose to wear (and there is no dress code needed). We will never see two people with exactly the same look. We have our own style (or we try to do our best). But if we love labeling we will get to similar ways of dressing,  different tribes. Let’s look at them.

The Classical style tribe, contemporary, loyal to a brand, color or style of dress. They never change, innovate or introduce a new color.

The fashionables tribe, always following the latest trend. No matter what. Regardless of it looks funny on you, or it does not fit well (you do not look comfortable wearing it).

And last, but not least, the practical-but-sometimes-dressing-out-of-the-box tribe, although having a conservative style from time to time, they try something new, taking advantage of that super cool piece that fits like a globe and makes you look gorgeous. Because, it’s different, practical and it looks reeeaally good.

If we look for them on facebook, Instagram or pinterest or whatever social network available there would be plenty of each tribe.

But, what if we said that Companies have exactly the same kind of relationship with fashion. You see it?

Once in a while (or every season) a new topic pops-up, and it seems that if you don’t use it a lot, your out of the loop, completely old-fashioned, not cool.

One of the previous Fall-Winter collections brought Agile, analytics, digital, robotics,… to our stores. The spring-summer collection include design thinking, lean, customer oriented… (if you look back you will find a bunch more from many years ago). See now who is wearing what.

Do we wear an «unflattering color» just because a fashion magazine told us to do so? Do all companies understand what applications might have the new season release? Have you ever heard someone asking for a specialized training, just because it’s a new skill? (required for what? no idea, but it’s a new skill)

Is there a style that defines us? What should be embedded in the company mission, in its vision? Shouldn’t be the customer (the one reason why we exist as companies) always in the center of what we do?

Or are we all just fashion victims that buy something just because «YY» THE influencer was using it or recommended? Do we only listen to the seller who tells us that everyone, I say everyone, is wearing this and we don’t think and we overpay?

Have a look around, to what’s new. Think. Do you want to keep your style or change it completely? Can this new element make me look amazing? Will I feel comfortable? Then, go for it.