K.E.E.N. skills | The Fourth Revolution Blog

What is Strategy really about? Analysis or Action?

“Real strategy lies not in figuring out what to do, but in devising ways to ensure that, compared to others, we actually do more of what everybody knows they should do”. This quote by David H Maister in “Strategy and the Fat Smoker: Doing What’s Obvious but Not Easy” is actually a great insight. Read it again just to get it.

Fat person working out — Will you make the first step like this guy?

His view is that it is quite easy to know what you need to do; but that genius lies in effectively doing it. Like the Fat Smoker knows he needs to stop smoking and needs to go on a diet but for some reason it turns out to be too hard.

Would competitive advantage be more on the execution side than on the conceptual strategy side? As mentioned often in the field of startups, ideas by themselves have absolutely no value; what gives them value is their realization. It is the fact that you battle the world to give shape to your idea – probably pivoting and improving from time to time as you get feedback from the world.

Of course then all the usual issues about changing behavior and doing new things apply: do not set unrealistic expectations, set achievable intermediate goals and follow up on the long run, get support on your commitment from your environment, etc.

Remember that doing more theoretical analysis of your strategy is not very effective. What’s effective is to plow your way decidedly. Take action. Now.

If a Team could not Solve a Problem, the Person with the Information you Need was not Invited

This quote is from a presentation by Matt Fourie, a consultant specialized in problem-solving and thinking tools, at the last Project Management Institute regional conference in Singapore.

Empty chair in a meeting — Who in your your organization knows about the issue?

What he means is that throughout his decades of experience as a consultant helping organizations solve problems, he has found that in more than 95% of the cases, the solution and the understanding of the problem was known by someone in the organization. But that this knowledge was not mobilized effectively. This very much connects with my experience too – often by listening to the front line people, the answer is obvious.

Usual issues that impede proper problem solving are:

problem-solving meetings involve managers that do not know about the details of the operation
there is a disconnect between management and operators
people jump to conclusion (and action) without analyzing the data

It is where all the initiatives such as Total Quality management are really useful, as they seek to mobilize effectively all the organization members’ knowledge. Today with internal social networks we have a further opportunity to leverage that knowledge.

Next time when you face an issue in your organization, rather than looking for external answers, the first question you should ask is: “who would know the answer in the organization, who should I include in the discussion?”. Do that today! You’ll see the difference.

How to Respond to the Question: “Who Are You To Do This?”

As I try new things outside what people would expect to be my normal occupation (as defined by my diplomas, certificates and list of positions), a question I often get is “Who are you to do this?.. do that?..”.

Distinguished Professor teaching students — Do you need to be certified, chartered, PhD to teach effectively?

At first I was a bit disturbed by the question. I did not have the certificate to train! I did not have the diploma to facilitate! I am not a certified consultant (yes, certification programs also exist for consulting!). My answer now is: “I am a passionate human being”.

Of course there are some areas for which I needed to have additional education. I am a Certified Professional Coach because I needed a structured program to get the competencies it entails. But for many other activities I have no formal paper to certify my competency. Still I manage to develop my brand and I get more and more clients.

As soon as you’ll try new things outside what non-imaginative people expect from you, based on your standard Industrial Age profile, you’ll get the question: “Who are you to do this, to do that?”. Don’t feel threatened. Know that you do that because you bring value to others and to yourself.

Don’t hesitate. The new world will be created outside the certifications, diplomas, courses and standards. The people that changed the world did that outside the usual framework and values of their time.

Go for it. If you feel you are the one that can do it, do it. For yourself. For the others.

Why Competence is the Enemy of Change, and What to Do

“Competence is the enemy of change“, says Seth Godin in his school transformation manifesto “Stop Stealing Dreams” (free download). He continues by writing “Competent people resist change. Why? Because change threatens to make them less competent. And competent people like being competent. That’s who they are, and sometimes that’s all they’ve got. No wonder they’re not in a hurry to rock the boat“.

Let’s take a moment to ponder the depth of these words and how this effect really impacts our world. How it slows down the necessary transformation of the world.

Competence is somehow linked to people’s identity as professionals. Fundamental transformations such as the Fourth Revolution threatens many professionals in their own identity. They cannot any more assert the value of their knowledge (painstakingly built through courses and checked through standard evaluations and certificates). In deep societal transformations, there are no standard evaluations and certificates. There is no reference. Competency cannot measured any more. Actual competency might be adaptability and agility, and not fixed knowledge. And so those that define their worth through ‘competence’ resist any change. They feel on the edge of a chasm of unknown, without any fixed marker.

How can we overcome this major hurdle to any disruptive change? Probably by putting less emphasis as a society on formal competence and knowledge. That will be hard, as it has been ingrained by decades of Industrial Age where your worth was measured by your certificates and past positions.

How much do you feel that formal competence defines yourself? How much are you ready to let it go as an identity and instead, identify yourself as an experimenter of life, a human being?

If at first an idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it

Real creativity is quite a mystery – luckily probably, because if it had been fully exposed, life would probably be far less interesting.

And legions of people are still looking for “the great idea” – which would change the world, and/or make them rich, etc.

Jackson Pollock action painting... in action! — Jackson Pollock action painting… in action! An absurd idea?

The problem is always – how do you recognize if a new idea has potential? Experience shows again and again that you can’t. At least not rationally, for sure. Maybe emotionally – although countless inventors died believing alone they had had a great idea.

At least this well-known quote from Albert Einstein “If at first an idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it” (mentioned in the excellent book “the 3rd alternative” by Stephen Covey), gives us a clue, if a negative one.

Dismiss thus any idea that seems normal. Consider with interest all ideas that seem weird, out of place, absurd, impossible to understand, strange, out-worldly. All ideas that seem to put your worldview upside down.

That’s tough and that’s why probably so many good ideas don’t get recognized or only develop by chance.

Next time you meet a really absurd idea, give it a chance. Adopt it for a while. It might astonish you.

How a Team’s Consistent Time-Orientation is Key in Team Effectiveness

Our time-orientation (future, present or past) is somewhat part of our personality. To be effective, teams might need to be constituted by people that share similar time-orientation. In fact it might be one of the most important recruitment criteria.

Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd in “The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time that Will Change Your Life“, argue that we have quite different perspectives on time and they are quite stable through time.

The Marshmallow Test — How do your recruits fare on the Marshmallow test?

Present-oriented people tend to be hedonistic, and future oriented people tend to defer gratification (like in the famous marshmallow experiment: leave a child alone with a marshmallow for a few minutes explaining that if he/she does not eat the marshmallow he/she’ll get a second one – observe the reaction).

In “Strategy and the Fat Smoker: Doing What’s Obvious but not Easy“, David Maister argues that effective implementation of a strategy by a team can only happen if the team’s time-orientation is consistent. If the strategy is very much about making an effort or even a sacrifice to reach an improved condition, you’d better have around the table people that share the same preference for deferred gratification, i.e. that are strongly future-oriented.

I find increasingly that personal time-orientation is definitely a major criterion for hiring in particular for a startup – you want people that are ready to make the effort, forego gratification like time for themselves and with their families, to build something better in the future – you want future-oriented people.

In other occupations you might rather want present- or past-oriented people.

How do you know people’s time-orientation? Actually it is generally quite obvious from observing and listening to people. People that are present-oriented will need to spend a lot of time caring about themselves and will generally make sure they enjoy to the most their current situation. People that are future-oriented will live stoical lives and invest heavily for some distant future.

Look at your prospective hires’ time orientation to check it is fit with your preferences and what you want to achieve! I make it an ever increasing important criteria for recruiting fro my team!

Do you want to know your time orientation in a scientific way? Take Zimbardo’s Time Perspective Inventory and compare yourself to other people!

Unleash your creative energy through a daily routine of breathing and body exercise!

Following our blog post on “How we actually think with our bodies”, what is the daily routine you will put in place to unlock your creative potential, regain the dynamism you might be missing and make your decision-making sounder?

Yoga Pose — What exercise do you do to get creativity and focus?

Everybody will figure out what his/her won routine should be. Behold, I will share my current secret routine. It takes me 5 minutes every morning. 5 short and very worthwhile minutes that bring me incredible energy and positivity before starting the day.

I am just doing several times 3 yoga movements I learnt from Dominique Lonchant, a breathing yoga master in one of his workshops (his website is OnLineBreathing.com and he has also some books (in French) available). The first movements empty fully my lungs and the last movement fills them completely, creating a burst of energy. Then I do some active movements to get the heart starting a bit. That’s it!

In addition during the day I try more and more to do some conscious breathing from time to time to take some distance from the events.

Whatever your routine will be, you need to unlock your mind’s potential through some routine posture and body exercises. Find your way, it will change your life. When will you be starting?

How we actually think with our bodies

While Industrial Age wanted to split our intellect from our bodies, it becomes more and more obvious today that we think with our bodies.

What does that mean? It means that our posture influences our retention of information and our decision-making. That our level of bodily energy influences greatly our view of situations through our emotions.

Here is a great demo of this effect by Peter Lovatt, a professional dancer turned psychologist, in the following video. If you don’t want to watch it whole, watch for a few minutes after 14′ for the demonstration of posture on decision-making.

Peter Lovatt on Good Moves from The School of Life on Vimeo.

No, our decision-making will not be the same depending on our body posture, tension and ventilation. Our creativity might not be the same depending on our body fitness. Did you notice that most creative people and most visionary executives also exercise a lot?

Valeria Maltoni in this post on “Mind and Body” shares some of her strategies using the body at the start or in the course of her facilitated workshops to get people into the right mindset.

Think about it. How does your posture influence positively or negatively your thinking, creativity and decision-making? Please share your experiences!

Urgent, Stop Doing What You Have Always Done!

“In today’s world, if you do what you have always done, you’ll get less than you’ve always gotten“. – Morris Shechtman

I find that quote particularly inspiring when it comes to pushing us to change. Today with the Fourth Revolution, change is not an option, it is mandatory. Change your focus, stop expecting the Corporation to decide for you, change your mindset. You need to find out what you need to do, but for sure you need to change the way you view the world and what you’ve always done – or what your parents have always done.

When do you stop doing what you have always done?

Real leaders prove themselves in times of crisis

It is easy to be a successful leader in times of growth and economic bounty. What actually proves leaders is how they act and lead in times of crisis.

Winston Churchill, a leader proven by the WWII crisis

Real leaders prove themselves in the midst of uncertainty, when the world seems to collapse around them. It is in these situations that their determination, ruthless persistence, skillset proves itself. It is in these situations that they will lead the transformation.

A real leader is not proven until he/she is proven by a crisis. Behold to excessive adulation of leaders that seem successful just because they are lucky to be in an easy environment. They are not necessarily going to be the ones that will prove to be the leader you need in times of crisis. At the same time, many historical examples show that the leaders that prove themselves to be the one people follow in a crisis might not be the shiny leaders of an easier time. Many of them were barely noticed, struggled and were only discovered – and discovered themselves- upon the crisis.

In the Collaborative Age where discontinuities will happen more frequently, we need those leaders that will lead us through these transformations. We need avoid those easy-going leaders that will shrink at the sight of the first unknown difficulty.

Where can we find those leaders we need? How can we know if the current leader will fit the bill? There is not other alternative: throw them out in impossible situations and see whether they float or sink. Do that early enough when they are unknown. Give them the learning experience of harsh times.

Don’t rely on shiny leaders of easy times. Make sure you rely on those leaders that have seen it through successive crisis, that have mastered their inner game and know when and how to be persistent against all odds. Rely on leaders that failed hard and managed to make it through. Rely on leaders from discriminated communities that managed to elevate themselves against the odds.

The Collaborative Age will need tough and generous leaders that will lead us through the crisis. Be sure to choose the right leader.

Useful Reminder: We Are All Artists Now

Useful reminder from Seth Godin in this short manifesto inspired by his last book to be published at the end of the year: We Are All Artists Now (click to view on ChangeThis).

There are some nuggets in there, like:

” Why Make Art?

Because you must. The new connected economy demands it and will reward you for nothing else.

Because you can. Art is what it is to be human.”

Or:

“Art isn’t a result; it’s a journey. The challenge of our time is to find a journey worthy of your heart and your soul.”

A good and inspiring week-end read. Enjoy!

Find the Door to the Promised Land – Just Believe in Yourself

For some reason these lyrics from the Scorpions song “Send me an Angel” resonated very much with me lately:

“The wise man said just raise your hand
And reach out for the spell
Find the door to the promised land
Just believe in yourself
Hear this voice from deep inside
It’s the call of your heart
Close your eyes and your will find
The way out of the dark

Here I am
Will you send me an angel
Here I am
In the land of the morning star…”

How often do you listen to the call of your heart – and then believe in yourself? Trusting yourself is probably the most liberating mindset you can have. Trust yourself a bit more today. And tomorrow. And the day after. It is worth it.

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