AchieveGlobal Blog

By Jack McDaniel

When I Googled the words “Twitter” and “Iran” the other day, I received over 89 million hits. Within the News results I found stories that ran the gamut, from wild trumpet blasts of Twitter’s new-found influence, to cautious yet optimistic appraisals of Twitter’s impact, to attempted clarifications of just what Twitter means in connection with the Iranian elections.

Put me in the camp that doesn’t know what this means, but is convinced it means something big.

When television first came on the scene, producers and directors gave their on-air talent instructions that seem ridiculous to us now. Don’t move suddenly, as this may disorientate the viewer. Speak slowly and in a relative monotone so as not to startle the listener. Keep your eyes focused on the copy, don’t make eye contact with the camera, as this is an invasion of the viewer’s space. The “Thou shall not” list made for some boring programming.

But the novelty was in the new medium. Wow, electronic images from miles away, beamed directly to your 1946 RCA 621TS with a whopping 7-inch magnetically deflected CRT! Yeah, baby!

So let’s jump back in the time machine and return to Twitter. Just as we probably won’t know the true impact of this 140-character micro-blog social networking tool on the elections until the dust settles, we also won’t see its true value as a learning mechanism until someone breaks the “Thou shall not” rules in the learning arena.

At least that’s what I think. As always, I’d love to hear what YOU think.

Just don’t move suddenly, as I’m naturally disoriented as it is.

By Chris Blauth

I was reminded of an interesting historical fact while visiting the West Point Military Academy recently: to control the Hudson River during the War of Independence, military commanders ordered a massive chain—some 1,500 feet in length, weighing 65 tons—to be strung across the river and affixed on both sides.  This “Great Chain” was so ominous, historians note, that it was never directly challenged by a single Royal Navy warship.  

Viewing the Great Chain at Trophy Point reminded me of cognitive chains that impact creative thought.  Creative thought is based on the ability to make connections and combinations—particularly between seemingly unrelated things.  The capacity to mix and match data, bits and pieces of information, knowledge and experience in ways that are unusual and useful—to be able to see those connections when others don’t—underlies creative thought. 

When we see an image or hear a word, our minds proceed along a chain of automatic associations, each one connecting to another.  It happens quickly, with no effort, the mind following the simplest path—a previous set of associations.  Chains of associations tend to be grouped around areas related to our own experience, and the more an association chain is used, the stronger it becomes.  Association chains help us move quickly from analysis to action.  They can also limit our ability to think expansively, to question assumptions and conventions and to see things in new and different ways.  The weaker the association chains, the easier it is to connect outside the norm—to make unexpected and creative combinations and connections.

With a little practice you can invite your mind to travel a path it wouldn’t normally or routinely go.  Two practices will help you jump the association track:

1. Widen your world.  Singular, field-specific expertise, for all its strengths, can make it more difficult to break out of established patterns of thought.  So, widen your world.  Be on the look-out for ways to experience new points of view and to extend your frames of reference.
2. Ignite new insights.  You can prepare your mind to make more creative connections.  If you want to shake free of your typical associations, you’ll need a few sparks—ways to ignite new insights.  Practice making unusual and unexpected mental associations.  Or think how something that works in a dramatically different setting can work in yours.

How are you widening your world and igniting new insights?  Your insights and pragmatic examples are welcomed and encouraged.

By Craig Perrin

Forgive another sports analogy. Hey, my blogmate made me do it!

In a recent French Open tennis match, Serena Williams cracked a ball point blank at her opponent, Maria Jose Sanchez Martinez – a painful and totally legal part of tennis. Slo-mo revealed that the ball ricocheted off Martinez’ arm, then racquet, and dribbled, unplayable, into Williams’ court.

Williams apologized, expecting the point to be hers (a player touched by the ball loses the point). To Williams’ surprise, the umpire gave the point and game to Martinez, who had to know she was hit – but said nothing.

An ethical lapse in sports usually does little lasting harm (here, Williams won the match). An ethical lapse or cascade of lapses in business can do tremendous harm, as we’ve seen in the global recession.

The recession in fact has raised global awareness of the need for ethical business practices:

• At the Harvard Business School, for example, many spring graduates are signing a new code of ethics. In their “MBA Oath,” students promise to “serve the common good” and refrain from advancing “their own narrow ambitions” at the expense of others.
• In a 2009 AchieveGlobal survey, respondents worldwide singled out at least two behaviors required for ethical leadership in the 21st century: “Openly admit your mistakes” and “Act not just to obey the law, but to promote the common good.”

Had Maria Jose Sanchez Martinez followed that advice, she’d have conceded the point. Had certain business and political leaders followed it – in one of the few positive effects of our economic crisis – we might not be reminded to reflect on these matters.

Your thoughts are invited and welcome.

By Andrew Calvert

In this economy, efficiency and ROI are critical – even in training. So you may want to ask, “When they go to training, are our associates prisoners, vacationers, or learners?”

You know what I mean.

Some associates go because they need a minimum number of classroom days, or they’re part of an implementation they neither understand nor care about; They are prisoners.

Another group are – Woo Hoo! – out of the office, ready to kick back, chat, eat, drink, be merry, and relax for a few days. Ahhhhh vacation!

And some are there to learn. They know why they’re there, what they need to learn, how to apply it, and how they’ll be measured and supported on the job.

How do you make learners of prisoners and vacationers?

Define Goals and Expectations. Ensure that managers with staff in training know its purpose and benefits, as well as their role after training. Ensure that managers discuss the goals of training with their direct reports, linking training outcomes to organizational goals.

Clarify and Discuss. Managers also need to clarify behavioral expectations during training: on time, attentive, no texting or email, etc.

Debrief and Evaluate. After training, managers need to meet with staff to debrief the session: what they liked, what could be better, and how they will use the skills on the job.

Follow up. Managers must give recognition to staff who do the right things and give regular feedback for further development. Repeat as necessary.

Do these things and associates will learn, ROI will increase, and those who rely on you for your services will notice the difference!

By Andrew Calvert

Manchester United played Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup final a few weeks ago. The match was 0-0 at full time and remained scoreless after an overtime period.

At that point, the match referee called the managers and team together to prepare a list – a detailed sequence in which all 11 players on each team would take a penalty kick. The team with the highest score would win (and get 12 months of bragging rights).

During the eight minutes or so that it took to compile the list, the Manchester United goalkeeping coach took his goalkeeper aside and showed him a iPod video of Tottenham players taking penalties. A few minutes later, Ben saved one penalty and unsettled the Spurs’ other penalty kicks. Manchester went on to win 4-1.

Click here to read an article about the event.

What an excellent example of just-in-time, mission-critical, workflow learning mediated through technology!

But if you think about it, the video and immediate coaching (valuable as they were) were only the tip of the process. This goalkeeper works out many times a week, conditioning his reflexes, and gets coaching in every aspect of his profession – penalty-saving just a part of it.

So, a lot of thought, practice, and dedication – and then at the critical moment, the iPod video… Technology is good. It helps. But without practice and dedication, would this goalkeeper have saved the game?

What are the lessons here for blended workflow learning in a corporate environment? I’d welcome your thoughts…

By Jack McDaniel

The results of my generational survey are in, and they’re… interesting. (You can find a recap of the survey’s explanation and description here.) The survey population consisted of 27 people:

• 4 members of the Silent Generation (Born 1925–1942)
• 8 members of the Boomer Generation (Born 1943–1960)
• 5 members of the Generation X (Born 1961–1981)
• 10 members of the Millennials (Born 1982–2002)

Again, this is a highly unscientific, totally unvalidated and thoroughly wacky survey. Kids, don’t try this at home without the recommended protective gear. For an actual, well-researched study on generational differences in the workplace, check out this press release.

I’ve seen different cut-off points for each generation. These are defined by Neil Howe and William Strauss. Here are a few of my impressions.

Most Favorite: Millennials and Gen X’ers Win All Thumb Wars
Text messaging (texting) is the clear favorite of the younger generations. When asked why, a common theme was the immediacy and convenience it provided. Interestingly, several millennials mentioned that it was “less awkward than a phone call.” Are our oral discursive skills atrophying as our written skills strengthen? (Oh, wait; have you seen how people spell when texting?)

 
MySpace and Facebook: Use with Caution
Hot opinions from all age groups came in about MySpace and Facebook. Millennials were worried about “giving away personal stuff,” while several Boomers and Gen X’ers warned of sexual predators using the tool. One younger participant noted that “It’s more about making your profile look cool and how many friends you have than actually communicating with anyone.” Yet these were also in the “favorites” category for many.

Despite the Hype, These People Aren’t Twittering
Only one person in the survey group actually twitters – tweets? – whatever – on a regular basis. I’m dubious that this will have any staying power. To me, it’s redundant to texting. Perhaps some Future Shock use will emerge, but right now, how many times can you post “Going to the store; gonna get gas first” and not bore people to death?

 
Email Isn’t Going Away
No matter what generation you belong to, email is still an extremely popular option for staying in touch with friends and loved ones. More than once it was touted as the “traditional” social networking tool. As a matter of fact, didn’t Jefferson and Adams correspond by email?

I noted a few differences between the generations, the most striking being what attributes each generation valued in a social networking tool. The more tenured among us prefer tools that allow us to take time to compose our thoughts, while the youngsters look for connectedness and immediacy with our peers.

Of course, this is only one point of view, and I could be completely batty. If so, here’s an invitation to set me straight. What differences have you experienced between the generations, and what’s important to you in a socialization tool?

By Jack McDaniel

I’ve been fascinated with generational studies for several years since picking up the excellent book Millennials Rising by Neil Howe and William Strauss. (You might recall their ground-breaking book on generational theory, the pithily named Generations.)

At an AchieveGlobal event for trainers last year, we covered topics from training ROI to the latest trends. While everyone was engaged throughout, the energy spiked when we discussed options for engaging four generations of learners now in the workplace.

That day sent the hamster into overdrive running the wheel inside my head. Anecdotal evidence implies a wide disparity among how different generation use social-networking tools. My father-in-law, who once watched the New York Giants play football at the Polo Grounds, has one favorite social-networking tool … the telephone (and I don’t mean a 3G touch-screen texting machine). On the other hand, my teenage daughters give new meaning to the word connected. Some days I feel like a befuddled Arthur Dent in their hip new Ford Prefect world.

So I suspected a connection, like peanut butter and chocolate, between each generation and its social-networking tools. In the spirit of crackpot science, I slapped together a totally invalidated, extemporaneous survey and forced my friends, family, co-workers, and all their friends to complete it.

The survey contained very few questions, with a 1 – 5 scale for the first two (What tools do you use? And how often?). I asked participants to identify their most and least favorites, and tell me why. And, of course, I asked them to identify their generation. My arbitrary list of tools covers the most popular – at least in North America:

• Facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter
• Skype
• LinkedIn
• Blogs
• Discussion forums
• Email
• Text messaging
• Internet messaging

Next week I’ll reveal and analyze my survey results. In the meantime, I would love to hear from anyone with an interest in this confluence of generations working and learning together. Are their differences real, or overblown? Are younger generations wired differently, or are any “delta factors” due solely to behavioral and environmental differences? Tell me what you think.

By: Chris Blauth

A creative group working at or with Nike in the late 1980’s coined and marketed the now-famous slogan “Just do it.”  Since then, Nike’s marketing engine has continued to define what “it” is and looks like in the behaviors and accomplishments of popular athletes at the top of their game.   

For leaders, an equally important slogan should be “Just admit it.”  The question in the case of leaders, naturally, is what is “it”? 

Recently, AchieveGlobal fielded a global survey as the capstone to a comprehensive study of peer-reviewed business and leadership journals as well as focus groups with mid- and senior managers.  We pinpointed what leaders need to fess up to: their mistakes.  More broadly, successful leaders admit and accept responsibility for their own mistakes.

In today’s business landscape and economic turmoil, admitting and accepting mistakes seems logical.  Who doesn’t want to see a leader come forward and be accountable for his or her hubris and egregious mistakes?  What’s fascinating, though, is that in 2003 – when the economy appeared healthy and leaders were not under the type of attacks happening today – another AchieveGlobal study found that leaders who freely admit their mistakes appear “real” or “genuine.” What’s more, such “genuine leaders” inspire trust and gain the commitment of their teams and peers.  Simply put, admitting mistakes is an evergreen facet of leadership.

Have you seen leaders circumventing the need to admit mistakes and accept responsibility?  And what positive examples can you cite?  Post your thoughts here or email me at chris.blauth@achieveglobal.com.

It would be wonderful if leaders never made mistakes, but that’s not possible. 

So leaders: Just admit it!

By Craig Perrin

It was Autumn. I was in Southern California on the Queen Mary for a marketing showcase with over 120 attendees. Our Product Development and Sales VPs were presenting in the ballroom – a daunting task that they handled with aplomb. I was to “spice up” the showcase and decided to include something on the impact of bad service – about six slides detailing the experience of two guys who went to an upscale hotel and had a less than stellar experience. This was a well-known story, at least for anyone in marketing. It was immensely popular – viral marketing at its best (or worst, if you work for that particular hotel chain).

That part of the showcase was a hit, with over half the audience handing us their business cards so we could email the story I told.
 
Unfortunately, several individuals from that chain, our customers, were in the audience, and they were not pleased that we had shared the story about one of their brands. We had a significant amount of service recovery to do. This taught me a valuable lesson: Don’t comment, at least publicly, on the actions or response to the actions of any company with whom we may one day want to do business.
 
I would love to be neutral enough/big enough/not dependant enough, etc. that we as an organization could say what we wanted about any organization or individual in the news. Our choice, in this blog and elsewhere, is to hold our collective tongue.

Have you had a similar experience? Do you agree or disagree with our approach? Please let us know!

By: Chris Blauth

Last week, I discussed unnerving actions companies have been forced to make in response to quickly declining revenues.

Even more unsettling, a recent AchieveGlobal study found 59.6 percent of leaders predict a hiring freeze and 43.6 percent expect to downsize or conduct layoffs throughout this year.

These depressing trends have an equally depressing impact on employee morale. More than half of the leaders who responded to our survey reported that stress is a problem or severe problem for their employees, and slightly less than half the respondents admitted that stress is a problem or severe problem for them!

So – how is a leader supposed to handle that?

Very carefully. Still, even with all of this bad news, leaders are finding ways to boost morale and productivity:

• A majority say they “motivate employees through ongoing, positive communication.”
• About half say they “offer special recognition for employees who perform well.”
• 40 percent say they “hold fun events at or away from work.”
• 38 percent say they “offer non-monetary incentives or rewards such as time off.”
• 24 percent say they “offer monetary incentives.”
• 5.6 percent say “my employees don’t need more motivation and their morale is good.”
• And, thank heavens, only 5.2 percent say they “do nothing.”

What are some things you do, as a leader – or an employee – to help boost morale? With the economy always in mind, let’s assume that a big fat raise is out of the picture.