Pearl Zhu's Blog, page 1436
May 21, 2015
As a Leader: Are You Optimistic or Pessimistic about your Strategy Accomplishment
Strategy is not just one of the things a leader does, it is the most important thing.
According to an industry survey, most executives don’t think their company’s strategy will lead to success, and the interesting point is that the management are complaining about themselves. So as a leader, are you optimistic about your strategy progress, or pessimistic about its final result?
Leaders must be totally focused on strategy accomplishment. Strategy should also be focused on mission accomplishment. Hence, anything that a leader does that does not advance the strategy is the wrong thing to do, and he or she needs to set the right priority, doing the right things before doing things right. Here is a brief list of Executives complaints: Most executives (50+ percent) said they do not believe that their company’s strategy will lead to success. Most (50+ percent) could not say their strategy is understood by employees and customers. Only a third (33 percent) said they feel the company’s core capabilities fully support the company’s strategy. Only 21 percent could say all of their businesses leverage their core capabilities. Just 20 percent said they feel their company has a “right to win” in all the markets it competes in. 50+ percent said their company has not allocated resources in a way that really supports the strategy.50+ percent reported difficulties in ensuring that day-to-day decisions are in line with strategy.
An effective strategy serves as a framework that is a living, breathing concept. Leaders must actively interact at all levels to adapt, adjust, and develop the strategy to meet company growth, successes, and failures; otherwise, the strategy will not align with the broader aspects of the company. Many items can determine the ineffectiveness of strategy execution. For example, the weakness of inter-organizational control or weakness of adaptation of organization tasks. It should be a reminder to top corporate executives that their leadership is vital to developing a company's strategy, building support and understanding of the strategy among employees and ensuring that it is effectively communicated to customers.
It is a perceived absence of the executive level leadership in the strategy development. If they took an active role in the process, each executive should have a sense of ownership over the objectives, allocation of capabilities, and potential for outcomes. If a majority of the leaders believe their strategies will not be met by organizational performance, the perception is that they were absent in the strategy process. Top corporate executives need to set the right example if they want their management team and employees to contribute to the organizational process of aligning a company's core capabilities with its strategy to create competitive advantages. A disengaged executive leadership style is more likely to produce a company with unconnected priorities and strategies that lack support in the management team and with employees.
Strategy planning is an ongoing process via continuous communication. Another key note, particularly in accomplishing strategic effects throughout the company, is to develop an internal and external communication plan. More often, the disconnect begins when corporate executives treat a company's strategic planning process as a once a year event and not an ongoing process. Strategic plans are living documents that require ongoing monitoring and adjustments when needed to address unforeseen changes in the marketplace. Senior executive leadership is necessary to effectively communicate the commitment and ongoing involvement of top management in the company's strategic planning process to middle managers and employees. This plan is aimed at informing the organizational personnel of the company strategy, provide milestones/objectives, and seek input for future adjustments, ensuring the company capabilities fully support the strategy. It should also target consumers, ensuring they understand how the organization's services or products fulfill their needs and the needs of the larger picture. Communication of the strategy internally expands the ability of leaders, at every level of the organization to make timely and accurate decisions, as well as highlighting the abilities of employees to grow and expand their roles within the organization.
Besides leadership and communication, performance measurement is also important to keep your progress of strategy execution at the right track. If management gets lost on how far away they are from the destination, and often, there is obviously some disconnect between the perceived and actual drivers of performance; and performance management systems do not seem to be playing a compensatory role. So from soft elements such as leadership or business culture to hard element like implementation process or measure mechanism, strategy execution is difficult, but can be conquered via optimistic leadership and systematic practices.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
According to an industry survey, most executives don’t think their company’s strategy will lead to success, and the interesting point is that the management are complaining about themselves. So as a leader, are you optimistic about your strategy progress, or pessimistic about its final result?
Leaders must be totally focused on strategy accomplishment. Strategy should also be focused on mission accomplishment. Hence, anything that a leader does that does not advance the strategy is the wrong thing to do, and he or she needs to set the right priority, doing the right things before doing things right. Here is a brief list of Executives complaints: Most executives (50+ percent) said they do not believe that their company’s strategy will lead to success. Most (50+ percent) could not say their strategy is understood by employees and customers. Only a third (33 percent) said they feel the company’s core capabilities fully support the company’s strategy. Only 21 percent could say all of their businesses leverage their core capabilities. Just 20 percent said they feel their company has a “right to win” in all the markets it competes in. 50+ percent said their company has not allocated resources in a way that really supports the strategy.50+ percent reported difficulties in ensuring that day-to-day decisions are in line with strategy.
An effective strategy serves as a framework that is a living, breathing concept. Leaders must actively interact at all levels to adapt, adjust, and develop the strategy to meet company growth, successes, and failures; otherwise, the strategy will not align with the broader aspects of the company. Many items can determine the ineffectiveness of strategy execution. For example, the weakness of inter-organizational control or weakness of adaptation of organization tasks. It should be a reminder to top corporate executives that their leadership is vital to developing a company's strategy, building support and understanding of the strategy among employees and ensuring that it is effectively communicated to customers.
It is a perceived absence of the executive level leadership in the strategy development. If they took an active role in the process, each executive should have a sense of ownership over the objectives, allocation of capabilities, and potential for outcomes. If a majority of the leaders believe their strategies will not be met by organizational performance, the perception is that they were absent in the strategy process. Top corporate executives need to set the right example if they want their management team and employees to contribute to the organizational process of aligning a company's core capabilities with its strategy to create competitive advantages. A disengaged executive leadership style is more likely to produce a company with unconnected priorities and strategies that lack support in the management team and with employees.
Strategy planning is an ongoing process via continuous communication. Another key note, particularly in accomplishing strategic effects throughout the company, is to develop an internal and external communication plan. More often, the disconnect begins when corporate executives treat a company's strategic planning process as a once a year event and not an ongoing process. Strategic plans are living documents that require ongoing monitoring and adjustments when needed to address unforeseen changes in the marketplace. Senior executive leadership is necessary to effectively communicate the commitment and ongoing involvement of top management in the company's strategic planning process to middle managers and employees. This plan is aimed at informing the organizational personnel of the company strategy, provide milestones/objectives, and seek input for future adjustments, ensuring the company capabilities fully support the strategy. It should also target consumers, ensuring they understand how the organization's services or products fulfill their needs and the needs of the larger picture. Communication of the strategy internally expands the ability of leaders, at every level of the organization to make timely and accurate decisions, as well as highlighting the abilities of employees to grow and expand their roles within the organization.
Besides leadership and communication, performance measurement is also important to keep your progress of strategy execution at the right track. If management gets lost on how far away they are from the destination, and often, there is obviously some disconnect between the perceived and actual drivers of performance; and performance management systems do not seem to be playing a compensatory role. So from soft elements such as leadership or business culture to hard element like implementation process or measure mechanism, strategy execution is difficult, but can be conquered via optimistic leadership and systematic practices.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
May 20, 2015
Digital Master #88: Three Aspects in “Being Agile”
The "state of mind" is a big part of the agile transformation!
Many organizations are transforming from doing Agile to being agile, scale the agile philosophy, methodology and practices to run the business as an Agile Innovator. But many such initiatives fail to achieve the expected result, and most of businesses still get stuck in between, what are the big barriers to be agile? Isn't Agile about transparency too? Why are you not able to have open and constructive conversations about the situation? Why do you have to act beneath the company's radar screen? Is "Being Agile" a crucial stage of becoming a Digital Master?
First, set a performance-based Agile mindset: As difficult as it may be, it is good to set out your transformation with an Agile mindset. The transformation effort has to begin not at implementing Agile practices and values, but to transition the people to a performance based mindset. Only then can you begin to frame Agile from a metrics, performance perspective, allowing new ways of working to be understood. What doesn't work fine is a large organization with no imagination thinking that it can become agile, in both the literal and figurative sense of the word without giving some serious thought to the way that the organization works. You can't change without being willing to change. And in any really large organization, you cannot, reasonably, get one mindset for everybody. New paradigms come along with sufficient frequency that a new one will have started along the adoption curve before the last one has completed. Thus, any really large organization needs to cope with the permanent case that there will be multiple mindsets; multiple cultures. Unless it actively acknowledges and accommodates this, or alternatively drives rapidly through each adoption curve, there will be constant internal strife.
Overcome the barriers to be agile: We live in the real world, not the ideal world. Everybody favors the "best options" - yet we might have different views on what such options are. true agility and superior performance will be attained only once you accept that management shouldn't be confined and secluded to ivory towers. Of course, you need enlightened managers to make things happen positively, several "barriers" to adopting agile in a company:(1) Still doing Agile, not being agile: Software development is only part of the company, and the remainder of the company sees Agile as a software development methodology only.(2) People resist change. People can find "What in it For me" by adopting agile, in a larger company, HR controls how/when performance reviews are done and how compensation is handled.(3) Corporate bureaucracy. There are departments dedicated to processes that constrain development teams in the name of quality. There's a lack of trust within or across the agile teams.
Strike the balance between stability and agility: If Agile wants to "scale" or deal with domains other than "software development," then it must also acknowledge what other approaches are used in those other dimensions or domains. It is important to strike the right balance between stability and agility. Some see "stability" as a defensive position, protecting the organization, and "agility" as more aggressive, aimed at capturing market share and so on. So the "strategy" to be agile is being largely about getting the balance right between the two. This mix will vary with organizational function, and it will evolve over time as the organization grows (or not) and the market evolves, changes and is disrupted. Here are some guidelines.- Accept not everything will work first time- Break down the work into smaller manageable chunks- Choose the right people- Define the plan into smaller chunks for work and small co-located teams- Ensure user participation, feedback and buy-in- Fail fast, learn quickly-Amplify best or next practice at business scope systematically.
The "state of mind" is a big part of the agile transformation! Doing Agile is only an engineering practice, but being agile is the multidisciplinary challenge from top-down and bottom-up. Being agile also means to become a truly holistic organization. Organizational agility is only achieved when the organization changes, stops talking about IT and business as separate entities and recognize that it is one organization with one set of goals and objectives, and start to think how best to achieve those goals, recognizing that there is always room for improvement.
Digitalization is like a flywheel, and Digital Masters are the one riding above it. Surf more Information about Digital Master:Digital Master Kindle Version Book Order URLDigital Master Book URLDigital Master Author URLDigital Master Video Clip on YouTube
Digital Master Fun QuizFollow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Many organizations are transforming from doing Agile to being agile, scale the agile philosophy, methodology and practices to run the business as an Agile Innovator. But many such initiatives fail to achieve the expected result, and most of businesses still get stuck in between, what are the big barriers to be agile? Isn't Agile about transparency too? Why are you not able to have open and constructive conversations about the situation? Why do you have to act beneath the company's radar screen? Is "Being Agile" a crucial stage of becoming a Digital Master?
First, set a performance-based Agile mindset: As difficult as it may be, it is good to set out your transformation with an Agile mindset. The transformation effort has to begin not at implementing Agile practices and values, but to transition the people to a performance based mindset. Only then can you begin to frame Agile from a metrics, performance perspective, allowing new ways of working to be understood. What doesn't work fine is a large organization with no imagination thinking that it can become agile, in both the literal and figurative sense of the word without giving some serious thought to the way that the organization works. You can't change without being willing to change. And in any really large organization, you cannot, reasonably, get one mindset for everybody. New paradigms come along with sufficient frequency that a new one will have started along the adoption curve before the last one has completed. Thus, any really large organization needs to cope with the permanent case that there will be multiple mindsets; multiple cultures. Unless it actively acknowledges and accommodates this, or alternatively drives rapidly through each adoption curve, there will be constant internal strife.
Overcome the barriers to be agile: We live in the real world, not the ideal world. Everybody favors the "best options" - yet we might have different views on what such options are. true agility and superior performance will be attained only once you accept that management shouldn't be confined and secluded to ivory towers. Of course, you need enlightened managers to make things happen positively, several "barriers" to adopting agile in a company:(1) Still doing Agile, not being agile: Software development is only part of the company, and the remainder of the company sees Agile as a software development methodology only.(2) People resist change. People can find "What in it For me" by adopting agile, in a larger company, HR controls how/when performance reviews are done and how compensation is handled.(3) Corporate bureaucracy. There are departments dedicated to processes that constrain development teams in the name of quality. There's a lack of trust within or across the agile teams.
Strike the balance between stability and agility: If Agile wants to "scale" or deal with domains other than "software development," then it must also acknowledge what other approaches are used in those other dimensions or domains. It is important to strike the right balance between stability and agility. Some see "stability" as a defensive position, protecting the organization, and "agility" as more aggressive, aimed at capturing market share and so on. So the "strategy" to be agile is being largely about getting the balance right between the two. This mix will vary with organizational function, and it will evolve over time as the organization grows (or not) and the market evolves, changes and is disrupted. Here are some guidelines.- Accept not everything will work first time- Break down the work into smaller manageable chunks- Choose the right people- Define the plan into smaller chunks for work and small co-located teams- Ensure user participation, feedback and buy-in- Fail fast, learn quickly-Amplify best or next practice at business scope systematically.The "state of mind" is a big part of the agile transformation! Doing Agile is only an engineering practice, but being agile is the multidisciplinary challenge from top-down and bottom-up. Being agile also means to become a truly holistic organization. Organizational agility is only achieved when the organization changes, stops talking about IT and business as separate entities and recognize that it is one organization with one set of goals and objectives, and start to think how best to achieve those goals, recognizing that there is always room for improvement.
Digitalization is like a flywheel, and Digital Masters are the one riding above it. Surf more Information about Digital Master:Digital Master Kindle Version Book Order URLDigital Master Book URLDigital Master Author URLDigital Master Video Clip on YouTube
Digital Master Fun QuizFollow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
How can HR Make Impact on Business Culture
The common definition of culture is, “How we think and do things around here.”
Most top managers are simply unaware of both the culture they are creating and the power of that culture. Many see discussions of culture as “Fuzzy” and “Touchy-Feely” stuff they want to avoid. However, corporate culture is the most invisible, but powerful element to decide business’s long term success. Which role can HR play in assessing, revitalizing and measuring business culture?
Cultural Assessment is a must. With continuous disruption and exponential changes, companies that have sailed through many storms with the credo “That’s the way things have always been done” may find themselves clinging to antiquated “best practices” that might not suitable to today’s rapidly changing digital dynamic. Metaphorically, you can compare the importance of organizational culture assessment to a soil analysis. You wouldn't plant seeds of a new species without checking whether they are adapt to the soil and climate conditions. But when creating a strategy for an organization, often the "soil analysis" is forgotten. Traditional assessments unfortunately are not very good in dealing with it: they generally describe the "behavior" rather than an underlying (and in most cases unconscious) mind behind it. There are ways of finding it out, but since few practitioners are aware of it, they are rarely used.
The organizational culture typically stems from the top, but HR's role is critical. The culture comes from the collective thoughts and beliefs of all employees from the ground up, but the collective mindsets and behaviors of the top management group have an amplified influence on culture. Culture becomes so visible that people at lower levels start following. The basic logic of defining the connection between HR and Organizational Behavior offers a reasonable explanation here: The logic says organizational behavior can be summed as “the proper way to think, behave, and act in an organization.” When the principal goal of any HR department is to achieve a productive workforce, HR has a definite impact on corporate culture. Leadership sets the direction, tone and values. HR can contribute strongly by advising leaders about the potential outcomes and choosing one path over another. HR can remind leadership that how things are done the first time will set the precedent for every next time. Long term thinking is a must. For example, on analyzing a HR discipline like employee relations, the main goal of such a discipline is to strengthen the employer-employee relationship. Hence the way the HR manages employee relations will surely contribute to a positive or negative organisational culture!
The cultural fit is a key factor in attracting and retaining the right talent. HR's role is to tap into the collective power of this and assist in the articulation of such. It should also investigate ways to enhance and empower the positive aspects of the culture so that it becomes self - actualized. HR has a big role. It can support in analyzing the culture as it exists and understood by the employees. It can enable culture change along with the other senior leaders. It can of course influence the thinking on what culture would give best results for the company. It can help create a vocabulary around the culture and get employees to understand. It can come with programs that can reinforce the culture. HR has a responsibility for understanding how its operating processes reinforce or conflict with the organizational culture. They need to be in lock step with CXOs and viewed as a culture evangelist. Anyone in a leadership role is responsible for one or another aspect of company culture. HR can ensure unity and cohesiveness in how the culture is being expressed - coaching those at the top on how to lead, raising the red flag when issues are occurring in the ranks. The area where HR can have the most impact on culture is in hiring. Hiring the right people for the job and for the culture is a very significant contribution to the culture of an organization.
HR acts as a steward for organizational culture by aligning incentives to reinforce expected or desired behaviors. HR Leadership, specifically, has a role in influencing senior leadership in defining exactly what those behaviors are. HR professionals, at least those that understand some of the artifacts of culture – collective mindset, sanctions, linguistic symbols, unarticulated powerful behavior shaping values, can be exceptionally helpful to managers by simply making them aware of these things. There is the importance of HR's role in listening to and understanding the culture and its level of engagement. That includes working to get agreement on the metrics you would use to measure that. HR can help business leaders frame the culture conversation constructively and realistically. Generally speaking, HR has to be Role Model for culture and values of the organization, and have to lead by example along with management.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Most top managers are simply unaware of both the culture they are creating and the power of that culture. Many see discussions of culture as “Fuzzy” and “Touchy-Feely” stuff they want to avoid. However, corporate culture is the most invisible, but powerful element to decide business’s long term success. Which role can HR play in assessing, revitalizing and measuring business culture?
Cultural Assessment is a must. With continuous disruption and exponential changes, companies that have sailed through many storms with the credo “That’s the way things have always been done” may find themselves clinging to antiquated “best practices” that might not suitable to today’s rapidly changing digital dynamic. Metaphorically, you can compare the importance of organizational culture assessment to a soil analysis. You wouldn't plant seeds of a new species without checking whether they are adapt to the soil and climate conditions. But when creating a strategy for an organization, often the "soil analysis" is forgotten. Traditional assessments unfortunately are not very good in dealing with it: they generally describe the "behavior" rather than an underlying (and in most cases unconscious) mind behind it. There are ways of finding it out, but since few practitioners are aware of it, they are rarely used.
The organizational culture typically stems from the top, but HR's role is critical. The culture comes from the collective thoughts and beliefs of all employees from the ground up, but the collective mindsets and behaviors of the top management group have an amplified influence on culture. Culture becomes so visible that people at lower levels start following. The basic logic of defining the connection between HR and Organizational Behavior offers a reasonable explanation here: The logic says organizational behavior can be summed as “the proper way to think, behave, and act in an organization.” When the principal goal of any HR department is to achieve a productive workforce, HR has a definite impact on corporate culture. Leadership sets the direction, tone and values. HR can contribute strongly by advising leaders about the potential outcomes and choosing one path over another. HR can remind leadership that how things are done the first time will set the precedent for every next time. Long term thinking is a must. For example, on analyzing a HR discipline like employee relations, the main goal of such a discipline is to strengthen the employer-employee relationship. Hence the way the HR manages employee relations will surely contribute to a positive or negative organisational culture!
The cultural fit is a key factor in attracting and retaining the right talent. HR's role is to tap into the collective power of this and assist in the articulation of such. It should also investigate ways to enhance and empower the positive aspects of the culture so that it becomes self - actualized. HR has a big role. It can support in analyzing the culture as it exists and understood by the employees. It can enable culture change along with the other senior leaders. It can of course influence the thinking on what culture would give best results for the company. It can help create a vocabulary around the culture and get employees to understand. It can come with programs that can reinforce the culture. HR has a responsibility for understanding how its operating processes reinforce or conflict with the organizational culture. They need to be in lock step with CXOs and viewed as a culture evangelist. Anyone in a leadership role is responsible for one or another aspect of company culture. HR can ensure unity and cohesiveness in how the culture is being expressed - coaching those at the top on how to lead, raising the red flag when issues are occurring in the ranks. The area where HR can have the most impact on culture is in hiring. Hiring the right people for the job and for the culture is a very significant contribution to the culture of an organization.
HR acts as a steward for organizational culture by aligning incentives to reinforce expected or desired behaviors. HR Leadership, specifically, has a role in influencing senior leadership in defining exactly what those behaviors are. HR professionals, at least those that understand some of the artifacts of culture – collective mindset, sanctions, linguistic symbols, unarticulated powerful behavior shaping values, can be exceptionally helpful to managers by simply making them aware of these things. There is the importance of HR's role in listening to and understanding the culture and its level of engagement. That includes working to get agreement on the metrics you would use to measure that. HR can help business leaders frame the culture conversation constructively and realistically. Generally speaking, HR has to be Role Model for culture and values of the organization, and have to lead by example along with management.Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
CIO as a Strategist: How to Do Strategy Management Right
At the end of the day, the organization must be centered on its customers.
IT strategy is an integral component of business strategy. The objective of IT strategy is not just to be aligned with business strategy, rather, IT strategy is an integral part of Business Strategy. CIOs as an IT leader and a business strategist, how to create a good strategy, and more importantly, how to implement it, and demonstrate business value in order to build solid IT reputation and improve IT maturity?
IT strategy has to be an integral component of business strategy. Taking a step back, there is another way to approach this subject. The role of IT is important, and the functional purpose of IT is still an enabler of business unit success. However, the IT Strategy can be a vague concept to the IT professional. Why? Because IT leadership needs to know the strategy of a business before any IT plan can be created to enable that strategy. Especially nowadays, information is the living blood, and technology is the very cause of most digital disruptions, IT becomes an innovation engine to business growth, IT strategy has to be an integral component of business strategy. However, the main problem is that business executives still limit their vision of IT as “IT supports a Strategy,” so CIO role as C-level is to contribute to the formulation of the business strategy where new trends of technology will provide strategic capabilities to the business that will enhance the competitive advantages of the organization.
Create a One Page strategy to highlight and spread message around: In this digital age of continuous changes, successful CIOs have a seat at big table, think less about technology and more about business, and understand the importance of communication. It is about following the simplicity principle to run IT infrastructure more efficiently, with special focus on VALUE delivery. This will also give IT flexibility to proactively riding above the emerging trends and what the business requires. And, as CIOs, you need to think more about strategic things than operational issues. for example, create a one-page strategy, which is hard to produce, but pay huge dividends when trying to get your message across, especially in the early stages. The main issue is the knowledge gap of business executives to the trends of new technology and its impact on the business. The main role of CIOs is to demonstrate to the other executives the added value provided by technology using the business language (as businesses cases). Well orchestrate IT framework, processes, technology and people to ensure the success of strategy implementation: CIOs should have the knowledge and ability to demonstrate IT capabilities as strategic enabler of the business, and CIOs to be part of the executives for articulating the differentiated IT enabled business capability to underpin strategy execution. Uncertainty of the Business Strategy will be the real challenge to the CIOs as to design an IT Architecture which had the complexity due to the technology trends at the different layers, while maintaining its agility for accommodating the dynamics of the business requirements. Applying frameworks and methodologies with good performance management will ensure the success of IT strategy.
At the end of the day, the organization must be centered on its customers. In the case of IT, the organization is "the client" as well as the end customers. IT should be inviting the ranks of business professionals, C-level, Directors, and Managers to periodic review meetings which discuss the performance of various technologies. You need to look at IT as a business resource. The insightful IT managers, Directors and CIOs gleam from various measurements of business driven measurement can be amazing. The help-desk team has a front row seat to organizational culture and behavior. The developer customizing web pages, customizing databases, IT not only keeps the light on, but more about value-added effort to win over both old and new customers. If IT proactively shows how it measures an organization via business lenses, not just IT view, and how it can help solve the thorny business problems, it will gain better reputation.
CIOs need to have a holistic view of the business from a senior business leader’s perspectives and to provide the added value of technology. Now, Information Systems are impacting every business activities at the organization, CIOs should have strong business knowledge to be able to communicate with the other executives. And IT success is based on how CIOs manage strategy - implementation cycle and create business value to build a customer-centric organization. Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
IT strategy is an integral component of business strategy. The objective of IT strategy is not just to be aligned with business strategy, rather, IT strategy is an integral part of Business Strategy. CIOs as an IT leader and a business strategist, how to create a good strategy, and more importantly, how to implement it, and demonstrate business value in order to build solid IT reputation and improve IT maturity?IT strategy has to be an integral component of business strategy. Taking a step back, there is another way to approach this subject. The role of IT is important, and the functional purpose of IT is still an enabler of business unit success. However, the IT Strategy can be a vague concept to the IT professional. Why? Because IT leadership needs to know the strategy of a business before any IT plan can be created to enable that strategy. Especially nowadays, information is the living blood, and technology is the very cause of most digital disruptions, IT becomes an innovation engine to business growth, IT strategy has to be an integral component of business strategy. However, the main problem is that business executives still limit their vision of IT as “IT supports a Strategy,” so CIO role as C-level is to contribute to the formulation of the business strategy where new trends of technology will provide strategic capabilities to the business that will enhance the competitive advantages of the organization.
Create a One Page strategy to highlight and spread message around: In this digital age of continuous changes, successful CIOs have a seat at big table, think less about technology and more about business, and understand the importance of communication. It is about following the simplicity principle to run IT infrastructure more efficiently, with special focus on VALUE delivery. This will also give IT flexibility to proactively riding above the emerging trends and what the business requires. And, as CIOs, you need to think more about strategic things than operational issues. for example, create a one-page strategy, which is hard to produce, but pay huge dividends when trying to get your message across, especially in the early stages. The main issue is the knowledge gap of business executives to the trends of new technology and its impact on the business. The main role of CIOs is to demonstrate to the other executives the added value provided by technology using the business language (as businesses cases). Well orchestrate IT framework, processes, technology and people to ensure the success of strategy implementation: CIOs should have the knowledge and ability to demonstrate IT capabilities as strategic enabler of the business, and CIOs to be part of the executives for articulating the differentiated IT enabled business capability to underpin strategy execution. Uncertainty of the Business Strategy will be the real challenge to the CIOs as to design an IT Architecture which had the complexity due to the technology trends at the different layers, while maintaining its agility for accommodating the dynamics of the business requirements. Applying frameworks and methodologies with good performance management will ensure the success of IT strategy.
At the end of the day, the organization must be centered on its customers. In the case of IT, the organization is "the client" as well as the end customers. IT should be inviting the ranks of business professionals, C-level, Directors, and Managers to periodic review meetings which discuss the performance of various technologies. You need to look at IT as a business resource. The insightful IT managers, Directors and CIOs gleam from various measurements of business driven measurement can be amazing. The help-desk team has a front row seat to organizational culture and behavior. The developer customizing web pages, customizing databases, IT not only keeps the light on, but more about value-added effort to win over both old and new customers. If IT proactively shows how it measures an organization via business lenses, not just IT view, and how it can help solve the thorny business problems, it will gain better reputation.CIOs need to have a holistic view of the business from a senior business leader’s perspectives and to provide the added value of technology. Now, Information Systems are impacting every business activities at the organization, CIOs should have strong business knowledge to be able to communicate with the other executives. And IT success is based on how CIOs manage strategy - implementation cycle and create business value to build a customer-centric organization. Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
May 19, 2015
What’s your Perception about Quality Education
If life is like a journey, then education is just like the transportation tools; it's means to end, not the end itself.
Like many other important things, people have mixed or even “extreme thinking” about education. In some conservative or primitive cultures, children couldn’t get opportunity to receive the elementary education; in other “ivory-tower ”driven culture though, it seems having formal advanced education or pursuing elite education becomes the very destination of life… So what’s the right attitude to education, and how to define the quality education?
Education, either formal or informal, is means to the end, not the end itself: If life is like a journey, then education is just like the transportation tools, either you take luxury or regular class, faster plane or slower bus, it is the means to the end, not the end itself. Knowledge can be taught, but you have to figure out how to think. So is it that 'quality education' is more like 'training' but what is really needed is more focus on 'development' in the education process; the need for people to think solutions on a personal and group level, to think of future needs, to think outside the box, to focus on mind crafting, rather than just knowledge instilling? It seems that whole cultures need to transform themselves if the world is to see different outcomes. But in societies grounded in so called “ivory tower” minds, success seems more reliant on “means,” not the destination; education becomes the "status quo" to protect a few, but a barrier to innovation and inclusiveness; a "mini-window," to create many blind spots; or a silo to build wall in one's mind and tie the knot in the heart - Ideally, the quality education should set the guide for the life adventure based on being who you are, what you plan to do and the alternatives to reach the destination.
The very quality of education is to assess how well it shapes the right sets of mind (growth, progression, creativity, open and learning, etc): “Quality" would be associated with an "Education" that fosters critical thinking, excellent problem-solving skills, ability to turn new ideas into innovative products, innovative thinking, ability to apply specific knowledge as tangible applications in some field or another, ability to switch from meta-cognitive analysis to micro-analysis while understanding how the rules change when doing that, superb linguistic skills, fluency and speed when accessing information from the virtual world, flexible algorithmic thinking and so on. This is the domain of the progressive schools in education, also the emerging virtual learning alternatives. Education provides the fine widow to see the world with knowledge lenses, but shouldn't become a constraint to limit one's imagination.
Quality in education is now crucial in plans towards cross-cultural boundary: While the notion of quality and priority may differ from country to country, the term has become a determining factor in facilitating global support for educational expansion and developmental initiatives. Understanding the geographical context of quality in education, what its indicators are within the cultural milieu of particular countries, the challenges associated with implementing quality education are therefore significant. Before receiving an education, most of us are like a frog in a well. The education, we get may be, takes us out of the well, but for some, it also sets the limit for their continuous learning and growth due to the burden of credential; or add the filter to see the world via the lenses set up by educators. Or, to put simply, it becomes the causes of bias, or the reason lacking independent thinking. A quality education, hence, should open, not close one’s mind, helps receivers to:Recognize opportunitiesGive one ability to evaluate the opportunities Ability to select and opt for what is best suited to individual, etc.Inspire the thinking and learning habit
The word 'quality' seems to be being used exclusively to signify 'high' quality. It is a word and a concept open to considerable dispute. Generally speaking, quality education is not defined by the reputation of institutes or the approaches they take, but defined by the very "products" - the well educated individuals who can challenge their mentors, criticize the theories, and think beyond the education box, and continue to take opportunities in life adventure by taking advantage of education as means to end, to move the world progressively.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Like many other important things, people have mixed or even “extreme thinking” about education. In some conservative or primitive cultures, children couldn’t get opportunity to receive the elementary education; in other “ivory-tower ”driven culture though, it seems having formal advanced education or pursuing elite education becomes the very destination of life… So what’s the right attitude to education, and how to define the quality education?
Education, either formal or informal, is means to the end, not the end itself: If life is like a journey, then education is just like the transportation tools, either you take luxury or regular class, faster plane or slower bus, it is the means to the end, not the end itself. Knowledge can be taught, but you have to figure out how to think. So is it that 'quality education' is more like 'training' but what is really needed is more focus on 'development' in the education process; the need for people to think solutions on a personal and group level, to think of future needs, to think outside the box, to focus on mind crafting, rather than just knowledge instilling? It seems that whole cultures need to transform themselves if the world is to see different outcomes. But in societies grounded in so called “ivory tower” minds, success seems more reliant on “means,” not the destination; education becomes the "status quo" to protect a few, but a barrier to innovation and inclusiveness; a "mini-window," to create many blind spots; or a silo to build wall in one's mind and tie the knot in the heart - Ideally, the quality education should set the guide for the life adventure based on being who you are, what you plan to do and the alternatives to reach the destination.
The very quality of education is to assess how well it shapes the right sets of mind (growth, progression, creativity, open and learning, etc): “Quality" would be associated with an "Education" that fosters critical thinking, excellent problem-solving skills, ability to turn new ideas into innovative products, innovative thinking, ability to apply specific knowledge as tangible applications in some field or another, ability to switch from meta-cognitive analysis to micro-analysis while understanding how the rules change when doing that, superb linguistic skills, fluency and speed when accessing information from the virtual world, flexible algorithmic thinking and so on. This is the domain of the progressive schools in education, also the emerging virtual learning alternatives. Education provides the fine widow to see the world with knowledge lenses, but shouldn't become a constraint to limit one's imagination.
Quality in education is now crucial in plans towards cross-cultural boundary: While the notion of quality and priority may differ from country to country, the term has become a determining factor in facilitating global support for educational expansion and developmental initiatives. Understanding the geographical context of quality in education, what its indicators are within the cultural milieu of particular countries, the challenges associated with implementing quality education are therefore significant. Before receiving an education, most of us are like a frog in a well. The education, we get may be, takes us out of the well, but for some, it also sets the limit for their continuous learning and growth due to the burden of credential; or add the filter to see the world via the lenses set up by educators. Or, to put simply, it becomes the causes of bias, or the reason lacking independent thinking. A quality education, hence, should open, not close one’s mind, helps receivers to:Recognize opportunitiesGive one ability to evaluate the opportunities Ability to select and opt for what is best suited to individual, etc.Inspire the thinking and learning habit
The word 'quality' seems to be being used exclusively to signify 'high' quality. It is a word and a concept open to considerable dispute. Generally speaking, quality education is not defined by the reputation of institutes or the approaches they take, but defined by the very "products" - the well educated individuals who can challenge their mentors, criticize the theories, and think beyond the education box, and continue to take opportunities in life adventure by taking advantage of education as means to end, to move the world progressively.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
How to Improve UX Maturity
UX strategy is about "the big picture.
Being customer-centric is the strategic goal for many forward-looking organizations, UX/CX (User/Customer Experience) plays more significant role today. However, many of business leaders still do not understand the strategic impact and brand effect it can bring to the organization’s long term success. Hence, UX professionals (strategist, designers, architect, etc) have had to take the time to explain and demonstrate the value that UX can bring, and the true potential of the practice. There are misunderstandings everywhere about what UX is. In your organization, is UX a mindset and a discipline, or just a few pixels moving around? And how to improve UX maturity?
Thankful to be part of an organization where UX is well understood by leadership. That's been the biggest challenge over time; demonstrating that you can bring fresh insights, and see the customer problem through UX filter when others have already talked with dozens or even hundreds of customers. Customer Experience covers the entire experience of the customer. Customers often share different (and sometimes more actionable) data points with people who are there to listen to them, not to make a sale or fix a specific issue. Strike the word "talk" from the vocabulary and replace it with "listen" when selling the idea of these customer visits to leadership. UX must be understood by executives to support an evolving product strategy, and to drive its success forward ambitiously.
UX is a component of digital strategy: UX strategy is about "the big picture." You want your user experiences to support organizational strategy. How will you react if organizational strategy shifts? After all, strategy is about predicting the future. You're not thinking of the "UX" that's only about wireframes and visual designs. You're thinking about brand, positioning, and environment, but from the standpoint of rigorous user understanding. The strategic objective is to understand what your customers need and to help the business orient itself towards those needs in pursuit of its objectives. In an industrial segment, many businesses are still behind, but are slowly moving in the right direction to think UX as key component of digital strategy.
The convergence of UX & CX, in lieu of UX design: There are much more talk about how business digitalization plays a role at many different aspects and touch points of CX, and there are more UX professionals moving beyond the perceived confines of their "traditional" practice areas and points of focus. Partnering with practitioners from of other domains (like CX) to extend and hone the design tools to better address the challenges (business, social, political, etc) that people face in their everyday lives in more meaningful and fundamental ways, to accelerate digital flow and enhance digital coherence. User Experience professionals are in service to some sort of industry or enterprise, and the goals must relate to the goals of the business you work in. There is no measurement of "design" that matters except that it includes a measurement of the action of the user in relationship to business goals. And more direct problem with measuring UX and design in general, is the underlying effect of the quality of the project brief. The quality of the outcome is inseparable from the influences of the stakeholder directives and the values behind product acceptance. Stakeholders may decide they actually want to measure usability, learnability, conversion, trustworthiness, etc.
As a general rule of thumb, when using “UX” in a sentence, if you want it to mean, or could replace it with “Pretty pictures” - and be happy with the definition, then you're not going to get the full benefit of what true UX can bring. Eventually UX will have a clear position in every organization and company. No one will question its existence and it will be a natural part of strategy in customer-centric organizations.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Being customer-centric is the strategic goal for many forward-looking organizations, UX/CX (User/Customer Experience) plays more significant role today. However, many of business leaders still do not understand the strategic impact and brand effect it can bring to the organization’s long term success. Hence, UX professionals (strategist, designers, architect, etc) have had to take the time to explain and demonstrate the value that UX can bring, and the true potential of the practice. There are misunderstandings everywhere about what UX is. In your organization, is UX a mindset and a discipline, or just a few pixels moving around? And how to improve UX maturity?Thankful to be part of an organization where UX is well understood by leadership. That's been the biggest challenge over time; demonstrating that you can bring fresh insights, and see the customer problem through UX filter when others have already talked with dozens or even hundreds of customers. Customer Experience covers the entire experience of the customer. Customers often share different (and sometimes more actionable) data points with people who are there to listen to them, not to make a sale or fix a specific issue. Strike the word "talk" from the vocabulary and replace it with "listen" when selling the idea of these customer visits to leadership. UX must be understood by executives to support an evolving product strategy, and to drive its success forward ambitiously.
UX is a component of digital strategy: UX strategy is about "the big picture." You want your user experiences to support organizational strategy. How will you react if organizational strategy shifts? After all, strategy is about predicting the future. You're not thinking of the "UX" that's only about wireframes and visual designs. You're thinking about brand, positioning, and environment, but from the standpoint of rigorous user understanding. The strategic objective is to understand what your customers need and to help the business orient itself towards those needs in pursuit of its objectives. In an industrial segment, many businesses are still behind, but are slowly moving in the right direction to think UX as key component of digital strategy.
The convergence of UX & CX, in lieu of UX design: There are much more talk about how business digitalization plays a role at many different aspects and touch points of CX, and there are more UX professionals moving beyond the perceived confines of their "traditional" practice areas and points of focus. Partnering with practitioners from of other domains (like CX) to extend and hone the design tools to better address the challenges (business, social, political, etc) that people face in their everyday lives in more meaningful and fundamental ways, to accelerate digital flow and enhance digital coherence. User Experience professionals are in service to some sort of industry or enterprise, and the goals must relate to the goals of the business you work in. There is no measurement of "design" that matters except that it includes a measurement of the action of the user in relationship to business goals. And more direct problem with measuring UX and design in general, is the underlying effect of the quality of the project brief. The quality of the outcome is inseparable from the influences of the stakeholder directives and the values behind product acceptance. Stakeholders may decide they actually want to measure usability, learnability, conversion, trustworthiness, etc.
As a general rule of thumb, when using “UX” in a sentence, if you want it to mean, or could replace it with “Pretty pictures” - and be happy with the definition, then you're not going to get the full benefit of what true UX can bring. Eventually UX will have a clear position in every organization and company. No one will question its existence and it will be a natural part of strategy in customer-centric organizations.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
How to Improve the Success Rate of Strategy Execution
The success of strategy management undoubtedly lies in the ''timely execution.''
If strategy making is more important, perhaps strategy execution is more difficult. If strategy is deciding what to do, then execution is all about making it happen via engaged, competent and committed managers and employees. A recent executive survey indicated that executional excellence was the number one challenge facing corporate leaders globally, but more than two third of organizations struggle to implement their strategy smoothly. Hence, organizations need to address this aggressively to really start cranking up their execution abilities. And what are important factors in executing strategy more successfully?
The hybrid strategy management with mix of centralized and decentralized approach: During strategy definition, the top leadership needs to take more of the lead, while engaging senior or mid-management and other experts from the organization. One could argue this is more of a centralized approach. Knowing how to plan and execute while overcoming the day-to-day 'surprises' that pop up is the most foundational capability any organization can have." It's leadership's responsibility to drive the execution of the business strategy, but strategy execution hasn't been a competency in modern day organizations. During strategic planning and strategy execution, the senior or mid-management needs to take more of the lead since the subject now is the details of operations: what needs to be done to achieve the strategic vision? One could argue this is more of a decentralized approach.
Cross-functional communication and collaboration: Since no function in an organization can achieve its objectives in and by itself, there needs to be cross - functional cooperation in strategic planning and strategy execution. Consequently, there needs to be some sort of centralization - platforms for cross - functional decision making effectively, which requires a standardized approach to planning, performance and risk management. Strategy execution by nature requires long term consistency in all of its actions and activities in a way that genuinely supports the approach selected. Organizations need less process and more cross-functional connection, trust and communication within the intangible assets of organizations. How well your- employees know, understand and are connected to the strategy will always directly correlate to its delivery and performance.
Employee engagement: The most fundamental ingredient for good execution is "engaged employees" Presence of, or absence of any other factor does not impact as much as having or not having engaged employees. However, one of the biggest turn-offs for employees is to be overloaded with yet another strategic initiative. That is the reason why execution excellence remains to be the most important challenges for CXOs across the world. The irony is that if you were to see the Gallup "State of the Global Workplace" report - just 13% of employees are "actively engaged," which is half the number of the actively disengaged employees. The real key to unlocking great execution is found through the heart and engagement level of people. The challenge is for an organization and a strategy execution management framework to create the committed and engaged employees. The approach and system includes the integration of the strategic initiatives with individual’s primary job responsibilities in a process that establishes a performance agreement between an employee and their manager. The performance agreement is then the basis for regular (monthly) progress meetings between the manager and subordinate. Achievement of an employees goals contributes to the successful implementation of the strategic initiatives.
Measurement: Velocity of the strategy execution is an important parameter we can measure as the execution success. Execution of a strategy is achieved through series of interdependent actions and decisions run in iteration. How fast are you closing the decision loops and completing the various operational tasks, all coming up in the strategy execution path represents the execution velocity. These can be measured and taken as one of the indications of the strategy execution success. Balanced scorecard offers a way for a corporation to gain a wider perspective on its strategic decisions by considering the impact on finances, customers, internal processes and employee satisfaction. The analysis takes into account financial and non-financial measures, internal improvements, past outcomes and ongoing requirements as indications of future performance.
Governance: The effective governance practice should sustain the transformative change in business. Evaluate whether the governance leads to streamlining of processes, improve risk management and whether the organization is able to measure its strategic objectives more effectively and efficiently. If a strategy is not moving forward as desired, an organization has a cleaner structure to traverse in an attempt to identify the root cause and take mitigating actions. Governance is an internal control to monitor the execution path. Strong governance disciplines enforce the ability to revisit and reinforce what you have put into place at the start of the program consistently before moving on to new phases. Under strong governance, the well defined KPIs will help measure results both qualitatively and quantitatively. So discipline and follow-up are the key.
The success of strategy management undoubtedly lies in the ''timely execution'' and this can be achieved only through effective strategy-execution management, employee engagement and collaboration, continuous persistence and follow up with strong governance discipline. There must be sense of urgency. Further, leadership at operational level must be competent, dynamic and smart to taste and digest the initiatives. Keeping fewer key initiatives increases efficiency and effectiveness. Digital Strategy - Execution is no longer linear steps, but iterative continuum.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
If strategy making is more important, perhaps strategy execution is more difficult. If strategy is deciding what to do, then execution is all about making it happen via engaged, competent and committed managers and employees. A recent executive survey indicated that executional excellence was the number one challenge facing corporate leaders globally, but more than two third of organizations struggle to implement their strategy smoothly. Hence, organizations need to address this aggressively to really start cranking up their execution abilities. And what are important factors in executing strategy more successfully?The hybrid strategy management with mix of centralized and decentralized approach: During strategy definition, the top leadership needs to take more of the lead, while engaging senior or mid-management and other experts from the organization. One could argue this is more of a centralized approach. Knowing how to plan and execute while overcoming the day-to-day 'surprises' that pop up is the most foundational capability any organization can have." It's leadership's responsibility to drive the execution of the business strategy, but strategy execution hasn't been a competency in modern day organizations. During strategic planning and strategy execution, the senior or mid-management needs to take more of the lead since the subject now is the details of operations: what needs to be done to achieve the strategic vision? One could argue this is more of a decentralized approach.
Cross-functional communication and collaboration: Since no function in an organization can achieve its objectives in and by itself, there needs to be cross - functional cooperation in strategic planning and strategy execution. Consequently, there needs to be some sort of centralization - platforms for cross - functional decision making effectively, which requires a standardized approach to planning, performance and risk management. Strategy execution by nature requires long term consistency in all of its actions and activities in a way that genuinely supports the approach selected. Organizations need less process and more cross-functional connection, trust and communication within the intangible assets of organizations. How well your- employees know, understand and are connected to the strategy will always directly correlate to its delivery and performance.
Employee engagement: The most fundamental ingredient for good execution is "engaged employees" Presence of, or absence of any other factor does not impact as much as having or not having engaged employees. However, one of the biggest turn-offs for employees is to be overloaded with yet another strategic initiative. That is the reason why execution excellence remains to be the most important challenges for CXOs across the world. The irony is that if you were to see the Gallup "State of the Global Workplace" report - just 13% of employees are "actively engaged," which is half the number of the actively disengaged employees. The real key to unlocking great execution is found through the heart and engagement level of people. The challenge is for an organization and a strategy execution management framework to create the committed and engaged employees. The approach and system includes the integration of the strategic initiatives with individual’s primary job responsibilities in a process that establishes a performance agreement between an employee and their manager. The performance agreement is then the basis for regular (monthly) progress meetings between the manager and subordinate. Achievement of an employees goals contributes to the successful implementation of the strategic initiatives.
Measurement: Velocity of the strategy execution is an important parameter we can measure as the execution success. Execution of a strategy is achieved through series of interdependent actions and decisions run in iteration. How fast are you closing the decision loops and completing the various operational tasks, all coming up in the strategy execution path represents the execution velocity. These can be measured and taken as one of the indications of the strategy execution success. Balanced scorecard offers a way for a corporation to gain a wider perspective on its strategic decisions by considering the impact on finances, customers, internal processes and employee satisfaction. The analysis takes into account financial and non-financial measures, internal improvements, past outcomes and ongoing requirements as indications of future performance.
Governance: The effective governance practice should sustain the transformative change in business. Evaluate whether the governance leads to streamlining of processes, improve risk management and whether the organization is able to measure its strategic objectives more effectively and efficiently. If a strategy is not moving forward as desired, an organization has a cleaner structure to traverse in an attempt to identify the root cause and take mitigating actions. Governance is an internal control to monitor the execution path. Strong governance disciplines enforce the ability to revisit and reinforce what you have put into place at the start of the program consistently before moving on to new phases. Under strong governance, the well defined KPIs will help measure results both qualitatively and quantitatively. So discipline and follow-up are the key.
The success of strategy management undoubtedly lies in the ''timely execution'' and this can be achieved only through effective strategy-execution management, employee engagement and collaboration, continuous persistence and follow up with strong governance discipline. There must be sense of urgency. Further, leadership at operational level must be competent, dynamic and smart to taste and digest the initiatives. Keeping fewer key initiatives increases efficiency and effectiveness. Digital Strategy - Execution is no longer linear steps, but iterative continuum.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
May 18, 2015
Is there Thoughts without Words?
Miscommunication is the symptom of many human conflicts, but the "thought" behind it is the root cause to almost all human problems.
Questions of computability have often been linked to questions about the nature of the human mind, since one may wonder if the mind is a computational machine. In other words, is there thought without the word? Are we really using language or used by it? Can there be thinking without memory? What about reading between the lines? What about creative explaining with using metaphors? Is language a pure art or the mix of art and science?
Natural language is the means to express our thoughts. When Descartes concluded that the first truth is that we are not afraid to express our thoughts without being wrong, it was the statement that we are thinking beings. Language and its expression and thinking process changes because of its context relativity. Also language is more pliable than maths. One is allowed to argue against opposites depending on vocabulary one holds to any stretch. Numbers and their processing signs (-,+,=) are rigid, whereas alphabets are compound within themselves (auto logic). Symbolic representation becomes dynamic because of combinations and permutations. However, thought is constantly creating problems, and then trying to solve them. But as it tries to solve them, it makes the problems worse because it doesn't notice that very thought is creating them, and the more it thinks, the more problems it creates. As Einstein wisely put, you can’t solve the problem with the same thinking you created it. Through communicating problems with words clearly to other minds, and reframe the question with new level of thinking, the fresh mind with cognitive difference can perhaps solve the problem seamlessly.
The root cause of “Lost in Translation”: We can't treat language just as a system of words (and grammar) being just names of things. Language system is not only a dependence: thing = name (symbol). If you take into consideration more than one language, such as translating something from one language to another. There is not always ratio 1:1. Actually, it is dangerous to explain (translate) one word from one language into one word in other. Everyone, who has tried to use some internet translators or computer programs, knows, that it doesn't work in this sense of understanding. Computational approach in some cases is failed. You may say the same about metaphors. You need to understand whole statement - all words together in common sense, not in their particular ratio 1:1 (meaning one name, symbol = one thing).
Emotional patterns exist in language and spread through language. We learned to feel emotions and sea of ideas produced in the language. Context in the spoken language becomes a concept as a target either to achieve or to avoid. A concept is an abstraction or generalization from experience, or the result of a transformation of existing concepts. The concept rectifies all of its actual or potential instances whether these are things in the real world or other ideas. When we just hear words or read written sentences, we turn on our imagination and knowledge that we have (about world and interlocutor, if we know him/her) to decode the thought hidden not only in the message as itself, but also in another mind. When we see interlocutor, we analyze "language" with the background, like gesture, facial expressions, circumstances all together. Language represents reality in its own sense so there are phenomenal difference in ideas and expressions.
We both use language and, are used by language: We are able to acquire language, because of specific skill of our brain (mind), so as children, we possess natural ability to start communicate (we experience language even before birth). But after a few years, there comes a moment, that we start to think by a system. In this way we are used by language. We are used by language, because we have rules and words common for people we live with. If we want to be understandable, we have to choose from a set of symbols, set of rules, but even when we make a mistake, we may be still understandable. That is why there is no "perfect language" and there are no perfect interlocutors in communication. Not only correct sentences belong to the language. Language and its expression and thinking process changes because of its context relativity. We use language, because we create it. And we "are used" by the language, because we are limited by words and rules which are needed to communicate with others and understand the rest of the world. When we see the problem from both sides, it seems clear that language is partly acquired and partly learnt. Opposites ingrained in language, so pessimism versus optimism, order – disorder, theism – atheism, and so on rooted in language but not anywhere in nature. In between there is friction of opposites while translating and interpreting from one to the other. we got to admit that language is also as dynamic but not static as its structure suggests. Language might not use us, but the language may cause reactions in our mind, speaking, behavior - provoke us and influence on us.
Essentially languages are constructed for memorizing past events and experiences so as to refine them in present. Even the refined state of consciousness is inadequate to meet the present. Therefore, there is continuous strive for better knowledge in the world in which we live. There are forms of symbolic language, and visual language, telepathy, etc. to convey the thought without words. Language is an art, but with a scientific angle to understand the world profoundly. Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Questions of computability have often been linked to questions about the nature of the human mind, since one may wonder if the mind is a computational machine. In other words, is there thought without the word? Are we really using language or used by it? Can there be thinking without memory? What about reading between the lines? What about creative explaining with using metaphors? Is language a pure art or the mix of art and science?
Natural language is the means to express our thoughts. When Descartes concluded that the first truth is that we are not afraid to express our thoughts without being wrong, it was the statement that we are thinking beings. Language and its expression and thinking process changes because of its context relativity. Also language is more pliable than maths. One is allowed to argue against opposites depending on vocabulary one holds to any stretch. Numbers and their processing signs (-,+,=) are rigid, whereas alphabets are compound within themselves (auto logic). Symbolic representation becomes dynamic because of combinations and permutations. However, thought is constantly creating problems, and then trying to solve them. But as it tries to solve them, it makes the problems worse because it doesn't notice that very thought is creating them, and the more it thinks, the more problems it creates. As Einstein wisely put, you can’t solve the problem with the same thinking you created it. Through communicating problems with words clearly to other minds, and reframe the question with new level of thinking, the fresh mind with cognitive difference can perhaps solve the problem seamlessly.
The root cause of “Lost in Translation”: We can't treat language just as a system of words (and grammar) being just names of things. Language system is not only a dependence: thing = name (symbol). If you take into consideration more than one language, such as translating something from one language to another. There is not always ratio 1:1. Actually, it is dangerous to explain (translate) one word from one language into one word in other. Everyone, who has tried to use some internet translators or computer programs, knows, that it doesn't work in this sense of understanding. Computational approach in some cases is failed. You may say the same about metaphors. You need to understand whole statement - all words together in common sense, not in their particular ratio 1:1 (meaning one name, symbol = one thing).
Emotional patterns exist in language and spread through language. We learned to feel emotions and sea of ideas produced in the language. Context in the spoken language becomes a concept as a target either to achieve or to avoid. A concept is an abstraction or generalization from experience, or the result of a transformation of existing concepts. The concept rectifies all of its actual or potential instances whether these are things in the real world or other ideas. When we just hear words or read written sentences, we turn on our imagination and knowledge that we have (about world and interlocutor, if we know him/her) to decode the thought hidden not only in the message as itself, but also in another mind. When we see interlocutor, we analyze "language" with the background, like gesture, facial expressions, circumstances all together. Language represents reality in its own sense so there are phenomenal difference in ideas and expressions.
We both use language and, are used by language: We are able to acquire language, because of specific skill of our brain (mind), so as children, we possess natural ability to start communicate (we experience language even before birth). But after a few years, there comes a moment, that we start to think by a system. In this way we are used by language. We are used by language, because we have rules and words common for people we live with. If we want to be understandable, we have to choose from a set of symbols, set of rules, but even when we make a mistake, we may be still understandable. That is why there is no "perfect language" and there are no perfect interlocutors in communication. Not only correct sentences belong to the language. Language and its expression and thinking process changes because of its context relativity. We use language, because we create it. And we "are used" by the language, because we are limited by words and rules which are needed to communicate with others and understand the rest of the world. When we see the problem from both sides, it seems clear that language is partly acquired and partly learnt. Opposites ingrained in language, so pessimism versus optimism, order – disorder, theism – atheism, and so on rooted in language but not anywhere in nature. In between there is friction of opposites while translating and interpreting from one to the other. we got to admit that language is also as dynamic but not static as its structure suggests. Language might not use us, but the language may cause reactions in our mind, speaking, behavior - provoke us and influence on us.
Essentially languages are constructed for memorizing past events and experiences so as to refine them in present. Even the refined state of consciousness is inadequate to meet the present. Therefore, there is continuous strive for better knowledge in the world in which we live. There are forms of symbolic language, and visual language, telepathy, etc. to convey the thought without words. Language is an art, but with a scientific angle to understand the world profoundly. Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
May 10, 2015
Anti-Digital Mind: A Confusion Mind
Confusion means a mental state characterized by a lack of clear and orderly thought and behaviour. When the triggering events become overwhelming and are difficult to comprehend, it leads to confusion. Confusion essentially arises externally, but over a period of time may start getting generated internally. It should be kept in mind that whether the causes are external or internal, the effects are always internal and the affected parties can be both internal or external.
A clouded mind would be a fuzzy state of thinking, where things may not be quite clear. By continuously being in charge of your own thoughts through directing your focus and using visualization, you can influence what programs the subconscious mind constantly runs. Do this often with enough emotional energy, then it will start to reprogram your unconscious internal representation and belief system. In such a case, focus may be required for clear thinking to emerge. Though being doubtful is not always bad, it can be rectified too. Being aware by changing self into a questioning attitude. But if you don’t change doubting with preconceived notions, then you become more and more vulnerable to negativity. So wisdom has to take place to clarify the doubt.Wisdom is the intelligent use of our knowledge whereas sensibility is an intelligent use of our judgment.
A huge cause for confusion is cognitive dissonance: It simply means the difference seen between what is preached and practiced. Confusion happens when we are not able to properly interpret the inputs we receive from the environment. Confusion consists of a soup with many ingredients. Some ingredients are. #1. Lack of awareness. #2. Lack of clarity in expression #3. Ego: The fact humans thinks they are superior being. #4. Overdoing or under doing any of the ingredients. In the earlier stages a child needs to be guided, and as it grows the faculty of judging for itself needs to be developed.
The source of most of human confusion is organic in nature. In that, humans alone are equipped with two strong and opposite mental forces of instincts and intellect. The intellect portion of the mind stands for reasoning, human decency, what is right, just, fair and logical. As these two mental forces fall into conflict, they pull people in opposite directions and people feel conflicted. Because most people believe what they like rather than what is right, self-deception sets in and confusion misleads us. All of these happen at subconscious level, and while people are subjected to it, they are not conscious of this subconscious mental trend. Only being trained on these subjects brings this to people’s attention and they manage their mind instead of being managed by it. Because each one chooses the meaning following their thought process; so do not just digest the words, but dig through the thought, the words are the symptom, but the thoughts are the root causes for solving humankind challenges.
The clarity of mind is when you thinks clearly. Clarity is a holistic mind, using multiple thinking processes by leveraging the whole brain, and express it in concise and insightful way, and it takes wisdom to clear up the confusion in order to articulate the circumstances, make fair judgement and sound decisions.
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What are the Logical Steps to Reinvent HR Process
Business Process Reinvention advocates that enterprises go back to the basics and re-examine their very roots. It doesn't believe in small improvements. Rather, it aims at total reinvention. As for results: BPR is clearly not for companies who want a 10% improvement. It is for the ones that need a ten-fold increase. Re-engineering is the "fundamental" rethinking and "radical" redesign of business "processes" to achieve "dramatic" improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance such as cost, quality, service and speed. From process management perspective, what are the logical steps to reinvent HR and talent management?
Communication: It is clear that the business needs to be convinced of the improvements before implementing. So, you have to communicate, consult and then implement. Consider your organization stakeholder when reinvent business processes. When you redesign the process, you need to ensure that your recommendation of new business process can answer the stakeholder need. There are link between the two concepts - big meaty ideas/concepts capture the imagination and encourage engagement in making significant, relevant change; communication is the key to getting the 'big idea' out there and then enable the feedback, consideration and implementation process that turns the idea into reality
Stakeholder Buy-in: Another component to consider, is the extent to which you get representation from everyone who will have a stake in this process. In most instances, these types of initiatives touch just about everyone in the organization. We formed a team that we called the Vision Team and was comprised of at least one person from each business unit. Each team member acted as a champion within their own teams and this made it much easier for us as a whole to move the organization through change. We also took a lot of time up front to map out the entire workflow of processes we wanted/needed to either change or design. We ended up with a large visual which we displayed. This made it easier for us to communicate to the broader audience
HR process reinvention helps shift from process oriented to output-oriented: In order to align with business strategies, HR’s planning should set out specific activities for both quality control (output-oriented) and quality assurance (process-oriented). To be a real strategic partner for the business, HR department need to rely on both of them. It is a balance of both process efficiency and program effectiveness. In many instances, these can be in conflict. This is where business-driven HR leaders can strategize with business leaders around the trade-offs and ultimately optimize and align the HR service delivery model and programs with the business. Most of today’s HR departments today are more process oriented than output oriented, because the importance of the process by which the output is established is due to the process in which is taken to provide the output; through process reinvent, It should be output oriented first; process orientation should only come into play in so far as it helps deliver the output more effectively.
People are still the most invaluable asset in businesses today. However, many HR organizations still run in silo, as a support function doing the administration tasks, only through leveraging the latest technologies, reinventing key business processes and engaging talent employees, HR can be transformed into a strategic business partner to lift up their organization to the high level of maturity.
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