Pearl Zhu's Blog, page 1451
March 4, 2015
Three Perspectives of Future of Leadership
A great leader or coach should have an abundance mindset.
Leadership is about the future, and it is the most crucial leading factor to accelerate digital transformation. Still, there are so many inquiries about the future of leadership. What has shifted in the context of leadership and management? Do leaders just fall into whatever their culture says leadership looks like or do leaders change the culture? Shall leaders lead at front or from behind? Will leaders speak louder or think deeper? Is leadership becoming more “virtual” or physical? And what’re the most critical elements in digital leadership?
Technology should continue to affect and impact leadership: The test for leadership is how they engage people and technology in a way that enhance rather than exploit human potential. Leaders active and real involvement in the development of human potential will be more critical than ever. Regarding the impact of technology, leadership must be comfortable with remote team participation and work to develop team cohesion and synergy with the multi-location, multicultural, diversely skilled team, chartered with delivering the team's objective. Development of critical thinking and problem solving skills by the team are paramount. Leadership will need to encourage and develop these skills within the team. Additionally, use of intelligent risk taking, will be a critical skill which will need to be cultivated in the team by those in a leadership role. This implies that there will be mistakes. Here, leadership will need to understand the root cause of the failure, share the learning with the team and communicate lessons learned in such a manner as to not extinguish the risk taking flame of the team. Less focus on command-control style management, more focus on peer-to-peer collaboration. Technology will help through transparency, idea sharing, linking and openness - only managers who will become leaders will survive.
Digital Context of leadership: What exactly do you understand by 'context.' Is that the internal systems of a business? Or the externalities, things the business does but is not taking responsibility for unless forced to do so? One reason context is critical is that context defines the problem. Leadership emerges or fails to emerge as a function of the training, experience and cultural (professional) orientation of the individual charged with the responsibility over the problem. Every effective leader needs to fill certain gap or multiple gaps in order to leading to the future. The "context" may be the evaporation or increasing ineffectiveness of the content they are currently comfortable with. The need may be to help design a new context, and objective, that will help them pull new approaches out of all of the tools and contexts that have emerged as a result of the combined knowledge and experience of mankind. Context now has to be understood in terms of externalities, those you cause and those that impact you, it is a business ecosystem.
Creativity - "Thinking out of the box:" The purpose of "out of the box" thinking is to create things that will fit back in the new box more efficiently and effectively than the current arrangements. The creative leaders can also encourage subordinates to think out of the box and bring back new designs that they might not even recognize using the current context. But, when they examine them in the new context they may be a key element for building the new paradigms and contexts. Either way, leadership development must be tied to context not in a way that promotes satisfaction or comfort with the context, but rather in a way that creates agility in them to be ready for fast changes and at the same time to create the abilities for them to be pioneers, innovators and creators of a better context. Creativity becomes significantly important in the age with the advanced technologies, because the leaders of the future will not be mere automatons. It would be very disconcerting if tomorrow we wake up to find the leaders of tomorrow inapt because they've come to expect technology to solve so many of their problems that they can't apply critical thought and creativity to drive the next level of human progress accordingly.
A great leader or coach should have an abundance mindset. Leadership is not an expertise or specialty, it is an influence and a practice. Good leaders are continually practicing, experiencing, learning, adjusting, and they understand that ultimate mastery of leadership does not exist. The path to mastery is something that unfolds day by day. The future leadership should think that every minute of their time counts. There is no time to waste.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Leadership is about the future, and it is the most crucial leading factor to accelerate digital transformation. Still, there are so many inquiries about the future of leadership. What has shifted in the context of leadership and management? Do leaders just fall into whatever their culture says leadership looks like or do leaders change the culture? Shall leaders lead at front or from behind? Will leaders speak louder or think deeper? Is leadership becoming more “virtual” or physical? And what’re the most critical elements in digital leadership?
Technology should continue to affect and impact leadership: The test for leadership is how they engage people and technology in a way that enhance rather than exploit human potential. Leaders active and real involvement in the development of human potential will be more critical than ever. Regarding the impact of technology, leadership must be comfortable with remote team participation and work to develop team cohesion and synergy with the multi-location, multicultural, diversely skilled team, chartered with delivering the team's objective. Development of critical thinking and problem solving skills by the team are paramount. Leadership will need to encourage and develop these skills within the team. Additionally, use of intelligent risk taking, will be a critical skill which will need to be cultivated in the team by those in a leadership role. This implies that there will be mistakes. Here, leadership will need to understand the root cause of the failure, share the learning with the team and communicate lessons learned in such a manner as to not extinguish the risk taking flame of the team. Less focus on command-control style management, more focus on peer-to-peer collaboration. Technology will help through transparency, idea sharing, linking and openness - only managers who will become leaders will survive.
Digital Context of leadership: What exactly do you understand by 'context.' Is that the internal systems of a business? Or the externalities, things the business does but is not taking responsibility for unless forced to do so? One reason context is critical is that context defines the problem. Leadership emerges or fails to emerge as a function of the training, experience and cultural (professional) orientation of the individual charged with the responsibility over the problem. Every effective leader needs to fill certain gap or multiple gaps in order to leading to the future. The "context" may be the evaporation or increasing ineffectiveness of the content they are currently comfortable with. The need may be to help design a new context, and objective, that will help them pull new approaches out of all of the tools and contexts that have emerged as a result of the combined knowledge and experience of mankind. Context now has to be understood in terms of externalities, those you cause and those that impact you, it is a business ecosystem.
Creativity - "Thinking out of the box:" The purpose of "out of the box" thinking is to create things that will fit back in the new box more efficiently and effectively than the current arrangements. The creative leaders can also encourage subordinates to think out of the box and bring back new designs that they might not even recognize using the current context. But, when they examine them in the new context they may be a key element for building the new paradigms and contexts. Either way, leadership development must be tied to context not in a way that promotes satisfaction or comfort with the context, but rather in a way that creates agility in them to be ready for fast changes and at the same time to create the abilities for them to be pioneers, innovators and creators of a better context. Creativity becomes significantly important in the age with the advanced technologies, because the leaders of the future will not be mere automatons. It would be very disconcerting if tomorrow we wake up to find the leaders of tomorrow inapt because they've come to expect technology to solve so many of their problems that they can't apply critical thought and creativity to drive the next level of human progress accordingly.
A great leader or coach should have an abundance mindset. Leadership is not an expertise or specialty, it is an influence and a practice. Good leaders are continually practicing, experiencing, learning, adjusting, and they understand that ultimate mastery of leadership does not exist. The path to mastery is something that unfolds day by day. The future leadership should think that every minute of their time counts. There is no time to waste.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Digital Master Tuning XXXXX: Does a Flat Organization help or hinder HR
What drives the impact and success of talent management is a factor of having the right people (capability) the right tools (solutions) and the right mindset (business first).
Due to the hyper-connectivity and "always-on" nature of digitalization with the emerging digital technology trend, the functional borders are blurring and organizations have become more flatter and dynamic, does such structure help or hinder HR? And how can a highly-effective HR catalyze business's digital transformation?
HR effectiveness is not dependent on the organizational structure. It is the people in the organization that HR must manage and develop. Flat organizations have a chance to optimize the engagement, accountability and freedom to act, if the right people management practices are applied. It's not about whether the organizational model is inferior or superior, but rather it's about adaptability and the capacity of those in leadership roles in management and HR. Once organizations grow larger, it is not uncommon to find multiple models being deployed within it. Many time issues occur because the HR function has been designed to support only one model in an organization that has multiple models. The areas that run different models will have recurring conflicts with HR.
HR is like water, it take the shape of its container-the organization. Success of HR is not dependent on the business model. The measures of success for HR in a silo based organization may be different from the measures of success for those belonging in a flat structured organization. HR needs to understand the types of structures that are really being used at all levels so they can properly support the organization. Whether flat or tall, or any other structure, it is decided by the nature of the industry. What really matters is the communication flow which needs to be managed effectively and the styles of leadership and decision making, which makes the organization robust and lively.
The nature of the HR function is to provide talent management support of the organization in achieving its objectives. The structure, scope and nature of the organization, will require different HR management solutions / practices, but overall the impact of HR professionals and HR Management (by all management) needs to be in line with respective organization's objectives (be it operational, tactical or strategic). HR as a function exists to handle among others, conflicting situations arising out of a structural matrix. Therefore it can’t suddenly ask for a flat organization to become effective. The business drives the structure and it tries to ensure a balance between the cultural why, the economic what and the political how. It is much easier to leverage collective intelligence, get the communication going fast. HR interventions / policies will be much simpler. In that context the flat structure is an enabler and not a hindrance.
It is HR's role to ask whether at any point in time the structure is appropriate and fit for its purpose. HR has a significant role to play in enabling the organization to perform and achieve its goals; and that structure will influence HR's areas of focus and priority. Therefore HR should be profoundly interested in the nature of the structure because it is HR's role to ask whether at any point in time the structure is appropriate and fit for its purpose. HR is most effective when there is demonstrative value and support from organizational leaders in the recruitment, selection, retention and talent development of its human resource capital (HR inclusion in strategy/employee related matters and sufficient staffing, funding, operational resources, etc.). Active engagement with leaders at all levels of the organization is critical in achieving an overall competitive advantage.
It depends on the mindset and competencies adopted by HR to manage the respective organizational structures - within traditional hierarchical structures, mechanical 'command/control' mindsets appear to be the norm, and similarly perhaps function aligned with strong focus on compliance related issues, less upon leadership or focus on the soft skill competencies (that are often the hardest). Further, the structure on the organizational chart doesn't necessarily mean anything. You can have a flat formal structure in which people actually operate from a hierarchical mindset, as well as a hierarchical formal structure in which people actually operate from a flat mindset. Regardless of the structure on paper, the character of the relationships between people is what gives the organization its true structure. The flatter the organization the better for information flow, engagement, accountability, and the freedom to act. Information exchanged are free flow, accessible to all group members and you are able to appreciate each other's thoughts. that is the difference between flat structure and silo based structure.
People are engaged and interested in exploring ideas and options - the hallmark of what great HR people bring to the table. The focus would be more on removing the closed sub-groups level and get everyone along at the overall company level and probably that will be a challenge for HR. All structures are a result of some sort of compromise in achieving the 'line of best fit' as one size and shape does not always satisfy all. If HR is moving into the flatter, collaborative and networked organizational structures, retaining the legacy of what it has always done with hierarchical organizations won't cut it. Using old ways of managing to new ways of doing will be ineffective - horizontal organizational forms will rely more upon the soft 'relationship' skills and intangible capital to provide it with the collaborative advantage it has been designed for. If HR does not possess this mindset/awareness or competencies to lead and develop the collaborative competency of an organization, then it would appear to be a fish out of water.
It is not so much as to whether a flat organization is going to hinder or help HR - but why HR will need to adapt to leading the flat organisation. The trend is toward flat, and networked organizations replacing the traditional hierarchical organisational forms in our relational/knowledge economy. An increasing focus is upon soft skills, intangible capital, knowledge management, leadership rather than management, organizational behavior are examples of the shift in thinking for HR to adapt. Flat organizations make role of HR all the more important. 1). Flat organizations need horizontal growth to keep employees motivated. HR should work with managers to create Proper Job rotation2). Job rotation needs cross skills and competency building infrastructure3). Flat structure comes with greater empowerment and decision making in the hands of managers and employees. This needs continuous training for employees to be able to take those decisions4) Another strength of flatter, networked structures, particularly those built upon diversity, is the friction caused through constructive conflict of ideas, values, interests etc; once resolved lead to co-creating knowledge, of something new leading innovation and growth. This friction provides the organization with energy. Diversity and flat, networked structures also enable the rapid coalescing of the complementary knowledge, skills and resources needed to solve problem or capitalize upon opportunities as they arise.
HR is all about talent management and culture development as well. Organizational structure is a tool of strategy. Structure can and should change over time and with anticipated environmental change in circumstance. Aligning internally with structure is a survival tactic. Any who don't align are marginalized and divested. HR is no different from any other tactical function in that regard. Although the organizational model itself while helpful is not what ultimately drives whether HR is successful or not. What drives the impact and success of HR is a factor of having the right people (capability) the right tools (solutions) and the right mindset (business first). HR shall play more proactive role in leading organizational structure innovation, and to facilitate the effectiveness of a given structure by importing the human capital that's well suited for it, and facilitating the export of obsolete and inflexible human capital. HR needs to be flexible and agile enough to evolve as the company's competitive landscape and play bigger role in digital transformation.
Digitalization is like a flywheel, and Digital Masters are the one riding above it. Surf more Information about Digital Master:
Digital Master Wikipedia Introduction
Digital Master Kindle Version Book Order URL
Digital Master Book URL
Digital Master Author URL
Digital Master Video Clip on YouTube
Digital Master Fun QuizFollow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Due to the hyper-connectivity and "always-on" nature of digitalization with the emerging digital technology trend, the functional borders are blurring and organizations have become more flatter and dynamic, does such structure help or hinder HR? And how can a highly-effective HR catalyze business's digital transformation? HR effectiveness is not dependent on the organizational structure. It is the people in the organization that HR must manage and develop. Flat organizations have a chance to optimize the engagement, accountability and freedom to act, if the right people management practices are applied. It's not about whether the organizational model is inferior or superior, but rather it's about adaptability and the capacity of those in leadership roles in management and HR. Once organizations grow larger, it is not uncommon to find multiple models being deployed within it. Many time issues occur because the HR function has been designed to support only one model in an organization that has multiple models. The areas that run different models will have recurring conflicts with HR.
HR is like water, it take the shape of its container-the organization. Success of HR is not dependent on the business model. The measures of success for HR in a silo based organization may be different from the measures of success for those belonging in a flat structured organization. HR needs to understand the types of structures that are really being used at all levels so they can properly support the organization. Whether flat or tall, or any other structure, it is decided by the nature of the industry. What really matters is the communication flow which needs to be managed effectively and the styles of leadership and decision making, which makes the organization robust and lively.
The nature of the HR function is to provide talent management support of the organization in achieving its objectives. The structure, scope and nature of the organization, will require different HR management solutions / practices, but overall the impact of HR professionals and HR Management (by all management) needs to be in line with respective organization's objectives (be it operational, tactical or strategic). HR as a function exists to handle among others, conflicting situations arising out of a structural matrix. Therefore it can’t suddenly ask for a flat organization to become effective. The business drives the structure and it tries to ensure a balance between the cultural why, the economic what and the political how. It is much easier to leverage collective intelligence, get the communication going fast. HR interventions / policies will be much simpler. In that context the flat structure is an enabler and not a hindrance.
It is HR's role to ask whether at any point in time the structure is appropriate and fit for its purpose. HR has a significant role to play in enabling the organization to perform and achieve its goals; and that structure will influence HR's areas of focus and priority. Therefore HR should be profoundly interested in the nature of the structure because it is HR's role to ask whether at any point in time the structure is appropriate and fit for its purpose. HR is most effective when there is demonstrative value and support from organizational leaders in the recruitment, selection, retention and talent development of its human resource capital (HR inclusion in strategy/employee related matters and sufficient staffing, funding, operational resources, etc.). Active engagement with leaders at all levels of the organization is critical in achieving an overall competitive advantage.
It depends on the mindset and competencies adopted by HR to manage the respective organizational structures - within traditional hierarchical structures, mechanical 'command/control' mindsets appear to be the norm, and similarly perhaps function aligned with strong focus on compliance related issues, less upon leadership or focus on the soft skill competencies (that are often the hardest). Further, the structure on the organizational chart doesn't necessarily mean anything. You can have a flat formal structure in which people actually operate from a hierarchical mindset, as well as a hierarchical formal structure in which people actually operate from a flat mindset. Regardless of the structure on paper, the character of the relationships between people is what gives the organization its true structure. The flatter the organization the better for information flow, engagement, accountability, and the freedom to act. Information exchanged are free flow, accessible to all group members and you are able to appreciate each other's thoughts. that is the difference between flat structure and silo based structure.
People are engaged and interested in exploring ideas and options - the hallmark of what great HR people bring to the table. The focus would be more on removing the closed sub-groups level and get everyone along at the overall company level and probably that will be a challenge for HR. All structures are a result of some sort of compromise in achieving the 'line of best fit' as one size and shape does not always satisfy all. If HR is moving into the flatter, collaborative and networked organizational structures, retaining the legacy of what it has always done with hierarchical organizations won't cut it. Using old ways of managing to new ways of doing will be ineffective - horizontal organizational forms will rely more upon the soft 'relationship' skills and intangible capital to provide it with the collaborative advantage it has been designed for. If HR does not possess this mindset/awareness or competencies to lead and develop the collaborative competency of an organization, then it would appear to be a fish out of water.
It is not so much as to whether a flat organization is going to hinder or help HR - but why HR will need to adapt to leading the flat organisation. The trend is toward flat, and networked organizations replacing the traditional hierarchical organisational forms in our relational/knowledge economy. An increasing focus is upon soft skills, intangible capital, knowledge management, leadership rather than management, organizational behavior are examples of the shift in thinking for HR to adapt. Flat organizations make role of HR all the more important. 1). Flat organizations need horizontal growth to keep employees motivated. HR should work with managers to create Proper Job rotation2). Job rotation needs cross skills and competency building infrastructure3). Flat structure comes with greater empowerment and decision making in the hands of managers and employees. This needs continuous training for employees to be able to take those decisions4) Another strength of flatter, networked structures, particularly those built upon diversity, is the friction caused through constructive conflict of ideas, values, interests etc; once resolved lead to co-creating knowledge, of something new leading innovation and growth. This friction provides the organization with energy. Diversity and flat, networked structures also enable the rapid coalescing of the complementary knowledge, skills and resources needed to solve problem or capitalize upon opportunities as they arise.
HR is all about talent management and culture development as well. Organizational structure is a tool of strategy. Structure can and should change over time and with anticipated environmental change in circumstance. Aligning internally with structure is a survival tactic. Any who don't align are marginalized and divested. HR is no different from any other tactical function in that regard. Although the organizational model itself while helpful is not what ultimately drives whether HR is successful or not. What drives the impact and success of HR is a factor of having the right people (capability) the right tools (solutions) and the right mindset (business first). HR shall play more proactive role in leading organizational structure innovation, and to facilitate the effectiveness of a given structure by importing the human capital that's well suited for it, and facilitating the export of obsolete and inflexible human capital. HR needs to be flexible and agile enough to evolve as the company's competitive landscape and play bigger role in digital transformation.
Digitalization is like a flywheel, and Digital Masters are the one riding above it. Surf more Information about Digital Master:
Digital Master Wikipedia Introduction
Digital Master Kindle Version Book Order URL
Digital Master Book URL
Digital Master Author URL
Digital Master Video Clip on YouTube
Digital Master Fun QuizFollow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
March 3, 2015
Data Scientist or Entrepreneur: Who are the “Analytics Master”?
You need the data science to do the heavy lifting but with an entrepreneurial speed of delivery and focus.
Analytics is at the top priority of executive’s agenda in any forward-thinking organization, but most of projects do not achieve the expected result, what’re the symptoms, and what’s the root cause? From talent management perspective, how to build a high-performing team? Data scientists or entrepreneurs: who are the analytics master?
It’s important to get the right mix of people that listen and work together: It depends on what you want to do. Somewhere along the line you will need to hire someone who knows the meaning of the data and get the work done, while you will also need entrepreneur’s spirit and management expertise. There are so many projects fail or over run as they are run/managed by people that know nothing about data science or the domain data - a recipe for disaster - they cannot manage such projects by leaving major technical decisions to be made by “data illiterate.” So many projects just go so wrong because people in senior positions don't know what to ask or what to bring to the project. So the problem is therefore getting the right mix of people that listen and work together.
Data scientist with entrepreneur mind is better fit for analytics success: Many Data Scientists will tell you a majority of their work usually involves research of topics to understand deeply. Understanding these topics will help to visualize the data set more. To start with the data first without a topic is kind like starting to write a story without a plot. The Entrepreneur's mind revolves around quick understanding of subjective material. So ultimately, to have a data scientist that has a entrepreneurial headspace would be advantageous.
You need the data science to do the heavy lifting but with an entrepreneurial speed of delivery and focus. Entrepreneurs do have a vision; but vision comes from wisdom, which is somewhere derived from Raw Data. And it is the core component behind every entrepreneur venture ever set and successful. It's a very common and a proven methodology to go through Data -> Information -> Knowledge -> WISDOM. If you've only got entrepreneurs you'll not get the technical detail; and if you've only got data scientists you'll end up boiling the ocean and getting answers to questions you didn't ask or need.
People with an entrepreneurial mindset, more specifically means "forward thinking, action oriented entrepreneurs" who can solve problems more innovatively. What is the benefit for people with entrepreneurial spirit and skills (intrepreneurs, engineers, designers, scientists and other breakthrough minds) to become entangled in the wired/wireless plugging of legacies, when they could freely sail away and create new systems and services? Whatever we sense as a human being, there is a methodology behind that.. See it - sense it -> get it processed in brain -> react. So Data comes first in its purest form. Now it’s up to a brain working on that to decide whether it’s relevant data or to be discarded, People who consider these patterns and visualize a better reaction based on their understanding of data and prediction and taking preemptive action are the ones who are supposedly entitled to be called as an Entrepreneur.
Doing the analytics or any kind of project is about the team that can communicate and collaborate. Within that team you need leadership, innovation, technical foresight, technical knowledge, technical ability, sales, marketing. If you don't have all these parts (just innovation and technical ability) then you get a problem - you cannot see what to do with the innovation. If you can get a single person with innovation and technical foresight (a data scientist that can see outside the box and where to go), then you have a good starting point. Even just Data mining, the project wouldn't make any sense if there are not good entrepreneur with "technical foresight" who can capitalize on real facts -> predict the future trends -> and be preemptive -> learn from mistakes -> analyze data. So it’s a repetitive cycle which can’t be traversed without going back in circles and find a way out through data and only data. There has to be a balance.
An analytic CIO is more welcomed at the big table in the digital age; the entrepreneurial mindset and analytic skills are good mix to build a high-performing team, to keep the end in mind, but also dive into the sea of data with technical expertise, laser focus on the goals to solve critical business problems, delight customers or discover the new opportunities for business grow and maturity.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Analytics is at the top priority of executive’s agenda in any forward-thinking organization, but most of projects do not achieve the expected result, what’re the symptoms, and what’s the root cause? From talent management perspective, how to build a high-performing team? Data scientists or entrepreneurs: who are the analytics master?
It’s important to get the right mix of people that listen and work together: It depends on what you want to do. Somewhere along the line you will need to hire someone who knows the meaning of the data and get the work done, while you will also need entrepreneur’s spirit and management expertise. There are so many projects fail or over run as they are run/managed by people that know nothing about data science or the domain data - a recipe for disaster - they cannot manage such projects by leaving major technical decisions to be made by “data illiterate.” So many projects just go so wrong because people in senior positions don't know what to ask or what to bring to the project. So the problem is therefore getting the right mix of people that listen and work together.
Data scientist with entrepreneur mind is better fit for analytics success: Many Data Scientists will tell you a majority of their work usually involves research of topics to understand deeply. Understanding these topics will help to visualize the data set more. To start with the data first without a topic is kind like starting to write a story without a plot. The Entrepreneur's mind revolves around quick understanding of subjective material. So ultimately, to have a data scientist that has a entrepreneurial headspace would be advantageous.
You need the data science to do the heavy lifting but with an entrepreneurial speed of delivery and focus. Entrepreneurs do have a vision; but vision comes from wisdom, which is somewhere derived from Raw Data. And it is the core component behind every entrepreneur venture ever set and successful. It's a very common and a proven methodology to go through Data -> Information -> Knowledge -> WISDOM. If you've only got entrepreneurs you'll not get the technical detail; and if you've only got data scientists you'll end up boiling the ocean and getting answers to questions you didn't ask or need.
People with an entrepreneurial mindset, more specifically means "forward thinking, action oriented entrepreneurs" who can solve problems more innovatively. What is the benefit for people with entrepreneurial spirit and skills (intrepreneurs, engineers, designers, scientists and other breakthrough minds) to become entangled in the wired/wireless plugging of legacies, when they could freely sail away and create new systems and services? Whatever we sense as a human being, there is a methodology behind that.. See it - sense it -> get it processed in brain -> react. So Data comes first in its purest form. Now it’s up to a brain working on that to decide whether it’s relevant data or to be discarded, People who consider these patterns and visualize a better reaction based on their understanding of data and prediction and taking preemptive action are the ones who are supposedly entitled to be called as an Entrepreneur.
Doing the analytics or any kind of project is about the team that can communicate and collaborate. Within that team you need leadership, innovation, technical foresight, technical knowledge, technical ability, sales, marketing. If you don't have all these parts (just innovation and technical ability) then you get a problem - you cannot see what to do with the innovation. If you can get a single person with innovation and technical foresight (a data scientist that can see outside the box and where to go), then you have a good starting point. Even just Data mining, the project wouldn't make any sense if there are not good entrepreneur with "technical foresight" who can capitalize on real facts -> predict the future trends -> and be preemptive -> learn from mistakes -> analyze data. So it’s a repetitive cycle which can’t be traversed without going back in circles and find a way out through data and only data. There has to be a balance.
An analytic CIO is more welcomed at the big table in the digital age; the entrepreneurial mindset and analytic skills are good mix to build a high-performing team, to keep the end in mind, but also dive into the sea of data with technical expertise, laser focus on the goals to solve critical business problems, delight customers or discover the new opportunities for business grow and maturity.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Is Creativity about Thinking Out of Box or in the New Box?
Thinking creatively = creating a new box that could be used for thinking inside the new box, but out of old box.
Creativity has often been analogized as “thinking outside the box.” Fundamentally, the "box" is the set of "rules" you are abiding by at any moment in time, by breakdown of old rules, your mind sets free to create the new ideas, usually comes from identifying and challenging assumptions and then generating more possibilities. However, without box (rules), can you generate more useful and achievable ideas? Thinking out of box is necessary for boosting creativity, is it sufficient to achieve its value?
To be creative, you must do something different, creativity is all about change. To be creative, to re-frame, you need to do two things. First you need to embrace the unknown (think outside the box). Second, you need to challenge the known (probe the paradoxes). Put another way, you need to both step up a level (n+1) and drill down a level (n-1). Thinking creatively = creating a new box that could be used for thinking inside the new box, but out of old box (for one or more class of problems). The infamous "box" can have many sides. It may be a geodesic shaped box with many faces. Fundamentally, the "box" is the set of "rules" you are abiding by at any moment in time. There are likely multiple "boxes" that you try to stay within. Working within multiple sets would create an "intersection of sets." The complexity of life comes from the myriad of intersecting boxes you try to live within.
Thinking in NEW box to harness creativity: "Thinking outside the box" generates all sorts of ideas- crazy and most unusual ones, whereas creativity by commonly accepted definition in creativity research is about generating novel and useful ideas- hence it is also about evaluation of ideas and selection which of them could be implemented, so the concept of thinking in new boxes is about getting a better understanding of the current boxes (mental models), figuring out which of them it makes sense to challenge, and then using creativity tools (exploring, divergence, convergence) to arrive at a useful new box. The very conceptualizing of 'the box' provides an artificial structure that limits the degree to which you can be creative. In other words even if you are trying to be outside the box, the box provides an anchor regards our ability to conceptualize creatively. If a box is a mental model, you'll never be able to avoid them; the key is to find the right new boxes, thinking in new boxes.
Shaping a bigger box by making connections between different boxes; rather than thinking outside of one particular box. Look at what other people have inside their boxes, find out how their ideas different from what's in your box, and then think about what new structures can be built in the space not yet occupied by anyone's box. Good creativity needs a balance of divergent and convergent thinking, the latter isn't valued enough, and, in practice, usually takes more group time. Second, thinking outside the box is quite easy, compared to the political work in getting agreement to acknowledge that there is a market opportunity! We can have brilliant ideas, but too many of them dissolve into nothingness because they are not noticed and acknowledged for their relevance. Third, even if you have out-of-box thinking, plus the right balance of divergence and convergence, plus agreement from people, there's the dull, hard work of implementation. Many ideas are lost because people give up. So the practice of creativity involves the mundane as much as the exciting.
To become creative, one would have to break down some old rules. After breaking the outdated rules, you are "outside the box." Thinking outside the box is all about "rule breaking"; the more "unruly" you are, the more creative you are. However, being "unruly" incurs risk, you need to set the updated rules for managing the innovation and mitigating the risks, just like shaping the new box to stay focus and achieve the value of creativity.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Creativity has often been analogized as “thinking outside the box.” Fundamentally, the "box" is the set of "rules" you are abiding by at any moment in time, by breakdown of old rules, your mind sets free to create the new ideas, usually comes from identifying and challenging assumptions and then generating more possibilities. However, without box (rules), can you generate more useful and achievable ideas? Thinking out of box is necessary for boosting creativity, is it sufficient to achieve its value?
To be creative, you must do something different, creativity is all about change. To be creative, to re-frame, you need to do two things. First you need to embrace the unknown (think outside the box). Second, you need to challenge the known (probe the paradoxes). Put another way, you need to both step up a level (n+1) and drill down a level (n-1). Thinking creatively = creating a new box that could be used for thinking inside the new box, but out of old box (for one or more class of problems). The infamous "box" can have many sides. It may be a geodesic shaped box with many faces. Fundamentally, the "box" is the set of "rules" you are abiding by at any moment in time. There are likely multiple "boxes" that you try to stay within. Working within multiple sets would create an "intersection of sets." The complexity of life comes from the myriad of intersecting boxes you try to live within.
Thinking in NEW box to harness creativity: "Thinking outside the box" generates all sorts of ideas- crazy and most unusual ones, whereas creativity by commonly accepted definition in creativity research is about generating novel and useful ideas- hence it is also about evaluation of ideas and selection which of them could be implemented, so the concept of thinking in new boxes is about getting a better understanding of the current boxes (mental models), figuring out which of them it makes sense to challenge, and then using creativity tools (exploring, divergence, convergence) to arrive at a useful new box. The very conceptualizing of 'the box' provides an artificial structure that limits the degree to which you can be creative. In other words even if you are trying to be outside the box, the box provides an anchor regards our ability to conceptualize creatively. If a box is a mental model, you'll never be able to avoid them; the key is to find the right new boxes, thinking in new boxes.
Shaping a bigger box by making connections between different boxes; rather than thinking outside of one particular box. Look at what other people have inside their boxes, find out how their ideas different from what's in your box, and then think about what new structures can be built in the space not yet occupied by anyone's box. Good creativity needs a balance of divergent and convergent thinking, the latter isn't valued enough, and, in practice, usually takes more group time. Second, thinking outside the box is quite easy, compared to the political work in getting agreement to acknowledge that there is a market opportunity! We can have brilliant ideas, but too many of them dissolve into nothingness because they are not noticed and acknowledged for their relevance. Third, even if you have out-of-box thinking, plus the right balance of divergence and convergence, plus agreement from people, there's the dull, hard work of implementation. Many ideas are lost because people give up. So the practice of creativity involves the mundane as much as the exciting.
To become creative, one would have to break down some old rules. After breaking the outdated rules, you are "outside the box." Thinking outside the box is all about "rule breaking"; the more "unruly" you are, the more creative you are. However, being "unruly" incurs risk, you need to set the updated rules for managing the innovation and mitigating the risks, just like shaping the new box to stay focus and achieve the value of creativity.
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March 1, 2015
Agile Governance
Agile governance helps business to manage complexity and achieve resilience.
Governance is like a steering wheel, to ensure your project or business as a whole to run towards the right direction. However, the traditional governance processes are overly rigid, not flexible enough to adapt to the accelerating speed of changes and business complexity. What’s the Agile governance all about, and what’re the best practices and next practices, and what’re the pitfalls need to be avoided?
The entire point of any governance discipline is to optimize decision making. For if they indeed "mastered" IT governance, they would be capable of agile decision-making. "Optimal" decision-making mechanisms ensure decisions occur as fast as they possibly can - with the speed being in perfect balance of cost and risk for the given decision situation. The problem is, governance is almost always associated with compliance and control. Given many organizations don't view governance as "decision-making optimization," their governance efforts usually devolve into time-consuming, costly, over-bearing bureaucratic constructs. So the concept of agile governance is to ensure your organization optimizes the "traditional" governance to which you refer, and then determine how much you are willing to spend to make decisions faster, and how much risk you are will to accept to make decisions faster (increased decision-making speed will always result in at least one), If you do find an "agile governance" methodology or framework.
Understanding business for the dynamic 'complex, but adaptive system' that they are, is the starting point for agile governance. Quite apart from anything else and without getting into deep discussion about complexity (as a source of endogenous risk), risk, epistemic/aleatory uncertainty, consider that: unpredictability, uncertainty and the probability of surprising emergent properties increase with the complexity of the systems. Complexity is a measure that depends on the number of system components, interdependencies and their interactions. The high level of user involvement in development-related decisions underpins an empowerment to project teams to change and re-prioritize delivery plans, which can cause repercussions across a number of areas within IT governance. Agile governance helps business to manage complexity and achieve resilience, which is indicative of a state of interdependence that has desirable characteristics such as self-organizing and self-regulating.
In adopting Agile, some organizations have neglected to consider the broader management-level consequences and the resulting new requirements. This mistake must not be continued, or enterprises will be limited to achieving the benefits of only one (rather than both) of Agile and IT governance - or perhaps none at all. A dynamic development path brings about variability relating to cost and budget models. As development teams strive for the earliest possible delivery of working features that add value, governance practices need to be sufficiently informed and able to keep pace with what is going on. The joint needs of Agile projects and a commitment to governance will increase the extent to which a number of IT management practices have to participate in projects, with a consequent cost. While it is common for advice around Agile practice to detail the on-going involvement of end-users with development teams. The industry study indicates that Agile projects will require a continuing involvement from across a range of different types of governance and management practitioners to adequately support Agile project processes.
So the purpose of agile governance is not to eliminate complexity, but to optimize complexity. The inevitable conclusion is that complexity is, in itself, a source of risk. That, unidentified is, at best, unmanaged and, at worst, mismanaged by the application of knowledge that, results in 'unintended consequences.' Unmanaged endogenous risk does not dissipate, but is communicated and amplified through multi-scalar interactions. So the purpose of agile governance is not to eliminate complexity, but to optimize complexity. Expanding to one further level of detail of agile governance practices include: - Requirements management becomes non-linear due to Agile practices - More flexible resource management is needed, to cater for Agile - Agile has some different concepts of value to that used in governance - In practice there are potential tensions between governance practices, and Agile- so the two must be successfully integrated - Agile incurs change within project cost and budget management - Assessment of financial benefits needs to become more reactive - Agile projects deliver increasing throughput to change management (which also needs to become more focused across the organization, if it is currently zoomed in on IT)
Agile governance is more holistic, because digital organization is a dynamic, complex and adaptive system, it is not just a new coined buzzword, but the next governance practices for synchronizing project management and change management, well balance of creativity and standard; make faster and better decisions, optimize business complexity and improve organizational resilience.
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What are the Key Leadership Skill & Capabilities needed for the Future?
The potential for digital leaders has become endless to mind all sort of gaps and make significant difference.
The substance of leadership will never change, it is all about the future, but the leadership skills and styles need to be continually re-shaped to adapt to the digital normal with VUCA characteristics. So what are the key leadership skills and digital capabilities needed for the future?
Creativity: One of the biggest challenges in this complex world is the fact that we need different perspectives, different knowledge and different ways to solve a problem. Sometimes there is not one answer: there are some, or many, in the same application. What is needed is to think divergently, and then convergently as a team. The next generation of leaders will be a new breed of individuals with the skills and creativity of the new digital age combined with the work ethic. Because digital is the age of choices. The creative leadership discovers the new alternative way to do things, to breakdown the silo thinking and to build the solid culture of innovation.
Technology savvy: Good leadership is technology independent; however, with technology we can tailor our personal taste to enforce leadership influence; through the use of social media there is a great opportunity for the next generation of leaders to amplify the voice and make positive impact. This applies to the baby boomer, Gen x and millennial or anyone who see the digital trends and can jump on board the train. Technology savvy doesn’t mean you have to play every fancy gadget, but about knowing how to leverage the right information to make the right decision at the right time; and how to apply new tech to improve leadership effectiveness.
Entrepreneurial Spirit: There is a disconnect between different generations of employees due to the rapid change in technology and current world wide culture that has taken place. The identity of younger digital native generation of workforce is more entrepreneurial and value driven, they are aware of the new complexity, and the desire to find a new space, and they want to find new rules to do things on their way. They also despise bureaucracy and formalities related to a hierarchical and ordered society and prefer to be seen by others as peers. The key is to stay connected and learn with each other between different generations. In the chaos will rise and is rising new types of leaders with a much more Entrepreneurial Spirit to go along with them.
Continuous delivery: Compared to the previous leadership style, digital leadership can not be defined by a few spotlight moments, but through the continuous delivery. Day by day should be assessed with competence, performance, potential, business results, and culture fit for the role. Leadership must be anchored to a full professionalism also made of personal qualities such as, independent judgment, critical thinking, professionalism and sense of responsibility and balance through which it becomes possible to earn the role of wise and guiding the organization in which we work and the respect and trust of others.
Learning agility: Leadership is not what you have, but is what you give away. One way to combat this is to continue learn, grow, and increase your value to the organization. We need to live, learn and lead to keep the precious cycle alive and well. Agility is also manifested in the ability of managers to change their style of decision-making in response to a wide range of parameters such as urgency, level of risk, time constraints and the regional and cultural differences. No decision-making style can be applied everywhere or constantly. Agile organizations tend to have managers with the right mix of personal attributes, that is, people who demonstrate a variety of skills, clearly comfortable with ambiguity and respectful of processes.
Coaching & Mentoring: Leaders should become teachers and mentors; and prepare the next generation of leaders. Not only does this increase personal growth and add value as an employee, it increases the adaptability and knowledge base of the organization. Good leaders understand the need to continually develop the capabilities and commitment of their team members. They do this by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of individuals and ensuring that weaknesses are overcome through encouragement, coaching and training. Strengths are reinforced and extended through delegation and mentoring. In the end, leaders have a personal and moral obligation to develop more leadership.
Flexibility: Today, the so-called "flexible organizations" are the companies that are able to "navigate" the change and the complexity of the business world. Organizational flexibility is essential for business success. Leadership is not only flexible in the ability to learn and adapt to new responsibilities, but also and above all, in the effectiveness of its initiatives, the creativity with which complex problems are solved, in actively seeking feedback on its effectiveness.
Social Influence: So the new generation of leaders understand the difference between influence and authority, and therefore are completely at ease in influencing and participating in the team. They do not focus on hierarchy, but on ideas, information, creativity, flexibility, openness and curiosity. They practice thought leadership and amplify influence via content creation and sharing, to build solid social footprint.
Currently we are short of new leaders, but we are overwhelmed with individual minded persons, therefore the potential for leaders has become endless to mind all sort of gaps. The new generation of leaders are self-aware, resolute, responsive, flexible, able to speed up the decision-making process by leveraging the abundance of information. The new leaders integrate a good knowledge of themselves and understanding of others, including emotional intelligence, with their rapid use of technology. Only then can a leader really inspire and create from the whole heart and full-mind.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
The substance of leadership will never change, it is all about the future, but the leadership skills and styles need to be continually re-shaped to adapt to the digital normal with VUCA characteristics. So what are the key leadership skills and digital capabilities needed for the future?Creativity: One of the biggest challenges in this complex world is the fact that we need different perspectives, different knowledge and different ways to solve a problem. Sometimes there is not one answer: there are some, or many, in the same application. What is needed is to think divergently, and then convergently as a team. The next generation of leaders will be a new breed of individuals with the skills and creativity of the new digital age combined with the work ethic. Because digital is the age of choices. The creative leadership discovers the new alternative way to do things, to breakdown the silo thinking and to build the solid culture of innovation.
Technology savvy: Good leadership is technology independent; however, with technology we can tailor our personal taste to enforce leadership influence; through the use of social media there is a great opportunity for the next generation of leaders to amplify the voice and make positive impact. This applies to the baby boomer, Gen x and millennial or anyone who see the digital trends and can jump on board the train. Technology savvy doesn’t mean you have to play every fancy gadget, but about knowing how to leverage the right information to make the right decision at the right time; and how to apply new tech to improve leadership effectiveness.
Entrepreneurial Spirit: There is a disconnect between different generations of employees due to the rapid change in technology and current world wide culture that has taken place. The identity of younger digital native generation of workforce is more entrepreneurial and value driven, they are aware of the new complexity, and the desire to find a new space, and they want to find new rules to do things on their way. They also despise bureaucracy and formalities related to a hierarchical and ordered society and prefer to be seen by others as peers. The key is to stay connected and learn with each other between different generations. In the chaos will rise and is rising new types of leaders with a much more Entrepreneurial Spirit to go along with them.
Continuous delivery: Compared to the previous leadership style, digital leadership can not be defined by a few spotlight moments, but through the continuous delivery. Day by day should be assessed with competence, performance, potential, business results, and culture fit for the role. Leadership must be anchored to a full professionalism also made of personal qualities such as, independent judgment, critical thinking, professionalism and sense of responsibility and balance through which it becomes possible to earn the role of wise and guiding the organization in which we work and the respect and trust of others.
Learning agility: Leadership is not what you have, but is what you give away. One way to combat this is to continue learn, grow, and increase your value to the organization. We need to live, learn and lead to keep the precious cycle alive and well. Agility is also manifested in the ability of managers to change their style of decision-making in response to a wide range of parameters such as urgency, level of risk, time constraints and the regional and cultural differences. No decision-making style can be applied everywhere or constantly. Agile organizations tend to have managers with the right mix of personal attributes, that is, people who demonstrate a variety of skills, clearly comfortable with ambiguity and respectful of processes.
Coaching & Mentoring: Leaders should become teachers and mentors; and prepare the next generation of leaders. Not only does this increase personal growth and add value as an employee, it increases the adaptability and knowledge base of the organization. Good leaders understand the need to continually develop the capabilities and commitment of their team members. They do this by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of individuals and ensuring that weaknesses are overcome through encouragement, coaching and training. Strengths are reinforced and extended through delegation and mentoring. In the end, leaders have a personal and moral obligation to develop more leadership.
Flexibility: Today, the so-called "flexible organizations" are the companies that are able to "navigate" the change and the complexity of the business world. Organizational flexibility is essential for business success. Leadership is not only flexible in the ability to learn and adapt to new responsibilities, but also and above all, in the effectiveness of its initiatives, the creativity with which complex problems are solved, in actively seeking feedback on its effectiveness.
Social Influence: So the new generation of leaders understand the difference between influence and authority, and therefore are completely at ease in influencing and participating in the team. They do not focus on hierarchy, but on ideas, information, creativity, flexibility, openness and curiosity. They practice thought leadership and amplify influence via content creation and sharing, to build solid social footprint.
Currently we are short of new leaders, but we are overwhelmed with individual minded persons, therefore the potential for leaders has become endless to mind all sort of gaps. The new generation of leaders are self-aware, resolute, responsive, flexible, able to speed up the decision-making process by leveraging the abundance of information. The new leaders integrate a good knowledge of themselves and understanding of others, including emotional intelligence, with their rapid use of technology. Only then can a leader really inspire and create from the whole heart and full-mind.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Time Management
Time Management is the life philosophy to build confidence, set priority and boost creativity.
Time is the most perishable thing, it is not storable. Time does not wait for anyone, and it treats everyone equally. The person who is able to utilize the time wisely is rich and prosperous. Time management is not about punctuality and working to be and remain punctual has nothing to do with having time management skill. Then what is time management though?
Time management is a life philosophy: Time management is the act or process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency and productivity (Wikipedia). There are two factors that distinguish time from everything else are: 1) Time can never be reversed 2) Everybody gets the same quantity of time 3) Time continues to flow forward; you have to continue to catch up with it.
Time management skill harnesses the confidence: The effective time management will definitely put you on firmness and infuses will power, confidence and dashing as to go head, accept challenges or calculated risks, also surprises, upsets and roadblocks. Time management removes fears, stress of pressures, helps in planning well, helps not to regret, to differentiate between falsehood and truth; time is the cure for the sad memory, but it’s the hope for the better tomorrow.
Time management prioritizes actions: There are three components of action - the ones that need immediate attention, the ones that have to have a well-thought out action & long term vision, and the ones you need not worry about too much. the time management skill helps you decide the course. The third may be either get ignored or can be delegated. The second you must make well plan and pay attention to, as they are important. It also takes time management skills for the "immediate action,” to save time either via collaboration or delegation if you are the manager.
The effective time management boosts creativity: It makes you creative oriented, mature and generous enough to share experience of success journey. It makes one bold and shed fear of failure, lethargic tendency and any inability that prevent from progress. Time management is all about choosing to help oneself by being able to put in efforts only after you have prepared self to take and bear risks of meeting and facing challenges of fears and their beliefs which blind others.
Time management can not be taught, but can be gained through self-improvement; from inner transformation of self. We need to be very vigilant about time. Life is so short and there is so much to do that we always wish that our day had more than 24 hours. The wise time management can make life more meaningful, creative and productive.Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Time is the most perishable thing, it is not storable. Time does not wait for anyone, and it treats everyone equally. The person who is able to utilize the time wisely is rich and prosperous. Time management is not about punctuality and working to be and remain punctual has nothing to do with having time management skill. Then what is time management though?
Time management is a life philosophy: Time management is the act or process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency and productivity (Wikipedia). There are two factors that distinguish time from everything else are: 1) Time can never be reversed 2) Everybody gets the same quantity of time 3) Time continues to flow forward; you have to continue to catch up with it.
Time management skill harnesses the confidence: The effective time management will definitely put you on firmness and infuses will power, confidence and dashing as to go head, accept challenges or calculated risks, also surprises, upsets and roadblocks. Time management removes fears, stress of pressures, helps in planning well, helps not to regret, to differentiate between falsehood and truth; time is the cure for the sad memory, but it’s the hope for the better tomorrow.
Time management prioritizes actions: There are three components of action - the ones that need immediate attention, the ones that have to have a well-thought out action & long term vision, and the ones you need not worry about too much. the time management skill helps you decide the course. The third may be either get ignored or can be delegated. The second you must make well plan and pay attention to, as they are important. It also takes time management skills for the "immediate action,” to save time either via collaboration or delegation if you are the manager.
The effective time management boosts creativity: It makes you creative oriented, mature and generous enough to share experience of success journey. It makes one bold and shed fear of failure, lethargic tendency and any inability that prevent from progress. Time management is all about choosing to help oneself by being able to put in efforts only after you have prepared self to take and bear risks of meeting and facing challenges of fears and their beliefs which blind others.Time management can not be taught, but can be gained through self-improvement; from inner transformation of self. We need to be very vigilant about time. Life is so short and there is so much to do that we always wish that our day had more than 24 hours. The wise time management can make life more meaningful, creative and productive.Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
February 28, 2015
Digital Master XXXXVIIII: How to Manage Intangible in Business
Leadership, culture, innovation, customer centricity and brand, all are the key intangible elements in driving tangible business growth.
The life cycle of organizations is going to be shorter. This probably means that organizations are going to have to get not only the “hard numbers” right, but more importantly, how to manage the intangible elements in business from the beginning, and for the long term business prosperity. So with organizations turning over, new organizations and new blood will be on-going - the longer an organization is in existence, it might grow a self fulfilling prophecy about why they are successful and quite possibly the intangible elements perhaps does not come into the equation, but that perhaps the very reason which causes the mighty fail. So how to “harden” the soft and how to manage intangible in business right for growing into Digital Master?
Leadership: Leadership is methodical, but there is some magic in there. Leadership is intangible, but the quality of leadership can be measured in certain level. Because effective leadership is methodical, it takes hard work and endurance, the tangible influence and calculated effort, though it appears magical to the observing eye. Learning and practicing leadership is a methodical process that can be managed, measured and improved, not only via individual leader’ performance, but measuring the effectiveness, learning agility and maturity of collective leadership which directly impacts corporate performance.
Innovation: Quality of ideas is measured by how well your ideas satisfy customer’s desires and how much of the idea space your ideas cover. Some organizations introduce the Personal Innovation-index (PÏ). In relation to this index the PÏ will indicate, top-down, the contributed economic value of each employee (executive/management, professional/expert) in relation to their innovative initiatives and personal activities, commitment, influences, impact and contributions. Innovation performance could also be measured in terms of its ability to convert the ideas that enter the ‘Innovation Pipeline’ into the desired output, propositions, process improvement etc.
Culture: Culture is difficult to measure, because it’s multi-dimensional assessment, however, there are tools and techniques which can help assess its impact:1) Statement of values. - You create a bespoke unique proposition for each of your talent that drives engagement, productivity and retention, the measurement will provide proven link between all four of these unique personal employee value proposition= engagement = productivity = retention. 2) Employee feedback. Holding Line management responsible to improve concern areas in the Employee Feedback.3) Degree of Process Transparency. What information is communicated and how frequently? 4) Degree of Empowerment: How much delegation is permitted. What is the decision making freedom at various levels of Hierarchy?5) Participation in Strategy and Innovation by Employees. Some organizations actively encourage everybody to comment, give inputs into these two areas in a secure fashion.
Customer-Centricity: The linkages between customer centric capability and sustained business performance aren't understood by enough executives. If senior management doesn't believe there is an acceptable return on investment, the race never starts in earnest. However, what you measure depends on a few things - the time at which you are capturing feedback in the customer lifecycle, the trigger/basis you use for feedback and your goal. While NPS is an important measure, it is only a piece but not the entire whole and what it gives you is a great place to start. and it is better used as a lagging indicator of the overall customer relationship across time.
Brand: Customer experience and brand experience can mutually enforce with each other. Business brand can attempt to shape each and every potential Customer Experience (touch point/pain point/joy point) with its brand personality such that the firm provides customers with Brand Experiences that are unique to the brand, and on the other side, the delightful customer experience can enforce its business brand as well. The brand measurement shall also reflect the linkage between customer experience and brand experience, the unique business competency, and overall corporate maturity.
So many companies and "managers" focus on the tangibles, but they lack the in-depth understanding of the intangible things; just getting them to consider the list of intangibles would be a breakthrough. In fact, leadership, culture, innovation, customer centricity and brand, all are the key intangible elements, or some call the “soft factors,” which can be “hardened” at certain level, as better drivers of solid business results.
Digitalization is like a flywheel, and Digital Masters are the one riding above it. Surf more Information about Digital Master:
Digital Master Wikipedia Introduction
Digital Master Kindle Version Book Order URL
Digital Master Book URL
Digital Master Author URL
Digital Master Video Clip on YouTube
Digital Master Fun QuizFollow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
The life cycle of organizations is going to be shorter. This probably means that organizations are going to have to get not only the “hard numbers” right, but more importantly, how to manage the intangible elements in business from the beginning, and for the long term business prosperity. So with organizations turning over, new organizations and new blood will be on-going - the longer an organization is in existence, it might grow a self fulfilling prophecy about why they are successful and quite possibly the intangible elements perhaps does not come into the equation, but that perhaps the very reason which causes the mighty fail. So how to “harden” the soft and how to manage intangible in business right for growing into Digital Master?Leadership: Leadership is methodical, but there is some magic in there. Leadership is intangible, but the quality of leadership can be measured in certain level. Because effective leadership is methodical, it takes hard work and endurance, the tangible influence and calculated effort, though it appears magical to the observing eye. Learning and practicing leadership is a methodical process that can be managed, measured and improved, not only via individual leader’ performance, but measuring the effectiveness, learning agility and maturity of collective leadership which directly impacts corporate performance.
Innovation: Quality of ideas is measured by how well your ideas satisfy customer’s desires and how much of the idea space your ideas cover. Some organizations introduce the Personal Innovation-index (PÏ). In relation to this index the PÏ will indicate, top-down, the contributed economic value of each employee (executive/management, professional/expert) in relation to their innovative initiatives and personal activities, commitment, influences, impact and contributions. Innovation performance could also be measured in terms of its ability to convert the ideas that enter the ‘Innovation Pipeline’ into the desired output, propositions, process improvement etc.
Culture: Culture is difficult to measure, because it’s multi-dimensional assessment, however, there are tools and techniques which can help assess its impact:1) Statement of values. - You create a bespoke unique proposition for each of your talent that drives engagement, productivity and retention, the measurement will provide proven link between all four of these unique personal employee value proposition= engagement = productivity = retention. 2) Employee feedback. Holding Line management responsible to improve concern areas in the Employee Feedback.3) Degree of Process Transparency. What information is communicated and how frequently? 4) Degree of Empowerment: How much delegation is permitted. What is the decision making freedom at various levels of Hierarchy?5) Participation in Strategy and Innovation by Employees. Some organizations actively encourage everybody to comment, give inputs into these two areas in a secure fashion.
Customer-Centricity: The linkages between customer centric capability and sustained business performance aren't understood by enough executives. If senior management doesn't believe there is an acceptable return on investment, the race never starts in earnest. However, what you measure depends on a few things - the time at which you are capturing feedback in the customer lifecycle, the trigger/basis you use for feedback and your goal. While NPS is an important measure, it is only a piece but not the entire whole and what it gives you is a great place to start. and it is better used as a lagging indicator of the overall customer relationship across time.
Brand: Customer experience and brand experience can mutually enforce with each other. Business brand can attempt to shape each and every potential Customer Experience (touch point/pain point/joy point) with its brand personality such that the firm provides customers with Brand Experiences that are unique to the brand, and on the other side, the delightful customer experience can enforce its business brand as well. The brand measurement shall also reflect the linkage between customer experience and brand experience, the unique business competency, and overall corporate maturity.
So many companies and "managers" focus on the tangibles, but they lack the in-depth understanding of the intangible things; just getting them to consider the list of intangibles would be a breakthrough. In fact, leadership, culture, innovation, customer centricity and brand, all are the key intangible elements, or some call the “soft factors,” which can be “hardened” at certain level, as better drivers of solid business results.
Digitalization is like a flywheel, and Digital Masters are the one riding above it. Surf more Information about Digital Master:
Digital Master Wikipedia Introduction
Digital Master Kindle Version Book Order URL
Digital Master Book URL
Digital Master Author URL
Digital Master Video Clip on YouTube
Digital Master Fun QuizFollow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Is Self-Assessment a Digital Way for Managing Talent Performance?
The self-assessment of performance is not for boosting ego, but for inspiring authenticity; growth mind, engagement, trust and innovation.
Many organizations still have an old-fashioned view that the employee's self-assessment is irrelevant to the overall review and only serves to create conflict when there are discrepancies in perception. However, digital makes business more transparent & less hierarchical, inspires authenticity and growth mind, is self-reflection, self-assessment and self-improvement scenario becoming the “healthy” digital cycle for talent growth and management?
It becomes more important of including a self-evaluation component as part of employee performance management because digital is the age of choices. A self assessment/evaluation gives the employee the opportunity to self reflect “who am I,” and organizing their thoughts related to the various performance indicators. Self assessment focuses the mind and ensures that everyone has their say and have buy in to the process. They are very important as it provides a person's perceived value through their own lens. In addition, it will provide a benchmark against actual measured performance. The larger the gap the more development required. It is highly important that any employee and person self-reflects and be able not only to describe what s/he is able to do but also to reflect in a constructive manner how anything could be done in a different way even if a process has been successful. This generates in a person new ideas and is a way how a person can keep him/herself up to the standards required.
Self-reflection, self-assessment and self-improvement scenario is a digital theme for talent management. This starts with the individual determining what goals s/he wants to achieve then; planning a way to get there; determining the milestones/measurements that signal whether it is going in the right direction and, if not, is flagging a warning that maybe the plan needs to be re-thought; the results documented objectively with qualitative/quantitative measurements. The manager's role is to ensure the plans are in line with corporate direction, the individual has thought out the plans thoroughly, provideed any necessary support (including necessary training) and reviewed results on a regular basis to ensure the individual is getting where s/he wants to go.
Performance communication in digital era needs to be the “two way street.” It is seen to be a one way street where the manager has to "tell" the employee how badly or good they have done, which leads into some defensive mode being triggered and escalating into a serious relationship breakdown. The review has to come from both sides and it is important to find out where the employee is at and how they feel their performance is going. That in itself can open up useful discussions between the employee and line manager. Including self-evaluation based on the pre-agreed performance and behavioral standards allows both parties to reflect and collect facts about the status quo and a conversation departing from this is unlikely to become a problem.
Self-evaluations are a key way and motivator to get the individual being reviewed into the formalized process. Certainly, the reviewer should have consistent performance discussions throughout the review period; any (non micro-) manager will gain insight as to what the individual has contributed and deems important through a self-evaluation process.Providing straightforward self evaluation tools on core competencies with benchmarking, simple questionnaires and access to peer feedback in an easy to use, employee centric app is key to make it efficient and useful. Throughout the performance cycle, the feedback and counselling should be a continuous process. Self evaluation helps individual in taking the ownership, responsibility and keeps focused. This also ensures the alignment and cascading of organizational goals to individual goals…
A good performance review is a dialogue; and even then ideally the manager should do only 20-30% of the talking between the employee and the manager; gives the employee the opportunity to share their thoughts on how they have contributed to the company and look at their future contributions.! A self-assessment by the employee encourages employees to share with their manager in advance of the performance review meeting (on a voluntary basis), as the shared insight can be highly useful. However, employees do need support and education in how to get the most from the performance management process, to avoid biases, especially in how to regularly acquire and use feedback appropriately, create 'evidence' for the performance review, and have an attitude of ownership rather than being a passive 'victim' of the process.
The purpose of such self-reflection, self-assessment and self-improvement performance cycle is not just about encouraging the individualism, more about inspiring authenticity; growth mind, engagement, trust and innovation (the better or new way to do things). It is pursuing the digital way to run a purpose-driven organization by well aligning employees’ career goals & purpose with companies’ vision & mission, and harnessing the culture of transparency, learning agility and innovation.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Many organizations still have an old-fashioned view that the employee's self-assessment is irrelevant to the overall review and only serves to create conflict when there are discrepancies in perception. However, digital makes business more transparent & less hierarchical, inspires authenticity and growth mind, is self-reflection, self-assessment and self-improvement scenario becoming the “healthy” digital cycle for talent growth and management?
It becomes more important of including a self-evaluation component as part of employee performance management because digital is the age of choices. A self assessment/evaluation gives the employee the opportunity to self reflect “who am I,” and organizing their thoughts related to the various performance indicators. Self assessment focuses the mind and ensures that everyone has their say and have buy in to the process. They are very important as it provides a person's perceived value through their own lens. In addition, it will provide a benchmark against actual measured performance. The larger the gap the more development required. It is highly important that any employee and person self-reflects and be able not only to describe what s/he is able to do but also to reflect in a constructive manner how anything could be done in a different way even if a process has been successful. This generates in a person new ideas and is a way how a person can keep him/herself up to the standards required.
Self-reflection, self-assessment and self-improvement scenario is a digital theme for talent management. This starts with the individual determining what goals s/he wants to achieve then; planning a way to get there; determining the milestones/measurements that signal whether it is going in the right direction and, if not, is flagging a warning that maybe the plan needs to be re-thought; the results documented objectively with qualitative/quantitative measurements. The manager's role is to ensure the plans are in line with corporate direction, the individual has thought out the plans thoroughly, provideed any necessary support (including necessary training) and reviewed results on a regular basis to ensure the individual is getting where s/he wants to go.
Performance communication in digital era needs to be the “two way street.” It is seen to be a one way street where the manager has to "tell" the employee how badly or good they have done, which leads into some defensive mode being triggered and escalating into a serious relationship breakdown. The review has to come from both sides and it is important to find out where the employee is at and how they feel their performance is going. That in itself can open up useful discussions between the employee and line manager. Including self-evaluation based on the pre-agreed performance and behavioral standards allows both parties to reflect and collect facts about the status quo and a conversation departing from this is unlikely to become a problem.
Self-evaluations are a key way and motivator to get the individual being reviewed into the formalized process. Certainly, the reviewer should have consistent performance discussions throughout the review period; any (non micro-) manager will gain insight as to what the individual has contributed and deems important through a self-evaluation process.Providing straightforward self evaluation tools on core competencies with benchmarking, simple questionnaires and access to peer feedback in an easy to use, employee centric app is key to make it efficient and useful. Throughout the performance cycle, the feedback and counselling should be a continuous process. Self evaluation helps individual in taking the ownership, responsibility and keeps focused. This also ensures the alignment and cascading of organizational goals to individual goals…
A good performance review is a dialogue; and even then ideally the manager should do only 20-30% of the talking between the employee and the manager; gives the employee the opportunity to share their thoughts on how they have contributed to the company and look at their future contributions.! A self-assessment by the employee encourages employees to share with their manager in advance of the performance review meeting (on a voluntary basis), as the shared insight can be highly useful. However, employees do need support and education in how to get the most from the performance management process, to avoid biases, especially in how to regularly acquire and use feedback appropriately, create 'evidence' for the performance review, and have an attitude of ownership rather than being a passive 'victim' of the process.
The purpose of such self-reflection, self-assessment and self-improvement performance cycle is not just about encouraging the individualism, more about inspiring authenticity; growth mind, engagement, trust and innovation (the better or new way to do things). It is pursuing the digital way to run a purpose-driven organization by well aligning employees’ career goals & purpose with companies’ vision & mission, and harnessing the culture of transparency, learning agility and innovation.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
February 27, 2015
How to Convey Strategy via Effective Communication
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato
Crafting a good strategy is difficult, and executing strategy is challenging, the linchpin between strategy and execution is the effective communication to convey the messages across the organization, how can you do it right?
Open dialogue of big “WHY”: When communicating a strategy or organizational changes to a team, it is important to explain the "why" behind your communication. All too often, discussions are held at a senior level where the reasons behind a strategy are talked over extensively, but those reasons are not explained to the wider audience. This can lead to teams not understanding a strategy, or not buying into it.
Avoid the “Lost in Translation” Symptom: Strategy communication has to be customized from general management background to technical background employees. The mistake that most organizations make in this regard is to fail to translate the high-level language of strategy into the professional language of the various staff specialisms. Ultimately a strategy has to end up expressed in people's job descriptions and workloads. Engineers need engineering language, marketers need marketing language, etc. The highly effective business leaders and strategists are business “multi-linguist” who can master at different business dialects and convey the right message to tailor different audiences.
The simplest answer is "often." Communication, communication and communication. Ideally, in language and settings that they understand and embrace, which in turn means spending enough time with staff to understand their language and the forms of communication that make sense to them. It is important to provide both a high level vision of the organization's strategy, then bring it down to specific goals and objectives that are relevant for individual staff members and work groups
Effective communication with immersed management team: Successful implementation of strategy is to organize a 'total immersion communication and dialogue program' for the senior and middle level management group to establish a thorough buy-in of the organizational strategy, and the role each one and each department has to play for its implementation. Repeat the same module to other employees through the executives who have understood and can explain comprehensively to the other members of the organization. This needs to be done before rolling out the strategy for implementation.
Welcome strategy debate for challenging your strategy: To give teams a sense of ownership, invite them to challenge your strategy. Not only does this hand the strategy to the team, but can also give good ideas to improve it and can show you who should be sitting on your the meeting to devise next months/years strategy!
Encourage creative communication; instead of just descriptive communication, to convey strategy more vividly. Organizational communication is mostly conducted as old fashioned “lecturing” (message – media – audience) as opposed to “participant centered learning and understanding” (Socratic Method). Of course the latter is more costly and time-consuming, but much more effective. However, most senior leaders prefer to rush their communication, “don´t waste time and money, and start executing." But what is more inefficient than a whole organization that attempts to execute a poorly understood strategy? It's crucial to be more creative and be interactive for strategy communication.
In summary, the strategy communication needs to be more engaging than top-down; “multi-linguistic’ than single language-speaking; more creative than descriptive, more profound than louder, not only pay attention to what has been said but pay more attention to what’s not being said, to bridge the gap between strategy and execution, functional silo and holistic corporate view; reality and vision statement.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Crafting a good strategy is difficult, and executing strategy is challenging, the linchpin between strategy and execution is the effective communication to convey the messages across the organization, how can you do it right?
Open dialogue of big “WHY”: When communicating a strategy or organizational changes to a team, it is important to explain the "why" behind your communication. All too often, discussions are held at a senior level where the reasons behind a strategy are talked over extensively, but those reasons are not explained to the wider audience. This can lead to teams not understanding a strategy, or not buying into it.
Avoid the “Lost in Translation” Symptom: Strategy communication has to be customized from general management background to technical background employees. The mistake that most organizations make in this regard is to fail to translate the high-level language of strategy into the professional language of the various staff specialisms. Ultimately a strategy has to end up expressed in people's job descriptions and workloads. Engineers need engineering language, marketers need marketing language, etc. The highly effective business leaders and strategists are business “multi-linguist” who can master at different business dialects and convey the right message to tailor different audiences.
The simplest answer is "often." Communication, communication and communication. Ideally, in language and settings that they understand and embrace, which in turn means spending enough time with staff to understand their language and the forms of communication that make sense to them. It is important to provide both a high level vision of the organization's strategy, then bring it down to specific goals and objectives that are relevant for individual staff members and work groups
Effective communication with immersed management team: Successful implementation of strategy is to organize a 'total immersion communication and dialogue program' for the senior and middle level management group to establish a thorough buy-in of the organizational strategy, and the role each one and each department has to play for its implementation. Repeat the same module to other employees through the executives who have understood and can explain comprehensively to the other members of the organization. This needs to be done before rolling out the strategy for implementation.
Welcome strategy debate for challenging your strategy: To give teams a sense of ownership, invite them to challenge your strategy. Not only does this hand the strategy to the team, but can also give good ideas to improve it and can show you who should be sitting on your the meeting to devise next months/years strategy!
Encourage creative communication; instead of just descriptive communication, to convey strategy more vividly. Organizational communication is mostly conducted as old fashioned “lecturing” (message – media – audience) as opposed to “participant centered learning and understanding” (Socratic Method). Of course the latter is more costly and time-consuming, but much more effective. However, most senior leaders prefer to rush their communication, “don´t waste time and money, and start executing." But what is more inefficient than a whole organization that attempts to execute a poorly understood strategy? It's crucial to be more creative and be interactive for strategy communication.
In summary, the strategy communication needs to be more engaging than top-down; “multi-linguistic’ than single language-speaking; more creative than descriptive, more profound than louder, not only pay attention to what has been said but pay more attention to what’s not being said, to bridge the gap between strategy and execution, functional silo and holistic corporate view; reality and vision statement.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
