Lonnie Pacelli's Blog, page 76

"I Don't Have Time For Vision!" Six Principles For Implementing a Useful Organizational Vision

I recently keynoted at a Project Management Symposium.  During the symposium several executives provided perspective on the importance of Project Management to the organization.  One of the executives centered his discussion around people having vision.  I can imagine the reaction of some of the people in the room.   "Yeah, right.  I've got projects with impossible deadlines, my customer is breathing down my neck because she is not getting what she wants, my project team isn't dedicating enough time on my project, and budget cuts mean I have to figure out how to get more done with less.  You want me to have vision?   I can barely get things done as it is!"

I feel your pain, colleagues.  But I also agree with the exec.
Vision is not something reserved for the higher-ups and it is not some highfalutin lingo that the folks in marketing dream up.  A well-developed vision provides direction, inspires performance, sets priorities, ensures alignment with corporate objectives, and doesn't create meaningless work for you and your team.  When done poorly, a vision is nothing more than a huge waste of time in developing something to appease your boss and likely gets stuffed in a drawer after the "vision exercise" is done.  I've been on both sides of the ledger:  I've developed organizational visions which were quite useful in driving priorities and moving the team in the right direction.  Then again, I've had a few which were painful to develop and served no use in driving my organization.  
Amazon.com Widgets Through my failures (and a couple of successes) I've locked on six principles which can help you develop and implement a vision which is actually useful in driving results, as follows:

Principle #1 - Start with your manager - you could develop a killer vision that you and your team get super excited about, but if it isn't aligned with your manager's vision and priorities you're going to be out of step with his or her organization.  Get clear on your manager's vision and ensure your vision contributes to his or her overall vision.

Principle #2 - Keep it super simple - IMHO (In my humble opinion) the best vision statements are a single sentence.  They are something that you and your team can easily memorize, recall at a moments notice, and most importantly understand what it means.  Vision statements which are paragraphs long lose their impact with every superfluous word.  Simple.  Direct.  Concise. 

Principle #3 - Involve the team - If you want someone other than yourself to be inspired and excited about a vision then you've got to ensure your team is intimately involved in the vision setting process.  Many of us type-A personalities will just want to spend a few minutes crafting something in our office and subsequently revealing it to the team.  Resist the urge.  Yes, it takes longer to build consensus and can be frustrating particularly if the team doesn't agree on things.  The end result, though, is a much more effective vision which has team buy-in and a greater likelihood of success. 

Principle #4 - Use a facilitator if you're not good at facilitating - I've seen some managers do a very good job of facilitating vision statement development.  They encourage participation, don't unduly taint the direction, and drive the team to consensus.  Then again, I've seen some managers completely bungle it by forcing their own agenda on the team.  The end result was only verbal agreement of a vision; the team really wasn't bought in because they weren't able to contribute.  If you're not good at facilitation ask a colleague to facilitate vision statement development for you.  

Principle #5 - Checkpoint your progress - So you spend hours and hours developing a great vision statement that the entire team is completely jazzed about then you summarily stuff it in a drawer never to see light of day again (until you have to go through the vision process again next year and you pull it out of the drawer to see what you did in the prior year).   Keep the vision prominently displayed, report on significant wins which move the ball closer to achieving your vision, and develop a couple of metrics which allow you to chart progress.

Principle #6 - Change it if it no longer makes sense - So sometimes things change.  Maybe there's a re-organization, or maybe there's a shift in business priorities.  These types of things can render a well-crafted vision ineffective.  Simply put, if the vision no longer makes sense change it to something that does make sense.  Going through the motions on a vision which doesn't match your priorities leaves you drifting at sea without a sail.  Just be cautious to avoid creating a "vision du jour" because you're trying to overly fine-tune direction to the business. 

Creating vision isn't a waste of time.  Your vision galvanizes your team and gets them marching to the same drumbeat.  Take to time to digest these principles and put them to use next time you have to develop a vision for your organization.

Thirteen Tips to Effective Upward Management

So let's get right into this....

Ever known a manager who held great respect of his or her team but was not respected by his or her management?  Or maybe you've had a manager that just couldn't get things done effectively because he or she just didn't know how to "work the system"?  Or even still, are you are a manager who is continually frustrated because you can't get your manager to do what you need him or her to do?  If any of these sound familiar to you, welcome to the world of ineffective upward management. 
Upward management is one of those skills that some do very well, many never seem to master, and virtually all learn only through on-the-job lessons-learned.  When done well, both the manager and employee work as a team to ensure each other is informed, address problems before they spin out of control, and be more effective at managing.  When done poorly, both manager and employee are not only ineffective at getting the job done but are chronically frustrated due to mis-steps and surprises. 

Through the years I've come to categorize most poor upward managers into four personality types:
Amazon.com Widgets The Brown-Noser - This is the employee who treats his boss as some kind of rock star and constantly searches for what his boss wants to hear.  Rather than upwardly managing, the brown-noser upwardly affirms whatever it is the boss is thinking.

The Rebellious Teenager - This is the employee who consciously conceals information from her boss because she wants to demonstrate that she can get things done without help from her boss.  Rather than upwardly managing, the rebellious teenager keeps her manager in the dark by withholding information.

The Cowardly Lion - This is the employee who simply is afraid to share information with his boss because he fears his boss' reactions.  Rather than upwardly managing, the cowardly lion avoids sharing information unless completely painted into a corner.

The Erupting Volcano - This is the employee who subscribes to the "more is better" school of information management and will tell her manager every gory detail of every single event every single day.  Rather than upwardly managing, the erupting volcano spews data like hot lava and forces her manager to pick out the important facts.

So how do you avoid mis-steps in managing upward?  Give this baker's dozen a look and see if one or two of these nuggets can help you be a better upward manager:

#1 - Understand your boss - Think about how your boss likes to communicate; does she prefer written emails or verbal discussion?  Does she like structured one-on-one meetings or informal chats?  Get a clear understanding of how your boss likes to engage and adapt your style to her style. 

#2 - Stick to objective facts - When presenting information avoid emotionally-biased assessments.  Sure, you may have put your heart and soul into a project but if the project no longer makes business sense to do then it's your responsibility to put personal feelings aside and do the right business thing.

#3 - Don't dump problems on his or her doorstep that you should be solving yourself - Yes, your manager has greater responsibility than you, probably gets paid more than you, and most likely has more organizational influence than you.  That doesn't mean you get to delegate things you should be solving yourself.  Handle the problems that you're paid to handle and enlist your boss for the stuff that requires his influence in the organization. 

#4 - Be specific about what you need - Whether it be money, resources, or some other form of assistance, be very specific about what you need, why you need it, and what will happen if you don't get what you need.  Credible objectivity is crucial here:  if it looks as if you are "stacking the deck" by exaggerating consequences or embellishing benefits you're likely to not get what you need.  Also, subsequent asks are going to be viewed with greater skepticism. 

#5 - Don't ever give reason for your boss to question your credibility - Simply put, if you get caught stretching the truth on even the smallest of facts, you've now given your boss reason to question not only the little things but also the big things.  You've got to stay pure with your boss and protect your integrity by never allowing your credibility to be put to question.

#6 - Don't manage upward at the expense of managing downward - I've known one too many managers who did a great job of keeping his boss happy but had a team that wanted to string him up by his thumbs.  Look, at some point in time those that manage up at the expense of managing down will get found out and will have to pay the piper.  Don't play Russian roulette with your career by keeping your boss comfy while ticking off your team. 

#7 - Respect your boss' time - Got a meeting with your boss?  Show up on time, come prepared to discuss whatever topics need discussing, and end the meeting on time.  Your boss is busy and her time should be utilized as effectively as possible.  Don't let your boss see your meetings with her as a waste of time.

#8 - Diligently follow through on commitments - So your boss asks you to complete an assignment by tomorrow.  You agree to meet the commitment.  The deadline passes and you haven't met the commitment and all you can offer up is some lame excuse.  Sheesh.  Even if you think an assignment given to you is the dumbest assignment on earth, if you've made a commitment to do it then meet the commitment.  Not following through shows a lack of respect for your boss and breeds distrust. 

#9 - Present options - In decision making managers like to see alternatives and the consequences associated with each alternative.  Some of the best decision making meetings I've been in with my bosses have been where we had meaningful dialogue around two or three viable options to resolving a tough problem.  My job in the process was to frame up the options, provide facts to support each option, and provide a recommendation.  Sometimes the recommendation was taken, sometimes not; the most important thing was that a good decision was made because there was good informed discussion.

#10 - Make your boss look good - Let's say that your boss is due to make a presentation to his boss and is relying upon you to provide some critical information.  You give your boss the information he needs and he presents it to his boss.  He then gets fricasseed because the information is wrong.  Guess whose office he stops at first on his way back from getting barbecued?  Simply put, don't put your boss in a situation where he looks bad in front of his management; you've not only hurt your credibility, you've hurt his credibility.  

#11 - Don't suck up - Telling your boss what she wants to hear can label you as a spineless know-nothing who doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to manage effectively on your own.   You'll not only quickly lose the respect of your team, your boss will ultimately see through you and not respect your leadership abilities.  Sure, you may get the occasional self-absorbed manager that craves shameless idolatry; but by and large bosses view sucking up as incompetence.

#12 - No surprises - Ever tell your boss that your project is on schedule and on budget then at the last minute spring a huge schedule or budget slip on her?  Particularly early in my career I've had this happen more than once.  For it to happen more than once is shameful to say the least.  Bosses don't like surprises where they are forced to accept a problem without having the option to try to fix it before it got out of control.  When you see problems make sure you northwind your boss; just make sure you're working diligently to resolve the problem and not just to cover your @$$.   

#13 - Admit mistakes...quickly - Look, screw-ups happen.  Heaven knows that I've got more screw-ups to my name than many managers will ever see.  The important thing is to own up to your mistakes quickly and outline what you are going to do to rectify the mistake.  Being the last one to recognize you've made a mistake just diminishes your credibility, so own up to those gaffes and get to work fixing them. 

Nailing That Interview

So you're browsing Career Builder or reading the classifieds and you see the job of your dreams staring you right in the face.  You brush up your resume, write a killer cover letter and send it in sealed with a kiss and a prayer.  A week later, someone from HR calls telling you they'd like you to come in for an interview.  Wahoo!!! So the hard part is over, now you've got the hard part left.  To help you nail the interview and be sitting pretty in the job you've always wanted, keep these nuggets tucked in your bonnet:
Be sure you’re qualified to do the job – do research about the job and ensure you can truly do it. Shooting the moon on a job you aren’t qualified to do is just setting you up for failure.

Be super-prepared – know the company, the products, and the current news events.

Be early – better you wait in the lobby for 15 minutes than show up five or ten minutes late.
Amazon.com Widgets Actively listen to the interviewer – Let the interviewer ask questions completely and ensure you understand the question before responding. Don’t cut him or her off.

Be very concise – avoid rambling in your responses and ensure each word you speak contributes to the value of your answer. Also don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know”.

Follow up with something useful – Rather than just sending a “thank you” email to the interviewer, follow up with some research or some additional thinking on a topic you discussed in the interview. Start showing your value to the organization right from the interview by helping the interviewer with some problem he or she is struggling with.

Be hyper-responsive - send your follow-up email within 24 hours of the interview; same day if possible. Also ensure that you respond to any follow-up questions very promptly.

It's Not All About The Ivory Tower

Excerpted from  The Truth about Getting Your Point Across…and Nothing But the Truth  
One of my jobs at Microsoft was running Microsoft’s Corporate Procurement Group. 
This group was responsible for managing and influencing several billion dollars in purchases ranging from personal computers to marketing materials to outsourced services.  My organization had about 30 procurement managers who resided at headquarters and worked with various organizations around Microsoft to help get better value for our purchases.

To better expand our global influence, we started working with procurement organizations in Microsoft subsidiaries around the world to understand their purchases and to find areas where we could partner.
 What we learned was more than what we had anticipated; not necessarily about their purchases, but about how they worked and the importance of urgency versus importance in their jobs.
For example, in some of the smaller subsidiaries the person responsible for procurement was also responsible for facilities management; meaning if the toilets didn’t flush it was his responsibility to get them fixed.  Given the choice between working on a global procurement contract and getting the toilets fixed, he would focus on tending to the toilets first (rightly so).  Getting this exposure into the subsidiaries taught me a very important lesson about working with organizations outside of headquarters:  it’s not all about the ivory tower.
Amazon.com Widgets For example, in some of the smaller subsidiaries the person responsible for procurement was also responsible for facilities management; meaning if the toilets didn’t flush it was his responsibility to get them fixed.  Given the choice between working on a global procurement contract and getting the toilets fixed, he would focus on tending to the toilets first (rightly so).  Getting this exposure into the subsidiaries taught me a very important lesson about working with organizations outside of headquarters:  it’s not all about the ivory tower.

Just because you have the same job title and are part of the same organization doesn’t mean you do the same things.  Take time to understand what your colleague does and what he or she considers important.  Target your communications to meet the needs of your colleague.  Doing so will better ensure your colleague gets information that is most important to him or her, and ensures you aren’t wasting your time creating information that isn’t relevant. 

Why Don't They Follow Me? 12 Easy Lessons to Boost Your Leadership Skills

One of my most popular books is  Why Don't They Follow Me? 12 Easy Lessons to Boost Your Leadership Skills .   

Why Don't They Follow Me?  gives you 12 simple to understand leadership lessons which cut through all the baloney and get you results fast.  A quick read (many of my reviewers have told me they were able to get through in under two hours),  Why Don't They Follow Me?  cuts to the heart of leadership wisdom and gives you 47 take-aways that you can put into action right away.

Freud and the Small Business Owner

Freudian Clips…

In 1923 Sigmund Freud authored a paper called The Ego and the Id, which is an analytical study of the human psyche. Called the Structural Theory, this theory categorizes psychological conditions into three divisions:  the Id, the Super-Ego, and the Ego.  The Id is best thought of as a newborn child driven by instinctive drives and impulses and seeks instant gratification.  The Super-Ego is the multiplicative inverse of the Id, representing a “father figure” and a moral compass.  The Ego serves as the mediator between the Id and the Super-Ego and takes into account external factors to derive a clear view of reality. The theory has spurred much discussion in the scientific community, but the concept is firmly seated in college psychology classes as a higher-education staple.
Whether or not Freud nailed it with the Structural Theory is open to some debate (one which I’ll let bigger brains than mine ponder!) but virtually all of us can relate to these three personas and know someone who fits each of these profiles.  The Id-like person throws caution to the wind, takes risks without thinking through implications, and allows the dreamer in him to lead his actions.   The Super-Ego-like person is highly risk-averse, needs to have near-perfect information before making a decision, and never, ever, swims until at least 30 minutes after eating.   The Ego-like person has drive and is willing to take risks, but seeks to understand situations enough to take calculated risks as opposed to foolish risks
Amazon.com Widgets While reading this, you may have thought of a friend or family member who fits into each of the above categories.  You may have also slotted yourself as being predominantly Id, Super-Ego, or Ego-like.  It also may be situational to where you are more Id-like in certain situations while you are more Super-Ego-like in others.  As this specifically applies to starting and running your own small business, it is vitally important that you identify whether you are more Id, Super-Ego, or Ego-like and that you balance who you are with others who fit into the other categories; thus the following maxim: 

Small businesses need a blend of Id, Ego, and Super-Ego personas to be successful.  

So as it relates to you, are you more of an Id that that throws caution to the wind without thinking about implications?  Or are you more like the risk-averse Super-Ego who needs perfect information to make a decision?  Or are you more of a middle-of-the-road Ego who is willing to take calculated risks and knows how to balance risk and reward?  Then again, maybe you're not sure.  If you'd like a better perspective on where you fall in the small business owner spectrum, check out these Small Business Made Simple resources.

Project Management Screw-Up 1 - We weren’t addressing the right problem

Excerpted from The Project Management Advisor - 18 Major Project Screw-Ups And How To Cut Them Off At The Pass (Prentice Hall, 2004)
Virtually every (rational) project has at its core a need to solve some problem that is perceived by someone.  Problems can manifest themselves as barriers to getting something done (“we can’t possibly ship 10,000 units/week with our existing systems”) or as opportunity to doing something better (“we need to reduce the cost of processing purchase orders by 20%”).
In any event, there is a desire to do something tomorrow that can’t be done acceptably today. Admittedly, some of the most fun projects that I have worked on have been the “omigosh, we need to get this done or else” projects.   I have seen the greatest clarity of purpose on projects where there was a very real and tangible consequence to not completing the project successfully.  One outstanding example of this that affected virtually every business on earth was the Y2K computer scare.  One of my jobs was in ensuring that our mission-critical vendors were adequately prepared for Y2K and that there would not be any business interruption to our company as a result of a vendor’s failure to perform.
Everyone knew what the problem was:  computer systems that only use a two-digit year and assumed the “19” in the first two years were going to assume a year of “1900” on January 1, 2000 and, depending on the system, everything from power grids to air traffic systems to small appliances had the potential to malfunction.  You all know the story; 1/1/2000 came and went with a minimum of problems; not because the scare was overblown, but because there were billions of dollars spent worldwide ensuring that a problem didn’t occur.  There was tremendous clarity of purpose and a very real and tangible consequence if no action was taken. 
Amazon.com Widgets How it happens:

There’s a poorly articulated mission statement – Many projects that I have seen had some mission statement that was either vague, unrealistic, or simply didn’t exist.  To say “we need to reduce costs”, may be an admirable thing to do and something that is generally desirable, is not something a project team can surgically execute upon simply because it is not clear what the project is and when the project will be complete. 

The best mission statements that I have seen have the following components:
What needs to be done When it needs to be done by What measure will be used to signify success One project that I worked on focused on vendors entering invoices directly into a company’s invoicing system via the internet as opposed to invoicing via a hardcopy invoice.  The mission statement for the project was as follows:

“We need to reduce the cost of processing invoices by 50% by March 1 while ensuring that vendors are paid within terms 100% of the time.”

The project had a clear what (reduce the cost of processing invoices), a clear when (March 1) and clear measure (50% cost of processing and 100% payment within terms).  In the invoicing project, we were able to stay laser-focused on what we needed to do and make sure all of the project constituents stayed in sync because we had a super-focused mission statement. 

There’s an inconsistent understanding of what the problem is – On projects where you have multiple stakeholder groups there is a very strong likelihood that each stakeholder group is going to have a specific agenda that they bring into the project.  Some may view what you’re doing as not being a problem at all.  Very early on in your project, it is crucial to get a very consistent view of what the project is meant to accomplish via the use of the clear mission statement and ensure that the constituents understand the mission and are bought into working to resolve it. 

At times you’re going to have the tree-huggers that are resistant to the project because it means significant change or elimination of their job or organization.  It is vital to address this early in mission statement definition and to identify the concerns of the resister.  One technique that I have used with success is to get your key stakeholders in a room and to give them each an opportunity to somehow shape the mission statement.  What I have found is that even if someone only adds or changes one word to the mission statement they feel that they have influenced the direction of the project.

On some projects we’ve been able to turn some of the resisters around; on others the resisters never got with the game plan.  In those instances the resister ultimately was taken off the project.  It’s never smooth to remove a resister, but it’s always been necessary to keep the project moving forward.

It’s a problem but there are bigger fish to fry – So, maybe you see something that isn’t working as well as it should or you see some product or service that could benefit your organization.  It very well could be that implementing the solution could reap some benefit to your organization; the questions become more around priorities and focus. 

In one organization I worked in we developed an annual portfolio of projects that identified the project, the problem the project was addressing, the resource needs, the benefit expected, a subjective priority of the project based on management priority and focus, and the duration that the project was to take.  Once each project definition was completed, we put the projects in a spreadsheet, sorted the project by priority and did a “draw the line” series of meetings based on when resources would be consumed.  As an example, if we got to a point where after five projects there were no more dollars available to work on projects then we “drew the line” after the fifth project.  I’d be kidding you if this was purely an arithmetic exercise and everyone walked away doing cartwheels over the outcome.  The process forces a lot of discussion on relative priorities and, while one organization may feel that a project is vitally important to their business, in the larger scheme of things there were projects that were more important.  So, not everyone would be thrilled with the outcome, but there was a prioritized project list that everyone knew and understood. 

Now, things do change and the relative priorities of projects do change.  Thus it’s important that the project list is reviewed periodically (we did it quarterly) to ensure that you’re still working on the right things in the right priority sequence.

Warning Signs:

You are having difficulty getting a sponsor for your project – So you’ve got a project that you think is important but you’re having a difficult time convincing potential sponsors that the problem is significant enough that they should care and take action.  It could be that the problem is truly a problem but it’s not a high enough priority that warrants immediate action.  Then again it also could mean that you’ve got a poorly defined mission statement that isn’t compelling enough to take action.

The project team is confused about what problem the project is trying to address – I’ve seen more than one project where the project team goes through the project with different views about what problem they are trying to solve.  If each of your project team members are unable to consistently recite your mission statement then you’re sure to have points of confusion throughout your project.

It is difficult to keep the project team focused on solving the problem – Sometimes on projects I have encountering situations where project team members stray from solving the root problem to solving a “problem du jour” which may or may not be related to our project.   At times, there could be validity to the issue being raised which help you to further articulate your problem statement and resulting solution.  At other times, though, it could just be a red herring which dilutes your focus and creates confusion about what you’re trying to accomplish.

Turning it around:

Keep your mission statement prominently displayed - I’ve seen some projects where there’s a great mission statement that is developed in order to sell the project then put in a drawer for no one to see ever again. Ensure that you are re-visiting and re-communicating the mission statement through the life of the project to ensure that you’re doing the right thing, that everyone understands what the right thing is, and that you’re driving toward resolving the problem. 

Adjust the mission if the problem changes – Problems aren’t immutable; they can change in complexion and importance.  If something changes about the problem make sure that your mission changes accordingly.  This could also mean that the importance of your project changes because the problem is either more or less important than it was prior to the change. 

Put it on hold – If you can’t get support for the project, then either put it on hold or recognize that it’s not something that sponsors care enough to do something about.  Better you do this than try to forge ahead with the project without sponsorship.  It’s likely only a matter of time before the project dies. 

Take Aways: Make sure you’ve got a very clearly articulated mission statement Ensure that your key stakeholders understand the mission statement and have had an opportunity to tweak it Make sure that the mission statement is in line with potential sponsor priorities and focus and prioritized appropriately with other projects

You Can't Over-Prepare for an Interview

Excerpted from The Truth about Getting Your Point Across…and Nothing But the Truth
A colleague and I were doing some interviewing of upcoming college graduates at a university campus.
Most of them were very prepared, looked presentable, asked great questions, and seemingly did their research. There was one, though, who stood out from the rest, and not in a good way.

Out of the gates I knew this was going to be an interesting interview. He showed up ten minutes late for his interview time. He looked literally as if he had awakened ten minutes before the interview. He had on an old sweatshirt, jeans, and sandals and hadn’t bothered to brush his hair.
He hadn’t researched my company, didn’t understand what products we developed beyond our flagship product, and didn’t know what types of jobs we were looking to fill. The most amazing thing, though, was that he came in expecting me to sell him on the company versus him demonstrating why he was someone worth pursuing. My decision was made in the first minute of the interview. It was my easiest interview of the day.
If you want to work at an organization, the message is crystal clear; you have to put the effort in up front to impress them enough to want to talk to you more. First impressions do matter greatly, and it’s not enough to just avoid a negative first impression. Neutral first impressions will at best position you equally with other candidates and, at worst, put you at the bottom of the list. Why some candidates gamble with first impressions completely boggles my mind; it is completely within the candidate’s control to create that positive first impression. If someone doesn’t care enough to make the strongest impression possible then I don’t want them as an employee. End of story.
Amazon.com Widgets Get prepared for that interview and use the following as some ideas to help you:
Do your organization research – In today’s internet culture, learning about most any organization is only a few mouse clicks away. Learn about what the organization sells, how many employees they have, their sales and net profit, their key business challenges. The more you know and the more you can show you know, the more you’re likely to impress your interviewer. Talk to someone who already works at your potential employer – Got a friend, relative, or casual acquaintance who works at the organization? Buy them a cup of coffee and learn about their experience with the organization. You may learn things that either confirms the organization is a good fit for you, or that cause you to not want to work there. Ask someone to mock-interview you – Ask a friend, colleague, or family member with experience in interviewing to run you through a mock interview. The goal isn’t to be gentle and lob softball questions at you. Your mock interviewer should ask you the difficult questions and get you out of your comfort zone. The better you are able to respond to the difficult questions in a mock interview, the better you’ll do when the real interview comes along. Learn as much as you can about the job – Ask your contact at the company for a job description prior to the interview. Talk to others who work at the company. Talk to someone with a similar job at a different company. Any little bit of information you can dig up will help. Learn about your interviewer – Find out the name of the person or persons who will be interviewing you. Has he or she written any books? Has he or she published any articles? Is he or she doing a speech or presentation somewhere you can attend? Do you know someone who might know the person? Does the interviewer have information either on the organization’s website or his or her own website? You may learn about a common interest or idea that could help you establish a connection with your interviewer.
Dress the part – For Pete’s sake, dress like you want a job. Make sure shoes are shined, shirts or blouses are pressed and hair is combed. Even in today’s casual environment, most employers are expecting interviewees to dress business formal. I’ve never chosen to not hire someone because he over-dressed for an interview, but I’ve declined quite a few who looked like they just crawled out of bed.
Be on time – ‘Nuff said.


I can’t think of a single instance in my experience where someone was been eliminated from a job search because they were too prepared for the interview. Do your homework, prepare for the tough questions, and dress up for the interview and you’ll leave a positive impression on your interviewer. It may not guarantee you a job, but it certainly won’t hurt your chances either.

Don’t Let a Challenge Stall Your Business: 5 Tips for Staying on Track

Without challenges, your business would cease to exist. After all, you began your business in response to a need and you continue it for the same reason. However, just as your customers’ needs change over time, so do your business’s. Your competition improves, technology changes, and your employees come and go. In order to stay in the game for the long haul, you need to find new ways to satisfy your customers, improve the efficiency of your processes, and maintain a healthy profit margin.

As you strive to accomplish your goals, you will encounter challenges along the way. Sometimes the challenges are numerous and you don’t know where to start. All the problems compete with each other and you must determine which one is the most pressing, which steps you need to take to solve it, and how to get your staff to support your efforts.
To begin, recognize that problems come in two forms. They can be either a barrier to accomplishing something (as in, “we can’t possibly produce 20,000 units per week with our existing equipment”) or as an opportunity to do something better (“we need to reduce the cost of processing purchase orders by 20%”).

 All challenges share the common theme of a desire to do something tomorrow that can’t be achieved today. The easy part is identifying the challenge. The trickier part is coming up with the detailed solution.
Amazon.com Widgets Before you start to work on a solution, you need to make sure everyone is “on board” with you. Often, your colleagues (especially from other departments) disagree on what exactly is and isn’t a problem, can’t identify the steps to solve the problem, or don’t know when the problem will “end.” To ensure that the right challenges are tackled and logically solved, follow these tips so you can cross off your problems one by one. 

Tip #1: Have a clearly articulated mission statement.
“We need to reduce costs” is not a good mission statement. It is too vague to execute because it is unclear what exactly the cause of the problem is and when it will be completed. Create a mission statement for each challenge that is clear and realistic. Include what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and what measure will be used to evaluate its success. A good mission statement might look something like this: “We need to reduce the cost of shipping orders by 50% by July 1st, while ensuring that the orders are delivered promptly—100% of the time.” This statement encompasses all the necessary elements of a good mission statement and gives your staff a clear goal. 

Tip #2: Have a consistent understanding of the problem.
When solving a large problem that involves multiple departments, you often find that each group has their own agenda. They may not even agree that there is a problem. To get everyone’s support, have them all involved in developing the mission statement. Don’t be surprised if you find “resisters” who don’t want to solve the problem because it means a significant change to the status quo. Include everyone who will be involved in the project, even if they initially resist. You can usually get the support of resisters if they contribute their two cents to the mission statement. They will feel included as part of the solution from the beginning. 

Tip #3: Make sure your problem is the most pressing one to solve.
In business, there is often more than just one looming problem. How do you decide which problem gets solved first and which gets put on the back burner? Money, time, and staff often limit the number of problems you can solve at any given time. Instead of haphazardly picking a challenge, be methodical. Once a year, hold a staff meeting and create a “wish list” spreadsheet of all the problems that exist. For each entry, name the problem, indicate the resources it will require, the expected outcome, and the duration of the project. Then rank your entries by their urgency. Now you can easily determine which ones are realistic to tackle this year. Remember that priorities change: projects that were originally put on the back burner can suddenly become fires that need to be extinguished immediately. Review the list at least quarterly to ensure that each problem is still in the right slot on your priority list. 

Tip #4: Keep your mission statement prominently displayed.
Why spend the time and energy on a mission statement when you just put it in a drawer to collect dust? Make sure each member of your staff has a copy of the mission statement. Enlarge it and hang it in your office. Each time you hold a meeting about the problem, have your mission statement handy and remind the group of the mission when things start getting awry. Eventually you and your staff should have it memorized. The mission statement is crucial to achieving your goal, so make sure everyone involved has the mission statement embedded in their brain. 

Tip #5: Don’t be afraid to change the mission.
Problems aren’t static; they can often change in complexity and importance—they may change from a minor to major one or vice versa. Components of the problem might change, or the departments that need to work on it. When the problem changes, change your mission statement accordingly. Just make sure you involve the team in setting the new mission, defining the revised timeframe, and re-allocating resources.

Start Solving Now
The best way to tackle challenges is head-on. Don’t let progress stall because you don’t want to admit your business has some problems. Your competition likely has as many (or more) than you. Take action. Put your challenges in writing. Decide which one needs to be solved first and dedicate the appropriate staff, hours, and financial resources to implement the solution. Make sure your staff can rattle off the mission statement and that every activity supports the desired goal. Don’t be afraid to change as circumstances require. Focus on the detailed solution, and before you know it, you’ll be able to cross the first problem off your list.

Critical Thinking Drills Influence Hiring Decisions

Excerpted from  The Truth about Getting Your Point Across…and Nothing But the Truth
If you had to build a 150-story building, how would you go about doing it?

How many gas stations are there in the United States?

Why are manhole covers round?

How would you design a coffee machine for an automobile?
You’ve probably heard of some of these legendary interview questions asked at many high-tech companies -- questions that baffle an interviewee as to how manhole covers possibly relate to a job as a developer, marketing manager, or a financial controller. On the surface, these seem like highly peculiar and illogical questions for an interviewer to be asking. It’s not necessarily the answer that the interviewer is looking for, but the thought process the interviewee uses to come up with the answer.
What is an interviewer looking for when asking how you would design a coffee machine for an automobile? When I do interviews I look for several things:
Creativity – What unique and innovative ideas you apply to a problem.
Critical thinking – How quickly you think on your feet and what assumptions you make to analyze problems and develop solution alternatives.
Grace under pressure – How you respond when put under pressure.
Amazon.com Widgets In one interview I conducted, the interviewee had a good resume and did great with answering technical questions. I was feeling pretty good about the interviewee and was leaning toward hiring him. Then I asked him how he would build a 150-story building. This is where things fell apart. He simply wasn’t able to show critical thinking or creativity in his thought process and stammered through an answer. I ended up declining the candidate because, while I thought he had the technical skills to do the job, he didn’t demonstrate some of the core attributes that my company looked for in its employees.

When you’re being interviewed, here are some techniques to keep in mind when faced with “manhole cover” questions:
Verbalize your thought process – These types of questions are meant to assess your thought process. Don’t be afraid to verbalize your thoughts so your interviewer can follow how you think through problems. You won’t get any points for working something out in your head and blurting out an answer. Allow your creativity to show through – From my perspective, the more creative and innovative the thought process and answer, the more I am impressed with an interviewee. Don’t be afraid to color outside the lines on your answer.
Feel free to sketch something out – Don’t be afraid to step up to a whiteboard or pull out a sheet of paper and sketch something out. Again, how you think through problems is the most important thing to demonstrate, so if sketching something out helps your thought process, by all means do so.
Use assumptions to estimate your answer – Interviewers like to see how you use assumptions to estimate an answer. For instance, if answering the question of how many gas stations there are in the United States, using the number of people in the United States and making assumptions on number of people per gas station would be one means of estimating the number of gas stations.
Stay concise and avoid babbling – Verbalizing your thought process is good, but try to keep things concise and avoid babbling or random verbalizing. If you need to stop for a few seconds to collect your thoughts, do so.
Don’t panic – If you get one of these questions, don’t panic. Take a deep breath, think about it for a few seconds, and have fun with your answer. Yes, you're being interviewed for a job that you’d really like, but in the big scheme of things it’s just a job. Keep calm and let your creative juices flow.
Don’t insult the interviewer – During one interview I asked an interviewee how he would go about testing a toaster. The interviewee asked what relevance the question had to the job and told me that it was a dumb question. The interviewee’s response told me everything I needed to know and made my hiring decision very easy. Insulting the interviewer will only demonstrate arrogance on your part. Don’t do it. Expect that you’ll be asked oddball questions. Remember that they are intended to see how you think, how creative you are, and how you respond under pressure. Just stay calm, verbalize your thought process, show some creativity, and have fun with your answer. You’ll get your point across to your interviewer and will make a positive impression that can mean the difference between being hired and being passed over.  Oh and for the answer to "Why are manhole covers round?", it's the only shape that won't fall through the hole when tilted.