Susan Scott's Blog, page 64

Fierce Tip of the Week: Stop Your Excuses. You are the Culture.

When I tell people what I do, the topic of culture comes up a lot. And let’s be honest – it’s juicy. From Google, Tesla, and Yahoo to work-life balance, paid time off, and unlimited perks, company culture is in business news regularly. On top of that, research continues to be released stating that culture impacts (both positively and negatively) an organization’s bottom lines.Although people cerebrally understand culture’s importance, people tend to talk about culture as something external. For instance, a statement I often encounter when we are discussing fierce is: “My culture doesn’t encourage transparent, direct communication, so I can’t have those kinds of conversations with my executive team right now.” Sometimes that also sounds like, “If my company’s culture was different, I would be different.” Or “If other people modeled those behaviors, I could do them too.” What I hear is “Look at those other people over there – no, not me, not here.”Newsflash: Culture doesn’t live outside of you. That’s not how it works. You are the culture. You choose what it looks like every day. You choose it in the conversations you have. And even more so if you lead people, you model and reinforce those choices each time you interact with others.This week’s fierce tip is to take responsibility for your impact on your organization’s culture. Ask yourself: What kind of culture do I want to be a part of? What does that require of me?Yes, there will be issues that are legitimately outside of your control or purview. However, you have as much responsibility as everyone else to steer the culture.So as seducing as pointing the finger can be at times, when you are unhappy with the culture, make sure you throw some of that blame your way.

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Fierce Resource: Jack Welch’s Approach to Breaking Down Silos Still Works

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published on Harvard Business Review and examines why many organizations continue to operate in fragmented silos, instead of focusing on improving cross-departmental collaboration.In theory, technology has sped up the way we communicate and has allowed us to make real-time decisions. New productivity tools like video conferencing, instant messaging, and virtual workspaces promise to create a hyper-connected global workforce. In reality, it just adds to the confusion and most communication continues to get lost in translation. That’s why we need to go back to the basics.Jack Welch’s Approach to Breaking Down Silos Still Works advocates adopting the “Work-Out” process – a series of structured and facilitated forums, bringing people together across levels, functions, and geographies to solve problems and make decisions in real time. The key is physically getting people in the same room, at the same time, and focusing on solving the issue at hand.What walls need to be brought down in your organization?“I learned this from working with senior executives at one of the world’s largest high-tech engineering companies recently, who were concerned that many of their big customer programs were over budget and behind schedule. After some investigating, they discovered that their fragmented, geographically dispersed matrix structure made it very difficult for the program managers to coordinate efforts across functions, keep everyone focused on the cost and delivery goals, and get people to reach consensus.”Read the article.

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3 Tips to Use Fantasy Football as a Culture Enhancer – Not Distractor

It’s that time of year. The air is turning crisper, and football is creeping into conversations. Many managers and leaders worry that football is a workplace distraction. And it’s a natural concern. When you see people’s phones and computers loaded up with NFL information instead of the most pressing business projects, it can be alarming.However, if you are worried about your employees doing their jobs, that is the problem – not football. When used effectively, fantasy football can be a uniting activity that creates more positive energy and commitment than without.Try these three ways to use fantasy football as a culture enhancer: Support a company-wide fantasy football league.

Don’t fight the football frenzy. It is a large force out there. Cited in a Forbes article from last year, around 33 million people participate annually in fantasy football. It can be a fun activity for anyone in the company.

At Fierce, the league adds value. Fantasy football is a grassroots effort by individuals in the company who want to make it happen. There are no defined company resources allocated besides our office space. However, fiercelings can make the case if there are other desired budgets or resources. People look forward to this time of year, and ultimately, it adds energy and fun camaraderie in the office.

Insert the topic into conversations.

Fantasy football can bridge different departments and titles. It gives a common interest and topic of conversation. I encourage you to talk about the status of the league or leagues in scheduled meetings and events, when appropriate.

At our Fierce sales and marketing meetings, people talk about the league and what lessons they are learning as the season goes on. This is a great way to learn something new about football and your colleagues.

Encourage respect and learning.

The reality is that some people have zero interest in fantasy football, or football for that matter. Football is an opportunity to show respect to people with all levels of participation. It is important that you do not favor people in any way. Encourage others to talk about their interests as well – who knows what that will bring. Perhaps a company-wide chess tournament? A marathon of black and white films?

The point is, when people feel cared for and listened to – they care about their work and the people around them on a deeper level.

So tell me, does your company have a fantasy league? How does it help or hinder your workplace?

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Fierce Tip of the Week: Read a New Book

Yesterday, was National Read a Book Day. So I have to ask…did you read a book?           Shared in 6 Science-Backed Reasons To Go Read A Book Right Now, the Journal of Neurology found that those who engaged in mentally stimulating activities, such as reading, earlier and later on in life experienced slower memory decline compared to those who didn’t. In particular, people who exercised their minds later in life had a 32 percent lower rate of mental decline compared to their peers with average mental activity.I don’t know about you, but those facts definitely strike me as a reason to pick up a book. Lowering my memory decline over time is definitely something I want to sign up for.On top of that, reading gives you more space to go deeper into yourself and reflect on your own interpretations. Reading solicits a different kind of mental engagement compared to watching television or browsing social media.My boyfriend, Eric, and I recently started reading books with and to each other instead of flipping on Netflix or staring at our phones at night. It has been a very fun way for us to reflect on story lines and talk deeply about topics that come up for us. We recently read Girl on a Train by Paula Walkins, and throughout our dinners, we would conspire about what would happen next to the characters.Perhaps you can try a similar experiment with your partner, a family member, or a friend. This week’s tip is to choose read a new book. There are so many great books out there. And a shameless plug, if you haven’t read Fierce Conversations and Fierce Leadership, maybe you should pick one up.

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Fierce Resource: Don’t Forget the Positive

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published on trainingindustry.com and explains how positive feedback can increase employee engagement and productivity.Whether you are a new or experienced manager, your main focus is coaching your team to success. In reality, your day-to-day gets taken up by attending meetings, putting out fires, and sifting through an endless stream of e-mails. With so little time left over, it can be easy to just focus on the performance gaps that will prevent your team from hitting their goals.But Don’t Forget the Positive finds the effects of not giving feedback can be just as detrimental to your team. If you fail to reinforce positive behaviors, you may find them slowly disappearing over time.What behavior should you be reinforcing?“In this fast-paced world, thought should be given to providing positive feedback as well as the feedback used to correct undesirable behavior. This positive feedback shouldn’t be reserved for one-on-one meetings with employees. Positive feedback should also be given in the moment it is observed. When this happens, managers can be assured that they are balancing their efforts to coach their team to success.”Read the article.

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Declaring War on the Wrong Thing

I offer the following true story as an opportunity to practice squid eye. If you’ve read Fierce Leadership, you know all about squid eye – the ability to spot the “tells” that indicate something is wrong, something isn’t working. If you’re good at squid eye, you are able to see what doesn’t want to be seen, what is hiding, often right under our noses. It’s like having sight in the presence of the blind.“Tells” are all around us and come in many forms. Strongly held beliefs that make everyone weep, winning us nothing to write home about. Organizations that declare war on the wrong things. Even so-called “best” practices, when we consider the results they produce, can in fact, turn out to be worst practices. I will picture you shouting Eureka! Or found the squid! Or some such celebratory exclamation when you recognize the “tell” in this story that indicates something is very, very wrong.True Story:  After four visits from a cable company personnel over the course of 30 days, I still did not have the service I signed up for in my new condo in Pike Place Market: internet, phone, and cable television. All of which the cable company was to provide, for which they charged a pretty penny, and which they had provided to the previous tenants. How hard could it be, right?  And yet…My internet connection failed approximately once an hourOnly one phone jack was operationalI had no picture at all on one of two televisionsThe screen on the second television frequently reverted to a scramble of code, which I had to “clear”I received neither HBO or SHO, which I had requestedTiVo informed me that “Program information is running low… The DVR must connect successfully to the TiVo service.” None of the technicians from the cable company had been able to resolve the problems. Each shrugged his shoulders and said he didn’t know why things weren’t working. Finally, I reached a supervisor who assured me that an “executive” would be monitoring my case and that I would hear from someone within 24 hours. No one called.And then I received a bill. I wanted to lock their technicians and their supervisors in a room with me and practice my drop kick.  Who says emotions don’t come into play with customers!  Eventually, after leaving yet another message, I got a call from a Customer Loyalty Specialist who told me that he reported to the General Manager. He said his name was Leon.

“What is your last name?” “We aren’t allowed to share that.” “Why not?” “It’s for the security of our personnel”.

Have you started shouting? If not, go back and re-read the dialogue above. Any organization (barring the CIA and other cloak and dagger organizations, perhaps) that has a policy of withholding the identities of personnel from its customers is handing its customers a major TELL on a silver plate with a huge shiny banner declaring; WE DON’T CARE ABOUT YOU, DEAR OUTRAGED CUSTOMER.  WE CARE ABOUT OUR PERSONAL SAFETY.I expect you would hope, as I do, that if a company’s services or products have become so problematic they fear their customers might seek retribution in the form of bodily harm, the company would declare “war” on doing whatever it takes to improve their services or products. But this company’s strategy, a failed strategy, is to hide.I wrote a letter to the CEO because I sometimes wonder if the CEO is aware of his or her customers’ experience. That was a month ago. I haven’t heard from him.There are many companies, whole industries, who have a policy about not giving their real names to their customers. I hope you don’t work for one, but if you do, I urge you to bring this up for major discussion.Gather your colleagues together and ask, “What have we declared war on?” And practice squid eye together by asking, “Have we declared war on the right thing?”Perhaps the word “war” seems out of place when applied to things like improving and deepening relationships with co-workers or with customers, or coming up with a truly innovative approach to whatever it is you do, or raising the performance bar and holding it there – bold and high. But sometimes war is what it takes.One definition of war is: a sustained effort to deal with or end a particular unpleasant or undesirable situation or condition, as in – the authorities are waging war against all forms of smuggling | a war on drugs. And sometimes, nothing short of war will do.My hope for myself and for all of you is that we will occasionally declare war, if that’s what it takes, because we are committed to doing the hard things that also happen to be the right things.P.S. Leon sent me his business card, with his full name on it. A step in the right direction, though the problem has still not been resolved and he has gone “dark”, doesn’t answer his phone or respond to emails. On the business card are the words:  “We’re on a mission.” Exactly what that mission is, is decidedly unclear, though it’s a pretty good bet, it’s not in the customers’ favor.

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Fierce Tip of the Week: Have a One-on-One

September is One-on-One month. Yes, that means intimate conversations with your colleagues, family members, and friends.At Fierce, we start all of our one-on-one conversations with the same question: Given everything on your plate, what is the most important thing you and I should be talking about today? And then we allow the space for the person to reflect and respond.In these conversations, be curious and truly present. Set your tasks aside, close your laptop, and go eyeball-to-eyeball (or phone cheek to phone cheek).This week’s tip is to have a one-on-one with someone in your life – either at work or home. Find a quiet place where you can be with the person for an hour.Who will you have your first conversation with?  

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Fierce Resource: 5 Work Stresses You Can Alleviate with Tech

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published on Harvard Business Review and outlines five ways to tackle the most common work-related stressors.If you are like me, your phone is constantly buzzing throughout the day with urgent e-mails, meeting invites, social updates, and event reminders. The list could go on forever. We are stuck in a state of constant fear – the fear of missing out.But your phone doesn’t have to be a constant purveyor of stress, it can help you rein in all the online distractions and save your mental health. 5 Work Stresses You Can Alleviate with Tech offers ways to reduce your tech-induced workplace stress.Are you a slave to your phone?“Whether it’s a constant stream of colleagues knocking on your door with a quick question, or your own tendency to fall into a Buzzfeed quiz hole when you should be working on a PowerPoint deck, distraction is a major contributor to workplace stress. Rein in online distractions with tools like RescueTime (which tracks how you spend your time online), Focus (which blocks distracting websites) or Freedom (which can keep you offline altogether).”Read the article.

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Meet Our August Fierceling of the Month: Beth Wagner

Here at Fierce, we honor a person once a month with the coveted title of Fierceling of the Month. The qualification for a Fierceling is someone who has been nominated by peers for exceptionally exhibiting the fierce values and the 7 principles of our work. There are some great internal perks including choosing your favorite restaurant to catering a company-wide lunch. Each month, I look forward to interviewing these amazing people.This month, I had the honor to connect with Beth Wagner.Why did you come to work here? Fierce has been a huge part of my life since I was first introduced to the curriculum and the company over 8 years ago. Back then, I was working for a global retail organization and I had the chance to get certified as a Fierce facilitator. That experience changed my life. Not only did it test my competence and courage as a learning professional, but the content of Fierce started to come alive for me. I became a champion of all things Fierce. When the opportunity presented itself for me to work internally at Fierce, I jumped at the chance. I feel a strong sense of purpose working for a company who strives to “change the world, one conversation at a time.”What are some responsibilities of your role? As a Master Facilitator for Fierce you will often find me in a different city each week, doing what I love; facilitating our Fierce programs. In addition, I conduct Train-the-Trainer sessions, which means I get to pass along to others the life changing experience I had of becoming a Fierce facilitator. Developing others is a passion of mine, and I take pride in certifying Fierce facilitators all over the world.What’s the coolest thing you are currently working on? I am incredibly excited to be conducting an upcoming series of four virtual sessions with Malaysia and Hong Kong simultaneously! It’s not every day you get to connect and share the Fierce experience with others who are half a world away…and I get to do it from the comfort of my New England office – pinch me!When you’re not at Fierce, what are you most likely doing? While the Fierce office is based in Seattle, WA, my home-base is Maine. I feel truly fortunate to work for such an amazing organization and still be able to maintain my small, quiet existence in New England. When I’m not traveling for work, you will find me outdoors. I love to spend quality time with my husband and our two dogs; our black Lab, Duncan, and our German Short-haired Pointer, Delilah. Maine is a great place to soak in the beauty of all things nature – hiking, biking, skiing, boating…I love it all.What Fierce Principle are you focusing on this month? When my life moves too fast (as it does, regularly), I need to remind myself to slow down, and “let silence do the heavy lifting”. This summer has proven to be incredibly fast-paced, busy, and chaotic. So much so, I have fallen into the trap of creating assumptions which has led to far too many knee jerk responses. Instead of living in “reactionary” mode, I am practicing the art of silence and reminding myself of the 4 Fierce Objectives…Interrogate Reality, Provoke Learning, Tackle Tough Challenges, and (my favorite) Enrich Relationships.What inspires you? Other people inspire me. The strength, brilliance, courage, and sheer guts that most people have inside of them is incredibly motivating. When I open my eyes long enough to see what others are battling with, and how they are leveraging courage and conversation to get through the good and the bad, I am inspired. There are some pretty amazing people in this world. It’s a daily privilege to work with so many of them.What else do you want to ask Beth? Tweet @fierce_inc #fiercelingofthemonth to ask any other questions.

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Fierce Tip of the Week: Be Awake

On a scale from one to ten, how awake do you feel in your life? Are you paying attention to the most important things right now? I was recently talking with a retail executive, and she shared with me that her team stepped away from their phones and computers for a whole strategy session. Everyone noted that they were present with one another in a new way. One of the comments was: I actually felt like I was paying attention to what I needed to, instead of the 10 distractions that come up every hour.I am sure you can relate to the feeling of distractions running your life. And every day, whether we want to admit it or not, we pay a price for not being awake to this. Our actions and inactions have impact.When I hear the phrase, “be awake”, I always think of a stanza in William Stafford’s poem, “A Ritual to Read to Each Other”.

For it is important that awake people be awake, or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep; the signals we give- yes or no, or maybe – should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.

We have too much at stake to be in multiple places at once. Don’t look at Facebook or check your emails during a call. Don’t text someone else when someone is talking to you. These actions may seem trivial, yet they are signals.And we are all guilty of doing them from time to time.This week’s tip is to focus on an area of your life that you can be more awake. There’s no better time than now.

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