Rocking the Boat - Part 1 - The Junior Shipmate Shuffle

I've always believed strongly in rocking the boat. Sometimes this has been successful in both life and the career, other times... not so! Yet I stand by those decisions!

What do I mean by "Rocking the Boat"?

I'm certainly not referring to rude or arrogant behavior, I despise people that hurt or back stab others to advance their own careers and I'm certainly not talking about going fishing. I am referring to being the one person that isn't afraid to put their hand up and say what other's are thinking. I am also referring to thinking outside the square (or cube!) and not just accepting the status quo because others told you so. I'm referring to challenging the thinking of management and ensuring they aren't letting their own stubborn ways hold back the business.

I can think of countless examples, so over a 3 part series I will discuss just a few.

Part 1 - The Junior Shipmate Shuffle
I've always been a big advocate for supporting new staff in an organisation to speak up about flaws they see or observations they make as they learn business systems and processes... and here's why. Many years ago (more than I'd like to admit) when I first made the transition from the Building Industry to the IT Industry, I started my first full time contracting position with a Wholesaler and Manufacturing SME in the Display and Merchandising world. It was exciting times, but also quite scary. I was going from building and concreting as a seasoned worker that was in charge of numerous staff and knew the job back to front and inside out. I was entering the IT world in an unfamiliar industry with a boss that had built a business from scratch and didn't think he needed an IT guy, but only employed me because all his management and consulting staff told him he needed to have someone.


Fresh Eyes
I spent the first couple of days getting to know the people, the business, sitting alongside staff and managers as they explained the various components of the systems. The time came for the weekly sales meeting and I was asked to attend to introduce myself. After sitting through the hour long meeting, the time came for the MD to introduce me and asked me to explain what I was there for! I had a choice right here... smile, say hi and all lovely things about the business.... or, say the plain honest truth. I decided to be forthright about the state of their aging IT systems, the lack of unity between processes, the unnecessary doubling up of paperwork that held up vital processes and the need to centralize network services. I was brief and to the point and positive about what laid ahead. 


After I finished there was silence, you could hear a pin drop and I suddenly wondered if I had gone too far. The National Sales Manager spoke up, "We just spent thousands of dollars on consultants that spent the last couple of weeks with us and then held a workshop to improve business practices... you just summed up everything they said and you've spent less than 2 days with us... I think you're going to go ok here!"


Sometimes Management Just Don't Know
A few minutes later the Managing Director and owner let everyone know that some building works were going to be taking place later in the week and glossed over the description of a wall being knocked down, that there might be a small interruption, etc. I turned and looked at the wall he mentioned and quickly realised he had no idea about what to expect. Again... choice time... do I speak up and possibly make him look like a fool? 
"Ah... excuse me", I said. I confirmed what I had heard, then commented. "That wall contains all the electrical, phone and network leads for the server and all the call centre computers and phones The main call centre will be offline for most of the day unless we move the cabling. It will also be full of dust and be so noisy no one would be able to be on phone calls anyway...and it's summer.... the builder is gonna stink of B.O.!!" The last bit was purely to ease the tension! Again... a silent pause... then MD said "OK, Troy's in charge of the building project"

Introducing the Alternative... easing the blow with Feel, Felt, Found

One of the difficult things with introducing the "outside the cube" style thinking with a senior manager or a meeting forum is ensuring the standard human defence mechanism of others doesn't shut you down before you've spoken.

If others are set in their ideas, sometimes formed on ill-informed evidence, the most difficult thing for a new staff member in an organisation or a junior member of staff is helping others see past the blinkers they have on. Many years ago in the sales industry I was taught an almost corny methodology to gently turn an objection around using a process called Feel, Felt, Found. It may sound somewhat corny in its description, yet it works wonders in it practice.

It's simply about the phrasing you use before introducing the new idea.

1. Firstly you acknowledge the alternative perspective with "I understand how you feel". Explain an example in your experience that relates.
2. You then find common ground by saying "I also felt that way" or "many others have felt that way". 
3. Then give evidence to offer the new and more enlightened perspective by saying "yet after researching it carefully what we've found was..." or "yet after implementing an alternative system, we found these benefits..."

Are You Fit for Change?

Reading an article from Natalia K Bilash, an experienced C Level Recruiter, prompted me to consider the similarity between commencing a personal fitness program and commencing organisational change... So Thanks Natalia! Find the Blog here: http://nataliakbilash.wordpress.com/2009/11/08/out-of-shape/


Since childhood, fitness and exercise were an everyday part of my life, they were easy for me. I jogged approx 30km's per week, regularly entered long distance "Fun Run's" with my father. I also trained 2 to 3 times as an Gymnast and by the time I got to Level 6 (Level10 is Olympic standard) I was offered a place at the Victorian (Australia) Institute of Sport... so needless to say... I was fairly fit. This remained into my early 20's. The architectural office I was working in sponsored it's employees to go to the gym and everyone was fitness tested.  Out of 30 odd people attending including 3 Triathletes... I was rated as the fittest. (needless to say I gave the Triathletes a hard time!)


Back then I had Abs of iron... these days... my abs need ironing... I still believe in exercise, I still WANT to do it and my mind set is still around the fact that exercise is great, that I enjoy it when I do it, but two things hold me back.

1. Exercise now feels like a lot of hard work especially with a variety of aches and pains throughout my body
2. Getting the motivation to actually start is harder than ever... there's things like watching TV to be done!

For an organisation going through Change Management, things are very similar!

1. Change involves a LOT of hard work both individually and organisational. The business will go through aches and pains... guaranteed! But if that Organisational Vision for the fitness plan is kept at the forefront and communicated well, the pain will be recognised as that "good pain" and people will be inspired to work through it. They will share the knowledge that if the plan is stuck to, the end result will be a lean, mean business machine... it won't happen overnight... but it will happen!
2. Motivation is the key... to keep working on the necessary tasks to bring about change while there are plenty of other things to be done... like the normal day to day tasks of individuals jobs. It requires strong leadership, both from the top, but even more importantly from the people on the ground involved in the change and directly affected by it's results. Give key staff mini "promotions" by assigning them to the Change Management board, include it in their job description and KPI's so that they are rewarded for the efforts. Strongly encourage innovation throughout the business and when individuals come up with an idea or take a risk to support the change... reward them, even if it doesn't go perfectly. 

Just like with trying to get back to fitness after a long break, any effort to exercise and to increase health is a good one... during Change Management, any effort to bring about change, whether it's the small wins or the small changes in process and attitude.... they all count!

The Fun Theory

We all enjoy getting those Friday funny emails to break up the end of the working week, although sometimes they can be total garbage! Today I received one that was wonderfully thought provoking and inspiring and backs up a long established work / life balance practice that I have long been an advocate of. The link is below... but the story it reminded me of goes something a little like this:

Many years ago as a Team Leader and Foreman on building and construction sites, working on a particularly large and difficult house slab revealed an interesting reality... people are much more productive when they are having fun. "What absolute rubbish!" scream the old school managers of yesteryear! More emotional intelligent leaders of today will be thinking "Ok, tell me more... I'm listening"

Let me explain what occurred. In building a house slab, there is nothing more critical than setting the foundations correctly. One component of this is building a large base of compacted sand that is intersected by beams throughout and deeper foundation trenches around the perimeter. In this particular slab we had a huge amount of sand to shift, but we couldn't do it with the usual assistance of excavation machinery. This meant that all of the sand had to be moved by wheelbarrow and shovel. I can't remember the exact figures but it was approximately 30 cubic metres of sand... a hell of a lot to do by hand over a very large slab!!

On the first day, the negative attitude of the difficult, laborious and tedious task ahead permeated the crew. They worked slowly, moaning the entire time. We were falling behind schedule with every minute passing. I started to push them, growl at them in the same way I had been taught by my former team leaders. A couple of the guys didn't take kindly to being pushed and if I had gone harder on them I have a strong suspicion I would have ended up with a shovel in my head. We struggled to get about 10-12 cubic metres moved after a very long day. We were all exhausted and frustrated, bickering with each other as we packed the truck and departed for home

The next day I spoke to the team as we got to site and said "Alright, we had a tough one yesterday and no one particularly enjoyed it... bad news is, we've still got plenty more to go... any suggestions?". "Yeah" said one of the guys, "Stop hassling us so much".... I was about to tell him a few home truths about his own work ethic and the pressures the boss was putting on me to get the job done. I paused and breathed before responding. "Ok... how about this... you two take the right side of the slab, we'll take the left. First crew to get eight sand beds done gets an extra 15 minutes for morning tea and I'll shout a drink or pie or something."

One of the guys was about to object that there was no way to get that much done before morning tea when the other ran and grabbed a wheelbarrow and started filling it up with sand to get moving... it set the scene. Suddenly there was urgency in everything they did. There was wheelbarrow races, attempts at sabotage, heckling, etc... but most of all, a lot of laughter and a lot of work getting done!! The end result was the remaining 18-20 metres was completed so quickly we all got to head home early. We had moved twice as much sand in half the time and left the site laughing and joking with energy left to spare.

That experience has stayed with me over the years and when I'm faced with a tough working day / week or an insurmountable task... I remember it. I also remember it when I saw the short video below.



This is a great initiative of Volkswagen. It's purely about making the world a better place, proving that the slightest thing can totally change peoples perception... but most of all, that a little bit of fun goes a long way to very easily getting people to do things they wouldn't normally consider... simply put, a little fun makes life so much simpler!

Organisational Blindness - The way it's always been done

We've all experienced that feeling after starting a new position, during the induction training learning the processes and systems, when the trainer has shown you a complex or convoluted process that appears to be a double up of something you were shown previously... you ask "Why is it done that way?"... we all know the response... "Because that's the way it's always been done!"

The humble or timid person makes a note on their pad about this process so they remember what to do, purely because it's so illogical there's no way they'll remember otherwise. The forthright and confident person will question it, ask if there's a better way and provide an example of an alternative... At that moment right there, the organisation has the momentous opportunity to change, to improve, to evolve and create time and cost savings. Yet, what normally happens? The organisationally blind trainer... or their manager... or the General Manager... usually dismiss the logical and 20/20 vision of the new person and reject the new suggestion for favour of "the way it's always been done"

I've always been a big advocate of encouraging new staff to observe the processes during those first couple of weeks and to feel free to suggest alternatives based on their experience. I've watch countless organisations miss out on amazing opportunities to reduce costs, reduce mistakes, reduce delivery cycles, increase customer services and reduce staff frustrations... all with relatively minimal investment, simply because of being too afraid to change. I've watched dozens of organisations spends tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on implementing whizz bang ERP and CRM systems to revolutionise their business, yet still wish to keep redundant and time wasting staff practices that could easily be automated. Why? Fear of change? Fear of the Unknown? Or... Organisational Blindness!

What is organisational blindness? Simply stated, it's the inability to see the obvious, an inherent culture of doing things "the way they've always been done". This culture can be caused by long term employees that just want to do their job, it can be caused by short sited middle management that fear change or innovation because it will affect their figures, it can be caused by C level management always pushing for quick profits and lacking emotional intelligence or foresight that is tuned to the needs of the customer and their staff.

An organisation with Managers as managers will invariably suffer from organisational blindness.

An organisation with Leaders as managers will usually have organisational awareness.

How can an organisation avoid a culture of blindness?

1. Create the ability to provide suggestions! Listen to the suggestions of the staff on the ground, the ones dealing with the frustrations. 
2. Make sure Leadership sponsor an environment and culture of change. They need to drive it and reward it!
3. Always encourage new staff to openly share their thoughts in those initial weeks prior to being absorbed in the way of the business.
4. Where possible, encourage cross job pollination. (What's that you ask?). Have staff spend "a day in the life of" other staff, training them in other tasks. Not only does this create succession planning, it also reveals flaws in processes and encourages inter-employee understanding.
5. Create a facility for ideas and suggestions to be tabled, discussed, debated, etc at company meetings.

No doubt there's a myriad of other suggestions here... feel free to share them!

How do you handle correcting mistakes with clients who are upset?

Contrary to popular belief, mistakes can actually be an opportunity to win LONG TERM customer loyalty... Why? How you react in a crisis can prove your ability. We all make mistakes, customer know this. Handle the crisis well and they know they are safe to continue the relationship with you.

1. Four words: "I accept all responsibility".

An expression used so rarely today yet in my experience it is one of the most powerful placation devices available. I have seen heated arguments and circular blame games shut down instantly with these four words and suddenly the discussion turns to solution finding. Once blame is accepted move to solution strategy.

2. Rectify ASAP by provision of goods and services.

If the customer's immediate needs can't be met, don't talk about what you CAN'T do, talk about the 2 options you CAN provide and ask them for their preference... giving them control. This is important. Don't overwhelm them with choices, offer your best 2 only. If the customer offers an alternative that's doable... TAKE IT!

3. Make an Offer.

Offer additional discount, services or offer for their next transaction... these few dollars can keep an account worth thousands!

4. Follow up after the dust settles!

Once you've met the immediate needs, follow up AFTER the dust has settled, explain how you'll prevent the problem next time. It's not always best to do this during the crisis, it won't be heard as well. Handle each case on it's merits.

5. Go Old School with Snail Mail

Send a follow up snail mail where possible, not electronic. Every loves to receive a letter addressed personally to them... as long as it's NOT a bill. Contents should be outlining the above... apologising for the error, outlining steps to resolve and offer for next transaction. Include some movie tickets, a box of chocolates, etc.

6. Prove yourself next time around.

When the next transaction comes, make sure your staff are informed they must move heaven and earth to provide the most outstanding customer service available.

These are good common sense tried and true practices. I hope they serve you as well as they've served me.