#223: Peck a different button
Are you insane? Here’s a quick test: Are you doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? That’s how Albert Einstein defined insanity.It’s easy to behave insanely in this way and quite common. Behavior psychologists even have a name for it - repetition compulsion. They discovered it by studying pigeons. Pigeons tend to repetitively peck the same button to get a corn pellet, even though random pecking led to the result, and even if that button no longer delivers as expected.
Like pigeons, some people seem addicted to repeat today what worked for them in the past, even though today is a different button.Obviously, humans are not pigeons. Our affairs are not static; we face constant change. It should be common sense that doing same things over and over will not produce different outcomes.
It is time to peck at a different button... or go insane.I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA
#222: Leaders should fail early
How do you react to failure? Do you view it as the end of something or as the beginning of a new phase?Do you accept failure as something that has shrunk you in some way, possibly because it has diminished your credibility and stature? Or do you welcome failure because it expands you with new knowledge and experience?If you answered yes to the second question in each case, then consider yourself a leader. Or at least leadership material.Warren Bennis, a long-standing authority on leadership, believes that the worst problem a leader can face is early success. Why? Because then there is no opportunity to learn from adversity and problems.
To become a good leader, you must first develop as an individual. And that takes a couple of failures.It’s best to fail often and fail early. But even if you did not, don’t despair. You’re never too old to fail... or to lead.
I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA
#221: Feel, don’t think
Are you a moral hypocrite? Relax, you’re not alone. Most of us are.
We tend to condemn behavior in others that we judge acceptable, even virtuous, if we engage in it.
Why do we do so? Because we always look for the easy way. We want the social benefits of being seen as nice, seen to be virtuous, without having to work hard at actually behaving that way.You’re not all bad, though. Consider the state of much of the world. Is it not surprising that we humans have survived as social animals for so long?
Here’s one major reason - our sensitivity to unfairness. As many social experiments have shown, we humans are pretty good at spotting and punishing antisocial behavior.
This means that your heart or your gut is already programmed to feel when you are behaving like a moral hypocrite.So, when in doubt about how to behave, think with your gut and not with your mind.
I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA
#220: Do something or get fired
This summer I read David McCullough’s book on the building of the Panama Canal. The book, called ‘The Path Between the Seas’, is as much about the engineering miracle as it is about the triumph of leadership and management.The book has more than 600 pages, but one page still stands out in my memory. On this page John Stevens, the Chief Engineer for a number of years and for all practical purposes the CEO, makes the following point:“You won’t get fired if you do something, you will if you don’t do anything. Do something if it is wrong, for you can correct that, but there is no way to correct nothing.”Exactly. That’s the way to create miracles. Do something, fix it quickly if it turns out wrong and then learn from it.Almost one hundred years later, many managers seem to promote the opposite view. No wonder business miracles are in short supply.I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA
#219: Behaving with mirrors
Do you want to improve the behavior of people at work? Do you want them to be nicer? Better yet, do you want to be better behaved and be a nicer person?Do it with mirrors.Research has shown that people behave better when there is a mirror in the room. People tend to work harder, are more ethical, are less stereotypical in their judgments. In fact, they are simply nicer people altogether.Why is this? It seems that the virtual person watching from the mirror makes people in the room more self-aware. This greater self-awareness makes them think before they act, which then results in better behavior.So go ahead, hang some mirrors in your office. But be clear what sort of behavior you want to encourage. I recently saw a dilapidated adult entertainment bar. I was not surprised that it had gone out of business. It’s exterior walls were covered by huge mirrors. Big mistake.
I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA
#218: Business is not a sport
I dislike it when sports teams are held up as models for business teams to copy. It is ridiculous for business teams to try to be like sports teams and it can be dangerous. Here’s why.Sports teams are trained for only one sport. Team members know exactly which sport they’re playing, how to play it and which rules apply. How simple.
Sports teams wear uniforms so that you can easily spot the competition. They also introduce themselves as your competition before each game. How polite.
Competing teams agree to respect the umpire. Sports umpires tend to be very visible, very loud and very strict. How reassuring.
Best of all, sports teams face only one competitor at a time, at a date and place agreed on well in advance. How convenient.
In business you do not have these luxuries, which is why I think sports teams should study how business teams do it.
I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA
#217: Don’t assume anything
Thanks to Murphy, we know that if something can go wrong, it will. But that does not mean you should help Murphy.One way to make it difficult for Murphy is to avoid making assumptions. I know, I know, in life and in business we must make assumptions because we don’t always have accurate knowledge about the future.
But that’s not what I’m talking about. What I’m suggesting is that you don’t make silent assumptions when working with or managing people. If you do that, it can cost you.
Here’s a classic example. In 1998 NASA’s 125 million dollar Mars Climate Orbiter crashed onto Mars. Why? Because one group of engineers assumed that it was OK to use English units of measurement. Big mistake. All other engineers had already changed over to the more universal metric system.When you must make assumptions, do so loudly and openly so that others know what you’re up to.
I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA
#216: Encourage your pet pessimist
Do you have a pet pessimist at work? Good. Every organization should have at least one.Pessimists matter. They enhance your decision making and protect your success by balancing overconfident optimists.
As always there is a price to pay. Pessimists take more effort to manage and they exhaust everybody on your team with their negativity.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Here’s what I suggest.
Take your pet pessimist aside. Tell him, or her, that you’ve noticed how, sometimes, the quality of decisions improve when he puts on his unhappy face. Now ask for his help. Say that what you really need is a fully-functioning devil’s advocate, not just an unhappy face.
What you want is someone who knows the art of releasing hot air without pricking the balloon. This is a skill, not a dysfunction. Pessimists thrive on dysfunction, so don’t feed the dysfunction by talking about it. Instead, encourage and reward the skill.
Good luck.
I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA
#215: Jargon to you too
Do you hide behind jargon? Come on, admit it. We all do, sometimes. It’s when you rely on it constantly that you create problems.Jargon is inevitable because it tends to develop quite naturally. When the same group of people come together regularly to work together or play together, they tend to develop a way of expressing themselves which sounds like Greek to outsiders.Bankers do it, doctors do it, teenagers do it, gangsters do it and so do you.
We create jargon as a communication short-hand. And because it is unique to members it improves understanding within the group while keeping non-members in the dark. In other words, jargon unites the group.
But be careful when and how you use it, because jargon annoys outsiders. In business there is one group of outsiders that you had better not annoy. They are called customers.
Never forget, at times we are all members of that group.
I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA
