Diversity of Thought

With all the turmoil in today's job market, and unmarket, organizations are pressed to increase or even maintain moral so they remain productive and remain a viable entity. Its increasingly difficult to complete that task through the creation of an organizational environment that allows you to reach your goals. Lets face it, employees are constantly looking over their shoulders to see who is watching them and more often than not, over their shoulder to see who is going to replace them. It reminds me of the days I worked in the steel mill and watched the "old timers" stop working when a young apprentice would stop to watch what they were doing. I often admired welders who could weld so precisely it looked like the weld was painted on. It was a true art. I finally asked my father why they stopped when I watched. He said it was because they felt that if I learned their trade and skill I would eventually "steal" their job and replace them. I thought, if we worked together we could do it better, faster and increase our productivity. So what is the point? The point is, we need to know how people think. What do think about their jobs and the messages they receive from their leaders. The strategy, what about the strategy...do they get it. And why do they work well with some, and not with others. Fundamentally it seems like this would be, at best, a very difficult thing to do. If you are a leader in your organization, you must be constantly thinking, "How do I get my employees to work better together. Why do some get along, while others do not?" Ok, the point of this is to ensure you that I could help you find the answer and the real revelation is your employees discover for themselves what the obstacles are between them. I can do this through the use of a highly effective instrument that has the largest validated database as proof. And the really exciting thing is....its fun. When you go through this 4 hour session of self discovery you walk away with a realization that you have discovered many things about your self, your work place, your peers, and surprisingly...your spouse. So, don't hide the welds, share your skills and grow your team. Need proof? Ok, I'll end with a question to prove what I have you think about and discover... Have you ever taken a trip or vacation with someone who MUST have an agenda for every day? A schedule of events, meals and meeting places? Does it drive you crazy...it is calming for them. I know why.

Gridlock from the Social network

Originally, when I had a corporate position, I often wondered why we were pushing the use of all the social networks. It almost felt like we were trying to force 50 lbs of sausage into a 5 lb casing. I didn't get it and more important, I didn't get it because of the pressure being put on getting results and reaching the iconic corporate goal of...putting oneself out of a job by making it more efficient. But, it appears the blogging, networking, interacting, congealing of ideas and publication internally of successes in networking was actually working and needed and godlike. But, if you dig deeper, internal social networking, although recommended to learn how it works, actually was a detriment to reaching the goals you were measured by. So, you add a few more hours to your day, twitter on the way home, get pulled over for texting while driving by the PD, and try and find a good cheap lawyer with advice on Plaxo. But wait, what about work...real work...measured results work...the stuff you get paid for. Well, ok, you miss the mark, or as they say, you missed some major milestones and hence your performance is lacking and you will be resourced out due to lack of skills which you happened to have refined and honed and were acknowledged for but, they weren't measured in your plan. Ah ha, the plan. What is the social networking plan. How did we get gridlocked into all the social networks and the plethora of new social networks designed to be better than the current ones. So what am I getting to? What I am trying to surmise is that if we look at all the blogging, networking, things that can be outsourced, resourced, off-shored (unless your global then they never call it that) and balanced, you need to find what the tipping point is. An epiphany...one needs to find one or two critical networks which fit your industry. Gridlock does not occur on the social networking highway. That highway is organized and has a set of rules, regulations, guidelines and applications allowing it to work admirably. The gridlock occurs in your mind. Yes that's right, in your own mind and it happens quite easily. You see, with face to face discussion, or even when you pick up the phone to talk to someone, you are able to pick up the little nuances of inflection of voice. And if lucky enough, visual feedback from a face to face discussion where you are actually able to talk to them in person. In the net, you don't. Yes, I know you can reach out to scads of people in one fell swoop and will get some valid information and connections. We all know it works and is a really invaluable tool. But listen, you learn a lot from being dragged naked through a cactus patch by an angry mule too. Pick the right network. Make the right connection. Do the proper follow-up. Meet and talk to the right people, yeah, that's right talk to them. You see, it all boils down to the personal connection in the end. Not off shored, not dragged through cactus to learn, not off ramped into a unmeasured goal, but something with meaning. The gridlock exists in your mind.