Innovation, velcro and the university of life

Ideas + change = innovation

Innovation has been on my mind lately. Why? Because frankly, no business survives without it.  And my partners and I want a great deal more than mere survival for academy!

As a business owner, I obviously have a very personal stake in managing innovation. But whether you own the business you work in or not, everyone should  passionately care about it.

The benefits for the business are inarguable, but for the individual too… wouldn’t you rather work somewhere where your ideas are valued and you are encouraged (and given time) to think about what you are doing?  I know I would.

An innovative idea about, well… ideas

One of my favourite examples of innovation is a recent one. It speaks to the educator in me and it has at its core the DNA of innovation…  a simple idea arrived at by thinking about something in a different way.

Chris Anderson, entrepreneur and owner of TED, connected the dots; curious people looking for ideas and inspiration, people with inspiring ideas they were willing to share, and a technologically and socially linked planet. Thus TED (in its current form) was born.  Anderson has now loosened the brand’s apron strings, giving rise to a multitude of TEDx events and ideas translated into many languages.

If you haven’t yet seen a TED – or TEDx – video, I’ll post my two favourites at the end.  If you’re not a ‘TED person’ already, I bet you will be after having a look.

Indeed, this whole blog post was originally going to be about how TED is a virtual university of life and business; one that encourages life long learning and also delivers it to people in a form that they control… but then I saw this excellent Fast Company article. Please have a read.

TED is a big idea; a simple one that has changed how many people spread ideas. It’s an innovation itself, but it’s also a cultural phenomenon that can help others to innovate, stimulating new ways of looking at things.

But you don’t have to have one big idea to create a culture of innovation. Sometimes innovation is merely doing better with what you have, doing something in a slightly different way because you took the time to think through a process that made more sense.

Supporting an innovation culture

Just a few of the actions academy takes to support an innovation culture in this workplace are (not surprisingly!) internal and external education and development programs for all staff; cross-functional (and self-directed) teams to manage new initiatives and training projects; and regular  ‘Velcro’ Days for trainers (so things stick!). Even more importantly, I hope we communicate the value we place of innovation across the company.

What happens in your workplace to support innovation? Could where you work be more innovative? What would you suggest to senior management?

P.S. Here are the two TED and TEDx videos I was talking about… one is Nigel Marsh on work / life balance and was presented in May 2010 in Sydney. And the other is Sir Ken Robinson on education and creativity – inspiring stuff.

Green is the new black

Or why your environmental credentials will play a huge role in your status as an ‘employer of choice’…

Green can mean business success

Off the back of our recent launch of academy green, our new sustainable learning brand, I spoke with HR Daily journalist Emma Wilkins.  The green message is certainly not a new one, but I believe it is important to continually talk about it and improve our efforts (note to Australian political parties!).

Rather than rewrite our conversation, please click through to Emma’s article here.

I’d love to hear how your company is addressing environmental issues, what’s working and where more could be done.

A standing ovation

Applaud business successes, big and small

Bow ties are being tied (or at least clipped!), hair is being dressed and fancy clothes donned. It’s that time of year again… tonight is the academy Awards.

No, not those Academy Awards, rather the ATA academy Awards, celebrating contact centre excellence across NSW. academy is the proud sponsor of tonight’s event at Star City in Sydney, and very excited to see the 800 or so attendees in just a few short hours.

Tonight is a big deal and a perfect way to celebrate success. Individuals and teams are nominated by their managers, feel valued and celebrate their successes with their peers across the industry.

It’s going to be huge.

Celebrating success is vital in business. Both to help staff feel appreciated and valued and also for business leaders to take stock of how far they have come.

You can’t have an awards night every week though. Sometimes a handwritten note, or a shared email copied to all peers (or someone’s manager) is an equally effective way to applaud achievement. Take the time to appreciate someone today!

Congratulations to all the nominees for the ATA academy Awards. I look forward to celebrating with you this evening.

PS – I would love to hear how you acknowledge the successes of the people you work with.

Intergenerational leadership – A marketing furphy?

Australia’s next MasterManager

Adriano Zumbo's V8 cake: Perfect teamwork

As a manager you have to hope your team is not going to be as hard for you to wrangle as an Adriano Zumbo creation is for an aspiring MasterChef.

Did you see that angelic-looking V8 cake on the show last night? For those of you who did not, it was eight thin layers of cake heaven (well, Adriano’s was, anyway!)… eight layers of vanilla used in different ways, with more than 140 ingredients and four hours of cooking.  The picture is to the left and the recipe link is here.

The reason the cake is such a showstopper is that each layer builds on a theme and is very different from the others, but (and it’s a big but*), they are perfectly complementary and would not work nearly so well without the others. Hang on… isn’t that how a team should be?

It really made me think… if managers (and I am one) put as much effort and passion into understanding the ingredients of their teams, how they work together and how they work as a whole, many businesses may just be in even better shape.

I certainly can’t tell you how to do that in one blog post, it takes different combinations of training, personal development, mentoring and coaching, passion and plain old hard work, for different people. But if we think of Adriano Zumbo as manager and cake as team, we can better understand how important care and attention to each element is when you are creating something greater than the sum of its parts.

* Madly trying to avoid a joke about eating too much cake here

5 ideas for building employee loyalty

Loyalty

Type “loyalty” into your favourite search engine and see what comes up.  It won’t paraphrase a line from Winston Churchill or reference the family pooch, but will instead focus on marketing methods associated with customer engagement. Any references to employee loyalty ultimately end up discussing share schemes and health programs, hardly the stuff of inspiration!

In all the leadership and management study I have undertaken and reviewed over the years, there is a ‘school of thought’ that appears to have been overlooked by even the most erudite of behavioural theorists.

While business embraces employee engagement strategies – connectivity, work/life balance and authentic leadership – these notions are all aimed inextricably at driving increases in productivity and profitability and ignore a critical intangible factor in the relationship.

You can see this in the response to an economic downturn, when the same businesses use the opportunity to “jettison the deadwood”, “lighten the load” and to “right-size” so they may continue unimpeded by less productive staff (and unfortunate euphemisms).

While the research tells us that people are attracted to working for (as well as buying from) strong and iconic brands that resonate with their values, it confirms that “once bitten people are twice shy” and are therefore less likely to share their heart with another employer in the future once that trust has been abused.

Team loyalty: The missing link?

The logical outcome of this cycle is that people become less loyal to their employers over time, and this is the idea that I am surprised has escaped the notice of even the most passionate of corporate motivators and people researchers.

So why has the idea of building loyalty amongst teams slipped from the leadership lexicon?

Building employee loyalty is a slippery concept, especially as managers and business leaders are often at the mercy of capital markets and head office decisions that they have little influence over.

Often it is the local branch manager who is left to deal with the unpopular decision of how to cut costs by removing the coffee bar, cancelling the Christmas party and who to ‘downsize’ when the going gets tough.  The even harder job for that person is how to rebuild trust and support in the team that remains, and how to continue to achieve the productivity outcomes expected when everyone is feeling flat and unmotivated.

And yet loyalty for authority figures, especially under adversity, is one of the qualities that has driven human experience throughout history. Sherpa Tenzing climbed Everest, and may have arrived first, but it was his loyalty to Sir Edmund Hillary that kept his mouth closed on the matter for the rest of his life.  When Nelson sailed into Trafalgar he asked that “England expects that every man will do his duty”, and the English sailors fell over themselves to die under the French canons as a result!  The essential concept of Australian ‘mateship’ is rooted in loyalty to the people who we find most dear and would trust above all others.

So what do we need to do to build loyalty in the workplace?

Is it simply about giving people the right working hours and regular pay-rises?

The following five ideas spring from my experiences in business over the past fifteen years, and while I don’t claim to be a guru on these matters, I certainly believe that we ignore that matter of employee loyalty at our peril.

1) Tell it like it is and be honest

Don’t gild the lily and use ‘management speak’ when bad (or good!) news needs to be shared with your business. Don’t avoid the issue, but speak directly and calmly on the topic and be ready to answer difficult and personal questions.

Even the appearance of dishonesty will give the game away. If it looks like you are dissembling then you probably are and people won’t trust you in any situation.

2) Be yourself

It’s ok to appear uncomfortable or awkward as long as people know you are telling the truth. People are highly attuned to spin these days, which is why the idea of authentic leadership has taken off. In essence, relax and be comfortable in your own skin.

3) Stand for something

Find what you believe in, make it your hallmark and stand by it. History’s most popular leaders had a clear agenda that was well communicated to their constituents. People understood what they stood for and they followed them as a result.

4) Share and invest

The more you hoard the less you will receive. Give freely of your knowledge, your competence and capability. Passionately commit to replacing yourself and be selfless in that mission. People will notice and give their support in kind.

5) Be clear and unwavering in your expectations

If people don’t understand what you need from them, then they will fail. If people aren’t aware of the consequences of their inability to achieve, then they will fail. There is no such thing as a free ride. It is ok to expect that everyone will do their duty and enact punitive measures on those that don’t.

Now I can’t say whether these five points will build employee loyalty in every workplace, but they certainly can’t hurt. I would be fascinated to hear what others have to say or think on this very old (yet new!) topic.

Leadership lessons the hard way

Today’s remarkable Australian Labor Party spill shows importance of leadership skills

Labor spill

As today’s dramatic political events unfolded, I couldn’t help but reflect on what we can all learn from them. Let’s face it, while it all made for gripping TV, it’s not an ideal way to win, or lose, leadership. Nonetheless, through a variety of circumstances, I think it has left the nation in a stronger place. Both the defeated and incumbent leaders were stirring in their own ways.

To the lessons from today… let’s start with Kevin Rudd.  His speech of defeat was moving and inspiring. He articulated his vision, the ongoing achievements of his team and what he wishes they did better. He was personal, likeable and I felt like I understood his motivations and his drive to do good for the country, as I have not been able to since his 2007 election. Had he communicated with even half that transparency and passion throughout his term, today would not have happened.

You just can’t get past the fact that a good leader needs to, not only have a vision, but also be able to articulate it and take people on his or her journey.

While Julia Gillard assumes office in a way that I’m sure even she is not pleased with, what an impressive start she made. (And if she can lead the country the way she led that press conference, we have ourselves a leader.)

In her remarks, Ms Gillard set the context (her background), spoke of her values, articulated her vision and started to make changes to some of the issues on the table, most notably the mining tax that was arguably Mr Rudd’s downfall.  She talked of open doors, open minds and collaboration. She took responsibility for her role in the good and the bad of the Rudd Government. It was textbook stuff.

Without wanting to buy into the politics of it all, if Ms Gillard maintains this style, she has a strong chance of gaining a term as Prime Minister in the more traditional electorate-led way. Why? Because today she demonstrated the communication skills of a leader.

In one stunning day, we have seen humility, dignity, gratitude, pride and emotion from Mr Rudd; and sincerity, passion, vision and collaboration from Ms Gillard. We have also perhaps seen the transition from traditional autocratic to modern collaborative leadership styles.

The coming months will be telling as Ms Gillard tries to right wrongs, set her own agenda and shore up support ahead of an election, all while continually communicating her intentions and vision.  It sounds tough, but the presence, impact and leadership skills she demonstrated today may just get her, and the Australian Labor Party, through.

Either way, what a day for Australia. Our children will be lucky enough to never know that the role of our nation’s leader was once gender specific. Nothing is impossible for great leaders… perhaps the biggest lesson of all.

A farmer in the office

Are you an education 'farmer'?

And no, I’m not talking about the person sitting in the cubicle across the way sneaking in a game of FarmVille on Facebook.

I have just watched Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk titled ‘Bring on the learning revolution!’ and I was struck with his plea for complete educational transformation. Not evolution. Revolution.

Sir Ken is discussing the way we educate our children and I couldn’t agree more.  However, I think his points apply equally well to how we cultivate talent and creativity in adults too.

I heartily recommend you watch the video link posted below. Sir Ken is both elegant and eloquent as he makes his points. But for those of you in a rush, the guts of the argument is that we need to move from systems of industrial education (the manufacturing or industrial model) where we churn people in a linear progression from Kindergarten through to university – to an agricultural model.

Agriculture. It’s a funny word when applied to education. But Sir Ken argues that human flourishing is organic. We need to cultivate the conditions under which it thrives… just like a farmer.

If you are an HR professional, you are in a prime seat to help customise education and training for the people in your organisation. You can be the company farmer. (Like me, I’m sure you’ve been called a few things in your time, but ‘farmer’ is probably a first!)

Please have a look at, and listen to, Sir Ken’s talk. I’m sure you will get something out of it. For me, it’s realising that all our efforts to deliver customised and exciting training to our students are worth it. By harnessing and directing our own passion for learning, we can effect wonderful change in people’s lives.

What does Scooby Doo have to do with leadership?

Have you had a 'Scooby Doo' moment?

Probably the funniest moment of a great speech I recently heard, was when Tyrone Pitsis told an ATA NSW Chapter executive luncheon gathering about his ‘Scooby Doo’ moment. If you’re wondering what he meant by that, the look on Scooby’s face above should give you a clue! To see more, you’ll need to catch Tyrone in full flight some time… something I highly recommend.

While Tyrone was having a laugh about a hiccough along his own leadership journey, I think the overall points he was making are extremely important ones. First, great leaders – and even good ones – make mistakes, dust themselves off, learn from it and keep moving towards their personal and organisational goals. And second, often, if something is worth doing it may not come easily.

Tyrone himself has had a colourful life, filled with challenges and what you might have considered mistakes (at the time). But each of those difficult times and so-called mistakes has contributed to his happy and stimulating life and career choices.

As a result of his own experiences and also his professional research into leadership and management, Tyrone shared with us his 6 key elements of leadership. I found myself nodding all the way through. You can see them either by clicking on the link or I’ll list them at the bottom of this post.

Leadership is so personal and great leadership is hard to define. But I believe it’s one of the most important traits to strive for.  Not everyone is born a leader, but – if you want to – everyone can develop leadership skills that will smooth the way in life and in business.

I’d love to know if you agree with Tyrone and, if you don’t, what you think is instrumental to visionary leadership. How do you define good leadership?

PS – You can read all about Tyrone’s leadership journey here – his tale takes us from life as a young Greek Australian in the rough Newtown and St Marys of the 70s, all the way through to his current role as Executive Educator and Researcher at the Centre for Management & Organisation Studies at UTS.

6 key elements of leadership

1. Lead how you would like to be led
   1. Respect others
   2. Be compassionate
   3. Be passionate, in key roles always surround yourself with passionate people and avoid the ‘yes men and women’
2. Keep your reputation (that is the only thing in your control)
   1. We live in unparalleled conditions of uncertainty, risk and ambiguity. It’s easy to compromise your values, don’t do it, it’s not worth it. Never compromise your values
3. Be liked, be feared but most of all be respected
   1. Create a positive environment to work
   2. Ask powerful questions
      1. Germany has a job title, ‘Director Powerful Questions’; Australia does not
         1. A question: “What service do we provide?”
         2. A powerful question: “What service do our customers want?”
         3. A really powerful question: “What services can we create with our customers both for now and the future?”
   3. Challenge common sense and the structures that lead to it
      1. Just because the world may look flat from where we are standing, it doesn’t mean it is
4. Celebrate ideas, and most of all, people with ideas
5. Invest in knowledge, development and education
   1. Break this Australian propensity to view academic ideas as ‘purely’ academic. The greatest organisations (especially those in Northern Europe), collaborate and involve universities and educational institutions heavily (be it Google with Stanford, Imperial College London, and so on)
   2. What’s worse in your eyes “spending money on people’s development with the risk they might leave”, or “not spending money on people’s development, and have them stay?”
   3. People are not your most important asset, talented people are
      1. The leader develops talent
6. Network (beyond just business networks), and collaborate