Know What You Know

"Near miss, nose dive, and tigers...oh my!"

There was a story in the news recently regarding a "near miss" of two airliners over Hawaii which has sparked some discussion amongst those who are interested in such things.     Reading the commentary on the incident on a forum not otherwise dedicated to aviation had a much more dramatic take on the situation than commentary of the same story on a pilot board.

The general discussion board contained comments on how the quoted "600 feet per minute" descent rate is a "nose dive", that were it not for the bravery of the pilots disaster was certain, and other savory bits of dramatic prose.     The discussion on the pilots board started with some basic factual information around how the equipment detected a possible collision and issued a suggested course of action, some discussion around how the *average* descent rate of an airliner is in thousands of feet per minute,  then quickly turned to amusement at the ...out-of-the-box... thinking being demonstrated on the other board.     Essentially, the experts in the field were non-plussed by the story while the general population thought it something much, much more dramatic than it actually was.

We all like to contribute or share our ideas when presented with an opportunity to help; for most of us, being helpful is in our nature and we'd like to help see others succeed as well by sharing knowledge and understanding.    Sometimes, however, we fall into the trap of believing and/or repeating information we may have heard once that was incomplete or worse, completely incorrect.    This can be especially true when the information, although incorrect, "seems" reasonable and righteous.   Fortunately, this kind of information (such that associated with the story mentioned above) can usually be fact checked rather easily via Google, or better yet - by talking to an expert in the area of interest.

Failure to check these facts can lead to over-dramaticizing while describing an issue, which in turn can lead to decisions which may or may not reflect the best path forward.    I had written a while ago about taking some time to wind your watch before making a decision; perhaps doing the same before posting a dramatic re-telling of a factual event might warrant the same.

As an aside - what, exactly, is a "near miss"?   Is that when two planes just barely collide, just nearly missing each other?

Teamwork

"November One-Six-Four-Bravo-Lima, turn left heading one-three-zero.   Cleared for the ILS runway 5 approach.”   

Traveling at 115 mph and seeing the runway
less than a mile demands peak performance.

These are the words I heard at the end of a three hour flight, the last hour of which had been spent staring at the instrument panel as we went through clouds and rain, with the destination airport advertising 400 foot ceilings and two miles visibility.    Three hours earlier, I had taken off from the small airport in east-central Ohio, destined for Chesapeake, VA.    The weather in Ohio was nice.   In Virginia, however…not so much.    Flying on an IFR flight plan, I was part of a team - air traffic control facilities in Columbus, Washington, and Norfolk were my teammates on this trip.    Once I heard those words, however, I knew that their roles in the flight had come to an end and now the successful outcome of the flight depended on me.    The rest of the team had done their job, now it was time to do mine.

There is much written about the importance of teamwork.   From constructing a building to writing software and from managing a flight to managing the care of patients in a hospital, teamwork is essential to a successful outcome no matter what the endeavor.    Sometimes, however, the importance of individual contributions to the team are overlooked and this can have a potentially devastating effect on the outcome of a project.

Key players on your team need the freedom to perform their tasks to the best of their ability.   They also need to know that there will be times when the success or failure of the project may hinge on their actions, and that they have the responsibility to be aware of such circumstances and to either have the proper skill set to deal with the tasks at hand or to call for help in a timely manner.

Success is a team oriented goal.   However, just as winning the Super Bowl can hinge on one player’s action or completing a flight in bad weather can hinge on one pilot’s actions, success on your project may depend on the actions of one member of your team.     Have you given them the freedom and responsibility they need?

Decision Height

The typical precision instrument approach, as done thousands of times per day throughout the U.S. and elsewhere, requires the pilot to follow just two instruments in the cockpit: the course deviation indicator (CDI) and the altimeter.    The pilot uses the CDI to keep the aircraft on course, both horizontally and vertically.   The altimeter doesn't provide guidance, but does provide something else that may not be obvious: the point at which a decision must be made.

Most such approaches require the pilot to have the runway environment in sight when they are 200 feet above the ground.   The procedure, therefore, is to look out the window when the altimeter says you are 200 feet above the ground.   If you see the runway, you can continue on and land.   If not, you must execute a missed approach procedure which involves applying power and climbing to avoid the ground.

The key item here is that, like in many projects, there is a point at which a decision must be made.    Successful leaders will have identified the parameters which factor into the decision ahead of time - things like cost, progress to date, risk assessments, and so on - so that the actual decision can be made on a purely objective basis.    When such parameters are not defined, making a go/no-go decision on a project can be a long and drawn out process as emotional or subjective factors are taken into account.   To be sure, there may well be a point in the project where such subjectivity is allowable and perhaps even desirable, but not at a critical decision point.

Another pitfall is that the decision is deferred simply because the decision may be too difficult to make. This indecisiveness can lead to cost overruns, increasing project scope, or additional effort expended on a technically insurmountable issue resulting in lost productivity.

Just as with the pilot guiding his aircraft full of passengers to a safe landing in foggy conditions, leaders need to be aware of their position and be ready to make correct decisions at the correct time based on objective information.   Failure to do so won't help a project, and at worst can lead to a rather sudden and disastrous result.

What kind of decisions do you need to make for your project?    Do you have the metrics in place to objectively make those decisions?

How to Kill a High Performance Team

High performance software development teams are amazing - they get an incredible amount of work done in a relatively short period of time, and that work is largely error free.    Those errors that do surface are corrected quickly, without any finger pointing - in fact, they are often used as an opportunity to improve existing skills and/or learn new ones.   The team is fun to be around, because of both their cheerful, positive attitude as well as their tightly knit team spirit.

Teams like this must be stopped.   They make you and your mediocre team look bad.   Fortunately, if you can take control of the high performance group, you can stop them if you follow these six simple guidelines.

1.  Devalue Their Work
High performance software teams value their skills, and constantly hone them.   Thus anything that attacks and marginalizes their expertise will be effective.   Fortunately, devaluing their work is easy.   Simply emphasize other activities over their primary job of developing high quality software.   This can be done in a number of ways:

• Establish processes that place value on adding more process.   Do they want to make a change in the software?   Fill out a change request and submit it to the change control board, no matter how small or trivial.   But don't do this for code that has been tested or destined for release - do it for everything.   The team will hate it.
• Force the team to attend training on things that have no relationship to their job - financial ethics, warehouse safety, and hazmat training are all good examples.   Be sure to weight this heavily in their performance reviews, or at least rank it higher than actual technical work.
• Focus not on the end result (software), but on the intermediates such as requirement documents, compatibility matrices, and so on.   High performance teams handle these items themselves as a normal part of their job but if you force them to focus on these things - and not the final product -  you will implicitly communicate to them that their core expertise doesn't really matter.

2. Micro Manage for Macro Results

High performance teams instinctively break large tasks into manageable chunks and distribute the work amongst themselves.   This must be stopped.   You must take control over every decision.   This will be difficult at first; you will likely need to publicly reprimand and belittle the natural leaders within the group a few times.  

3. Keep Them In The Dark

One of the characteristics of high performance teams is that they all work together towards the same goal.   Disrupting this is relatively easy - just assign different tasks to different members of the team such that team members are working against each other.   This requires that you accomplish step #2 above, first.   Any talk of "vision", "mission", or other lofty ideas must be crushed.  Constantly changing priorities and strategic requirements will help here as well - so long as you change them well after work has started on the previous list.   This also helps to re-enforce item number one.

4. There is No "You" in "Team" (Unless Things Are Going Well)

This is perhaps the trickiest thing to accomplish without business leadership catching on.   Be especially subtle; use "I" when things are going well but refer to "the team" when things start to fall apart.     Paint a picture for upper management that the team is struggling but that you are there to help lead them to the promised land. 

5. Avoid the Team At All Times

This works especially well in conjunction with item two.    By not making yourself available when a decision needs to be made yet mandating that all decisions go through you, you'll guarantee that the team starts to stumble.   Schedule "private meetings" in another building, at home, or even the golf course.   Ignore cell phone calls from the team.   Don't set a precedent by answering e-mails.  An extra bonus is that some team members, in an effort to make progress, will take the initiative and make a decision themselves, providing you another opportunity for a public lashing.   This is what the military terms a "force multiplier" as it multiplies the demoralizing effect of these techniques.

6. Don't Tell Them You Don't Respect Them: Show Them
You can't come right out and tell team members how worthless they are, but you can easily show them by following this simple routine.   First, schedule one-on-one meetings with them so that you can "better understand their needs".   At the last minute, cancel these meetings.   Eventually, they will try to ask you about it but if you've been paying attention, you won't answer that e-mail or take the call.    This works better if you schedule meetings at awkward times for them, forcing them to change their schedule.  

This is just the start and there are many more possibilities, but if you put these six simple steps into practice, I guarantee you'll be able to kill the morale and productivity of any team.    Once you've mastered these skills, no one will be able to say that you don't know how to make yourself look good (at least for a while).

Obviously tongue-in-cheek, but sadly I've witnessed this first-hand several times in different organizations.   The emphasis placed on culture and teamwork in my current role is a sure cure for this ailment and is one of the things I value most about it.   Have you ever seen a high performance team dismembered?   What happened?

Pilots have this. You should, too.

Several weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of context - the "why" behind the "what".   Providing context to those working with you is incredibly important, but what do you do if no one provides context for you?

The ability to collect disparate pieces of information and form a mental picture of what is going around you, and where you fit in, can be just as important as context.   Moreso, in fact, when you have little or no context to operate under.   This mental picture is called situational awareness and can benefit you and your team when a less-than-perfect amount of contextual information is available.

Consider a pilot flying in instrument conditions.   He or she cannot see anything outside, except for a wall of gray combined with some occasional rain on the windscreen.   Inside, an array of dials and gauges along with a communications radio is all that is required for the pilot to understand his exact position in three dimensional space.     While the specifics of how this is done is beyond the scope of this post, the idea is that by paying attention to seemingly minor details and bits of information, you can assemble a detailed picture of where you are, where you are going, and what is going on around you.

Consider another environment, this time one far removed from the cockpit.    A project manager or team lead has every ability to gauge the progress of a project based without boring status meetings and without daily one-on-one discussions with each of the team members.   How, you might ask?    By paying attention to subtle cues and behaviors among the team.    What is the general mood?   Is the team upbeat, challenged but happy in the progress they are making?    Or are people working madly all the time, skipping lunch and working long hours?    Does everyone on the team exude confidence that they are going in the right direction, or are there constant discussions about the most recent change in business or product direction?

In the cockpit, losing situational awareness never, ever helps to make a flight safer.   Similarily, not
paying attention to the situation in and around your team will not help your project succeed.   Like the high time professional pilot,  you must pay attention to what is happening around you.  Doing so will allow you to maintain good situational awareness, and will allow you address small problems before they turn into large ones.   Knowing your current position in the air is important - if you don't know it, then others will likely read about it in the newspaper tomorrow.     Leading a project isn't all that different.

Ever been on a lost project?   What was it like?   What was the outcome?

This Word Describes Great Leaders - Does It Describe You?

Among the several attributes that many great leaders share, there is one which is not at first obvious. It is described by a word which does not immediately bring to mind visions of strength, power, or prestige but it is responsible for the apparent strength, influence, and respect many great leaders possess.

The ability to mentor, or help others around them become better at what they do, is a wonderful result of this characteristic in a leader.    Each of us learns and develops in different ways at different rates; some people learn "fast and wide" while others learn "slow and deep".   The ideal leader knows this, and helps team members develop without exerting undue pressure while still helping each individual grow at their own pace.   Their teams become highly effective, and they gain the strength to develop amazing things in short amounts of time.

The ability to recognize inopportune moments and delay or pause until the right moment presents itself is another embodiment of the characteristic described by this word.    Some would have you believe that in order to be successful, you must act with lightning speed, striking at opportunities as they present themselves.   Great leaders know and live the adage that "Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast" by executing correctly at the right time.     This allows them to influence those around them, providing the right input or wisdom at just the right time.

The ability to listen well to others, and to consider alternatives thoughtfully, embodies the characteristic described by this word.     Listening well involves silencing that inner voice and its associated biases long enough to not only hear but to understand what others are saying.   It allows the leader  to concentrate on what is being said, instead of thinking about what to say next.    To be heard is perhaps one of the most basic needs of any team member, and a leader that listens well earns great respect from all his team members.

This word describes an attitude which becomes increasingly more valuable as it becomes increasingly rare.  It is a word which is easy to say but so very hard to embody at the times when it is needed most, which is why only the best leaders who consistently practice it are able to do it well.   The word?

Patience.

The best teachers, managers, and co-workers have come across in my career demonstrate patience in a consistent manner.     It is easy to do well occasionally, but hard to do routinely.   Does it describe you?

Do You "Wind Your Watch"? You Should...

A grizzled old airline captain named Joe was called into the chief pilot's office one day and told that he needed to go in for a flight review in the airline's newly installed computerized simulator.    This would serve as his six month check ride as well as allow the airline to evaluate the usefulness of the simulator and its instructors, as Joe was one of the most experienced pilots on the line and had an excellent safety record.

At the appointed time, Joe showed up and after a bit of paperwork was escorted to the simulator.   He "flew" the routine procedures first, and then proceeded to practice the emergency procedures.    The simulator instructors caused all manner of problems for Joe - an engine would quit, instruments would stop functioning, the landing gear would not come down, and so on - in order to test Joe's ability to handle emergency situations safely.  

At the end of the session Joe received near perfect marks.   In fact, the only criticism the young instructors had of the veteran pilot was that whenever an emergency occurred, Joe wouldn't spring into action right away - he would instead wind his watch for a moment.   The instructors felt that this was an odd practice, since the emergency at hand was clearly far more critical than almost anything else.   When they mentioned this to Joe, his response was simply, "Son, I've never accidentally killed anyone while winding my watch and considering the situation at hand."

---

In the often hurried pace of today's business world, leaders are presented new information and asked to make decisions or take actions almost immediately.   Few situations, however, are actually so critical as to truly require immediate action.    Taking a moment to consider not just the most obvious option, but additional alternatives as well, is the mark of a true professional.   Indeed, compounding a dire situation with a bad choice because the person in charge felt that doing something - anything - right now only leads to more emergencies.     Such a process will feed on itself, in what could be referred to as a negative feedback loop.

The next time you find yourself in a situation which seems like immediate action is needed, stop for a moment and "wind your watch" while you mentally take a step back and consider your next steps.   You might find the situation not quite so dire, and find that there is an elegant solution just waiting for you to step back and see it.

I've heard it said that it takes a jerk to have a knee-jerk reaction, and I've found that folks who are thoughtful about their actions are much more pleasant to work with in addition to being better leaders.   What do you think?

They Can Do The Work, But...

If yours is like most organizations, you try very hard to hire only the best and brightest people.   Indeed, hiring can be one of the more risky things to do, financially, with a bad hire potentially costing several times the position's annual salary - therefore making the hiring process all the more critical.

When interviewing for a technical position, ensuring the candidate has the correct technical skills is obviously important.   I'd argue, however, that it's not the most important consideration when evaluating match between the candidate and the position.   Surprising?   It was to me - at least before I had the opportunity some years ago to build a team and observe firsthand the consequences of a bad hire.

The basic problem is that while technical skills (such as specific programming languages, tools, etc.) can be learned to at least a rudimentary level in a short amount of time, other attributes that make a person a great team member cannot.     These attributes are things like attitude, credibility, responsibility, and so on - things which cannot be simply learned by a quick session on Google.   They are instead behaviors; things which are ingrained within our personalities such that changing them is much harder and takes a great deal more time than learning how to use a new app on your iPhone.    These attributes are also what either build up or tear down the bond between team members, and for any non-trivial project the ability of the team to work together is critical.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with someone who set off warning bells; their attitude and mannerisms indicated to me that they have an incredible opportunity to improve just those types of behaviors.   Bright, driven, and exceedingly arrogant, this individual may eventually go on to accomplish amazing things but I would not care to have him on my team today due to the risk to the team's well being that such a "brilliant jerk" would pose.

Identifying the attributes you value for individuals on your team is key, and ensuring that new team members are a good "fit" is critically important - even more so than specific technical skills.   New skills can be learned quickly; new behaviors can take far longer and be far more costly for your organization to teach.

What non-technical attributes do you value most in your coworkers?     How do you develop those attributes within yourself?

If You Want to Learn, You'll Stop Doing This.

This week I had the opportunity to spend some time with one of the more renowned  flight instructors in the upper midwest.   Tom Berge, owner of RV Transition LLC, graciously granted me time on his schedule to get some instruction in an aircraft that is very similar to the one I have been building and hope to fly sometime in the next couple of months.

Tom is very thorough; as he talked about the various aspects of flying a high performance homebuilt like the Van's RV series, I listened intently.    As he spoke, I was able to connect bits and pieces of what he was explaining with my own experiences in other types of aircraft to better understand the material he was presenting.   I was impressed with his knowledge and ability to explain the material.

After the lesson, on the way home, my thoughts drifted to something I had seen some years ago.   A cocky young pilot and his instructor were talking nearby and I thought back to their conversation.   It seemed like every word from the instructor was met with some know-it-all response or perhaps a statement phrased as a question designed to impress the instructor with the student's knowledge.   The instructor let it go, but the student was almost too much.   As I recalled that conversation, I couldn't help but think how odd that someone would pay an instructor to teach them only to try and impress the instructor with their own knowledge.   I wonder how much more quickly the lesson might have gone had the student simply shut up and listened.   And, I wonder, how much time and money the student might have saved by not having to repeat lessons.

I've seen this scene repeated elsewhere by many different types of people, in many types of situations.   And I've seen it enough to know that it is not uncommon.   Try this - next time you are in a position of learning something new, take a moment to observe how you act.  Do you listen intently, or wait to ask the person you are learning from a question which was designed to demonstrate your own vast knowledge?    Do you really want to learn, or is your desire to learn combined with a desire to impress others?

Fortunately, that brash young pilot from years ago learned the errors of his ways, and today is much better at being quiet and soaking up wisdom from those who are willing to offer it.  And, I'm happy to report, that same pilot is well on his way to being able to competently prosecute the flight test program for his Van's RV-6A in the not too distant future, thanks to the tutelage of a wise instructor named Tom.

The Essential Interview Question

It's interview season, and we've been interviewing for several positions over the last few weeks.   Although the course of the conversation with the candidate always varies some, there is one question I like to ask at least twice, in two slightly different ways.  

"Tell me about the last time a customer or coworker was mad at you - how did you handle the situation?"

Getting along with your coworkers is at least as important as the job function - even if you do your job perfectly, there is a net productivity loss if no one else in the office can stand to work with you.   As such, you might think that discovering how a candidate might work with others would be a good idea and you'd be right.   Oddly enough, however, many prospective employers don't think to ask questions along these lines or if they do, they are questions which are guaranteed to get "the right answer".

  

Compare the question above with ones which I've heard many times: "How do you handle conflict?", or "How well do you work with others?"    No candidate would answer these questions with "Not very well" (if they did, you'd thank them for their time and send them on their way).   Instead, they answer with what they think you want to hear.    Answers such as, "I would approach the individual directly" or "I would try to learn the best way to work with that individual" are common - and largely theoretical.       When I am interviewing a candidate, a warning flag is the candidates use of the phrase "I would".   Of course I am interested in what the candidate would do, but knowing what they did do is likely to be far more indicative of their behavior.

A candidate who says they haven't had anyone mad at them is a question because it may mean they are either disingenuous (everyone has someone mad at them at one time or another) or that they have no strong opinions.    The former is obviously a problem, while the latter may prove troublesome if the position involves any decision making or leadership responsibilities.  Of course, an answer such as "Why sure - it happens all the time" is deserving of further investigation as well.

The best answer I have heard was a situation in which the individual took responsibility for the situation, then worked to resolve it directly with the individual.    This demonstrated responsibility (taking ownership) and humility (willing to admit they were wrong).    The individual was hired, and has been a strong performer on the team.

The answer to this question can be very enlightening, as we have seen, and there is another individual whom you should pose this question to at least occasionally: yourself.   How do you handle conflict with your coworkers?

The Power of Context

If you are like most individuals, you enjoy working on a piece of something larger than the simple task at hand.   We humans are wired to want to contribute to something bigger than ourselves, to something that makes a difference, or to something that adds value and meaning.     Unfortunately, some leaders fail to seize on a powerful concept that builds teamwork, increases job satisfaction, and improves productivity.   That concept is context.

Put simply, context is the why behind the what.     It communicates the larger goal or outcome and gives meaning to specific tasks that make progress toward the desired outcome.   It also empowers coworkers to make decisions on their own, to organically invent approaches, processes, tools, or designs which advance a project without requiring micromanagement.

In perhaps one of the more spectacular demonstrations of context, Lt. General Paul Van Riper led a smaller, less advanced team to victory over the U.S. military in the Millenium Challenge 2002 war games.   Rather than instruct his field commanders about what to do, he simply outlined the larger goals.   Stressing the importance of these tasks along with the ultimate goal (victory), he left the details to his lieutenants to figure out and execute.    This had the surprising effect of a nimble team, one which so overwhelmed the traditional military approach that the rules were changed in the middle of the exercise to favor the existing doctrine and thought patterns.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, a French writer and poet, once wrote   “If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”       Providing this kind of context to a team will accelerate their work, and will only engender respect for their leader.

The most productive project I have ever been on, and the most fun, started when I was told what the business needed - the context - and that how I got there was up to me.   In turn, watching my teammates innovate and develop pieces of the larger product after sharing with them what we needed to build and why - context - was immensely rewarding. 

How to Become an Expert in Three Simple Steps

Everyone needs to have some specific area of expertise.   While broad knowledge is useful, one or two areas in which you are deeply knowledgable are important for career and personal growth reasons.   These areas of expertise become what you are known for professionally, and will have a direct impact on your financial growth and security.

Fortunately, the steps required to become an expert in almost any subject are pretty simple:

1) Learn - really learn -  everything you can about the topic

Anyone can read a book or take a class on a particular topic, but that is only where the learning begins.   What periodicals do you read?   What conferences, seminars, or other gatherings do you attend to learn more from other people?   Which blogs do you follow?     These and other sources of information plant the seeds for new thought patterns around the subject and stretch your sphere of knowledge a little each time.

Be careful not to disregard newcomers to the topic or those who know far less than you.   Even if you know 95% of the available information and they know only 10%, their 10% might include the 5% you don't know.

2) Practice the topic daily in some way shape or form

This isn't practicing in the form of mindless repetition each day, but rather thoughtful, intensive application of your knowledge into something real.   You might work on a computer program, work on your car's engine, or some other productive activity.   This can be either professionally or as an avocation, but the goal is to use your knowledge to do something real and practical.

Another approach would be to teach a course or write a book.   Depending on the topic, your local community college may need someone to teach a night course on your area of interest.    Learning by teaching is a time honored way to increase your knowledge of a topic.

This exercise is important because it demonstrates the difference between theory and practice.    Remember, theory and practice are the same in theory but not in practice.   Learning the difference deepens your expertise.

3) Repeat steps 1 and 2

Learning and doing, if done once or twice, may give you a better understanding of a topic but they will not make you an expert.     Malcom Gladwell, in his book "Outliers", states that mastery of a subject requires about 10,000 hours of practice.      This is, obviously, a considerable amount of time - it would be approximately five years worth of full time professional work.   ( At this point, I'd like to specifically point out that I said it would be simple, not easy).

While many forms of advice are given every day about securing your financial future, consider this:  almost all of them assume that you have some area of deep expertise which serves as the engine to power future success.    If you don't have one yet...why not?

Software engineering is my chosen area of expertise, and I can say that with 20+ years of experience, I am still learning new things each day - literally.   Find something you're interested in and go for it!

You May Be Right (and I'm not crazy)

Have you ever been in a discussion or meeting where the goal was to choose between two or three alternatives?    Especially in a setting populated by exceptionally bright and talented individuals, these kinds of meetings can become very ... spirited.    Exceptionally bright and talented individuals are frequently also very passionate and aren't afraid to call other ideas unworkable, impractical, or perhaps even just plain old stupid (As an engineering-type, I'd point out we are seldom known for our people skills).

If you find yourself in one of these types of discussions, you may discover an impasse which seems to be difficult if not impossible to overcome.   Each party will likely have very sound and very specific reasons why their particular approach is far superior to any of the others.    You may believe that your approach is in fact the best one based on the knowledge of the situation you possess.    What to do?  Try saying something like:

"You may be right, but I'd like to know why you think that".

Seriously.

I have found that saying these words, sincerely, does several important things:

o   It affirms that you respect the other individuals and their points of view

When a discussion becomes heated, it becomes easier to see the other people in the group as opponents.     This attitude is contagious; admitting that the other's idea may be better defuses this and helps turn the focus back to the ideas and not the people.

o   It opens communications (and your mind)

The individual receiving the above message will likely be happy to explain why they think the way they do.    Rarely, in a group of competent people, does a dumb idea get put forth and championed by a team member. As a result, asking the above question likely will provide you with some insight or information that you didn't have previously.   The reverse is also true - the other participants will be more open to listening and learning about your perspective.

o   It allows people to be heard in a receptive environment

One of the most frustrating things for members of a team is to not be heard, to be marginalized, or perhaps even be ignored.    By inviting input and commentary in this way, you avoid those dangers and instead facilitate teamwork.    Even if a particular idea is later rejected, the individual and the team will remember and appreciate the fact they had input people actually listened to and considered.

Being able to have a passionate discussion is  the mark of a team staffed with good talent; being able to draw people into the conversation and bring the team together without resentment or bitterness after the decision has been made is the mark of a great leader.  

I wish I had learned this at the start of my career; it would have made some time periods much less stressful.    But perhaps you think this approach is flawed in some way.   You may be right, but I'd like to know why you think that...

Employee Engagement

After getting in, the lock bar comes down across your lap and the theme park attendant walks by to inform you of certain doom should you dare to stick your hands up or outside of the roller coaster car.   Then, with much clacking and lurching, the coaster starts forward and you're off!   A gentle turn or two and you are headed towards the long climb that begins the ride.   The coaster glides up hill, slowing almost to a complete stop, when the chain engages and pulls the coaster up the incline.

Think about what might happen if the chain didn't engage: you'd roll backwards a short ways a come to a stop.   That'd be exciting, wouldn't it?     Yet some people would appear to prefer such an outcome in their professional careers - they get to the start of a potentially great ride and then ... fail to engage.   They slide backwards, come to a stop, and sooner or later are removed from the track to make way for someone else.    Although there are likely as many reasons for this as there are people who succumb to them, some of the more common ones I've noticed are as follows:

Fear of Failure

Fear of failure simply means that the individual would rather not try at all than try and not succeed.   While a small amount of fear can be energizing to some individuals, it is paralyzing to others.     What will everyone think?     Will everyone laugh?

The fact is that failure is a reality of life.   Benjamin Franklin is claimed to have said, "I did not fail the test, I simply learned 100 ways to do it wrong."     Failure is the basis of success, provided you learn from those failures.  Don't fear failure, learn from it.

Mental Absenteeism

This can take many forms, but perhaps the most surprising to me is that of the Internet Surf King, or "ISK".   The ISK spends hours on end "researching" all manner of topics, news, and unrelated information.     Coming in at the crack of dawn (well, it would be if the sun rose at 9:30am), taking a short power lunch from 11 until 2-ish, then lingering until just after the boss leaves  for the day seems to be a common theme.

If you've fallen victim to this pattern, or one like it, find a way to change:   avoid whatever it is that takes your focus off your work, change your working hours and habits, or simply find a new job that is more interesting and/or rewarding.   You'll find that time passes much more quickly and that you feel a lot better about your day.

Arrogance

This one is a tough one.   One individual who worked for me told me that his job was beneath him and not very interesting.   While it may not have been interesting, it struck me as pretty arrogant given that he wasn't particularly effective and didn't really stand out among his peers.

The best solution here might simply be to move onto another position - while doing so won't help the individual directly, it will probably remove a burden from the rest of the team and allow the business to find someone who is happy to be there to do the job.

There are lots of articles about how organizations should attempt to engage their employees, and while there is certainly some good information provided therein, it's not entirely up to one's boss or manager to ensure that they are engaged - some of that responsibility must be borne out by the staff as well.     The next time you get on that coaster and get to the start of the long climb, try engaging the challenge to the level of your capability and ignore any temptation to just slide back.   The thrills you'll receive from the subsequent ride will likely make the effort worth it.

I was always afraid of screaming while riding on a roller coaster.    It's not that I didn't think it was appropriate, but rather I couldn't get the picture of me (with my mouth wide open) and an unfortunate winged insect both being in the wrong place at the wrong time out of my mind.

The Mouse and the Elephant

Have you ever started a large project and felt immediately overwhelmed by the amount of work to do?   Or perhaps there is something you would like to do but are discouraged by the amount of time required to accomplish your goal.   Whatever the project or goal might be, I've come to believe that the biggest obstacle to ultimately achieving such a goal is looking at the task as a single, sustained effort.   There is another way;  as the old saw goes, "How does a mouse eat an elephant?   One bite at a time.".

As humans, we have a finite attention span.   While it varies from person to person, no individual can concentrate on a  large, complex topic indefinitely - we are wired to need change, to need a break, to feel as though we are making progress.    This last piece, especially, is important - it helps to maintain momentum and prevent the loss of motivation. 

Instead of looking at such an undertaking as one big task, think of it as many small ones.   This approach allows one to enjoy many small victories along the way, and provides a relatively constant feeling of accomplishment.      I have used this approach many times in both my personal and professional endeavors - it's not developing a large, complex program but instead building a number of small software components that work together.   It's not earning a college degree or even finishing a number of classes, it's completing the assignments and passing the tests.   It's not building an airplane but instead building many small pieces of an airplane and putting them together.

Following this approach, there is a special bonus - you will be able to look back and see how all those minor successes and victories add up to something big, and it won't have cost any more time than if you had done something else.   Ken Scott, the irrepressible sales representative for Van's Aircraft, tells the story of a man who visited their display at Oshkosh each year for a number of years, each time asking how long it would take to build one of their planes and each time being disappointed at the length of such a project.   After a number of years, Mr. Scott finally pointed out (in his usual blunt manner), that if the man had simply started building when he first asked instead of belly aching about it for all those years, he would have been done by now.

The next time you feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of a project or task put in front of you, take a moment to consider how you could break up the task into more manageable pieces.   

I haven't eaten a whole elephant recently, but the above idea continues to do engage me in my job and my hobbies.   What do you think?

Unusual Attitudes

An important part of learning to fly is learning to deal with "unusual attitudes".   You're flying along on a nice day, and look down at the map for just a moment, and when you look up again you find the horizon is in a funny place.   Or perhaps there is no horizon, only blue sky.   Or perhaps there is no sky at all - maybe the ground is filling the windscreen.   No matter what the cause, as the pilot-in-command, you must deal with the situation.

I remember a flight lesson from long ago where, taking off from an icy runway, the plane started to drift towards the snow bank along the side of the runway.   The flight instructor asked what I was doing, and I replied the plane was drifting over because of the ice.   He corrected me by saying that it was I who was allowing the plane to drift.  This was an epiphany not just as it related to taking off that day, but also as it related to my career and my personal life.

Too often, we find ourselves in professional situations which can seem overwhelming - dealing with an overbearing co-worker, trying to meet a tight deadline while dealing with unexpected technical challenges, and so on.   A persistent temptation is to simply go through the normal motions and hope things take care of themselves; we've all been there at some point in our career.

No matter what the situation, keep applying corrective inputs.   They may not have any perceptible immediate impact, but over time they improve the situation.   Will it guarantee a successful outcome?  No, of course not - but it will guarantee that the situation will not be as bad as it would have been had no corrective action been taken.

"Stay with it" is a common admonishment for student pilots.   How do you encourage yourself and others to "stay with it" and see a challenge through to completion?

Your Favorite Band Sucks

My friend Bob has a long standing policy of no politics allowed in his shop.   He has this policy because such discussions almost inevitably degrade into a scene of two one-way conversations occurring simultaneously, with each participant left feeling that the other is a close-minded idiot who simply can't be bothered with reason.  

I'm not sure I completely agree (Bob and I have had many good discussions, even though we are on polar opposites of the political wheel) but I do understand.    Numerous topics like politics, religion, music, and more tend to bring out the emotional side of our personalities, especially when we feel passionate about the topic.   There can be plenty of upsides to an honest and frank exchange of ideas, and such discussions can be very rewarding in the right context and appropriate place.    One place where such discussions are rarely, if ever, appropriate however, is the office.

Consider a manager or leader discussing his politics with his subordinates - those who don't agree with his political views will tend to be silent and avoid the potential confrontation that has no benefit for them.   Beyond the immediate discussion, such an occasion may have longer term ramifications which are detrimental to the team if such topics are frequently brought up.   

Another example might be the coworker who evangelizes his faith throughout the office during the workday.    If you happen to have the same belief system, you might not mind - if you have a different belief, on the other hand, you probably do.   Either way, you might be inclined to wonder why he is not doing his job.   This one is a two-fer - not only can it be a divisive topic, but it can also build resentment towards the individual who is preaching instead of doing his work.   (Full disclosure: if you want to know more about Jesus, ask me about it over lunch or after work).

A former coworker used to wear a shirt with "Your Favorite Band Sucks" emblazoned on the front.   I've always thought such was a great synopsis for discussions about divisive topics - while they might be fine outside the office, they do little to promote teamwork, trust, or inspire our coworkers to do great things.

The Value of Being Wrong

Success.  Winning.  Being Right.   These are things that are highly valued, sought after, and are generally pursued by most people, and rightly so.   However, I think that too often we overlook the inherent value of being wrong once in a while, and that we do so to our detriment.   Just as there is value in success, there is also value in failure - you just need to know where to look.

Knowledge:   The very first commercial software package I conjured up entirely on my own was called "Back In a Flash" and was, I thought at the time, very well done.   Only it didn't work very well - while it generally did a good job backing data up, it was less successful when it came time to restore said data.   It also didn't work with large systems, and was particularly slow.   It was a failure.  The next package I wrote was called "Back Again/2" and incorporated many lessons I had learned from the first time around.   It became the cornerstone of a company a friend and I founded in 1994 and ran successfully until I sold in 2000.      Without the initial failure and the lessons it taught me, I could not have been successful later on.

Practice:   One of the smallest parts on my experimental aircraft is on the tail and is known as the trim tab.   The trim tab is a thing of legend among builders of this particular type of airplane; the angles required for the various bends vex even the most dedicated builder.   I was no exception; I had to build it three times before I got it right.   However, I gained valuable experience in forming aluminum sheet metal, drilling out rivets, and more.      

Perspective:  In the midst of a seemingly important task, project, or other endeavor small problems may seem huge.   Any entrepreneur can attest to this - many problems can seem like catastrophes.     During my time at my first company,   there were many such "catastrophes" which turned out to be nothing more than a minor irritant.   In the midst of the issue, however,  it was next to impossible to recognize that.   The stress and heartburn that was repeatedly experienced (and meted out, too) was not necessary and at the time probably did more harm than good.     Without those problems, however, I would not have gained the perspective that some problems are more important than others, and other problems may in fact not be problems at all.

Humility:  This is perhaps the hardest thing to take away from failure, but it can also be among the most valuable.   Humility isn't about being meek or timid; rather, it is knowing ones own limitations.     I had the opportunity to join an internet startup a while back as a side gig.   I thought it would be exciting, and it was, but I learned the hard way that it is nigh impossible to juggle a full time job, a family, a homebuilt airplane project, and a startup commitment while remaining sane.   I didn't succeed in that endeavor, and I learned where my limits are.   There are folks who could do all that without breaking a sweat, and my hat is off to them - I cannot.

Although success is the ultimate goal, don't discard as useless the failures you encounter along the way.   They may prove to be nearly as valuable as your successes, and perhaps more so - if you're not making mistakes, you're probably not making anything.

One of my worst failures has been failing to learn everything that I could from failed attempts at various things.   How about you?

Expertise vs. Authority

In an otherwise entirely forgettable movie, "Battle: Los Angeles" features a subplot which juxtaposes a grizzled Marine sergeant and a green Lieutenant.   Not exactly original stuff, but rather a recurring element across many genres of films and theatre:  expertise vs. authority.   The same plot plays out in the business world as well, pitting subject matter experts against business managers.   Most of the time, the plot isn't nearly as interesting as those conjured up by Hollywood.   Every so often, however, an authority figure believes he or she is also an expert, which can lead to problems if not dealt with quickly and carefully.

Most often, this issue arises when a subject matter expert is promoted or moved into a management position.  Although the titular change occurs almost immediately, learned behaviors die hard and as a result the newly minted manager continues to try to be the expert.   While it may be possible to continue such a "dual citizenship" role for a short period of time, one of two things will eventually happen :

• The manager spends too much time being technical, resulting in poor management and/or leadership
• The manager spends too much time being managerial, resulting in a decaying technical expertise that becomes a drain on the larger group of experts and a poor reflection of his leadership skills.

The key is that the individual, as well as his charges, need to recognize the changing roles and work to accommodate the changing positions.    An expert that moves into management makes room for younger experts to grow and hone their skills, and a manager who recognizes and demonstrates that it's all about the team's success and not his own will have incredibly devoted followers.  

One of my favorite bloggers, Jeff Haden, writes :

"Whatever we are today is largely due to the words and actions of other people. Most of those words or actions were, at the time, small and seemingly inconsequential."

A newly minted manager (or an old salty one, for that matter) operating in this mindset has opportunities to positively influence his team  each and every day.   Looking back, I can think of several managers who had small comments, observations, and insights which at the time seemed small and perhaps even trivial but have had a large impact on me.    The insights they shared with me helped to clarify several aspects of my career and helped me to develop a focus on what it was I wanted to do (which, ultimately, isn't to move into traditional management by the way - I much prefer technical leadership).   I'm not sure a manager who proclaims himself to be the foremost expert would have the same impact.

Understanding the different roles that expertise and authority play within a team, either business or military, serves to grow both the authority figure as well as the technical experts.   Failure to do so generally leads to, well, failure.  

What role do you see yourself in today?   What about tomorrow?

The Real Deal

An opportunity to see management in action isn't uncommon at many (dare I say most?) organizations.   Reams have been written about various practices and methodologies for managing a project to completion; indeed, with the increasing number of people adding "PMP" after their name, one might get the idea that the project management profession is on par with the medical or PhD communities in terms of stature and status.     In contrast, seeing someone demonstrate real leadership is uncommon enough to warrant stopping for a moment and marveling at the effect it has on those around them.   This is probably the best way to identify real leaders, for real leadership rarely decorates itself with titles, prefixes, or suffixes.

I recently had the opportunity to observe one such example of leadership along with both the immediate and delayed effects.   A co-worker who is leading the design of an internal system was asked to summarize the progress for a larger group which included the organization's leadership team.   This particular individual is working with several other people to realize the system and has been a key driver behind the design.     While this might have been the perfect opportunity to describe his efforts on the project, he chose not to do so - most people over five years old aren't foolish enough to stand up and proclaim "I made this" to a larger group of people who know better.   He could have spoken blandly about the facts of where the project was at, problems they had encountered, as well as the next steps they would take.   In fact, he did describe their progress and challenges - but he went further.    One of the other people working on the same system happened to be in the room, and he took the opportunity to praise her work on the project in front of everyone.   It wasn't just a generic "she did a good job on this" comment - it was specific, concise, and sincere.

The immediate effect was that she smiled broadly and then quickly tried, unsuccessfully, to return to a straight face.   I'm not sure how many people in the room noticed it, and the longer term effect was probably even less noticeable to the rest of the organization.   To someone who happens to work in close spatial proximity to the team, however, the effect has been wonderful to watch.   This team works to support the goal and each other, and exudes a positive, "can-do" attitude that is infectious.     Such behavior inspires others and is something that is not widely taught or easily learned.

It was a small but impressive display of a specific quality of leadership; so much so that I couldn't help but tell the individual how neat it was that he'd compliment and encourage his teammate like that so publicly.   His response was essentially that praise is what gets passed onto his team; criticism is what he reserves for himself.      His response was not an example of management-by-PMP or leadership-by-numbers; it was the real deal.  

It was Leadership.

Have you had the opportunity to observe leadership in action?   What did it look like?