Rocks Are Hard

Showing Up is More Than Showing Up

I was at someone else's meeting last week that was a disaster...complete and utter disaster.  The meeting was called, calendars (of busier people than me!) were cleared, an agenda was sent, but only a few people showed up.

We were all there in person, but only half the group was there --  prepared, ready to participate, and with an intention to collaborate.  They showed up but didn't.

Made even worse by the fact that the meeting convener didn't show up either. I mean really.

It would have been better for him to cancel the meeting than actually hold it when he wasn't prepared.  Instead of an empty 2 hours on the calendar, now he has at least 4 people who won't bother showing up (in any sense of the word) next time.

Show up. Come prepared -- read the material, know why the hell you're in the room, have a point of view, at least come with your calendar so that you can discuss schedules. 

Don't waste your time. Don't waste mine either.

 

(p.s. you can buy this tshirt at zazzle)

 

 

 

Do or Do Not. There is No Try.*

Whenever I hear "I tried" I know there's a "but" coming.   It's become the preface to excuses and lame efforts with less than desirable results.  In effect "try" has come to mean so much less than its definition.

"I'm trying, but..." "I tried that but...."

Merriam-Webster defines the transitive verb "Try" as "to put to test or trial" and "to subject to something that tests the powers of endurance" or the intransitie verb "to make an attempt."  It's actually powerful stuff -- it's how we've come to use it that has weakened the impact of the action.

Because if you're really trying you are doing and you will get a result.  It may not be the result you want, but if you've put the effort into the action, the result is meaningful -- it tells you something. It informs what you should DO next to reach the desired result.

So STOP putting "but" right after "I tried."  Instead use "AND"

"I tried AND I got this result which indicates we should....."

"I tried AND I learned XYZ so now we can..."

"I tried AND it worked so I'm refining and repeating."

It's a small change in language that reflects a HUGE change in attitude, and, in my thinking, success.

* Yoda

 

Tell Me What You Think

When you're the boss, it's easy to get in the habit of making decisions for  or giving direction to people all day long. This is the worst thing you can do for your people.  How will they advance and grow without taking a stand or making a decision? If you just tell eveyone around you what to do then how will you get out of being in the middle of every little thing in the project or business?   

One person in a group can't know everything or be right all the time.

On the flip side, I see people all throughout my life who refuse to make a decision or articulate a point of view.  They end every meeting or conversation waiting for direction or asking "what should we do?" As if they're scared to make the wrong recommendation.  Or they don't want to be held accountable for the results of a decision. And suddenly 96 emails later you're in a vortex of hell full of passing the ball, asking for opinion, and posturing.

The day is filled with subjective questions, where there is no clear answer -- here is where YOU can  become invaluable in your environment.  When you can not just analyze or assess a situation but move forward from it!

TAKE A STAND! Tell us what you think we should do. Weigh options and give me (or whoever) your opinion about a way forward. You may not have all the information. Based on the information I have, I may not agree with you. But if you come to me (or your colleague or your client or your partner or your friend or your....) with an informed point of view  (e.g. "Here's what's going on, here are the options I see and their consequences, based on what I know I think we should do XYZ), then you've advanced the discussion and caught me up to your knowledge and analysis, and I (or anyone) can add context and decide together.

Without your informed point of view, all you're doing is (as my friend Paul's father says) "is coming and $%(ing on my lap."

And that's just a mess.

PS. Here's an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal on the science of  Why So Many People Can't Make Decisions.

Say It Out Loud

Too often I watch people rush into projects and their work without taking the 30 seconds to say "what do I want to achieve with this _thing_?"

Off they go, working away diligently on their to-do lists.  They eventually cross everything off and sit back to survey their accomplishments and are disappointed.  "All that work for nothing?"  Like ducks paddling wildly against the current, they're tired, have done things, but gotten nowhere.

Stop! Wait! Before you start say what you want to achieve OUT LOUD (this is not a time when your inside voice need stay contained!).

"To land the NYTimes Magazine and California Report and ______"

"To get 100 new people signed up for the community from Stanford Hospital."

"To recruit 4 kindegartner parents to _____"

"Introduce myself to X Y and Z and get a presentation opportunity out of 1 of them."

Say it out loud. Write that down and put it next to your computer. Leave the piece of paper alone.

Go about your project (which one assumes you have altered a bit to accommodate what you said out loud).

Measure yourself against that and I bet you will cross everything off your list with satisfaction for a job well done with travel upstream.  You may even turn the current.

Blogging Effectively Requires Discipline*

This morning I gave a talk at the local chapter of Women in Toys -- what a great bunch of professionals in the toy biz! Truly amazing people breaking new ground in toys and giving us great products to PLAY with -- not just watch.

Part way through someone said, "Lee I'll have to start reading your blog." To which I said, "well then I'll have to start blogging more." oy!

Then through various routes and clicks I land on Hugh McGuire's slide show on Slideshare - which I thought was brilliant in its simplicity and directness. Two points really got me:

4. Don't blog to be known. Blog to be knowable; and

7. Blogging effectively requires discipline. *

Both of which are going into the Facebook and Twitter feeds on a regular basis -- and you see me here giving him -- HUGH MCGUIRE -- credit.  I've never met him, but I think I'd like him.

So taking #4 to heart -- now you know that I need to be more discplined about all this stuff. If you've read previous posts you probably get that I have things to share that at least one person will find useful (and frankly become my own best reminders!). And you know that I can spot great thoughts at 50 paces (or 10 clicks - whichever is further away).

So now onto #7: I pledge to blog on something substantive to the business of communicating or running a communications agency or service or something that at least 1 person should find useful for the next 7 work days. 

This image from toothpastefor dinner pretty much sums it up.  

Now if I could just get to the gym!

Acknowledge Feedback and Direction

I always say the purpose of communication is to end it.  Meaning, write the memo, the plan, the email, make the case, pitch the idea in such a way that the reader/listener is not required to ask any questions to get a relevant, full picture.

This does not mean re-write War & Peace. But be succinct, appropriately illustrative or instructive and give the context the reader needs to gleen the information you want them to.

At the same time, it's important for the reader or listener -- particularly in a 1:1 dialogue or exchange to ACKNOWLEDGE receipt of said message. Otherwise it requires the sender to have to re-say, re-send, and/or wonder "did s/he get it?" "does s/he understand?" etc. etc. etc.

It's pretty simple. Say what you mean, well. Acknowledge that you got the message AND/OR get clarification so everyone's on the same page.

It's good protocol. More importantly, it's good etiquette.

The end.

Everything Is Feedback

Controversy always surrounds performance reviews -- to do them at all? how to do them? 360? top-down? self evaluation comparison? What does the form look like? and it goes on and on and on.

One thing I think is universal is that no review should be a surprise - your employees should have a good sense of how they're doing, what needs to be worked on, where they are excelling and how they can keep improving in that area (does a coach ever say - great job, no need to work out today over and over again?), and how their overall presence is perceived.

They should know this because we should all be having a constant stream of feedback, positive and constructive, throughout our day-to-day work lives.

The challenge is that everyday feedback is not necessarily heard - the positive or the negative.  I'm struggling with why this is true, but I know that it IS true. (Hell, one of the reasons we started Double Forte with a 10-year experience minimum was to remove ourselves from the constant barrage of social-promotion-conditioned inexperienced people who thought that they should all advance regardless of performance just because the calendar turned over.)

I don't believe we should stop providing feedback ALL THE TIME -- and hello, no feedback should mean that you're doing good.  But I do think we need to take the time to make sure the feedback is felt as seriously as it's intended. I'm not happy about it, but I know we need to shift something so that everything is HEARD in the way it is intended.

Feedback must not be given to tear down, but to help someone improve.  Really. If you don't want your staff to improve, go sit in a closet with a phone and a computer.  At the same time, we all need to LISTEN and ABSORB what we're told.

Everything is feedback. Everything counts. And if you're listening, nothing should be a surprise.

Just Because Your Butt's in the Seat.....

Doesn't mean you've showed up for work today.

Showing up is not about a physical presence, it's about The Force -- YOUR Force.

Do you matter? Are you making a difference in someone's day? Are you moving a ball down the field? Are you making something HAPPEN? or HELPING someone else make something happen? 

Or are you just taking up space? Breathing someone else's air? Have your butt in the seat but are invisible otherwise?

I'm always amazed (i need to stop saying that, i've seen it so much) when I go into a company and find so many people who are just passing through -- work seems to pass right through them but they never seem to raise a hand or the bar or actually pick something up and move it to the other side of the room. 

I know you've been in that meeting. Where you wonder "what exactly does she do?" or "Why doesn't the person on the project chime in here?" or "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" 

Why bother? Really. Are you passing through time just to get to the other side without a ripple of impact? Find something new to do. 

No points here for just being in the room. You have something to offer - OFFER IT! If the people around you don't appreciate it, then find some other people to offer your stuff to.  

All I want to do is wave my hand in front of these people's faces and say "hello!? anyone in there?" but of course, can't do that at the Client. 

Really you don't have an opinion? Really you don't have a thought on your day? Really? 

No Way.