Organization Development

Moving Forward

I once managed data processing for a principled company that taught how to plan and reach extraordinary results by implementing the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. We added to this knowledge, practices from Franklin Planners, Deming’s 14 Points for Managment, Kaizen, World Class Quality, Six Sigma and Miller Teams.

We knew planning, we knew implementation, we knew empowerment, before the world started teaching it in their universities and yes before the internet or the “smart” phone. What I learned in my unique role was how to harmonize strategies of excellence with common work processes. I learned how to grow an operation and how to achieve ever-increasing results.

The 90s were a period of massive change, and yet performance results are to this day based in those same time-tested principles. Whether you know them or not, they govern your success. Only as you incorporate them does their power benefit you.

The universities have no way to teach this. Oh, they cover the course material, but as in the book The Goal shows, you don’t gain the skills without applying each foundational principle. Yes, you have to do it, with your own personal and interpersonal challenges.

I watched The Watchmaker’s Apprentice and through this exceptionally slow, documentary became increasingly aware that my expertise in business came from my own practice of excellence. Day-to-day implementation of processes and improvement efforts. It came from all of my experience, not from the books I read. I loved the book Good to Great, because the arrogant author admits that he has no idea what made the companies transform, only that there were people (hedgehogs) who had figured it out. My experience has taught me that YOU are the key to that leap and it comes from inside using everything you learn, and then as you apply that knowledge to what you are creating, insight and understanding–yes even wisdom–eventually come. It truly is an art, an apprenticeship.

Sad the irony that just at the point our aging population prepares for pasture they have the most to share. We just let them go, to avoid pensions and healthcare costs. Well they are inconvenient after all when you have change management systems set up to remove them in order to make “needed” changes.

I realized that the reason I am helpful to others is because of the constant study I have put into motion over the years. I am an ExcelCEO master. Only 10% ever graduate from that study, but I made it, because I applied what I was learning on my own projects. I can make it do things that Excel was not originally designed to do. You may experience one of my products if you would like a calendar that calculates holidays for you. https://thegoodeggblog.com/product/excel-calendar-template/ It does all kinds of things to make printing a calendar easy. Here is where you get to use my planner-page design to customize your own principle-centered planning system that does not require batteries. It was fun to learn the frequencies of the holidays and how to apply them to a Gregorian calendar that would update each year.

Exhausted, I fell asleep and my brain kept working, opening my soul to the message and a beautiful scene appeared before me as if in a virtual world of spinning, orbiting bodies in the universe, ever expanding, and full of mystery. I knew instantly that every detail of the vast universe was planned, orchestrated, implemented for a grand purpose. My mind was filled with the clear impression that I simply had not the capacity to understand the smallest part of its complexity, and then as if returning to the world I knew, my mind began to ponder the detail of everything that surrounds me and I realized it all had revolutions, and synchronization more detailed than any manmade clock. As I continued pondering my knowledge of biology, chemistry, and technology, I had the vivid realization expand to my mind concerning the utter mystery of the miniscule and moreover the affirmation that every detail of it was indeed planned and executed and all these things were not only known by a loving creator, but were in constant control for His purposes. I was left with a feeling of nothingness in relation to the majesty my mind beheld and the love my heart perceived.

In summation, planning is important to our development. Our meager plans may not seem like much, nor may they prove fruitful, but the exercise expands our ability to invent and over time improves our chances for success.

Use my planner and make it your own. Decide what matters most in your life and ponder what you want to achieve, set long-range goals and then make a habit of writing and carrying out weekly achievements in each of your most valuable roles or activities that will help lead you to your dreams. Share those dreams with me if you dare.

By Advocate, ago

Getting Burned

You don’t always know when you’re going to get burned. Most of the time you were not trying to get burned, it just happened. Sure you learned not to touch the stovetop when it was on early, but then there was that volcanic microwave burrito you put in your mouth. As we get older we are more and more careful of dangers, but at some point fear of taking action can slow our response time into inaction and kill the growth our initiatives need. Knowing when to act is more about recognizing the urgency and the importance and being prepared to act when the risk is justified.

By Advocate, ago

Change Engine

Change is a difficult thing, but the whole reason we are here. Every living thing is involved in change. If we don’t improve, we are by default becoming weaker and less effective. Organizations change in the same way. What many executives and accountants do is called slash-and-burn. Anything that is no longer working is cut and disposed of. Starting fresh is one way of growing, but your organization will never achieve greatness. You may have a working operation for a few years–just long enough to implement your exit plan and go burn down some other part of the corporate rainforest. It is surprising how common this is amongst the highly educated and certified leaders filling upper-management positions today.

There is, however, a more sustainable way. This involves real change and requires improvement that will last. Patience is not often a quality encouraged in business today, but it is required to reap this kind of result. Think of yourself as a farmer. Chickens, for instance, don’t start laying eggs for a considerable portion of their life, but if nurtured properly, will produce wonderfully. I’m not saying people are chickens, but the principle is the same. We require investment and growth for some time before we are able to produce reliable results. What have you put into your team to help them succeed? If conditions are not right, even good layers will stop laying all together. You must have a safe place to work. Fear in the workplace will end any positive change you want to encourage.

Too much change, too fast can destroy the productivity of an organization. Change management can become the bull in your organization’s china shop, and if the organization is hemorrhaging, a sustainable change management may not be the solution, and slash-and-burn may be your only option. But, let’s put that aside for now. Let’s say you want to take the healthy organization to the next level.

Change that will boost the organization and its members is the long term growth I am recommending. First and most importantly, you need to assess whether the change you want is the right kind of change for your organization. Measure the current state and its variation! Don’t expect to come into an organization from the outside and in a few days gain sufficient understanding of the culture to grasp what the full consequences of any change will be. If you are not an accepted part of the culture, you will not have the information necessary to know what you are doing and will likely get pushback that could stop your efforts cold. The change must be easier for everyone.

Next, you will need an engine that grows with the scope of the change initiative. Remember the post on starting small? Build on the natural state (get a baseline) and with the end goal in mind. There are many parts to an engine, but not all are necessary at first. Make the primary improvements that are needed to get the ball rolling (use the 80/20 rule). Not everything needs to be completed at first. Start with the things that will bring the greatest impact or are required operate. Be sure not to sacrifice key attributes of the current system’s successes. Once you have thought through every detail, plan ahead and gather all pieces needed to ensure an instantaneous implementation that avoids any disruption in service or product. The customer should be amazed at how fast the change took place and say “Ah, I wish we had done this years ago.” That is how you know you have a winner! Use your engine as a test case in an area that is not the core operation and measure results.

Note: If the change fails to deliver a good result, no harm done. You tried and learned from the experiment, and you now have a team of people that helped you, who will be more invested in revising the plan to succeed using their feedback and insight. Keep trying to get it right. Try again until you get the engine working.

Now, use those positive results to help win the support of key champions that will be able to use their leadership to influence a full rollout. If your organization is filled with people that are adverse to any change, you need not start by removing people. Use those who see the benefit first to implement the change in their areas. As the plan grows, it will be more and more apparent that the change is indeed better, faster, and cheaper than the current state. You may yet win over those who opposed the change. Sometimes your biggest critics will become your best champions. It will be much easier to sell the change with them, because together with their credibility and the results that now show benefit to both the organization and the customer, you will be able to build momentum.

Finally, it will become apparent that there are some who will not buy in to the initiative. It is important to remove them in time to prevent sabotage. Timing is everything. Once the majority is on board and the rollout is well on its way, begin removing these people from the operation. There will be ways to move them to areas that their skills will be needed, even promoted without losing their loyalty to the organization as a whole. Make sure you replace them immediately with competent help to maintain operations. The key is to not sacrifice the safe space you have created in the organization. If they become disruptive and/or subversive, remove them from your organization as quickly as possible to protect those who have been willing and able to succeed. Overwork to make up for the loss could cause people to change their minds about the implementations, and should be avoided at all costs. Your champions are your success. Sometimes hiring extra help is wise to avoid losing these champions.

No end to change. You finished the change, but the work is not complete. Remember the 20% that did not get the focus. Start a new focus of improvement on those areas you did not have resources for during the rollout. That last 20% will mean the difference between lasting change and just another failed idea. Keep at it with the spirit of continuous improvement, and enlist your champions in the effort. After all, they will be the ones who understand what needs to be done next.

By Advocate, ago

Try Something

Building small is where to start. Did you start? If so email me something you started. I would love to hear from you. It took me a while to get something started. That’s OK! What matters is that I did something. I started a shawl for my wife. She thinks it is nice. Perhaps you will too. She would get terribly cold in church and because it was for Christmas, I figured it had to get done early because I did not know how long it would take. I am still working on it, but when finished I will add instructions to my products page. I’m a beginner crochetist as you can see, but for now here are pics.

By Advocate, ago

Building? Start SMALL

Great things come about over time. “Rome what not built in a day,” they say. Well I agree, but you don’t have to start from ground zero. Do your research first. This is difficult for the impatient soul that just wants me to get to the point. So with that in mind let me get to the point.

Start on something that works and has proven gains. Don’t worry if it seems to simple. Simple is best. The key is that it must be functional. It must add value. It must be worth the goal. This is the foundation.

With a proper foundation in place on some level ground you can begin to build. Get a vision of where you would like to take this vision and who you will want to help. You need not worry about the whole picture, but find out ways to improve what you have.

Now just add the frame and create a structure a discipline. List the things that will be part of your efforts and the things that will not be part of it. Get that vision as clear as you can and begin to apply this vision to the foundation, ensuring that you to not over do it. Keep your progress steady, relentless and most importantly only as you have extra resources to do it. Use your extra time to chip away at it.

Before you know what’s happening things begin to take shape. You will need to protect it at this point from the elements so that your work is not wasted, but a roof can go on quickly. Then get back to the bit by bit approach. Your mansion awaits–either in this life or the next the things you do that are of lasting value will continue with you after you die and your reward will truly be amazing, through the grace of our creator. Start today!

By Advocate, ago