I had my first virtual reality experience at MIT recently. The program was called The Enemy and the point was to introduce us to three pairs of enemies, get up close and personal, and hear them talk about their beliefs and experiences. The three conflicts were in Israel/Palestine, the Congo, and El Salvador. As I expected, all six wanted peace and better lives for their children. And all six grew up in circumstances, mostly desperate, that defined the enemy and, seemingly, limited their options. Across the board, their actions were violent, heartfelt, and contextually defensible, if misguided. I walked out as I walked in, wishing for a better world and wondering how you get people to step out of their circumstances long enough to find common ground and peaceful alternatives that lift all people. My wishes extend to all three of these conflicts, as well as to today’s USA and beyond. Imagine a world governed by civil, rational, collaborative problem-solving! We could have left feeling pensive, I believe, but that didn’t happen. Instead, the MIT crew ushering us through this experience tainted the experience by breaking one of my cardinal rules:
The RFP (Request For Proposal) process used by non-profit organizations has got to stop. It is inefficient and ineffective. There is no way it is in the best interests of your organization. Furthermore, there is no one in my global network of excellent consultants willing to participate and I’m sure we are not the only ones opting out. Let’s start with the inefficiency
The wraps are coming off the incredibly ubiquitous attitudes, habits, and behaviors involving sexual harassment. #MeToo tags echoing across social media should leave no doubt that pretty much every woman has been negatively affected. It’s hard for me to believe this is news to anyone, but apparently, it is. In which case, it is high time! So what does this mean for your company?
The biggest problem with the way organizations think about strategy is they confuse strategy with plans. They aren’t the same thing. Strategic planning is an oxymoron. It is also the reason why strategic planning often misses the mark and why I always work extra closely with prospective clients to clarify expectations before I even agree to work with them. Let’s start with a definition
From 37 floors up, Sarajevo is beautiful, nestled in the mountains with a river running through it. You can spot the quaint, almost Turkish, old town immediately adjacent to the grand palaces built while the city was a fashionable spot in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The diversity continues to impress with minarets, an Eastern Orthodox church, a Cathedral, and a Synagogue all within blocks of each other. Zoom in to street level and the evidence of fighting amongst those factions during the 1990s is obvious. Bullet scars still mar prominent buildings right downtown. Mortar blooms still mark the pavement. Ravaged buildings are still awaiting repair or demolition. But from the tower, only those who know where to look can spot the damage.
I am frequently asked about goal setting and how to know if expectations are reasonable. The norm these days is long To Do lists and insufficient time. Managers push their employees hard, but don’t know what constitutes pushing too hard. Employees are proud and eager to be valuable and appreciated, but they feel stressed, are running full tilt, and often work late and on weekends. So how can anyone know what is realistic? There is only one way to be sure expectations are reasonable and that way usually fails.
I just finished reading survey responses about strategic priorities from a senior management team. The lack of consistency in their responses reminded of an experience I had on the island of Kerkennah off the coast of Tunisia.
Confirmation bias is the tendency to interpret new information as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs and theories. And it is the only way to explain how Trump’s speech to the Boy Scouts can simultaneously be seen as breaking every Boy Scout rule and upholding the values of the Boy Scouts. We hear what we want to hear. Regardless of your own beliefs, you can’t listen to the daily and starkly opposing interpretations of every political news story and not be impressed with the incredible power of confirmation bias. Of course, you might conclude that only the idiots on the opposite side of each issue are guilty of confirmation bias. You might be quite sure that your interpretation is the only rational and fact-based reaction. You’d be wrong.
If you make decisions by consensus, you waste a lot of time. But if you make decisions without sufficient involvement, you won’t gain the cooperation and commitment you need for subsequent steps and successful implementation. How do naturally clear leaders thread this needle? They consciously, or intuitively, follow these seven rules:
Strategic planning isn’t rocket science, but that doesn’t mean most organizations do it well! Here are the most common mistakes I see: 1. You do strategic planning because the calendar tells you it is time. Why? What does the calendar know about your business and changes in your market? 2. You haven’t done strategic planning in several years and think it would probably be a good idea because you know you are supposed to do it more often than you have been. If you are relying on external triggers like peer pressure and calendars, you are out of touch and don’t understand the purpose of strategic planning.