When I was in my early twenties, the best paying part time job around was driving school buses. I studied up, got my special license, and ventured forth on field trips, athletic excursions, and several daily runs chock full of little, loud blonds (this was Minnesota, afterall). The average driver seemed about forty years older than I, but they were helpful and nice. The Office Manager was another story. I remember one day when I was backing into the bus garage. She stood and watched, so I watched her in addition to all my mirrors. I assumed no reaction from her meant no problem. Wouldn’t you? Afterwards, without a word to me, she walked into the office and reported to my boss that I’d backed over some washing equipment. I never felt it. Never saw it. Don’t even know if it was true. Assuming it was, I couldn’t believe she stood there and watched me do it without any warning of any kind. No shout. No raised arm. No help what so ever.
The transition to my new website was not pain free, not by a long shot. One piece of that transition involved my email, which involved Google. Someone named Jonnathan was my knight in shining armor. It wasn’t easy getting to the right support person, but I have got to tell you, he was as good as gold once I found him. He was knowledgable, responsive, thorough, right, and patient. He helped me via both email and telephone. He deserves a raise! Now if only Google as a whole were so valuable! The entire Google experience reeks of complexity. I have multiple accounts, each with different capabilities and permissions. I have no idea how things got so complex or why. I would love to have only one account, but I don’t know how to make the change. Depending on how I log in, I get a wide variety of dash boards and options. I also get warnings saying I am not authorized to do whatever I am trying to do. When I seek support, I get the opportunity to read volume upon volume of information that doesn’t exactly address my problem. On top of that, they send me ridiculously long emails explaining their services and changes. I don’t have a life to devote to learning how to be a good Google customer! I can’t possibly keep up with all their changes. I’d love to think they really had my best interests at heart, but I don’t believe it.
The snowplow drivers must believe that destroying mailboxes and bending paper boxes is their right and duty. We are not surprised. I guess it comes with the territory. But if there were an alternative… I punch in my name, account number, and zip code for faster service. When I finally get a human being, I repeat all of the above. Why? If there were an alternative… I go to the bank to deposit a check and wait while the teller types a novella. Why? Both the check and the deposit slip feature all the machine-readable numbers they could possibly need. Even a really big deposit requires only 10 keys including the decimal to punch in the amount of the deposit. Why a book? I am bewildered but resigned to waiting. But if there were an alternative… The menu of options was so long I think I fell asleep.
Should we raise the minimum wage? Yes or no? Fast food workers are striking and demonstrating across the country. House Republicans were unanimous in there opposition yesterday. Many fear young people will be offered fewer “starter jobs” if those jobs payed “real” wages worthy of more experienced employees. Pundits are coming down loud and clear on both sides. Too bad this is a stupid debate. Too bad so many are wasting all this time and energy, increasing rancor, fueling divisive politics, and getting nowhere fast. As usual. Why is this a stupid debate? There are three reasons and those same reasons explain why many of the debates in your company are also stupid.
Too many people confuse a mission statement with marketing. The result is either bad marketing or a confusing mission or both. On top of that, conflating the two also wastes tremendous time and energy. Mission statements and marketing have three things in common. Both should be simple, clear, and focused on value to customers. There the similarities end. And the differences are truly fundamental: different purposes and different audiences. An organization’s mission is its raison d’être. Strong, successful, focused organizations, whether for-profit or non-profit, are clear about how they wish to improve the condition of their clients, customers, members, or target populations. It doesn’t matter whether you are: Clothing the poor for warmth or the rich for status and beauty Helping the long-term unemployed develop better skills or educating the crème de la crème Providing children with colored pencils for drawing pretty pictures or engineers with computers for modeling complex systems Saving money for your customers by producing inexpensive alternatives or saving them time with costly services
“A shared process brings clarity to group thinking. If you want better results in a fraction of the time, establish your process before leaping into the fray.” Ann Latham
While I was at dinner last week with a Fortune 500 Executive, we were discussing employee expectations for career advancement. We lamented the ambitious but misguided who don’t know what they don’t know and feel entitled to success. We bemoaned the techies who are eager to be done but inevitably break something every time they fix something and leave far too many details unfinished. And we shared stories of accomplished individuals who are so nasty, annoying, and/or self-centered no one wants to work with them. In the end, we identified three secrets to success that may be of interest to your employees (feel free to pass this on):
I think I’m going to scream. Creativity and innovation are just great. Furthermore, I know language evolves. It must. It should. It will. However, not every noun needs to be a verb!!! Here are some I’ve heard recently – nails scratching on blackboards to my ears. yard sale – “We will be yard-saling that day.” tuition – “We simply must tuition them.” de-risk – “You can de-risk this project by negotiating better terms.” credential – “That is a great way to credential yourself.” What examples have you encountered recently?
Easthampton, Massachusetts – Ann Latham, founder of Uncommon Clarity, was once again selected from over 5,000 submissions to be featured in The 2014 Woman’s Advantage Shared Wisdom Calendar. The calendar provides advice for women business owners from influential women leaders across the US and around the world. Mary Cantando, Growth Expert of The Woman’s Advantage, today announced that Ann Latham’s advice has been included in the 2014 calendar.
My clients strive to be fair to their employees. Where they struggle is in the distinction between fair and equal. The goal is to treat people fairly, not equally. Equal means the same. Identical. But employees are like snowflakes; no two are quite alike. They don’t all need the same level or type of support to succeed. Nor do they want or deserve the same opportunities. They come from different backgrounds and never contribute in the exactly same way. Furthermore, employees don’t even like to be rewarded in the same way. Equal treatment does not necessarily make sense. Fairness, however, is a worthy goal. When people believe they are being treated fairly, they can relax and focus on the prioirities and challenges they face. When they feel unfairly treated, their focus shifts completely and they devote more energy to protecting their own interests than tackling important priorities. Equal may or may not be fair, but fair is always fair! Want to know how to ensure employees are, and feel, fairly treated?