Thinking

By Lori McNeill

It is all too common for managers to have busy schedules to the point of having back-to-back meetings all day long. Deadlines have to be met. Unexpected issues arise that need to be addressed. Does this sound like an average day or week for you?

When over-packed days become the norm, leaders may not take time to develop the talents of their employees or even recognize the potential of individuals when it is right in front of them.

What’s at stake if this occurs? Great ideas may not be heard. Employees may not feel valued and may become disengaged. Talent is wasted because employees are not coached to reach their full potential.

The Washington Post did a social experiment a few years back by asking Joshua Bell, one of the world’s most talented violinists, to play in the D.C. Metro Station. He was dressed in regular clothes and the performance was unannounced. Anyone passing by may have thought he was just some guy off the street trying to make a quick buck but consider this: he was playing a violin valued at $10-$15 million, and the music he played was some of the most complex arrangements composed for violin. In fact, he was scheduled to perform those exact songs just days later to a sold-out crowd.

Read More

By Ron Price

One of the advantages of being 66 years old is that I don’t get as anxious I used to when unexpected, negative events occur. Depending on how each event is interpreted, the current coronavirus disruption is, at a minimum, the seventh crisis I have experienced over the past 45 years while in a variety of leadership roles. These crises have included a major fire, negative front-page press coverage, a debilitating breakdown in our supply chain, regulatory abuse, major contracts broken, the great recession, and the tragedy of 9/11. And we have survived every one of them!

What to do? How are we to respond when our world is disrupted so dramatically? As I reflect on this and shift gears into problem-solving around a seventh major crisis, here are things that guide my thinking:

Get above the noise. There are businesses (such as the media and others) that thrive on crisis. It actually increases their “product inventory” and compels their customers to engage. I’m not one who thinks everyone in the media is evil with ill-intent. However, it is a fact that they get better ratings (and more income) the more we engage with what they are selling.

Read More

By Ron Price

One of the primary jobs of a leader is solving problems. We often joke that if all the problems went away, we would be unemployed. Some problems are quick and easy to solve. Scheduling conflicts, customer complaints, and equipment failures are examples of problems we can often fix quickly and move on. However, there are also many problems that are much more complex and tedious to solve. It is these tougher problems that test and demonstrate our skills as problem-solving leaders.

In The Complete Leader, Randy Lisk and I wrote about two basic kinds of problems that leaders encounter on a regular basis. The first are linear problems. These are problems that have a clear root cause. By applying a scientific approach, whether asking “why” over and over again until you uncover the original cause, or by completing a more complex root cause analysis such as the fishbone model of identifying several potential contributors, one or more causes can be identified and solved. This is often the work of process engineers and is most effectively applied with problems are primarily connected with tangible parts, processes and results.

Read More