Category Archives: Business

Death by Meeting Revisited

Business, Leadership, management

It’s been nearly 15 years since Patrick Lencioni published “Death by Meeting”. Lencioni says we need more conflict in our meetings and it is a leadership skill to identify conflict and bring it into discourse. As we become more polarized as a society, this becomes more challenging because we are not reading much about great back and forth discussions and the exploration of win win solutions. A recent article in Knowledge @ Wharton applies the idea championed by Lencioni to marketing.  read more here

Here is a chart of the key ideas from a summary of Lencioni’s book.

Meeting Type

Time Required Purpose & Format Keys to Success
Daily Check-In

 

 5 – 10 minutes Share daily schedules and activities.

 
  • Don’t sit down.
  • Keep it administrative.
  • Don’t cancel even when some people can’t be there.
Weekly Tactical

 

 45 – 90 minutes Review weekly activities and metrics, and resolve tactical obstacles and issues.

 
  • Don’t set agenda until after initial reporting.
  • Postpone strategic discussions.
Monthly Strategic

(or Ad Hoc Strategic)

 

 2 – 4 hours Discuss, analyze, brainstorm, and decide upon critical issues affecting long-term success.

 
  • Limit to one to two topics.
  • Prepare and do research.
  • Engage in good conflict.
Quarterly Off-Site Review

 

 1 – 2 days

Review strategy, industry trends, competitive landscape, key personnel, team development.
  • Get out of the office.
  • Focus on work; limit social activities.
  • Don’t over structure or overburden the schedule.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/conflict-new-marketing-tool/?utm_source=kw_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2017-02-23

Brainstorming & Innovation

brainstorming, Business, innovation, management, , , ,

“…we have to understand an area deeply enough in order to be able to identify the key problems….Once you have those insights, coming together in this process of combining different ideas makes a lot of sense. But if you just go straight for combination and diverse teams, you may be missing out on the highest impact ideas because you haven’t done what I consider to be the pre-work, which allows you to have that in-depth insight into innovation.” Sarah Kaplan, University of Toronto.

I find myself scratching my head a lot when reading about research that in the end, discovers something that common sense already has told us. This secondary research is often a “data mining” approach that often looks at flawed assumptions. In this study, it was the assumption that the number of citations a patent receives from downstream patents determines it’s novelty or innovative rating. I can hear Homer Simpson slapping his head “Doh” !!!!

Haven’t these researchers taken the time to sit in on brainstorming sessions and measure the capabilities of the group, monitor the ideas put forth, measure the “deep knowledge” in the room as well as the diversity of the group?  Then it is a matter of measuring the innovative economically valuable solutions against the “big brain” matrix in the room.  This process is dynamic, varied and perhaps most importantly unique to each situation.

Where management researchers go astray in my opinion, is they try to extract principles, techniques and measurable actions that can be put into a reproducible formula for successful management. In this case, determining the critical success factors (csf’s) of innovation.

I laughed when I read this statement on a key research finding: “Patents that were both novel and had economic value were the most valuable. And that was only about 1% of the total patents.” Let me see if I understand this, patents that are new and have economic value are valuable ! I must be missing something.

Oh well, academia marches on but you have to wonder how much of the increase in college tuition is piddled away on reasearch that common sense could have made moot. For the full article go here

Turning Disaster Into Programs

Business, ,

A number of years ago I was on a Continental Airlines flight from Mexico to the U.S. On the second flight on take off from Houston to Albuquerque the right side engine blew up in a ball of flames and the plane leaned over and started going down. I could see the rooftops of the houses clearly. A group of missionaries started praying and one of the flight attendants completely lost her composure. I grabbed the phone on the seat back thinking I could call and say goodbye to my daughter…. more later on how this near death experience resulted in programs for airlines.

I had just delivered a hotel-based team building program we packaged and delivered in Mexico City using the hotel gardens and a large ballroom/salon for experiential activities. Being flexible with our programming and having lots of portable activities gives Santa Fe Learning Centers the ability to deliver impactful programs just about anywhere.

Back to the blown engine out of Houston. The pilot wrestled the airplane level but could not perform safely a bank turn so it took awhile to get back to the airport during which time I did leave a message for my daughter….”I love you” ….with a nervous tone which she detected and asked me about.

Finally on the ground, a series of unbelievable events took place which improved my ability to facilitate and brought me airline clients with whom I never thought I would work. More on the key learnings I took away from this event in the next post.

Trabajo en Equipo: Integra y Novarum at Santa Fe Learning Centers

Business, Challenge Course, Experiential Learning
Novarum Consulting junto con Integra México suministrada grupo empresarial la orientación y facilitación que necesitaba, mientras que en las instalaciones de SFLC. Grandes espacios de reuniones, un curso de desafío emocionante en medio de un hermoso viñedo. ¿Qué más pedir?

IntegraNovarum1

Novarum Consulting together with Integra Mexico provided this corporate group the guidance and facilitation they needed while at the SFLC facility. Great meeting spaces, an exciting challenge course amidst ancient mesquite trees, lots of thermal pools and lush gardens. What more to ask for?

Climbing Wall Open Weekends

Business, Challenge Course, Experiential, Experiential Learning, Traveling

Every so often we have open enrollment meaning you can climb and learn with us without being part of a group and a prepared program. Our climbing wall for example is verticle, it is a challenge (unless you just climbed El Capitan in Yosemite Park) and it is fun!! Just $100 pesos per hour. Two or more family members get a 25% discount so just $75 pesos each. Check our calendar, call or whatsapp to see if we are open on some Saturday and Sundays, usually 12-3pm and on certain holidays/puentes when there are no group programs.  At our San Miguel de Allende Challenge Course only. Check out our facebook Page. Send us an email to claim this offer. Reservations recommended but not required.

 

Zero Sum Game

Business

Zero Sum Game applied to the business world is about balancing home and family life with the rigors of todays working environment. Accepting the Nash Equilibrium is a mistaken approach that assumes that if you spend more time at work you will have to take away time from your family and vice versa. The simplist example of how organizations have overcome zero sum is  “take our daughters and sons to work day” (non-profit org. founded in 1992). SFLC helps organizations with creative solutions to beat the “Zero Sum Game”.

Family Programs at SFLC:  ASK FOR PROGRAM INFORMATION

Implement: Brainstorm with your team different ways of enhancing family life and choose one for action planning.

Positive Psychology

Business

INVESTIGATE

There is a basic truth in psychology that says what you focus on, what you investigate and look into tends to grow and strengthen.  So why do we continue to focus on what is wrong with ourselves and our organizations? The field of positive psychology and its many offshoots such as Appreciative Inquiry offer a more effective choice. The father of positive psychology Dr. Martin Seligman tells us psychology should be:

  1. as concerned with strengths as with weakness
  2. as interested in building the best things in life as in repairing the worst
  3. as concerned with making the lives of normal people fulfilling and with nurturing high talent as  with healing pathology

Check out his TED TALK

MEANING

Experiential learning is a natural partner with positive psychology in that our programs are fun and strength based. We help you explore your strengths and use them to belong to and in the service of something larger than you are.

AUTHENTIC HAPPINESS

Also, people are happy when challenged and must work with each other. Happiness is relatively new to research and you can particpate. Just register and take the “authentic happiness” test and other online questionaires.  Its fun and interesting.

 

Leadership and Change

Business, global, work, , ,

Last year the horses at Los Senderos were set free to roam the 300 acre property. Before that time they were kept corraled and when set loose were closely watched. A different management style is in place now. Can you imagine what a change like that must feel like for the horses?

If you read the literature and research by the experts in the field and by the recognized leadership consultants,  you will find that most of them talk about change in extreme situations that just do not apply to the daily management of a small to midsized company. An example is this 2011 offering by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. 

At SFLC we focus on leadership behavior and leadership in action. It is about managing emotion and thought. Being mindful and focused when the organization is under fire. Threats from terrorism like the 9/11 attacks, extreme situtations as with the trapped Chilean miners have only distant and modestly applicable lessons in leadership for the average manager, CEO or line worker. So why do we continually turn to these headline grabbing situations for help? The answer lies deep within our own self knowledge that tells us  that unless we face a life and death situation, we are very reticent to change. So how do todays leaders deal with this paradox of learning and change? 

  1. STORY. Create your own story with examples from your personal life and from the history of the company. You don’t have to save a life or  endure a life threatening catastrophe, just tell stories about overcoming challenges with determination and heart.
  2. CHANGE YOURSELF. Change your own behavior before asking others to change theirs.
  3. ALTRUISM. Honor the individual and understand how much you are asking for when you insist on teamwork and making efforts for the organization that may or may not be in the best interests of the individual employee. You are asking for “altruism”, a form of sacrifice, and you are asking for a lot.
  4. ANTICIPATE THE CHANGE. So the most difficult task is to be prepared for the change that in retrospect you could have known was coming. How is it possible that groups of randomly chosen people from all walks of life “out predict” and “out perform” the pundits and experts? By using what we call the “Big Brain” of the team, you tap “The Wisdom of the Crowds” (James Surowiecki). In other words just ask your team what they think lies ahead. To learn about crowd wisdom and group decision making check out this TED talk.  go here.