This blog is about the relationship between organizations and the people who work for them. And, it’s dedicated to the millions of people around the world who go to work every day wanting to do a great job.
Communication
Shining eyes
“A [symphony orchestra] conductor doesn’t make a sound. Â His job is to awaken the possibility in other people.”
This is what Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, says.Â
And, how do you know you’re doing it? Â
“If their eyes are shining, you know you’re doing it… It’s about how many shiny eyes are around us.”
As a leader, how many shiny eyes are around you?
Random Posts:
Why oh why do presenters put so, so much text on their PowerPoint slides?
Recently the LinkedIn HR discussion group I follow asked the question: “PowerPoint slides loaded with paragraphs of text … is this laziness? Lack of awareness? Do people really think this is good visual support? What do you think?”
The answers:
they don’t know what they’re doing
they don’t know they don’t know what their doing
they’re lazy and they don’t know any better
it used to be ok, but not now. The world has moved on, but they haven’t
they don’t have the time to do it right
many companies want these kind of slides
people who are afraid of public speaking do this in order to hide behind text-heavy slides
they have no respect for the audience
they’ve never heard of Pecha Kucha, the 6×6 rule, Prezi, the drop the slide at your feet and if you can’t read it it’s got too much on it rule …
they’re consultants
they think it makes them look smart
they don’t know the material
Great fun and a good way to let off steam. Given that you’re not an academic or a consultant, the question is, “Why do you do what you do on the job?”
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Be aware, be very aware
Dale Carnegie once said people will judge you not only by what you do, but also by how you do it, and what you say, and how you say it. In other words, words and speech matter. True, but strong and silent men and women have even more problems. Because in the real world people will judge you not only on what and how you do and say it, but when, where, why, and to whom you do it and when, where, why, and to whom you say it. Not to mention, who said and did what immediately before and after you did. In other words, words, speech, action, and context matter. This is why communication is so difficult. The lesson for communicators in organizations is “be aware be very aware.” A lesson everyone else would also be wise to learn,too.
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If the US Army is embracing social media, you can too!
Imagine this paragraph from the opening letter to the US Army’s social media policy - Army social media – Optimizing online engagement - written for your organization:
The US Army isn’t embracing social media as a nice to have. It’s a critical element of their operational strategy.
If the US Army is embracing social media, isn’t it time you did too! And not as a nice to have but as key to your operational strategy.
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Why communication fails
The other day I ran across a question on an on-line discussion group for people in Organizational Design and Training: “Why do you think communication fails in organizations?” If you’re tempted to say “good question” think again. It is, I think, a bad question. Bad because there is no such thing as “communication” in organizations, only particular people trying to make themselves understood in particular ways for particular purposes in particular circumstances. The question “why do you think communication fails in organizations” invites mistaken one-size-fits-all answers: sales never listens, people are too sensitive, too little too late. It would be nice if there was a simple answer. Unfortunately, there isn’t, which means the next time you want to “communicate” you’re going to have to do the inescapable hard work of figuring out precisely what you want to say to whom for what purpose. If this is a formula, it certainly isn’t a simple one, which is perhaps why “communication fails in organizations.”
And now you know what you have to do if you want success.Â
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What do we do?
Good question.
“I’m an internal communications specialist.”  Silence. ”Oh you mean you do employee newsletters?” Sigh.
“I work at the intersection of the brand, human resources, and business strategy. I help my clients involve their people and achieve the goals they are after.” Silence.
Then a conversation last week with a client who’s worked with me three times before – once as a colleague, and twice as a client. “You know what you do for me isn’t communication. It’s OD or change management or something. Â It’s not really communications… ”
This shouldn’t be so hard. Â I’m a communications professional after all.
Apparently I’m not alone. Just this week, the PRSA launched an initiative to update the definition of public relations.  They set up a website where people can submit their definition and see it in a word cloud.  Cool.
And then, Richard Edelman’s address to the IPR crossed my desk. “Re-imagining our profession. Public relations for a complex world” sheds some light and reinforces a view I’ve been trying to express – badly: Â ”…policy and communications cannot be separated… both are tied to operating reality. Communications must be a core element in the business planning process.”
I’d go further. Â Communications is core to doing business. Strategy and operations must be aligned and the only way to achieve that is through communications. Â Relationships with employees, customers, suppliers and vendors, governments and shareholders need to be built and sustained over time. Â And the only way to do that is by communicating.
Edelman goes on to say that “PR needs to create coherence out of complexity. Â As the stakeholder discipline, we are the profession that pays attention to the broad interests of the corporation… one foot planted on the policy side and the other on the communications side.”
The best of us [and as organizational leaders you should be demanding nothing but the best] think about the world from that place where the interests [and point of view] of key stakeholders, the operation and the strategy come together to create an institutional experience. That’s where I live and work [with a particular passion for employees].
Whatever it’s called it’s ….it’s what I do. Â And as my clients will tell you it helps them achieve their business and professional goals. Now I guess I need to find a better label than communications! Be seeing you!
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Let’s say goodbye to “collaboration”!
Words really do matter. Â I’ve been noticing something interesting lately. The word “co-creating” seems to be showing up everywhere in corporate conversation. Â I’m not sure, but it’s seems to be taking the place of “collaboration” and for me this change couldn’t have come soon enough.
Collaboration appears in almost every corporate value statement. Â In fact, collaborate has been paired with innovate to become a kind of institutional mantra, a rallying cry, of the past decade!
But, for me, the word collaborate has always missed the mark. Â It’s a process-focused word by definition. Â It’s about “the how” not “the what”. We’re going to collaborate to do what? Â And what are we doing when we collaborate?
Let’s revisit the definition. Collaborate means to: “1:Â to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavour;Â 2Â :Â to cooperate with, or willingly assist, an enemy of one’s country and especially an occupying force; 3Â :Â to cooperate with an agency or instrumentality with which one is not immediately connected.”
There’s a pretty dark side in this definition [like "execution" another favourite business buzz word] and an implication. Collaboration is circumstantial – working with the enemy, connecting where there’s no obvious connection – and except for the first definition it’s ‘forced’. More problem-solving than creating. Maybe we should be thankful that most organizations are so bad at collaborating!
Co-creating is different. Â The focus is on both the process and the outcome, the creation. Â So here’s hoping that this change in the use of language is signalling more than a superficial label change and the latest flavour of the month. Â Here’s hoping that as leaders we can now get down creating and co-creating what matters in our organizations.
I leave it to you to decide whether Knute Rockne was talking about collaboration or co-creation in his famous team speech!
Random Posts:
From campaign to composition
Let’s face it, we live in an event, event, event world.  One event after another.  Big events and small events.  A new brand. A new executive. A new policy. The latest quarterly results. A new acquisition. A divestiture. A new product.  A flood of separate moments. From an employee point of view it can all look pretty disconnected and confusing.
The challenge we have as leaders is to have these discrete events build momentum toward the business results we’re after.
But in an event, event, event world here’s what usually happens. A big shiny new brand launch. A month or two of hints about what’s coming. Lots of energy and hoopla focused on the day of launch. A campaign. Internally all goes incredibly well. Â Better than expected in fact. Then nothing. Or maybe a little something. And then nothing.
Communications based on discrete events will only ever be just that. What’s missing? The composition, “the plan, placement or arrangement of the elements” in relationship to each other. The same events communicated in the context of the whole will build momentum and action toward the business results we’re after.
To move from a series of campaigns to composition takes a change in perspective. Â It means looking at the events in context and understanding how each event impacts the other as well as how separately and together they support the overall business objectives over time.
It means understanding what these events separately and together look like from an employee [insert any other important stakeholder here] point of view. What does success look like? If the new brand [insert any important business event/announcement here] is a success, what will we see? Specifically how will it advance the business? What are the proof points? How and when will we know? How will we tell that story over time?
As business leaders isn’t it time to insist on integrated communications strategies that will help build business momentum. Isn’t it time to move from communications campaigns to composition?
Random Posts:
When form becomes formula
I know many of you are fans, as I am, of design and Design Thinking. Â The field has much to offer. Understanding the ‘customer’ experience from the ‘customer’s point of view is how I’ve spent much of my career. It’s the basis of what I do when I help clients design and implement successful internal and external communications strategies.
Last month, there was a Design Thinking unConference held in Vancouver. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it, so today I’ve been trying to pick up some of the threads of the conversation and I tripped across this talk by Harold Nelson, author of The Design Way: Intentional Change in an Unpredictable World and Nierenberg Distinguished Professor of Design in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University.
It’s a bit of a ramble but quite thoughtful. For those of you who don’t have 8 minutes: He cautions us on the “commoditization of design thinking”. And suggests that “Design Thinking can effect human evolution”… “it’s “a big deal and it’s not 4 steps you can sell to commercial clients to guarantee product success.”
Once form becomes formula we become mindless. Once we are mindlessly implementing steps the power of the form is lost. Something to think about. Â And not just as it applies to Design Thinking.
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What’s the value of a good relationship?
Being open. Being collaborative. Being innovative. We all say this is a good thing. But how does being open, collaborative, innovative add value to your organization?
The focus on social media – the tools and tactics – is taking us away from this more important question.
What’s the value of a good relationship to your organization? Here’s a conversation between Charlene Li and Gary Hamel.
What’s a good relationship look like? with your employees? your customers? your supply chain? your board? And what’s the value of that relationship to the business. Is anyone in your organization is really thinking about that?Â
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Recent Posts
- Grey zones are costing your organization big time
- Saying goodbye to jargon
- Don’t leave them laughing
- A master class with Ed Sullivan
- Innovation & collaboration: Strategic priorities or not?
- The truth about the number 1 fear
- Want to know the secret to writing a great speech?
- Connecting for big business benefits
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Recent posts
- Grey zones are costing your organization big time
- Saying goodbye to jargon
- Don’t leave them laughing
- A master class with Ed Sullivan
- Innovation & collaboration: Strategic priorities or not?
- The truth about the number 1 fear
- Want to know the secret to writing a great speech?
- Connecting for big business benefits
- Staying in touch with reality
- “Just hire a Dalek”
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