ITLP Tuesday Readings

Tuesday Reading for May 25, 2010

In today's readings "Why Brainstorming Doesn't Work" and "Better Brainstorming: 4 Ways to Generate Great Ideas", Margaret Heffernan reminds us of several shortcomings in our brainstorming practices and suggests improvements. Heffernan is visiting professor of entrepreneurship at Simmons College in Boston, CEO, author, and speaker.

Referencing work by Nicholas Kahn and Steven Smith*, she notes several things that occur given the way we often do brainstorming:

• evaluation apprehension - worry that others will think our ideas foolish
• social loafing - some contribute nothing at all to the activity
• social matching - some contribute ideas that are essentially indistinguishable from ideas spoken earlier.

Heffernan suggests that our desire to belong restricts the breadth of ideas we might think of but dare not offer.

Other research results demonstrate that we run out of steam when we brainstorm; that the first five minutes of brainstorming are the most valuable. And, brainstorming alone is 44% more productive than brainstorming in a group.

All this suggests a new approach to brainstorming:

1. Clearly state the topic for the brainstorming session and write it out for all to see.

2. Give each individual in the group an unlimited number of post-its on which to set forth their ideas. One idea per post-it. Allow five minutes for this work.

3. Everyone participates in sorting the post-its into affinity clusters. (A blank area of a wall provides a good place for this work.)

4. When the sorting has become stable, have the participants write a short (say seven words) summary statement for each affinity cluster.

5. Take a break to allow participants to have time to reflect on the results so far. Some may identify missing ideas and affinity clusters to add to the previous results.

6. Do a further review of the ideas. Perhaps by having participants work their way along the "wall" reading the post-its. (Some additional sorting may also take place at this point.)

7. Use a technique such as multivoting to identify the highest priority ideas. (In multivoting, give each person a number of "votes" equal to the number of priority ideas you want to result from the process. If the number of ideas is large you can do this step in the process in two steps, allowing a larger number of "votes" for the first stage.)

And, now you have a set of results from your brainstorming exercise. (Heffernan, in the second reading, provides another version of how you might update your brainstorming process.)

The next time your work requires some brainstorming, give one of these processes a try.

. . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 10:26 AM | Permalink

This Tuesday's reading is "Communicating Vision", by John Maxwell, prolific writer and speaker on leadership.

In this short article, Maxwell outlines an approach for communicating a clear and compelling organizational vision. (You will notice many similarities to the SUCCES tool that we have presented in many of the MOR leadership program workshops.)

He makes six recommendations:

1. Connect relationally with your hearers. You need to touch the heart before you appeal to the head or ask for a hand.

2. Simplify the message. The more concise, the more memorable.

3. Embody the vision. The best representation of a vision is the one on display in the leader.

4. Prioritize influencers. Leaders must treat everyone with respect. But, they must focus the time spent on the most influential stakeholders. If you don't gain their support, implementing your vision will be an uphill struggle.

5. Honor the process. Vision casting is a process, not an event. The vision needs to be kept in the forefront of everyone's mind.

6. Call to action. Visions call for change. Your goal in communicating your vision is to get people to take responsibility for making the vision happen, getting them to act.

So, the next time you are communicating your vision, consider giving this approach a try.

Have a great week. . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 9:21 AM | Permalink

Today's reading is Marshall Goldsmith's article The Mark of a Great Leader. In the article, Goldsmith says that the key trait of today's leader is self-awareness. He goes on to say that self-awareness entails "having a heightened understanding of one's own behavior, motivators, and competencies - and having 'emotional intelligence' - to monitor and manage one's emotional responses in a variety of situations."

He goes on to say that self-awareness means understanding one's individual strengths and weaknesses, striving to improve, and filling in any gaps. In addition, he says that great leaders let go of the day-to-day activities so that they can focus on strategic and relationship-building efforts.

In Goldsmith's opinion, self-awareness and personal mastery in leadership are enhanced by:

1. Monitoring your personal performance. Identifying where you excell and where you need improvement. Communicating these to your team.

2. Realizing that failures and mistakes are just one step on the road to success.

3. Recognizing that being aware of the impact your behavior has on others is a critical leadership skill.

4. Remembering that when criticism is difficult to accept, there is probably truth to it.

5. Learning to give yourself and others credit for improving.

Given the importance of self-awareness, take some time this week to work on this critical competency.

Have a great week. . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 6:00 PM | Permalink

A few weeks ago Angela Bell from the University of Iowa shared Dan Bobinski's article "Is your leadership developing or diminishing?" with her cohort and now I'd like to share it with everyone.

As Bobinski, a training specialist, author, and president of Associates at Leadership Development, indicates, too many leaders easily get caught up in the immediate and forget, or neglect, the important.

He notes that at the core, leaders are responsible for identifying the best course of action, to keep their organizations on track, and monitoring and acting on three key factors:

1. Ideas - opportunities and possibilities for the organization

2. The horizon - those trends, predictions, advances in technology, etc. that will impact the organization's future

3. The organization's capabilities - knowing what the organization can and cannot do.

But, doing this, while necessary, is not sufficient for having a successful organization. In addition you must:

1. Communicate ideas throughout the organization

2. Listen carefully to feedback

3. Adjust ideas based on feedback and the horizon

4. Equip the organization for meeting its goals.

Seven action items for your practice as a leader. Bobinski doesn't leave it there. He tells you a story to cement the ideas in your mind. You are a river guide for a whitewater rafting company:

"When you start a trip down the river, the main mission is to provide an enjoyable but safe journey for your guests. You have some ideas of what you can do to keep things enjoyable but safe, but you also know the river can change daily. So, throughout the trip you keep your eyes on the conditions of the river - the horizon. You also remain aware of the capabilities of your oarsmen.

"As you're floating down the river you look ahead and notice a large tree branch jammed in some rocks (monitoring the horizon). You need to avoid it (a good idea), so you shout a comand for those on the right side of the raft to start rowing hard (good communication). Unfortunately, everyone on that side of the raft suddenly discovers their oars are broken, probably from the last set of rapids. But when they tell you, your only reply is "Just make it happen!! Row now!!"

The error? Not listening to and responding to the feedback.

I hope you'll make this guide a practice as you continue your journey.

Have a great week. . . . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 9:01 AM | Permalink