It was not without a touch of unpleasant glee that I heard that Starbucks were pretty much beating a retreat from Australia. It seems that the savvy Aussies are more keen on their independent coffee shops than one-size fits all Seatle-style coffee culture.
Am I being unfair? You have got to admit that Starbucks are good at what they do, whether you like what they do is another thing. And you could hardly say that they are inconsistent with their brand message.
But it seems to me that this is another example of 'stuck on' culture. Every Starbucks I have been to would seem to be interchangable with every other one, and of course Starbucks is not the only company guilty of this. The lack of connection with, and adapation for, the local area suggests something inauthentic and shallow with no true wish to understand what the customers of that particular outlet want.
Where I find this most grating is in the attitude of the staff - almost automaton like in their responses. I don't regard myself as cynical but it is hard not to suspect that the friendliness is not genuine! And it doesn't have to be this way.
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
High Culture?
Everyone thinks that they know what the culture of their organisation is - surely it is articulated in the vision and beliefs of the company? But how often is there a mis-match between the explicit culture and the implicit culture i.e. what everyone actually does and what people get rewarded for?
It is rare nowadays that I go into a client company that does not have its visions and values displayed prominently, at least in reception. But it is also a common complaint that the values and associated behaviours as stated are not the ones that the company actually lives. 'Innovation' is the classic example of this - new products and services are inherently risky, it doesn't matter if you have researched the back of them or not, but this risk is at odds with a company's need to deliver steady and consisitent performance for its shareholders.
The problem does not lie with the company's desire to manage risk but with the mis-match between what it says and what it does. The values become superficial, just something that 'people' expect and having no real meaning.
If your organisation's values were the ones that it actually lives and had credibility for its people, what would they be?
It is rare nowadays that I go into a client company that does not have its visions and values displayed prominently, at least in reception. But it is also a common complaint that the values and associated behaviours as stated are not the ones that the company actually lives. 'Innovation' is the classic example of this - new products and services are inherently risky, it doesn't matter if you have researched the back of them or not, but this risk is at odds with a company's need to deliver steady and consisitent performance for its shareholders.
The problem does not lie with the company's desire to manage risk but with the mis-match between what it says and what it does. The values become superficial, just something that 'people' expect and having no real meaning.
If your organisation's values were the ones that it actually lives and had credibility for its people, what would they be?
Monday, 4 August 2008
What price failure?
Last month, J K Rowling made the commencement speech at Harvard. Her theme was The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination (you can read the whole thing by following the link).
The companies I have worked for and with have had different attitudes to failure. In one, some time ago I may add, a swift kick was not an unknown consequence at least in the production department. More recently, I more often hear of 'blame cultures' or their converse 'if you don't make any mistakes you haven't tried'.
But how true are either of these. In 'blame cultures' no one ever actually takes the blame. It just circles round until it runs out of energy and everyone moves on. In companies that claim to be learning from their mistakes ,when you ask how they do this learning you get met with a lot of blank faces.
But the personal and business learnings available from our mistakes are immense. Not least in demonstrating the emotional maturity to understand that you can succeed despite (or because) of your failures. Did I ever tell you about the time I forgot to get approval for the covers of a print run of several hundred thousand books? Never did that again
Who in your organisation has failure and wisdom to share?
The companies I have worked for and with have had different attitudes to failure. In one, some time ago I may add, a swift kick was not an unknown consequence at least in the production department. More recently, I more often hear of 'blame cultures' or their converse 'if you don't make any mistakes you haven't tried'.
But how true are either of these. In 'blame cultures' no one ever actually takes the blame. It just circles round until it runs out of energy and everyone moves on. In companies that claim to be learning from their mistakes ,when you ask how they do this learning you get met with a lot of blank faces.
But the personal and business learnings available from our mistakes are immense. Not least in demonstrating the emotional maturity to understand that you can succeed despite (or because) of your failures. Did I ever tell you about the time I forgot to get approval for the covers of a print run of several hundred thousand books? Never did that again
Who in your organisation has failure and wisdom to share?
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Think Big
Reinforcing Dave and Bar's (as I call them) view that a leader needs to have time to do nothing but think (what a luxury that sounds) in order to keep the big picture in mind, is a recent report by Personnel Decision International.
The Pulse on Leaders was a study of senior executives and CEOs and found a knack for avoiding micro-managing, as well as a lack of passive-aggressive tendencies, distinguished future CEOs from other leaders.
Future CEOs can be recognised by their high energy levels, a desire to be in charge, and the ability to cut through complexity.
So, they have got to really want to do it, be able to identify what is truly important from the mass of information thrown at them and not need regular holidays.
It is easier to survive without a traditional break if your mind is given chance to do what it does best - think. The opportunity to think clearly and without interruption can be as refreshing and invigorating as a holiday.
Are your senior executives driven by the need to be seen to be busy, busy, busy? How do you give your them chance to think and deliver the value they are truly capable of?
The Pulse on Leaders was a study of senior executives and CEOs and found a knack for avoiding micro-managing, as well as a lack of passive-aggressive tendencies, distinguished future CEOs from other leaders.
Future CEOs can be recognised by their high energy levels, a desire to be in charge, and the ability to cut through complexity.
So, they have got to really want to do it, be able to identify what is truly important from the mass of information thrown at them and not need regular holidays.
It is easier to survive without a traditional break if your mind is given chance to do what it does best - think. The opportunity to think clearly and without interruption can be as refreshing and invigorating as a holiday.
Are your senior executives driven by the need to be seen to be busy, busy, busy? How do you give your them chance to think and deliver the value they are truly capable of?
Just think
I had the strange experience of being very reassured by a small piece in the Sunday Telegraph this weekend.
It was a report on a part of the conversation between David Cameron and Barack Obama in which they were discussing diary management (don't we all!). We all think our diaries are out of control but imagine what it is like for these guys. Everyone wants a piece of them and their diaries are filled up in 15 minute increments. David Cameron referred to it as the 'dentist's waiting room'.
What was so refreshing was that they both agreed that the most important thing to do was 'to have big chunks of time during the day when all you're doing is thinking' in order to keep a sense of the big picture and not lose your 'feeling' or the judgement you need to use to make decisions.
It is easy to think that what we need from our leaders is the ability to make snap decisions, under pressure all the time. True, we do need some of that, but we also are in desperate need of them having time to think.
It was a report on a part of the conversation between David Cameron and Barack Obama in which they were discussing diary management (don't we all!). We all think our diaries are out of control but imagine what it is like for these guys. Everyone wants a piece of them and their diaries are filled up in 15 minute increments. David Cameron referred to it as the 'dentist's waiting room'.
What was so refreshing was that they both agreed that the most important thing to do was 'to have big chunks of time during the day when all you're doing is thinking' in order to keep a sense of the big picture and not lose your 'feeling' or the judgement you need to use to make decisions.
It is easy to think that what we need from our leaders is the ability to make snap decisions, under pressure all the time. True, we do need some of that, but we also are in desperate need of them having time to think.
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
We're all going on a summer holiday
Visiting a client's offices today I could tell that the summer was upon us by the fact of having a choice of parking spaces in their normally packed out car park.
It is lovely, isn't it, when things slow down, things sometimes even have to wait! Extraordinary. I trained as a Thinking Environment coach, in which the component of 'ease' is critical, so I revel in these moments to pause and reflect.
What is amazing is how generative ease can be. Feed of the need for urgency, to be seen to be busy, to be doing, our minds can allow new ideas to take root and begin to flourish. Bringing up new opportunities and approaches to the issues we face.
How can this time of relative ease be a period of renewal and fresh thinking for you rather than a stage that puts you back?
It is lovely, isn't it, when things slow down, things sometimes even have to wait! Extraordinary. I trained as a Thinking Environment coach, in which the component of 'ease' is critical, so I revel in these moments to pause and reflect.
What is amazing is how generative ease can be. Feed of the need for urgency, to be seen to be busy, to be doing, our minds can allow new ideas to take root and begin to flourish. Bringing up new opportunities and approaches to the issues we face.
How can this time of relative ease be a period of renewal and fresh thinking for you rather than a stage that puts you back?
They are already here
In my last post I spoke about Level 5 leaders, as defined by Jim Collins - a combination of professional will and personal humility - who guided their respective companies to sustained market beating performances.
What was fascinating about them was that they were the opposite of the larger-than-life, egocentric leader that boards often feel they need to bring in to make their company great. Of course, that kind of appointment is high profile, usually applauded and helps to make the board feel that they are 'doing something'.
Ten out of eleven of the good-to-great CEOs, however, came from inside the company. WOW!
What this means is that it is possible that the potentially great leaders for your company are already with you. They are just not as easy to spot as the ego-driving, shouting loudest celebrity leader.
What can you do to identity them?
What was fascinating about them was that they were the opposite of the larger-than-life, egocentric leader that boards often feel they need to bring in to make their company great. Of course, that kind of appointment is high profile, usually applauded and helps to make the board feel that they are 'doing something'.
Ten out of eleven of the good-to-great CEOs, however, came from inside the company. WOW!
What this means is that it is possible that the potentially great leaders for your company are already with you. They are just not as easy to spot as the ego-driving, shouting loudest celebrity leader.
What can you do to identity them?
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