Do your knowledge assets reach the right target? This blog is part of a series - 6 Steps  to Boomerang Expertise.  Harvesting knowledge is discussed in this series, but harvesting is an academic exercise  if practitioners don’t have access to the knowledge asset during problem solving and decision making. Deploy a knowledge asset in the [...]

In my previous blogs I describe how knowledge flow requires: 1. Making knowledge assets operate and 2. Deploying knowledge assets in the enterprise where they will be used. Now I will discuss another requirement for knowledge flow. 3. Any knowledge flow infrastructure must have adaptation as a key requirement. Beyond the laws of physics, is [...]

People sometimes have a strange idea about what it means to be a leader, regardless of their field. Some merely "pose" as leaders because they are unsure how to lead effectively. Others may consider themselves to be naturally good leaders simply by virtue of their title or position, such as mother, store manager or lieutenant. To compound the problem, these people usually assume that everyone else also believes them to be good leaders merely because of their rank or title. The result can be insensitivity and a lack of consideration for those being supervised. Such an attitude can be death for any constructive leadership attempt. Following are two characteristics of a good leader or manager that illustrate this theory: First, consider the act of listening. God gave us two ears and one mouth.  This ratio of personal communication instruments should give us a clue about the proportion of time that each should be used!  The hallmark of a good leader is the ability to listen to others, no matter what they want to say. It’s amazing how often this simple truth still mystifies leaders who think that their position means they should talk first and ask questions later, if ever. Many leaders forget how to be humble and recognize that they don’t know everything.  In reality, they often have a great deal to learn about those they supervise as well as the job those people are doing. For some reason, they confuse their job title with some sort of overall expertise, which makes them overbearing and foolish in the eyes of their subordinates. A second point concerns respect.  I personally think it is a very important point to remember. Specifically, managers should treat those closest to them as though they were strangers.  Let me explain that statement. Because we have people in our lives with whom we become very familiar, either at the workplace or at home, it is very easy to slip into a rather casual attitude toward these people who know us best. The result is sometimes an outward appearance of a lack of respect or love, expressed by how we speak or behave. When we are upset, busy or unhappy, it is very easy for us to snap at those closest to us. We may shout or become nasty or insulting simply because someone is nearby. However, if the telephone rings with a stranger on the line, we can immediately switch to a sweet, kind and considerate persona. Why?  Because we would never insult a stranger with our surly attitude. This just doesn’t make sense. Why should you abuse your colleague, close friend, or child just because that person is nearby when a bad mood strikes?  The answer is: You shouldn’t. Don’t beat up people emotionally just because you know they’re familiar with your mood swings. Remember, the people you are closest to, at work and at home, deserve to be listened to and respected. Do you lead this way? Does your boss?

 We have a plethora of software tools at our finger tips today with data analytics being at the top of the "must have" list for many businesses. But, do you ever think about intuition being in your toolbox?  Intuition is a hot topic for blogs and columns these days - especially as it relates to [...]

For the next few blog postings, I want to answer some questions that I’ve received numerous times over the years. Let’s start with the big one: What do I need to do to reach my goal of being a CEO? Some young people have the goal that they want to run some big operation someday and they ask me how they can get there. I tell them it’s by not worrying about getting there. Be the best at what you’re doing right now. You don’t get promoted because you’re thinking about the next position and what you’re going to do there, you get promoted because you’re doing a tremendous job at what you’re currently being asked to do. People will notice that, and then they’re going to give you opportunities. When you do get the next opportunity, your focus needs to be on that opportunity—how can I be the best at doing this job?  And gradually, over time, if you give your best efforts to everything that is asked of you, you’ll be amazed at how steadily you make it up the hierarchy. And someday, you’ll be running the place—not because you’ve got power, but because you’re somebody who’s a good performer. And people will believe in you because, just maybe, you can help other people perform well, too. So there’s nothing wrong with setting goals, but remember—live in the present, not the future. Do the best you can do at the job you have and new opportunities will present themselves.

Big data is emerging from every walk of life.  Websites are counting mouse clicks and car manufacturers installing sensors to record seatbelt use.  Financial institutions are tracking credit card swipes and marketing departments are predicting future purchases. The emergence of Big Data reminds me of the transition from winter to spring in Atlanta, Georgia.  We [...]

Another big question that I get all the time… What do you do if you have an unpredictable boss—where you never know who’s going to show up?  One day he’s upbeat and happy and thinks you’re great, and the next day you feel like you’re dealing with an ogre. I suggest two things: The first is to get your resume out there, because you might want to go find another place or another boss. The other thing, which is so important, is to never buy into the idea that your self-worth is a function of your performance plus the opinion of others. If you get hooked into that outlook on life, then your self-worth is up for grabs every day. Why? Because nobody’s performance is great every day. Have you ever noticed how fickle people are? They don’t operate the same way every day, either. So one of the things you need to deal with, if you are dealing with someone with an erratic personality, is that God did not make junk. You are absolutely beautiful. Don’t have your whole day depend on how someone else treats you. Remember that you’re a good person who is loved. Maybe that boss doesn’t quite get it yet. But he or she will.

Where do I start? We have all been faced with this question.  We have seen other people scratching their heads trying to determine the first step on the journey to an action.  How do we bring the right information and experiences to point of problem solving and decision making so that we can take action [...]

Do You Need Knowledge Flow in Your Troubleshooting Process? If you need help fixing a machine or device, what approach would you take? Would you: A.  Ask an expert? B.  Search the internet for people reporting similar problems? C.  Get all the data you can find on the machine and run data analytics? D.  Conduct [...]

This is a tough question that especially haunts younger leaders… If you think you’re a leader and you turn around and nobody’s following, you know what? There’s probably some feedback there that you can learn from. Why aren’t they following?  Because your leadership might be all about you. People want to follow someone who appreciates and cares about them, who thinks they are important. Are you involving your people? That’s what they want. They want to work with somebody who wants to work with them. If nobody’s following you, stop looking in the mirror and thinking that leadership is all about you. No—it’s out there. It’s with them. It’s encouraging them and supporting them and helping them and involving them. People love to follow leaders who share the responsibility of accomplishing goals.  So look out there at your people. That’s where the action is. And if you take care of them, you know what? Next time you turn around, there might be a crowd.

Have you ever tried to use a troubleshooter from say Microsoft or online for a product you purchased?   The first thing you realize is that the troubleshooter asks you a series of questions trying to decipher your problem.   The next thing you realize is that your problem is not exactly like anything they are asking [...]

With the challenging economy these days, where companies are losing money and people are being downsized, a very important question I get asked is, "How can I, as a leader, motivate my people in these tough times?"  I think there are three things you can do. The first thing you need to do is to be a bearer of hope. That doesn’t mean you don’t talk about the truth of the present reality, but hope is so important. When our company was facing its toughest year, our CEO, Tom McKee, got out in front of all of the employees and told them the reality of the situation and how much we were down from the year before. But then he said, "I think we can come out of this. We’re going to do it."  He was a bearer of hope. The second thing you need to do is to involve your people as your business partners. After Tom spoke, the next day we had a massive brainstorming session that involved all 300 of our employees in small groups, coming up with ideas of how to cut costs and increase revenues. Your people have knowledge—make them your business partners and tap into that resource. The final thing you need to do is to always remember to be a servant leader. I so believe in that. This is not the time as a leader to be self-centered and worried about yourself or your own job. It’s a time to reach out to your people and encourage them, serve them, and be with them. So be bearers of hope, involve your people as your business partners, and be ready to serve—not to be served—as a leader.

Here is a question I often get from both decision makers and people off the street: "If the Artificial Intelligence (AI) in games such as Call of Duty looks so good, why can’t we copy this for real world training systems?" First, let’s be clear. Games are designed to be fun. Training is designed to [...]

A lot of people ask me, "What’s the difference between leadership, management, and supervision?"  Most people think it’s about where you are in the hierarchy—if you’re at the top, you’re a leader; if you’re in the middle, you’re a manager; and if you are closest to the people who are actually dealing with the customers, you’re in supervision. I’d like to break the mold and forget about those labels. I believe all three are leadership roles. No matter whether you’re at the top, in the middle, or supervising people on the front lines, as a leader you first need to make sure that everybody is clear on goals. The first secret of The One Minute Manager is One Minute Goal Setting. All good performance starts with clear goals, which is the vision and direction part of leadership. The next thing you need to do is to help people accomplish those goals. That brings to mind the second and third secrets of The One Minute Manager. The second secret is One Minute Praising. After people are clear on what they are being asked to do, you need to wander around and see if you can catch them doing something right. Accent the positive and praise them. If someone does something wrong, but is a learner, don’t punish the person. Just say, "Maybe it wasn’t clear about what we were working on," and redirect. However, if you are dealing with an experienced person who for some reason has a lousy attitude, give the person a One Minute Reprimand, which is the third secret of The One Minute Manager. That’s where you make clear what the person did wrong: "You didn’t get your report in on Friday, and I really needed it. Let me tell you how I feel - I’m really upset about it."  Be sure, though, that you always end with a reaffirmation: "The reason I’m upset is that you’re one of my best people and I always count on you for that." Every level of leadership starts with clear vision and direction and then moves to implementation. Remember that managers, supervisors, and CEOs are all leaders. Don’t let yourself get hung up on labels.

Are your current methods for knowledge management, knowledge sharing and training scalable? Or do you feel like your pivotal performers are continuously putting out fires? Do you think knowledge harvesting doesn’t scale? Why? Let’s start with talking about two dimensions of scalability:  horizontal and vertical. Horizontal:  Administrative      scalability: The ability for an increasing number [...]

Can a person with no technical or computer software background become a "knowledge engineer" in less than a year? If you asked me this question over a year ago, I would have said no. That was until it happened to me. In this day and age it’s important to be flexible and adaptable in the [...]

There’s an important difference between delegating and abdicating. When you delegate to someone, you give them responsibility for something, but you stay in the information loop. Abdicating is when you give somebody responsibility and then you disappear and you’re not in the information loop. Then what happens? All of a sudden someone says, "Do you know what’s happening?" Now you have become the classic manager of all time; what I call the Seagull Manager. You fly in, make a lot of noise, dump on everybody, and fly out. Why do you do that? Because you didn’t know what was happening in the first place. If you’re delegating, you’re turning over responsibility to someone else, but you’re still in the loop so you know at what point you might need to get involved again and maybe help in some way. But if you turn your back on the situation, you have abdicated and you are helpless. You become a seagull manager. And remember—people don’t like to be dumped on when you haven’t been around. So delegate, don’t abdicate. People don’t mind you being in the information loop because then they can get your help when they need it.

"As the pace of technological change increases, many jobs will require constant adaptation creating less distinction between learning and work." (O’ Discroll, 1999). This is especially true for today’s workforce if you ask me. In many workforce arenas, people are becoming more and more accustomed to learning in an increasingly dynamic environment using tools such [...]

It’s just a fact of human nature - Not everyone has the same set of values. But what should you do if you discover that one of your high performers is a values mismatch with your organization? There are two aspects to evaluating people: One is performance and the other is citizenship—whether people are operating closely in relation to your values. If a person is a lousy performer and also not a good values match, that’s an easy decision. The tough decision is what to do if you have a high performer who’s just not a good citizen—this person is not following your values. What do you do?  Well, if your values are important, you have to deal with it. A few years ago we fired our top salesperson. That really sent a message out. He was a great performer, but our number one value is ethics, our number two value is relationships, number three is success, and number four is learning. He was focusing all his energy on the success value. He was doing stuff that really wasn’t right and he was stepping on other people’s toes. We talked to him and tried to work with him, but finally decided we needed to share him with our  competition. Remember: If you don’t deal with a values mismatch and you just let it go, pretty soon your people will say, "Those values are on the wall but they don’t mean anything." Don’t let that happen in your organization.

For many years it seemed as if the term Artificial Intelligence was a dirty word.   It had the connotation of great promise with little commercial applicability.   Today it seems that AI has not only found its cache’, it has been co-opted.   The blockbuster games released all promise new AI and talk about it as a [...]

Over the past several months, Discovery Machine has been developing executable cognitive behavior models of Navy crew members. As it stands, a full complement of human crew members is needed for training, making training both difficult and expensive to schedule. Using our behavior models in place of human crew members, students would have the ability [...]

To have a successful business, you don’t want satisfied customers—you want Raving Fans. I wrote a book with the title Raving Fans along with Sheldon Bowles from Winnipeg, Canada. Our belief is that you don’t want to simply satisfy your customers. You want to treat them so well that they are blown away—that they brag about you. The way to do that is to think about the customer service experience you want them to have. In the 1970s when all the gas stations were switching to self-service gasoline, Sheldon started a chain of full-service stations called Domo Gas. Sheldon said, "Most people don’t want to go to the gas station unless they have to, so I want to give them the best service, the quickest service, and the friendliest service." So his vision was that if you came to one of his stations, it would be like going to an Indianapolis 500 race pit stop. He hired housewives and retirees and had them all wear red jumpsuits. When a customer came in, several attendants would race out. Someone checked under the hood. Someone pumped the gas. Someone washed the windshield. Someone opened the car door, handed the customer a newspaper and a cup of coffee, and asked the customer to step out so they could give the car a quick vacuum. Do you think Sheldon made a difference across Canada? You’d better believe it! Because he didn’t just have satisfied customers, he had Raving Fans. Everybody talked about the experience of going to one of his gas stations and how they were treated. So don’t just satisfy customers—think of how you can really blow them away and turn them into Raving Fans.