Changing strategies? Make sure you've learned the new capabilities you'll need for success!

Also, networking, taking care of yourself, and Scrum at home; check out my latest collection of interesting business and technology links.  I hope they spark new insights for you!

New change strategy requires new capabilities

Successfully implementing critical strategic changes requires building the skills, knowledge, and processes needed to carry out and sustain them. These capabilities lie at the heart an organization’s ability to achieve results.  Yet some businesses miss this important step in change management by either assuming that if the strategy is logical, then people will figure out what to do or being so prescriptive about what to do that employees give up and revert old behavior.  Developing capabilities requires experimentation, trial and error, and iterative learning to figure out what will work in each organization’s unique culture, functional structure, and environment. This article includes valuable tips and stories that will help you learn more about how to successfully build new capabilities to support the changes you want to see.

How to connect with the right people, even if you don't know them now

The old adage "who you may be more important than what you know" still applies today. Networking to meet business contacts is a critical skill for success.  Whether you are starting your network, adding to it, or trying to take it in a different direction, this article provides insight into three proven strategies. The first focuses on how to get specific about the type of people you’d like to meet in order to guide your existing network in identifying connections they can help you make.  The second focuses on how to work your way towards connections that may seem unattainable at the outset. The third focuses on connecting far and wide through content generation.  Learn how the author built a successful business using all three techniques.

Working through a Personal Crisis

Continuing to perform at work can seem insurmountably difficult when we are experiencing a stressful life event or personal crisis. Fortunately, there are many useful strategies that can help you maintain your balance and your work performance during difficult times.  The key is determining what you need to make it through and then communicating your needs to those at work who can support you, like your manager and co-workers.  Knowing how to do this in a way that protects your privacy and your boundaries will further help you comfortably navigate relationships during this sensitive time.  This article details the steps you can take, principles to remember, and case studies that show how it all can work.

Turning off work at the end of the day

There are many reasons why turning off work is a good thing to do each day.  We all know that it's getting harder to do as electronic devices have made us available 24/7.  This article outlines a five-step disconnection strategy requiring only 10 -15 minutes per day. According to the authors, "While some of the tips and techniques may not seem new, we’ve found that they can be highly effective when used in sequence and combination, greatly reducing feelings of stress and improving work-life balance.'.  Read more and try it out.  Let us know how it works for you.  

Love work so much you want to bring it home? Every household could use some Scrum!

This author's family has been using Scrum to manage their housework for the past year and a half. Is their house cleaner as a result?  Find out more about how Scrum can work at home and learn lessons that can improve your Scrum in the workplace.

Let me know what you think of these links using the contact form below!

For Continuous Improvement, Mind the Connections Too

My bi-weekly link collection, including: building your purpose, managing stress, and tactical vs. adaptive performance

Finding Improvement in the Margins

With continuous improvement, we look everywhere for processes that lead to waste and inefficiency.  While we most often focus on core processes, connections between core processes must be attended to as well.  For example, the process for entering an order may be very efficient as may be the process for filling an order.  Now, consider the connection between receiving an order and fulfilling the order.  Are the interconnections flowing well?  How do the people who are fulfilling the order find out about the order?  Are people re-entering information?  Are orders missed sometimes because people are too busy? Learn more about how to find opportunities to improve inter-process connections.

Tactical vs Adaptive Performance

Many companies are good at doing what they say they are going to do, in the way they say they are going to do it.  This is called tactical performance. However, in a study of assembly line performance, Ethan Bernstein found that requiring employees to always do things exactly as designed can actually work against improvements in performance.  Building a culture where front line employees are encouraged to adhere to best practices and also find better ways to work - which is called adaptive performance - improves both overall performance and overall employee satisfaction. When employees have clear work procedures and the freedom to seek improvements they become more dedicated to their roles, more invested in their job, and better performing overall!

94% Belongs to the System

Recently, I participated in a lively discussion that focused on exploring the cause of human error.  As we discussed different scenarios, my fellow attendees posited that perhaps errors were caused by unclear instructions, insufficient training, management pressure to expedite something which resulted in important steps being skipped, or a culture that did not allow workers to sound the alarm when something was not right. We were clearly centered on how the system and circumstances surrounding a mistake contribute to that mistake. The group instinctively saw that a problem is rarely caused by the action by an individual person.  Our instincts were right. In fact, by some estimates, direct action by people accounts for only about 6% of the causes of issues.  Read about how to address the other 94% in this article.

How do you Find your Purpose?  You Build It!

We often think in terms of the Hollywood version of purpose in which the universe reveals its grand plans to the hero or heroine.  We know that this rarely happens in real life.  Instead, we must build our own grand plan or higher purpose, remembering that purpose is multi-faceted and ever changing. The challenge is to endow everything we do with purpose, to allow for the multiple sources of meaning that will naturally develop in our lives, and to be comfortable with those changing over time. Read more about finding purpose over a lifetime.

Managing Work Stress

High-pressure jobs or jobs that just aren't the right match for you can create psychological stress that is severe enough to have undesirable physical effects, such as chronic headaches, nausea, or insomnia. Even more alarming, high work stress can even lead to serious health events like strokes. If you find yourself in that kind of job and are feeling those negative health effects, it is essential to take intentional steps to ease your body and mind.  Find out how to identify the source of your stress and learn key strategies that will help you manage it better. Remember, if none of these things seem to work, it may be time for a change.  Your life could depend on it.

Let me know what you think of these links using the contact form below!