Meetings And Marshmallows

At a recent leadership team meeting we were asked to complete a task. After being divided into teams of four we were given a paper bag containing twenty uncooked spaghetti noodles, one yard of string, one yard of tape, and one marshmallow. The goal? Work as a team and create a free standing structure with the marshmallow on top. The only rules? You had fifteen minutes; the tallest standing structure wins; and the marshmallow must be on top.

Here’s the result from my team:

From the table to the marshmallow was twenty-two inches at the end of the time limit. We lost by two inches. However, ours stayed standing until almost the end of our day long meeting. There may or may not have been sabotage involved. The investigation is still pending.

The project was from a TED talk: http://youtu.be/H0_yKBitO8M

I’m sure there were many reasons we did this to start our day together. After watching the TED video together we learned that the most successful teams usually do more building and less thinking. They spend their time building one prototype after another instead of talking and strategizing. There is some of that, but it’s done throughout the building process.

We were able to immediately apply this lesson because there are some things we are trying to build into our sales and customer service teams. In order to do this we will need trial and error; one prototype after another. The thought and strategy, generally speaking, is done. We need to do it.

Another interesting point: the most successful teams at the exercise are usually kindergarteners. Why? They just start and keep going. They also usually start with the marshmallow and build up instead of building he structure and then trying to place the marshmallow on top. Like we did. You see the result.

That’s another lesson I took away. Start with the marshmallow. Figure out what your marshmallow is: a sales goal, a client experience, running a marathon, a happy marriage, whatever. Start with the marshmallow and build up from there.

Whether you answer this question online or not, I hope you take some time to figure out what your marshmallow is.

What’s your marshmallow? Do you have several? What are they? Where and when are you going to start building?

Every Day Is Training Day

“I can’t remember the last day I didn’t train.”
Michael Phelps

Yesterday Michael Phelps won his 19th medal making him the most decorated Olympian in history. I found the quote above while I was preparing for a meeting at work and it rang so true I just can’t get past it.

In any professional role I’ve held training and development is an ongoing activity. We can always ask better questions; we can always increase our efficiency, we can always hone our skills.

I don’t know about you but my personal life is no different. I could have handled that situation better; I could have demonstrated better self control there; I could have planned better.

I keep stretching the analogy out and it still fits. Every day is training day. (Hopefully not in the Ethan Hawke/Denzel Washington kind of way. That would be exhausting and messy.) But every day, every experience – success or apparent failure – is training for something. It puts a different spin on things, I think.

When we train we expect difficulty and we enjoy overcoming it. Why do we expect everyday life to be easy? If we look at it as training we know up front that it won’t be easy. We also know up front that after training comes the main event – the time when we unleash ourselves and maybe, just maybe, we win the day.

What are you training for right now?

When To Shift Gears

“Leadership instinct is the discernment to know when to stay up above it and when to get down in it.”

That quote by Steven Furtick has been on my mind for awhile. That’s a fine line, isn’t it? When am I with the team, on the sales floor, going after the goals too vs when am I leading the team while developing the clients of tomorrow? Knowing how and when to shift gears is crucial.

It reminds me of the scriptures encouraging us to be in the world yet not of the world. There’s discernment involved in shifting those gears too.

What about our other relationships? Family, friends, whatever the scenario. When are we in the trenches, shoulder to shoulder and when are we already on the next level calling them to rise up?

Discernment seems to require both – the experience of being down in it coupled with the strategy of the way forward. Otherwise, how do you know when to switch gears?

I’m still working through that quote. What about you? Has a quote got you thinking lately? Tell us about it…

Know What’s Important

I got home from work to find dinner almost ready. We were having spaghetti and Michelle mentioned to Ryan that we could use some of his basil (from a VBS project) to season the sauce.

Me helping Ryan turned into a sort of intense thing for a second. I thought he was excited about having his stuff put in the sauce. I. Was. Wrong. The look on his face at one point quickly told me that. The important thing for him was actually doing it himself. All of it. Cutting the leaves off the plant, cutting them smaller and mixing them into the sauce. Himself. All of it. Once I knew that, the whole experience changed! I got the chair over by the stove and he did his thing.

I almost missed it. I almost made him miss it. If we don’t know what’s important to the people around us (home, work, community – anywhere) we’ll all miss it. The experience won’t be the same. No one grows. No learning. Less fun.

Find out what’s really important. Life tastes better that way.

Are you a chicken, or a pig or what?

“When thinking of people you have chickens and pigs. Chickens contribute, pigs give everything. Organizations that win need 30% pigs.”

What could an organization accomplish with a higher percentage of pigs? How do you turn chickens into pigs? Is that even possible? Is it possible to have too many pigs in an organization? And what about those people in your organization or aren’t chickens or pigs? What do you call them? What effect are they having on the chickens? On the pigs?

I love this stuff!

As it relates to the quote:
Which are you? Chicken or pig?

Oink.

** Quote: Former Baltimore Ravens Coach Brian Billick ( @coachbillick ) via Greg Rittler ( @gregrittler ).

Pirate Leadership

Fear
Love
Encouragement
Power
Winning
Not losing
Rage
Revenge
Pain
Joy
Anger
Success
Expectation

The list could go on. What motivates and drives you? For real. What about your team, department, household, spouse – however you define “team”?

Are you looking for quick results or are you trying to build long term, sustainable success?

If you don’t know you might want to start asking questions. Not sure where to start? Remember the kid asking the gangster in “A Bronx Tale”? Start here:

Is it better to be loved or feared?

Row, row, row your boat.

I’m told that a man interviewed several Olympic level rowers. He was interviewing people successful in what they did in search of some commonality. One question he asked each one got a virtually identical answer.

The question?

“How do you focus on rowing when it’s cold and rainy, or really hot, etc?”

The answer?

“I focus inside the boat.”

They can’t control weather or crowds or anything outside the boat. They can control everything inside the boat. Knowing what they can and cannot control frees them to make an impact. Taking complete control of what they can and ignoring everything else gives them the focus, energy, and strength to get the results they need.

So I’ll ask you the same questions I’m asking myself:

What is outside my boat and needs to be ignored?

What’s inside my boat and needs my attention?

Leader vs. Manager

There is a big difference between a leader and a manager. When I stepped into my new role I noticed my business card says, “Manager”. I also noticed that my direct supervisor almost never uses the word. She refers to my peers and me individually as “leaders” and collectively as “the leadership team”.

In our leadership meetings recently she has been challenging us to discuss leadership activities that will help our teams achieve our goals and accomplish our mission. The first few conversations were hilarious. We each kept bringing up management activities: schedules, checks and balances, various performance tracking logs, etc. Now that we have the hang of it our leadership activity conversations center on: training, coaching, conversation and review of progress, etc. This process and discussion has been calling us all to step up our game. We have an expectation to rise to. The bar has been raised in a very positive way.

Leadership is about growth, progress, guidance, and momentum.

I believe everyone has a leadership role in at least some aspect of life, even if it is the basic of self-leadership (which by the way, I find to be harder than leading others…but that’s a topic for another day). I encourage you to take a minute and scan your life: the professional and the personal.

• Are you leading or managing?
• Is there an area of your life you are managing that you need to rise up and lead?
• How are you going to do it?

Potential resources: Ron Edmondson and Michael Hyatt put out some great stuff regarding leadership on a consistent basis. (Click on their names for more.)

Win – Win

We spend an enormous amount of time and energy working to achieve a “win-win”. In all sorts of settings – board rooms to back alleys, kitchen tables to sales floors of all kinds – that perfect solution is the trophy chased by many but achieved only rarely.

I dropped my car off this morning at a local dealership so they could look at my CD player. A few weeks ago it simply quit responding. The radio works just fine, but push the CD button…nothing. With a one hour commute each way it is fair to say that my affection for that 6 disc in dash piece of luxury is a bit… unnatural.

The service manager asked that I leave the car with him so he could complete the additional diagnostic tests required by the warranty claim. During the conversation I briefly mentioned that I was glad this was working out so well. My extended warranty was due to expire in two weeks.

Some time later I get a phone call. Since the warranty was going to expire soon he put the car on a lift and had his team go over the whole vehicle. They found two oil leaks that were still in the very early stages of creating an issue, but definitely needed to be corrected. He could cover the repairs under the warranty today if I gave my approval. What? Can you repeat that please? I’m having a hard time hearing you on account of the awesomeness of this customer service. ME: “An $800 extended warranty purchased in 2004 is going to completely cover almost $1,200 worth of repairs (between the CD player replacement and fixing the oil leaks) in 2010?” HIM: “Yes.”

The WIN for me should be obvious. What’s in it for him?

• Morale. His shop was slow today. Like a drunk turtle trying to wade through molasses, slow. Nobody wants to go to work and have nothing to do. That’s bad for morale. He was able to put his whole crew to work and keep them busy for quite some time. The whole vehicle check took time, then the necessary repairs took time.
• Money. Paying people to do nothing is not good for the bottom line. It’s his job to generate revenue for the service department. By finding warranty repairs he did exactly that.
• Marketing. Knocking a customers socks off is always a good thing. He went to bat for me. Treated me like he would want to be treated. Why not have a warranty cover the expense on necessary repairs? Picking up on the limited window of time and grabbing that opportunity helped him generate revenue for his shop at no cost to me…what customer wouldn’t be impressed?

Minor point of amusement: It’s a Toyota dealer. You see, brands are created by companies. Companies are made up of people. So I guess it’s actually people who create the brand of a company. It’s also people who either support or erode that brand. When people representing a brand help other people supporting that brand…we just may have a “win-win” on our hands.

Leading The Ju Ju Man

Have you ever heard little kids laugh when they hear something they think is funny? My wife and I have 2 fantastic little boys, ages 4 and 2. They explode with laughter every time they hear Bono sing the line: “Ju Ju man, Ju Ju man” in Breathe…which they call, “that breathe song”.

The first time it happened I about jumped out of my skin. We were bouncing around town together while they were talking amongst themselves in the back seat. I was focused and already thinking of the next stop to make, pondering the lyrics earlier in the song, and wondering where to score my next cup of coffee when all of a sudden the explosion of laughter and “that guy said Ju Ju man, Dad!” came out of the back seat with a volume to rival any rock concert in history. The only thing that mattered to them in that moment was that they just heard some guy say, “Ju Ju man.”

Have you seen an example of the same message being heard in two different ways? Have you ever been through the same event with someone else and realized that you both had completely different experiences?

As a leader you may be focused on where you are going, what your organization is about, and how to keep yourself going; but what about your team? What about the people figuratively in your back seat? What message are they hearing? What is their experience along the way?

My kids experienced a great laugh. We had a family bonding moment. That’s personal. (And in my opinion, awesome.) However, in business, if your employees aren’t dialed in to where your organization is headed; if they aren’t focused and energized…then you might as well be zipping around town with the latest tunes crashing through the speakers. Which again, in your personal life can be a memory to treasure. Professionally speaking though, it may not be the best way to lead an organization. Just sayin’.