3 Ways You Might Be Holding Back Your Team's Performance
This article originally appeared on the Habits at Work blog.
Whether managers like it or not, they set the tone for how their teams work.
They are the gatekeepers to creating high performance.
The problem is, managers are in a complicated position with pressures and stakeholders coming from all angles.
They manage:
up to leadership
across their organization
external customer expectations
within their team
inside themselves (their ways of thinking and being)
And this list does not even include the expectations from their personal relationships, including friends, family and community.
Adding to the pressure, we know that one of the top reasons why employees leave their companies is due to having a bad manager. In fact, 1 out of 2 people currently on the market for a new job left for this very reason.
And, at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores can be attributed to poor management. Gallup goes so far as to say that only 1 in 10 managers actually have the talent for it.
Combine the fact that technology, business, the workplace and career roles are constantly shifting and evolving, with a lack of useful, actionable learning and development programs, and you've got a perfect storm: ill-equipped managers leading under performing, disengaged teams.
To put this problem into context, "bad" managers cost the U.S. economy an estimated $398 billion annually (via Gallup). Imagine the impact worldwide!
But without solving the complex, underlying organizational issues, how can managers improve the performance of their teams?
If you happen to be a manager, here are three ways you might be holding back your team without realizing it...and some ideas on how to improve performance.
3 Ways You Might Be Holding Back Your Team's Performance
1. You're a work martyr
Whether you're aware or not, your habits become the model for your team.
If you're stressed and overwhelmed, it's likely that this feeling will rub off.
If you're constantly running late, not getting enough sleep, frequently working late, chained to your desk, on your phone during meetings, skipping lunch, not taking your vacation, quick to emotionally react, have no friends at work...then it is likely that your team members will engage in similar behaviors.
If you sacrifice your own wellbeing, fulfillment and relationships, then it is likely that your teammates will follow your lead. They'll sacrifice self-care, seemingly in service to their work.
The problem is, this approach is unsustainable. The things we sacrifice in service of our work are, ironically, the very things that fuel performance: our health, happiness and security.
Suggestion: Be a model for self-care and positive habits as a means to improve your relationships and boost your cognitive function, decision making, stamina, will-power and performance.
Make your self-care conspicuous and encourage your team to do the same. In fact, invite them to do it with you!
2. You lack self-awareness
Creativity and speed require a sense of safety, trust and understanding. Teams waste a lot of time when people do not feel that they fully understand each other, or that they are not being heard.
When teams lack this understanding, it reduces clarity and alignment, limits creative confidence and ability to solve problems, reduces experimentation and risk taking, slows speed, entrenches the status quo, inhibits communication and accountability, and decreases overall performance.
Some poor, but pervasive practices to avoid include: information hoarding, exclusionary behavior, lack of communication and not providing clear expectations.
Suggestion: Improve your own self-awareness and give your team the tools to do the same. At Habits at Work, we use the Enneagram as a tool for understanding our default behavior patterns.
Being able to understand your own emotions and behaviors can help when relating to your team. You will be better prepared to avoid miscommunication and misjudgment of the behaviors and intentions of others.
For example, you might perceive a response as angry or snarky, when someone is simply being direct. Or, you might assume a team member is disengaged during meetings when they are actually being reflective and wish to have more time before forming their opinions.
With this clearer view, you are able to consider what you and your team need to do your best work, collectively and individually.
3. You don't connect your team's work to your organization's purpose
Clarity and alignment are critical elements for team performance. Everyone must be clear about how their work ladders up to the bigger organizational vision.
Additionally, each individual should have a clear agreement with their peers and manager on their role in achieving this collective vision. Clearly and consistently communicating the purpose and goals of the team is crucial for success and accountability.
Suggestion: Reflect on your team's goals for the year -- if they're unclear, make some time to set them with the team's input. Have conversations around WHY these goals are important for both your team and for your organization.
An easy way to integrate purpose into your workflow is to add a spot for your team's goals directly into your meeting agenda template. Begin every meeting by stating your organization's purpose and how your team's goals will help you achieve this purpose. Bonus points if you connect the purpose for that specific meeting to your team's larger goals. You should be able to connect everything you do as a team, including the meetings you hold, to your organization's goals.
Even if your organization's vision or purpose is unclear or uninspiring, you can create a meaning-fueled work environment for your team. Connect with each individual to better understand their personal life and career goals. Then, help them create a plan for connecting their individual work to the team's work. When opportunities arise, give your people chances to achieve their personal goals by meaningfully contributing through their work.
If you are a manager, think about how you can positively impact the performance of your team by:
prioritizing and being a visible model for self-care
improving your self-awareness and providing your team the tools to do the same
making your team's work meaningful by connecting it to your organization's goals
Is your corporate hero stressed out and overwhelmed?
This article originally appeared on the Habits at Work blog.
The collective habits of your employees shape the culture of your organization. If your corporate hero archetype reflects the status quo, then it's likely that your most successful employees are stressed out and overwhelmed. I wrote this post to help you reflect on your current vs. desired corporate hero archetypes.
What is the Traditional Corporate Hero Archetype?
Car company Cadillac aired a commercial during the Academy Awards featuring a monologue about the “American Dream.” An actor made to look like a successful and wealthy corporate executive extols the virtues of “hard work, American style”—elevating those persons who have worked themselves into the ground and have taken as little time off as possible. The ad says, “Americans work hard because that’s what they love to do.”
And it’s not only Americans that suffer from this perception of the corporate hero -- employees all over the world feel the tension of this work/life struggle.
This commercial has received an untold amount of backlash, yet one is left wondering if this idea of the successful executive or corporate “hero” is, in fact, in alignment with perceptions of the typical workforce that working harder (instead of smarter) and time management (not energy management) is what leads to success.
The traditional corporate “hero” is no stranger to stress.
Overloading with work, taking on more than one person can handle, coming in early and staying late, all while ignoring your personal needs in favor for what is best for the company—these are the characteristics of the traditional corporate hero, a person who exists in the minds and imaginations of workers around the world.
Yet, all the resulting stress and hours spent working to become this type of hero leads to disengagement and ineffective performance at work, as well as poor levels of health and wellbeing.
How can the conventional corporate “hero” archetype be rewritten when employees—either consciously or subconsciously—still believe that the traditional archetype is what is required for career success?
This perceived social barrier could be overcome with a simple redesign of what it means to be in service to an organization’s greater purpose, and to be personally successful.
Reimagine + redefine what it means to be a corporate “hero.”
Inherited Mindsets + Behaviors: The Status Quo
First thing's first. Take some time to reflect on the status quo -- what are the attributes, mindsets and behaviors that your current (real or perceived) corporate hero embodies?
Think about what it takes to get ahead at your company – what sacrifices do your people make in service to their work?
Do they miss time with family and friends?
Are they on the road a lot?
Do they sacrifice personal relationships?
Are they stressed about finances?
What is getting in the way of their health, happiness and security?
Take a moment to reflect on which of the behaviors your employees practice that get in the way of their wellbeing.
Write them down.
A New Corporate Hero Archetype
Now think about what it means to thrive in your organization.
Reimagine a new type of corporate hero –- one that practices the positive habits of health, happiness and security in service to contributing to your organization’s success.
It can be helpful to start from your own perspective when considering what it means to thrive in your organization.
What do you need to thrive at work (and in life)?
It could be time and space for critical thinking, appreciation or recognition from peers, ability to work flexible hours, trust and open communication, continued learning and growth, permission and encouragement to engage in physical activities and self-care, purposeful work, helping others, safety, etc.
Which positive behaviors could this new corporate hero model for others?
Write them down.
I hope you found this exercise helpful in considering your current and desired corporate hero archetype. If you enjoyed reading this, please consider sharing it with your network so others can discover it too!
Also, feel free to reach out directly if you'd like to discuss how to shift this model within your organization: bree@habitsatwork.com
This post is part of a series exploring the archetypical successful employee: the corporate hero. This archetype, whether real or perceived, heavily influences the behaviors of today’s workforce. In this series, we will push against our limiting beliefs of what it means to be an employee, how to break away from the status quo and rid ourselves of inherited behaviors that no longer serve us, what allows us to thrive at work and in life, and how to design the conditions of the workplace in support of a new type of corporate hero.
Imagine a new model for employee success and performance
This post originally appeared as part of a series from Habits at Work exploring the archetypical successful employee: the corporate hero. This archetype, whether real or perceived, heavily influences the behaviors of today’s workforce. In this series, we will push against our limiting beliefs of what it means to be an employee, how to break away from the status quo and rid ourselves of inherited behaviors that no longer serve us, what allows us to thrive at work and in life, and how to design the conditions of the workplace in support of a new type of corporate hero.
Whether we’d like to admit it or not, we live in a society where our success, on an individual and collective level, is determined by the amount of money, power and status we amass.
Because of this, the models for success within our organizations are the people who sacrifice themselves, their time, their relationships, their health and their happiness in service to their company.
This “company man” is the shining symbol of success within our Capitalist society – the person that arrives first and leaves last, the person chained to their desk, the person running from meeting to meeting unable to catch a breath, the person who never takes their vacation.
Our inherited, outdated expectations and biases no longer serve us or the companies we work for.
As we move away from Industrial Age work and ways of organizing, we must also move away from an Industrial Age mindset of what work is and what it means to be a successful employee.
For the last century, two factors have largely been responsible for generating individual success (money, status and power):
Productivity: make as many widgets as possible within a period of time. Simply work hard, put your nose to the grindstone, buckle down, bootstrap, make it work and get shit done. Do more with fewer resources in zero time.
Talent: using your God-given gifts to get ahead in life. According to this worldview, you were either born with a skill or ability or you weren’t. Fundamentally, one’s talent or ability to do something cannot be grown or changed.
Productivity and talent. Are these factors still the largest drivers of an individual’s success in a knowledge economy? Sure, they play a role, but are they still the primary force for success? I don’t think so.
Knowledge-based work requires that we have the time and space to be calm. To think critically. To collaborate. To experiment. To be mindful. To be creative. To focus. To ponder. To be aware of ourselves. To continuously learn and grow.
If this is the case, then how do we measure productivity when we no longer make physical widgets, and thinking becomes our product?
And, with a society that changes at breakneck pace, demanding that individuals constantly learn and grow their minds and abilities to stay afloat, how can we measure talent?
If productivity and talent take a back seat for creating employee success, then which factors are in the driver’s seat?
Haunted by the corporate heroes of the Industrial Age, we have sacrificed our most basic human needs to be productive workers.
When asked what we most desire in life, for ourselves and our children, peoples’ answers overwhelmingly fall into three categories:
To be well
To be fulfilled
To be safe
Without health, happiness and security, how can we be expected to grow as individuals and make our highest contribution to our companies and the world?
Can we replace our current model of success (money, status and power) with a new model that prioritizes health, happiness and security?
The simple answer is yes.
The execution is much more complex. And yet, companies have an enormous opportunity to shape the minds and lives of their people.
My challenge to you comes in the form of this question: How might we redesign the conditions of our organization to create a new definition around success for our people rooted in health, happiness and security?
A big challenge, but one I believe you are capable of undertaking.
If you don’t know where to begin, look to each of the Four Contexts:
Systems Context – implicit and explicit rules, policies, procedures, processes, platforms, organizational norms
Spaces Context – design of the physical environment and how communication is used within this environment
Social Context – networks and groups, teams, support systems, mentors and coaches, friends and family, and social norms
Self Context – meaning and stories about the world, confidence and capability, autonomy and control, level of awareness and self-actualization
Reimagine your organization and culture through these Four Contexts while continuously asking, “will this generate health, happiness and security for our people?”
P.S. If you enjoyed reading, please share this piece so others can find it too. Thanks! You can also reach out directly: bree@habitsatwork.com
Strategic rest, renewal and restoration.
Article originally published on the Habits at Work blog.
The traditional corporate “hero” is no stranger to stress.
Overloading with work, taking on more than one person can handle, coming in early and staying late, all while ignoring your personal needs in favor of what is best for the company—these are the characteristics of the traditional corporate hero, a person who exists in the minds and imaginations of workers around the world.
Yet, all of the resulting stress and hours spent working to become this type of hero leads to disengagement and ineffective performance at work, as well as poor levels of health and well-being.
How can the conventional corporate “hero” archetype be rewritten in order to encourage healthy behaviors and well-being when employees—either consciously or subconsciously—still believe that the traditional archetype is what is required for career success?
Energy is the capacity people have to do work.
Like time, energy is finite. However, unlike time, energy is renewable.
Strategic renewal, including daytime workouts, short afternoon naps, longer sleep hours, more time away from the office and longer, more frequent vacations is shown to boost productivity, job performance and health.*
We asked our Habits at Work team members how they achieved rest, renewal and restoration over Labor Day weekend...
Debbi Brooks, Product
Date night with Mr. Brooks...Dinner with my daughter and her boyfriend...Finished a paper on the causes of multitasking (research is very relaxing for me)...Walked and rough housed with our dog Addie...Heard 7+ teenagers laugh and have a good time in my living room...Intentionally ignored work emails until Tuesday morning...Completed my weekly planning the morning of the first workday rather than on Sunday...
Amanda Beemer, Brand + Culture
Made time for people I care about; enjoyed their company without watching the clock...
Donna Sumner, Partnerships + Licensing
Watched South Paw with my husband and daughter on a 13" computer screen (will never do that again)...Spent Saturday with my sister who is getting married this month...Enjoyed a day with my family on the lake...
Thomas Bookman, Business Development
Had one-on-one days with my daughter Quincey...Road tripped to Spokane, WA where I am from...Spent time with family and friends...Had intimate discussions with a three year old about her future life plans...
Andrew Sykes, President + Chief Habit Starter
Enjoyed our first night out with my wife since our twin girls were born...Spent lots of quality park time with my son, Lex...
Jim Holtzman, Operations
Went to Milwaukee after a fairly short 11.5 mile run followed by a massage...Took my wife to the movies...Fixed some things that were long overdue around the house...
Sharlene Krantz, Consulting
Donated to the community food bank after hearing a great sermon about showing love to others...Finished boring household chores and yard work...
Caryn Tomasiewicz, Operations
Watched a lot of Antiques Roadshow UK...Became obsessed with home updates and spent 2 hours scouring Etsy for 1920s-30s flush mount ceiling lighting fixtures (Bought two. Very, VERY excited)...Painted the inside of the closet in Colin’s room and stained the wood trim...Took 2 private Pilates lessons...Watched a bunch of wonderfully random movies on Turner Movie Channel...Went for a long walk along the lakefront...
Carolyn Bilson, Partnerships + Consulting
Practiced being in the present moment with family, friends and my dog, Roscoe...
Kathy Vance, Partnerships + Business Development
Hiked in the woods...Basked in the sun...Worked on my flower beds...Enjoyed our 107 acres in West Virginia with the love of my life...
Is strategic renewal encouraged at your workplace?
*Source: BRATLAB research
This train is leaving the station. Are you on it?
It has been my experience that when you show you’re committed to giving birth to an idea, then people come out of the woodwork to help you.
People can tell the difference between:
you having an idea
you committing to make something happen with that idea
Talking and taking action are very different things.
Nothing wrong with telling your story, fleshing out and evolving your idea and getting feedback. However, for some (most?) people, that is the only step they take. They never take the ACTION, never make a commitment, take a risk or put a stake in the ground.
And people can tell.
It has been my experience that when you show you’re committed to giving birth to an idea, then people come out of the woodwork to help you.
Take Kindred Labs as an example. The idea for a collaborative coworking and community space focused on discourse and ideation was my original concept for the business. Only in telling my story, discussing ideas and getting feedback did I begin moving toward the model we have in place today.
When I started looking for a physical location for the coworking space I did my research, I walked neighborhoods, I talked to strangers, I looked into loan options, and I even visited several spaces “for lease” and chatted with brokers and building owners.
I was doing more than talking about my idea — I was taking the steps toward making my idea happen.
Now, obviously, my idea evolved.
This happened as a result of the conversations and experiences I had during my period of ACTION. For example, I found that many building owners wanted me to sign a terribly long lease term, pay an inordinate amount in the form of a deposit, sign over my first born child, and many other things in order to get a space.
Well, obviously that did not work out for Kindred Labs. Since I wasn’t focused on the idea of making the “coworking real estate play” that many others were doing, my idea had to evolve in order to remain viable.
Skipping over what happened between then and now, I came to the model we are currently running: a small team of problem solvers that bring clarity and a thing we call RUTHLESS SIMPLICITY to brands and businesses. We team up with creative independents to help companies clarify their purpose and then translate that into every facet of their organization.
Really, it’s a combination of business design + branding. What’s different about what we’re doing is the way we’re working with the independents and the companies — we are bringing them together to work in an extremely collaborative and mostly lean manner, all headquartered at the Kindred Labs office.
So, you see, it is still a coworking space of sorts. It’s just not open to the public.
OK, so what does this have to do with putting a stake in the ground? It seems like I’m all over the place here, right? Well, in my opinion I’m not.
The point is, I could have spent an eternity simply talking about my idea and sharing it with others.
I know, though, that ideas are worthless without amazing execution. I never stopped talking about my idea. In fact, I’m talking about it right here, right now.
What matters is that I chose a point to begin making my idea come to life. I put a stake in the ground when I signed a lease for a small office space in Ravenswood.
And then people began coming out of the woodwork to help me.
They made daylong trips to IKEA. They lugged boxes. They fed me! They helped build the furniture and arrange the office. They cleaned. They offered their expertise.
They even sent me work.
The Kindred Labs office opened in October 2014. During the first two weeks of having the space, my comrades and I set up the entire office and my client roster went from 1 to 5.
Even though I had been working as an independent since February, I did not receive this amount of support until I stated my intentions and took steps toward realizing them.
My lesson today? It’s not to quit talking about your ideas. Please, please KEEP talking about them.
The lesson is to also MOVE FORWARD on your ideas. TAKE ACTION.
Sometimes we don’t know if something is right or not. And the only way to know is to pursue it until it no longer makes sense.
From the Web: Don't Change Who You Are
Great article from Fast Company - Quote of the Week: Don't Change Who You Are
So true. But what if you don't know who you are?
Then stop focusing on that stupid question and instead ask:
What do I want to contribute?
"Don't change who you are." This is so true when it comes to personal branding in today's economy. It is imperative that you don't try to one-up the "competition" or try to position yourself as something you are not.
Organizations are now hiring more for cultural fit than skills, so it's more important than ever that you clearly articulate WHO you are and WHY you are that way.
Don't know where to begin?
Pour yourself a cup of coffee, tea, beer...whatever helps get your thinking juices flowing. And then start answering these questions:
What do I want to impact?
What do I want to create?
What do I want to contribute?
At the end of my life, what do I want to look back on and see?
What pisses me off?
What is broken that I want to work toward fixing?
What types of people and organizations do I want to align myself with?
When am I most successful, and why?
What environment do I need to be my whole self at work?
What unique strengths, knowledge, experience and skills do I have that can help me with my contribution?
How did you do? Do you feel that you have a better sense of what you bring to the table?
Take this and turn it into your personal brand. Seriously. Don't use jargony words. Don't talk about how many years of experience you have managing $xxx budgets. Tell us what you believe and value. And what problem you're trying to solve in this short life.
And once you do that, there is no way that you haven't truly expressed your personality through your "brand"---which will allow anyone looking to hire you to understand who you truly are and what you will fully bring to the table on day one.
New Experiences for Continued Learning
In my Get a Life Objective class, I brought up the idea of continued learning as a way to inspire creativity and new ways of thinking about your life and your career.
Let's get clear about what constitutes "continued learning."
What continued learning is NOT:
Reading the same newspapers, magazines and books you always read
Having discussions about the same old topics with the same two friends or colleagues
Attending classes and conferences where you already know most of the content being presented
Half-watching documentaries on Netflix while eating greasy snacks
What continued learning is:
Breaking out of your comfort zone and feeling uncomfortable
Being a complete novice in something new
Challenging your brain to grow, adapt, work in different ways and make new connections
I have been doing a lot of "continued learning" this month, mostly in the form of workouts. I'm learning the ways of yoga, including a hot power fusion variation (see sweaty evidence below). I even tried a mixed martial arts class at the UFC gym--boxing gloves and all!
I noticed that immediately afterward I am exhausted but exuberant. My brain has come alive in new ways.
With the extra energy I've created, my inspiration to knit, read and write has returned.
And I am inspired to get better at the things I've tried so far (balance is not a strong suit for me!).
How do you engage in continued learning?
Career Lessons from Yoga: September 13, 2013
During the beginning of every yoga class, there is a brief moment when you are supposed to set an intention for your practice. This intention provides you with something to reflect on during the practice, and maybe even afterward. Sometimes the teacher will offer an intention, which is what occurred during one of my classes this week.
I'd like to make a practice of sharing lessons from yoga with you, as they often apply to aspects of your career and work/life. Here's an intention from class this week that I feel is extremely pertinent.
There is a time in life where you have to be your own mentor, believe in your dreams, be courageous and let no obstacle take away your vision. That time is called always.
Interesting. Be your own mentor.
Namaste
From the Web: Bullet Journal - An Analog Note-Taking System for the Digital World
My organization basically amounts to a form of "organized chaos."
My desk is covered with various notebooks, each containing meeting notes, brainstorm ideas and assignments. There are sticky pads of all shapes and sizes littered throughout my space.
The walls of my "cube" are covered with quotes, reminders and checklists. And this trend continues in my apartment too--mini notepads filled with knitting designs and recipe ideas. You get the idea.
During my morning ritual of Fast Company + coffee, I came across something very valuable: an analog note-taking system for the digital world.
Amazing!
Why is this so amazing, you might ask? Because I'm just not one of those people who effectively uses technology to keep their life organized. Beyond a calendar and email, the only application I find useful is Pinterest (inspiration!).
I've tried and tried to task myself with using technology to maintain a sense of organization--to no avail.
I prefer analog, and that's it. There will be no changing me. I love doodling and writing lists with a paper and pen. However, I do myself no service by filling random notebooks with random ideas, never to be easily located again.
But this note-taking system, the Bullet Journal, offers an analog gal like myself a way to corral the messiest of notebooks.
Maybe you'll find it useful too?
Brand Partnerships Add Strength to Company Value & Values
A trend I’ve been watching emerge is that of true brand partnerships.
I know, brand licensing and partnerships have been around for a long time. You’ve probably enjoyed ice cream made with Reese’s peanut butter cups or Girl Scouts Samoas cookies inside. And your Cole Haan shoes might have Nike Air soles.
Traditionally, this type of arrangement has been used to solidify positioning with a focus on strengthening a brand’s value proposition. And, at times, brand partnerships of this type can be used to influence consumers when making commodity purchase decisions for items like ice cream or toothpaste.
Emerging today, I see a new type of brand partnership–one that improves brand value while also adding strength to the brand’s values.
Yes, values.
Values are fundamental beliefs that individuals, groups of people, companies and even brands hold steadfast. Values provide guidance as we make decisions and evolve, as people and as brands. Values are our standards, and values are inherently human.
The adage is true: “You’re known by the company you keep.” And for brands, there is no exception.
Where before brands would partner on specific products, now they are partnering on a business level. A perfect case study is Starbucks. In recent years, Starbucks has established several partnerships with other brands, such as Square and Google.
Starbucks partnered with Square to revolutionize the payment processing aspect of its business, allowing customers to pay with their mobile phones. In this case, it is important to note that the partnership equally benefited Square by expanding its business to an entirely new level, obtaining access to Starbucks’ freelance customers (ready-made users for Square’s mobile payment application), and allowing the company to rapidly scale its business to reach local and small businesses across the country.
Starbucks’ partnership with Google will upgrade its free Wi-Fi for customers in stores across the country. In addition, the company will work with Google to co-develop the next generation of the Starbucks Digital Network, an in-store content platform serving up uniquely branded experiences for Starbucks customers.
These brand partnerships do what brand partnerships have always done. They work to increase the value proposition of Starbucks’ offerings to its customers. But they also go a step further.
They create an interconnected “lifestyle web” of affiliated brands.
Each of these brands own similar core attributes: innovation, unique experiences, disruption of typical models, etc. They also recognize that Google, Starbucks and Square share similar core customers and brand ambassadors.
If you take a moment to think about the implications of this last statement, you see that this type of brand partnership is an evolution from the former model.
While these partnerships do increase the value of all parties involved, they also bring together a vast group of customers and users who share the same human values that these brands embody: quality, speed, ingenuity, simplicity and passion, to name a few.
This allows consumers to begin to view these companies or brands as something much larger than a product, service or purchase. Instead, they add a new level of value to a distinct lifestyle and experience, creating an interwoven, overlapping community of advocates.
This is something much bigger than Girl Scouts cookies in ice cream.
You’re creative if…
A study conducted by Professor Øyvind L. Martinsen, out of BI Norwegian Business School, has seven elements of a "creative" personality.
The study posed 200 questions to 481 people. The study subjects fell into three categories:
"Baseline" subjects, such as lecturers or managers
Students of advertising
Performing artists.
You might be creative if...
You Have an Active Imagination
You Have a Rebellious Spirit
You’re Motivated to Succeed
You’re Ambitious
You Worry, A Lot
You’re Hard to Get Along With
The study also found that work environment can have a "particularly strong influence on a person’s creative prowess."
I find this nugget particularly interesting because I have personally experienced this environmental difference. In February I wrote about how, "Work environment and company culture truly influence your performance, your personality at work, and your ability to push outside of your comfort zone."
Martinsen says that a typically non-creative person can become much more so when his or her surroundings encourage rule-bending and free thought.
Based on the seven elements, are you "creative?"
And have you experienced how culture influences your creativity?
Trend: Disownership
It's true. The connected economy is disrupting everything about the way we live, work and build relationships. It's also changing how we purchase, and what we purchase.
“52% of Americans have rented, borrowed, or leased the kinds of items that people usually own in the past two years.”
— Sunrun
Ownership was a concept once synonymous with the American Dream. Every individual (or family) had the ability to become upwardly mobile, and to own their own house, car, microwave and television.
And then that ownership proliferated even further as our economy made significant strides forward through consumerism, suburbanization, and the purchasing of material goods.
Now, we are reaching a tipping point as consumers. People are moving back to cities in droves. And there is less need for more material goods (and less space!)
Paired with instant connection and access, made possible by our technological innovations (smartphones, WiFi, etc.), consumers have realized that ownership is not necessary, but that sharing is key.
Much of our spending is shifting from actual physical products to services.
Instead of purchasing and owning a car, consumers choose to pay for a service, like Zipcar, that allows them to have access to a car whenever and wherever they might need it - but only when they need it.
What is disownership? It means sharing, renting, borrowing or making similar alternative arrangements to gain access to traditionally-owned items—without the expense or hassle of owning them.
Living first in rural Ohio, and then moving to the city of Chicago, I have firsthand experience dealing with this shift in mindset, and shift in needs. Zipcar is available whenever I need it for a modest fee, so why would I need to own a car?
Are there products that you now purchase as services?
Pick yourself and unleash your potential.
In my career I've been frustrated by a lot of things. Mostly, I become frustrated by the feeling that my potential is being wasted. Suppressed. Ignored.
And, I realized recently, that all I want is for someone to recognize this fire kindling inside of me--this urge to do something worthwhile. And that, hopefully, my potential would one day be unleashed.
It's taken a lot of time. Frustration. Work. Learning. Mistakes. More frustration.
But, I've finally figured out that I was relying on others to see in me what I saw in myself.
I knew something was there, but I was unable to demonstrate it. To harness it. And to turn it into something meaningful.
So I picked myself.
I updated my resume. I leveraged my experience. I sold myself. And I scored. Big time.
I found a job that allows me to use my creativity and my strategic brain at the same time. I can express my thoughts and ideas - and they're accepted and encouraged. And I feel like I can teach others what I know, and learn something new from a coworker each and every day.
I discovered a few things:
Work environment and company culture truly influence your performance, your personality at work, and your ability to push outside of your comfort zone.
Personality fit is imperative--with your coworkers and with your boss.
You can find mentors in interesting places.
Let's Set the World on Fire
I have a snarky comment for when people fail to impress me:
"He/She isn't setting the world on fire."
To me, they are lackluster. The have no potential, or they don't know how to harness their potential.
And, I've been thinking, what is the purpose of this blog? To help my peers learn what I've learned by trial and error. To advise a new generation of professionals who are entering this knowledge / connection economy without any guidance from the system. To awaken intellectual curiosity in others and to help my peers think more strategically.
But, mostly, it's to help people set the world on fire.
You might know a few people who set the world on fire. They're passionate. They have purpose and live life with verve. You might even be one of those people setting the world aflame through your work. And you might be on the cusp of doing something extraordinary but you just need a slight push in the right direction.
If you are, then this blog is for you.
Manifesto in Progress
Set the world on fire.
Act as if your employer's business is your own.
Strive for work-life integration, not balance.
Always be pushing and shipping.
Believe in the power of curiosity, imagination and continued learning.
Always teach yourself new and better things.
Push yourself beyond what you thought possible.
Know you are a peer, not an employee.
Recognize what you know and what you don't know.
Bring creativity to every aspect of life.
Question everything.
Built trust.
Inspire loyalty.
Truly connect with others.
Share what you're good at.
Learn how to truly learn.
Apply what you know.
Think outside of your comfort zone.
Ask "What if?"
Plus it!
Be artistic and fearless.
Find beauty everywhere.
Disconnect from technology. On purpose.
Enjoy real moments without recording them for others.
Be indispensable.
Be a hybrid.
Purpose is important. Problem solving is imperative.
There are no right answers.
You can't have it all. So, make it count.
The Connected Company – Shifting from Industrialization to Connection
It’s not often that you stumble upon a business book that’s both valuable and enjoyable to read. The Connected Company by Dave Gray happens to be both.
Sprinkled with hand drawn illustrations and written in a scan-able style, The Connected Company focuses on how company structure and culture require constant adaptation to remain viable in today’s service-based economy.
The Connected Company – An ultra-quick synopsis.
Gray begins by educating you about the shift from a manufacturing, product-based economy, to a delivery-focused service-oriented economy.
This change has come about due to many factors, but what’s important to note is that most companies are not structured to be able to change with the times and the needs of the current (and future) marketplace.
After a quick history lesson, Gray paints a picture of a new sort of company – a networked, adaptive, podular organism – the connected company.
Trust me, you need to read it.
Instead of writing more, I’d like to simply recommend that you read the book in its entirety. It’s fast paced and bursting with insights.
Check out this chapter excerpt focusing on customer feedback within a connected economy.
Also, read the ChangeThis manifesto – The Connected Company: How Distributed Organism Businesses are Rising Against the Machine to Build a More Connected World.
Stay tuned - I will be writing more about the concepts from this book in follow-up posts.
Farmhouse: Reinventing the Wallet at Chicago Ideas Week
Farmhouse: Reimagine, Redesign and Remarket an Everyday Object
Earlier this month, the HBG team embarked on a journey to experience Chicago Ideas Week with the goal of learning, discovering and focusing our collective Intellectual Curiosity.
At Farmhouse (the innovation and new venture center of Leo Burnett), I teamed up with about 10 random strangers to reimagine, redesign and remarket an everyday object. In our case: the wallet.
We experienced a 3-step process – product, strategy and story – with the goal of developing a new product, solving a consumer problem, and creating a targeted story to bring our new product to market.
Our product – named “The Joey” for its resemblance to a baby kangaroo in its mother’s pouch – consisted of a wallet that simply zipped into your jacket or pants, providing a secure, hands-free alternative to the wallets currently on the market.
Our target was deemed the “Adventure Capitalist” – the professional who embarks on business adventures, and travels constantly for work. The Adventure Capitalist would love The Joey for its security, ease of use, and the ability to quickly pass through airport security, which is getting more and more difficult by the hour.
To promote The Joey, we considered hosting “business obstacle courses” in Manhattan, where Adventure Capitalists would encounter scenarios in which The Joey would make their life easier, such as airport security, business lunches, and suit shopping.
To bring The Joey to market, we decided to pursue strategic partnerships with companies already known for producing the clothing well loved by Adventure Capitalists.
In doing so, we would benefit from cross-marketing, established brand equity and the ability to tap into an existing, focused target consumer base. We determined J. Crew, Brooks Brothers, and several other higher end retailers would be a great start for our partnership endeavor.
The product, strategy and story were born. And, in Farmhouse fashion, they served us delicious Hoosier Mama apple pie!
Pursuing Intellectual Curiosity: Chicago Ideas Week 2012
Intellectual Curiosity is a term used to describe your desire to invest time and energy into learning more about something. I believe that this concept is one of the keys to success leveraged by many leaders, creatives and entrepreneurs.
When you are willing to invest time and energy into something, learning and gathering new experiences becomes a natural part of the discovery process. And with this new discovery comes a new level of knowledge and brain power that can be applied across many aspects of your life – work, school, hobbies – you name it.
Earlier this month, the HBG team embarked on a journey to experience Chicago Ideas Week with the goal of learning, discovering and focusing our collective intellectual curiosity. We attended a variety of talks and labs during the week long event, which is focused on “the sharing of ideas, inspiring action, and igniting change to positively impact our world.”
Technology, Change is the Constant
On day one of Chicago Ideas Week, I attended a talk featuring several speakers, including Logan LaHive, CEO of Belly, Katie Linendoll, and Walt Mossberg, a technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal.
My main takeaways were:
Technology levels the playing field for small and midsized businesses.
Technology is enhancing the retail environment, making for a shorter feedback loop and democratizing decision-making.
Technology enables consumer experiences to become personalized once more, including retail and healthcare.
Focus on what works – sometimes simplicity is the most revolutionary idea.
People require emotion to make decisions.
And a great quote from Walt Mossberg:
“When the Internet is totally integrated into our lives, we won’t talk about it like we do now. We don’t talk about using the electric grid, but we do still talk about using the Internet.”
gravitytank: Never Stop Making Things
At gravitytank, I learned about creating storyboards. gravitytank is an innovation consultancy that collaborates with a wide range of clients for business growth, new product development, and organizational improvement.
Storyboarding can be used to understand consumer experiences and pain points, which can be turned into opportunities for innovation and design.
Farmhouse: Reimagine, Redesign and Remarket an Everyday Object
At Farmhouse (the innovation and new venture center of Leo Burnett), I teamed up with about 10 random strangers to reimagine, redesign and remarket an everyday object. In our case: the wallet.
We experienced a 3-step process – product, strategy and story – with the goal of developing a new product, solving a consumer problem, and creating a targeted story to bring our new product to market.
I’ll write more about The Joey in a follow-up post.
Leo Burnett: Problem Solving for Humans
We attended another event hosted by Leo Burnett, focused on solving human problems.
“Creativity has the power to transform human behavior.”
Leo Burnett focuses on people and human behaviors to tell brand stories. Through solving a people problem – in our case, how to get people to stop biting their nails – we discovered Leo Burnett’s process: Problem, People, Behavior, and Solution.
By focusing on human needs and behaviors throughout the process, each team created a story that resonated with a different target audience. We learned that the best brands solve people problems and, in doing so, they create emotional connections with consumers.
Doejo: Walk the Block Tour
The last event I attended was hosted by Doejo, a locally based digital agency. Doejo does a lot of work in the East Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, which happens to be my neighborhood, so I was excited to join the walking tour to learn more about the businesses I see every day.
We visited several Lakeview businesses throughout the tour, as well as the Doejo office: Bow Truss, Bahn Mi & Company, Soupbox, Lakeview Athletic Club, Falafil, and the Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce.
Several things stood out during our walking tour:
Doejo isn’t pigeonholed. They dabble in a bit of everything, from digital experience to in-store concepts, from app development to small business development.
Doejo has a passion for all things local. They help local businesses – small and large – create consistent experiences, online and in person. This gives them great advantage because they live and breathe their clients’ target audiences.
Doejo is fun, playful, and has a sense of humor. It comes through in their office and in their work. Hearing about their projects made me excited about the businesses in my neighborhood. Just stop by the Lakeview East to check them out!
Sharing, Inspiring & Igniting Intellectual Curiosity
Stay tuned to hear more about The Joey, one of the new ideas conceptualized at Farmhouse.
The IBM CEO Study – A Lesson in Modern Storytelling & Cross-Platform Publishing
A few weeks ago, I attended a panel discussion during Social Media Week: The New Leadership Imperative, A Social CEO. It was a fantastic, dynamic event and the panelists were amazingly insightful. But that event is not the focus of today’s post.
Modern Storytelling – Publishing Across Platforms
The focus of today’s post is modern publishing. More specifically, I will share with you how IBM creates a consistent story and user experience – both print and digital – for its Global CEO Study.
Smart companies are realizing that creating a singular piece of content and chunking it off across platforms is not an effective way to capture reader attention. Nor is it an effective way to create emotional brand connections through the telling of a consistent, integrated story.
The IBM CEO Study is a great case study for how publishing in today’s marketplace can be creative, engaging and interactive. This example shows how stories can be enhanced, and told in slightly different ways, depending on the platform and the end-user.
Tying this post back to the Social CEO event for a moment, Ed Brill, Director of Social Business and Collaboration Solutions at IBM, was one of the insightful panelists I mentioned earlier. He had a great many things to say, and brought everyone in the audience a print copy of the 2012 IBM CEO Study: Leading Through Connections. Thank you, Ed.
The Print Experience
Creating engaging research reports is a difficult endeavor. By pairing clean design with impactful callouts, the printed study reads like a well planned website. IBM ingeniously tells the story through the use of design – by pulling out key insights and stats, which keeps readers interested.
The Digital Experience
The digital experience is not a simple replica of the printed report. IBM leverages the web to showcase extended content, creating a rich, interactive learning platform.
The website showcases industry-specific perspectives, a slew of infographics for easy info consumption, case studies, downloadable audio insights, and a series of CEO C-Suite Studies videos.
YouTube Experience – IBM Institute for Business Value
People love watching videos. IBM’s Institute for Business Value YouTube channel showcases insightful videos and interviews with various C-Suite thought leaders.
The videos allow users to navigate through the CEO study (among others) in a topic-focused way. Instead of learning about an entire trend, viewers can learn about specific topics, such as “innovation driven by partnership.”
This is a fantastic way to parcel the complete story into digestible bits of insight.
Additional Experiences
A trendy way to tell complex stories is through the visualization of data. Infographics allow readers to understand a large amount of information in a compelling, easy to consume manner.
Check out the handful of infographics IBM created for its CEO study:
And, if those publishing examples were not enough…in 2010, IBM published an Interactive Version of their CEO Study.
I hope you enjoy consuming this insightful content across all of the platforms I’ve highlighted. Happy discovery!
Marketing Trend: Behind the Scenes – Levi’s Inspiration Video
In our networked, connected society, consumers are demanding more transparency than ever.
It’s not a “nice to have.” It’s a “must have” for companies of all sizes. In response, companies have to stop developing “messaging,” and start telling authentic stories.
Digital media allows brands to create an ecosystem of touch points where consumers can explore, engage with company stakeholders, and peer behind the curtain. Consumers get a firsthand look inside, a behind-the-scenes, all-access brand experience. And this experience allows them to connect with brands on a whole new level – an emotional level.
Levi’s is one company that’s getting things right. They tell stories – through their advertisements, both print and video.
They recently produced a video showcasing the inspiration behind their Fall 2012 collection, focused on authenticity and featuring coastal craftsmen and handcrafted traditions.
But Levi’s didn’t just produce a groovy video. They also reached out to their fan base and invited influential bloggers to join them on a journey of inspiration.
A select few bloggers discovered coastal Maine, taking in the sights, sounds and sources of inspiration for the Fall ’12 collection. They made memories and connected with the brand on an emotional, guttural level. And when they relayed the Levi’s inspiration story, they told it from their own perspectives, in an authentic way.
As transparency becomes a necessary function, companies have to spend time (and money) realigning their brands with their corporate culture. If companies aren’t living the brand – if they are not authentic and genuine – then consumers can see through the clutter of messaging and marketing jargon.