Roscoe and the KISS Principle

You've probably heard of the KISS (Keep It Simple, Surely) principle.  This, at least, is the politically correct version.  This doesn't mean dumbing down your message or insulting the intelligence of your audience. But, you should organize your thoughts into a clear and concise product.  And, I'm sure by now your wondering who or what is Roscoe and what does he/she/it have to do with KISS.  Well, Roscoe is a sock puppet.

A sock puppet, you say? Yes, a sock puppet who lives in a trash bucket.  Kind of like Oscar but without the attitude.  I volunteered to give the children's message at my church and introduced Roscoe to the kids a few Sundays ago.  I consulted with the Pastor to see what his sermon topic was going to be and then 'boiled it down' to a simple, clear statement for the my younger audience.  Roscoe's antics illustrated and reinforced this message; the kids listened and laughed.  Oddly, so did the rest of the congregation.

Since then as many adults as children have come up to me and said they liked Roscoe and asked when he would be back.  This response has reminded me of several key things that are important when presenting to any audience. 

• Make sure you can state you topic in one clear, concise, declarative, and complete sentence.
• Use illustrations that reinforce (but do not detract) from your thesis statement.
• Humor and play can be just as effective for adults as for children.
• And, when all else fails, hand out candy

OK, I'm kidding about the candy.  But, anticipating a prize or big finish can keep your audience engaged.  If you promise something you need to deliver or you'll affect your credibility in future interactions.  By the way, Roscoe is available for your next sales presentation.  He is, however, getting a little full of himself.

Posting, Time Mangement, and the Wisconsin Badgers

The length of time between my posts is increasing, I know.  Did I mention I recently had a baby daughter?  She's doing fine, by the way, and I'm not laying the blame on her.  Although, it would be easy to do and maybe even partially true.

The Wisconsin Badgers (I'm from Wisconsin) beat up on the Nebraska Corn Huskers Saturday night and I didn't learn of the score until this morning.  We don't have cable at home and, when the wind is right, we only get two TV stations-CBS and NBC.  The game was on ABC.

Why, you ask is such technically savvy guy like me, living without cable or satellite TV?  First, off all I'm not all that tech savvy.  Second,  I waste a lot less time surfing two channels of mostly crap than I would 200 channels of mostly crap. I need to be more precise when I say I'm not tech savvy.   The things I know about computers and databases I know well.  Hardware and social media are largely beyond my ken.  By choice.

Doctors for a while now have stopped being all things to all people-they specialize. The amount of knowledge is so vast and is changing and increasing so quickly it is impossible to manage it in too broad a field.  Advances in technology have forced some people (well, at least me) to specialize.  While Paul (Biblical reference) could be all things to all people but he didn't have to master social media and cloud computing.

With limited time available setting priorities becomes important.  It's often harder to decide what to leave off my schedule than what to include on it.  Having a list gives me ease of mind from knowing what I need to do next.  At least until the baby pukes all over my clean shirt.  I'm not blaming her. I'm just saying....

Momentum: Sailing with no wind

I recently went sailing on Lake Oahe in Central South Dakota but there was no wind.  Strange because it's always windy in South Dakota, always.  A sailboat is designed to operate when there is a stiff breeze and let me tell you;  sailing is a whole lot more fun than drifting.  However, although piloting a boat in a strong wind is very exhilarating it takes a lot more effort and can be more risky.  If your are not careful you can quickly get off course or find your boat heeling (that's leaning over to one side for all you land lubbers) and not working as efficiently as possible.

Now, you're probably way ahead of me with the possible business analogies that can be drawn from sailing.  My focus here is on creativity and innovation.  New ideas, solutions, products, or processes usually don't come to us complete and perfectly formed.  Often we have to take a germ of an idea or a gut feeling and just go with it.  This can be a messy and chaotic.  We may get off course and, at least for a while, take a few steps back.  Ultimately the results will be worth it.

The other option is to play it safe and go slow or even drift. Going slow is no fun and drifting can be just as challenging as sailing close hauled in a gale (some more sailing lingo).  There is nothing wrong with taking it easy once in a while but hour after hour of getting rocked by the wake from the motor boats zipping around you can make you sleepy, seasick, or both.

But what do you do when you're in a sailboat and there is no wind?  Well, you can get off the water or you can find other ways to move the boat.  My small boat also has a outboard motor.  You say, "That isn't sailing!" I agree. But at least I was getting somewhere.

Desktop Database Applications

I developed database applications for the federal government and it surprised me how little even experienced IT folks know about database technology.  The one thing the government did have was a true understanding of how beneficial a database-even a desktop one-could be to a project. Your business can, and should have a database to track and report data essential for your business success. 

A database should at least allow you to enter data simply, store the data securely, and allow you to retrieve data quickly.  But, a properly designed database can automate processes, monitor tasks and tell you when it is time to act, and report relationships between data to identify trends you may have never considered?

Database technology is available to you no matter what size of business you operate.  Some are provided at no cost and some are less than $150.00.  A few do not require the writing of complex code. While you may lose some advanced functionality not having to write and debug code will save you development time.

Databases: Not Just for the Big Guys

The word database can conjure up images of huge and expensive main-frame servers storing huge amounts of data that can only be accessed by writing cryptic code.  This may be true for large companies especially if they are using older, legacy technology.  Today, even very small business can employ database technology for very little cost.  And, with the right application, the end-user does not have to be a techno-geek (my apologies to techno-geeks of the world).  The federal government with some of their monster databases will use smaller desktop applications for special projects.

A database is a powerful tool that can improve your business in many ways.  The standard use is store customer information and then create mail merges.  Ah, but that is just scratching the surface.  If you incorporate a database into your everyday business processes a whole new level of efficiency and functionality becomes available.  A properly set up database requires you to enter information only one time.  That information can used to populate all your business forms.  Routine procedures can be automated and scheduled.  Just by doing your business you can be collecting valuable data (see "Gold Mine" post below) that can be queried and loaded into reports with the click of a mouse.

What does this mean?  It can mean more time growing your business and less time dealing with the paperwork.  Standardized and automated processes can make it easier to train new employees and reduce the number of errors.  Mailings, inventory, statistics, business trends, productivity, customer preferences can be made available with a push of a button.

If you are writing things by hand, recording data more than once, or otherwise spending too much time with administrative tasks it's time to embrace the database (sorry about the rhyming thing).

Employee Engagement: No ring necessary

Recruiting talented and qualified employees is a challenge even with the current high unemployment rates.  We all want a good fit: it helps us relax and focus on moving the business forward.  When a good associate leaves it creates a whole that demands our time, energy, and money.  Once we find the right person it can still take up to six months to get that person up to full speed.

Resources spent to retain a veteran employee is always less than recruiting and training a new staffer.  There are things we can do to keep the quality people we already working for us.  Wages, however, are not at the top of the list.  Salary and benefits are usually factors in determining if a person applies for and accepts a position.  Once a person is on board other factors figure into longevity.  Employee engagement, a concept now being used, is the degree to which an employee is intellectually and emotionally vested in a companies performance (and, by extension, their own).  To a great degree they are internally motivated to succeed. Folks that are highly engaged tend to stay with an organization longer.  Again, assuming the baseline salary and benefit needs are met.

What can we do to engage our employees?  Not a bottle of wine, fancy dinner, and a diamond ring.  Non-financial rewards seem to be they way to go.  We've heard for years that communication is key and it still is.  A genuine effort to keep employees informed and soliciting their feedback still goes along way.  Including staffers at all levels in decision making is a powerful way to engage them-and maybe get ideas you never thought of (pardon may ending preposition).

Investing in an employee's own professional development and helping each employee fulfill their potential is essential.  You can go back and read Deming (1982) see the value of every emplyee that is satisfied with the work they are doing.

Recognition is important but the awards do not have to be financial.  And, being recognized by peers can be just as significant as recognition from a supervisor.

In most regions we currently have more people looking for jobs than there are openings.  As baby-boomers retire the expectation is that there will be too few people to fill future openings.  Recruiting for a good fit is just part of the equation.  We will need to hang on to those that already are in the door.  It costs more to replace a current customer with a new one.  The same is true for employees.  BTW-even though I'm married a bottle of wine and a good meal is always appreciated AND I won't make you get down on one knee.

Empathy: I know how you feel

The subtitle of this post hints at the definition of empathy-putting yourself in another persons emotional, intellectual, or social space.  In other words, adopting another's frame of mind.  Empathy in a non-technical or therapeutic setting can often end up with "touchy-feely" connotations but I use it to describe what should be the goal of our communication events.

Empathy is a creative process.  We have to imagine what it is going on in another person's head. We need to create their world view in our own minds even if they are radically different than our own.  In order to do this we get to a point where we recognize our own world views and attempt, as much as possible, to set them aside.

Empathy is not sympathy.  We can feel a person's pain without feeling sorry for them.  We don't even have to agree with the person.  In understanding and acknowledging a person's point-of-view we do not have to condone or approve-we should, however, suspend judgment.

Empathy is a tool.  Understanding the potential audience and "putting yourself in their place(s)" can help us craft messages to ensure maximum understanding and impact.  We can anticipate resistance or objections to our content.  In a business setting, it can help us better understand our customer or our competitors.

Empathy ain't easy.  Communication scholars refer to three 'selves' we all have. 
1. How we view our self.     2. How other people view us.   3. How we think other people view us.
True empathy can open us to criticism of our own world views and cause us re-evaluate how we view our self, and how we think other people view us. This type of dissonance can be monumental.  We may ignore the conflicting information and choose not to grow as a person or a business.

Creativity and communication involve stepping outside of ourselves (not easy when there are 3 of them).  Through empathy we can understand better another person and ultimately understand ourselves better.  Take the first step (btw-you do not have six legs).

Creativity:What Can a New Baby Teach Us?

I haven't posted in a while because my wife and I had a new baby girl on June 10, 2011. My daughter is  healthy and is doing what new-borns do: eat, poop, sleep, and we're lucky because there is, so far, only occasional crying.  But I realized there is so much more going on that isn't as obvious as a stinky diaper.

I'm not going to claim that babies are born as 'blank slate' with no personality traits or some predetermined instincts. However, underneath that apparent blank stare her is mind already sensing, experiencing, and developing.  Everything is new.  She has no preconceived notions of how the world should be.  In fact, at this age her world is all about herself.  (I think this attitude never really goes away and reappears in teenage years.)

As children, human beings are naturally creative and at some point or points as we mature we suppress this capacity.  Some argue it is our educational system or even our Western culture.  Regardless, to be creative adults need to look at the world through the eyes of a child, even a new born.  We should step outside of our old patterns of looking at the world. I have a 9-year old daughter and when we play she always changes the the rules of the game by saying, "How about we do this?"  I, of course, want the story line or rules of the game to be consistent.  This is not a concern of my 9-year old; she revels in it.

What can children teach us about creativity?  Here are some things I've come up with (so far).

• Try to look at the situation not only from a new perspective but from a frame of mind where the rules are not yet written.
• Continue to ask yourself questions like, "How about ...?", "What if...?", "So what...?".
• Regain an appreciation of 'play'-where participation in the activity is its on goal.
• Learn to be comfortable with ambiguity and inconsistency.

Businesses need to innovate or they will not succeed and thrive.  Innovation, as I've said in a previous post, can only result from creativity.  Sometimes we need to bring our inner-child to work.

Three business trends: Innovation, Innovation, Innovation (and, oh yea, creativity)

Read any business magazine or attend any seminar and you will probably hear the word innovation over and over again. Businesses must be innovative or be left behind.  New and better products or services are what keep a company moving forward and growing their customer base.  All true.  Innovation, however, requires more than writing it in a business plan.  Innovation, by definition, is applied creativity. Creativity must come first and it can be a messy process by business standards.

Let's talk about what creativity is and is not.  Creativity is...

• That which separates us from other animals.
• A gift that all human beings have and use every day.
• A process where humans can imagine something that is not immediately available to our senses.
• Something that can be developed by anyone.

Creativity is not...

• Limited to artistic endeavors such as painting, sculpting, or playing a musical instrument.
• Limited to grand discoveries by geniuses.
• An anything-goes, free-for-all.
• Something we can live without.

Creativity needs a few things in order to be realized.  There must be a culture where the free flow of ideas is welcome and the rush to judgment is suspended.  Failure, always a part of the creative process, must be tolerated to a certain extent.  It cannot be fitted into a short time frame and ideas must be allowed to incubate.  Last, creativity and innovation tends to be its own reward and people must be internally motivated to engage the process.

Innovation is key.  But innovation necessarily relies on the creative process.  Is your company promoting creativity? If so, are you ready for it?

Is your business sitting on a data Gold Mine?

Many businesses have been storing data for years.  Data are the raw numbers that record unique events or amounts.  By itself, data cannot tell you a whole lot.  But, if you have a data base or spreadsheet with customer information, sales data, related business costs, or other records about your operations you should be mining that data and returning it as useful information. 
Most desktop applications provide basic but powerful tools to query and retrieve that data and format it into finished reports, tables, and graphs.  Some even give you basic graphical user interface (GUI) tools to write some basic queries without using SQL. SQL stands for Structured Query Language which is the standard language for retrieving data. 

The basic understanding is that data of one type may be related to a different set of data (note-even the lack of a relationship between particular data may be meaningful).  For example,  a common relationship is the one between sales volume and time of year.  The challenge (and the fun part, I think) is to analyze more complex or multiple relationships.  What effect does gender have on cash versus credit sales?  What are new customers in a certain age group from a certain neighborhood more likely to buy?  Basket analysis and cube computing is where the real gold lies.

You may already be sitting on some of the best market research available. Mining information from your data can help you focus your marketing campaigns and more efficiently allocate resources.  You may discover new business opportunities or spot market trends. All you have to do is go get it.

Business Ethics: Maybe Not a Contradiction

I attended a recent Leadership simulcast sponsored by Chick-Fil-A.  There's been quite a change in the attitudes and approach to managing and leading a business since I graduated from college almost 30 years ago. In fact, the simulcast could have been sponsored by the seminary I attended almost 15 years ago.

Leadership as service.  That was a primary theme through out the program.  The word profit was rarely mentioned.  Much more common were phrases like "higher calling" or "being part of something bigger than yourself"  and " being responsible to your employees."  Employers had a duty to develop an employee and find spot were he or she can succeed.

Doing the right thing was not only the ethical choice but it was also the smart choice from a business perspective.  Growing a company and earning a profit is not a bad thing and it is still necessary for a business to succeed.  But it is achieved through making choices that are considerate of the people you hire.  Some speakers used the term 'love' when describing their attitude toward the people that work for them.
Practically speaking, employees that are engaged in their work, that trust management, and that feel that they are growing professionally tend to stay in their current jobs.  Reduced employee turnover affects the bottom line.  But sometimes is good to do the right thing just because it is the right thing to do.

Defining Your Terms

As I mentioned in a recent post the one of the first steps in any argument is the defining of relevant terms.  This step can accomplish the most but requires significant effort.  Often arguments that seem to have no resolution occur because participants either have not clearly define the terms they are using OR can't agree on how to define a concept.  For example, what is human life and when does it begin?
For discussion purposes here, term refers to a word the represents a concept.  A concept is a mental label attached to an idea, belief, thing, or feeling.  There will be more on this in a later post but here are some ways to approach the task of defining terms.

One way is to think in terms of categories.  Does a concept belong to category of things that share common characteristics of other things in the category.  Does a tomato belong to the category of fruit?  Of course, we need to set parameters for our category.  This is done by establishing the necessary and sufficient conditions a concept must meet in order to be included in that category.  Is one of the necessary conditions of being a fruit that it have seeds?  Do the seeds alone make something a fruit or are there more conditions that need to be met?

Sometimes we define terms by distinguishing them from other concepts.  A tomato is not a vegetable because its sugar content is too high.  We can then examine the differences to see if the differences are differences of degree or differences in kind.  Is tomato just a sweet vegetable or is it in a completely different category (i.e. fruit)?

Defining terms takes time and effort.  I was teaching a philosophy class a few years ago and we were discussing recycling.  The students spent an hour defining what qualified as tin can or can of pop (some emotions were involved as well).  This step will not resolve every argument but it can help us at least understand what we're arguing about.

OCW: Open Course Ware

The wage an employer offers may get a person to take job but it is usually not a factor in motivating that employee or increasing her or his job satisfaction.  However, employee training and professional development is a way to increase an employee's sense of fullfillment and increase the chances of retaining that employee.

During tough economic times an organization's training budget is one of the first to get reduced or even eliminated. There are some free resources available on-line.  Open Course Ware or OCW is provided free of charge by major universities (e.g. Harvard, Notre Dame) in a wide variety of topics.  While there is still an investment of employees time, the cost of content and materials is almost eliminated.  Just do a web search on Open Course Ware and look at the options.  As always, read the fine print, but you should find something that your employees can use in their over all development.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Analytical and Critical Thinking-it's a matter of method

In a multi-cultural, pluralistic society in can be really hard to decide what's right or wrong-what is ethical and what isn't.  Even in group of people sharing similar backgrounds division can occur over topics we care about (politics anyone?).  It's sometimes easier to say "I'm a moderate" or "I really don't care" than it is to get into a debate and risked being called insensitive.

If your are going to take on an important issue, either in your own internal dialog or with another person, there are at least three things you should do before you "open your mouth".  They are define your terms, define the problem as you see it, and determine what evidence you have to support your positions.  While this is only a starting point it is necessary to understand your position, as well as it strengths and weaknesses.


More on this as we go along but for now, "A problem well-defined is a problem half solved" (John Dewey).

Why effective Communication?-Why now?-Why Not?

Experts have been preaching the need for effective communication in business for many years.  Stores of books have been published about how to be an active listener, how to facilitate meetings, and how to find out what communication style you use (are you a lion, a tiger, or bear? Oh my). Consultants tried to sell expensive, one-size-fits-all solutions to improve corporate communication. So what has changed?  Why is now a good time?  Can you afford not to invest in training for you or your staff. When we consider these three questions you'll be able to see that new communication skill training is something you and your company need.

Why Effective Communication? First of all, some new research has shown just how important effective communication is as an indicator of organizational and individual success.  The March 2011 Business Communication Quarterly just published an article with some striking data about affective communication in organizations.  Higher scores of effective communication lead to these results...

• Greater organizational success including financial returns (47% greater returns to investors)
• Report 20% lower employee turnover
• Higher productivity, customer satisfaction, and more employee engagement (4.5 times more!)
• Greater opportunities for individual professional advancement

Why Now?  I do not need to say too much about the demands of the market place, you know your business and your challenges better than anyone.  And, unfortunately, the young people joining the work force lack some of the basic skills your company needs to compete and excel.  National Public Radio has recently aired stories about college students graduating without basic communication or critical thinking skills.  Something like 50% of students can get a degree without ever taking a course that requires written communication or critical thinking.  Of course, college professors complain that many students start college with a video game mentality and limited interpersonal skills.

Why Not? The current economy requires all businesses, large or small, to do more with less-they need to be more productive.  The Business Communication Quarterly says communication training can have a 235% return on investment.  What better to invest in than your career or business.