It’s better to change on the upwards slope of the curve or somewhere near the apex rather than in the tail spin of decline. We expect to push them to think differently and take control of their future in the industry. Should be fun !!

see your logos on our car trailing through south India  http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150336594620947.337215.619995946&type=3#!/profile.php?id=619995946

So what makes good collaborative working at the senior level? Well its more than an edict or policy saying they must. Good collaboration starts with individuals deciding they should, then acting. No amount of policy or direction from the top will break down years of individualization and socialization into strong cultures. What it takes is for individuals to become emotionally engaged in the process, through a shared need, a realisation that there is real benefit in a collaborative approach, and the courage to act on that thought.

We ran a simulation, a game, unfortunately human instinct kicked in and the default settings of competitive behaviour ensued. What was interesting was the debriefing  discussion and how difficult it seems to be  to establish enough trust to collaborate in the first place. Well  ladies and gentlemen servants of the government, we really can’t wait for you to love each other, the economic crisis and the state of threat currently enjoyed by our country from those that wish us harm is too high for you to delay. Collaboration is the future of really effective performance, particularly where special talents are scares and consequences of failure so high.

I really do hope the programme works in the long-term, but currently it is one of the few forums for real inter government agency interaction, it’s a small but vital step in the right direction.

1 Do not arrive for an interview without researching the company – this is an insult to the employer and shows lack of interest, drive and motivation to join. Think research not just google.

2  Dress to impress – not necessarily a suit, but not jeans and trainers, smart is the watch word – unless you are applying to a fashion house or some creative agency who might be impressed by your ‘creative’ streak.  Blue chips on the whole are conservative about what you wear. Dirty shoes show a lack of care for yourself, why would they risk you with a customer?

3 Pay attention to how you look – stubble is cool in the bar, not in the interview ( shows a lack respect ), hair should be under control at least and pony tails look good on ponies and  younger women… maybe at Glastonbury but not in an interview.

4 Questions at interview - please think about what your strengths and weaknesses are  before you get there so you are not surprised or unable to respond. Most good assessment has CBI interviews, based on specific competencies – being artfully vague, giving general answers or being impressive with rehearsed best interview answers volume one will get you no where quickly. Being perfect is not what most companies are looking for or believe, be prepared to show you have self-awareness and can be open about your development needs.  If you are asked a fair question, be prepared to answer it, most good employers will use structured interviews, the days of ” sell me this pencil”  egotistical managers are dead. Recently when asking a candidate where else they had applied, they replied that they thought this was an unfair question. If you are unwilling to share  who else you are applying to with a potential employer ( if you are at an assessment centre they are already spending serious money on you) then why would they feel you are a good hire? There may be places for secrets but not in the interview that is trying to assess how serious you are as a candiate.

5 Analysis exercises – these are there to let you show how smart you are – don’t waste the opportunity by being too big on style and low on content, which in an analysis exercise is arguments based on facts or good ideas.  All fur coat and no knickers as we say in Yorkshire is not good, being all presentation and no content and its not using the opportunity well. Don’t avoid calculations and don’t avoid making a decision, the two biggest faults in many exercises.

6 Group exercises – the clue is in the title, they are designed to see you work in a group  – similar to how you will work in most of your career. So show what you can do. Not all roles are leadership, there are plenty of ways of impressing an employer without having to be in control. Basics, speak … no contribution  is no good, intermediate…. speak up and have some ideas,  better still take a real part and engage others while you solve whatever task you have been given. Yes it’s, competitive and difficult but it also gives you another excellent chance to shine with others.

7 Focus on the roles you want to do- so apply for the industry, the function and the specialist that interests you. Saying you are flexible and can do anything , will try anything, is a sure way to show you have not really considered you career seriously. Do so now, before you apply.

7 tips to make a good impression, to show your skills and experience and to make a good account of yourself. If an employer has taken the time , effort and money to create an assessment process to show you to your best ability don’t waste it – don’t regret your performance  on the flight back home.

You may think this is a conservative view…. for conservative read experienced, as most of your assessors will be. When you are being assessed by 20 something’s with stubble and ponytails then please ignore this advice, but reality is, if you want a leadership fast track career then you need to behave like a leadership potential talent from the minute you engage in the process and the people they trust to select will be experienced.
I would wish graduates good luck… but if they are good it’s not a matter of luck, its a matter of performance on the day and preperation before hand.

What’s the solutions I wonder? It’s not beating your self up for not being so pious or proactive that you act every time, but it might be escalating and exploring the thinking process until you are so so so so very  frustrated you have to act. Thinking clearly  is not so easy and it takes time to do well…. time being  something so valuable we waste it with junk tv and poor newspapers, but something that given space will improve our decision-making exponentially.

Take the time to think, and then make decions to nonconform, not accept things as they are but as Bertrand Russell suggested, be the unreasonable man and make the changes to the circumstances you find and make them  fit  you, make things change, make a difference …. don’t get caught out by lazy thinking and fit to what exists just because we are too idle to dwell and ponder properly.   All progress is dependent on the unreasonable man, or woman, or transgender …. you know what I mean, just don’t take the easy way out, think more and think clearer about what matters and whether it’s business, family or something important to you …. don’t be lazy !!

As many people who know me would attest to, I am quite goal driven so I think it’s only appropriate to now set a stretch target to aim for, not because I think what you have raised is not significant, but the charities can only operate when they are consistently funded and what will be a challenge for us is nothing compared to the difficulties that the children who benefit from both endure day after day.

So we will keep the donation site open and we will pester, advise, encourage, bully and badger our colleagues, clients, friends, family and even strangers into helping raise more…. so our new stretch target is £ 5,000….

• FOLLOW US HERE AND DONATE IF YOU CAN

Just think you could have your company  logo, personal  mugshot or your  signature adoring this little beauty as it winds it way down from Goa to Cochin, with local radio, local tv, web and blog visibility. We are selling places on the car…. be there with us in spirit and get photos to put on your website and office wall. contact Mark at mark@change-capability.com for details.

Don’t take life for granted, be part of something worthwhile….

So we now have a sea change in the organisation, getting to critical mass…. external senior post being assessed, their talent pools being assessed and their understanding of what drives performance being developed across line management and across a willing but less than influential HR team …the train has left the station!!

If you think that most   managerial courses have content agreed and put into the curriculum decades ago,  showing Maslow as ‘the theory’ of motivation,  using Taylorism as an example of ‘the’ one best way  and using people like Jack Welch as icons of good leadership. The world has move on and many managers have taken their training, done their classes and set their ideas in permafrost. Management trainers and business schools, out side of a few world class ones, recycle, reuse and reduce their ideas to a common denominator of the famous few – Taylor, Maslow, Kotter, Porter et al. Getting different results means doing things differently and those ideas need to be researched, tested, adapted and applied – now – not in ten years  time when every one else is starting to get on the orchestral travelling transport vehicle !

So what is the glycol for the grey matter? Here’s my manifesto for the mindful-

1. Read more about your profession – and it’s top players  - who are the gurus?
2. Research your industry – globally – ask yourself if you were setting up now, where would you be based?
3. Find out what makes you feel uneasy about your competitors – and learn from it, what would make your competitors unhappy about you ?
4. Read at least 12 management books a year and locate 10 good ideas from them – not all will be any good – breadth and depth
5. Do something that makes you feel uncomfortable  at work – a project where you are not the expert – be wiser  from learning !
6. Go to a conference about which you know nothing – find a nugget of wisdom from a different domain
7. Network with interesting people – not just from your industry – most  innovative ideas come from inspiration elsewhere
8. Help someone else learn to do something to a level of expert – teaching makes us better at doing

Don’t get frozen thinking, keep the stimulus flowing, put some anti freeze in the faculties – be a fresh thinker – it’s being fresh that creates the flavour !!

What was reconfirmed by listening to David ,and the invited guests comments and responses to his sometimes pointed questions, was that  leadership is all about meaning creation. For him, and for many of his guests, the need for leaders to inspire confidence by being able to help their teams, their staff and employees generally, to understand their roles and the situations they were in at work, was the primary contributor to affluent work places.  He also gave me a blinding insight into the obvious, but sometimes it’s needed for all of us, when he stated HR  only do four things ; talent, teams, build leadership and manage performance.  Given that doing these well are critical to a successful buisness I think the case for HR being a strategic player in the business was made with one flip chart…. maybe thats why he’s a guru; the ability to say something clearly and with insight that others sometime mis or make overly complex.

A good gig for all the right reasons, sun shine, insight and a fantastic view !

Well its been a while since I posted but in the gap there has been a lot of change… taking my own advice to some extent and refocusing on the core activities. S0  here is  Change Capability Consulting Ltd. We are  now launched, to deliver change more consistently , more effectively and globally.  It seems that the demand for assistance with People, Strategy and Performance is increasing and a business with a focus here will thrive and add value to the client.

There is no doubt that the global financial downturn hit some businesses but the market for good quality change assistance grew.  As a response to that demand my  new business will focus on exactly that, the delivery of change assistance, from strategy to implementation.

Stay in touch with the blog and visit www.change-capability.com

What stops senior management using the people they have to change the business for the better?  In my experience its a number of things:

fear of losing control

not having a method to involve others efffectively

underestimation of the ability of their own people

Taking each in turn let look at what can be done.

Power is ultimately about getting people to do things. If you can give away the control to others but have them do things in the direction you wish, isn’t that just a different kind of power.  Some form of engagement process would do this, set the challenge and agenda for change but have people in the organisation who work there every day, do the planning and idea generation for what can be improved. The fear that top management have is that it might not work. Be brave, take the risk and see what your employees are capable of, given the chance.

Engagement is a great idea that fails to get many managers excited because they don’t really know how. It ok if you have a small team to get involved, but what happens if you are the board member with a team or division with 250 people – is engagement really easy at this level. Well try to think of it as a community activity and not a process for business. Is it possible to get over 250 people involved in something that they want to see happen in a community – open source software regularly does this with thousands, getting  a village fete up an running can involve scores of people, sports event hundreds of competitors, so yes it is. We use transformation workshops, large as you like, to get people engaged with structure – open space is another technique.  Engagement is something people give you , you need to give them a process to make it easy to get involved.

Finally, are they up to it – does your staff care?  Well ask them to find ways to make money and save costs and cut jobs and they might not be. Ask them to take some control and responsibility for their future and growth of the business and I think you will find they can be creative, focused, business like and innovative in finding ways to be different and better.

Remember its not about you – the senior team and them the employees, it’s all about US

Imagine if you will a sales and marketing dominated company ( say a fmcg or a consumer facing company)  appointing / recently or sometime in the past  – a person of average ability into their sales and marketing head role. So a strategically important role being filled by an average player. Their business success depends on getting more market share, better margins and more awareness of their offer than their competitors but they fill it, for convenience, misplaced loyalty to some long time-server, or just plain inability to select, with an average performer. When their business suffers they look for structural or product or marketplace solutions. Wrong !! Talent in organizations drives performance – right person, right role , right time. Get this wrong and you can spend a fortune on consultants telling you how to change your offer and re-engineer your processes etc, when the problem is the people.

Would you like to undergo a major piece of surgery and be told (or find out later) , that the surgeon is the best they could get, not the best there was? I would like to think that business is the same – minimise the risk of failure – it’s not life or death but the  principle applies all the same.

Given a clear Why, that is comprehensive, compelling and clear -  employees, associates, workforce members or plain old staff – can, and do, set harder targets and more demanding schedules than any of us could.  Give them the freedom to follow and not the mantra of must be managed. Leaders need  to have followers who are really committed  and followers need leaders worth following !

Our experiences over the last few years, writing the book and working with organizations across the globe are telling us that Envision, Engage and Execute is the way to lead change. Just do it -  together, Nike plus !  make change happen.

What is becoming clearer as we do each module is that the main change is not technology, although  this is the most cited difference, it’s in the mind of the staff. Getting  their clock speed up to web thinking is the challenge.  All have the smarts needed to change to the new model of web retailing but somehow are more comfortable in clinging to the older style of mail  order and retail stores.  The speed of innovation and the potential shorter cycle times for product display really challenges  all the marketing and product placement of the old way… toooooo slow and not creative enough. When you are on the web you are competing with everyone, small boutique and large mega discounter at the same time.

Your offering must be clear and of value to the customer, one click away from a competitor.  It’s hard work, fun and very interesting, seeing a whole new model of doing business emerge … watch this space for updates on how transformation mapping is starting to change the whole way a business operates and gets people challenged, involved and really engaged in the process.