No App For That

We are asking the wrong questions, not calculating the wrong answers.

During an initiative to improve capital project processes I was approached by a small cadre of project managers. They assured me that they understood the goal of improving problem solving and decision-making. Then, out jumped their true reason for our little meeting. “Dave, what we really need is our own spreadsheet template to enter the costs and benefits of our projects. We’ll be able to prepare proposals faster and won’t need finance analysts on our teams.”

This group misunderstood the initiative’s goals entirely. The overhaul wasn’t to make capital approvals easier or faster (although that was a collateral benefit). The overhaul focused on producing better projects. That doesn’t come from spreadsheet templates or black box analysis models. Better projects come from asking the right questions of the right people at the right time.

The Soft Stuff is the Hard Stuff

Most of us are technical. We like to be fact-driven. We embrace technologies of all flavors, including computer hardware, software, mobile devices, the Internet and social media. We tolerate opinions of others that differ from ours, but we prefer tangible, hard evidence that supports any position or argument. The problem is that organizations are made up of people, not just computers and equipment.

We like research studies and analytics to gain insights and foresights, as well as to solve problems and pursue opportunities. But, darn it, people get in the way.

Retrain Your Brain

[There have been many research studies done on] “emotional styles” - which are really brain styles. One brain style tracks how readily we become upset: where we are on the spectrum from a hair-trigger amygdala - people who easily become upset, frustrated or angered - versus people who are unflappable.

A second style looks at how quickly we recover from our distress. Some people recover quickly once they get upset, while others are very slow. At the extreme of slowness to recover are people who continually ruminate or worry about things - in effect, who suffer from ongoing low-grade amygdala hijacks. Chronic worry keeps the amygdala primed, so you remain in a distress state as long as you ruminate. Given the many realistic stresses we face, those first two styles - being unflappable and capable of quick recovery - are the most effective in navigating the troubles of the world of work.

The third style assesses a person’s depth of feeling. Some people experience their feelings quite intensely, some people quite shallowly. Those who have stronger feelings may be better able to authentically communicate them more powerfully - to move people.

Are You a Rebel?

Organizations need more “champion” behavior from their middle managers. Linkedin discussion groups frequently chatter about poor guidance from executives. A recent discussion had many discussants moaning about their CFO function’s reluctance to implement activity-based costing (ABC) principles for lame reasons such as it would result in two different sets of product costs or that ABC is too complicated to implement. This is nonsense.

Do Less (or, Why Managers Should Stop Micromanaging and Trust Their Employees)

In looking at the great leaders of history—whether they are political leaders like Julius Caesar or business leaders like Steven P. Jobs—many people probably assume that they must have taken a particularly active role in running their organizations. Caesar, after all, personally led his troops into Gaul, and Jobs was famous for checking the design of even the smallest inner workings of every product at Apple.

“Most leaders do too much,” Murnighan says. “And when they do, they’re seen as micromanagers.”

6 Ways to Reduce Stress

Stress sucks. According to the American Psychological Association, stress can result in headache, muscle tension, muscle pain, chest pain, fatigue, upset stomach, insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, lack of motivation, lack of focus, irritability, depression, eating problems, addiction … and social withdrawal. Yow!

Fortunately, stress isn’t inevitable, even in today’s hyper-connected, highly competitive world.

A Wee Dram from Bangalore? Och, That’s Guid!

What does it take to crack a really closed market? Say, like, selling Indian single-malt scotch in Scotland? Let’s ask someone who’s trying. Rakshit Jagdale, executive director of the venerable Bangalore-based Amrut Distilleries says a great product isn’t enough…

Think fine whisky and the first thought that comes to mind is Scotland. After all, that is why the drink is ubiquitously referred to as Scotch by non-connoisseurs and laymen. But did you know that the world’s third-best aqua vitae, or “the water of life” as the drink is fondly called, is an Indian brand? Say hello to Amrut Fusion Single Malt, which was ranked by prominent whisky expert Jim Murray in the 2010 edition of the Whisky Bible.