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Ideas and People, Good for Business

30-04-2009

In his book “A Terrible Beauty” Peter Watson takes a look at the history of the 20th Century through a different lens. Those of us exposed to modern history at secondary or tertiary level will realise that much of the 20th Century was defined by political upheaval and war (2 world wars, the rise of Communism and its demise in Europe, the decline of Imperialism to name a few examples).

Watson, by comparison, looks at the intellectual history of 20th Century. This turns out to be a particularly fruitful subject. Consider the developments in medicine, the discovery of the structure of DNA, nuclear physics, space travel and the internet. Looking at human endeavour from these two perspectives highlights some very peculiar tendencies. The first is to celebrate the ability of humans to achieve great things as a result of cooperation and combining efforts on a large scale. Naturally at these critical times, leaders emerge and they are often “the right person at the right time”. They have the ability to crystallise the efforts of others, encouraging them to forsake personal concerns for the common good, if only temporarily. This is usually in response to some crisis or threat from outside. These crises would include such things as military attack or natural disasters.

Humans are also capable of acknowledging the unique qualities of those rare “special” people amongst us. These are the gifted, creative people, and the intellects of the world. They are on “the edge” of where us average people see our abilities. They are often eccentric in personal style, but their differences are usually tolerated because of the specialness. I exclude obvious exceptions here, such as the Cultural Revolution in China where such “free thinking” was viewed as a threat to political oppression. These “special” individuals remind us that there is something about each human that is unique. Consider Hemmingway, Scott Fitzgerald, Gershwin, Paul Simon, Lennon and McCartney.

Each of us has a particular genetic make-up, which determines much of our physical and intellectual potential. Each of us has a particular place in a particular family, and grows up in a particular environment at a particular place in human history. Indeed, it is this huge individual variation that has contributed so powerfully to humans becoming the dominant species on the planet.

If you manage an entity of any kind (be it a small dedicated team of a few people, a government department or a large corporation) the potential of the people there is worth more than a passing thought.

Usually lip service is paid to this notion. This includes the knowledge of some superficial biographical material, plus a “thumb nail sketch” of the person’s background, style and personality (often based on reputation ie. the opinions of others).

In a workplace we usually spend just about as much waking time with our colleagues as we would with a spouse. Within a given level of an hierarchy, co-workers usually have a much deeper knowledge of each other’s personality, personal situation and issues. This knowledge rarely crosses the barriers into higher or lower strata.

From a managerial perspective, this doesn’t mean that your colleagues have to be your best buddies (although work is an important source of social interaction). However, an ACTIVE interest in your people will pay off enormously for all concerned.

This means making regular time available to engage with as many people as possible, ideally on “their own turf” (rather than their coming to the headmaster’s office). It should be done in a way that minimises interruptions. Start by asking about appropriate personal stuff (family, background, education, work history, non-work interests). You should be prepared for a two way flow of information. This should occur in a way that is comfortable for both parties. By the way, if you find this particularly uncomfortable, you shouldn’t be in a leadership position. Either that or you should arrange some skills training in this area.

You should have in mind a few “big ticket items” concerning the business or entity of which you are a part. These items might include how to improve the delivery of your services, how to monitor success or otherwise of your entity, how to improve efficiencies of various kinds etc. Try to pick people’s brains as a way of starting the process of innovation. You should seek their thoughts about these big ticket items. It is also important to check each person’s understanding of the overall direction of the company or entity in which they work. This will usually result in a discussion of the individual’s role under this umbrella. This discussion can be particularly fruitful, and can also begin the process of more people thinking about the important “stuff” which will define the company’s success.

Another way of getting the big ticket items “on the agenda” is by using some internal communication system eg. the intranet.

From the employee’s perspective, there is the sense that management is keen to hear from them. This hints at our notion that there is something unique about each individual ie. people feel valued. Why have a good idea if there is no-one at an influential level to at least assess it? In terms of motivation there can be fewer more powerful tools.

“Active engagement” of people with work means they are doing much more than working through their job description. They are spending at least a part of their week “thinking outside the box”. This is more likely to happen if people are rewarded for good ideas. Active engagement also means that people seek to improve their knowledge and skills. Clearly this necessitates action, and this will be more likely to occur if it is supported at a higher level.

Garry Hamel in his book “The New Management” explores some success stories of this “flatter” style of management. Google, The Gore Corporation and The Whole Foods Corporation are monumental success stories. Their whole management structure is based on the power of the individual to provide the ideas and innovation which predicates success. Not only are these large corporations successful in financial terms, they are also some of the most popular ones to work for from the employees perspective.

By definition, good ideas (innovation) come from individuals, often as a result of active collaboration with others. The trick is to know who your people really are, what makes them tick, and how to engage their intellectual potential to provide the solutions which will make your business successful.

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