Problem-solving

Movin’ on up…

/ Jeff Hora / Leave a comment
Wheelbarrow

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My Dad had two primary refuges from work and my brother and me.  In the winter it was his shop in the garage and in the summer it was the yard and the garden.  He had apparently inherited the ability to grow almost anything from my grandmother.  She could take a fallen, brown leaf from a plant and nurture it into full health in the space of a year or two…..amazing.

One of the things I used to kid him about was his penchant for regularly moving shrubs, bushes and sometimes trees from one spot to another around our yard.  We used to joke that he was never happy with where God put them and was trying to improve the arrangement.  The moved item always seemed to thrive anew, regardless of where he planted it.  Now I see what he was doing in a different light.

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I love it when a plan comes together….

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Swooshable Planning

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Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to sit in on a quarterly meeting of some of the hardest working folks I know. My company calls them Product Planners.  The difficulty of what they do is hidden by the simplicity of their title…if you’ve never worked in an enterprise that is tracking released products, fixing them as needed, and then planning new ones with the added uncertainty of forecasting their popularity, then you aren’t aware of the tricky dance these folks do.  Years ago while watching one of my favorite Mystery Science Theater 3000 movies, I remember Crow T. Robot remarking, upon seeing a credit for someone tasked with Planning, “Oh, that’s what I want to do….I’ve always wanted to Plaaaaaan!”

I thought it was a bit odd too, at the time.  Now I know better.

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Take the blanket off your creativity

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Leonardo da Vinci is well known for his creati...

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I had lunch today with a close friend and colleague.  Among other things (children, pets, home improvements, unusual heat in Seattle [which was about 86 degrees or so]…) we talked about getting bored.  She’s has been with the same business unit doing much the same kind of job for nearly 7 years.  She likes her work well enough, but feels, as she put it, “too comfortable”.  It’s not that good things aren’t happening with her particular product or that there isn’t enough to keep her busy.  It’s just that the challenges she faces now fill a kind of “Top 25 Things You Do In This Job” place in her mind.

We started talking about opportunities to move to other business groups or even to other companies.  The conversation got very animated and the creative juices started to flow a little more quickly.  It’s obvious that she’s got tons of creativity to spare and aims it, as she can, at the problems in front of her.  But there’s more there…the workflow that she has for her current role has well-worn grooves (often called ruts…) and it works best when following the grooves.

I believe that taking a bright, creative person from one place and placing them in another “takes the blanket” off of their creativity, and the business can benefit mightily in the move.

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Measure the glue–continued

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Measuring time

Image by aussiegall via Flickr

In my earlier post about the “glue” of collaboration, I spent the time describing the area of discussion and none about the actual measurement.  That wasn’t exactly by design, as much as it was a realization that measuring collaboration means establishing some ground rules and accepting some risks and vagueness.

The ground rules are both simple and tough. Define what it is you’re trying to measure.  I’m involved with that right now on my team and it is not easy.  Objective measurement, as well as methodology, of collaboration and/or teamwork means setting up scales, deliverables, degrees of importance or weight (“So, was that assist worth a 5 or a 7?” and what does that mean?).  There’s also the issue of whether this measurement applies to the group or to individuals and how you measure individual collaboration in a way that reduces the ability to game the system (“I’ll give you a +5 in the assessment if you give me one as well.”).  Messy stuff….

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Measure the glue–continued

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Measuring time

Image by aussiegall via Flickr

In my earlier post about the “glue” of collaboration, I spent the time describing the area of discussion and none about the actual measurement.  That wasn’t exactly by design, as much as it was a realization that measuring collaboration means establishing some ground rules and accepting some risks and vagueness.

The ground rules are both simple and tough. Define what it is you’re trying to measure.  I’m involved with that right now on my team and it is not easy.  Objective measurement, as well as methodology, of collaboration and/or teamwork means setting up scales, deliverables, degrees of importance or weight (“So, was that assist worth a 5 or a 7?” and what does that mean?).  There’s also the issue of whether this measurement applies to the group or to individuals and how you measure individual collaboration in a way that reduces the ability to game the system (“I’ll give you a +5 in the assessment if you give me one as well.”).  Messy stuff….

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Focus

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St Anthony the Great

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I have a quote on the white board in my office.  It is attributed to Abba Anthony, one of the Desert Fathers of Christian history.  It is, “Do what you are doing.”  This is my own challenge and one I put to you as well.

To accomplish this, you must not dwell in the past (although you can and should learn from it).  You must not obsess about the future (you have no real way to control it, so this is pointless).  The only moment you really have is this one (there it goes….).

This moment is not entirely yours, as you share it with all creation.  However, the piece of it of which you are a part is important, as in this moment you can focus on the task at hand, make it good, make it worthwhile, create, enable and assist.  Without your critical contribution in this moment, the lessons of the past come to nothing and the future is dimmer.

Focus.  Do what you are doing.

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Open the Box–Steering Wheel

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Steering Wheel

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I opened the box today and found a steering wheel. My attention involuntarily went to the whole “direction of your team/business” kind of attention hole. After climbing out of that one and spending a little more time looking at this particular steering wheel, I realized there is a higher meaning here. It has to do with responsibility. This responsibility is both visionary and of the moment.

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Open the Box–Steering Wheel

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Steering Wheel

Image via Wikipedia

I opened the box today and found a steering wheel. My attention involuntarily went to the whole “direction of your team/business” kind of attention hole. After climbing out of that one and spending a little more time looking at this particular steering wheel, I realized there is a higher meaning here. It has to do with responsibility. This responsibility is both visionary and of the moment.

Continue reading →

Leaders–It’s all about the context

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Music Droid

Image by The Smurf. via Flickr

Being an authentic leader means being true to who you are in dynamic situations and with different audiences and scenarios.  In this excerpt of an interview with Dr. David Darnell, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Education Leadership at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa he talks about how his experiences as a leader differ when working with his graduate students, his colleagues at Drake and his work in his local church, as well as touching on his lifelong experiences in education.  The subject of this excerpt is how being a leader may change given different contexts and in working with different constituents.  His comment about remaining true to yourself while helping others get where they are going is particularly keen.

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Leaders–It’s all about the context

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Music Droid

Image by The Smurf. via Flickr

Being an authentic leader means being true to who you are in dynamic situations and with different audiences and scenarios.  In this excerpt of an interview with Dr. David Darnell, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Education Leadership at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa he talks about how his experiences as a leader differ when working with his graduate students, his colleagues at Drake and his work in his local church, as well as touching on his lifelong experiences in education.  The subject of this excerpt is how being a leader may change given different contexts and in working with different constituents.  His comment about remaining true to yourself while helping others get where they are going is particularly keen.

Continue reading →