What's Wrong with Work?

Call the expert

My secret shame (one of them, at least) is my love of reality TV. Not the Dating in the Dark type but the Location, Location, Location type. Grand Designs, Restoration Man, Mary Queen of Shops...the ones that you can learn something from (that's my explanation and I am sticking to it).

What never ceases to frustrate me though is why people think they can do complex projects like starting a business or building a house without consulting the experts. Architects study for 7 years before beginning at the very bottom of the career ladder and are only let lose on an actual building single-handed many years in to their career. So why would someone with absolutely no experience believe they could build a house?

I am a big fan of experts. I have someone I speak to about dog training, someone who puts up my shelves, someone who does my book-keeping, someone who manages my PR. I have a great deal of respect for professionals who have the experience to quickly solve problems (and anticipate problems) which would take me three times as long because I have to invent the wheel first. Why should I start from scratch trying to resolve a problem when someone else has been there and done that before?

Of course, I am sometimes disappointed. I get frustrated when a builder hasn't anticipated problems and then charges me for the wasted time. I get annoyed when I am told by someone claiming to have years in their field "I've never seen a problem like that before". I am short-tempered when an "expert" leaves all the thinking and problem-solving to me and then charges through the nose for the tiny bit they contributed.

However, by and large I think there is huge benefit to calling the experts. Why don't we do it more?

Well, in some cases we probably enjoy figuring it out ourselves. There is a certain pride in saying "I did my own conveyancing" or "I put that flatpack bed together myself". Nothing wrong with that. Sometimes we just don't anticipate how difficult a job is going to be until we try it ourselves. But sometimes we refuse to ask the experts to help us because we feel it reflects badly on us. There is an expectation today that you should be an all-rounder. You should have people skills and business skills and technical skills and creative skills...

In reality we are all rather one-sided. Admitting our weaknesses or holes in our knowledge or lack of experience in a certain area should not imply failure. It should not undermine what we do have to offer. It should be acceptable to say "This is where I am of more value. And this is where I bring in other people to help". It is only lack of confidence, actually, which stops us admitting when we need expert assistance.

In the workplace, it should be acceptable to admit to the gaps and seek other people to fill those gaps. Pretending they aren't there is a sure fire way to waste a lot of time and a lot of money.

Mental vs physical challenges

A colleague of mine is about to undertake a very difficult and dangerous physical challenge. I can't tell you much about it at the moment but as soon as he starts blogging about it I will let you in on it!

We all admire people who put themselves to the test physically, especially when they are attempting something we ourselves cannot imagine doing - for me that includes anything involving running, anything in the extreme cold or anything which involves doing without a nice cup of Starbucks coffee every day.

It is relatively easy for most of us to imagine what would be hard about a physical challenge. Let's say you were about to trek to the North Pole. You can imagine some of the things that would be tough about that -

• The cold
• The lack of home comforts
• The company of a small set of other people who are bound to annoy you at some time
• The relentlessness and potentially the boredom
• The exhaustion
• The difficulty of escaping should you want to give up
• Missing people back home
• The muscle pain and potential pain of injuries (and the lack of access to a doctor or pain meds or a nice warm bath)

Before you set off you would have to be pretty sure that you were prepared to take part despite all of these difficulties. In fact, you would have to believe that the end result - the sense of achievement - would be worth it.

But how much consideration do we give when we embark on a mental or emotional challenge? When we sign up for a self-development programme or try to bring about a change in our company or in our lives...how much do we think about the difficulties we will face?

I find that people under-estimate how hard these mental or emotional challenges are going to be. And then, when they face the inevitable difficulties, they are unprepared. Emotional or mental challenges are just as likely to be tough and include -

• Feelings of physical discomfort (stomach aches, headaches etc)
• Lack of familiar comforts (change inevitably means stepping outside the familiarity of the comfort zone)
• The company of a small set of other people who are bound to annoy you at some time
• The relentlessness and potentially the boredom (change isn't always interesting!)
• Missing people from your past life
• Wanting to give up or downgrade the success criteria (e.g. "Maybe just by getting this far we have proven enough")
• The pain of growth and change for which there is no medication

I don't lightly make this analogy. I believe this is one of the main reasons we so often give up when we set about making a change to our lives or to our company or to our relationships or to ourselves. We don't think of it as giving up because it isn't as obvious as turning on your heels half way to the North Pole. But it is giving up nonetheless.

At Taming Tigers we are going to ask all delegates to fully commit to the journey they are about to embark on as if it were a physical challenge rather than a mindset challenge.

I believe that, if we fully recognise what we are about to do and face up to the myriad ways we will find it hard before we start, we will be far better equipped to deal with those obstacles when they arise...certainly better equipped than if we entered in to the journey oblivious of the hurdles and pains ahead. Ignorance is not bliss.

Re-writing Rule Number 1

We carry around with us a hefty Rulebook which informs our decisions and our actions. This Rulebook tells us about the ways of the world as if they were truths.

Maybe your Rulebook tells you "You can't be rich AND happy" or "Bad things happen to good people" or "I'm just not lucky" or any number of rather negative "facts".

Our Rulebook also tells us about the world - "Business is not about people it's about money" and "The years of boom and bust are over" (ha ha!).

In any one day you are limiting yourself because you are accepting these, and others like them, as Rules rather than what they actually are - myths, conventional wisdom, fears, narrow-mindedness, assumption, belief.

I am not saying I have re-written all my Rules. Every day I have little conversations with myself when I realise that I am acting in accordance with a Rule not my true authenticity.

But I think there is one Rule about business and work which should be re-written as a matter of urgency. The Rule states -

"You can't reconcile what is right for people with what is right for business"

It is the Rule that leads us to make choices to prioritise our business over our people. We justify this by saying "Well, without a business our people don't have jobs so, in a way, by prioritising the business I am prioritising people".

Really? When you delay having that 1-2-1 with your line report? Or when you judge someone for coming in late because they had to take their son to the doctor? Or when you stop "walking the floor" for a few weeks because you are so busy with meetings and spreadsheets?

It's time we re-wrote this Rule and replaced it with one that says "You must reconcile the business and the people. Only by doing what is right for the people in your company can you do what is right for the business"

Engaged, motivated people get better results than their disengaged colleagues. When you are under pressure, that is exactly the time to put more effort - not less - in to your people.

Read Blaire's books

Sick of work?

A new study shows that Britain tops the league table for Sick Days in Europe. We take a massive 170 million days sick a year.

And, surprise surprise, for 50% of those days we aren't actually sick.

By the way, 24% of people say they feel engaged at work. I wonder how many sick days they take? Or are the majority of sick days taken by the 76% who aren't engaged at work?

If you are self-employed or own your company you are probably rarely sick. When you are sick you probably work unless you are really stricken down and can't move. Last year I took a half day off sick because I couldn't see straight having struggled through a cold for about three days and eventually giving in to it and going to bed for one afternoon.

How do we get employees to feel so valued, integral and responsible at work that they will give whatever they can to their job rather than crying off sick because they are sick of their work?

The myth of leadership

I was just searching Harvard Business Review online for a definition of leadership. Up came 6,453 articles.

6,453!

It's not surprising that some many leaders are at best confused and at worst overwhelmed by what it means to lead.

In just one issue there were 10, contradictory, articles about leadership including:

• 3 ways to network
• 4 ways to recover from a career disaster
• 5 misconceptions of new leaders
• 6 ways to be more courageous
• 7 questions every leader should ask themselves
• and 8 lessons from global executives that every leader should know

So, in one month, more than 33 new lessons about leadership.

I think it is actually much more simple than that. Leading is simply about being the best version of yourself. You know what your best self would do. You don't always do it. But you know what it is.

Now you can cancel your HBR subscription! I just saved you $165!   

 

Don't move, improve

We are creating a "make do and mend" culture as a reaction against the materialism of the boom years. And that trend is being seen in the workplace too.

Unconfident about whether they will be able to find a new job if they leave their current one, many people are staying put until the job market revives. Some of those become "walking dead" who want to be anywhere but at work and turn up only in body, not in spirit (often they don't even do that, crying "sickie" every few weeks).

But many are becoming part of what I call the "Job Uplift Movement". Knowing that they are going to be with their employer for the next few months or even years, they are setting about improving it from the inside.

This might involve taking on more responsibility without necessarily more pay. The idea here is to make work more interesting and take some of the dread out of Monday.

Some are fixing the frustrations of work (as explored in my new book "What's Wrong with Work?", out in October 2010) by re-structuring their meetings, creating a more compelling vision for their team or working cross-functionally to break down silos.

Some are finding ways to make savings worth their own salary or more. I call this "Redundancy Proofing". You save your company more than you cost them so that, in the next round of job losses, you have a strong case to say you are an asset not a cost!

And some are Upskilling - using their current position of security to get additional training and experience within their own company or outside. That way, when they do get on the job trail they will have more to offer.

All of this is good for their current business, meaning they become more valuable employees. It is good for their career prospects in future. And it is good for the spirit. Don't lie down and die. Find a way to turn an old job in to a new one.   

My mug

One of things I find most disconcerting about working in a large office is the cups. 

I don't mind drinking coffee out of a sturdy Starbucks-style paper cup but I can't bear drinking out of styrofoam or plastic (the type that come out of a vending machine). This isn't because I find it physically repulsive. I don't have sensitive teeth or a weak constitution. I just don't like the impersonal, temporary feel of of that kind of cup.

To me it sends out a message which is - "We don't care enough about you to provide you with a decent cup that won't burn your fingers as you try to carry it from the machine to your desk"

These days I often work at home. My current mug was given to me by a friend...

As you can see, I like my teabag left in and I like a small dash of milk. It may seem petty but these small touches make a difference to how I feel about my working day.

I am on a mission to make work work better. Some of the change I would like to see are major - restructuring meetings, transforming the leadership culture, breaking down silos. But some of the changes I would like to see are more pedestrian. Proper cups, the opportunity to bring your own cup to work, decent tea and coffee available for free to staff and visitors...Sometimes it is the small gestures that make a difference to how valued, important, recognised, human we feel at work.

 
  

A better way to start the day....

A while ago I coached a leader (I can't name him or his company due to confidentiality but he was a bigwig) who started his day with Radio 3. He listened to classical music during his commute and arrived at work feeling relaxed and at peace. There was only one problem. He arrived relaxed and at peace.

I am in favour of relaxation and peace, but not necessarily first thing in the morning. For this particular leader it was a problem for certain. It took him a good hour once he arrived at the office to get psyched up for his day. He was not focused, clear on his priorities or prepared mentally for the tricky conversations he needed to have.

Starting the day with Radio 3 wasted not only his journey (over an hour) but the first hour of his working day too.

If we are going to make work work better, we need to consider how we start our day in such a way that we squeeze the most out of the opportunities available to us. How can you get the best out of the 8, 10 or even 12 hours you have devoted to work per day?

My commute can be as little as 3 minutes (on days when I am working from home) or many hours (when I have to travel to see a client). For me, travel time is work time. I make calls, I talk myself through some of the challenges facing the business, I rehearse my presentation or even dream about the future as a way to bring my vision to life.

I personally find this puts me in a much better frame of mind when I arrive at my destination than listening to music in the car or reading a novel on the train.

What do you think is the best way to use "dead" commuting time?  

 

What's Wrong with Work?

How much time do you waste a day? I don't mean because you are on Facebook, or because you are planning your next holiday, or because you are reading blogs. I mean how much of your work activity is a waste of time?

Not sure what counts as a waste?

Does what you do every minute contribute to the success of the business?

Can you see how your job has a positive impact on the company or organisation?

Do you feel you are able to act in efficient ways or are you hamstrung by red tape, procedures and politics?

What percentage of your talent do you use in your job?

What percentage of your experience do you use in your job?

What percentage of your brain do you use in your job?

I am fascinated that so many companies fret about getting "discretionary effort" from their people and then do nothing to deal with the obstacles they themselves create which prevent people getting the basics right, let alone going above and beyond.

I believe people want to do a good job. They want to feel they are making a contribution. They want to feel of value to their organisation. But they don't.

And then the leaders in the organisation blame them for being lazy or unskilled or unmotivated, without looking at how their ow company is structured to make it difficult for people to behave otherwise.

In these next few blogs I will explore why I think it is time work worked better and what you can do about it.

In the meantime, what do you think is wrong with work?

It's in our hands

In 2009 I started a campaign called "Let's Be Successful Again!". It was a reaction to the negativity around at the time about the economy. It was very difficult at that time to see events as opportunities. Instead, the media, the politicians and the economists seemed to have a vested interest in making the situation seem as bad as possible.

However, that attitude didn't help the likes of you and me - business owners, employees, members of the community. We could not directly influence the economy unlike those who seemed to find joy in slamming it. But we also knew that we didn't want to take it lying down. Spending our days cowering under the bedsheets waiting for the impact of the latest drop in share price to hit us didn't seem like an empowering pastime.

Today, the situation has moved on. We're now officially in the Age of Austerity which I think means that we need to feel really bad about ourselves every time we spend money on a luxury like a new jacket or vegetables from Waitrose.

But the principle that applied during the "Let's Be Successful Again" campaign applies still. You may not be able to change the nature of the news headlines and you may not be able to force the banks to lend you money. But you can do something about your attitude to those things. Instead of buying in to the Age of Guilt, how about inventing the Age of Fun for Free or the Age of Simple Pleasures. The outcome may be the same in terms of money in your purse but the feeling you will experience every day will be different.

The blog is taking a new slant for the rest of this year and in to 2011 and exploring how to make work really work for you. But the same message will apply. Instead of focusing on what you can't change, and instead of focusing on what isn't working, focus on what you can and what is!