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"Vision is the art of seeing things invisible."
Jonathan Swift
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"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present."
Babatunde Olatunji
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"He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away."
Raymond Hull
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An explosive combination
Potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur by themselves are relatively harmless chemicals. However, when combined in the right proportion, they create gunpowder.
A similarly explosive combination of advertising, advocacy, and journalism is rocking Washington, D.C. right now.
Armstrong Williams, a nationally syndicated columnist and media personality, recently divulged that the Dept. of Education paid him $240,000 to promote the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policies. This brouhaha is about a media personality masking advocacy and advertising as journalism -- all while accepting taxpayers' money to do it.
This is a rare case where the client, public relations firm, and media were all in cahoots -- purposefully or not, it doesn't matter -- to achieve a specific goal. Advertising, advocacy, and journalism have separate, distinct, and important roles in the marketplace of ideas. Let's keep them that way.
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The most important words in a crisis
Bad things happen to good companies. Many companies in turn compound the problem by trying to communicate logically with facts, figures, and justifications in a highly emotional situation. The resulting loss of confidence and respect can haunt a company for years.
The most important words any executive can say in response to a crisis are "we deeply regret…" or "we want to extend our sympathies to…" Most importantly, these should be the first words you say. People form emotional bonds in the first 30 seconds or less. That is how little time you have to make a connection. These words are the key.
The emotional connection is so important because emotions drive 80 percent of our decisions. That percentage is likely much higher in a crisis when emotions are naturally heightened. Nobody will care what you have to say until they know that you care.
Expressing regret or sympathy is not an admission of guilt. These words are simply emotional reflections of what you and other people are feeling at the time. Crises are times for us to be more human -- not less.
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SCAMPER for ideas
Next time you are struggling in a brainstorming process, try using the SCAMPER method to increase the flow of ideas. Each letter in the word stands for a different way to think about your challenge. "S" means to substitute ideas as you examine a challenge, "C" means to combine parts of the problem, and so on.
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S
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Substitute
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Think about a way to substitute part of your product/process for something else.
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C
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Combine
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Think about combining two or more parts of your problem to achieve a different product/process.
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A
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Adapt
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Think about which parts of the product/process could be adapted to remove the problem or change the nature of the product/process.
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M
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Modify
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Think about modifying part or all of the current situation, or to distort it in an unusual way. This process often prompts you to think of an alternative product/process.
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P
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Put to other purposes
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Think of how you might be able to put your current solution/product/process to other purposes. You might think of another way of solving your own problem or finding another market for your product.
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E
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Eliminate
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Think of what might happen if you eliminated various parts of the product/process and consider what you might do in that situation.
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R
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Reverse/
rearrange
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Think of what you would do if part of your product/process worked in reverse or happened in a different order. You can use this to see your problem from different angles and come up with new ideas.
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Read more about SCAMPER at Mindtools.com.
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Telling employees bad news
Making changes in leadership? Laying off employees? Closing one of your locations? Increasing the portion your employees pay for health care benefits? Impacting some "sacred cows" with cost cutting?
Tough decisions are an important part of being a CEO. So is communicating those decisions well. Try these six steps to make your communication more effective:
- Show empathy. Genuine caring and concern will go a long way toward helping people understand your position -- and it will help you develop your messages before you begin to communicate.
- Above all, be personal, especially with those who are directly impacted by a tough decision. Employees want to get company news from their direct supervisors or managers. That's more important than ever when communicating negative news. And those who are directly affected should always hear the news before anyone else.
- Be open, honest, and direct. Sugar coating or "spinning" doesn't change bad news; it just gives the audience less reason to respect the person delivering it.
- Provide enough information to help others understand the reason for the decision within legal and privacy constraints. While this won't change the decision, it can affect the way people react to it.
- Consider the timing. Timing is everything. Get it all out fast if you have a lot of bad news. Dragging the news out over several communiqués only serves to make people wonder what's coming next, and next, and next, etc.
- Be realistic in your expectations. Don't think that just because you know it's the right decision everyone else is going to agree. Some people will likely understand the decision and reason for it; some people will never be persuaded. And, remember that some people will need more time than others to digest tough news.
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Knowledge@Wharton
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/
Knowledge@Wharton is a bi-weekly online resource from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. It offers the latest business insights, information, and research culled from a variety of sources. Readers can choose from hundreds of articles from sections such as Leadership and Change, Health Economics, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Operations Management. Make sure to sign up for the electronic newsletter alerting you to updates on the website.
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The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is packed with worthwhile information and strategies for overcoming the most common team-corrupting behaviors.
This quick and easy-to-digest read begins with an astutely written fictional tale of Kathryn Petersen, an old-school CEO called upon to lead a dysfunctional group of egocentric executives at a Silicon Valley firm.
Kathryn achieves the impossible, forcing her colleagues into becoming a cohesive team by making them confront five dysfunctional behaviors:
- Absence of trust
- Fear of conflict
- Lack of commitment
- Avoidance of accountability
- Inattention to results
When the narrative is over, Lencioni formally outlines his model for overcoming these five behavioral pitfalls. Through a series of assessment tools, he explains the process of identifying and correcting dysfunctions within your own organization.
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