Genuine Curiosity

Author Dwayne Melancon is always on the lookout for new things to learn. An ecclectic collection of postings on personal productivity, travel, good books, gadgets, leadership & management, and many other things.

 

Work The System - for free!

Last year, I reviewed Sam Carpenter’s excellent management book, “Work The System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less,” (read my review of Work The System here).

wtsbook_127x206I found this book to be very practical, partially because it was written from the perspective of an entrepreneurial business person who has been able to create a sustainable, vital business.  But the real “hook” for me was Sam’s personal stories about the challenges he faced as he built his business, how he got through the challenges, and how he “codified” his learning into things the rest of us can use.

The book has been very well-received and won “Best Non-fiction Book of 2009” at the New York Book Festival.  Sam has also recently found a new publisher, which should really help in sharing his experience with even more people.  That’s good news.

And I’ve got even better news: YOU can get this book for free!

WTSOfferYou heard me right - Sam’s been kind enough to allow me to offer each of you a free PDF copy of “Work The System” for the entire month of September. 

Getting your free copy is pretty easy:

  1. Go to the Work The System book site.
  2. Find the “Special Book Promotion” link and click it.
  3. Follow the instructions, and enter the password “Dwayne sent me”
  4. You’ll get your link to download the PDF of Work The System.

Once you’ve read the book, I’d love to hear what you think – and whether it resonates with you as much as it does with me.

Teams – the 'me to we' way

Kare Kare Anderson (that’s her, at right) commented on my post about teamwork the other day, and I wanted to bring that out of the comments because I think she has some great advice.

She describes some of the aspects of how Obama built teamwork in a post on “Moving From Me To We” (which, by the way is only one of her excellent blogs).  Here is an excerpt from her post, called “Build Strong Teams The Obama Way.”

1. Be specific about the top, actionable goal of the group.

2. Identify what needs to be done to reach the goal, then recruit individuals who have the specific talents or other resources to get those tasks done.

3. Approach each person by describing the goal, the specific way each one can help achieve it and why it would benefit that person; then describe the Sweet Spot of mutual benefit for all teammates to participate.

4. Review above 3 items with everyone when first meeting together; ask for improvements in the goal and if others should be recruited to accomplish it; then agree on who should facilitate the group.

5. Seek agreement on the Rules of Engagement by which your group will operate and on the timetable.

6. When the goal is met, de-brief on what worked and what didn’t, then discuss other possible goals for which some or all team mates may want to work together again. Why not start now where you face a problem or an opportunity? 

Excellent advice.  Thanks for sharing this, Kare. 

Be sure and click through and spend some time on Kare’s site – I learn a lot from her.

Guiding principles and teamwork

agree In my “day job” our team is working to up-level our effectiveness.  One of the aspects of this is re-forging our agreements with each other and clarifying expectations for how we engage.  We have a set of guiding principles that I thought I’d share here, since I think they are very empowering.

  • The team trusts one another
  • The team engages in unfiltered conflict around ideas
  • The team commits to decision and plans
  • The team holds one another accountable for delivery on plans
  • The team focuses on achievement of collective results

If you’ve ever read Patrick Lencioni’s “Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” these should look familiar – they are modeled after the advice in that book.  As a team (the whole company is being exposed to this as part of our process), we’re all reading this (excellent) book and using it to help us through the process.

We are nowhere as messed up as the team in Lencioni’s fable, but we are also not perfect in our practice of these principles.  What I find empowering about this list is that it establishes a benchmark for us and a way to do some gap analysis by asking questions like:

  • In the situation we just completed (project, discussion, etc.) how did we do as a team in honoring these principles?
  • How well did I do individually?
  • In the next [week, month, quarter, year] what can I do to meaningfully improve my contribution to these principles.

Obviously, there a bunch of things that work alongside these, such as how we learn from our inevitable missteps, how we bring new people into our teams in a way that prepares them for success, how (and how often) we evaluate ourselves against these.  But the nice thing is we now have a structure in which to analyze how we’re working together.

What about you – does your organization have such principles?  Are they implicit or explicit?  Are they working or not? 

What can you share about how to improve an organization’s ability to work together?

Read More

That’s a great question…

If you’ve ever read my profile on the blog, you will know that the very essence of “genuine curiosity” as a concept is that you change your interactions with the world by asking open-ended, evocative questions.

Yes/No is a no-no

The main thing to remember with the genuine curiosity concept is that the questions should not be answerable with a yes/no response (unlike my daughter’s unusual questionnaire, at right). 

The idea is to get people to talk and see where the conversation goes.

I’ve heard some great questions since I’ve started listening for them.  Back in 2005, I wrote about a few general purpose “discovery questions,” best used on others – especially people you don’t know very well.

Going deeper

I have started a list of the really great questions I hear, and my favorites are those that cause really deep thinking.  These can be used on others as coaching exercises or, in many cases, on yourself to get to a deeper level of introspection.

One guy that has Great questions is Michael Bungay Stanier from Box of Crayons.  I’ve heard a number of his questions from interviews he’s done with David Allen (the “GTD Guy”) and have enjoyed them immensely.

I finally got around to watching an awesome, 5 minute film that Michael has created called “The 5.75 Questions You’ve Been Avoiding.”  This is an entertaining way to get to some really insightful questions – ones that can really help you improve yourself if you’re willing to put in the time to think about them.

After watching the video, if you like how he thinks be sure & check out the “Great Work Blog.” 

Trust and the test of relationships

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a talk by Stephen M. R. Covey, author of “The Speed of Trust.”  Covey is an excellent speaker, because he has a way of crystallizing his points with stories and personalized exercises.

An Exercise in Trust

test_tubeOne such exercise was the following.  I encourage you to actually go through it right now – it won’t take long, and I think it will be enlightening.

Part 1: High Trust

Identify a person you work with whom you feel you have a “high trust relationship.”  Got them in mind?  Now, ask yourself each of the following question and take about 10-15 seconds to write down the first responses that come to mind for each question:

  1. What is it like to work with this person?
  2. What is it like to communicate with this person?
  3. How fast can you get things done?
  4. What are the results when you work together?

Part 2: Low Trust

Identify a person you work with whom you feel you have a “low trust relationship.”  Got them in mind?  Once again, ask yourself each of the following question and take about 10-15 seconds to write down the first responses that come to mind for each question:

  1. What is it like to work with this person?
  2. What is it like to communicate with this person?
  3. How fast can you get things done?
  4. What are the results when you work together?

Comparing the Results

If you’re like me, the results you see will mirror Covey’s description of the characteristics of each type of relationship:

High Trust: Open, energetic, and authentic.  Things get done quickly when working together, usually with great results.

Low Trust:  Guarded, calculating, with information hiding and “CYA” behaviors.  Working together is an energy-draining experience, and the results usually aren’t very impressive.

The Litmus Test

Covey’s point in all of this was how much trust impacts the speed and cost of getting things done, and how much more efficient & effective high trust relationships are.

But what really drove this home for me was the “litmus test” Covey offered, by which you can quickly tell the difference between high- and low-trust relationships:

  • “In a high-trust relationship, even if you say the wrong thing, the other person will still ‘get’ your intent or motive.”
  • “In a low-trust relationship, you can be very precise & measured and the other person will still misinterpret you.”

Powerful stuff, that.  I think I may go back and read his book again.