Your opinion counts - action requested

If you've been following the blog for a while, you know I write about a fairly wide variety of things. Moving forward, I'd like to tap into your opinion to help me write more about the things you're interested in and less about the things you aren't.

With that in mind, I've added a way to rate each blog post at the bottom of the post. You'll see that rating widget at the bottom of each article (see below). You'll have to read the site itself to do this rating - it isn't yet available in the RSS feed. Also, you may have to actually click into the post to see the voting buttons (click the title of the post to get there).

I'd appreciate it if you'd spend a few minutes on the site and rate 5 to 10 of your favorite articles (and any you don't like) to help me focus my writing time in the future. And thanks for following Genuine Curiosity!

Blogging

Traction: A fabulous resource for your business

I've gotten some emails asking why I'm not posting more on the site lately - the short answer? I've been really busy lately! As I mentioned in the past, I've recently taken on a new role in my company - running a new line of business. As part of this move, I've been building a new team and trying to establish new "habits" around the way we communicate, work, collaborate, etc.

As is often the case, some resources showed up at just the right time to help me (I love it when that happens). This time, it was in the form of Gino Wickman's book, "Traction: Get a Grip on your Business." This book is really designed for a someone running an entire business - not just a division like mine. However, the concepts can easily be adapted for a team, a department, or anything larger.

Even more intriguing to me: this book just showed up for me, but it's been out there for about 3 years. Apparently, there is a re-launch going on around this book - Providence, just in time for me.

Write your own EOS

Core to Traction is the 'EOS,' or Entrepreneurial Operating System - a set of practices, principles, and more - designed to help you establish and maintain clarity, accountability, and alignment within your business.

The book focuses on what I believe is the "trifecta" of a successful business:

• everyone is on the same page about what you're trying to achieve, how you plan to get there, and has the right metrics and indicators to track progress;
• everyone is crystal clear on their roles & responsibilities (and there is only one owner for everything);
• everyone agrees how they will work through issues, red flags, and obstacles encountered along the journey.

Wickman's content is crisp, actionable, and supported by a great tool set (the EOS Toolbox, available from the EOS Process web site for free). The book takes you through a lot of essential exercises, geared to help you establish the artifacts you need to align your business. This Toolbox makes the "hard work" of business a Hell of a lot easier. I'm not sure where Wickman got all of this content, but it's good stuff. While it intersects with lots of things I've read already from other authors, Wickman's approach smacks of real-world, tried & true process - not a bunch of theory.

One example is the notion of "Get the right people on the bus, and get people in the right seats," popularized by Jim Collins in his book "Good to Great." I've read this advice before, but have never been quite sure of how to really go about making sure that was happening. Wickman provides a set of tools and techniques to figure this out pretty quickly - using a simple "plus / minus" analysis of people's suitability to their roles. The book provides an example of this evaluation, and a worksheet is available on the EOS Process site.

Leadership Abilities - they're not just for the leader any more

One thing I think you'll like is "The Five Leadership Abilities" in this book:

1. Your ability to simplify.
2. Your ability to delegate & elevate.
3. Your ability to predict.
4. Your ability to systemize.
5. Your ability to structure.

Each of these five areas is addressed as you progress through the book, and you'll get better at every one of them if you use the methodology in the book.

I really like the way all of the techniques drive toward focus and alignment - for example, pushing to get you down to a small number of metrics you focus on to run your business, making sure everyone is focused on "one number" for their job, driving toward small objectives that move toward bigger goals, etc.

The side benefit of this process is that you end up spreading leadership throughout the team - each person gets to own some part of the business, and act as a leader within that area. This is key for scalability, engagement, and keeping people challenged as the business changes. I've worked in environments where I never felt a sense of ownership or empowerment, and I want to try to prevent that within my team.

Test your business - and see if you need Traction

This book is a quick read, but it is jam packed with content, and each aspect of the EOS is a significant project. If I were to detail every bit of the book here, this would probably be the longest post I've ever done. To boil it down: I recommend this book to leaders (and aspiring leaders) without reservation.

If you want to quickly find out whether Traction would benefit your business, why not take an organizational assessment today? It's free, and only takes a few minutes. Then, if you find out you should be better than you are, pick up your own copy of Traction and get to work.

By the way, if you aren't convinced but want a taste of Wickman's work, there is a free ebook called "Decide! The One Common Denominator of All Great Leaders" that you might enjoy.

Books, Leadership, management

Whose is this?

In the new team I'm leading, I'm really beginning to appreciate the value of clarity.

Historically, I've been very comfortable with ambiguity - in fact, I've really enjoyed taking advantage of ambiguity as a means to have more freedom. After all, when nobody is sure what is supposed to be done, how can they challenge what you're doing?

In my new role, however, I am becoming very disciplined about documenting commitments, and ensuring that there is one, clear owner for each item. This is a rusty skill for me, and I've learned a lot over the past few weeks.

One throat to choke

They say, "When multiple people own a problem, nobody owns the problem." I think that's true, based on some fire drills caused when multiple people thought someone else was handling an issue. Quite often, everybody things someone else has the ball, so nothing happens.

I'm being very deliberate about driving to one name as the owner of each issue. This has two effects - both good. One, I always know exactly who to ask when I want to know what's going on. Two, I can "let go" of the task because I have it cleanly docked with someone else - this has greatly shortened my task list.

On a side note - I am tracking all the commitments and owners in a spreadsheet, and mark each one red, yellow, or green to indicate whether they are on track or not. Any task without an owner is automatically "red" until an owner is identified.

Let's be clear

For this to work well, clarity is essential.

1. Be very clear about ownership - I like it when the owner clearly says "I own this." Seems like a small thing, perhaps, but there is power in saying the words.
2. Be very clear about expected outcomes - for most of the things I assign, I have no clue what the solution is. However, I usually know what criteria will be met when the task is "done," or I can articulate what questions I need to be able to answer when things are complete, and when it needs to be done. This avoids the "bring me a rock" frustrations that we've all been part of at one point or another.
3. Be clear about guidelines and protocols - This is the part where you provide guidelines on when the owner needs to check in with you. Some examples:
   • "Your budget is $1000 for this project. Check in with me before you exceed the budget."
   • "I want to know if you hit any roadblocks you can't overcome, or anything that would cause the date to slip."
   • "If you have to do anything that pisses off one of the Sales guys, I want to know as soon as possible."

Respect the boundaries

Another thing I've learned is that people do awesome work if you get out of their way. This is why it's so important to be clear about the expectations and boundaries, but not tell people how to solve the problem. After all, if you stay involved, you get no benefit from delegation. It is also very liberating. Of the 43 open items currently on my tracking spreadsheet, I am the owner of exactly one of them - which means I can spend my time helping people clear roadblocks, working with customers, and monitoring the health of the business. And the people in my team actually like not having me in the details. Other people in my company would benefit from this kind of approach. Which brings me to my last topic...

Don't undermine the trust

The surest way to "unempower" people is to start questioning how they are doing things you delegated. Bad mojo. Especially if you "skip levels" and start digging into the tasks that are owned by the people who work for people you manage (i.e. you've just gone around your direct reports). This erodes trust at all levels in your team. You only get the power of this approach if you honor the boundaries, let people own their commitments, and get out of their way.

If thigns aren't working, I suspect you have an issue with one of the elements of clarity I talked about in the "Let's be clear" section.

Sanity check

OK - how does this match your experience? Am I smoking hope? Any other elements you've learned from your own experience?

Bring it on - let's learn from each other.

leadership, management, micromanagement, Delegation

Become a better manager in 5 weeks (and it's free for now)

This week, I downloaded Rosa Say's free ebook "Become an Alaka‘i Manager in 5 Weeks" and transferred it to my Kindle (it's also available in a bunch of other formats - one will definitely be right for you).
Today, I spent all day at a volleyball tournament which gave me a lot of down time to read it between matches. The bottom line: I really liked the book.

So - what does the title mean, and who's the book for? The ebook defines that:

"Alaka‘i is the Hawaiian value of leadership, and thus we refer to those who learn and practice the Managing with Aloha philosophy as Alaka‘i Managers. You have the potential to be an Alaka‘i Manager if you feel you have the calling to be a manager or leader, and you are ready to answer that calling."

As I mentioned recently, I'm in a new role at work and one of the things I want to ensure is that I not only manage effectively, but I also become a better leader - that desire drew me into this book. I'm also very familiar with Rosa Say & her work (she's a friend of mine) and love the fact that her recommendations are rooted in values and principles, which means they can adapt to any situation.

I like the 5 things the book describes as the "Alaka'i Toolbox," as well:

• Don't Add. Replace.
• Be a Finisher; Finish Well.
• Finish Conversations with Mutual Agreements.
• Lessen Task Work. Focus on Partnerships.
• Choose Positive Expectancy.

I don't really understand the nuances of these (especially that last one), but some of the others are things I recognize I need (and want) to improve in my leadership style.

I read this book on the Kindle, but I will order the hard copy (when It's available) anyway. Some of the worksheets are pretty tough to replicate without a hard copy (and they are worth doing).

And I'm going to be a better manager in about 5 weeks. Get the book, and you can too!

Note: The reason I say "...free for now" in the title is that Rosa says SmashWords, the company distributing the ebook, may start charging - so I suggest you get your copy now.

Update: Rosa assures me the ebook will stay free, so don't worry. (But what are you waiting for?)

Books, leadership, management

AT&T Data Plans, Your iPhone, & International Travel

[Updated April 12, 2010]

If, like me, you’re a smart phone user and you travel outside the country, you’ll need to figure out how to deal with your AT&T data plan lest you find yourself with a ridiculously high mobile phone bill.

My best-known methods

Here are my current best practices (told through the lens of an iPhone user – if you use a different smart phone, you can make these changes by accessing your account through the AT&T Wireless web site):

• Install the free AT&T myWireless iPhone app on your phone. This will let you change your account settings on demand, right from your phone.
• The day you leave (preferrably, while still in the US), use the app to add an international data plan to your phone (see screen shot). You’ll notice I also turn on the “World Traveler” feature, which gets me discounted rates for calls while I’m traveling abroad. These changes will go into effect the day you make the change, and will be pro-rated on your bill based on the start and end dates for each feature.
• [Update April 12, 2010: AT&T is unpredictable about how quickly you get the benefit of your data plan, as I found out when I got an unexpectedly high bill after a recent trip. They can fix it up afterward if you rant enough, but it is easier to call them right after you add the feature and let them know you need the all of the extra data *right now* and not over time. They can do that - don't take no for an answer.]
• Be careful while traveling abroad, as wireless data usage can mount quickly. Some data hogs:
• • Synchronizing your email, especially if you receive a lot of email
  • Uploading pictures (whether to Twitter, sending via email, or otherwise sending them to anyone else)
  • Using your phone for Skype calls over the 3G data network (using it over Wi-Fi is fine)
  • Downloading large apps or songs over the 3G data network (again, not a problem on Wi-Fi)
  • Using Google Maps a lot (it is very “chatty” and downloads lots of map data, etc.)
  • Listening or watching streaming media (YouTube, internet radio, etc.)
• Use Wi-Fi (especially free hotspots) where you can, as this will allow you to handle large amounts of data in an unmetered way.
• When you return to the US, wait a day (just to be safe) then use the AT&T myWireless app to turn off the international data plan. Again, you’ll pay a pro-rated fee based on the start & end dates for which the plan was in effect.

What if you forget?

AT&T has gotten better at helping users understand this, it seems. I landed in Amsterdam this week and, upon turning on my phone and joining the mobile network, I received the following text message:

I was tired, so I ignored this message. After a nap, I wandered around Amsterdam, looking up things on Google maps and Bing (yes, there’s an app for Bing), etc. That evening I got second text message from AT&T:

Act Now!

When you get the “data usage is very high” message, it means you’ve gone over 20Mb of cellular data which, if you do the math, will cost you nearly $400! If you see this message, call the number immediately and ask them to add the International Data Plan to your phone right away! If it’s before midnight in the US, the data plan will apply to all your usage earlier in the day, back to the previous midnight – this can help drastically reduce your charges (I happened to have only about $5 of data that wasn’t covered when I called them).

I’m documenting this here in the hopes I can make someone else’s international travel a bit less stressful. Happy landings!

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