The Hidden Edge

This is a different sort of Blog today, not as upbeat as I usually like to be; but today has been hard. 

Please click on this and get in the mood with me first http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ujEpNq36Ok

Today, an associate of mine Robert Pascall gave the most brilliant eulogy of his young wife who died suddenly of a massive brain haemorrhage.

Whilst touching, it was spiced throughout with his take on her wicked sense of humour.  So much so, that when we gathered outside after the service and sleet prevailed you could just imagine her chuckling and touching up her hair.

How right it is to say goodbye! 

Today, I also said goodbye to many colleagues after a significant cull from the organisation.  This was done on mass at a gathering in a pub in Poole. 

There were no cards, no collection or presentations.  Not only have they been separated, not from choice, from people they had gotten to know for any number of years, but there was no individual or personal recognition of their departure; just a group beer.  

I will never let that happen again. 

I realised today how the written word is so powerful.  ‘I am sorry that you are leaving’ or ‘how wonderful you have another job’ or ‘good luck with your new venture’, lasts so much longer in print than it ever does over a few pints of beer.   Adding a poignant memory of something that you have shared with them would make the written gesture even more special. 

I hope that my special colleagues (and they will know who they are) will forgive me for not taking the time out to express in writing why I will miss them so much.

This Blog is for them and for Robert, Samuel and Benjamin for teaching me such a powerful lesson today. 

And for Sherry who gave them all something really special to remember her by.  As an organ donor she has made better eight other lives. 

WOW!

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I have loved other books by Nigel Risner, having found them having a completely innovative and unusual take on their subject matter.  The Impact Code however, was unlike any other of Risner’s books.

This one right from the start I thought mmm I’ve read this before.  That is not to say it was bad but not quite what I was expecting from Risner.  I loved his ‘It’s a Zoo Around Here’ and ‘ You had me at Hello’ you will hear more of them in a later Blog!  But this one well ….

The more I read into The Impact Code, the more I got into it.  Sure, I had read most of this stuff elsewhere but WHAT an encyclopedia of best practice it is.  And don’t we all need reminding what is important, and/or what we have learnt from time to time?  Here you have it all in one book!

Impact stands for:

In the Room – make the most of everything that is in front of you RIGHT now.           

Model from the Best – who do you admire and why; then copy it.  It is flattering.        

Passion and Purpose – be passionate and have purpose without either you’re heading for failure·         

Action – you will not move an inch forward with the greatest ideas only action will drive you onwards.

Comic relief – Don’t do it if it makes you miserable.  There is so much more to life.          

Trust – Stop being cynical instead learn to trust. 

Slight disappointment for me that there was no reference to the grandfather of all self help books, Dale Carnegie’s “How to win friends and influence people” but then it is referenced to in most of the books that Rinser has referred to.  (and I promise to Blog about that one too!)

 Anyone else read the Impact Code and if so your thoughts please?

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At some point you can’t write off bad behaviour as ‘just’ personality differences.  It’s about different underpinning values and beliefs. 

Personal values influence all parts of your business from paying taxes and keeping the books, to hiring, firing and retaining people, to quality and service.  As a business owner or manager, you are your business.  All business decisions are underpinned by your values. They are what motivate you to do what it is that you do.  They set the standards for your business. 

Knowing and understanding the values of those who work with you, in or on your business is also important.  People will always be more committed to their own values and are thus happier and more active, as values give energy, direction and meaning.  And if they work in synch with your values then synergy ensues.

For some, values may change over time and what motivates them today may not be what motivates them in the future, however, some differences (and in some cases similarities) can make it difficult for some people to work together.   Thomas C Ritt Jr. Ritt identified eight key values that apply to working together with people in business.  They are: 

Aesthetic  A desire to value beauty, make things attractive and feel free to be artistic; a desire for harmony with people, places and events; sensitivity to and perception of the nuances that contribute to creativity.   Humanitarian 

A need to find opportunities to give time, talent and money sometimes placing others’ needs above own.  A wish to be helpful and without the guarantee of personal gain.  

Individualistic 

A need for personal freedom and self determination, self reliance, self confidence and a willingness to take risks. 

Materialistic  

A desire to work hard, keep score by acquiring money and possessions and have a return on one’s investment.  

Power-seeking 

A wish for control, recognition, and ego satisfaction, more than financial gain; hard working and willing to be accountable. 

Ritualistic 

A need for structure, rules and a niche in which to feel secure; usually exemplified by high ethical standards and working in an organised way . 

Spiritual 

A belief in a higher power and using faith to transcend reason; striving for unity with people, desiring to be of service to others and see the good in everyone.  

Theoretical  

An insatiable desire for knowledge and understanding how things work; a desire for intellectual challenges and propensity for incisive decision making.  

Activity Tips 

1.  Prioritise the values that underpin the ethos of your business. 

2.  Consider how you communicate those business values to each other and the world.

3.  Ensure that others working with you in or on your business buy into or at least appreciate your values. 

These are three important activities that you may not wish to share in this Blog but the more open with your communication the better people will understand you. 

Try it and let me know how you get on.

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I was introduced to the concept of Edward de Bono’s six thinking hats about 15 years ago.  A training company had done a three day senior management course on Leadership and at the end gave us a yellow beret and a black beret.

The trainer asked each of us to put the yellow beret on and tell the group about one great thing we were going to do differently as a result of this training course.  The yellow hat denotes positive outcome thinking.  We were then asked to take off the yellow beret and replace with a black one.  The black denotes critical but NOT negative thinking.  This time we had to think about things that we hadn’t got out from the training that perhaps we had expected to.  This was our opportunity to feedback to the trainer.

So entranced was I by these props in helping us to communicate these specific thoughts I immediately purchased the book so I could find out the power in the other thinking hats.  I have been a fan of de Bono ever since. http://www.edwdebono.com/

What I like best about this model is that whilst other psychologists have identified that we have preferred ways of thinking and communicating, de Bono has created a way for us to easily tap into all of the thinking styles even if we have a preferred style.

He uses a White hat for general left brain thinking which focuses on systems and processes and a Blue hat for general right brain thinking which looks creatively at the whole picture.

Then there are four further thinking hats:

Yellow for positive outcome thinking.

Black for critical thinking.

Red for legitimately expressing ones feelings about something, whether this be a positive or negative feeling, an insight or a gut feeling.

Green for encouraging creative thought.

Ok so far so good!  My senior team at the time of this discovery had identified that they had a combined general trait to think with their red hats on.  So we agreed to use these props to help us to learn how to build a better business through better thinking.  Here are the steps we used to consider a new course of action.

1.   We would use a Blue hat to consider an overall aspect of direction in which we thought we ought to go in. 

2.   We would then put green hats on to consider all our options (brainstorming)

3.   Then we would put black hats on to critique the options generated.

4.   Having ruled out the nonsense routes, it was time for some yellow hat thinking to get some positive outcomes.

5.   The white hat then comes into play to identify the systems and processes which allow the outcomes and activities.

6.   And finally the red hat was used liberally throughout for team members to legitimately say how they felt about an aspect of the discussion.  However, positive or negative the feelings, they were legitimate and so considered throughout the thinking process.  If someone were to have a red hat on for too long however, they were asked to take it off?  That gave the thinking process time to work its way through to a positive conclusion.

Each thinking style has a significant and positive contribution to the thinking process. 

As a team we used this method for thinking through our problems with some significant successes.  Our results were (in all but one of the six key performance indicators) better than all other regions. 

I do have my own set of six berets now and whilst I did have an opportunity to share this learning when I was a trainer – it is now very rare that I have the opportunity to let people in on the creative brilliance of de Bono’s thinking process. 

If anyone has any other experiences that they would like to share please do so.  It would be great to hear about how you have used the thinking hats in other circumstances.  de Bono subsequently wrote a book on the six action shoes but that is a blog for another time!  

While you think about it check out this amusing video clip of “wherever I lay my hat” done with mine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zpKrOxoqec  

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I am, at the moment, on holiday in Obertauren in Austria.  The key board is slightly different here so if the spelling is slightly dodgy then please blame it on this!  Obertaurnen is where the Beatles recorded Help!  I believe in 1965.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUlARtE9yGQ&mode=related&search=

And having spent some time visiting a photographic exhibiiton here this morning it spurred me to think about a world without words!  IMAGINE!

A world without words? Music yes, pictures yes, but words no!  There would be no mobile phones, no books, no letters or Blogs; just music, body language and sex.  Now I quite like dancing myself, but my husband has no rythym for dance, so it begs whether we would ever have got together had it not been for the latter.

So let’s weigh it up?  Imagine the world without Boy Bands?  Without words the music is all the same and so is the dancing!  Imagine the world without Eastenders.  No point in watching that or any other soap without words either.  Bonus! 

We wouldn’t need French/English* dictionaries as the world would have one common language based on visual stimulation.  There would still be the news and weather forecasts.  And many other programmes stimilated by visual attraction.

There would be math so there is no reason why we shouldn’t be stimulated by darts, golf, football and other team sports but; there would be no commentators.  That way I guess we can make our own minds up whether any of the players are off side.  Indeed would there be an off side rule or any rules for that matter?  Hmmm!

Without words there could be no such thing as kidnapping, polititians, and karoake.  Sorry Japan! Then again we would miss out on interesting, amusing, creative and facinating minds like: 

• Jasper Carrot, Kenny Everett, Ant and Dec.
• Martin Luther King, Churchill and all the Kennedys
• Bowie, Bono and the Beatles.

To name but a few.  I am sure that I will add others with a bit more thought and that you can add some of your own to this list that without words would have had to find another way to be great?

* Or any other language foreign to me.

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A cliché symbolised by the mnemonic KISS.  I have always found the phase slightly insulting. 

What is so stupid about keeping things simple?  Or is it saying that if you use a word with more than two syllables, it is you that is stupid?  Or is it saying that because most people are stupid you have to keep things simple?

However I read this phase, I can’t see a positive slant to it.  I have tried changing the words to read Keep it Simply Simple (KISS) but that doesn’t really work for me either.

Let me be clear though.  I do believe that simple is best.  The UK average reading age is 8.  That is quite scary!  And when there are so many messages crossing our paths each and every minute, ones that are easy to assimilate are more likely to be remembered.

When you are writing you might like to consider:

• The length of your sentences.  Shorter sentences are easier to read.  Keep them to less than 25 words.
• The characters per word.  Shorter words are easier to read. 
• The number of sentences in each paragraph.  Shorter paragraphs are easier to read.

You can find out how easy your writing is to read quite simply, using Microsoft spell check. 

Click on spelling and grammar.  At the bottom of the blue dialogue box that there is a frame called options.  Click on this.  Tick the show readability statistics and close that frame.

Now when you finish spell checking you will have a report on the readability statistics of the piece you have written.  Wow how great is that?

You should be aiming for a high reading ease and a low readability statistic.

This piece has a 78.2 reading ease and a 4.6 readability status.  That’s pretty good.  I thought this was amazing when I discovered it a few years ago, I hope it helps you too.

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