Archives for December 2014

Bob Sutton is one of my favorite business thinkers, from his promotion of Rules for Building a Civilized Workplace to 17 things I believe.  I took his class while I was working towards my management certificate at Stanford and still use the practical guidance (infinitely better than Jim Collins, who’s First Who, Then What maxim devastated our engineering department).

January 2015  will probably be the most difficult and consequential month I’ve faced in over a decade.  Five business, residential, and personal questions will be decided, right or left, with permanent consequences.  By February 1, life will settle into one form or another, but different from what it’s been in the past few years.

I solve problems with analysis and energy, hard work and attention to the changing opportunities at hand.  (or, as Biz Stone,  cofounder to Twitter, summarized: Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success.)

But these five feel resistant to the normal approaches: simply assembling the fact and presenting them clearly, listening to different viewpoints and accommodating dissonant voices has not worked.  Frustrated, I’ve needed to go from branch to root: thinking differently.

Tough-mindedness:  A colleague is arguing a series of hypotheticals to get their way, rather than recognize simple facts.  While their exercise is persuasive, the outcome being imposed simply doesn’t reflect reality.  I’m coming to see that some people, some situations, simply can’t be negotiated.  The caution is that taking a hard line burns future bridges: I need to be firm in non-confrontational ways.

Avoid pompous jerks whenever possible. They not only can make you feel bad about yourself, chances are that you will eventually start acting like them.

Strength:   Related to being Tough-Minded, there is an endurance to stay focused and not give up trying to find a solution.  Many times. strength is seen as the ability to hang in, to take the hardships in stride, and to be stoic and uncomplaining.  But  there is also a planning strength, keeping the optimism, momentum, and will to try.  The fundraising, the negotiations, need both sorts of strengths.  The caution is that the two people issues may require yet another: the strength to accept what won’t be changed.

You can have influence over others or you can have freedom from others, but you can’t have both at the same time.

Soft skills:  Those with power can solve problems by political and economic strength, authority and intimidation.  Those without power utilize softer skills: leading by example, building coalitions, persuading by stages.  Closing my fundraising is not a matter of ticking the boxes.  I need steady patience and human insight, understanding the aspirations and motivations that lead people to invest.  The caution is that I may miss my window if I rely on unfamiliar methods.

The best test of a person’s character is how he or she treats those with less power.

Trust the Experts:  The UK government has empowered a clerk to make the left-right decision of whether I stay in the UK or get escorted to the border after the 10th.  Government policy is to reduce net inward migration to ‘tens of thousands’. so the clerk is looking for reasons to say ‘No’.  My immigration advisor knows the rules and tells me what I need to secure my ILR.  The caution is in how far to trust expert advice that don’t make intuitive sense.

If you are an expert, seek-out novices or experts in other fields. If you are a novice, seek out experts.

Stay positive:  A course of action is being demanded, one that I doubt is healthy.  Confrontation results in threats; capitulation feels easier than conflict.  But I know that I will regret giving tacit support to a bad idea, and that I will be pulled into sorting the costly mess that could result.  I need to press ahead with a process that generates and supports better alternatives.  The difficulty is that I could run out of time before it can complete.

Err on the side of optimism and positive energy in all things.

Avoid cynicism:  I have not found the way to have a difficult, necessary conversation with an errant colleague.  their behavior may be thoughtless or deliberate, but it raises my blood pressure each time I encounter a new example.  I need to have a say; the fear is that the resulting rift could be permanent.

You get what you expect from people. This is especially true when it comes to selfish behavior; unvarnished self-interest is a learned social norm, not an unwavering feature of human behavior.

Friday evening was, for all purposes, the end of the business year in Europe.  Most offices are largely closed or minimally staffed until January 5, two weeks from now.  For us, our labs are idle for deep-cleaning  and our clinical trial and testing work is paused.

But hard on that date, the second week in January will be enormously consequential for me, filled with binary events that will put my future onto one or another path. 

By February 1, life will be very good, or very different, in many ways.  So I’ve been pushing hard all week finish planning completed, brief key people, and coordinate their assignments.

It’s not dissimilar to the fine cooking that I devour on MasterChef. Ahead of time, they plan the dish, gather ingredients and tools, and define the timing and sequence of steps.  Then on the day and within the time allotted, prepare all of the elements,  bring them together on a single plate, and make a beautiful presentation for serving.

The winner goes through; the loser goes home.

I have five difficult problems that need to be solved, each with significant people issues to be solved alongside objective milestones.  Still, like to think that my soft skills have improved a lot in the past two years, and they are really needed here.

Lucy Kellaway writes that Many people can master the numbers, but to be able to do that and know how to deal with the whims and mood swings of your clients and colleagues takes dedication and application – that is what sorts out those who make it to the top from those who don’t.

Or, as my research director used to counsel me, It’s 10% science.

The other necessary skill is knowing when to stop. 

It’s not easy after a week like this.  I’ve done all I can, but I wish I could have done more.  Did I do the right things, do them well enough, overlook something crucial? 

Outside, friends and colleagues have pushed back from the office, pulled out their reindeer sweaters, and bundled off to evenings with friends and celebrations with family.  Nobody will work, or will want to talk about work, for the next two weeks.

So I need to make the same mental shift.  For two weeks, set the worries aside, disconnect, and refocus on family and personal interests.

‘not always easy, but I’m worn through and its really necessary.  It feels good to close the email and step back from the phones once the decision is made. 

Instead, I’ve settled into cooking and reading, photography, writing and rambles.  I’m making cookies, shopping, joining friends for drinks, planning a visit to Colorado.

My first batch of shortbread snowflake biscuits was great!