Work and Happiness
Harvard researcher Shaun Achor has demonstrated through his various studies that happiness does not necessarily come from success. In fact he goes as far to suggest that it’s the other way around. It is only by being happy that you can achieve true success. So if this is the case, how does one become happy in the first place?
An interesting study conducted by Michael Norton from Harvard Business School proposed one possible solution. His hypothesis was that money can in fact buy happiness. However the caveat to this very much surrounds what you actually do with the money. Over the course of his research, they gave $50 to a variety of different people and one group were told to buy something for themselves and the other had to be spend it on somebody else. Post this activity through a variety of questions used to assess a relative degree of happiness, an interesting finding emerged. On a consistent basis those who spent money helping people they knew or even total strangers derived a far greater sense of happiness from this versus spending it on themselves.
This has also been validated in research on lottery winners who very often through their self indulgence with their winnings lose all their friends and family and very often end up miserable, broke or worse still, in debt.
So what can we extrapolate from this that might be pertinent to the world of work and business. Money is one way we can give of ourselves but there are also many other ways such as supporting colleagues, praising others, helping out with challenging situations, volunteering your time. It is the actual process of giving that is so gratifying.
In fact there is also a positive knock on or reciprocal effect to all of this; one that builds positive relationships, teamwork, alignment and the pursuit of a common goal. So rather than think how you might achieve success, how about unconditionally giving first, realizing the happiness it gives you and then seeing where it leads you?
Positive Behavior = Positive Results
To what degree does the way you behave with another person influence how they subsequently behave towards you? Parental research would suggest that kids very often demonstrate many of the same characteristics of their parents. But even beyond this there is also an innate human behavior that will “fight fire with fire”. Another way of putting this is that perhaps you get what you deserve.
So what happens when you translate this to leadership and more specifically the behaviors of leaders? In the book Good to Great Jim Collins alludes to Level 5 leaders possessing personal humility (as well as professional resolve). The Webster dictionary defines humility as “modest opinion of one’s own importance and rank”. Another way of viewing this is that it’s less about you and perhaps more about others. Read more »
Optimal Performing Organizations
How do you get the most from your people? Billions of dollars are spent annually on an infinite variety of training programs in pursuit of answering this question. It is still one of the elusive components to running a business that owners and leaders struggle with.
Clearly when a new person is hired some fundamentals need to be put in place to attain an acceptable standard quickly. Let’s call this standard “functional” and once this is achieved the following basics are typically in place:
- Skills, experience and knowledge are the main contributors
- Directive Leadership is more prevalent
- Rewards more likely impact motivation
- Commitment is driven primarily from compliance
- Perfecting the process is the focus
- Performance is typically to minimum expectations.
Employee Engagement = Optimal Performance
When an individual is first hired there is typically some form of orientation to familiarize them with the company, its values and mission, polices and what is generally expected. They might also get to meet other staff and members of management and from this they slowly get a sense for what is the culture of the organization.
However the bulk of their training is more skills based. What are the tasks associated with the work they have been assigned to? What are the expectations associated with that? Whether this is classroom based or on the job they become familiar with the tasks because that is what will drive their performance. This is correct, but only up to a point. This will allow them to achieve a level of performance that is described as functional. This could be classified as minimum expectations, staying below the radar, executed safely and nobody is complaining. Pay me a fair wage and I’ll do my job. Read more »
Golf and Business
During the recent US Masters Golf Tournament it was hard not to be struck by the many similarities the game of golf has with business. The golfer is the product, they hire people such as agents and so many of its subtleties are quite metaphorical for many aspects of entrepreneurship. Above all every golfer would testify that this is a dream come true; they love playing golf, they are good at it and they get to do it full time as a career.
Business Lesson 1: Work at something you are good at and love doing (why not?).
There was one point in the tournament where the eventual runner up Louis Oosthuizen putt to within, what was described as, “a dimble from the hole”. Each golf ball has approx 400 dimples per ball and when you consider the size of a ball it will give you some appreciation for how near the ball was to dropping. He still had to putt it into the hole and it counted for one stroke. In contrast Bubba Watson who went on to win, hits one of the longest drives on the PGA tour averaging 313 yards per drive and they also count for one stroke. Watson had the elation of success and Oosthuizen had to settle for second place and bitter disappointment; if only for that dimple. Read more »
Why Community is Key!
As human beings we have a basic need for being part of a system. In the context of Maslow’s hierarchy, given that the physiological and safety needs are being met, love and belonging provides the basis of the next level need. From the moment of our birth we are part of a family and then this evolves into neighborhoods, friends, school mates, church affiliations, sports teams, etc. All 
of these directly or indirectly provide a feeling that others care and that we are part of something bigger than just ourselves. It’s called community.
Some of the characteristics that emanate from this sense of community are commitment, trust, motivation, teamwork, being valued and the list goes on. This sounds very familiar with the aspirations of many workplace organizations but to describe them as communities and refer to it as love and belonging might seem a strange vernacular. Read more »
The 5 Whys Every Business Owner Should Answer
For anybody familiar with the Toyota Manufacturing System, Lean Manufacturing, or Kaizen Events, the “5 Whys” should be a pretty familiar tool. It is used as a diagnostic for digging deep into what might be the root cause of a particular problem. The rationale behind this is that the more you dig the greater the understanding and therefore the more likely a successful outcome.
Simon Sinek in his Ted Talk in 2010 challenged people that when positioning your product or service don’t lead with what you do but rather WHY you do it. So let’s extend this even further and challenge us as to another variation of the 5 Whys as it might pertain to a business. The following are the five critical “why” related questions, the answer to which should help uncover your true business proposition.
1. Why do you do it?
People are drawn to what the Leader’s underlying motive is and whether there is absolute belief in what you offer. According to Sinek this is at the core.
2. Why should I choose you?
Customers buy on emotion and justify based on fact. So as much as we espouse the features and benefits of what you sell, what is the true emotional carrot that influences customers to buy from you? Read more »
The Power of Questioning
Lawyers and Journalist pride themselves on the ability to be able to ask the right questions; whether it is the testimony of somebody in the courtroom or the next breaking story. However within both of these situations it’s not always about the truth or doing what’s right for the person being questioned. In fact the person “in the firing line” is often but a mere pawn in a bigger game in the primary pursuit of somebody else’s agenda. So who is supposed to be the real beneficiary of questioning?
When we think about questioning in the context of business or leadership there is often much skepticism as to what’s really going on. There are also many different ways that questions can be asked that feeds this skepticism. Let’s consider a few different ways leadership abilities can be enhanced by the simple yet very effective use of appropriate questioning. There are three different levels. Read more »
The Entrepreneurial Life
A local well know business school defines Entrepreneurship as “The relentless pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled”. This definition is perhaps open to debate and pretty narrow in scope but it revolves primarily around three major elements, namely:
1. Product idea and development
2. Financing – personal, friends, bank, angels or VC
3. Exit – sale or replacement by competent CEO
This is quite normal perhaps for a high tech start up but there is much more to your typical entrepreneurial endeavor. The first two points are valid but thereafter it can take on many variations with the “Exit” obviously being just one. What appears to be missing is Quality of Life. Many people also start new enterprises to create a career, to build some wealth over a period of time, to create a legacy for their family and very often to be in control. Some would argue that it is all about being the King (in control) or Rich or, is there more to it? Read more »
The Optimal Sales Professional
What does it take to become an Optimal Sales Professional? What does this even mean? Think about sales people you know who are really at the top of their game on a consistent basis. What are some of their unique characteristics? Why does selling seem so easy and natural to them? The answer to this question lies in understanding the three contributing factors to optimal performance. Though this will be illustrated in the context of a sales professional, the same principles apply to most professionals.
Knowledge
This is the foundational piece that all must have in terms of product presentation, value proposition articulation, coaching skills and confident communications. For any sales person these are the foundational skills that you must have. This KNOWLEDGE provides information to prospective clients and establishes credibility, but it’s not the only reason people will buy from you. Read more »
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