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Links for light reading – February 2012

By Clare on February 16, 2012

If you’re interested in subscribing to receive my ‘links for light reading’ via email you can sign up here, or you can find all the previous newsletters on the blog.

This month has been filled with lots of interesting reading so it hasn’t been easy to narrow the list down for this newsletter! Interestingly, two key themes/topics have stood out from my reading this month – introversion and questions…

Last month The New York Times published an opinion piece by Susan Cain (author of the recently released “QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking“) titled ‘The Rise of the New Groupthink‘. It’s a great article on why solitude is important in work/creativity and some of the problems with the push we see in many organisations toward constant teamwork and interaction. The article and the book release have spurred a number of follow up pieces on the Harvard Business Review blog, Scientific American and Fast Company. As part of the one-third to one-half of the population that are introverted, I also enjoyed this post on networking advice for introverts. (more…)

Published: February 16, 2012 | Tagged: , | 1 Response

On learning and mastery

By Clare on February 12, 2012

And I saw how, if you steadily worked at something, what you don’t know gradually erodes and what you do know slowly grows and at some point you’ve gained a degree of mastery. What you know becomes what you are. You know photography and you are a photographer. You know writing and you are a writer.

Mary Jo Bang: On Learning, Self-Discipline, and Taking the Road Less Traveled

Published: February 12, 2012 | Tagged: , | Leave a comment

Don’t wait for your dream job to be advertised, create it!

By Clare on February 11, 2012

This week at work, a senior manager and I were considering how best to fill a new position (that needs to be filled quite quickly) and whether it should be filled by a successful applicant from a recent generic recruitment round, or whether it was necessary to open the opportunity up to all internal staff first in case an existing staff member was interested in this new role.

This got me thinking (and fuming a little) about how many staff fail to take control of their job options, and instead expect that organisations will serve up potential new roles like they’re at some kind of buffet waiting to peruse the options and make their choice! Now, don’t get me wrong – I support merit selection and transparency in recruitment decisions, but I also believe that staff should be able to (and be expected to) be more proactive about pursuing roles of interest to them without the need for or expectation of formal, organisation-initiated recruitment processes.

I don’t think I’ve seen a staff survey, outcomes from a Divisional planning day, or Divisional ‘action plan’ that doesn’t propose the creation of some sort of job swap/staff mobility program to provide staff who have been in their position for a while and are seeking a change in role, with a facilitated opportunity to move to a different one. That said, for all the proposals I’ve seen, I’m not actually aware of a single program that has actually been successfully rolled out. I find myself frustrated at staff who continually ask for these mobility programs to be created to facilitate their movement. These staff seem to feel stuck and helpless and dependent on the organisation to set out a series of opportunities for them.

People have far more control over their jobs than they believe. If you want to be in a different role in your organisation (regardless of whether or not that role currently exists) you have enormous power to make it happen. How? Really, all you have to do is ask… (more…)

Published: February 11, 2012 | Tagged: , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Leading with Questions

By Clare on February 11, 2012

Leading with Questions: How Leaders Find the Right Solutions by Knowing What to AskLeading with Questions: How Leaders Find the Right Solutions by Knowing What to Ask by Michael J. Marquardt, Ed.D.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It starts by building the case for questions (‘The Power of Questions’) and examines the common thread between the disasters of the Titanic, the Challenger and the Bay of Pigs – the inability or unwillingness of key participants to raise questions about their concerns. The later parts of the book provide useful practical advice and examples for leaders to make better use of questions in managing people, building teams and enabling change. As I made my way through the book I was able to identify many opportunities/situations that I could imagine using (or wish I’d used) the suggested questions.

My notes from Leading with Questions

[Disclaimer: The notes below are rough, and may be a mixture of direct quotes, paraphrasing, and my own thoughts/ideas/reminders. They're written here primarily for me (so they may not make much sense out of context, especially for those who haven't read the book)].

(28) When we ask questions of others and invite them to search for answers with us, we are not just sharing information, we are sharing responsibility. A questioning culture is a culture in which responsibility is shared, ideas are shared, problems are shared, and ownership of results is shared.

(29) 6 hallmarks of a questioning culture. People in it:

  • are willing to admit, “I don’t know”
  • go beyond allowing questions, they encourage questions
  • help to develop the skills needed to ask questions in a positive way
  • focus on asking empowering questions and avoiding disempowering questions
  • emphasis the process of asking questions and searching for answers rather than finding the ‘right’ answers
  • accept and reward risk-taking

(more…)

Published: February 11, 2012 | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Why Work Sucks

By Clare on January 22, 2012

Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It: No Schedules, No Meetings, No Joke--the Big Idea That's Already Transforming the Way We WorkWhy Work Sucks and How to Fix It: No Schedules, No Meetings, No Joke–the Big Idea That’s Already Transforming the Way We Work by Cali Ressler

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book, but ended up wanting a bit more from it…

The book provides a very compelling argument as to why the current system of work/performance (largely based on time) is broken and the advantages of ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment). But for me, this was really preaching to the converted… I first read about ROWE on Tim Ferris’ blog (I think) and was attracted to the concept right away. I completely agree that work (and associated remuneration and performance measurement) should be based on value created rather than hours spent in an office.

But where I thought the book fell short (and where I personally wanted more) was in relation to helping managers and their staff manage solely on the basis of results. The book (pg 129-130) suggests that ‘ultimately a ROWE is not a test of the employees, it is a test of the manager’ and asks ‘Can they [managers] do their jobs communicating expectations and holding people accountable? Can they develop systems to get the information they need without doing it through drive-bys or fire drills?’. As a new-ish manager seeking to implement a more results-based performance culture in my team (a full ROWE is not something within my control) I would have appreciated some more guidance/ideas/tips on setting, communicating and measuring performance expectations, and providing feedback.

(more…)

Published: January 22, 2012 | Tagged: , | Leave a comment

Links for light reading – January 2012

By Clare on January 20, 2012

One of my new year resolutions is to start a ‘links for light reading’ email newsletter and send it out regularly (monthly). I kind of pinched the name from Max Design (who send out a great newsletter with links to interesting web design and development articles/tools/announcements) but instead, the newsletter that I send out will be focused on topics like leadership, management, innovation, creativity, work etc. If you’re interested in subscribing you can sign up here, or you can find the newsletters on the blog.

This is January’s newsletter….

New Year is traditionally a time of reflection and goal-setting. Many people (perhaps yourself) have made (and hopefully kept so far!) new year’s resolutions to exercise more, eat healthily, save more money, take up a new hobby. But have you also given consideration to new year’s resolutions and goals for your professional life? Here are some links that might inspire and assist your reflection and planning….

On the Harvard Business Review (HBR) blog, John Coleman and Bill George suggest young leaders are increasingly being asked to take on major leadership responsibilities in their organisations and their communities. They propose five resolutions to help aspiring leaders prepare for leadership challenges ahead.

Looking for new books and ideas to inspire, challenge and educate you in 2012? Stanford University professor and author, Bob Sutton, has compiled his list of 11 books every leader should read, and the Forbes blog has a great post on how to be more interesting in 10 simple steps.

In another recent Forbes article, Mike Myatt argues that one of the most often overlooked aspects of leadership is the need for pursuit.  What will you be pursing as a leader in 2012?

If you find that you’re struggling to stay committed to your goals, Peter Bregman suggests that your problem isn’t motivation. So how can you maximise the likelihood that you’ll stick with your resolutions and achieve your goals? Decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do. In this HBR blog post, Heidi Grant Halvorson outlines the nine things successful people do differently.

In addition to setting goals for 2012, why not try making note of your 2011 mistakes and taking action to avoid repeating them in 2012… and maybe even consider making a mistake or two on purpose.

And finally, a good reminder that leadership education and professional development doesn’t always need to come from management journals or expensive training courses… In this post, Chris Walter shares what he learned about leadership, teamwork and innovation by watching Junior Masterchef.  Perhaps you can rethink that resolution to watch less reality TV?

Published: January 20, 2012 | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments

Super-easy pizza dough recipe

By Clare on January 14, 2012


My mum recently shared her super-easy pizza dough recipe with me. I’ve made it twice now and it’s been great (cooked in the Weber Q on a pizza stone) so thought it was worth sharing here…

There are only two ingredients: 2 cups self-raising flour and 1 cup natural/Greek yoghurt. Yep, that’s it!

Mix the ingredients together and knead into a ball. Cover and refrigerate for 1/2 an hour. Roll out dough to desired thickness (remembering that it’ll rise a little bit on cooking). We use a little bit of salsa over the base (which has a lighter flavour than tomato paste or pizza sauce) and then top with whatever we’ve got handy (fresh basil, tomato and mozzarella is always a winner!).

Delicious!

Published: January 14, 2012 | Tagged: , | Leave a comment

Alignment

By Clare on January 14, 2012

I spent some time this morning making my way through Jonathan Fields’ 2011 Annual Report. The part that stood out for me (and that links nicely with my recent thinking about strengths) was Jonathan’s comments about the importance of alignment….

One of the core drivers of success in business is also among the most ignored elements: ALIGNMENT.

If you want to own your career, your business, your life, you need to align 4 elements:

  1. What makes you come alive (people, process, content, culture, mission & setting)
  2. Your preferred mode of service (live, remote, video, text, audio, interactive or transmission, private, small group,mass audience)
  3. What you either are good at, or are capable of and interested in becoming good at, and
  4. What people will line up to pay you enough to live well in the world for.

If there are major gaps in any of the above elements, you will either:

  • Fail completely
  • Succeed at making money,but hate your business and maybe even your life, or
  • Love what you do to earn a living, but hate how it never gives you the money needed to live well in the world or the freedom to do your “art” full-time.

If you don’t work with a high-level of alignment, you’ll very likely never come close to your personal or professional potential, your businesses will continually cap out and you’ll never understand why. It’s also immensely draining, on a personal level, to live a life where your personal and professional “selves” aren’t well aligned. Presenting as different people in different scenarios is, over the long haul, a gutting experience.

Published: January 14, 2012 | Tagged: , | Leave a comment

What did you do at work today?

By Clare on January 11, 2012

A rather unusual Wednesday night - making a Grim Reaper gang jacketMy brother Andy and his business partner Luke are visiting Canberra to do some filming for an upcoming music video clip. I love hearing about Andy’s work (he and Luke run a Sydney-based creative agency SPR/PPL) as it’s so completely different from mine and I’m constantly amazed by the crazy, creative things he is able to do.

Tonight, as we sat around my dining room table while he put the finishing touches on his Grim Reaper-esque ‘gang’ jacket (a prop for the shoot), Andy told us about his day. The conversation went something like… ‘I didn’t have time to get to the post office to pick up my Styrofoam sculpting kit which I need to make five shark fins and a bee-hive, but I did manage to call our agent about organising a taxidermied polar bear, and I arranged for a fake palm tree to be delivered from Queensland’.

Umm… even on my most interesting, surprising days I couldn’t come close to topping that!

Published: January 11, 2012 | Tagged: , | Leave a comment

Testing my strengths

By Clare on January 9, 2012

Every 6-12 months I like to take the VIA Survey of Character Strengths. You can take this test (and many others) on the University of Pennsylvania’s Authentic Happiness site [registration required - free] and the great thing is that the site keeps track of all of your previous test results. The test ranks 24 different character strengths and the idea is that the top 5 (your signature strengths) are the ones to pay attention to and find ways to use more often.

I’ve taken the test a total of 7 times between August 2007 and today (January 2012). The signature strengths that topped today’s test are as follows:

  1. Creativity, ingenuity, and originality
 (signature strength in 7/7 tests taken)
    Thinking of new ways to do things is a crucial part of who you are. You are never content with doing something the conventional way if a better way is possible.
  2. Love of learning
 (signature strength in 7/7 tests taken)
    You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn.
  3. Capacity to love and be loved
 (signature strength in 2/7 tests taken)
    You value close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated. The people to whom you feel most close are the same people who feel most close to you.
  4. Curiosity and interest in the world
 (signature strength in 5/7 tests taken)
    You are curious about everything. You are always asking questions, and you find all subjects and topics fascinating. You like exploration and discovery.
  5. Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness (signature strength in 6/7 tests taken)
    Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who you are. You do not jump to conclusions, and you rely only on solid evidence to make your decisions. You are able to change your mind.

Overall, I think my test results are pretty consistent – with the exception of the ‘capacity to love and be loved’ strength. This strength has only appeared as one of my signature strengths in the last two tests taken (it was ranked 8, 7, 15, 14, 7 in the previous tests) which I think reflects a growing comfortableness with myself and deepening of a number of important relationships (Jason and I got married last year too!).

I didn’t deliberately set out to regularly take the test or monitor my test results over a number of years but I’m glad I have (and grateful that the Authentic Happiness site keeps all the previous test results – I would have surely lost track of them otherwise). Looking back, the results seem to provide both confirmation of the key elements of my character/personality and evidence of how I’ve grown and changed over time.

Published: January 9, 2012 | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments
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