Which Is The Winning Strategy? Innovation Or Discipline.

Which Is The Winning Strategy? Innovation Or Discipline.

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Lately it seems there is an abundance of books and articles advocating for one or the other.  Jeffrey A. Harris, in his new book Transformative Entrepreneurs,  advocates for innovation. He cites examples of Steve Jobs and Walt Disney and his findings are summarized in this recent Forbes article.  Jim Collins on the other hand, in his latest book, Great by Choice,  finds otherwise.  In my January 22nd post “Laws of Success: The Answers May Surprise You”, I discuss Jim Collins’ findings, one of which is the companies in his most recent research are no more innovative than the comparison company. In fact, the companies he calls 10X take less risk than the comparison companies and Jim’s findings tell us is that first and foremost, the 10x companies are more disciplined.

So, as a leadership coach, I am wondering which is it, innovation or discipline? Perhaps it is both.  To thrive, all companies must innovate; the challenge is what you do next. Here are some questions to consider:

  • Do you have a culture that inspires and reinforces innovation?
  • Do you have a process for capturing new ideas and turning them into concepts that are then carried forward through a product development stage gate process, i.e. is there discipline around the innovation?
  • How are innovations funded, are there dollars available to try out new ideas and allow for failure?

 Elisa K. Spain

Leadership Quote: The Way You Do Anything…

Leadership Quote: The Way You Do Anything…

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

This month’s leadership quote:  “The way you do anything, is the way you do everything.”

Boaz Rauchwerger, Vistage speaker, attributes this quote to his Mom in his December 5, 2011 newsletter.  The point, she says, is to be excellent at everything.

For me, as a leadership coach, this quote raises broader leadership questions:

  • Is the way I do everything, the same regardless of who I am doing it for or with?
  • Is the way I do everything, the same when I am doing it alone or when someone is watching?
  • Does “doing” include how I treat people along the way to achieving excellence; the old question, is the outcome what counts or is it the process?
  • Is the way I am perceived as doing everything as a leader, the way I want to be perceived?
  • As the leader, how does the way I do anything impact the culture of my business?

Elisa K. Spain

The Test Of Time, Continuous Improvement

The Test Of Time, Continuous Improvement

by Elisa Spain1 Comment

All of us who have been in business awhile have either led or experienced the “methodology dejour”. We get all excited about something new we learn about and suddenly it is time to reinvent our companies around this new idea. And, then a week, or a month, or even a few days later, we are on to the next new thing.

Sometimes though, something new comes along that is able to withstand the test of time. One such model is TQM, Total Quality Management. In the early 90’s Deming introduced the TQM model to U.S. manufacturing. This model included, among other things, the Japanese concept of Kaizen (continuous improvement) and what became a popular mantra called “business process redesign”. Today, there is a lot of talk  about the failures of business process redesign. Too much change introduced at one  time, simply doesn’t work –  upwards of 75% of business process redesign projects fail.

On the other hand,  Kaizen, or simply, continuous improvement has withstood the test of time in manufacturing and across all industries.

It’s a simple concept that  goes like this, intentionally and continuously look for ways to innovate and improve your business processes. As leaders, ask your people to join in and look for ways to improve the business. Success will follow.

In Vistage we call the idea dujour risk,  “DAV” (“Day after Vistage”) and remind our members to take only “one thing” away from each meeting and focus on incremental change, i.e. continuous improvement. The result… Vistage members outperform their industry peers.

What are you doing today, to foster a company culture of continuous improvement?

What financial benefits have come from your continuous improvement efforts?

What metrics do you have in place to measure the results of continuous improvement efforts in your business?

Elisa K. Spain

Laws Of Success: The Answers May Surprise You

Laws Of Success: The Answers May Surprise You

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

I just finished reading Jim Collins’ new book, Great by Choice and as he says, the results may surprise you; they did me.

Here’s the good news, if you, as CEO,  have ambition, creativity, vision, insight, a good strategy, are innovative, possess a willingness to take risk; in short, all the typical characteristics we attribute to leaders, you can become a standout success.

However, and it’s a big however, one that certainly caused me as a leadership coach to pause. All the companies Jim Collins and his partner Morten Hansen researched, were led by CEO’s with these characteristics – the ones that thrived AND the ones that did not.

Here’s what he did find that was different about these leaders.  The companies that thrive possess three common characteristics:

  • fanatic discipline
  • empirical creativity
  • productive paranoia

As I reflect on the great leaders I have known in my career as a leadership coach,  my surprise at the results fades. The great leaders I know all share these characteristics.

Jim drives this point home in chapter 2 as he tells the story of Roald Amundsen’s and Robert Falcon Scott’s quest for the South Pole.  When you understand what Amundsen did to prepare and Scott did not do, it becomes crystal clear why Amundsen was successful and Scott was not. Just as it will become clear why each of the high-performers Collins and Hansen study achieved their results.

I encourage you to read the book, and ask yourself the following questions:

  • Do I possess these high-performer characteristics?
  • What am I doing today to focus on them each day?
  • How might I integrate my genius and my talents to maximize my results?

 

Elisa K. Spain

Questions Of Culture – What Are Yours?

Questions Of Culture – What Are Yours?

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

Despite the sticky unemployment numbers, businesses are hiring. See 9/20/11 Blog “The Economic Shift” for a discussion as to some reasons for this dichotomy.

Now, back to the point of this post…

I am seeing a lot of discussion about the questions to ask in an interview to learn the fit of a potential hire.

Two of my favorites,

From Bob Herbold, the former Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft Corporation and author of What’s Holding You Back: 10 Bold Steps that Define Gutsy Leaders.

When you were young, who was the person that was most influential in teaching you valuable lessons about life? What were those lessons the person taught you? What are those tapes this person put into your head that are still there today and have emerged as guiding principles for you?

The lessons you are looking for are basic principles that suggest a high degree of self confidence, a sense of personal responsibility, a strong drive to achieve, and solid fundamental ethics. No hint of these kinds of traits should be a red flag.

From Jeffrey Stibel is Chairman and CEO of Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. and author of Wired for Thought.

Describe a time when you failed, tell me what you learned. Jeff asks all of his employees to share their answer to this question on “the failure wall” posted in his office. His passionate belief is success by failure is not an oxymoron. When you make a mistake, you’re forced to look back and find out exactly where you went wrong, and formulate a new plan for your next attempt.

As Vistage speaker Brad Remillard always says, “we hire on skills and fire on behavior”.  These questions above are two of my favorite behavior questions, what are yours?

Elisa K Spain

Want Greater Success? Nurture Your Butterflies

Want Greater Success? Nurture Your Butterflies

by Elisa Spain3 Comments

Good leaders always strive to have butterflies in their stomach, says Kathleen L. Flanagan, president and chief executive of Abt Associates, a $450mm consultancy firm.

When we are out of our comfort zone, we have the greatest opportunity for success. It’s when we become complacent and run on auto-pilot that we as leaders are most at risk of failure.

In this interview in The New York Times, Kathleen describes her first big promotion, the first time she managed people, how she had butterflies in her stomach the entire first year, and how she ultimately learned to trust her gut.

Her advice is the same advice she heard from her first boss and mentor, the one who gave her that first job. “There is no blueprint, you have to make a plan and be goal oriented. Always have butterflies and always plan for success.”

To the advice she received from her former boss, Kathleen adds her own wisdom: Be flexible. Listen to people. Give them the opportunity to give feedback, tell you what worries them, what they are thinking about, what part of the strategy they think is risky.

As a leadership coach, I ask myself and you the following questions as we plan for 2012:

  • What is your vision for success?
  • What specific goals have you set to move toward your vision?
  • Are we taking the risks that create butterflies, and if not, why not?

 

Elisa K. Spain

 

 

The Shared Experience Of Absurdity

The Shared Experience Of Absurdity

by Elisa Spain2 Comments

This week’s post is in honor of Michael Allosso, whose Vistage talk for CEOs and Key Executives is titled “You on Your Best Day.” Michael teaches us that the difference between a good leader and a great leader is the ability to improvise and gently push people out of their comfort zone.

In this TED talk, Charlie Todd helps us see the human connection that results from a shared experience — in this case, an absurd shared experience.

Vistage members also have shared experiences; in our case, these happen every month. As the chair and leadership coach, I regularly see the human connection that results.

I wonder about the following:

  • Are we searching for opportunities to create shared experiences in our companies?
  • What great things can we accomplish in our companies by pushing people out of their comfort zone and introducing more intentional and improvised shared experiences?

Elisa K. Spain

Which False Business Gods Are You Worshipping?

Which False Business Gods Are You Worshipping?

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

We worship winners—especially those who demonstrate leadership, confront a crisis and prevail. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as the hero did not create the crisis in the first place.

But what about those who keep crises from erupting at all?

Who are the UNSUNG heroes working for you (and helping you avoid the ditch)?

Are you only recognizing the “heroes” in your company, and ignoring those who help you avoid the storms altogether?

This article by John Kay in the Financial Times, “No One Remembers a Cautious Captain of Industry,” explores our sometimes foolish preference for the heroic over the prudent and for the bold over the wise.

Elisa K. Spain

 

 

Doodlers Unite: Do It Proudly!

Doodlers Unite: Do It Proudly!

by Elisa SpainNo Comments

While there have been many negative definitions of doodling throughout time, I am drawn to this positive definition offered by Sunni Brown in a recent TED talk.

“To Doodle: to make spontaneous marks to help yourself think; a preemptive measure to stop you from losing focus.”

I often find myself doodling when listening to a presentation. Now I understand why.

How much more effective could we all be if we made a conscious effort to doodle more?

Or as Sunni suggests, what would happen if we, as leaders, encouraged doodling in our companies?

Here’s a link to Sunni’s TED talk: Doodlers, unite!

Elisa K. Spain