Tag: COVID-19

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S2 E113 — 9 Pitfalls to Avoid

Lessons drawn from our seven mini-cases demonstrate when organizations are reinventing themselves there are at least 9 pitfalls they should avoid to ensure a successful transformation.

“4”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Recognize when you’re being obsessive, which is, at least in today’s case, another word for self-interested. Then open it up by focusing outside of yourself.” Aries  

Hi and welcome to Saturday’s Episode 113 in Season 2 of  “My Pandemic Year Natural Experiment” on this 12th day of September in the fall of 2020.  

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Season One and Two are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E112 — Betting on the Progress of 5 Innovation Teams;S2 E111 — Against All Odds 530 is Alive!; S2 E110 — Keys for Reinventing a FUD-Soaked Enterprise

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E113 — Is This an Omen?; S1 E112 —  When Was the Last Time You Wrangled Your Past?; S1 E111 — Is There Half-life of Wisdom?; S1 E110 — Love, Longing, Belonging, Connection and Loss

Context

This is a continuation of a “Volume Two Manuscript — WorkFit” a work-in-progress. In previous episodes we described Start Up, Emerging Growth, Rapid Growth, Sustained Growth, Maturity, Decline and now Reinvention stages.   

Reinvention without Decline

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

Reinvention

Now let’s summarize what we learned from our Reinvention mini-cases operating from within a technology company,  Part One,  Part Two and Part Three and from a different industry with similar needs, but from a consulting assignment. We profiled Part One , Two , Three  and Four in our most recent episodes.

9 Pitfalls to Avoid

Across our seven mini-cases, when organizations are reinventing themselves there are several pitfalls they should avoid to ensure a successful transformation:

    1. Lack of Clear Vision: Of course this might be the most difficult of all.  Who really knows what lies ahead at the end of a successful transformation? (Part One Technology company, Part One PRERS, Two PRERS) Avoid embarking on a transformation journey without a well-defined and communicated vision. A clear direction is crucial to align efforts and goals. 
    2. Resistance to Change: Without a clear vision and a reason to believe how can you avoid resistance to change from within the organization. (Part One  Flipping curmudgeons,  Part One PRERS marketing campaign Two PRERS and Four PRERS participating with 5 Innovation Teams)  Encourage open communication and address concerns to gain buy-in from employees at all levels. 
    3. Overlooking Employee Engagement: Neglecting the involvement and engagement of employees can hinder the success of the reinvention process. (Part One in and outside partnerships, reason for my department; Two what is PRERS’ core foundational story Four PRERS participating with 5 Innovation Teams) Employees are key stakeholders and should be active participants.
    4. Rapid and Unplanned Changes: Abrupt and poorly planned changes can disrupt operations and demotivate employees. (Part Two Technology company fear of merger and Part One PRERS closing sales offices, well intentioned notices like pink slips) Gradual and well-structured changes are generally more effective. 
    5. Copying Competitors Blindly: While learning from competitors can be beneficial, blindly copying their strategies may not be suitable for your organization’s unique needs and goals. (Part Two during merger, who wins vs. what will win and Four PRERS participating with 5 Innovation Teams, strategy conversations instead of copying competitors)
    6. Short-Term Focus:  This may be the most difficult obstacle for mature companies to acknowledge and overcome. Avoid concentrating solely on short-term gains.  (Part Two technology company sailing to Catalina boondoggle) Successful reinventions often require a balance between short-term wins and long-term sustainability.
    7. Neglecting Data and Analytics: Data-driven decision-making is crucial in the reinvention process. (Reinvention team member selection and Part Two technology company employee survey, but delay in feeding back) Neglecting data and analytics can lead to uninformed choices. 
    8. Ignoring Company Culture: A successful transformation should consider and align with the existing company culture. (Three technology company’s factory of the future Two PRERS, Three PRERS 580) Disregarding cultural aspects can lead to internal conflicts.
    9. Underestimating Resources: Be realistic about the resources, time, and effort required for the reinvention. (Three technology company) Underestimating these factors can lead to project failures, especially if the company has been conditioned to produce short-term results.

By being mindful of these potential pitfalls and actively working to address them, organizations can increase their chances of successful reinvention and achieve their desired outcomes.

Evidence

“2”  Steve Zahn, 51: “Self-awareness is where it’s at. Everyone has it to varying degrees, but the ones who have it more keenly are usually better off. So, if you pick on yourself a little, count it as an asset.” Scorpio

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

“4”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Recognize when you’re being obsessive, which is, at least in today’s case, another word for self-interested. Then open it up by focusing outside of yourself.” Aries  

Telling this story now during this pandemic qualifies, doesn’t it?

“3”  Steve Carrell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “The bottom line is that you shouldn’t have to shell out much money to follow your dreams. In fact, you can be paid to chase them. At this time, internships are better than classes, which will cost you.”  Leo

Swap out “internship” for “consulting” and “freelancing” and it fits better for me. 

“2”  Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61: “Rainbow chasing can be a lovely pastime. But don’t chase the ones that promise effortless, fast results for the low, low price of BLANK (insert high, high price).” Virgo

Probably good advice in general, but not for today.

“2”  Steve Kerr, 54: “If you want a job done right, give it to someone who is already working. Working people are following physical laws like the law of inertia: What moves keeps moving unless acted upon by force.” Libra

Hard one to keep in mind while quarantined.

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @KnowLabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines organically grew from 4990 to 5060.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life

Long-Form

    • Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip

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S2 E110 — Keys for Reinventing a FUD-Soaked Enterprise

To find out which ideas have made it off the whiteboard, been placed into practice, and are being tested to see what works and what doesn’t.  So teams, what have you been working on, what have you discovered, and how can we help?

“5”  Steve Nash, 45: “Your mighty purpose today is to make people smile. Indeed, there may be none mightier, or more challenging, considering the moods of some of the people you’ll come across.”  Aquarius

Hi and welcome to Sunday’s Episode 110 in Season 2 of  “My Pandemic Year Natural Experiment” on this 6th day of September in the fall of 2020.

 

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Season One and Two are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E109 — Rebuilding Trust Doesn’t Happen Overnight; S2 E108 — Why Our Reinvention Efforts Failed (and Yours Will Too); S2 E107 — Leaving Us Adrift in a Sea of Change

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E110 — Love, Longing, Belonging, Connection and Loss; S1 E109 — Do All Introverts Take the Long Acetylcholine Pathway?; S1 E108 — After So Many Defeats is it Time to Catch a New Trajectory?; S1 E107 — How Do You Rate Your Sense of Curiosity?

Context

This is a continuation of “Volume Two Manuscript — WorkFit” a work-in-progress.

In previous episodes we described Start Up, Emerging Growth, Rapid Growth, Sustained Growth, Maturity, Decline and now Reinvention stages.

Reinvention without Decline

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

We described a mini-case of a major decline,  Part One, Part Two and Part Three. And, before that we profiled two mini case studies about what it was like working behind the scenes at a mature company in a financial, in a consumer industry and two more in another century-old university system — Part One and Two. 

Now turn from our 3-part Reinvention mini-case operating from within a technology company,  Part One,  Part Two and Part Three to a different industry with similar needs, but from a consulting assignment. We profiled Part One in the last episode.

Reinvention

27. Knowledge Management — Brand Company — 

A Strategy and Brand Consultancy. 

Part Two

Crazy creative Dave and I had mini-case experience at Unisys — how do you build a common culture around a new direction when all employees experience is fear, uncertainty and doubt.  With this major project, sprinkle in a failed “Agenda for Change”.

We described the challenge as an internal branding, marketing and advertising campaign.  Somehow PRERS top management had to rebuild trust and flip the low morale of the now into a new vision of something employees could see, touch or feel.

We had to translate our marketing-speak into something top management could understand and support.  During our presentations Gasper’s major coup came when he described company paradigms as — the most fundamental and all-encompassing expression all employees feel, but can’t necessarily describe.  It’s a classic “We’ll know it when we see it.”  

Gasper somehow convinced our client that a company’s strategic intent (an integrated PRERS) “Vision or mission statements, and core values constitute its paradigm or world view.”  And to build back trust, internal brand development follows three acts.

The first act begins “… as the back story leading to a catalyst point which catapults the character into act two, which is the migration path to the new state.”  

We first described “our Migration Paths to the Future” by highlighting Innovation Teams (Alliance Management, Relationship Management, Operational Excellence, eBusiness, and People Leadership), and how they have been thinking-out-of-the-box about our core competencies and imagining totally new ways of doing business.  

As Gasper told top management, “Here action (and reaction) builds character, brand is strategy in action, and what you will be doing is building belief.”  He told them that their “Unique Organizing Principle” is what we will describe and help them craft an internal interactive communications “brand” or “identity” 

The idea is to discover the core values of the organization (transformation of customer) and to create 4 C’s: “context, content, connections and conversations around deep principles of shared learning, yet still keep it tied to strategic initiatives.”

My role with crazy creative Dave was to catch early successes, circulate stories about first steps into the future, and make them exciting and fun.

It took weeks to earn the necessary approvals.  Then the hard work began. 

What the hell is their organizing principle — their new core foundational story?  How can our marketing and advertising gurus translate it into something completely different, but on a subliminal level feel true and inviting.  Inviting enough for employees to suspend their critical, widespread FUD-dominated thinking and consider their new story?

We struggled and struggled in late night brainstorming sessions to come up with an answer. Until John Googled some company history and their logo — the Rock of Gibraltar. 

What from a distance looks like a huge, barren rock we discovered, is the home of 530 unique species of fauna and flora.  

That’s it.  We can work with that.  530!  

Images flowed.  Sketches on our white board connected to other sketches.  “530 equals overlooked employees — unique PRERS species of talented people.”  Innovation teams need to be nurtured. 

They need to be given a safe place to grow without reprisal.  People not on the teams could contribute to them if:

1) they knew the teams existed,

2) what their missions were, and

3) how to contact and contribute.

“New ideas = seeds! Maybe there’s a horticulture theme for innovation teams.”  

Timing is everything. 

We required three things to be in place for the launch.  The first was a distribution of white with green package of seeds to every employee.  That was followed by a glossy 530 journal telling more of the new core foundational story.  But, PRERS delayed its distribution.  

During the delay our 530 website, initially banned by their IT department, launched on our servers.  Waiting and waiting for formerly FUD soaked employees to arrive. 

Our strategic intention was about to be activated:

    • IdeaVirus approach: in fits and starts they cross-fertilize and nurture radical new ideas in “small learning experiments”. 
    • To propagate micro-communities around their discoveries, spawn new opportunities, and to infect us with a renewed sense of passion.  
    • And it is “for the rest of us.” To question. To volunteer.  To add to the understanding.    
    • “To find out which ideas have made it off the whiteboard, been placed into practice, and are being tested to see what works and what doesn’t.”  
    • “So teams, what have you been working on, what have you discovered, and how can we help?”

Evidence

“3”  Steve Zahn, 51: “Sometimes you treat everyone the same, and other times it feels right to be more flexible, taking your lead from the needs of those around you. You’ll be somewhere in the middle today, consistent but ready to adjust.” Scorpio

I hear you.  I used to take people at face value, except for all of the degree of decisiveness that has permeated almost everything.  Why must everything be so politicalized?

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

“4”  Steve Winwood, 71; Stevie Wonder, 69; Stephen Colbert, 56: “Here you are, unready and in a position to choose. You don’t even have enough data to make an educated guess, although, in a strange way, you’re at an advantage with this, forced to rely only on your gut.”  Taurus

Intuition and instincts.  For some people choices made on them alone only bring more poor choices.  For others educated guesses work.  For everyone, we’re hardly ever ready for a lot of what life throws at us, like this pandemic for instance.

“3”  Steve Smith, 30: “The early days of every relationship and endeavor lay the groundwork for what happens later, which is why it’s so important to reveal some basic truths and establish key expectations on day one.” Gemini

Maybe if I combine yours with coach Kerr’s it will add up to more relevancy. But, aren’t these conflicting TauBits of Wisdom?

“4”  Steve Carrell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “All it takes is a few inquiries, and suddenly, you’re off in a fascinating direction. Go on and get involved, as new influences will spark favorable changes in your day to day.” Leo

So this one seems less suited for me today, and more suited when I was working on the Conclusions chapter in the Tau of Steves Report chronicling my Natural Experiment.

“5”  Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61: “When you give attention, you are giving your life force, which will be spent no matter what, though some ways are more of an investment, and others are just waste.” Virgo

Life force. I like it.  Now the key seems to me as an introvert how to differentiate between energy and directing towards an investment.  Hmm …

“3”  Steve Kerr, 54: “In the beginning of a relationship, you’re mainly trying things. You might not see it that way, because the process of getting to know someone is so intuitive. Just know that if it’s not working, you can pivot and try something else.” Libra

I’m not in the beginning of a relationship, pandemic or no, so feel free to steal this one if your intuition says to.

“4”  Steve Aoki, 41: “There’s an art to self-discipline. Knowing how far to push yourself is key. If you drive yourself too hard or place too many restrictions on yourself, you’ll rebel. To rebel against yourself is far worse than rebelling against others.” Sagittarius

I agree.  The art of self-discipline organizes moments in which I let the “flow” of writing happen.  But, I also mindful of when the flow begins to trickle and that’s when I force myself to stop and take up another task. 

“4”  Steve Harvey, 62: “Just as a story without conflict is barely a story, a day without an obstacle would hardly be worth remembering. At least today’s problem will have you laughing a little.”  Capricorn

This ongoing pandemic obstacle doesn’t leave much room for laughter.  But laughing does ease the feeling of dread.

“5”  Steve Nash, 45: “Your mighty purpose today is to make people smile. Indeed, there may be none mightier, or more challenging, considering the moods of some of the people you’ll come across.”  Aquarius

This 530 branding effort hinges on offering a quirky mood-shifting trial for knowledge sharing to work.  Humor couldn’t hurt.

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines organically grew from 4990 to 5060.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life

Long-Form

    • Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip

Posted on

S2 E109 — Rebuilding Trust Doesn’t Happen Overnight

Tomorrow they drop a bomb on the organization — the closing of 6 regional offices and the recombination of the key personnel into one location in Phoenix (over a two year period). They spent a lot of energy on crafting the announcement, but none on what they would do as follow-on actions to manage the shock.

“5”  Steve Carrell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “Sometimes, it’s as though you can read minds and tell the future. But right now, it’s better just to ask people what they are thinking and to respect the future as a question mark.” Leo

Hi and welcome to Saturday’s Episode 109 in Season 2 of  “My Pandemic Year Natural Experiment” on this 5th day of September in the fall of 2020.  

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Season One and Two are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E108 — Why Our Reinvention Efforts Failed (and Yours Will Too); S2 E107 — Leaving Us Adrift in a Sea of Change;  S2 E106 — How We Brainwashed Curmudgeons

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E109 — Do All Introverts Take the Long Acetylcholine Pathway?; S1 E108 — After So Many Defeats is it Time to Catch a New Trajectory?; S1 E107 — How Do You Rate Your Sense of Curiosity?; S1 E106 — Attempts to Upset 9 of My Life Stages Apple Cart

Context

This is a continuation of “Volume Two Manuscript — WorkFit” a work-in-progress.

In previous episodes we described Start Up, Emerging Growth, Rapid Growth, Sustained Growth, Maturity, Decline and now Reinvention stages.  

Reinvention without Decline

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

We described a mini-case of a major decline,  Part One, Part Two and Part Three. And, before that we profiled two mini case studies about what it was like working behind the scenes at a mature company in a financial, in a consumer industry and two more in another century-old university system — Part One and Two. 

Now turn from our 3-part Reinvention mini-case operating from within a technology company,  Part One,  Part Two and Part Three to a different industry with similar needs, but from a consulting assignment.

Reinvention

27. Knowledge Management — Brand Company — 

A Strategy and Brand Consultancy. 

Part One

At Think!City a boutique consulting firm we crashed our models together — learning and development, knowledge creation, media production, internet communities, strategy, advertising and marketing. 

We worked together in a highly creative environment within a corrugated metal building designed by a local architecture firm in Laguna Beach, on a curve in Laguna Canyon Road. 

I fell headlong into sharing new knowledge that springs out of new innovations.

We pioneered a way of capturing the essence of a brand on digital video, searched through audio tracks for the touch points and reused portions of the interviews for orienting new coders hired at accelerated rates. 

From our studio we continued internal and external branding with clients ranging from startups to Fortune 100.

This is about our work with a Fortune 100 Mature Real Estate and Relocation Services, similar to the financial case already described.

After conducting knowledge labs for two disruptively innovative fast companies, the opportunity presented itself to apply what we learned to a mature, bureaucratic company responding to the internet threat.

Their greatest challenge was to convince survivors and potential survivors to stick around as the East Coast headquarters called the restructuring shots.  Their situational challenges mirrored those of the Engineering and Construction company in decline — history of miscommunications, changes in top management, merger of two different operating units, a move to Phoenix and the closing of regional offices. 

I received an update from Gasper about our potential engagement. 

Steve,  I was unable to connect with Bob in New York (about our Start Up consulting project there). He was shuttling around two candidates who were being interviewed: a potential VP of Product Marketing and the new VP of Marketing. I will connect with him tomorrow.  Meanwhile, I have a meeting with Steve of Prudential at noon tomorrow to further explore the relationship — get enough information to propose something. 

He has gaps in his organizational development plans. He is running an “agenda for change” and wonders why it is scaring the shit out of everyone. Tomorrow they drop a bomb on the organization — the closing of 6 regional offices and the recombination of the key personnel into one location in Phoenix (over at two year period)

They spent a lot of energy on crafting the announcement, but none on what they would do as follow-on actions to manage the shock. 

Gasper

From the outside it was obvious that in the real world, in their industry, no one was framing their actions by asking:

How would a great company handle this major transition, so in before, during, and after the move it is easy to attract, retain, and develop key talent?  

    • Requires talent transition team of key influencers from day one with this charter, and an open invitation for employees at large to contact, question rigorously, and contribute ideas.  
    • Self-selection out and in.  
    • Manage unintended consequences.

PRERS divisions never really formed a common identity – their cultures so different.  One culture lost their beloved leader as a result of the restructuring.  

The surviving CEO attempted to reengineer a solution, but it never took.  He had a vision of what a wired future would look like and attempted to lay the foundation for closing the gap between their current dysfunctional culture and the desired state by launching an agenda for change. 

However, without any real leadership, 5 teams set out to identify core competencies and to make recommendations about how to close the gaps.  

    • All five teams eventually reported their findings, but nothing substantial happened as a result.  
    • Except, the top 2 executives left the company.  
    • The chairman and vice chairman inherited the baggage. 

Fear Uncertainty and Doubt

It began with what was supposed to be a 2 year advance announcement to give everyone affected plenty of time to consider their options — move, retire or stay and look for another job in Orange County.

That was the intended message. 

    • But we found out “the suits” got a hold of it (lawyers) on the East Coast, and rewrote the bulk of the announcement to protect the corporation from any liability. 
    • What was communicated was loaded with buzzwords and phrases like consolidation, without any details.  So the only real message received triggered negative implications. And watercolor estimates about when will the other shoe drop?  
    • After several of their false starts, we proposed a campaign of communications releases in a variety of formats to help reshape the culture, to support the transition to a new desired state, and to support thinking and acting more innovatively. 

We Started Immediately 

Crazy creative Dave with his digital video gear and I drove to San Diego to meet with volunteers from the other division who were attending their regional meeting — which included, by the way, an afternoon check in session in which employees could talk about any and all issues they’re challenged with by working remotely.

Since one half of the organization had already successfully navigated the transformation from working out of an office to working out of a home office, cut off from former social ties, we interviewed a dozen “experts” who had been there and done that.  

And they were eager to advise those about to confront what they had to years earlier:

    • One woman remembered how she felt others working in the office would assume she was loafing at home.  So she put in longer and longer hours in her home office at her computer, until she burned herself out.  No one felt she was slacking off.
    • One analyst told us that he wanted to make the FedEx guy his new best friend.  Everyday he’d deliver packages and pick up packages for work, but declined a cup of coffee and a danish each time.
    • One vice president told us on camera how he was in shock when word came out that he wouldn’t have a luxurious office with all the other senior executives.  “I mean here I pushed and pushed and climbed up each rung of the ladder, and then what?  They want me to work at my new townhome’s kitchen table?”
    • Others told us how they had to mimic their office routines.  In the morning after coffee and a light breakfast, for example, some would walk, or jog, or work out at the gym before returning home.  Then they’d shower, change clothes, and commute from their second floor to their first floor office and close the door.
    • Mothers told us they established the same routine basically, but still had to monitor what was going on with their kids in another room, even when grandma helped babysit.
    • Some said they carried the office routine to extremes by locking their office door in the evening.  As a reminder to them, that work was over and even if the computer pinged or the office phone rang they weren’t falling for it.  That took extreme effort to avoid the temptation to return.  But, they learned how to manage customers and bosses about their hours.

Those digital video interviews spawned two newsletters full of tips and tricks, video tapes for review in meetings of those eventually moving to Phoenix, and set in motion a series of on-camera appearances by the chairman and vice-chairman which helped them formulate their new leadership messages.  

We (they) had a long way to go, building trust doesn’t happen overnight. 

Evidence

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

“3”  Steve Winwood, 71; Stevie Wonder, 69; Stephen Colbert, 56: “Today, you’ll learn how badly you want something. Either you won’t get it and you’ll use that loss as a gauge, or you will get it, and your subsequent satisfaction will teach all.”  Taurus

One can only hope, right?

“5” Steve Howey, 42: “Bad moods are caused not by what happens, but by two culprits: negative thoughts and distorted thoughts. Everything that occurs is an opportunity to practice your interpretive skills.”Cancer

Not necessarily for today, but Part One, boiled down to countering how poorly the East Coast description of what was about to occur over the next 24 months triggered.

“5”  Steve Carrell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “Sometimes, it’s as though you can read minds and tell the future. But right now, it’s better just to ask people what they are thinking and to respect the future as a question mark.” Leo

Not necessarily for today, but when Crazy creative Dave and videoed the San Diego survivors of forced remote work we learned more tips and tricks and advice than what we could have created to share with the other division.  Plus, real people, sincere people shared secrets that worked for them.

“3”  Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61: “As you relate to family, help friends, get after work projects and do more, you’ll notice that everything you take on is a little easier than it was only a month ago. You’re just better.” Virgo

As far as the Pandemic goes, sure we’ve figured out our routines so we don’t catch the virus.  As far as this passion project goes, yeah, but, Duh!

“3”  Steve Kerr, 54: “Though you feel emotionally bound to the people and projects you care about, it will benefit you to ask this thought exercise: What if your only real duty is to your own sense of adventure?” Libra

Probably sound advice, but today I’ve got more than enough things to think about!

“5”  Steve Aoki, 41: “There’s a new goal to strive for, but you’ll accomplish it with the same approach that’s worked for you in the past. You’ll start with a sketch — an outline of a general vision — and then fill in the blanks.” Sagittarius

So, I have this pandemic to thank?  It’s given me time to sketch out and fill in this work-in-progress at least.

“4”  Steve Nash, 45: “There are many situations that are helped by black-or-white thinking, for instance, when you have to assess quickly, act decisively, commit deeply. But for most things, allow for as full a range of color as you can.”  Aquarius

Am I wrong or as a nation don’t we have this inverted?  The black and white thinking which should be objective, is really what passes for red and blue polarized extremes.

“4”  Steve Jobs, (1955 – 2011): “You might not like the information that comes your way initially, but it will be good to know, as it will deepen your understanding of the scene you’re in, thus giving you more power in it.” Pisces

Information is one thing, misinformation — not mistaken, but politically motivated is another entirely.  Why do we as a country have to politicize everything?  Dealing with this pandemic is more than enough, right?

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines organically grew from 4906 to 4990.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life

Long-Form

    • Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip

Posted on

S2 E108 — Why Our Reinvention Efforts Failed (and Yours Will Too)

What took five years to build fell apart in six months, because we neglected the most important lesson — building a capacity inside your company to continually repeat your reinvention, revitalization and renewal processes.

“5”  Steve Harvey, 62: “When you are sensitive to what drains you and what gives you energy, decisions become easy. You’ll do only what fills you up or what is so important that it’s worth being drained over.” Capricorn

Hi and welcome to Friday’s Episode 108 in Season 2 of  “My Pandemic Year Natural Experiment” on this 4th day of September in the fall of 2020.  

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Season One and Two are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E107 — Leaving Us Adrift in a Sea of Change;  S2 E106 — How We Brainwashed Curmudgeons; S2 E105 — When Cosmic Leads to Decline, Pair Extremes Intentionally

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E108 — After So Many Defeats is it Time to Catch a New Trajectory?; S1 E107 — How Do You Rate Your Sense of Curiosity?; S1 E106 — Attempts to Upset 9 of My Life Stages Apple Cart; S1 E105 — Will Fortune Smile on Us Later in the Evening?;

Context

This is a continuation of “Volume Two Manuscript — WorkFit” a work-in-progress.  In previous episodes we described Start Up, Emerging Growth, Rapid Growth, Sustained Growth, Maturity, Decline and now Reinvention stages.  

Reinvention without Decline

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

We described a mini-case of a major decline,  Part One, Part Two and Part Three. And, before that we profiled two mini case studies about what it was like working behind the scenes at a mature company in a financial, in a consumer industry and two more in another century-old university system — Part One and Two. 

Now we add to both Part One and Part Two with the third Reinvention installment, a behind-the-scenes at nurturing Intrapreneurial Projects.

Reinvention Part Three

23.  Organizational Development – Technology —

Raul joined my team, having transferred from our Texas plant for an IT opportunity which was for the night shift — not what he was told before he moved his family. 

I put together a 5-year plan that called for all of us to become internal consultants instead of performing stand-up training only. Our Organization Development (OD) team became 14, with a budget that went from $60K to $600K thanks to Raul’s efforts.

Cross-Training for Factory of the Future

To satisfy Ed’s Factory of the Future vision, focused product lines required technology (BAMCS) and soft skills training.  We didn’t have the face-to-face facilities available, so ironically I met with the survivors from the declining engineering and construction firm I previously worked for and negotiated leases for our curriculum, but directed by Raul.

Raul successfully applied to the State of California for re-training funds earmarked to prevention layoffs and up-skilling disruptions required for the Factory of the Future transformation.  

We were successful in expanding the initial BAMCS contract to Engineering and Software, for a total of $1.4 million.  So that the World Class cultural change included more than manufacturing: 

    • My team and external brain trust members addressed the accelerating change in high tech environment during merger, restructuring and revitalization. 
    • How to manage careers in a rapidly changing environment, when jobs that exist today hadn’t been even thought of by the formal system two years earlier. 
    • When project  development teams  had to deliver new products in ever increasingly shorter time frames and be able to anticipate the probability of a surprise breakthrough technology development from a competitor and how to respond to it almost routinely.  

From CareerSmarts to Intrapreneurial Start Ups

And what to do with project team members which would hit the wall and disband.

We launched a CareerSmarts program  for individual knowledge workers. It changed the paradigm of getting ahead in the corporate world, through loyalty, seniority, and job security in fixed career paths — to creating your own job by proposing an intrapreneurially opportunity. 

    • By figuring out what the corporation’s customers would value in the future (over the next 3 to 5 years), 
    • Asking how I would have to prepare to match my expertise and passions to their changing expectations, 
    • Identifying what new or improved product or service this would translate into, and
    • Who I would have to persuade in the organization to begin to address it.

Reinventing, Reevaluating Core Competencies and Technology 

The Strategic Safari program focused on the need created for disbanding project teams and emerging leaders to reinvent themselves in a new intrapreneurial direction.  We helped them work through:

    • How to reevaluate their core competencies and technology packages, 
    • How to gauge new product directions, 
    • How to win support and resources for their new initiatives and 
    • Where to get advice,  gain access and needed missing talents in our emerging informal network.  
    • How are you qualified to serve the customer segment that you  have identified?

Disbanding Projects, Core Competencies, New Technologies

My OD core design group included specialists in video, software, educational television, advertising, and telecommunications. The “Transition Tank” prototype had a front end creative adventure, but ultimately was conducted back in work.  Transfer of training was a major design concern. It took twice as long to prototype it, but we did and it was powerful.  

Taking a risk before the prototype was ready, I was asked to address our corporation’s user group.  I described how we were working towards “Taking the Risk out of Implementing New Technologies”.  

Then, after my team earned “Company of the Year” award, I addressed the National Conference for Training and Development, but with a twist.  I mimicked how we used sailboats, the ocean, video, music and other tools successfully to create a breakthrough environment in the presentation itself.

All Good Things Come to an End

But, when, Ed, our senior executive sponsor couldn’t resist the temptations headhunters persistently dangled in front of him, it was over abruptly.  

What took five years to institutionalize fell apart in six months, because we neglected the most important lesson — building a capacity inside your company to continually repeat your reinvention, revitalization and renewal processes. 

It was like we snapped back to a more traditional Mature organization. Single-loop learning occurs as organizations compare their performance to a set of pre-established standards and try to make appropriate adjustments.

Double-loop learning, on the other hand, requires periodic reassessments of the established standards themselves to ensure that they remain relevant. 

Lessons we wished we had learned

The central processes of an organization includes learning, making decisions, and managing relationships with the environment. Each of these is influenced by the leadership, cultural, and structural factors.

Buffering Against Uncertainty:  Momentum, Intertia, Inflexibility

Organizations have a tendency to buffer themselves from their markets in order to operate in as smooth and trouble-free a way as possible. 

They look for customers who value price or quality and steer clear of those who want state-of-the-art equipment. 

We advocated for taking the opposite tack under our executive sponsor. But, our division fell victim having to cope with external uncertainty and inertia in the division.

Second, and more importantly, buffering reduces the occasions for organizational learning and adaptation. So organizations become closed systems that roll forward but rarely change course.

Knowledge Work:  Continuous Learning,  Local Innovation

Reinvention requires a good deal of formal education and the ability to acquire and to apply theoretical and analytical knowledge. To succeed at it:

    • Require a different approach to work and
    • A different mind-set 
    • With a habit of continuous learning and 
    • A belief that Innovation is everywhere; the problem is learning from it  

 Few companies know how to learn from local innovation which goes on at every level of a company when “employees confront problems, deal with unforeseen contingencies, or work their way around breakdowns in normal procedures.”  

Few companies know how to capitalize on local innovation to improve their overall effectiveness.  The benefit of capturing local innovation by studying the innovation at the front lines and developing technologies is to turn being a large company into an advantage rather than a bureaucratic traffic jam.

Evidence

“4”  Steve Zahn, 51: “People use problems as ways to connect with others. Even so, be mindful of what you want to get involved in, as things will not be as simple to solve as they first appear.” Scorpio

It took five years, but I wouldn’t have changed anything except for the loss of our executive sponsor.

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

“3”  Steve Howey, 42: “You’re afraid to commit, and that’s because you don’t know when the commitment is over. Put a button on it. When you give it a timeframe, especially a short one, fear is allayed and talent rises up.” Cancer

Not knowing when the commitment is over seems more relevant to this pandemic more than anything else.

“4”  Steve Aoki, 41: “There’s a ticker tape running through your head. Sometimes, you stop reading it. Possibly, thoughts get so repetitive you tune them out. More likely, they run too fast and better cognition requires slowing down.” Sagittarius

Speed kills, right! The same goes for our internal dialogues.  

“5”  Steve Harvey, 62: “When you are sensitive to what drains you and what gives you energy, decisions become easy. You’ll do only what fills you up or what is so important that it’s worth being drained over.” Capricorn

Boy, is this ever not going to be the case?  Or, is this the lot of an introvert?

“5” Steve Nash, 45: “You want the best for yourself and your loved ones. Bigger is not always better though. Today, it will be the smaller investments that have the best ratio of value to effort.” Aquarius 

At this reinvention part of my career, the risk was very high.  And, no matter what I had to sock my 401K contributions away for some future time.  And, now I’m glad I did.

“4”  Steve Jobs, (1955 – 2011): “Suffering is usually linked to a distortion of thought. Eliminate the distortion and what’s left will be a manageable problem that is far less painful with which to cope.” Pisces

At he end of the day … is when my thought are most distorted.  So, much so that I need to turn off all my devices and exit my office.

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines organically grew from 4906 to 4990.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life

Long-Form

    • Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip

Posted on

S2 E106 — How We Brainwashed Curmudgeons

We called them curmudgeons.  They couldn’t see how that could work.  They had no experience in their 20 years, except what they were used to doing.  We had to brainwash them.  And we came to find out they were the most valuable champions for the new way we could find.

“5”  Steve Smith, 30: “When change is in the air, you sense it before anyone else. You notice that something feels different before you know exactly what it is. On high alert, you’ll figure it out soon enough.” Gemini

Hi and welcome to Sunday’s Episode 106 in Season 2 of  “My Pandemic Year Natural Experiment” on this 30th day of August in the summer of 2020.  

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Season One and Two are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E105 — When Cosmic Leads to Decline, Pair Extremes Intentionally; S2 E104 — Worst Monday Ever. Very, Very Grim …; S2 E103 — Confronting Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt, Resistance and Unrelenting Stress

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E106 — Attempts to Upset 9 of My Life Stages Apple Cart; S1 E105 — Will Fortune Smile on Us Later in the Evening?; S1 E104 — How Yesterday’s Success Triggers Tomorrow’s Failure; S1 E103 — Innies and Outies and Other Potential Catastrophes

Context

This is a continuation of “Volume Two Manuscript — WorkFit” a work-in-progress.

In previous episodes we described Start Up, Emerging Growth, Rapid Growth, Sustained Growth, Maturity, Decline and now Reinvention stages.

Consequences for Not Mastering Growth Crises

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

We described a mini-case of a major decline,  Part One, Part Two and Part Three. And, before that we profiled two mini case studies about what it was like working behind the scenes at a mature company in a financial, in a consumer industry and two more in another century-old university system — Part One and Two. Now we turn to a behind the scenes Reinvention mini-case. 

Reinvention Without Decline

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

Reinvention Part One

23.  Organizational Development – Technology —

Needs Assessment

My Plan A dreamed I’d be working for a high-tech company with very bright engineers that worked on bringing products to market in record time.  

When I was recruited to my first large technology company I followed my own advice and negotiated for a preplanned Maui Vacation first, in a timeshare which sat just on some sort of magical weather curtain.  On one side it rained and rained.  On the other it stayed tropically bright and sunny. “Here I am sitting in the living room of our Maui condominium on vacation, after my first 60-days of coming on board,” I wrote.  

Part of my orientation was to gather hard and soft information to cast a long range vision for “Training and Development” for the position I was hired into from Fluor. 

I saw my role as anticipating how the HR function would change to accommodate our plans, and pitch a communications plan for a branding campaign as an attracting highly sought after engineering and software talent. 

Partnership

Ray acting as 102 Thought Leader needed an 113 Idea Packager.

He introduced me to my HR boss, Dick, told me how Ed, the General Manager and his management team had been working on a strategy that would take the division to the forefront —a model for what the large corporation could become. 

But, I couldn’t cut Ray out of his gig and in return Ray would grease the wheels for the “internal team” to “operationalize and execute”.  Basically, he had the ear of my boss’s boss and could provide “cover” when needed.

So between the lines, my boss represented the old school, a 116 Institutional Traditionalist and a conspiracy was afoot.

Ed represented manufacturing which accounted for 90% of the physical building.  The other 20% was split between engineering and product assurance.  Software engineering worked out of another two-story office in another location about 4 or 5 miles away.

Going in I wanted to focus on strategic issues …

    • How this organization can be fluid and proactive enough to anticipate computer industry changes,
    • the shifting business cycles, and specific changes in broad areas of the US and international economies,
    • to shifting demographics of both customers and employees,
    • social and technological forces (that the Orange County division should respond to driving the state of art) and in a sense become the tail that wags the East Coast dog.

What I wanted to do was to have our division management examine those issues with my facilitation so we’d have a guide for development efforts that Ray and Ed’s team already endorsed.  

Staffing Came Next.  

The year prior to my arrival “training” functioned with a half-time person who would be transitioning to a full-time role with my help.

    • So my immediate goals included maintaining and upgrading the current training offerings for consistency while assessing what else needed to be developed to address unmet “internal operational” issues.  
    • In concert with that I wanted to develop other internal talent for delivering generic classroom and “lower” management level classes. 
    • And then have a successor fill in while Sue, the full time HR representative, develops her own instructional design capabilities.  

Anyway it was a start.  And I was on vacation.  

List of Hard and Soft Needs

I’d fill in more details after returning to the main land.  But, I kept in mind the randomly generated list of hard and soft needs I already collected:

    1. Corporate (in Detroit, Michigan) has no idea how training breaks down today.  SPG-OC (the formal name for our division) doesn’t have a training system in operation.
    2. All the divisions are isolated—not only in the human resources and training functions.
    3. Very little corporate training direction exists aside from printing a catalog of classes and coordinating them.
    4. SDG hasn’t had a professional trainer full time-only model.  The other divisions (Pasadena, BMG, Orange County and Ranch Bernardo) have or will soon have new human resources development folks in position.
    5. The regional meeting showed most of the other divisions are grappling with how to handle career development needs.
    6. Our division doesn’t operate as a high-tech company internally.
    7. PA&S (software developers) specifically believe they need more technology training. Also the group in the City of Industry hasn’t received any in over a year, even though they are customer facing and therefore a priority.
    8. Managers in SDG feel uncomfortable with only a career facilitation class — too much time away from work — no systemic place for them to rely on.
    9. Other divisions in the area (Santa Ana, City of Industry especially, and maybe Lake Forest) feel slighted or not part of “Mission” — in division memos.
    10. 10. Ed and John — manufacturing GM and Software and Engineering VP — have two distinctly different leadership styles.  Ed is ore people supportive.  John is task and time/ results oriented.
    11. SMG (manufacturing) is budget squeezed.  SDG (software and engineering)  has to use up all of their past year’s budget or they won’t get more allocated in the next year.
    12. Not  much hiring is expected as occurred last year — not as much “expansion”.  Many feel a tightening is about to happen.
    13. Software has a technical training coordinator, but engineering hasn’t recognized a need for hardware training.
    14. B-20 operating system doesn’t run PC software, which means off the shelf applications can’t be used for managing human resource, training and development operations. issues and strategy for 1st 90 days and beyond

Those were heady days as we checked off priorities.  

Knew It When He Saw It

Working for a 101 PMBI Breakpoint Inventor was right up my alley.  Ed, the General Manager had a vision for advanced manufacturing in the future.  He subscribed to the “lets-use-our-own-technology” to see what it makes us become.  

So our role was to help Ed communicate in more tangible ways what his vision was so people could begin to participate. This was my first lesson learned from Dave, my communications co-conspirator.  

Ed knew what he wanted if he saw it, but he couldn’t describe it.  The demands on him in the work setting gave the part of his brain no time to bubble up his vision for the division.

Into Nature to Discover the Factory of the Future

So, Dave and I drove him into Trabuco Canyon with the “old California” vibe. 

We drove a few more miles from the winding roads leading to Saddleback Mountain to let nature work its miracle.

    • With a video camera on his shoulder, Dave directed Ed to sit down on a boulder next to a meandering creek and gaze out onto the valley below where our division sat off in the distance.  
    • While he picked up some pebbles to toss into the creek at first I prompted him off camera with open ended questions.
    • I told him not to worry about any kind of logic or succinct description, but just to start painting a picture of what he saw. 
    • After a couple hours, Dave softly said cut.  We had enough to take back to the division’s studio to edit hours into minutes.

He wanted to chunk out unneeded steps in the process, break down manufacturing lines into small groups and cross train everyone.  And he wanted to “pull expertise” from engineers who supported the operations to “up skill” the teams.

This wasn’t a startup and it wasn’t met with open arms by the engineers or the factory supervisors or even the manufacturing teams.

Our Loss is Our Gain

Really at the core the biggest obstacle was how the “rank and file” who were used to being told what, when, and how to “do it” couldn’t grasp his unproven vision of doing things in a new way. 

All they knew was they were losing proven processes for scary new ones.

Instead of keeping the line moving faster and faster, even working overtime and on the weekends, Ed borrowed Japanese techniques by introducing just-in-time focused product lines.

We got called in because the old line manufacturing supervisors resisted as hard as they could.  They never allowed the line to shut down even if a newer solution worked, or if a part wasn’t available.  No Peter. No Paul.

We called them curmudgeons. 

    • They couldn’t see how that could work. 
    • They had no experience in their 20 years, except what they were used to doing. 
    • We had to brainwash them. 

And we came to find out they were the most valuable champions for the new way we could find.

Sorta like AA evangelists.

Dave came up with the idea of blocking off the factory floor section, like the construction tarps you can’t see over on a street undergoing a new building construction.  You could hear stuff going on, you couldn’t see it though.

Dave figured out how to get everyone’s attention.  

We Set Up Contests 

We set up Minimum Viable Product demonstrations on the factory floor and challenged the old timers to compete.  When they couldn’t, they knew it was time to trust where he wanted to take us to the future.

One manufacturing line from the old school way competed with the new way. Seeing is believing.  Or experiencing is believing.  And once they converted, we made them Product Line Managers.

A New Home 4 Miles Away

Our marketing people always wanted a mole in manufacturing. As far as I know they never were successful, but as word got out about our “Factory of the Future” advanced manufacturing facility in Rancho Santa Margarita, Ed and his team insisted on a reservations system.

As a good corporate citizen, Ed knew for every potential enterprise-sized customer who accompanied their sales executive, 90% ordered almost immediately. 

    • We couldn’t keep up the pace, if hordes of sales people popped in with a customer’s representative at the beginning of a sales cycle.
    • We, Dave and our communications team, helped in the design of a walk way balcony on the second level with kiosks at different stations which told the story of what each was about.
    • But, you had to reserve a time, which became more scarce as demand picked up.

Up next:  A wild card merger thrown into the mix.

Evidence

“4”  Steve Zahn, 51: “Even though you are not, strictly speaking, a newcomer to a situation, going in with a beginner’s mind will increase your luck exponentially. Innocent and unbiased reception allows you to see and absorb more.” Scorpio

Boy, is this ever true when you have just landed a new position which feels like a new beginning and a clean slate.  Only you are actually entering a fully functioning culture with its own norms and rituals.  The sooner you realize it the better off you will be.

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

“4” Steve Winwood, 71; Stevie Wonder, 69; Stephen Colbert, 56: “The novice is proud of and wants full recognition for talents and skills. The wise would rather go unlauded, realizing the strategic advantage in being underestimated.” Taurus 

Oh how zen this TauBit is.  I used to be a novice, but agree there’s a strategic advantage to being underestimated.

“5”  Steve Smith, 30: “When change is in the air, you sense it before anyone else. You notice that something feels different before you know exactly what it is. On high alert, you’ll figure it out soon enough.” Gemini

Once you live though a major restructuring while a corporation experiences a series decline, you adopt a healthy paranoia which signals here we go again and here’s what needs to be done.  

“3”  Steve Howey, 42: “There is a beautiful new influence coming into your world, one that seems like it would need to be organized for and around, but that is not the case. It doesn’t need to be arranged, only allowed.” Cancer

At this time in the morning, I can’t for the life of me figure out when that will occur, but I can say maybe this is off by one day, because last night was wonderful.

“5”  Steve Carrell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “Learning takes place in several modalities. You move your body to learn. You talk your subject out, listen on it, write about it. Trying to learn using only one modality is like trying to walk on only one leg.” Leo

Wow, I’ll say.  This pandemic year and the adjustments required strain learning modalities almost on a daily basis.

“5”  Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61: “What were the underlying issues that started your journey to change? It may be hard to remember this, but try because it’s worth noting the differences and similarities between then and now.” Virgo

It was a change from a declining organization to what looked like a high technology company from the outside, establishing solutions to a list of problem areas, and then from out of nowhere the call of the unknown was triggered by a surprise merger.

“5”  Steve Aoki, 41: “Rituals are, essentially, habits with a heightened sense of meaning. You have a fantasy about incorporating certain rituals into your life. Start small, by attaching a small action to an already established habit.” Sagittarius

For today, yes.  But more so for what we called peeling away the layers of an onion.  During the merger right after the regulatory quiet period, we were stuck with two onions with very few rituals in common.  Our goal, though was to find where the two cultures began, identify their separate foundational stories and then build a common one for translating elements into a new enterprise.

“5”  Steve Nash, 45: “You’re looking out for others. You’ll focus on risk. You’ll dig with excellent questions. What are the unknown unknowns? Which solutions fare better than the alternatives?” Aquarius 

Maybe not for today, but definitely during the task force initiatives for defining and communicating how the merger would play out.

“4”  Steve Jobs, (1955 – 2011): “You know your values, and you think often about what you really want. But these things change. The shifts are palpable today. Reassess. You will surprise yourself.” Pisces

Is there ever a bad time not to reassess yourself?  Especially during a merger?

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines organically grew from 4906 to 4990.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life

Long-Form

    • Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip

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S3 E52 — Say What???

Creative insight or the “aha” experience is then triggered in the temporal lobe. Creative adaptation begins in “… ‘forward’ cerebellar models which are anticipatory/exploratory controls for movement and thought.” Say what???

Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61: “It takes much more energy to start things than it does to continue them. Make momentum work for you by simply continuing. Once you get in the swing, stay in it.” Virgo

Hi and welcome to Thursday’s Episode 52 in Season 3 of  “My Paradoxically Normal Year” on this 27th day of May in the spring of 2021 — which is a three-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic year and then in the pandemic year, and now months after.

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Previously from Season Three, the Paradoxically Normal Year

S3 E51 — What Do Cult Followers Lack?; S3 E50 — Swinging with Systematic-Professionals, Sorta; S3 E49 — Stealing Your Sign Without Doing the Time

Related from Season Two, The Pandemic Year

S2 E52 — What’s So Wrong with Conventional Wisdom Unless …; S2 E51 — Let’s Agree to Make Things Worse, Shall We?; S2 E50 — 5 Fundamental Uncertainties; S2 E49 — Navigating Waves of Disruption When You’ve Lost Your Bearings

Related from Season One, The Normal Year

S1 E52 – Missing Chapters and Paths Not Taken; S1 E51 – Brief, Broad, Fast, Wow and Delight; S1 E50 – The Bias Brothers or Just Plain Losers?; S1 E49 — Magnetize the Version You Imagine

Context

I can’t lie.

It’s all about momentum and energy.  I know it’s weird for some of my fans to pick up where I left off at the end of yesterday’s Critical Thinking section —while trying to make sense of eight more Conclusions.

What, then is Working Memory’s role in Creative Visualization?  

See?

And, what’s that got to do with this natural experiment?  I feel working memory is what I trigger while trying to interpret TauBits of Wisdom.  It’s how I roll as an Information Packaging, INTP.

My physical therapist and I agreed the world needs more critical thinking.  Even so, I asked her if she felt lucky over the last few days, because Steve Aoki’s Holiday Tau is the same as hers.  

Why? 

I told her and she paused, looked up at the ceiling and smiled. 

Did she hold astrological forecasts and critical thinking together in her working memory?

For me, I just kept my head down and plowed ahead back in the office.  One thing just led to another.

I still can’t lie, without letting my physical therapist in on the plot, I just followed what the forecast for the week had been:

“It’s been suggested that there are those who observe how things are and ask, ‘Why?’ and then those who dream and ask, ‘Why not?’ But these needn’t be, and usually aren’t, two different groups. The best thinkers, both diligent and imaginative, bounce between both questions, taking what they can from past conclusions as they move forward to build the new world.”

That’s me I thought, a diligent and imaginative thinker traveling through time bouncing back and forth and milking past conclusions to move forward. Meaning writing up one section at a time in the 1-year’s natural experiment report.

Convergent thinking usually follows my favorite, divergent thinking, ending with better decisions. I advocate following new knowledge generated from manipulating the old, but in a newer frame. 

It’s why I track new trends and business models making links and connections to flesh out this post-pandemic world.

I still can’t lie. 

I wanted to drill down, or is it drill up and in to ask what is my brain doing in creative sessions flipping and flopping between divergent and convergent processes pulling on my working memory.

Working memory involves two processes with different neuroanatomical (neural tissues in the nervous system) locations in the frontal (lying behind your forehead) and parietal lobes (at the upper back area in your skull).

In a two part process your brain retrieves what it thinks is relevant to what you want and then updates your attention to focus on it.

And, then it gets too complex for me.  

Both processes activate different areas and connections and locations in your brain.  

Your attention activates the folded grooves in your gray matter (caudal superior frontal sulcus) and in another area of your cortex (posterior parietal cortex) which plays an important role in planned movements, spatial reasoning, and attention.

Selecting what you want activates other dense sounding names — rostral superior frontal sulcus and posterior cingulate/precuneus.

How does it work in theory?  

I still can’t lie.

You have to add another brain piece to the puzzle — the cerebellum.  You’ve heard of it right? What about working memory and the cerebellum?

From Wikipedia:

“The brain’s frontal lobes and the cognitive functions of the cerebellum collaborate to produce creativity and innovation.” 

How?  

All processes of working memory (responsible for processing all thought) are adaptively modeled for increased efficiency by the cerebellum.

No lie: 

“The cerebellum (consisting of 100 billion neurons, which is more than the entirety of the rest of the brain) is also widely known to adaptively model all bodily movement for efficiency.” 

How?

“The cerebellum’s adaptive models of working memory processing are then fed back to especially frontal lobe working memory control processes where creative and innovative thoughts arise.”

Creative insight or the “aha” experience is then triggered in the temporal lobe. Creative adaptation begins in “… ‘forward’ cerebellar models which are anticipatory/exploratory controls for movement and thought.”

Got it? 

Good, then explain it back to me.

Unless I’ve got this all wrong, I believe there’s a strong connection between memory and imagination linked in the brain — how we understand our world view is a result of arranging perceptions into existing imagery by imagination.

And, experiences stored as long-term memory are easier to recall, because they’re ingrained deeper in the mind.

It’s like a 4-phase process beginning with image generation from memory, continues with maintenance, inspection and then transformation and places all kinds of demands on working memory.

Now, I can lie.  And steal.

Evidence

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

“5”  Steve Carell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “Your work is not always so straightforward, so you appreciate days like today when the small picture so obviously matches up to the big one. The mountain is climbed one upward step at a time.” Leo

Or, my limited mental facilities synch with what I perceive with a creative “aha!” insight.

“5”  Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61: “It takes much more energy to start things than it does to continue them. Make momentum work for you by simply continuing. Once you get in the swing, stay in it.” Virgo

Until I exhaust my self and then it’s time to turn to my heart, right Emma the Baroness?

“4”  Steve Aoki, 41: “There’s much you could be doing, but don’t stress over your choices. Just pick the one that most attracts you, and then stick with that and only that for a while. One choice is a portal through which the world opens up.” Sagittarius

Would that portal begin with working or retiring memory?

“4”  Steve Harvey, 62: “Some call it ‘doing nothing.’ To you, it’s doing what comes naturally without having to think of the needs and reactions of another person. To be alone and agenda-less just may be a basic human need.”  Capricorn

It’s the solitude-seeking introverted way of allowing working memory replenish its “battery”.

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @KnowLabs suite of 36 digital magazines jumps from 8203 to 8218 organically grown followers.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life 

Long-Form

    • “Why?: What Makes Us Curious,” by Mario Livio. “… socially shared myths, rituals, and symbolism were most likely the first sophisticated responses to nagging why and how questions and were therefore the fruits of curiosity. The chain reaction that resulted from the positive feedback between curiosity and language turned Homo sapiens into a powerful intellect, with self-awareness and an inner life.”

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trips

Posted on

S2 E105 — When Cosmic Leads to Decline, Pair Extremes Intentionally

It’s one thing to force the “jump to a winning reinvention path” through a major restructuring of people, processes, technologies and organization rearrangement. It’s quite another to develop the competency in-house to do it over and over again as needed.

“5”  Steve Zahn, 51: “Virtue is best delivered with humility, talent with vulnerability, might with mercy. The cosmic packaging doesn’t always team the right qualities together so you’ll do some intentional pairing.” Scorpio

Hi and welcome to Friday’s Episode 105 in Season 2 of  “My Pandemic Year Natural Experiment” on this 29th day of August in the summer of 2020.  

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Season One and Two are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E104 — Worst Monday Ever. Very, Very Grim …; S2 E103 — Confronting Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt, Resistance and Unrelenting Stress ; S2 E102 — Caught by Surprise in a Major Gut-Wrenching Decline

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E105 — Will Fortune Smile on Us Later in the Evening?; S1 E104 — How Yesterday’s Success Triggers Tomorrow’s Failure; S1 E103 — Innies and Outies and Other Potential Catastrophes; S1 E102 — Why Is It Always Hidden in the Fine Print?

Context

This is a continuation of “Volume Two Manuscript — WorkFit” a work-in-progress. In previous episodes we described Start Up, Emerging Growth, Rapid Growth, Sustained Growth, Maturity, Decline and now Reinvention stages.  

But, each with the emphasis on how a specific stage provides another better fit opportunity for one or more of 16 Talent Profiles, yours included.

The prescription for decline, usually purchased during advanced stages of the “Mature Matrix” disease, is to bring in a new management discipline and the talent that can re-capture breakthrough product innovations while outsourcing non-core competencies

It’s one thing to force the “jump to a winning reinvention path” through a major restructuring of people, processes, technologies and organization rearrangement. It’s quite another to develop the competency in-house to do it over and over again as needed.

It requires the right mix of internal change agents and knowledge managers to reinvent the enterprise and breathe new life into old procedures and processes relevant as the newer proprietary best practices.

But, reinvention begins before the organization leaves maturity and falls into decline in most technology-driven organizations, or after when a disruptive transformation is forced and lessons want to be learned in organizational memory.

A “Chief Reinvention Officer” assembles a team from talent profiles that previously had been skipped over from each of the four major organization types.

In maturing and declining organizations people in the system can’t see the changes that are happening in their environment.  

This is so insidious that frequently the data that they ignore have to do with factors that could literally drive them out of business.  

Growth Stage Key Success Factor Leading to a Crisis New Success Key 
Start Up Loosen  Leadership Tighten
Emerging Tighten Functional Loosen
Rapid Loosen  Autonomy Tighten
Sustained Tighten Repetition Loosen
Maturity Loosen Control Tighten
Decline Tighten Red Tape Loosen

But, 102 Thought Leaders and 113 Idea Packers only start the reinvention process.  It takes a maverick combination of talent to succeed — 104 R&D Experimenters, 106 Operational Accelerants, 109 Internal Change Agents and 115 Professional Practitioners.

To break out of Red Tape Crisis requires the acquisition of or the return of new dance partners — the last of “red” Paradoxy-Moron innovator tribes — the 104 R&D Experimenters who produce new niche breakthrough products.

They’re the masters of collaboration tools and they participate in all sorts of discovery and innovation through their worldwide web-like networks.

But, within the mature organization, they are the most disruptive. Recognizing the external signals of impending decline and acting on them requires foresight. So recognition and execution usually only occur after it is too late to mobilize in time to avoid a decline.

They have to keep the independent, entrepreneurial spirit alive by leading a skunk works for reinventing, reengineering or continuously innovating. 

The “green” 106 Operational Accelerants the last of the four Emerging-Entrepreneurs talent profiles take the emerging core competency further by developing operationally excellent processes — streamlined, efficient and incrementally improved — while deciding which of the non-essentials are outsourced. 

The “tan” 109 Internal Change Agents create the demand for change and execute strategies to minimize resistance critical to innovative and operational success. 

And, finally,  those in “blue”, the last of the Systematic-Professionals,  115 Professional Practitioners may enjoy mastering  a new niche as part entrepreneur and part professional services delivery person. They’re needed to apply proprietary best practices and knowledge gleaned from the growing “intraprenerial proof of concepts” while measuring results the rest of the organization can more easily digest and trust.

“Wait a minute,” you may say. 

According to the Organization Type model the “Red” Paradoxy-Morons and “Tan” Sustaining-Associates” represent polar opposites in just the same way that “Green” Emerging-Entrepreneurs and “Blue” Systematic-Professionals do.

The first shows Disruptive Innovation at the extreme opposite corner from the Sustained Improvement extreme.  The same is true for the diagonal running from   Emerging Knowledge to Embedded Knowledge. 

Of course you are right. 

When it comes to identifying worse fit kinds of organizations.  Because those end points usually lie along the path of highest resistance.

Usually those combinations represent polar opposites dedicated to the highest degrees of disruptive innovation, independence, speed, embedded knowledge, improvement, affiliation and mastery. 

But, if you look closely the four Reinvention Talent Profiles do not embody the highest degree, but rather only medium degrees:

    • 104 R&D Experimenters — Medium degrees of disruptive innovation, independence and speed.
    • 106 Operational Accelerants — Medium degrees of new knowledge, affiliation and speed.
    • 109 Internal Change Agents — Medium degrees of improvement, affiliation and mastery
    • 115 Professional Practitioners — Medium degrees of embedded knowledge, improvement and mastery.

Once a Chief Reinvention Officer builds the team allowing for differences to surface during the storming phase and they begin to learn from each other more collaboratively they become a new model for how a Reinvented organization can be run.

Evidence

“5”  Steve Zahn, 51: “Virtue is best delivered with humility, talent with vulnerability, might with mercy. The cosmic packaging doesn’t always team the right qualities together so you’ll do some intentional pairing.” Scorpio

A Reinvention team doesn’t mesh well especially in the forming stage.  You have to allow members from opposite organization types to argue, become frustrated with each other until differences bring out better understanding.  

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

“4”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “The general public may not be your best audience. Niche down. Once you aim your talent where people are likely to be responsive, you’ll find many to play along.”  Aries 

Depend on the internal change agents to help identify those like-minded people attracted to new niche, but critical paths.

“4”  Steve Howey, 42: “Mistakes will be made. The way of progress is to admit to them, deal with the problem, learn from the sequence and either build on that or move along to the next thing.” Cancer

You have to allow for the messy, mistake filled beginnings before normalization takes hold and sets the stage for high performance. 

“5”  Steve Carrell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “To keep from falling behind, look ahead. Figure out what you might need up there. Grab it and keep walking. Soon, you’ll be looking back and offering advice to the people who stand where you are now.” Leo

The task leads you into first time adventures where the outcome is uncertain filled with highly resistant coworkers.  At first they’ll line up against you until they notice the positive changes they can begin to trust.

Steve Aoki, 41: “Boats that beat against the current may expend great effort only to be borne back. Distance will only be achieved in accordance with the wind and tides.” Sagittarius

You have to expect highly resistant going in the beginning.  Look for those early adaptors who may provide budget and influence necessary to turn the tide your way.

Steve Jobs, (1955 – 2011): “Worry helps no one, least of all you. Think about how you want things to go, and then prepare for that. Direct your positive thoughts and energy to the situation and all will be well.” Pisces

It’s always uphill.  But with the right kind of core foundational story, an inclusive vision and a mission others can swallow you’ll find more people who can lend a hand.

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines organically grew from 4733 to 4807.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life

Long-Form

    • Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip

 

Posted on

S2 E102 — Caught by Surprise in a Major Gut-Wrenching Decline

My head began to swim and I felt sick to my stomach when the caller told me the guy who hired me was just fired by him. Now what am I going to do? His words increased the panic and anxiety in my mind.

“5”  Steve Kerr, 54: “You are unique. To whatever extent you can, set up your environment to flow in a way that supports your particular needs, preferences and thinking style.” Libra

Hi and welcome to Sunday’s Episode 102 in Season 2 of  “My Pandemic Year Natural Experiment” on this 23rd day of August in the summer of 2020.  

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Season One and Two are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E101 — The Story of Strange Bedfellows Saving the Day; S2 E100 — Live, Love, Work, Play, Invest and Leave a Legacy; S2 E99 — Why Pay Over $100,000 When You Don’t Have To?

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E102 — Why Is It Always Hidden in the Fine Print?; S1 E101 — From Saint to Soul Mate and Trusted Friend; S1 E100 — Running out of Determination and Grit by the 100th Day ; S1 E99 — What’s in a Name? Baby Boy Names?

Context

This is a continuation of “Volume Two Manuscript — WorkFit” a work-in-progress.

In previous episodes we described Start Up, Emerging Growth, Rapid Growth, Sustained Growth, Maturity and Decline stages.  But, each with the emphasis on how a specific stage provides another better fit opportunity for one or more of 16 Talent Profiles.

Consequences of Not Mastering Growth Crises

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

We described two mini case studies of what it was like working behind the scenes at a mature companies in a financial, in a consumer industries and in another century-old university system — Part One and Two.

We now shift to a fourth example of a century-old mature organization, a multinational engineering and construction company, but this time caught by surprise which led to a major decline and gut-wrenching restructuring.

22. Internal Consultant MD&T 

Part One

What became a multinational engineering and construction firm began in 1890 by three brothers in Oshkosh, Wisconsin as a saw and paper mill. Thirteen years later the  company was renamed Fluor Bros. Construction Co.. It didn’t set up shop in California until 1912 when John split from his brothers, moved to Santa Ana for health reasons and in a classic story began Fluor Corporation out of his garage.

To to be closer to its oil and gas clients, Fluor’s headquarters were moved to Alhambra, in 1940 before moving again to Orange County, California in the 1960s due to concerns about the cost of living and traffic.

New Profession, New Career

I just wanted to trade working with developmentally delayed clients sporting a range of IQs from 10 to 16 to working with very bright employees in an industry with a bright shiny future of high technology.

From the Outside

Can looks be deceiving? A couple of big shiny glass boxes with “turrets” on each corner and another seven or eight stories tall glass tower represented the future to me — working in them would make a year-long career transition well worth it. 

You couldn’t miss them in the corner of partially developed commercial property at the corner of the San Diego Freeway (405) and Michelson Drive.

Getting the position

My ASTD board role was strategic.  Although I worked 75 miles away from Fluor’s new headquarters I created the association’s position referral function.  I reviewed every new training and development position about to be advertised in our newsletter as a service to corporate education and human resources departments.

The president of our volunteer training organization phoned  me with news he  became the Director of the Management Development and Training group at Fluor and needed to hire some professionals.  He asked if I knew anybody who might be interested.

John Brunstetter fell for my transitional skills, knowledgeable pitch and grew to trust me. 

I met with him taking a sick day in the same office where  I had first introduced myself to Mike Blackmore a few years earlier.

Rotations to Higher Positions

Brunstetter had replaced Mike Blackmore, who took on a more senior level position in Human Resources in the Corporate Tower before leaving for another opportunity. 

Managing Change

Looking back now, as a then undiagnosed 113 Idea Packager, I continued to research and develop “my body of knowledge” accumulated in two prior careers, but needed to find a better paying and more challenging new career.  Several times I became disappointed when the reality didn’t match the potential opportunity.

All my research and information interviews pointed me to training and development.  An awful lot of teachers from my generation had already made the transformation out of the classroom full of kids to classrooms full of adults in corporations.

Finally, my luck changed!

First Change

Then the phone rang.  

Some guy named Dutch was on the other end.  I’m pretty sure most if not all of my personal property had been boxed and a little farewell lunch had been scheduled.

My head began to swim and I felt sick to my stomach when the caller told me the guy who hired me was just fired by him.

Now what am I going to do increased the panic and anxiety in my mind.

I had already accepted his offer, gave my two weeks notice and counted down how many days  until I didn’t have to drive 1 hour and 30 minutes down and back each day.

My blood drained out of me as I sunk into a deep depression.

In Shock

His voice sounded like it echoed through some distant tunnel through my phone at work.  Then, I heard him repeat, “Your job is not effected by this.” 

Actually, he must have picked up on the long speechless pause on my end.  He must have said it two or more times to reassure me and confirm he looked forward to meeting me personally on my first day.

Between a rock and hard place

I wasn’t sure.  And, I didn’t know what to expect after the first day.  Fluor like the University of California in Irvine commanded a prestigious reputation in Orange County. And I’d save on gas and wear and tear on our Volvo.  But, who knows what happens after the first few weeks or months?  I desperately wanted to know why he was fired.  And, if that act meant something bad was happening in the not too distant future

Misjudged the Opportunity

Did I misjudge the situation I found myself in at the end of my career transition?  Yes and no.  Tantamount on my mind was a shift from providing services to client populations suffering from brain injury caused low IQs and vocational services to less educated with back and stress issues to employees with advanced education — in this case engineers, mostly civil and structural — generally a mix of 112 Loyal Survivalists, 110 Analytical Specialists, 114 Brand-as-Experts and 116 Institutional Traditionalists.  

But, the shiny glass buildings and corporate tower might have tipped me off if I had known any better.  Was it a high tech company on the inside? 

Imposter Waiting to Be Uncovered

But, Fluor was a big change for me compared to what I had been doing.  It was scary.  I didn’t have the confidence coming into the company since I felt I was impersonating a professional but was really only faking it until I made it.

I had no feel for what was going on.  I just knew we had no leader for 30 days.  But we were a group of internal consultants and classroom trainers.

I absorbed everything I could from the rest of the Management Development & Training staff.

Just a Number

Right off the bat I didn’t like what the HR rep said during the on boarding process about essentially keeping your nose to the grindstone and you’ll do well.

It kind of echoed what Blackmore told me,  “We don’t air our dirty laundry on the clothesline.”

What’s that old saying?  Why are employees like mushrooms?  Employers feed them shit and keep them in the dark.

Internal Consultant 40,000 Employees

For five years I “faked it until I made it” as an internal consultant in the management development and training.

Other than my college and university experience, this was my first taste of working in a large organization — 40,000 employees at its peak with 6,000 in the corporate office.  

Building

The company the old-timers told me everything changed when they had moved from a military-looking, defense contractor set of building from all over Los Angeles into Irvine’s high-tech looking glass-mirroring compound. 

As soon as they did everyone began dressing up into ties and three-piece suits and had to wear photo id badges.  Kinda like when the raw recruits emerged from the barbershop in basic training and couldn’t recognize everyone.

Everything was new.  Every floor looked the same when you exited the elevator, until you noticed subtle color variations in the carpet and wall decorations.

Confidentiality Location

Our office entrance was on the first floor just before everyone took the escalator down a level to the open cafeteria and enclosed, but open aired patio.

Our group’s location may have been intentionally planned so managers and employees could seek confidential meetings for advice in sticky situations without calling too much undue attention.  Like a sign of weakness. Or a signal that someone was waving dirty laundry.

Strong Command and Control Under Glass

They still kept their strong control and command management style while they were able to fit everyone into the glass compound, except one division — the Advanced Technology Division.  Everyone in the high potential poll of future executives, no matter the location, congregated monthly for high level leadership presentations in our building.

One year a helicopter had flown in some well-known, well-healed politicos who made their entrance from the stairwell in the middle of the open aired patio into the normal eating area, except it was late afternoon and this was the supervisors club meeting — and the Secretary of State on this one occasion was addressing us in a barely distinguishable heavy accent as a favor since he had been on retainer to the CEO.  

He pontificated on the world’s global events and by extrapolation which business opportunities Fluor should strategically capitalize on. 

Here’s What I Didn’t Know

In short order big changes were  coming my way after accepting an offer to work for a growing, mature company in the engineering and construction industry with 45,000 employees worldwide and 6,000 in Irvine, mostly in the Southern California Division.

The executive team misread the length of an industry-wide recession which plunged the mature engineering and construction into a prolonged decline. 

In three years Fluor’s backlog went from $16 billion to $4 billion and reported $633 million in losses which triggered years of difficult restructuring.

I felt my new career slip away. Except another consultant and I saw an intrepreneural opportunity to advance what he had been piloting already and to provide services for hundreds and maybe thousands about to get their pink slips. 

Internal Outplacement 

That might have been a coincidence, or an omen, but one of the first major projects we urgently began developing was outplacement.  Luckily, I knew enough from my Univance work to be dangerous and Tom had already been introducing Career Development Planning as a pilot project.  But, the shit was hitting the fan.

It was a hard sell to executives who knew nothing about outplacement.

They wanted to know how many people took advantage?  They were laid off, right?  Wouldn’t they feel like they had the scarlet letter — “L” on their forehead? And wouldn’t people walking the halls notice them with job-finding binders which would negatively effect morale?

Surfaced Their Resistance, Dumbed Down Our Aspirations

So, we convinced top management to allow us to offer a three hour seminar and a binder covering the best overlooked ways to find a new job.  And then follow that up with more in-depth workshops and counseling — all on site.  

That bite sized chunk turned out to be much easier for them to swallow.  And, working everything out comprehensively gave us the advantage of anticipating almost all of the failure points to avoid.

CEO Blunder

The Orange County Register published an interview with Fluor’s CEO who said, primarily for stock market investors, they were getting rid of the deadwood.  

Word got around fast.  Out of 20 or so attendees in the first seminar only one or two didn’t bring a copy of that article with them.  

It felt like the villagers armed with pitch forks storming the Frankenstein laboratory.  I had to throw out the seminar agenda and improvise on the spot.

Our party line was to focus on finding a job now, because the job market wasn’t booming and they’d need every tip, trick and luck they could muster. 

“Then if you still feel the same, sue later.”  I said that last part in a whisper.

After the first 45 minutes of them venting how unfair it was and recommending lawyers who would take their cases, as engineers they pointed out that they didn’t fall asleep at the helm of the ship and didn’t underestimate the duration of the industry downturn.  

All my partner and I could do was to nod, tell them we feel their pain (knowing they would look at us while thinking we were less valuable to the company then they were), and steer them back to “Here’s what you need to know, how to sign up for workshops and one-on-one coaching.”

Which woke me up to life in the fast lane as I processed hundreds through our internally run outplacement programs adding a staff and scheduling one-on-one advisory sessions, while reaching out to human resources recruiters in southern California companies needing talented people.

Evidence

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

“4”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Routines are like train tracks; once established, you can chug along to your destination without too much drama. Routines will help you do things that would be very hard otherwise.”  Aries 

And that works both ways, right?  When routines and habits become too entrenched they become so hardened that it’s nearly impossible to choose another track. The insidious thing, is we don’t know what we don’t know.  Good stuff gets screened out as the world flies past our window.

“4”  Steve Carrell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “If you can’t say a thing succinctly, that only means you’re still trying to work out which part of it is important. The principle holds true in any pursuit. Economy will come with experience.” Leo

Is that why as an introvert  (INTP) I need to let things cool down and spend an ungodly amount of time processing what just happened?

“5”  Steve Kerr, 54: “You are unique. To whatever extent you can, set up your environment to flow in a way that supports your particular needs, preferences and thinking style.” Libra

Hmm.  So you’re saying holed away in my office, away from everyday distractions helps my thinking style?  That would be 113 Idea Packager aka INTP?

“3”  Steve Aoki, 41: “Today, you’ll be doing the typical you thing but on an atypical scale. Working much bigger or much smaller than usual will highlight your talent in such a way as to teach you where your strengths and weaknesses lie.” Sagittarius

Wow, if you say so.  Either this is so profound and I’m so dense, or I’ll have to get back with you at the end of the day.

Holiday Forecast for the Week Ahead:  

An argument can be made that humans, like ants, bees and termites, are eusocial creatures. It follows that, like ants, bees and termites, most individuals do not do well on their own. 

They need the support of the swarm in order to thrive. For this reason, most humans have a visceral reaction to things like noninclusion, shunning and other forms of rejection. 

While rejection may not be physically harmful, it hits at a primal level. For humans, to be ostracized from the group has historically been a fate akin to death and, indeed, would often lead there. 

Without the protection of the tribe, one person in the wild is vulnerable and constantly challenged, so it follows that a fear of rejection is a normal and useful part of socialization. 

Since most people fear and avoid rejection, those who go the opposite way are regarded with admiration. And those who risk rejection often become somewhat immune to the otherwise crippling effects of rejection-fear. More and greater options are open to those who are unafraid to try for them.

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines organically grew from 4733 to 4807.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life

Long-Form

    • Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip

Posted on

S2 E101 — The Story of Strange Bedfellows Saving the Day

If the slow moving, status quo loving cruise ship falls into desperate straits the captain needs new strategic steering and a new sense of urgency to keep from running aground. 

“5”  Steve Howey, 42: “Human perception (and indeed, survival) depends on filtering out more than what we let into our awareness. You may be noticing a lot more than the others. Try not to hold it against them.” Cancer

Hi and welcome to Saturday’s Episode 101 in Season 2 of  “My Pandemic Year Natural Experiment” on this 2nd day of August in the summer of 2020.  

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Season One and Two are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E100 — Live, Love, Work, Play, Invest and Leave a Legacy; S2 E99 — Why Pay Over $100,000 When You Don’t Have To? ; S2 E98 — Why Your Company Simply Won’t Make It Out of Puberty

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E101 — From Saint to Soul Mate and Trusted Friend; S1 E100 — Running out of Determination and Grit by the 100th Day ; S1 E99 — What’s in a Name? Baby Boy Names?; S1 E98 — Why Can’t I Leave 26 Orphans for a Well Deserved Vacation?

Context

This is a continuation of “Volume Two Manuscript — WorkFit” a work-in-progress.

In previous episodes we described Start Up, Emerging Growth, Rapid Growth, Sustained Growth and Maturity stages.  But, each with the emphasis on how a specific stage provides another better fit opportunity for one or more of 16 Talent Profiles

Consequences of Not Mastering Growth Crises

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

 We described two mini case studies of what it was like working behind the scenes at a mature companies in a financial, in a consumer industries and in another century-old university system — Part One and Two.

Decline

Strange bedfellow feel attracted to declining organizations. One drawn to the crisis from the “Blue Box” of Systematic-Professionals and the other from the “Red Box” of Paradoxy-Morons. You’ll see an interesting partnership formed by 113 Idea Packagers (Blue) and 102 Thought Leaders (Red).

16 Talent Profiles by Organization Type

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

Why?

A company or any organization that has been successfully operating for over 40 years, and especially those that have been around for a century or longer, like our last three examples, over extend their prevailing business model and the systems required to operate in the status quo.

You could say, and you wouldn’t be wrong, they fall victim to maturity “group think” that collectively filters out information from the margins — where emerging competition fester. 

Set in their ways, mature organizations will do almost anything to repeat the success factors derived from building on what has worked for years and maybe generations. 

They recruit, develop and retain, all most unconsciously like-minded people with similar backgrounds and education.

They build layer upon layer of complex organizational structures and operating systems which divorce them from director customer contact, which start ups and growth companies build strong relationships with.  

Their expertise becomes highly specialized, but their research and development functions don’t really benefit from direct market feedback and shifting customer requirements.

A mature culture resists any threat to their status quo until it is too late and they become victim to their own Red-Tape Crisis.

In short, reversing the risk adverse, red tape-poisoned culture requires outside intervention with a newer perspective while the company restructures, downsizes and outsources costly internal operations.

The outside partnership blends combinations high degrees of independence with medium degrees of disruptive innovation, speed, embedded knowledge, improvement and mastery.

The 113 Idea Packagers work well in settings that require outside-the-system perspective when information filtering contributes to decline. They provide the conceptual framework by which manuals, organizational procedures, and even work assignments are translated and put into action. 

They also tend to be impatient with the bureaucracy, rigid hierarchies, and politics prevalent in many professions, preferring to work informally with others as equals. But, 113 Idea Packagers use cleverness and independent thinking to problem-solve and reinvent, and in an easygoing, unassuming manner prod organizational change and improvement towards restructuring, downsizing, outsourcing and other relevant solutions to the red tape crisis.

Why a partnership with talent from a Paradoxy-Moron culture? While 102 Thought Leaders share a high degree of independence with 113 Idea Packagers they’re attracted to medium degrees of speed and disruptive innovation.  If the slow moving, status quo loving cruise ship falls into desperate straights the captain needs new strategic steering and a new sense of urgency to keep from running aground. 

Evidence

“4”  Steve Zahn, 51: “The remedy to get past fear and discomfort is to do the very thing you would most want to avoid. You don’t have to do it a lot though because once or twice will get you over things quite nicely today.”Scorpio

Almost every effort to change a mature organization is met with overwhelming resistance, fear and discomfort.  Also FUD — fear, uncertainty and doubt.  That’s why the new direction provided in collaboration with thought leader requires an idea packager to cement a tangible future the remaining employees can believe in.

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

Today’s Holiday Birthday:  

Your projects do not have to be lucrative for you to consider them a success, and yet you’ll have the pleasure of many different beneficial outcomes flowing from your work, including financial gain. Young and inexperienced people will follow your lead and be better for it. New relationships start the year off with style.

How awesome is that?  Too bad this ain’t my birthday so I can claim it.  If it’s yours, please be my guest!

“3”  Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “You already know what you like, so do something else. Better to find out that you have a great range of likes than to narrow your scope and be stuck trying to satisfy niche preferences.”  Aries 

One of the lessons I learned over a 5 year employment in a declining company is you need to quickly volunteer for projects to add value in the downsizing, and then during the rightsizing and then back to innovation in the reinvention upsizing.

“5”  Steve Howey, 42: “Human perception (and indeed, survival) depends on filtering out more than what we let into our awareness. You may be noticing a lot more than the others. Try not to hold it against them.” Cancer

As in groupthink in a declining organization that may not realize it yet?

“4” Steve Carrell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “It’s going well. It doesn’t mean that all the lights are green or that the journey is comfortable, cool and frustration-free. It just means that you are actually getting somewhere.” Leo

I once was told that Start Ups don’t realize they are out of business until 6 months afterwards.  He never told me how long it took for Mature companies to realize they peaked and were on the downside of their incredible run.  I’m sure a thought leader could reveal how much time was left.

“3” Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61: “When you know where you want to go but not how to get there, don’t worry. You’ll figure it out. If you don’t know where to go, then wait until you get an idea. Better to sit and conserve your energy than to aimlessly wander.” Virgo

In mature organizations on the decline require thought leaders to help provide the “where” and idea packagers to help select which wave of change to embrace and how to surf it to shore.

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines organically grew from 4733 to 4807.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life 

Long-Form

    • Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip

Posted on

S2 E100 — Live, Love, Work, Play, Invest and Leave a Legacy

Not all my Executive MBA students hailed from large, mature healthcare organizations.  If they did, they weren’t confident that they could crack the glass ceiling, nor did many physicians really want to.  

“5”  Steve Zahn, 51: “You’re an excellent student of life because of your genuine curiosity. You are interested in more than just memorizing what you need to know for life’s various tests. Your longing for deep knowledge will be sated.” Scorpio

Hi and welcome to Friday’s Episode 100 in Season 2 of  “My Pandemic Year Natural Experiment” on this 21st day of August in the summer of 2020.  

“The Tau of Steves: What You Don’t Know Could Fill a Book”

Table of Contents

Season One and Two are a two-year examination of how bits of wisdom changed during the “normal” pre-pandemic and then in this unfolding pandemic year.

Previously in Season Two, the Pandemic Year

S2 E99 — Why Pay Over $100,000 When You Don’t Have To? ; S2 E98 — Why Your Company Simply Won’t Make It Out of Puberty ; S2 E97 — Frame Blindness and Decision Traps

Related from Season One, the Normal Year

S1 E100 — Running out of Determination and Grit by the 100th Day ; S1 E99 — What’s in a Name? Baby Boy Names?; S1 E98 — Why Can’t I Leave 26 Orphans for a Well Deserved Vacation? ; S1 E97 — My Top 19 Reasons for Failing

Context

This is a continuation of “Volume Two Manuscript — WorkFit” a work-in-progress.

In previous episodes we described Start Up, Emerging Growth, Rapid Growth, Sustained Growth and Maturity stages.  But, each with the emphasis on how a specific stage provides another better fit opportunity for one or more of 16 Talent Profiles.

We described two mini case studies of what it was like working behind the scenes at a mature companies in a financial, in a consumer industries and in another century-old university system.

33. Advisor — Executive and Healthcare MBA Program 

Part Two

The business school recognized it had to compete more aggressively for students and slowly shifted emphasis to digital leadership.  The heart of their marketing told prospective Executive MBA students they’d be able to think creatively and strategically about business challenges of the future.

Separately the University launched “The Cove” to fill the Orange County start up vacuum.  More of the Executive Students I advised, even in Healthcare, felt its magnetic pull particularly to commercialize ideas flowing from medical device, biotechnology and other research laboratories. I felt it too and developed relationships with its leaders. 

Here’s what we were up against.  Most residents in Orange County with college bound young adults, if their ambitions were to turn your ideas into a business you didn’t want to attend a campus in the UC System In fact, your best fit would be the Cal State System. You don’t want research and theories,  but you need tools, tips and practical guidance.

The business school’s pitch went something like this:  We have a long tradition of training professionals to succeed at the executive level.  Are you prepared to lead transformation and embrace opportunities for innovation in your industry?

Four Talent Profiles Attracted to Systematic-Professional Organizations

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

Clearly pitched at Systematic-Professionals like ourselves, the value proposition promised … you will build a general management foundation complemented by opportunities to further explore the healthcare space, enabling you to apply your understanding of business to the changing healthcare industry.

Our program maximizes your return on investment by: 

    • Delivering relevant knowledge and skills, 
    • Valuable connections with peers in other industries and
    • Prestigious credentials to accelerate your career and organization.

That’s where our group came in.

My project was so different than what my colleagues were providing that  I could independently create a unique suite of services customized for executives. Their “customers” were  students who just graduated with little or no work experience. 

For  the first five years as a Systematic-Professional 113 Idea Packager I flourished reporting directly to the Executive Director working autonomously while establishing services from the ground up as an intrapreneur: 

    • Launched the Executive to Executive mentoring program by recruiting and maintaining  a core of 45 to 50 VP and C-Suite Executives
    • Matched 35 to 45 executive students with mentors each quarter based on type of organization and stage of growth.  
    • Included 5 to 7 industry contacts. 
    • Hosted quarterly mentoring breakfast meetings. 
    • Held panel discussion with alumni and industry leaders for students.
    • Recruited entrepreneurs and alumni for frank Q&A exchanges with students considering a startup.

Not all Executive MBA students hailed from large, mature healthcare organizations.  If they did, they weren’t confident that they would crack the glass ceiling, nor did many physicians really want to. 

They wanted to figure out why certain decisions had been made for business reasons that had impacted them.  Or, they had well researched ideas they wanted to advance, but needed a better understanding of how top executives prioritized their decisions.  Still others felt certain their start up ideas could be winners.

In a way the Healthcare Executive MBA students wanted the same payoffs as did the majority number of students in the Executive MBA program.  

As I met with each one individually before matching them with the best mentor I could find we pinpointed where they found themselves in their current situation.

We’d determine how they rated themselves in terms of high degrees of:

    • Independence or Affiliation
    • Speed or Mastery
    • Disruptive Innovation or Sustained Improvement
    • Emerging Knowledge or Embedded Knowledge

Four Organization Types

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

Using myself for example I preferred higher degrees of Embedded Knowledge, Independence and Mastery.  So on face value the blue box (Systematic-Professionals) would be a better fit for me.

But, not all Executive and Healthcare EMBA students were currently in the “color box” they preferred.  One decision they could make was to switch for a better fit — say, “Blue” (Systematic-Professionals) to “Green” (Emerging-Entrepreneurs).  The right mentor-match could prove to be helpful.

Next we’d explore curriculum choices:

Work For Themselves

    • Start a Business
    • Buy a Business or Franchise
    • Launch a Consulting Practice

Work for an Organization

    • Create an Intrapreneurial Position
    • Advance in Your Career
    • Change Your Career
    • Master a Career Disruption

For Executive EMBA students who worked at the same employer for several years which seemed to be plateaued compared to their competitors we would discuss reasons starting with their assessment of which growth stage they’ve stalled in.

Recognizing we haven’t profiled what works and doesn’t work in decline and reinvention stages yet my advice was to ask questions about how to address the crisis most likely constraining their employer and their career in each of the classes and from other students.

Consequences of Not Mastering Growth Crises

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

Of course another source would be matched to a mentor who had met those challenges successfully.

180 – Degree Shift in Success by Stages

Growth Stage Key Success Factor Leading to a Crisis New Success Key
Start Up Loosen Leadership Tighten
Emerging Tighten Functional Loosen
Rapid Loosen Autonomy Tighten
Sustained Tighten Repetition Loosen
Maturity Loosen Control Tighten

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

Unless those students were career junkies like me who worked in each of those growth stages or consulted with clients confronted with artificial barriers to their organization’s growth, most only needed to focus on the edge of one box and determine what was necessary to jump into the next box for a few years.  

Managing 180 Degree Shifts Required for Each Stage

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

Those students encountering the most difficulty when it came to changing their careers had spent  decades in a Systematic-Professional Organization Type or a long-term company in the Maturity phase.

Returning to Organization Types, we’ve already covered 10 of 16 Talent Profiles.  If you think about a company’s culture, it is made up of more of a mix of talent profiles (4) and as people come and go each organization tends to recruit  the same type.

16 Talent Profiles by Organization Type

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

Let’s say you value high degrees of Embedded Knowledge, Independence and Mastery aka the talent culture you’d find at a university in the “Blue Box.” 

As one of my Executive MBA students, say a researcher on campus in biotechnology, you most likely would not flourish in the opposite “Green Box” known as Emerging-Entrepreneurs.  

Of course you could make it work, but it may feel too fluid with its focus on higher degrees of speed, emerging knowledge and affiliation.

Speaking of affiliation, the four talent profiles defining a “Tan Box” Sustaining-Associate Organization  favoring higher degrees of mastery and sustained improvement in addition to affiliation would struggle fitting into the “Red Box” of Paradoxy-Morons. 

So if you want to find a better fit, stay away from opposite color boxes.  If you’ve had it with your “box color” as in a career change, try probing an adjacent box to a medium degree of career satisfaction.

If you can’t handle the high speed, disruptive innovation “Red Box” culture, you might like the working in “Blue Box” Systematic-Professionals or the “GreenBox” Emerging-Entrepreneurs.

Two Systematic-Professionals Attracted to Maturity Growth Stage

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

Summary

But, wait there’s more.  As in more options.

As you grow from start up to maturity as an organization my Executive MBA students the talent profiles can “break out” and add value to a specific state.  Two “red” profiles, 101 Breakpoint Investors and 103 Commercial Innovators are joined by “green” 105 Marketing Athletes.

If that Start Up jumps successfully into the first of two growth stages — Emerging Growth — two additional “green” profiles,  107 Resilient Product Teams and 108 Core Business Group, fuel further growth.

But as Emerging flips int Rapid Growth the first two of three Sustaining-Associate “tan” profiles, 111 Agile Tiger Teams and 112 Loyal Survivalists keep the wheels on the bus at higher speeds.  As Rapid Growth shifts into Sustained Growth the third “tan” profile joins the other two, 110 Analytical Specialists.

And, as we’ve already illustrated in these three mini case studies, as the company peaks and maintains their growth at the Maturity level, two “blue” profiles are required to keep the airplane routes synchronized, on schedule and systematically maintained — 114 Brand-as-Experts and 116 Institutional Traditionalists.

Where to Find the Best Fit

Talent Profile Growth Stage Organization Type
101 Breakpoint Inventors Start Up Paradoxy-Morons
103 Commercial Innovators Start Up Paradoxy-Morons
105 Marketing Athletes Start Up Emerging-Entrepreneurs
107 Resilient Product Teams Emerging Growth Emerging-Entrepreneurs
108 Core Business Group Emerging Growth Emerging-Entrepreneurs
111 Agile Tiger Teams Rapid Growth Sustaining-Associates
112 Loyal Survivalists Rapid Growth Sustaining-Associates
110 Analytical Specialists Sustained Growth Sustaining-Associates
114 Brand-as-Experts Maturity Systematic-Professionals
116 Institutional Traditionalists Maturity Systematic-Professionals

Image Credit: Stephen G. Howard  Copyright 2020

Next up:  we leave organizations at the Maturity Growth and describe two talent profiles who specialize and helping “pilots” pull up from their premature Decline.

Evidence

“5”  Steve Zahn, 51: “You’re an excellent student of life because of your genuine curiosity. You are interested in more than just memorizing what you need to know for life’s various tests. Your longing for deep knowledge will be sated.” Scorpio

Maybe this is why I’ve been drawn to figuring things out, what makes things work when it comes to accumulating knowledge and passing it on.  How to live, love, work, play, invest and leave a legacy.

Random ones that make me want change my sign.

“5” Steve McQueen (1930 – 1980): “Thinking counts as effort, but nothing comes into being through thought alone. Air must be moved, words spoken, written or sung, action and work of any kind completed. The more air that’s moved, the more real a thing becomes.”  Aries

So that’s what this is all about?  Describing the air bending actions necessary to maneuver in Mature organizations? 

“4” Steve Howey, 42: “It’s one of those days when you’ll do what’s good for you even though you don’t feel like it. It’s the sort of discipline that makes future decisions easier for you. Soon these things will require no discipline at all.” Cancer

Promises, promises. Let’s hope so…

“4” Steve Carrell, 57; Steve Martin, 74; Steve Wozniak, 69: “Giving love the same way as usual is nice enough. But people get desensitized to typical experiences. When you give more and differently, it’s like stretching the elastic of your heart to a greater capacity for love and joy.” Leo

Now that’s what I’m talking about for this Friday night near the end of summer!

“3” Steve Greene, 34; Steve Guttenberg, 61: “You can be sweet, but too much sweetness is no fun. Sometimes, your playfulness can come out in swipes. Knowing how far to go with mischief is the essence of intimacy.” Virgo

During this pandemic don’t I get a pass or does it only serve to heighten the tension?

“3”. Steve Aoki, 41: “A whole new level of adulthood kicks in with the realization that others measure the world and themselves differently from the way you do. Accepting this nonstandard system is its own badge of maturity.” Sagittarius

Ok, riddle me this. Of what do you speak, this maturity badge?  Unique talent magnetized to this organizational growth stage, eh?

“4” Steve Harvey, 62: “You know an excellent suggestion when you hear it. You’ll follow up and soon be onto an interesting project, one that seems to create its own momentum.”  Capricorn

Yeah, well that’s exactly what intrigued me over the years and is now unfolding with a life of its own. Or during this pandemic I can complete that jigsaw puzzle sitting on our dining room table. 

What’s Going On …

Literally Bottled and Set Adrift from KnowWhere Atoll 

    • @knowlabs followers of one or more of my 35 digital magazines organically grew from 4733 to 4807.

Foresight

Quality-of-Life

Long-Form

    • Saw the movie, didn’t realize that one of my favorite authors, Michael Connelly — his detective Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch book series and Amazon Prime series — also wrote, “The Lincoln Lawyer” which I just finished. Gotta tell you I can’t not see his lead character (Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother) as anyone else but Matthew McConaughey. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by: Holiday Mathis – Creators Syndicate

CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

The Knowledge Path | Know Laboratories | Knowledge Banking | Knowledge ATMs | Western Skies and Island Currents | Best West Road Trip

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