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Working smarter is about finding new ways to get the same results in less time. Working smarter is about “doing more with less” and is the basis for increased productivity.

The infamous 80/20 rule suggests that 80 percent of our results come from just 20 percent of our efforts. Conversely I have through experience found that as a manager, if you let it, 80 percent of your time can be spent managing the bottom 20 percent of performers. So the first way to improve our performance (work smarter) is to change our focus and invest more time in our top 20 percent of performers. Easy you may say, of course, however it will take great discipline to implement this basic change in behaviour.

Here are a few more working smarter ideas to consider:

Becoming sound human relations practitioners and acting with respect for the needs of others: If you communicate well, form sound relationships and become more aware of an other’s needs you are far more likely to be able to enlist their help in achieving your desired results. Central to achieving this of course is being willing to develop & show sincere interest our colleagues’ well-being.

Constantly seeking what is effective rather than efficient: I’ve seen the most efficient people shuffle paper, religiously answer emails and maintain perfect filing systems however these are not the activities that will produce improved outcomes or greater productivity. Efficiently managing inputs is a given for any competent manager however finding ways to improve the level of outputs is the core of effectiveness and to being a smarter worker.

Working towards being agents of change rather than knockers of the new: Change is constant and developing a need to seek new and better ways to do things is a must. Question everything and don’t assume that the way it’s always been done is necessarily the best way to get it done.

Increasing our value adders and ridding ourselves of energy suckers: if you can’t measure a positive outcome from an activity that you often engage in you really need to stop the activity or make a case to those that are imposing the activity on you on why it should be abandoned. Often other will have you doing something which is done out habit that may in truth, no longer really be necessary.

Understanding our five points of power and using them all – see: five points of power
Approaching every activity with a customer in mind – see: excellent customer service

Stever Robbins in an article for Harvard Business School says: “Another way to work smarter is by distinguishing busy from productive. Oh, we’re busy, and we feel productive, but we’re only productive if we’re producing the results that are most important to moving the company forward”. Ref: hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/5190.html

Managing our limited time wisely – a few tweets I have done in the past: twitter.com/rictownsend

• #Time #Management: Don’t clutter your desk, file it, delegate it, or trash it. Action 1 item at a time! Clutter slows work!
• #Time #Management: Stop ‘multitasking’ it is not time effective, trying to do 2 or more things at once just does not work.
• #Time #Management: Plan your work & work your plan. Remember the 6 p’s ‘Proper Planning Prevents Pitifully Poor Performance’
• #Time #Management: Give instructions once, ensure receiver focused & is listening by asking astute questions to confirm understanding!
• #Time #Management: Prioritize tasks in order of importance A B C piles, split B into A or C, file C until someone follows you up, do “A” now!

Finally sometimes subordinating our own desires as the manager for the sake of the group can be a wise decision as it can help to build trust and loyalty and improve levels of cooperation. Obviously you don’t want to become a puppet of the team you are leading, however dogmatically sticking to a course of action or point of view because of your delegated “legitimate power” can reduce your effectiveness as a leader and your ability to work smarter.

To develop an entrepreneurial spirit in yourself and others you must develop in yourself and encourage in others a desire to seek feedback on performance from external customers. This tends to come hard to those more attuned to seeking acceptance from organization members interested in systems and delivery issues (often, senior management). One way to expose yourself and your staff to progress is to engage in experiential learning (learning by doing) experiences. That means you and your staff need to get involved in new areas and “out of your comfort zone activities” such as cross-functional project teams.

To measure your performance from an entrepreneurial point of view  you need to conduct performance assessment based on personal (and team) customer satisfaction levels, rather than comparison to some pre determined performance management system. In addition non-managerial, professional career schemes will need to be available to ensure a motivating future with appropriate rewards that can be envisaged/embraced by all stakeholders.

In the “old days” as a traditional manager you were expected to control inputs and encouraged to reward those who learn and posses the best process skills. Functional responsibilities were to control the people, oversee organization roles and ensure the correct skills were applied to the task at hand.

As an entrepreneur will you need to manage outputs, reward achievement, develop market-focused competencies (knowledge and skills applied to the task at hand) and develop and lead an appropriate value system.

By the way…

Direct page viewers can go to main blog to check out other posts by clicking on the white “orglearn.org” in the header panel above!

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Entrepreneurial Characteristics

Risk taker that can live with uncertainty

Adaptable to change and able to improvise

Can see how new innovations satisfy a market

Interested in effectiveness rather than efficiency

Either creative him/herself or able to utilize those who are

Has a desire to lead in his/her area of operation or market

A continuos learner willing to make and or tolerate mistakes

Flexible, willing to change direction as the circumstances dictate

Self possessed of a sense of urgency and stimulates that sense in others

Recognizes his/her shortcomings and empowers others who compensate

Finally you need to understand that as an entrepreneurial manager you need to develop a creative outlook on what is to be done in response to and as a result of interacting with a fast changing environment. You must be very conscious of the effect of your old paradigms (norms) on how you see things an overcome the need for stability and a reliance on systems. An ability and willingness to follow hunches is essential for an entrepreneurial manager.

With the recent economic troubles a learning organization is a must for a successful future.

The following nine points are an adapted from an old however very good, must buy book – Mitch McCrimmon’s – ‘Unleash the Entrepreneur Within’

Remembering that the only way to improve is to learn and the only proof of learning is a change in behavior, how can we create organizations that learn and more importantly change?

1. Budget, time, money and manpower to achieve both individual and organizational learning – ensure management and ALL employees see learning as a ‘real target’ and set up mechanisms to ensure accountability and to measure results. Many organizations seem to talk about being learning organizations however if it isn’t budgeted for, invested in and measured it is just a farce. Each manager needs to have learning and knowledge retention listed in their key responsibility areas and be assessed on their performance in this area at performance appraisal time.

2. Identify strategic learning areas for your business and where new products or product innovations are likely to yield the quickest and greatest payoff – invest most of you’re resources in these areas. It is also important to look at the long term learning issues that your organization needs to address.

3. Empower your work force to take risks in the market by decentralizing decision making – particularly encourage those in areas of key knowledge. As I have written in previous posts now is the time to wholeheartedly adopt transformational leadership practices in day to day operations and as a management policy.

Note: Many empowerment programs in Asian operations of international organizations run in to problems because of cultural attitudes (and beliefs) related to power and responsibility, be careful in implementing this option!

4. Set up a system of on job training, job rotation, provide incentives and support for personal development – initiate a PD (personal development) discussion process. PD discussions need to be taken seriously with personal targets set and behavior changes measured and rewarded.

The only way to improve is to learn and continuous learning is not a perhaps or maybe… today more than ever its an imperative!

**Link for direct page viewers return to main career success blog to check out other posts!

If you aren’t lucky enough to be working for a learning organization and need a change it may be time to update your resume so when you’ve finished the article take a look at the free blank resume form!

To continue…

5. Form learning partnerships with suppliers, distributors, and customers – set up feedback mechanisms such as focus groups, R&D joint ventures and customer survey mechanisms. Remember your organization can learn as much if not more from complaints as it can from compliments. Be sure that bad news is seen as an opportunity to improve and learn not only as a reason to discipline someone.

6. Have all positions applied for and include outsiders in our recruitment drive – only appoint the best in their field and avoid the all to familiar ‘best of a bad bunch’ in times of competence shortages. Promotion from within only should be a dead policy.

7. Benchmark your culture against other entrepreneurial firms – seek ways to understand key success factors for the market leaders in our field and study the oppositions’ successes. This is an area that seems to most difficult for many companies so a project team needs to address this as a serious and essential activity.

8. Set up a readily accessible knowledge bank and ‘experience’ network of mentors, gurus and experts in their field. Make sure the knowledge accumulated by expert staff doesn’t walk out the door with your retirees. With the “same old same old” mistakes made by bankers as evidenced by the recent meltdown shows that this industry particularly do not take learning and knowledge retention seriously.

9. Celebrate and recognize attempts to learn by employees who take a market risk and publicize within our organization by initiating fast real world feedback mechanisms. With today’s communication technology this is easier than ever however, someone still needs to initiate the action.

The nine steps for setting up a learning organization can at least give a good starting point for you to create a true learning organization however, it will take great effort and enormous commitment.

WHAT ARE SPIN-DOCTORS AND WHAT IS SPIN?

Spin-Doctor is a term that has spread from US politics. Spin-doctors are similar to (and as some complain often confused with) ‘REAL’ public relations or public affairs individuals. Professional Spin-Doctors are used to create ‘spin’ for everything from charities, entertainers, sports people, businesses and politicians.

Spin is usually a biased or at least a limited interpretation what has happened. The ‘doctors’ analyse the matter for us and tell us what we need to understand, how to interpret information about an event and what perspective or context we should have when considering what has happened. Spin-doctors ‘advise’ us… usually they take the approach that it’s never a matter of what actually happened, it’s always how we look at it, or that it is only their ‘true’ perspective that counts. Spin is not about reality or consequences its more a matter of understanding why something happened.

Why are these people called spin-doctors? The majority of us develop an attitude or belief about an event by the manner that event is presented to us. So if we want to manipulate people’s perception, we need to alter their perspective by the way we present the information to them. To do this effectively we must put the right “spin” or ‘bent’ on the facts to influence perception in order to manipulate interpretations. The payoff is that if we put the right “spin” on the information we may be able to lead people to the interpretation and perception that we want.

“YOU CAN FOOL MOST OF THE PEOPLE MOST OF THE TIME”

WHY DO SO MANY GROUPS USE SPIN-DOCTORS?

Spin-Doctors exist because facts, figures, events and words, all have different meanings to different people. As an example the phrase, when talking to a builder, ‘you work like lightening’ can be interpreted as FAST. If the builder, is knocking nails in it can mean, INEPT, as he keeps missing the nailhead because “lightening never strikes the same place twice”. The presentation and interpretation of information is often the key to success for those pushing their version of the truth. Careers, businesses, whole communities can be made or broken through the power of public opinion. The media moulds public opinion and the media in particular can be manipulated by spin.

Most reasonable individuals, one would hope, will take the view that although spin can help, what really matters is how people (we) BEHAVE! If you ‘suck’ (as they say in the classics), all the spin in the world won’t help. For companies, successful spin means we need to be seen as ‘good’ corporate citizens and take account of HOW OUR ACTIONS effect those with a stake in our organization.

Wisdom dictates that we understand that spin-doctors come disguised as news commentators, political analysts, PR consultants, HR directors, financial controllers, ‘in the know’ mates at the office, ‘independent’ personal financial advisors or even friends and family. (Some even come disguised as educators. The difference is that a true educator informs to allow us to learn how to think, a spin-doctor informs to control our thinking.) Beware of the spin-doctors in your organization for they can blur your vision, destroy your mission and disrupt your well-laid plans.

IN AUSTRALIA THEY USE A TERM, “BULLSHIT BAFFLES BRAINS” AND TODAY IT SEEMS TRUER THAN EVER! (Pardon my language however it says it clearly)

SPIN ON THE NET

Lets face it today there is so much rubbish on the net and the tide of spin is rising, so many marketers trying to sell get rich schemes to the gullible. I have been on the net for over ten years, I make a little money, however the get rich stuff just doesn’t do it for me at all. Sure I’ve found a couple of systems that work for me, in fact one earns me and 18% return however it takes constant work and effort to get that return, just as it does with any business. Lots of internet marking activitiy I can tell you is boring, mundane and you need persistance and commitment! So don’t throw your hard eaned cash into some thing that some slick spin doctor is telling you. Best remember the old adage “if it sounds too good to be true it probably is”.

PS If you really want an online/net activity to make a few of dollars, that’s free to try and cheap to get into, take a look at this.

If you do like the media ownership idea and need any help you can Skype me at rictownsend

I’m also in another small marketing group that is very helpful and has taught me lots of good stuff that you could take a look at. Although I haven’t personally made a lot of money from it, I have made friends and learned not what to get into. This one is a bit like a marketing social group mainly older guys and girls and the friendship value itself has made it worthwhile let alone the knowledge I’ve gained. This one is Ric’s RML Friends

Ric (orglearn) **Link for direct page viewers return to main career success blog to check out other posts!

Want to ’spin’ yourself to an employer? While you’re here take a look at the free blank resume form!

Watch this interview with Rupert Murdoch who is suggesting (stating) that News Corporation is likely to make its content ‘unfindable’ to users on Google when it launches its paid content strategy.

Couple of quotes:

“Murdoch said, “We’d rather have fewer people coming to our website, but paying.” User pays and internet… almost an oxymoron in the context he’s talking about it?

“They [users] can also, if they choose, have only a small summary of their content indexed.” Aha written ’sound bites’ and teasers… nope I’d go once and then forget their site totally… not smart Mr Murdoch!

The telling thing for me was the level of communication or quality (or lack of it) of his speech. Looks like and icon is fading to me. Pity needs to hand it over to someone a bit younger perhaps and I’m a pretty old guy myself so it hurts to say that about anyone let alone Rupert Murdoch.

Ric (orglearn) **Link for direct page viewers return to main career success blog to check out other posts!

While you’re here take a look at the free blank resume form!

To continue with the changing role of managers…

In TRADITIONAL organizations managers coordinate and tell their subordinates what the company wants and how to do it right the first time. In an ENTREPRENEURIAL organization managers need to troubleshoot and facilitate between entrepreneurial employees, other stakeholders, production equipment and corporate systems. WHY… the increasing use of sophisticated information and technology systems and the need for direct multi level & cross function communications necessitates a more sophisticated manager/leader type approach.

TRADITIONAL… being the ‘technical expert’ or ‘company policy and procedure’ expert was a primary function for many in the past. ENTREPRENEURIAL… provide liaison between technical experts and traditional delivery sections of the organization. WHY… the need for interpretation of what the “experts” are saying to senior executives charged with responsibility for overall investment decisions.

TRADITIONAL… adjudicate on customer requests, ‘tell him we can’t deliver until next week’ type functions, inward focusing. ENTREPRENEURIAL… be adept at providing resources needed to compete in the market place and be outward focused. WHY because of increased customer demands for immediate decisions due to ever increasing levels of competition.

ARE THE JOB DESCRIPTIONS AND PROCEDURAL DOCUMENTS FOCUSSED ON THE CUSTOMER OR THE GOOD OLD ‘WAY THINGS WERE’?

Ric (orglearn) **Link for direct page viewers return to main career success blog to check out other posts!

Want to break from tradition in join somewhere a little more entrepreneurial? Time to ypdate your resume with the appropriate shill sets so take a look at the free blank resume form!

Article by Dr. W. D. Staples (Kindly provided by James Cousineau)

“CEOship and Executive Management

A Whole New Paradigm – A New Way of Thinking.

We, as business leaders, have a huge responsibility. Consider how civilization has evolved and the critical role corporations have played over the years. Where would we be today without the appearance of the commercial enterprise in our daily affairs?

In the world of institutions, the commercial enterprise is a relative newcomer to the scene. It’s been around for about 600 or 700 years, a time inconsequential in the course of human history.

Yet consider its huge impact and incredible success. In spite of the fact the world’s population has exploded, especially in the last 100 years, it’s been the commercial enterprise that has sustained this population and allowed it to prosper in ways few could have predicted. By the thousands, large and small, sophisticated and not so sophisticated, these enterprises have created the wealth and the prosperity we enjoy today, yet often take for granted.

Consider what the United Nations said in the latest edition of its Human Development Report. The report states the world has made massive strides in lifting people out of misery and poverty and providing them with better education, higher incomes, longer and healthier lives, more democratic freedoms and cleaner environments. ‘…and many more people can enjoy a decent standard of living, with average incomes in developing countries having almost doubled in real terms between 1975 and 1998, from US$1,300 to US$2,500,’ it went on.

But on the darker side, it noted of the planet’s six billion people, 850 million are illiterate, nearly a billion lack access to improved water sources, 2.4 billion lack basic sanitation and 1.2 billion, or 20 percent, live on less than US$1 a day.

So as we look ahead, say to the next 25 or 50 years, our challenge only gets greater. The world’s population will continue to grow, projected to reach nine billion by 2070. Our natural resources will continue to be depleted. Our environment will continue to be at risk. Our population will continue to age. And our youth, as new entrants to the labor force, will want work but even more important, they’ll want challenging and fulfilling work, and a safe, satisfying work environment. Individually and collectively, they will want more than just a simple pay check.

While all this is going on, we know the commercial enterprise is still evolving, still experimenting, still trying to find ways to do what it does better. By no means could it be considered to be a mature entity. In fact, it’s an adolescent and like any adolescent, it still has much to learn.

When people, regardless of their political leanings, are asked today, “Why do businesses exist?”, the vast majority say, “To make money”. If this is the notion that capitalism evokes in educated and well informed individuals, we all should be very concerned. Surely in a collective and global sense, businesses exist primarily to contribute to society. There is a greater need that must be served than simply a client base. The fortunate few who have wealth – whether countries, corporations or individuals – cannot continue to prosper at the expense of the many who do not. It’s unjust. It’s unfair and it’s not sustainable.

In many ways, the commercial enterprise of today is a colossal under-performer and under-achiever. It has made and continues to make many costly mistakes that it must correct. In all too many instances, it ignores the consumer and focuses excessively on profit; it exhibits significant moral and ethical lapses, including criminal behavior; it consumes and wastes huge amounts of non-renewable resources; it pollutes the environment and scars the landscape; it has much, much more to offer regarding making meaningful contributions to communities and society at large; and, perhaps most importantly of all, it has a dismal record using to best advantage its most precious resource: its people, beginning with an efficiency level of only 50 percent.

There is now broad agreement that we have to move on to a whole new paradigm, to a new way of thinking. We have to consider a triple bottom line that includes people, the planet and profits. We can no longer accept the current practice that profits come first, people come second and the planet comes a distant third. People must come before profits. Mother Earth, now sick and dying, deserves better treatment than she is getting… much, much better.

This takes me to my main topic, change and transformational leadership in the workplace. “How does this begin?” you may ask. It begins; I suggest, with a revolution, a revolution in leadership…”

Preview excerpt from “Everyone A CEO, Everyone A Leader” (release Q4 2009) by Dr. Walter Doyle Staples, author of “Think Like A Winner”, “Power to Win”, “In Search Of Your True Self”, and “The Greatest Motivational Concept In The World”.  www.DoctorStaples.com

Courtesy of James Cousineau  www.ExploringSuccessPotential.com  © Copyright 2004-2009 Dr. Walter Doyle Staples Exclusive © Publication and Distribution by “The Winning Journey” (reprinted with permission)

I encourage you to visit www.ExploringSuccessPotential.com and to particularly watch the short video!

A final six keys to winning during change.

Adapt… even in nature (Galapagos Finches) demonstrate that those that have the greatest capability to survive are those that are most adaptable.

Develop a broader range of competence. The days of just being the best ‘technician’ (engineer) are long gone.

Think… during a restructure would you choose the accountant with problem solving and team building skills or the ‘best’ at accounting?

Seek new experiences, new skills, and continuous education; broadly based knowledge and experience is always in demand.

Understand that the responsibility for me is mine alone; take the lead in your own life.

The more we involve our self in the change process and succeed the better we understand that we can survive change. The payoff… increased confidence

TO SOME PEOPLE LIFE IS ABOUT FINDING ANSWERS, IN TIMES OF CHANGE PERHAPS LIFE NEEDS TO BE MORE ABOUT FINDING MORE INTERESTING QUESTIONS.

What do learning organizations look like?

‘Management encourages a culture of exploration and risk taking and seeks ways to expose staff to new ideas and perspectives’; ‘A market action oriented philosophy drives company leaders and staff and there is a shared belief that he only reason a company has to exist is to serve a customer’; ‘They hire for all levels from outside the organization and will often use outside consultants to bring a new perspective’; ‘Management actively promote job rotation and project teams to develop individuals and encourage active networking and collaboration with outsiders’; ‘They allow mistakes as part of learning (without recrimination) and they often openly reward healthy rule breaking and policy defiance’; ‘Individual’s knowledge sharing is promoted and rewarded and free access to information is provided across all levels’.

KEY ISSUE: Some years ago (when I was a little ‘aussie’ financier), I was sent, to a five-week, live-in, management-training programme. On my return to work I had gained some insights on how to improve my area of responsibility. When I attempted to implement the changes the boss’s reaction was, ‘the way we are doing things now is just fine, we all feel like that after ‘the course’, you’ll get over it in a few weeks, just get on with the job’. (Now how entrepreneurial was that?)

KEY ISSUE: Many equate training people with being a learning organization. Training people is imperative however the new skills and knowledge gained from the training must lead to a change in how the organization operates. A change in the organization’s behaviour and implementation of new ways of doing things based on what has been learned (and shared) is the only true sign that you really are a learning organization.

IS YOUR ‘TRADITIONAL COMPANY’ GOING THE WAY OF THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCE INDUSTRY… (IT NO LONGER EXISTS)?

At the risk of labouring the point however it is important here is a definition of an entrepreneurial organization from:

1000ventures.com/business_guide/mgmt_inex_entreorg.html (interesting page actually worth a read) 

“Entrepreneurial organization is any organization that meets these two criteria:

It is structured so that its members are given the information and tools necessary to allow each to pursue solutions and take advantage of opportunities at their level, based on the stated objectives of the organization.

An atmosphere exists that encourages individual initiative, and mistakes and failures that occur in the process of taking initiative are actually viewed as progress in the personal and organizational quest for excellence.”

NB: Adapted in part from Mitch McCrimmon’s book  ‘Unleash the Entrepreneur Within’

Time to do the resume and find somewhere a little more entrepreneurial: blank resume template with examples blank resume template with examples

…and of course you must learn your planning!

Entrepreneurs are active continuous learners

If we are to capitalise on future business opportunities we need as entrepreneurial leaders to be ‘entrepreneurial learners’!!! The old think, decide, act and asses (or plan, do, assess and adjust) single loop corporate learning cycles advocated in the past are no longer appropriate in modern learning organizations or for the managers/owner that work in them. The problem is that in the fast moving business climate of today too much time thinking and planning will mean short term windows of opportunity for new business will be gone (taken by others) before we have a chance implement our activities.

In addition to a change in the traditional learning model to be true entrepreneurial learners the time in which the cycle takes place needs to be much more rapid and based on trying new ways of doing things regardless of ‘right or wrong’ outcomes. The ‘6P’, PROPER PLANNING PREVENTS PISS POOR PERFORMANCE advocates and the idiot who said ‘DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME’ at this stage would be calling for my head.

Learning Facts.

All learning takes place outside our comfort zone; Entrepreneurial learning is primarily experiential; Entrepreneurial learning means taking a risk; Learning is severely hampered by our paradigms; We can too easily become victims of our own past success; The rational learning model (traditional) expects us to decide if we like a new type of food without first tasting it; Truth is merely a perspective of reality; Reality is what we need to learn.

DECISIONS NEED TO BE REALITY BASED NOT TRUTH DRIVEN!

AT YOUR PLACE, DO YOU OR YOUR MANAGERS CONFIRM THE OLD PARADIGM’S TRUTH… OR REPORT (AND LEARN FROM) THE CURRENT REALITY?

A major key to being entrepreneurial is how we learn.
Traditional Learning (SINGLE LOOP)
Scanning, Sensing, Planning (THINK) >>> then >>>
Comparison to norms (DECIDE) >>> then >>>
Initiate action (ACT) >>> then >>>
Adjust (GET FEEDBACK) >>> then >>>
The process restarts with Scanning, Sensing, Planning (THINK) and so on.

Due to the ‘need for experimentation and speed’, entrepreneurial activity means less planning and more doing. The traditional learning model is no longer appropriate or effective.

Entrepreneurial Learning (EXPERIENTIAL-DOUBLE LOOP-ADJUSTED)
Scanning, Sensing, Acting (ACT) >>> then >>>
Reflect on what happened (FEEDBACK) >>> then >>>
Compare to norms (THINK QUICKLY), plus
2nd loop Question the norms (THINK QUICKLY) >>> then >>>
Adjust (DECIDE) and the process continues with,
Scanning, Sensing, Acting (ACT) and so on.

ARE OUR KEY PLAYERS LEARNING FROM MARKET REALITIES OR ARE THEY STILL DOING FIVE YEAR PLANS BASED ON AN IRRELEVENT PAST…

If you want to be part of a vibrant future and you work for a company that doesn’t employ a continuous planning (and learning) process perhaps it time to start looking for another job… free blank resume template