Garbage on the Beach

A small beach on the northeast coast attracted loads of tourists and locals alike. It was the perfect summer getaway.

With the crowds came garbage. Lots of it. The city spent more and more money increasing the number of trash cans and frequency of pick-ups. With each effort, bottles and wrappers would still pile up at the base of the overflowing trash cans and liter lay on the beach.

A city council member came up with an interesting proposal; remove all trash cans and stop all trash pick-ups. Where the trash cans used to sit, a simple sign read "Take out what you bring in" - or something like that. Maybe the sign read "Take out your own Trash." You get the point. Unfortunately, I forgot where I read about this story (thus no citation).

In any case, this seemingly counter-intuitive (and creative) solution worked. The beach was cleaner than it had ever been before.

Imagine your team are the beach goers. Instead of taking the burden of solving problems from them, push them to be part of the solution. When you are notified about a broken process, don't take on more to fix it - give them power and accountability. Expect more.

It's Not Financial Rewards

Suppose a friend asked you to move. You'd might grumble, but you might also show up to help. If they offered you $20 for your trouble, it becomes easier to just say 'no.'

My point: Money alone is not what makes us do something- like our jobs. Salary increases and bonuses do not equate to better performance, or engagement.

In one study, University students were divided into groups and got a financial reward for correct responses on a GMAT test. Groups that perceived the reward as too little, did twice as poorly as those who were NOT paid. The money actually served as a disincentive. On the flip side, there are loads of examples showing higher incentives leading to worse performance. For more on this, check out Dan Pink's fantastic (and animated) talk at the RSA: Surprising truth about what motivates us.

Compensation is obviously a complex topic. And sometimes money is an important part of the equation - for example, if there isn't enough to live on or when peers are making loads more. But, throwing more money at employees doesn't lead to increased performance.

Instead, you need to invest in creating a self-directed and purpose-filled work environment. Employees need a sense of autonomy, they need to be given the opportunity to improve themselves (challenging assignments, learning & training opportunities, etc...), and they need purpose (working towards something they believe in, understanding a mission, strong sense of team).

Are you as willing to invest in communicating your mission and goals as you are in salary increases? Do you have a culture that empowers employees to be effective on their own? How do you motivate your team? How do you drive productivity?

Disengage Your Disengaged Employees

Your success is dependent on your people. Do you know who your people are? According to the market research firm ORC there are six common types of employees.

Elizabeth the Engaged—Composed of 35 percent of the survey respondents, “Elizabeths” are ideal employees. They are highly motivated, go above and beyond, and are adaptive to change.

Lucy the Laggard—This next largest group, at nineteen percent, is the most disengaged. These employees don’t hate their job and don’t plan to quit, but they tend to do their work half-heartedly and make careless mistakes.

Colin the Comfy—Those in this category, representing16 percent of employees, have no intention to leave their safe environment. Getting little sense of accomplishment from their work and rarely complaining, they simply put in their eight hours and go straight out the door.

Alison the Ambivalent—Twelve percent of the population are unhappy because they are often disconnected with the job or the organization.

Simon the Saboteur—Eleven percent of respondents tend to be very negative about the organization. They dislike changes and are quick to criticize because they feel like they are voiceless.

Peter the Promiscuous—This smallest group from the pool are positive and proud of their organization. But because they are usually motivated by money or personal development, it won't take much for them to leave.

This employee makeup may be surprising and you'll certainly think 'this is not us,' but according to the stats the majority of your employees are disengaged! Indeed, according to a Gallup poll (a survey of 3 million people), 71% of Americans are not engaged in their work and 16% are actively disengaged. Their disengagement comes from burn out, not feeling listened to, lack of recognition, fear, outside issues... or all sorts of things.

Disengagement is costly. As noted in the Journal of Applied Psychology "actively disengaged employees erode an organization's bottom line (analyzed by productivity, profitability, safety incidents, absenteeism, and earnings per share growth rate) while breaking the spirits of colleagues to the tune of $300 billion per year in the US.

I've always believed in pushing to engage employees as a primary and ongoing organizational mission. I'm also proposing to work the other side - to actively work to eliminate disengaged employees. Do you think your company is full of engaged Elizabeths? Do you have an Allison? Who is your Simon? What efforts do you take to spot and eliminate those cutting into your productivity and morale?

Know When to Fold 'Em

The vendor you've chosen seems slow on hitting the milestones you were counting on.... You hope they pull it together so you can hit your launch date. The new hire you've been interviewing said something to raise a flag... You convince yourself it was out of context and will work itself out when she starts. The incentive plan you envisioneered is rewarding the wrong behavior. You want to give it more time.

You have invested time and money into . You've made a commitment and you don't want to risk a diversion, even though it's irrational.

Exhibit A: In the book Sway, the Brafman brothers describe a Prof. Bazerman's negotiation class at Harvard Business School and his "$20 auction." Prof. Bazerman puts a $20 bill up for auction before his class. The first rule is that bids are to be made in $1 increments and the second rule is that the runner-up must still honor their bid. The auction inches up in price... $14, $15, $16 - until most students get nervous and drop out, leaving just two bidders. The students hanker down - they don't want to be the fool and are committed to paying not to lose. The price soars and always, the Prof. reports, gets to $20 or more. Student's continue bidding, $30, $40, and once getting as high as $204!

Harvard Business School is filled with smart people. Some as smart as you :-). But commitment and loss aversion pull us towards irrational behavior very frequently. You are committed to win (to succeed), and you'll do anything to avoid losing what you have already invested.

Change is a fact of startup life. The best intentioned plans deteriorate, the winds change direction. They change frequently, and often significantly. Business models are tossed and new ones formed. You get the wrong person or a function you don't need anymore. Cut it out! I know much of it's human nature. But think about your decision and state of affairs more often -and try to stop the bidding at $22. Lose the $2 instead of $102. Realize the psychological pull of your commitments and make the uncomfortable and rational corrections. Risk can be good.

Set Goals! Give them something to aim at.

When given a target, we can achieve more.

My proof today is a fly. A fly painted in a urinal reduces 'spillage' by as much as 85%! Simple as that. There is also an optimal spot to paint the fly to minimize spilling and prevent splash back.

Lesson:

#1) When you don't set goals, it's like peeing on the floor. Ponder the possibility of achieving an 85% improvement in something (or half that) just by setting a goal?

#2) Just setting goals to set goals might cause some splash back. Think and refine your goals so they are best positioned to benefit your company's goals.

Wanted: Integrators with Vision

For the third time in less than a week, I've heard about CEOs who shoot ideas from the hip without including any 'real' parameters about how they get accomplished. They are passionate, often eccentric and not always practical. Is this you? Have you noticed it impeding progress? What can you do about it?

In small to mid-size companies, the owner and founder often runs the show. They are an entrepreneur with vision and loads of ideas. They are creative, connected to the emotions and culture of the company, see the big picture, and are super smooth with investors, key customers, and suppliers.

They are also a barrier to success. They do not hold people accountable or manage the nitty gritty that turn the crank and move the company forward.

This is what Gino Wickman writes about in his book Traction. I read the book awhile back and, to be honest, wasn't real excited by it. But it does cover trends and concrete steps that can be applied across companies - like a manual. This trend I see now this is exactly what he was talking about.

He calls these two roles the Visionary and the Integrator - and they couldn't be more different.

The Visionary is described above. They are creative and work through the big, hairy, thorny problems. They inspire employees and inspire confidence in investors and customers. The Integrator, on the other hand, works logically to eliminate problems and integrate the major functions of the business. They manage the day-to-day details, lead, and hold the team accountable.

It's common to have a visionary and no integrator. It's also common to have an integrator and no visionary. But most good partnerships have one of each. Wickman cites a University of California professor that teaches the need for both at the top - the entrepreneur and his lust balanced by the prudence and discipline of a manager.

So what are you? The Visionary? The Integrator? There ... that wasn't so hard now was it? Wickman walks us through the steps of outlining these tasks and building the right structure. However, I'd wager your first step is to be aware - and think about how all the organizations needs are being met. If your organization doesn't have both roles, what are you missing? What are you doing about it?

Chart a Path; share your vision

A Harris Interactive/Franklin Covey poll of over 23,000 employees showed 37% didn't understand their companies' priorities. Only 1 in 5 was enthusiastic about their organization's goals, and only 1 in 5 saw a clear connection between their tasks and their organization's goals.

That should be a concerning number. Chances are a whole mess of folks in your company are less effective, and certainly less engaged, than they could be.

One reason for this is a lack of communication and absence of effective goals for your team. Another issue is that employee's don't share your vision for the company. Gene Wickman, in his book Traction, says the number one reason employees don't share a company vision is that they don't know what it is. Your employees need to hear the vision 7 times before they really here it for the first time. before it sinks in. The first couple of times employees will roll their eyes and say 'here we go again" but around the 7th time folks understand and act on that vision.

Be patient. Communicate often. Discuss and set goals tied to the vision.