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Measure for Measure – How much info is too much info?

Posted by Constance Ward on September 1, 2012 | Comments Off

information overload how much information is too much

Is the challenge information overload…or the difficulty in evaluating it objectively?
Illustration by hikingartist.com

An article in the August edition of The Atlantic talked about a brainy computer scientist and astrophysicist, Larry Smarr, who was instrumental in the development of the internet. He’s now turning his research skills inward and is documenting minute details about his body and then monitoring and measuring any changes. No body part or organ or bodily function will be spared careful, objective analysis.

Mark Bowden, author of the article, ”The Measured Man,” commented that Smarr is ”in the vanguard of what some call the ‘quantified life,’ which envisions replacing the guesswork and supposition presently guiding individual health decisions with specific guidance tailored to the particular details of each person’s body.”

Smarr may be taking self awareness to an extreme. But how much information is too much information, when it comes to knowing yourself? Can you know too much about yourself as a leader?

The bigger risk, in my opinion, is to know too little. As a leader you need a clear picture of who you are and who others think you are, a picture based on actual data, not like Dorian Gray.

Once you’ve gathered sufficient data — whether qualitatively in performance feedback sessions, systematically with 360 degree reviews or more immediately with the Thought Leader Zone self-assessment tool — you need to evaluate the evidence objectively.

That analysis should be the basis for fully understanding any reputational opportunities you have so you can capitalize on them or any reputational risks you might have so that you can better manage or mitigate them.

Do you have all the information you need about yourself as a leader? Do you need specific guidance tailored to your specific details? Ask, assess, then act. We’re here to help.*

*Performance feedback sessions: We help executives and senior-level leaders assess and improve their communication strategy and technique. Sessions can be conducted face-to-face, via video conference or with consultative assessments of existing recorded or written communications. Contact us for more details.

Never-Ending Stories–The Green Screen, Walt Disney, and Your Own Organization’s Cultural Lore

Posted by Constance Ward on August 24, 2012 | 1 Comment

The beginnings of a legendary company: the “Storytellers” statue at Disney California Adventure Park tells millions of visitors the story of young Walt Disney’s humble arrival to California in 1923.
Photos by: Loren Javier on Flickr

Once upon a time, in the early 1990s, long before Harry Potter was even a twinkle in the mind’s eye of J.K. Rowling, there was a popular children’s fantasy film called “The Never-Ending Story.” My then pre-teen nieces were huge fans of the movie; so I took them and their mom to see the studio where the film had been made in Munich, my home at that time.

I vividly remember their bewilderment and disappointment when they found that the star of the film, a furry beast, couldn’t really fly; but that the illusion was created with special effects on a green screen. It was somewhat a “coming of age” moment when they learned that appearances are often deceiving and reality may actually be camouflaged by “smoke and mirrors.”

In my family, that chapter in my nieces’ youth is a “never-ending story,” one that is oft repeated and part of our family lore. It’s part of the rich tapestry of our shared family experiences. Now that they’ve grown up, the details of that trip have faded; but the lesson learned will be passed on to the next generation. Aunt Connie will make sure that happens.

In your ”business family,” are there stories that are often retold because they capture the so-called Zeitgeist of a particular time? As with The Walt Disney Company, do these stories demonstrate truths that your people have discovered or reflect clearly your company’s culture and spirit? Are you–or your communications teams or your company historian or archivist–recording these stories and legends for posterity? Ask, assess, then act. We’re here to help!

Looking at the Olympics Through Rose-Colored Glasses

Posted by Constance Ward on August 7, 2012 | Comments Off

The spectacular extravaganza that was the Olympics Opening Ceremony lived up to all the hype, in my opinion. And that was no small feat, in part because the hype wasn’t being built on actual facts.

By keeping the overall vision of the ceremony a surprise to media and the public, all we knew was that it was going to be BIG and quintessentially British. Anticipation added to the eventual enjoyment of the event for many people.

Thames River Police Boarding Teams in Olympics Security Exercise, London

Metropolitan Thames River Police practice boarding techniques during an Olympic Games security exercise. From Defence Images on Flickr

Others, however, aren’t looking at the Olympics through rose-colored glasses. They view the event as an “unseemly binge,” in the words of The New York Times editorial writer Roger Cohen.

In his article “A Troubled Feel in London,” Cohen also discussed the extreme concern the Brits had about security at the Olympics — flames that were fanned by the media –and he used the psychological term “transference” to describe their angst:

“People are anxious about their lives in Britain and the West so they’ve decided to be anxious about the Olympics,” he wrote.

How are you as a thought leader handling the daily pressure of your own Olympic struggles in the business world? What are you doing when your teams seem to becoming more and more anxious in this challenging economy? Do you give them more facts and less hype so that they can see your company’s situation in a true light? Ask, assess, then act. We’re here to help.

Impossible is nothing

Posted by Constance Ward on June 18, 2012 | Comments Off

Larry Page, the Google co-founder, once recommended that people “have a healthy disregard of the impossible.”

Photo by Jim Hipps

Thought leaders would most likely agree with that general advice, but they would also recognize that it’s critical to know your own limits and those of your organization…especially when you’re making changes in the company and its culture.

How do you know you’re pushing your employees and your company as a whole just that wee bit too far?

Having good communications processes and practices in place will allow you to quickly and efficiently gather feedback so you can sense that limit before you reach it.

A good communications team can help you sense what’s happening in the organization so that you can respond appropriately. They can read the signals and clarify how employees are reacting to your messages, how change is being perceived and where –or whether — it’s taking hold.

Your communications team can be a barometer for you…by frequently tracking the”barometric pressure” during a change initiative, they can tell you whether a storm is brewing or whether there’s clear weather ahead for more change.

Is your “disregard of the impossible” healthy for your organization or are you stretching it beyond its limit? Ask, assess then act

Tagged change, communication, culture

10 Questions to Answer Before a Communication Crisis Hits your Organization

Posted by Constance Ward on June 4, 2012 | 1 Comment

Do you have a pre-defined communications plan in place for a management or organizational crisis? Goldman Sachs’ handling of a recent crisis stirred up by disgruntled senior manager Greg Smith can be considered a PR ‘worst-practice’ crisis communications case. The company’s reactions and responses to a scathing editorial the departing employee wrote for the New York Times were underwhelming; their communications response was not just ineffective; it actually added fuel to the fire and made the situation worse.

Hopefully, you won’t ever have to deal with such a public debacle. But you still need to be prepared because $&?!#% always happens. Always.

When a crisis comes, are you and your team prepared to deal not only with the situation itself, but also with the related internal and external communications issues that arise?

By answering these ten questions, you will have the beginnings of a robust crisis communications plan that will ensure you’re prepared to face a communications crisis quickly, effectively and professionally:

10 questions to ask before a communications crisis hits your organization:

What’s the overview of the process and does everyone on the management team know it, not only the communications team?
Do your managers all have a one-page quick guide to do’s and don’ts for crisis communications?
Do your managers have a generic flow chart outlining who does what when?
Do your managers have some generic wording for informing clients about a crisis that can be tailored to the specific situation?
Do your managers have a list of ‘taboo phrases’ to avoid in a crisis?
6. Do your managers have a list of generic statements to give internal audiences when crisis details aren’t yet known?
Do your managers have a list of generic statements to adapt for internal audiences in the hours, days and weeks following a crisis?
Do your managers have a list of holding statements for journalists that can be adapted to the specific crisis?
Do your managers have a list of polite ‘no response’ phrases to answer journalists who ask sensitive or confidential questions?
Do your managers have a template and process for collecting questions being asked by employees, clients, investors or journalists?

And one final (but important) question: Do the right people in your organization have the right answers to these questions? Ask, assess, then act.

Tagged best practice, communication plan, crisis communications, pr

What’s your local-social strategy for client intimacy?

Posted by Constance Ward on May 27, 2012 | Comments Off

A recent article on ‘How Walmart Is Localizing Its Stores With Facebook’ by Clara Shih discussed how the big-box retailer is developing what’s called a ‘local-social’ strategy to make their stores more relevant to the communities they serve.

Click to view full size

A corporate-wide brand presence on social media sites is a given, the author says, but the more effective channels are being built around local stores. She explains the authentic feeling of belonging those types of sites can engender:

‘Having 20 million fans secures bragging rights for a brand, but from the perspective of the fan, it’s far more engaging and rewarding to be part of a smaller, more intimate community.’

Even large multi-national companies need to create an authentic local experience in order to engage clients in their brand. A tailored communication approach — whether through traditional or social media channels — can enlarge the number of loyal members within the community without losing the ‘local feel’ of the brand.

Are you using traditional or social media channels to enrich the experience of your customers and make it more intimate and authentic? Ask, assess, then act.

Photo Credit: Giulia Forsythe on Flickr

Business Jargon and Gibberish: 50 Tired Management Buzzwords and Communication Killers

Posted by Constance Ward on May 20, 2012 | 5 Comments

If the following mock CEO memo makes you grin or groan, you’ve probably read something like it before. But let’s hope you’ve never written or said anything quite so appallingly filled with jargon and buzzwords:

I am confident that, at the end of the day, we will gain some quick wins through onboarding then socialising the concept of eliminating jargon. Going forward, we will all be on the same page – indeed singing from the same song sheet – and be thinking out of the box when it comes to the language we utilise in the C-suite. Initially, it will be similar to herding cats, and the process will identify the square pegs in the round holes, but we will achieve some upside and a paradigm shift as we reach out and break the silos through the use of intelligible language.”

That priceless gem of gobbledygook was submitted by someone named Helen Slater to a LinkedIn group I follow. The discussion thread has lasted for more than three months, with new submissions of the ”most-overused business buzzwords” appearing regularly.

Included here is a list of a few of the favorite words that they submitted. I’m sure you’ll love to hate them, too. If you have any ”worst words” to add, share them in the comments, or submit them here and we’ll add them to our collection.

As a thought leader, do you speak the same way at work as you do at home? Are you communicating clearly and distinctly, not relying on tired cliches and ambiguous words? Ask, assess, then act.

50 Over-used Business Buzzwords and Phrases We Love to Hate

Collected from three months of comments in a LinkedIn discussion thread, I’ve chosen to highlight the 50 buzz words I think are the most common, most egregious, or in some cases the most absurd.

Utilize
At the end of the day
Low hanging fruit
We’ll get there
Let’s hold a calibration meeting
As you are aware
Invite as a noun
Task as a verb
Tin cupping
Impacted as a verb
Let’s suck the marrow out of it
Tension in the system
What’s your workload like?
Do you have capacity?
I need a single belly button as a go-to on this project
On a go-forward basis
High-level
Harness the power of
Socialise
Leverage
Level the playing field
Playing on the same team
Drinking from the fire hose
Walk the walk, Talk the talk, Walk the talk and Talk the walk
Get on the same page
Get our arms around it
My bad
I’m going to have to noodle over this idea
Deep dive
Thinking outside the box
Paradigm shift
Blue sky
Blue ocean
Drop the kimono
Game changer
Deep dive
My ask
Let’s marinate on this one
Sweet spot
Provide air cover
Peel back the onion
Touch base
Synergy
Take it offline
Go back to Square 1
Run it up the flagpole
Pushing the envelope
Deep dive
Circle the wagons
Mission critical

How to Persuade Others to Persuade

Posted by Constance Ward on April 26, 2012 | Comments Off

Do you ever have to persuade others to persuade others? Then here are some modern hints for you from a very old source.

A friend sent me the link to a fascinating (well, fascinating for a rhetorician like me) article in Business Week called “Jay Heinrichs’s Powers of Persuasion” by Peter Heller.

Rarely do you read an article in mass media that mentions Aristotle, but this piece points out how the Greek philosopher’s teachings apply in today’s business world. One of the three stalwarts of classical rhetoric – along with Socrates and Plato – Aristotle taught that the three purposes of discourse were

to teach
to move
to delight

In a business setting, before writing a speech or even an email, it’s critical to ask yourself which of those three goals you are intending to fulfill and then analyze what would be the most appropriate way to do that for your particular audience.

Emphasizing the power of rhetoric (the science of argumentation and debate), Aristotle also taught about the three tools of persuasion:

ethos – appealing to the “character” or inner goodness of the audience member
logos – appealing to the rational, logical thought processes of the audience member
pathos – appealing to the emotions of the audience member and stirring up empathy or sympathy

Jay Heinrichs, the rhetorician featured in the Business Week article and author of Thank You for Arguing, says that the first tool, appealing to a person’s character or better self, is the most effective for persuasion. Logos, he says, doesn’t draw the audience in as much, so it’s harder to convince that person.

Convincing others – especially those who need to then persuade others – often takes a gentle hand. Someone once described a good rhetorician as a person who has the ability to “convince without seeming to argue and compel without seeming to urge.”

To do those things well, Heinrichs suggests you may need to change verb tense to future tense as that’s the “language of choice and decisions.” The past, however, focuses on “blame and punishment,” and the present is more about “belonging,” which is why using the future tense may be the better rhetorical approach.

If you’re interested in reading more about the topic of rhetoric in the workplace, two rhetoric websites that Heinrichs produces are www.figarospeech.com with some great current examples of persuasion at work and www.wordhero.org, which features his latest book.

Are these hints helpful? Have I successfully persuaded you to consider how rhetoric can help you in your daily work as a thought leader? Ask, assess then act.

What’s in a Name…or an Acronym?

Posted by Constance Ward on April 23, 2012 | Comments Off

What's hot, what's not

Erin McKean, founder of the Wordnik online dictionary, reviewed some of the new words and acronyms introduced during 2011 in the Wall Street Journal. Two of the most interesting “blended words” in business are “acquihire,” which describes the practice of acquiring a company mainly to get access to their human capital, and “solomo,” which combines social networking, local commerce and mobile communications.

She also described some popular new acronyms in 2011 and defined “acronyms” as a string of letters pronounced as words, like RADAR (for RAdio Detection And Ranging and now accepted as an actual word). These differ from “initialisms,” which are letters pronounced as themselves, like the IRS.

Two new acronyms this year that McKean noted in the article sound like familiar words: CARBS and CIVETS. CARBS (Canada, Australia, Russia, Brazil and South Africa) are the countries most affected by fluctuations in the price of commodities and CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa is a clever acronym because it stands for the next generation of young tiger economies.

Are you in touch with language trends when you communicate with internal and external audiences? Is your “voice” up to date and authentic or is it antiquated and academic? Ask, assess then act.

The Challenge of Clarifying Ideas – Part 2

Posted by Constance Ward on April 12, 2012 | Comments Off

Following up on the last blog on Franklin Roosevelt, I wanted to refer to a book about ideas that need clarification in the nation today. The book, Why Nations Fail, by M.I.T. economist Daron Acemoglu and the Harvard political scientist James A. Robinson, is getting a great deal of publicity right now. The authors wrestle with some ideas connected to political and economic institutions in the United States.

If you don’t have time to read the full book, Thomas Friedman recently wrote a compelling editorial piece that covered some of their key concepts. At the end of the article, he made the point that

“When one person can write a check to finance your whole campaign, how inclusive will you be as an elected official to listen to competing voices?”

Are you acting inclusively and allowing alternative voices inside your organization to be heard? Have you institutionalized the practice of considering points of view that differ from your own? Ask, assess, then act.

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