Anticipation & Airplanes

Imagine that you're in an airport. You've just given your boarding pass to the gate agent and you enter the jetway. I've noticed that everyone then does the same thing: They walk really quickly to the airplane.

But a few feet later they find themselves stopped, standing in a line to get into the plane. They're slowed by the narrow aisle and people putting stuff in the overhead area.

No matter where I've been I've noticed the same thing. People stand in one line and then rush to stand in another. The only difference is that you usually can't see the second line after you've just passed through the first one. Perhaps, there's something about human nature that makes us react this way.

What's the downside? People don't like standing in line so they start to get a bit grumpy and complain a lot. If you have customers who need to spend time in multiple lines, make sure they're aware of the waiting process before they get started. People seem to deal better with waiting when they feel like they have some understanding or control over the process.

Uh-Oh Survey

A new study from employment consulting company, Right Management, has found that 31 per cent of employees are not able to adapt to changes at work. The polled senior human resource professionals say this lowers job effectiveness, engagement, and productivity. Companies find themselves with higher absenteeism rates, more turnover, and falling customers loyalty. Results were as follows:
 
31 per cent - No, employee engagement and productivity is a major risk
43 per cent - Somewhat, our workforce gets the job done, but morale suffers
26 per cent - Yes, our workforce is very agile and responds to new challenges
 
In this economy, workers are constantly challenged to do more with less. That's a change that's not going away anytime soon. But often employers neglect to explain the reason for the change and how it fits into the big picture. This communication is key to keeping a workforce focused on the goals of the organization. The unknown becomes a lot less frightening when it's understood.

 

A Lesson from the Laundromat

For many years, my life revolved around the weekly collection of quarters. The change was needed to feed laundry machines. Most of the time, a laundry room was just a few steps from my home. But at one stop, I had to wait a few weeks before a washing machine was installed in my unit. That sent me to a nearby laundromat.

The place was what you would expect. It was managed by an old guy who was always sitting in a well worn chair. Although I never saw him move from his seat, he must have been the one who updated the marker board which held the laundry tip of the day.

I'd always took a look at the tip while waiting for my clothes to dry. It's always good to learn from an expert. But after a few weeks, I made an important discovery: No matter what the laundry problem was, the solution always was, "Make a paste with Tide and water. Rub it into your clothes." If you'd seen the tip once, you'd gotten everything you ever would from it.

Some people may be experts in their field but that may not mean that their advice is worth much to you. True expertise makes you think differently about a problem and consider new solutions.

Buttons and Zippers

When it comes to communication, most people fall into two groups: buttons and zippers. Both of them do the same thing but accomplish it in a very different way. The problem is that buttons and zippers each think that their way of fastening (or communicating) is best. After all, you rarely see buttons and zippers in the same area on the same piece of clothing.

Buttons have a very close communication style. They like to talk directly to people.

Zippers believe that communication works best when it's at a distance. They love to send emails rather than talk in person.

Buttons like to talk a lot. If they have a thought, they're going to verbalize it.

Zippers tend to be more internal. They only speak after they've given their words careful consideration.

Buttons write long emails. They want to make sure all the facts are out on the table.

Zippers feel that emails should be direct and to the point. They feel information is on a need to know basis.

These are just some of the differences between buttons and zippers. The problem is that often one group doesn't know that the other exists. For example, a button is surprised when a zipper doesn't act like a button. This causes the two groups to frequently come in conflict with one another.

So are you a button or a zipper?

Flying Through the Air With the Door Open

At one TV station where I worked, I occasionally was able to report from the news helicopter. It was pretty cool having a chance to see an area from a bird's eye view. This was years before budget cuts hit the news business and the helicopter was seen as a way to make viewers fall in love with our station and literally drop their remotes. There was just one problem: I'm afraid of heights. Or more specifically, I'm afraid of falling to my death.

Over time I learned to get more comfortable in the air. I thought as my assignments as free helicopter rides where I had to do a little bit of reporting. After all, people pay big bucks to go up in the air. But one day my courage was put to the test and I learned a valuable lesson.

Helicopters vibrate a lot while flying and sometimes that does some strange things. Like vibrate open the door that I'm sitting next to, while we are in flight. Suddenly, despite the fact that I'm wearing a seatbelt, I no longer feel like I'm inside a protective cocoon. In my mind, I'm inches from falling to my death. The pilot noticed the open door and calmly told me to reach out and close it, like I would in a car... on the ground. So I'm trying to reach the door with as little movement as possible and am failing miserably.

Luckily, the news photographer, who was sitting behind me, had a bit more courage. He easily reached out and pulled the door shut. My nightmare was over.

Here's the point: We all have strengths and weaknesses. It's very likely that someone else can help us with our imperfections. The trick is to swallow your pride and not be afraid to ask for help.

"Quitting Is Not An Option"

I often talk to audiences about having the courage to make changes in your life. Perhaps one of the best examples of that philosophy passed away last week. You may have heard reports of Wayman Tisdale's death after a battle with cancer. Tisdale, who was in his mid 40s, was known to many as a basketball player, a musician, and an inspiration to those who are fighting cancer.

For more on this man's journey, watch this video:

(If you can't see the embedded clip, follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ4DaBVn4Uk)

This is a great reminder that our lives frequently include various acts, both good and bad. The challenge is, through it all, to stay true to yourself, have a hunger for trying new things, and enjoy the ride, no matter where it may take you.

Over Engineered & Under Thought

Recently I looked at my remote control instead of my TV. I noticed how some buttons are well worn from repeated use. But on one of the top rows, I noticed a rather new looking button. It features the symbol of an asterisk. I then found the instruction manual where I tried to find out the button's function. I was surprised to read: "This button is not available."

Evidently the creators of the device decided to place a nonfunctioning button prominently on the keypad. That's a bit weird as there is an expectation that a button must do something.

In other areas of life we see similar things. Ever been told about a daily special at a restaurant, order it, and then be told there's no more available. Perhaps you've bought a ticket for a movie but when you get in the theater, the only seats available are in the front row. Or you've gone to a 24 hour pharmacy at 2 a.m. only to find that the convenience is outweighed by the fact that the place is massively understaffed.

It's good to deliver a product or service that creates anticipation. But it's equally important to make sure the expectation of quality is met.

Changing a Habit

My home has a fence around it and in order to get in, you have to do through a gate. Over time, that had become progressively more challenging as the wood door seemed to have warped. In order to open the gate, I'd have to do an acrobatic move with both of my hands to simultaneously pull the door up and over the the left.

This created problems when you'd have your hands full of groceries or you wanted to race in during a rainstorm.

Eventually, I decided to address the problem so I put on my handyman hat. Ten minutes later, I had moved the latch down about half an inch and the door now opens perfectly.

The funny thing is that it took me a while to remember that I didn't need to open the door the old way anymore. This is classic example of becoming numb to a problem and conditioning yourself to accept a less than desirable situation. I've heard that it takes about 30 days to form a new habit. That's about the amount of time it took for me to remember how to normally open the gate.

There Are No Secrets, Only Links...

Has it happened to you yet? You're going about your day when someone makes a remark that surprises you:

"Did you enjoy your trip to Disney with the your grandkids?"

You're not sure how they can know this about you. You hadn't mentioned your trip to them and yet they seem to know all sorts of details about it. Were they spying on you? No. Instead, someone has learned about you through online resources. Nowadays, privacy isn't what it used to be.

It can be as simple as posting a picture on Facebook. Someone in your network makes a comment about it and then the picture is visible to everyone in their network. Before long, your family vacation is known to a whole bunch of people!

The world has changed. Anything about you could be shared online. Is this a bad thing? I think it's mixed bag. Using services like, LinkedIn, a college graduate could network his or her way to a new job. But if that student has pictures on the web of doing a keg stand at a party, then that job offer might disappear.

Think about the image you want to project in cyberspace. Perhaps on this Mother's Day, the best rule to keep in mind is whether you'd be embarrassed to have your mother see any of your online adventures. If so, you may want to be less public in your online life.

You Know You're Good When...

Imagine being so good at so one thing that it's nearly impossible to duplicate. That's what the creators of the movie, "The Blues Brothers," discovered while working with Aretha Franklin and James Brown.

Both artists have singing roles in the 1980 comedy, which also could be described as musical. From the special features on the film's DVD, I learned that both Franklin and Brown had a very tough time lip synching their songs. This is critical while making a movie as the singing is typcially recorded separately in a studio and later matched up with the pictures on screen. The editor can then choose from multiple angles while keeping the singing consistent.

But Franklin and Brown were anything but. Apparently, neither was very good at lip synching because they never sing the same song the same way twice. Think about that. Every time they sing, they add something to their music depending on their mood, the crowd, or the moment. It's second nature to them and neither could change the way they perform.

So the producers had to do some creative editing with Franklin's song so that her lips matched up her voice. By the time he shot James Brown's song, the director decided to record the live singing and then match up everything else. It was an unconventional choice but one that ultimately worked.

So many of us follow the same routine that requires us to repeat tasks over and over again. Perhaps we should take some inspiration from the Queen and Ambassador of Soul to treat every time we do it as if it was the first time.

Are You the Exception or the Rule?

I recently read an article about study that stated that 94% of the respondents say they've worked with "toxic people." This designation covered all sorts of bad workplace behaviors from laziness to anger. Normally I'd provide a link to the study but to get that info, you have to buy a book by the authors of the study. No thanks.

Nevertheless, the study got me to thinking about how we perceive others and ourselves. If almost all of the people surveyed complain about toxic people, there's a good chance that some of those people (doing the complaining) are themselves, toxic. Very often there's a disconnect between stated behavior and actual behavior.

For instance, it's easy to speak out against speeding. You wouldn't want someone driving recklessly near your family. But if you're running late for an event, it's easy to find yourself driving well over the limit. And most smokers don't think of themselves as litterers but when it comes time to get rid of their butt, a lot of them end up on the ground and not in an ashtray.

Perhaps the next time you condemn a behavior in others, it's important to consider if it's something you practice. A society of professional complainers will contribute little to the world, other than noise.

Social Media & Nonprofits Survey

A new survey finds that more and more nonprofits are embracing social media, although many admit they need help. The research comes from the just released Nonprofit Social Network survey, which can be downloaded here. Close to 1,000 nonprofits of different sizes, budgets, and missions were polled (from 2/20/09 - 4/15/09) about their use of online social networking tools.

Facebook is the most popular tool, with about 75% usage. Next came YouTube and Twitter.

80% of the organizations have a staff member spend a quarter of their time on social media work.
40% have allocated funds for the effort.
55% plan to increase social media staffing.

Another trend shows that nonprofit leaders want to make their time spent on social media more productive. But 44% say they are being held back by a lack of expertise. As a result, 27% say getting additional training would make better achieve their goals.
To immediately improve your social media skills, take advantage of the learning tools on my Resources page at Social Media Nonprofits.