Speak Up

Part of being willing to participate in finding a solution (aka as Whining Avoidance, not to be confused with Whining Adherence Advocate or WAA!) means speaking up when you see something that isn't right. Shouting at somebody that they're a stupid moron (even if true) and venting to like-minded colleagues doesn't count; getting out on a limb and thoughtfully expressing your opinion does.

The first step is to position yourself well for a conversation on whatever it is you see that needs attention. If it's a workplace matter, know that things like good productivity and a history of working well with others give you more credibility to speak up about issues with people who might be higher up on the food chain than you are. If you don't have that kind of credibility to back you up, at least be up front about the things that might detract from your message.

Back in the dark ages when I was still a tech, there was a policy or some matter that I felt the VP of the department needed to know wasn't working. We were all talking about it amongst ourselves but when I really paid attention to what was happening, I was concerned to see that there were folks who wanted to use the bad policy as an excuse for poor work habits and others who had figured out ways to scam the system and weren't interested in making any waves. As a worker with a history of good performance, I figured that it was less likely (even if no guarantee) that speaking up about the issue with the VP would result in my butt out on the pavement.

With that thought, I summoned up the confidence to approach the VP and explained why I was coming forward with the information and what I hoped would happen and what I was willing to do to help. I don't recall that any miraculous changes occurred overnight but the people I spoke up to defend were appreciative and the management staff had the opportunity to see me as someone who was willing to speak up and to articulate well-reasoned arguments.

Let me forewarn you that this strategy is not entirely without risk. Few things that are truly worthwhile are risk-free and each person has to decide how strong their beliefs are and weigh them against the realistic risks and their own level of risk tolerance. The good news is that risks often have their rewards when they are taken in alignment with our beliefs and values. In my case, while I can think of at least one other job where this strategy did not work well for me, in this particular situation I believe it helped position me well for some of the promotions I received later where the ability to have a reasoned dialog on the issues was an important ingredient for success.

That brings me to the other important component in successfully speaking up. Speaking up means engaging in real dialog: back and forth communication where you listen to what the other person has to say and you give them a chance to hear what you have to say in non-offensive terms so that they don't feel backed into a corner. What do they think? Why do they think the way that they do? What kind of common ground can you find?

No matter how far apart you are, I can promise that sane, reasonable people can find something in common. This is not to say that at least one person is not sane or reasonable if common ground cannot be discovered; I would simply take it as a sign that not enough time and effort have yet been spent toward that end. When we really take the time to listen to what other people are thinking, we do find middle ground, that place where both sides have something in common. That area of commonality is important because it provides the foundation from which to start a real conversation... a real dialog as opposed to a shouting match.

This approach works well in politics too. In a country that has become more and more divided in recent years, we may find ourselves in more difficult straits if we don't find a way to remember how to have intelligent discourse on all sides of the issues. We can start by considering the possibility that instead of signifying an ever-worsening condition, the current problems and divisiveness are rather symptoms of a fever about to break. If that notion is more attractive than the continual frustration of wondering how in the world there can be idiots who persist in such wrong-headed thinking, you may be interested in a book called The Politics of Hope - Reviving the Dream of Democracy by Donna Zajonc, a Seattle-area coach who works in the political arena.

Even if you don't speak up about your political views in a public way, I do advocate voting as the quickest, easiest cure for WAA! (whining). If you're registered to vote, I hope that you have already voted in your Primary election today (Washington State) or are making plans to do so before the polls close this evening. Oh, and my personal recommendation is that you not bother with marking up your ballot all wrong just to prove a point that you hate the new primary system. Just do it the way they want you to - to do anything else would be like yelling at the high school burger flipper because the fast food joint you patronize doesn't use organic beef. Talking to someone who can actually do something about it would make more of a difference.

If you're not registered to vote yet, there is still time to register for the General Election. If you're a Washington State resident, you can get a registration form from the Washington State Secretary of State; just be sure you submit it by October 2, 2004. Absentee ballot requests have to be processed through your County Auditor and submitted by September 15, 2004 (in most states - check yours to be sure) for the 2004 General Election in November. If you're not a Washington State resident, chances are good that if you found this site, you're smart enough to do a Google search on voter registration for your state, find out where to get the right forms and figure out the deadlines that apply to you.

What are you saving your voice for?

Sick of Work

I asked a programmer once what his interests were outside of work. He looked at me like I was completely crazy. He had no other interests and spent nearly all of his waking hours at work. In his case, I think he's genuinely happy to have his life be that way. I'm not so sure it works as well for the rest of us.

During the tech boom, employees were happy devoting their lives to the cause of the corporation because there was something in it for them - the promise that if they worked hard enough and hung in there long enough for their options to vest, they'd be rich. Many did become millionaires (at least on paper), though most did not.

These days, hardly anyone expects to suddenly come into the big bucks simply by donating every waking hour to work, especially when the question for many is not how much their options will be worth when they're vested but rather, whether they'll have a chance to vest at all before more layoffs hit.

Some may think this is a particularly pessimistic view. I choose to think of it as an opportunity.

When the financial prospects were huge, the promise of money for many people drowned out every other thought about what else might be important. Now it's easier - and even more crucial - to pay attention to the other priorities in our lives because it's clearer that the money will never be enough to make up for what we lose by not pursuing what's most important to us.

As managers, it makes sense to promote that way of thinking because guess what - it costs an organization money to have employees who are stressed out. Stressed employees use employee assistance programs more and get sick more often. Taking the productivity hit and paying for health care, plus making other employees more stressed when they have to take up the slack, all come at a price. And don't think that firing all the stressed out folks will make the problem go away.

If you're a manager, you can help your company's bottom line by doing everything in your power to make or keep your organization a reasonable place to work. Sure, you have work that needs doing. Understand that forcefeeding to your staff isn't necessarily the most expedient or cost-effective way of getting it done. Make it possible for employees to set personal boundaries that work for themselves as well as for the company. Set a good example yourself by establishing your own healthy work/life balance.

If you're an employee, make it your own responsiblity to keep yourself healthy while doing the work that's expected of you. Manage up if necessary, to help this happen in a positive way; sometimes the person you report to simply doesn't understand all of the ramifications of a particular request. And if the company culture is so toxic that this isn't possible, go somewhere else and let somebody new be their cannon fodder.

Yeah, I realize all too well this is easier said than done. Frankly, figuring out the how of it & actually getting it done is part of what keeps me in business.

What workplace issues do you face and how are you addressing them? Send your thoughts to techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com - if you have new ideas, I'm interested in hearing your approach; if you're fresh out, maybe we can brainstorm together.

Pretending a problem doesn't exist doesn't make it any less real.

Learning from Lance - Part Trois

The list of business-applicable lessons gained from watching Lance last summer kept on growing. Then I was busy celebrating the history-making Win #6. Then an armadillo ran across the road, sidetracking me for months. Really.

Are you ready for the rest of it? I hope so!

The thing that really pulls it all together is that Lance is a terrific all-around package. The rest of the list just goes to prove some of the ways that's true.

Why is this "total package" thing important? It's because riding well isn't the whole of it. Sure Lance can time trial well and ride up hills like a monster. More than that, though, he uses his head as well as his legs. Lance is a great interview and has the respect of highly rated riders. These qualities and others like them make Armstrong the one other great cyclists want to ride with and it earns him valuable sponsorships. When you are able to assemble a great team and get top of the line equipment and all the other kinds of support you need in a competition as fierce as the Tour de France, it's a tough combination to beat.

Lance uses who he in addition to how well he rides to attract the support he needs and a top-notch team that help him to be competitive. Here's some of the "who" and the "how":

• Think strategically - Lance and his coach have a plan every day he goes out to ride. He knows where he wants to be in the pack, who to watch for and how he wants to finish.
• Prepare, prepare, prepare - Sometimes it's simply a matter of preparing better than the next person. When you've done all your homework and prepared for everything you're likely to encounter, success is bound to be yours.
• Execute well and be a strong tactician in the field - Executing a well-made plan is an important component. Not only does Lance execute well, he reads changes in the field like a master and adapts accordingly.
• Be able to read your team and your adversaries - Lance gets the most out of his team that he can because he fully understands what they're capable of and how well they're doing. He's also reading the other cyclists, figuring out their strengths and weakness along the way so that he can pinpoint the moves he wants to make, when, and how.
• Understand and plan for your adversaries' strengths and weaknesses - So many times during this Tour, I came away with the idea that Lance understands his rivals even better than many of them understood themselves and clearly he used that to his advantage whenever possible.
• Work with your adversaries when it makes sense - When other riders refuse to join up and help each other out simply because they are rivals, no one gains. Lance seems to understand that lesson very well and always has been willing to work together when it furthered his own game plan.
• Minimize your weaknesses and capitalize on your strengths - When Lance was so sick during the 2003 Tour, master that he was, he actually turned it into a strength, playing down his actual abilities even further and fooling rivals into believing that he'd be easier to beat. In 2004 (as in others) Lance concentrated primarily on the mountains and the time trials where he knew he could gain a time advantage, leaving the flats to the sprinters.
• Try not to make enemies - As Filippo Simeoni discovered, making an enemy means there's now someone who's heart and soul is devoted to making sure that whoever wins, it won't be you. It's not a good place to be so do your best to avoid it. Rivals are good. Enemies aren't.
• Don't let your enemies take advantage - Once you have an enemy, it's wise to not ever let them get the upper hand. There's a difference between being "easy to work with" and being a doormat.
• Pay attention to the details - Even small things count. Lance works hard to make his riding stance the most aerodynamic possible. He sheds every ounce of unnecessary weight and nothing that can impact his ability to ride goes unaddressed.
• Stay healthy - Simply put, you can't win if you can't play. All that preparation is meaningless if you overdo it during the training or during the real thing. Pacing yourself has to be as much a part of the formula as knowing when to dredge up that extra juice to make it more than 100% effort.
• Stay with it and don't give up - Voeckler should have been handing over the yellow jersey much earlier than he did. Sheer will-power kept him in the game and now he's created a bit of history of his own. Who knows, perhaps when Lance is done taking home the yellow, we'll be cheering on Voeckler in future Tours.
• Watch for the right time to make your move - Strike out on your own too early, and you run the risk of being reeled back in by the peloton... delay too long and you may miss your window of opportunity. Hopefully it's no surprise that market timing and understanding whether the conditions in the workplace are conducive to supporting a new initiative work the same way.
• Sprint for the finish - Winning usually requires that you give it your all right through to the finish. Slacking off means running the risk that there will be someone else just behind you ready to beat you just at the end.
• Be driven - Find out what drives you and use it to your advantage. For Lance, it was going for the yellow jersey and it wasn't just for the winning; the yellow jersey is what inspired him to go on living and so that proof of vitality is probably a big part of what yellow is all about.

So, did I leave anything out? If so, it's probably because you haven't yet contributed your thoughts on the matter to techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com - While I've got lots of other topics clamoring for space, it's not too late to add more to this one.

What drives you and how much is that helping you get what you want?

Learning from Lance - Part Deux

To continue what I started...  if it's not just about the technical skill, where does consistent success come from?

Assuming that Lance crosses the finish line tomorrow in the final stage ending along le Champs Elysées, (and he's careful enough about such things that there's no reason he shouldn't), it's practically assured that Lance will take home his sixth Yellow Jersey, an unprecedented accomplishment, all the more impressive because he will have done it all in consecutive years.

While Lance has improved the standing of the sport with the American public, his story is not the only impressive one out there. Jan Ullrich continues to be a formidable force to watch. I find myself curious about what role Andreas Klöden will play next year. Ivan Basso seems to be coming into his own. Tyler Hamilton continues to astound me even though he pulled out of this year's Tour... and even though Thomas Voeckler lost the white jersey today, who couldn't help but be impressed by his efforts and all that he accomplished, sometimes on nothing more than sheer guts and determination?

If you watched any of this year's Tour de France, you would have had an opportunity to see just how much the entire US Postal Team contributed to Lance's (and their own) success and there's a lot of good stuff there to mine for lessons about business and life itself. Here are some more of my attempts at connecting the dots...

• Assemble a great team - This year, as in other years, there is more than one member of the US Postal team who is capable of being a star in his own right. These guys really know what they're doing and they focus all their attention and energies on helping Lance succeed.
• Give your team something worthwhile to work for - One thing I keep hearing is that the work of a supporting cast member for a team like Lance's is rewarding enough to be playing second fiddle... and it must be true to have attracted top talent like they have. Team success, individual success when it is consistent with the team goal, a share of the financial rewards of success & recognition are all some of the possibilities I can think of that might be the motivators for these guys - someone has figured out what makes it worthwhile to the riders themselves because we've seen every stage of the Tour where they give nothing less than their best.
• Instill confidence - One of the things that really amazed me throughout the tour was how much easier it must have been for the US Postal team to have devoted single-minded effort into supporting Lance, knowing that he was capable of doing what he set out to do... compared with how troubled the T-Mobile team had to have been with Ullrich struggling to stay in the running. Here we are on the eve of the final "just make sure you cross the finish line" stage, and Ullrich as team leader is more than two and a half minutes behind one of his own teammates. It's tough to know as an outsider and a non-competitive cyclist what the dynamics actually look like on that team right now but I have to guess that a willingness to support the leader and get the team where they collectively want to be has to suffer in a situation like that.
• Work on the teamwork - A singleminded willingness to work for the good of the team doesn't by itself guarantee success. Lance and his team have clearly prepared heavily for the most foreseeable situations, developed a comprehensive plan and practiced their individual roles in the execution of that plan as much as they needed to until they were able to execute it nearly flawlessly. Every time Lance was led by and surrounded by his guys in blue, you saw it in action and it most definitely worked.
• Control the pace - By making it their game instead of someone elses, Lance's team controlled the field and made it more likely their guy was going to be the one to come out on top
• Be willing and able to do the hard work yourself - Lance has great support from his team and he could not possibly achieve the success that he does completely on his own, but he also knows there comes a time when he has to be the one out in front doing the heavy lifting and he has to do it alone.
• Know who your real adversaries are - Along with the other A-list cyclists, Lance (mostly - okay, he's definitely not perfect) doesn't waste his time or energy chasing down riders who aren't in a position to affect his own standings or the success of his team.
• Work with a great advisor - One of Lance's keys to success is that he has Johan Bruyneel, a coach who understands him completely and also understands the challenges he faces. Johan is a friend, a confident, a sounding board and an advisor who ensures Lance and the rest of his team are at the top of their form on race day. At least part of his top-notch performance comes from the outside perspectives Lance gets from Bruyneel.

That's probably more than enough for now though with input from others, I definitely have more to add to the list. If you'll send your ideas to techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com I'll make room for those as well.

What's one thing you could do to improve your own chances of success?

Learning from Lance

Yesterday's Stage 17 was sure something, wasn't it? I continue to be amazed at what these guys are able to pull off. And of course I also continue to apply what I see on le Tour (as I do with everything) to other aspects of my life. It strikes me that there is a lot to be learned about the business world from watching Lance Armstrong.

I actually wrote out a giant list of exactly that yesterday - it wasn't meant to be comprehensive but it was a pretty fair list, I thought. Well, apparently that didn't need to go out to everyone yesterday because after spending an hour and a half writing, it all went into the ether, instead of into the ethernet. Not that I'm bitter, mind you. Not at all (said through gritted teeth). Okay, maybe a little. But I'm figuring out how to make lemonade out of the carnage and I'm working on trusting that what will come out instead as a replacement will somehow be better. I haven't figured out how yet but that's what I'm shooting for!

For starters, how about I just write out a few things at a time and spread it out over a few days, eh? Shorter and easier for you to read anyway I guess. Of course, it means that a lot will probably have to wait until long after we know the outcome of this year's Tour de France. Hopefully that will be okay for all of us.

So the first thing I remember being such a powerful insight is that watching Lance and US Postal, it is abundantly clear to me that technical ability is not enough... it's just a ticket to play, is all it is. In cycling, if riding a bike well was good enough, Jan Ullrich would have many more titles than he has ('97 was his only win). In fact, that would still be true if strength, guts, and determination were "all" that it takes. Ullrich has the legs, the power and some level of will & drive. He's often regarded as one of the better bike handlers too. But Lance has won le Tour more times than Jan and at this point, it is still uncertain whether Ullrich can even pull off another second place finish.

If it's not all about the technical ability, what else is needed to win consistently? That's the part I want to try to recapture - perhaps you can help me rebuild my list. The address to use is still  techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com and it'd be great to hear from you about your ideas on the matter.

What, besides your technical abilities do you bring to the table in your life and work... and what else could you use that would help you be more successful?

Living Strong

I'm still completely enthralled with Tour de Lance - I mean, Tour de France. It's a great story of human challenges and triumphs... and today was a great stage what with spectacular performances on the individual time trials on l'Alpe d'Huez. 

I'm sorry Tyler Hamilton is out; sorrier still that he's lost his dog, Tugboat, a long-time companion. It's probably been a rough week for him and he really does seem like a class act. Fortunately, anyone who can ride an entire Tour with a broken collarbone probably has what it takes to get through just about any adversity so I feel comfortable (and I don't even really know the guy though it turns out there are only a couple of degrees of separation there) that he'll be able to get through this too.

And while it probably has been a tough week of another kind for Voeckler, I do hope he still feels good about what he's accomplished, wearing the Yellow Jersey for as many days as he has, especially since he kept it for a good two days longer than even the most the most stretched imaginations could suggest was possible.

One of the sidebar items of interest to me are the numbers of people who are wearing Lance's Live Strong yellow bracelets. They're easy to get ($1 is cheap and you can pick them up from NikeTown or order them online), easy to wear, easy to spot and go for a great cause. What's not to like? I figure they've become a meme, they're getting so ubiquitous. Heck, even cyclists on other teams (Virenque, Basso, Zabel and O'Grady, to name just a few) are wearing them!

It rather makes me wonder what small-seeming, otherwise worthwhile ideas I've been harboring that could be turned into "idea viruses", given the right push. You probably have a few too. Who's to say at the outset whether they're ideas that capture everyone's attention and are ripe for becoming as commonplace as the yellow wristbands or whether they are ideas that take shape in a much smaller scale? For now, it's enough to simply begin taking action, breathing life into them so that they become something real and not just an idea locked in somebody's head.

As one friend quoted to me today, "There is magic in action." There is no need to gather more information, get permission or "how-to's" from someone else you assume to be more an expert than you are; there is only the need to do one thing that carries your idea forward into the realm of reality... and then one more thing and then one more. Like the stories of Stone Soup, when you start taking action, others will want to help out. You'll know if you have an idea that will take off - others will get excited, perhaps even looking to you to lead them. What a great place to be.

My challenge to you is to Live Strong in your own way. Define it for yourself and then make it happen. If it involves drafting others into your cause and making it real for more than just yourself, so much the better. Let me know at techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com what you're up to and how you're making your world a better place.

Try something new - try living your life "out loud."