Lets get rid of one myth, you can’t manage people. Desks, chairs, IT systems, websites, databases yes but people, a resounding no. That’s where it’s all gone wrong. It’s why so many people in ‘jobs’ are bored and why so many people set their own businesses up.

Talented people want meaningful work first and then the monetary rewards as a result of doing something that makes a difference. If you think, or people tell you otherwise, they are so buried in conditioning that they haven’t gasped for air in years!

Just a few predictions:

1. Talented people (that’s all you can afford to recruit now) will want to express themselves, have their own voice, and not seek permission but consultation before they make a decision. They will want more responsibility, accountability and ownership of the business than ever before.

2. They will expect the work to be meaningful. They won’t give a damn you’re the boss unless you constantly demonstrate your credibility and reputation, the same way you expect them to.

3. Great people will only work for companies that are innovative, flexible, open and honest. They will expect authentic leadership and true relationships with their colleagues and customers

4. They will know what they are worth in terms of added value. They will be precise about what skills they bring to the party. They will be confident about their ability. Oh, and it won’t be BS. They will know.

5. Because they are good they will expect the relationship to be on an equal basis. You may as well throw out the hierarchy and organisational chart now. They will not want distance between you and them. If there is, they will see it as a distrust and disrespect.

6. They will deliver more than you ever imagined.

7. Finally, they won’t want you to throw your ego, position and control around but bountiful amounts of inspiration and motivation.

Some of these are no different to now, but perhaps with the war for talent, you have to create the conducive environment now in order to develop a competitive advantage for the future. People are replacing products.

Who would have thought it 20 years ago? There were inclinations of what was about to happen 10 years ago, The Cluetrain Manifesto more than hinted at it. Now that it’s upon us why do some people still not get it? The world is a changing and we better get to grips with it as soon as possible. If you are not already, you need to be understanding social media and crowdsourcing like there is no tomorrow.

People from around the world are gathering in places to converse on subjects they are commonly interested in. They share information, collaborate on projects and trade knowledge for little or no money. They will probably never meet face to face but trust, respect and a genuine relationship is formed sincerely.

Everyone now has a vehicle to explore their latent talent. That same vehicle can provide an audience for that skill whether it be creative, specialised knowledge innovative new products or a craft. The barriers to entry are almost non existent.

And, what that brings is the ability for people to find their own voices again, often for the first time in a work environment. Without the constraint of corporate speak and culture, people are conversing with all sorts of people. Barriers are breaking down. Language is losing its spin.

The web, social media and the crowd doesn’t care what qualifications you have, whether you went to Harvard or Cambridge or Exeter. It couldn’t give a damn the colour of your skin, where you were brought up or what gender you are. The traditional pre conditions of working with certain people is evapourating except, of course, quality.

People in old school company structures are bored. Sick of being suffocated in a contradictory world of systems and procedures where the work is about money and position. People are banging on the door of their prison, sorry office and asking to be let out. To be free to contribute and do something meaningful and different.

These tools, some newer than others do not, in fact isolate us, far from it. It does the opposite by allowing us to share and colloborate on levels and in numbers never seen before and, hell, this is just the beginning. It means huge changes for every business, and I mean every business. Old, traditional models don’t need scrapping overnight but they will need to be very soon.

It has huge implications. There is a new meaning to outsourcing, competition, teams, the way you use talent, intellectual property, business models, innovation, marketing, customer service, leadership, motivation, inspiration the list goes on. We are not talking about little changes in practice here but significant, huge shoves. Burying your head in the sand won’t make it go away.

Are you keeping people out or inviting them in? It costs very little to pick a great customer who has fabulous ideas and creates value for your business and then mix him/her up with a few of your other customers and let them come up with the next developments you need to make. Imagine how that may impact your reputation too!

This is a great post from Jim Connolly about how being lucky is actually about being planned and prepared. It’s a fab reminder for all of us in small business.

http://www.theideasblog.com/2009/10/08/how-to-be-lucky/

No I’m not about to start a critique on the Charles Dickens novel! As entrepreneurs and people who run our own businesses, we live in a world of little expectation. At start up, we may have had great expectations but, quickly, reality kicks in via its many experiential forms and you learn not to expect too much from other people.

Whether that’s because you didn’t get paid, you have had lots of deferred/cancelled orders, or you expected more people to turn up at your event. Reality can be painful. For some this becomes a depressing place to be. We’ve all met them.

When you have little expectation, perhaps you are freer. Your world isn’t consumed by worrying whether something’s going to happen, if someone is going to let you down. It gives you space to breathe, an ability to consume more learning, adapt and absorb what’s really going on. In fact, it gives you chance to listen.

In having great expectations you then put in place controls whether physical and/or mental. These controls ensure you feel comfortable, secure and reinforce (you think) that people won’t get let down. You see it everyday both internally and externally in business.

Having little expectation of other people can ensure you have great expectations of yourself. You become independent, you control the right thing; you and not the wrong thing, other people. It diverts attention to yourself and you become more self-aware.

People with great expectations focus on other people and what they are doing and what they are not and then the awful struggle with blame enters the frame. We start blaming others for not meeting our expectations and in turn we try to control them even more.

It becomes an ever-decreasing circle, a whirlpool of trouble. Even a depressing array of emotions. Having little expectation of other people doesn’t make you pessimistic, in fact, it truly embeds optimism when you concentrate on managing the great expectations of yourself first, before you flirt with other peoples.

Some of the most important challenges for all organisations, not just small business will be the conversion to conversation. For scores of years, if not a couple of centuries now, individuals, when at work, have been made to feel uncomfortable to converse, some have even had policies to prevent it happening.

Senior managers and directors have encouraged connections through rules, projects, deadlines, contracts, appraisals, meetings and management practices but they are just a camouflage for control. We can no more control a human being as we can the weather!

Conversations happen amongst equals. If you just asked your production manager why waste has increased by 5% last year, that’s not a conversation. That’s communication. Conversations are not forced, they are natural, (or that’s what was intended) they are open, honest and genuine. Each person contributes equally and it’s certainly not a power base.

There is no control, you can be wrong and all parties involved have a desire to learn and create new ideas together. It’s an exchange not a ‘telling’ show. Communication tends to use position, politics, spin, control and ego as it’s tactics, conversation displays humility and understanding.

Conversation is no longer a distraction from work, its at the heart and centre of it.

Thought some of you may be interested in this event about the 21^st century challenge of selling creative ideas, I’m taking part in on the 4th November. Below is the narrative of Arts Matrix’s event:

“Thought-provoker Ann Holman believes that intellectual property (IP) is dead.  Noel Akers, IP attorney makes his living in the UK and Europe by showing people it’s not – you decide… Expect lively debate and audience participation. This is an ArtsMatrix production in association with the Formation Zone, NJ Akers & Co.”

To book a place obtain your booking form from:

http://www.artsmatrix.org.uk/Portals/0/docs/Artsmatrix%2009%20programme12a1.pdf

04/11/09    University of Plymouth, Devon -4.30pm – 7.00pm

£35 for South West creatives – £60 outside South West

Be great to see you there should be very, very interesting!

Small businesses once they start to grow can begin to adopt ‘corporate’ tactics. Rather like when we get older we start saying the same things our parents say!! It’s easy to fall through the trap door of building organisational structures, implementing systems and creating job descriptions in the belief it provides us with control. Actually it can do the complete opposite.

As we grow we fear making the wrong decisions, expect no mistakes from our employees and build a structure that defends us from being human and imperfect. We create defined roles and responsibilities that constrain a persons ability to be innovate and then silos emerge. Teams fragment and become protective, fearful of looking stupid and pointing out the obvious. People start saying the ‘right’ things to directors and, finally, managers start using their positional authority by trying to control the uncontrollable, people. Low and behold anyone dare to expose their fallibility.

Everyone starts feeling crushed and accept this is the ‘way things are done round here.’ It’s no wonder that after an initial spurt of growth, small businesses begin to plateau and growth slows dramatically. We just sucked the life out of our business. As owners we tend to focus on growth being measured exclusively by the figures when it’s actually about the employees growth. In the past we recognised and praised their initiative, now afraid of loosing control, we stifle it.

For once, forget job descriptions, get rid of structure, deliberately allow teams to work together on joint problems to prevent silos and ditch those job titles. It’s not about keeping control that you need to be worried about, it’s the growing inertia business expansion can bring.

Each generation has it’s opportunity to improve things for the better. Each generation has it’s challenges when it comes to terrorism and war. Each generation has to face the inevitable changes that affect business lives. Each generation has to understand that change isn’t necessarily for the worse.

There is no denying that the web and technology has provided us with shifting sands and there are some things that have died; destructive competition. Broadcasting and shouting. Sales pitches, safe, mundane relationships with customers and employees. Being in control and managing people. The traditional way of making a profit. Copyright and patronising conversations. Silence. Corporate speak and organisational structures. Them and us. Marketing in the traditional sense. The memo and email. Egotistical management and scarcity. Information on a need to know basis.

I could go on. Unlike leg warmers, pogo sticks and lego, they are not going to make a come back, no matter how retro they may look in the future!

Linked to the post on ‘Allow mistakes’ yesterday. For one idea to be great, you have to have tens of duffers. You’re people know where your business is screwing up and many of the ideas/improvements shouldn’t really be coming from you.

The more staff, customers and followers you have the less you control your business. Get real, other people are orchestrating it’s future. Be sensible enough and have the brains to create that environment where your people can offer those suggestions and solutions.

People at the ‘coal face’ and ‘on the shop floor’ often have more valuable knowledge than the control freaks at the top. Let go, free up their time to think. What they come up with may be scary, but there again, that’s my point!