As employees (I can almost remember being one) we were focused on the elements of our job that involved the least risk taking. Not many of us are prepared to stick our heads above the parapet. As managers, we emphasise compliance, create procedures to try and control people. Invent organisational charts that not only mean sod all, but tell people who they are supposed to talk to. We pinch our peoples ideas, we reinforce the silos we have evolved even in small businesses and try and measure performance based on a system that focuses on extrinsic motivation rather than intrinsic motivation.

Then we complain like mad because our staff are not showing initiative, we have to make all the decisions for fear of mistakes. Teams don’t integrate, people only perform what is required and we’ve systemised, de sensitized employees so they don’t feel anymore. We couldn’t have frustrated them more if we had tried by honing in on the wrong things.

Concentrate on letting your people express themselves fully, allow them the freedom to take risk and make mistakes. Build cross functional teams to solve problems and remove silos. Facilitate rather than control. Measure the things that really matter to that person like being valued, working on meaningful projects and making a big bloomin’ difference to their work, their customers or colleagues. You can’t control the best people only influence their ability to develop some of your most important initiatives.

We all have a tendency to spend enormous amounts of time on the wrong things we think make us competitive. Our product, the way the store looks, how we market, what marketing messages we communicate, how we look. And, when we are really scraping the barrel, our price. Okay some of these things are important, but not to the exclusion of what will really make us competitive in the future. Perhaps we are looking in the wrong place?

In fact, the most predominant, fundamental, important, radical, distinguishing factor that makes you competitive is your people. They control costs, implement procedures, deliver customer service, develop new products, conduct research, find new ways of doing stuff and get things done.

We, on many occasions, fail to look at competitiveness correctly, realising that sometimes, we have it the wrong way round. Stop adding things to your product/service and start creating value for your people. Comprehend that 2010 will be about relationships (see last blog). They will be your worthy asset. Products come and go, relationships must not, they cost too much to replace.

Over the Xmas period I’m writing an eBook considering how business is changing including the fundamental shifts we are experiencing and, also the key things we possibly need to get back to. It will cover between 50 and 100 words all supplied by my colleagues, clients, followers, connections and fans. Although, I may throw a few into the mix.

I’m hoping to provide an overview of some critical factors that will influence the future of work and business. Some of you have been kind enough already to provide some interesting topics such as; value, adaption, substance, competition, talent, time and feel.

It would be great if you could join in! I’ll reference you in the book and provide a hyperlink to your website or blog. Hopefully, I can provide some thought provoking ideas and thoughts with a bit of humility too. Can’t wait for the conversation to start once it’s published in February/March 2010.

If you want to contribute a word or two, please just make a comment on this blog, direct message me on www.twitter.com/annholman or, email me at ann@annholman.co.uk

Thanks!

If you run a business, department or division, your role is about to change, big time! Your ego better go and bury itself comfortable cos’ it’s going to be spending a long time there. As a manager you have huge responsibilities. Those self absorbed, selfish, controlling vain days are over. They may have been suitable for a functional state of management but they no longer endear you to a world that has suddenly realised that it’s about relationships. Behaviour will have to change.

Perhaps, business is moving from the ego status to the self actualisation role as in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs? Your new accountabilities will not be based soley on financial performance or achievements based on numbers. It will centre on:

1. Developing relationships that are mutually beneficial.

2. Developing differentiation, even if it is unfortunately based on price.

3. Creating a common purpose that is authentic, makes a difference and has meaning to people.

4. Building trust and credibility.

However, enabling people to feel valued is going to be your most significant contribution. Financial performance? That’s just the result of getting the stuff above right, we’ve just always managed it the wrong way round!

Business in the past was valued on it’s financial performance, it still is. Increasingly, it will also be based on influence, followers and fans. If we own something we try to protect it. In fact, we can become over protective. For years we have been conditioned to think that we own stuff at work; our team, our customers, our products. Tesco thinks it owns it’s suppliers!

This over exuberance can be detrimental, if not a tad delusional. We can spend lots of money defending something that we actually don’t own. The future, we know, will be based on the value of our relationships with our fellow humans. You can only part own a relationship. You will only part own a product as we collaborate more, you have never owned your people, especially in a war for talent. And customers just ain’t buying that ‘priviledge’ thing anymore.

You don’t own the buildings you work in, you probably don’t own that car you drive and your company probably only lease that computer and mobile you use. We need to shift our mentality from one of ownership to partnership. That way we can work positively on the things that really are meaningful and rationally focus our efforts.

When was the last time you let your people play? Not throwing a ball around the car park or the games we all get on our computers and mobiles nowadays, but serious play.

Play is the essence of innovation and idea creation. It requires freedom from constraints and freedom from conditions.. Watch the kid in the school yard with his/her tractor. Complete absorption in the activity, unadulterated imagination and clear determination is at work.

Play is critical, it’s serious stuff and it encourages us to look at things differently. With your team look at something mundane in your customer process or consider that boring waste management project. Play with it, modify it, destroy it, build it up again. Completely go wild, break it open and come up with 10 new ideas and see where that takes you!

As Joesph Chilton Pearce said “Play is the only way the highest intelligence of mankind can unfold.” Not a bad quote really.

If this is true, we need to start focusing on the people aspects of our business, rather than the sometimes unhealthy, overbearing focus on our products. There are no crap products in the world nowadays just similar ones. Our true competitive advantage is in how we tap the brains of the people around us. Here’s two ideas:

1. Get together some customers and influencers and discuss the future. This new way of doing things. How the mortality rate for lots of business models is rising. What trends will come true what won’t. Have a debate about the implications, the impact, the positives, the negatives.

2. If you’re the boss, get your team together on a monthly basis and initiate an interactive and engaging chat about various topics. Not the usual stuff like “how many new customers can we generate,” or “how do we reduce wastage.” But, stuff like “How can we be more authentic?” “How can we influence customers rather than control them.” “How can we work collaboratively with competitiors.”

The point; use a little imagination. If you are going to take time out of peoples day, make it interesting, make it provocative, take people out of their comfort zones. They will find it challenging, possibly terrifying, perhaps liberating. At least you will have acted as catalyst for thinking and, in today’s knowledge economy, thats really what its about.

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.

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.