Have a Casting Call, not an Interview

/in , , /by

When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way.

– Wayne Dyer

Fred Kleisner has an enviable job. As CEO of premier boutique hotelier, Morgans Hotel Group, Fred’s job is to run some of the coolest, hippest hotel properties in the world. From the Delano in South Beach to The Clift in San Fran to the Hudson in New York City, Morgans has become known as the kind of place celebrities, rock stars, and wannabes, wanna spend their time. Their signature experiences are the lobby and entrance spaces, as well as their clubs and night life environments. The place, the property, the ambiance are all of course incredibly important, but Fred understands that at the heart of Morgans is the people who make the place cool and fun.

When I went to interview Fred Kleisner at his Hudson property near Central Park, New York – and no, sadly I didn’t get to stay there… – I was greeted by a couple stylish, cool women in the lobby who chatted me up about where I came from, the city, the weather. It was not at all evident initially that they worked there. There’s no uniform, no name tags, no clear evidence that people work there, except for the fact that they are incredibly thoughtful and helpful. For example, Jessica greeted and escorted us to our filming location with Fred and remained constantly helpful throughout our visit.

During the interview I asked Fred what kinds of characteristics and personalities they look for when hiring. He said they aren’t interested in hiring tall, thin models, but are much more interested in someone’s whole personality and strengths. Morgans’ more recent interview sessions, which he calls a “casting call,” were hosted in a theatre. After the more standard Q&A, candidates were invited to get up on stage and share anything they wanted, with an emphasis on something that expressed who they were at heart. Fred said candidates sang, told stories, danced, recited poetry, talked about their travels, and more. This exercise told the candidates they were entering a safe, welcoming environment where they were expected to bring their unique identity to work, while also allowing the interviewers to glimpse the more personal and honest side of potential hires before they find out six months into the job.

If we want initiative, passion, and creativity, take a tip from Fred Kleisner and Morgans Hotels – don’t just have an interview, have a casting call.

The Path to Success through Optimism

/in , /by

“The joyfulness of a man prolongeth his days.”

—Sirach 30:22

Optimism, like creativity, can be learned. By stretching and confusing muscle groups and adding variety to our workouts, we get stronger – not through the constant repetition of exercises already known to our muscles. That will only get us to plateau, not muscle growth. And similarly through intellectual experimentation and allowing ourselves to find the unexpected, we can hone our creativity as well.

Optimism works much the same way – it can be learned, but it takes effort and practice. One of the keys to learning optimism include reflecting on things we are grateful for, and then sharing that gratitude with those around us. By recollecting and expressing gratitude we activate endorphins which have the power to fight fatigue and pain, and increase happiness. Then by sharing that positive experience socially we transmit, through mirror neurons, that experience to others which invokes an endorphin response in them as well. And so we can experience making someone else happy, and that translates to a sense of purpose and meaning. This reinforces our sense of community by affirming that our actions matter.

Also visualizing previous and anticipated positive moments, places and people can elevate our sense of optimism. The reason for this is that our brain has a difficult time discerning between what is actual and what is mentally visualized. In cognition studies researchers have demonstrated that mental practice can be as effective as actual practice. This has been demonstrated to be true in music and athletics, as well as disposition. Mentally rehearsing an athletic activity, or playing a musical instrument, can have very nearly the same performance-enhancing value as actual physical rehearsal. The same is true for events and interactions – by visualizing a positive outcome we affirm and encourage that result in our mind and thus contribute to an actual positive result.

Another powerful optimism-enhancer is meditation and focus. By relaxing your body, calming your mind, and focusing on single mental or physical activities, we gain greater proficiency, talent and task-success. Which then again leads to greater happiness. It should be unsurprising then, that studies have shown that happiness precedes success, not the other way around. A common story propagated in our culture is that hard work will lead to proficiency, which will lead to success, which will make us happy. Much of the research recently suggests the inverse – that behaviors, communities and practices which develop our happiness will contribute then to talent and performance, which in turn will fuel success in all aspects of our lives.

You can test your own Optimism Level here using Martin Seligman’s test – Enjoy!

Do it Like Zorro – Control Your Circle

/in , , /by

Wall Street today was a street of vanished hopes, of curiously silent apprehension and of a sort of paralyzed hypnosis yesterday. Little groups gathered here and there to discuss the fall in prices in hushed and awed tones.
– New York Times, Oct 30, 1929

You might expect that at that moment in 1929, and again in 2008, sleep-deprived, anxious bankers worked tirelessly to arrest the stock market free-fall. And yet, more often, sleep-deprived anxious bankers sat in paralyzed hypnosis as the crisis unfolded before them. Not because they were unable to do anything about it, but instead were drawn into a state of learned helplessness. Learned helplessness is that point at which we feel we are utterly unable to make a difference no matter what we do. We have to start by controlling/influencing what we know we can – which often means the lowest denominator.

Here is a lesson from Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage. Consider the story of Zorro in which early on we find our hapless hero, Alejandro Murrieta who is drinking and raging quietly against Captain Harrison Love who has killed his brother, and feeling totally helpless to take his vengeance. Zorro introduces him to the Master’s Wheel and advises, “This is called a training circle, a master’s wheel. This circle will be your world, your whole life. Until I tell you otherwise, there is nothing outside of it.” He teaches Alejandro to first control only what comes within his circle and by the end of the story the new Zorro is swinging from chandeliers and handling twenty men in battle.

In 2011, remember to focus first on what you can control. Your circle will widen.

Building Urgency for Enterprise 2.0 Adoption

/in , , /by

We had a fantastic interaction and presentation with Andy McAfee, author of Enterprise 2.0, this past week. He delivered a live, interactive webcast to our global audience of over 500 organizations. He opened by debunking a fairly straightforward idea that we hear constantly, “It’s not about the technology.” This is a common idea paraded about in organizations to demonstrate that while, yes, technology is of course changing, it is more about the business models, ideas, and market landscape that surrounds the changing technology.

Myself, I’ve been sucker to that same argument when talking about the importance of recognizing technology as a tacit enabler, but not the point itself. McAfee wants to point out that…now…more than ever before, the technology itself is changing at such a logarithmic rate, that indeed it has powerful impacts on the services and product innovation we provide.

Take at look at the graph – when we weigh infrastructure asset prices of industrial, transportation and infrastructure costs against the cost of available technology, clearly online technological costs are plummeting, and that has profound implications about how we can, and should, do business. And importantly, how we interact as communities in the emerging Enterprise 2.0 environment. The price crash of collaborative technologies based on peripheral equipment like computers (iPads!, NetBooks!) has opened up immense opportunities for people to congregate virtually, share expertise, practices, and insights – and if they choose, to also collaborate in competitive ways in the market.

With the advent of online collaborative environments we are seeing heightened competition from everyone, everywhere, for everything. If you thought your market niche was product based, or particularly regional in scope, think again. With cool collaborative innovation sinks like InnoCentive, people can build iterative new products and services leveraging expertise around the world in a flash. So as you and your business consider integrating Enterprise 2.0 initiatives, consider that the alternative could be obsolescence.

Ask Carefully. You May Find Yourself There.

/in , , /by

We grow in the direction of the questions we ask. Our line of inquiry reinforces our interests, fuels our curiosity, and amplifies our identity and understanding in that direction. In a world today that is increasingly volatile, ambiguous and complex, the ideas and opinions that vie for our attention have compounded vastly beyond our abilities to digest intellectually, and thus the inquisitive choices we make become increasingly important in directing the shape of our ideas, our identities and our collaborative communities.

We need to follow the positive idea threads that matter to us, in context of our work, our play, and our lives. Appreciative Inquiry is the notion that we appreciate – add value to – the ideas and beliefs that we inquire of, and importantly that our questions are indeed creations. That is, each question we pose begets change, and what we anticipate in the world and in each interaction tomorrow, reflects our behavior and disposition today. Appreciative Inquiry respects Remedial and Diagnostic forms of organizational development, yet also presents a future path of positive change focusing on inspired innovation as opposed to focusing solely on correcting what isn’t working.

Diagnostic exercises such as “autopsies without blame” are surely useful at isolating and excising those practices and processes that failed, but arguably only add to the ever-increasing list of things we should not do. And remediating efforts, like finding the weakest link, can certainly work toward elevating those skills and behaviors that fall below the curve. But in this rapidly evolving economic landscape where next iterations, and emergent inspired-innovation represents real differentiating value, I believe that a more forward, positive and appreciative approach is needed. Basically I believe the world is moving too fast to spend most of our time fixing the old, we need to be creating the new.

We are seeing these developments in the emergence of positive institutions such as IDEO, the award-winning design firm. As IDEO engages their clients in their highly co-creative, rapid-prototyping process of design, they are simultaneously instructing and creating these capacities in the customers they work with. So even beyond the personal level of creating and affecting change by the questions we ask, we see whole organizations positively affect whole organizations simply by manner and behavior of interaction.

And so, craft your questions carefully, for they affect everyone they touch.

Relentlessly inspire. And be inspired.

/in , , /by

make_happyWant to build a great marriage? Create positive teams that go the duration? Be a better boss, not a bosshole? Turns out there is statistical evidence that creating great results and great relationships, is correlated to the ratio of positive/negative interactions we have with the people around us. Above 3:1 and below 11:1 is trending positive, and right about 6:1 is the sweet spot for professional environments. More than 12:1 in the ratio of positive to negative comments and the praise starts to get a little unbelievable.

For personal relationships you want about 5:1 positive to negative interactions. Maybe because trust is higher in personal relationships. Maybe because we need less constant affirmation from loved ones. Maybe we take more chances in our work, and want greater affirmation that we’re on the right track.

Marcial Francisco Losada conducted studies in which teams of assistants, behind one-way mirrors, observed group discussions and categorized comments made as either positive, negative, or neutral. Later, he drew upon independent metrics of performance, and was able to rank the team’s performance in context of the tenor of the conversations they had. The researchers also measured whether questions were intended to elicit new information or advocate their own point of view. Interestingly, low-performing teams asked very few inquisitive questions, and instead exercised a position of “waiting to talk” instead of actively listening.

Interestingly, on the high-performing teams one person’s inquisitive line of questioning would lead to another’s positivity. That is, if someone in the group made a curious inquiry, another member would react positively toward that line of questioning. Curiosity creates positive interactions.

The take-away is straightforward: build positive interactions into your daily life and good things happen.

Finding a Hero in DeMaurice Smith

/in , /by

DeMaurice is my new hero. I was lucky enough to sit and interview DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, who just completed a 9000 mile tour to visit every one of the NFL’s 32 teams and the 1800 players who make the game as great as it is today. With an average career lifespan of 3.4 years, rising statistic of bankruptcy five years after retirement (DeMaurice doesn’t like the word ‘retirement’, but more on that in a moment), 100% injury rate, increased fines, and reduced benefits, it’s no wonder DeMaurice is a busy man.

DeMaurice calls the likelihood of a lockout this spring 140% because he is simply unwilling to compromise on the health and benefits of the players. NFL players have a 100% injury rate. That’s right, everyone gets hurt, it’s just a matter of when. And DeMaurice will always be in your corner. Put it this way – if you were ever in a legal negotiation you want DeMaurice on your side. He’s that tenacious.

He visits every team and player to have that personal and direct touch, and he is also on a mission to teach them something else: financial literacy. In his words, if you fail to prepare for life after the NFL, you have failed as a businessman, a leader, and a father. It is the responsibility of every player to educate themselves and prepare their family for their future after the game.

And now you get why he doesn’t like the word ‘retired’ because it suggests they have left the game and the league, and DeMaurice wants you, the former player, to know that he will never leave you.

He also focuses always on the positive. While mainstream media wants to talk about bar room fights and DUIs, DeMaurice wants the fans to know that players also helped rebuild villages in Africa, provided labor and relief efforts in Haiti and donate time and energy to their communities. It is with tireless passion and energy that DeMaurice works for the players each and every day.

Take a lesson from DeMaurice and recognize that life is wonderful indeed when you find that intersection of passion, integrity, and sense of purpose. As DeMaurice put it, “Every job I’ve had, I felt at that moment it was what I was born to do”

What Every CEO Wants: Creativity, Integrity and Perspective

/in , , /by

It’s easy to come up with new ideas; the hard part is letting go of what worked for you two years ago, but will soon be out of date.
– Roger von Oech

IBM conducted a study this year in which they asked 1500 CEOs, in face to face interviews, what skills were of paramount importance for the leaders in their organizations, to their business and global competitiveness. You can read the entire study here, but in a nutshell, this is what CEOs care about.

The premise of the study is that change is accelerating and complexity is deepening in all markets around the world. As the world has become increasingly volatile and the future ambiguous, there remain a powerful minority of companies globally that have been able to capitalize on these seismic changes and turn this turbulence into innovation and advantage. These are the keys:

1. Creativity. Yes – your creativity, initiative, inventiveness and passion. More than ever, people have wholly transparant real-time access to relative value and price to the market goods, services that companies are providing, and our ability and willingness to bring our creativity to work can become the discerning factor. Remember 3M famously created post-it notes by allowing people in the organization to express their own creativity. From 3M to Google to Atlassian, some of the most powerful innovations have come from the bottom up within business cultures where, autonomy is offered, creativity encouraged, and ideas flourish.

2. Integrity. I recently had an interaction, and conducted a workshop with a group of women executives at an insurance and financial services group. A running theme throughout the attendees was the challenge of ‘being everything to everyone.’ That is, being the great mom, partner, executive, community service contributor, etc… Here’s a piece of advice I believe from Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life. When we think of our life, it’s common to think of ourselves as having different lives – the workout life, the professional life, the partner and spouse life, the parent life, etc. – when in fact we have but one life to live. My encouragement is to give permission to ourselves, and everyone around us to bring our whole selves to every endeavor. The etymology of Integrity is from the Latin integer, meaning whole, oneness. Recognize that each of us is but one person with a rich history and present, and future, and to bring our whole selves to everything we do represents our greatest contribution, and our greatest opportunity to draw from our own rich experience and apply to everything we do.

3. Globalization #3 in importance, in terms of creative leadership was the ability to think globally. One key aspect of thinking globally is to borrow brilliance from all sectors. One finding of the study was that CEOs wanted creative leaders to borrow disruption models from other industries and market sectors. If you are in the IT business, don’t benchmark what other IT business are doing. Go out and borrow ideas from the toy industry or maybe the microlending community – just something outside your usual purview.

Finally “act despite uncertainly.” Yes there is much ambiguity, and yes it can often feel better to wait until things shake out before committing a particular direction. But increasingly CEOs want creative leaders to be taking risks. Acting while others hesitate can pay off. The key to a successful jump is to follow your true convictions and beliefs.

Believe You Can Change the World

/in , , /by

Michael Stallard first told me this true story.  U2 is an anomaly in the world of rock music, right?  The world is littered with rock bands who make it and break up, or don’t make it and break up – all caught in the throes of egos battles or conflicting opinions and ideas, or maybe just awash in money and lose the storyline of the band and it’s identity.  From the beginning U2 said once “music can change the world because it can change people.”  The strength of the band’s identity and commitment to each other has driven the success.  The success has not driven the success.

In 1974 Bono’s mother died unexpectedly of a brain hemorrhage, which left his father to hold together the family, and as Bono describes it, he felt alone during the experience.  Just a couple years later in 1978, his friend and drummer Larry Mullen lost his mother in a car accident, which left Larry devastated.  Lost in that pain, Bono was present to help his friend heal emotionally.  Again in 1990 his dear friend and band mate The Edge went through an emotionally difficult divorce with his wife, and again the band rallied around the core group to support and find solidarity and kinship.  During that same time the bassist, Adam Clayton was working through debilitating drug and alcohol addictions which left him unable to play a signature live concert from Sydney, Australia to be televised around the world. Yet again the band slowed down, and took a break to support one of their own.

In 1987 the band was playing a concert in Tempe, AZ to celebrate the Reverend Martin Luther King.  Their song, “Pride” is a tribute to MLK and the band had been receiving consistent death threats from someone who claimed they would be present in the audience, and if they played that song, there would be an attempt to assassinate Bono.  The FBI declared the threat credible and advised the band not to play, and certainly not to play that signature song.

As Bono recalls, as he entered the third verse, “Early morning, April 4.  A shot rings out in the Memphis sky…” he closed his eyes not knowing what would happen.  When he opened his eyes, Adam Clayton was standing directly in front of him.

In your life, in your work, you might not be in a rock band galvanized by hardship and triumph.  Yet consider the power of finding that storyline that binds – beyond finding that next quarter profit or hitting the upcoming deadline.  The message by analogy must be: focus on building each other first.  Grow everyone in your path.

The Pie of Life

/in , , /by

There’s an old saying that goes, “How you spend your day is how you spend your life.” And researchers have shown (try Dan Gilbert) that we, predictably, are poor predictors of what will make us happy. The world is full of miserable lottery winners and yet we still think if only we have the house, the car, the spouse, the job, the vacation – whatever – we’ll be soo happy. And yet consistently many of these dreams fail to deliver joy upon arrival – or at least sustainable joy.

Turns out we aren’t very good at remembering how happy we were either. We fairly consistently recollect memories as joyful, when in fact the majority of the actual time spent was of a more mundane variety.   We have the experiencing self in real time that has opinions and emotions, and we have a remembering self that recollects events and provides us with advice about the quality of that experience and how to make future choices.

So to figure out how happy we really are on a moment to moment basis, researchers Alan Krueger and Daniel Kahnman conducted a study in which they asked 4,000 participants to categorize their days into 15 minute increments and value them based on how they felt at those moments. The slide here represents those findings. Ouch – we really only spend less than 30% of our day engaged in activities we characterize as either enjoyable or meaningful? And yikes – almost a third of our day is spent wandering through the “conveyer belt” of life, which to the average of those 4,000 interviewed meant work or school.

Todd Kashdan, author of Curious?, suggests it doesn’t have to be this way. The world over, people say they want happiness, health, and wealth – in that order. Todd is making a strong argument for the power of curiosity to be the sustaining key to happiness, joy and lifelong fulfillment. He reminds us that not only can we learn new things, open our minds, build more positive mood states, and generally find novelty in the world, but that it takes work. We have to apply ourselves to the game of learning curiousity, and the results can be profound – not only greater happiness, but closer and more fulfilling relationships, and even healthier bodies.

Try this for just five minutes.  When engaging in an activity you regularly do (walking to the mailbox, washing dishes, whatever) look for something new in the experience.  Slow down and be present for something you have never noticed before.  For example, Todd has a great story of a guy he interviewed whose job was to spot irregular potato chips on a moving conveyor belt and remove them to ensure product consistency.  I mean, that’s GOT to be up there with tollbooth operator on the boredom factor.  The guy said he loves his job.  Loves it.  He plays a game in which he tries to spot famous faces in the potato chips (Hey, there’s Ernest Borgnine!). OK, maybe not your idea of fun but it was for him. Find something new in each experience. Sometimes it’s only a slight turn of the head.