The Vargas Group

“Try not to become a success, but rather try to become a man of value.” Albert Einstein

In my management development program, “The New Management Reality,” I lead participants through a simple exercise. I ask them to name:

• The highest paid CEO’s of the past 3 years
• The winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature over the past 3 years
• The last 3 winners of the The Academy Award for Best Actor 

No one has ever gotten them all right. In fact, they can seldom name even one in each category and, if they do, they get the year wrong! Few of us can remember yesterday’s famous (or infamous!) people past their 15 minutes of fame. What was reported on all the news channels and featured in full-color entertainment magazines quickly becomes yesterday’s news.

The second part of the exercise is to create a different list altogether. I ask them to name:

• 3 teachers who had a positive impact during your school years
• 3 people who have been there for you during difficult times
• 3 people who make you feel valued, loved and appreciated

Ah, this is a much easier task; one we all have a wealth of experience and knowledge to draw from. The reason is very simple: the people who have the most profound and lasting impact in our lives are rarely the ones with the most money, the biggest names or the largest entourage. Instead they are those who saw something of value in us and made it their responsibility to bring it to fruition.

Great leaders have the ability to bring out the best in the people around them. They know that no one succeeds alone, that the journey, task or project is greatly enhanced with collaboration and mutual benefit. Rather than settling for infamy, they count the cost of the quick win or a sullied reputation and consider that cost too high. The greatest leaders are those who both provide value to and derive value from those they serve.

“Change is hard because people overestimate the value of what they have—and underestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up.” James Belasco and Ralph Stayer, Flight of the Buffalo (1994)

There is a difference between change and transition. And some companies begin with one and never make it to the other.

Change involves disruption and often frustration, confusion and anger. Transition is an internal human process – a gradual reorientation to the change. The goal is to not get stuck in the world of change but to move into transition where the real work can begin.

However, that is optional!

Author Steven Denning has a new book coming out in fall of 2010, titled: The Leader’s Guide to Radical Management: Re-inventing the Workplace for the 21st Century.  I can’t wait. I got a hold of some pre-release notes where he discusses why it is so hard to make organizational change stick. Personally, I think the primary cause for the failure of change initiatives is a lack of commitment on the part of management. Organizational change is difficult and often the challenges are more than they anticipated. When bad behavior erupts or the process just seems to take too long, I’ve seen managers or sponsors be the first to lead the charge back to the status quo.

Decisions, decisions ...

Change management experts caution against that lack of commitment. When an initiative is launched, move quickly, swiftly and decisively. As Denning puts it, “Once organizational change takes off, it will happen rapidly. The process is viral in nature. The idea is a virus that is either growing and spreading and propagating itself; or dying and de-energizing people and spawning new constraints.”    

What appropriate symbolism. Organizational Change that is well planned and actively managed leads to a workplace transition that is truly viral in nature. It’s energizing, even to those who may not have agreed in the beginning. There is nothing worse than launching a change initiative and then losing your nerve – but continue to slog through it year after year, inflicting pain and suffering on everyone involved. Well, maybe there is something worse – to abandon it altogether and then launch the “flavor of the month” change initiative a year or so later.

Moving from change to that place of transition, where those involved in the process evolve from observers to active participants, is the sign of success – the sign that the change has taken hold and will spread to other parts of the organization.

Make a plan, make the commitment and move!

Welcome to my blog. I know, I know, why in the world would anyone want to read yet another blog …. well, here’s why. I’m a gud riter. No seriously, I’ll not inundate you with a daily update of my comings and goings. At best, I’ll write once a month – maybe every few weeks. And my topics are usually centered around the workplace – what’s working, what isn’t, and what we can reasonably do about it.

Here’s what’s on my mind today. I heard an essay on NPR last week during the “This I Believe” segment. It was titled “Work is a Blessing” and the writer was talking about the lessons he learned from his father and grandfather about the virtues of hard work and self-support. I found it very inspiring and so in line with my own thinking.

As I continue to pour though the stimulus package (http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/PressSummary01-15-09.pdf) I find myself becoming more concerned. You see, I truly believe that people are better than we give them credit for. I don’t think most Americans need a bailout plan. I don’t believe the government needs to take care of me. I believe that, left to our own devices, we are brilliant – talented, hard-working, able to address serious issues and hardships. Somewhere along the way, the government has become too interested in MY business.

What does this have to do with business? If you can’t run your business like you would if the money was coming directly out of your pocket – then step aside and let those more responsible than you have a hand at it. You simply cannot spend more than you make. (Hmmm… that goes for the government, too.) Didn’t we learn this as kids? Or, at least, that first hard lesson as young adults when you realized credit had to be paid back????

We are better than this. But with a “stimulus” bailout like this, we’ll not find out anytime soon.

Today’s rant has come to an end. The next one will be more focused, I promise.