A Quick and Creative Way to Solve Problems at Work

Most of us have seen this image before. Some swear it’s a duck, while others swear it is a rabbit. Both are correct! But this exercise gives us a clear example of how individuals naturally see the world differently. And in the work environment, this different way of seeing things, if leveraged, presents a huge advantage.

Seeing the world, and situations, in only one way can interfere with our ability to problem solve. We look at situations in a way that comes naturally and are blind to other perspectives that may increase our ability to solve problems or innovate. Each of us benefits greatly from the perspectives of others at the workplace.

Yet it doesn’t always feel that way. Often times sharing an idea in a meeting is like morphing into a dartboard. You share your idea, and then everyone throws darts at it. You may even try to get the buy-in from coworkers in advance of the meeting to mitigate getting shot down, frustrated—even embarrassed—so quickly.

What if I told you there was an easy and fun way to prevent this kind of meeting? What if you were able to use a simple methodology that instigates participation and positive outcomes to problem solving?

Enter the “Six Thinking Hats,” developed by Edward de Bono. As Freddi Donner explains, the Six Thinking Hats is “a tool for group discussion and individual thinking that involves six colored hats. “Six Thinking Hats”, and the associated idea parallel thinking, provide a means for groups to execute a thinking process in a detailed and cohesive way, which allows them to think together more effectively.”

What Are The Six Thinking Hats?

Here’s a great video explaining what the Six Hats are, and how the method works.

De Bono writes, “Each thinking role is identified with a colored symbolic ‘thinking hat.’ By mentally wearing and switching ‘hats,’ you can easily focus or redirect thoughts, the conversation, or the meeting.”

To understand each hat and the associated roles, take a look at the table below.

As a basic example, if you were “wearing” the green hat, you would approach an issue or conversation as creatively as possible. You’d look for possibilities, alternatives, and new ideas.

Yet if you were “wearing” the black hat, you’d look at the same issue or conversation with a keen eye for danger. You’d attempt to ferret-out anything that could go wrong.

Now, you must be prepared to be a little uncomfortable. It’s common to feel uneasy approaching an issue in a way you’re not used to. For example, if you’re someone who informs your own decisions based solely on facts, you may feel awkward or resistant to approaching an issue by expressing your fears, likes, dislikes, loves or hates. After all, you’re a facts person, not an emotions person. But forcing yourself to think from that perspective might surprise you with innovative ideas.

A Basic Example of Using the Six Thinking Hats

Let’s take a look at basic example and run through each of the six hats in action. Let’s say you are the leader at a software development company, which has been steadily growing. While you still feel like a startup, the fact is, you’ve outgrown your office. Employees are sharing desks, the space is crowded and cluttered, and two of the three meeting rooms have had to be converted into offices. This leads to unnecessary tension in the office, and people are starting to complain. You haven’t made the move yet because you know it will significantly increase operational costs.

Let’s approach this problem using the six thinking hats as a guide:

White Hat: What are the facts about this problem?

The basic facts are there are 50 employees (and growing) in an office space that comfortably accommodates 30.

Yellow Hat: What is good about having this problem?

It’s great to be growing! We’ve added amazing talent to the team and we will now be able to accomplish even more as a company. We can expand our current offerings and add new products to grow the business even more.

Black Hat: What is the worst that could happen if we don’t fix this problem?

If we stay in this office, the worst that can happen is expensive attrition. We will lose the great talent that it took us months to find. That will lead to low employee engagement, which leads to poor productivity and even more attrition. We won’t be able to move forward as a business without our talent.

Red Hat: What do I feel about this problem?

I feel conflicted. On one hand, my employees and their needs are the most important thing to me, so seeing them crammed in together makes me feel like I’m disappointing them. On the other hand, I’m hesitant to increase expenses in what feels like a pivotal time in the business. That makes me very nervous.

Green Hat: What are some creative ways to address this situation?

One idea is to have some of our team work from home to free up space in the office. Another possibility would be moving into a shared office space with another startup. This would cut the costs of a larger office space. Also, we could leave this area of town and move to the new burgeoning warehouse district, where rent is cheaper.

Blue Hat: How do you know you are following the six hats method?

I’ve written all of these questions down and written my answers under the designated color for each hat. I can share these notes with my VP and get her feedback.

In the end, this leader decided to create a small task force to investigate the new warehouse district, and possible shared office spaces with the other startups around town. They have a three-week discovery period, after which the team will meet with the heads of each department to vote on the best course of action. They will use the six hats again!

As you can see, this exercise enabled the head of our hypothetical software development company to think through the situation from several perspectives. And by forcing the consideration of different perspectives she may not naturally be drawn to, she achieved “parallel thinking,” which is a more dynamic way to work through a problem.

Let’s move beyond the individual and discuss how to incorporate the Six Thinking Hats method into our workplace. Here is a step-by-step guide.

A Step-By-Step Guide to Incorporating the Six Thinking Hats at Work

1.    To prepare, choose a work challenge and form a small team of 4 or 5 people.

2.    Make sure that your attendees are aware that you will be using this method and that your goal is to fully investigate the situation at hand and develop an execution plan based on the meeting. Therefore, all attendees who can contribute to the facts should plan to bring them to the meeting.

3.    Before the meeting, create an agenda, including a video link from the first lesson in this course, and ask your team to watch this video before the meeting. Ask your participants to be prepared to use this methodology when coming to the meeting.

4.    Make sure it is a safe environment and that no one is “wrong” for adding to the content of the meeting. Even if you do not agree, say, “That’s interesting” or “Let’s note that point of view”.

5.    Be sure to ask one of the participants to record all the points of view.

6.    Be sure to ask one of the participants to record all the points of view.

White Hat: The facts. What do you already know?

Note: Facts often get disguised as opinions. If someone states a “fact” that appears to be an opinion, ask the participant (without judgment): “What specific behaviors cause you to think that?” Or “How do you know that?” Listen for the fine line between opinions and fact.

Red Hat: What is your gut feeling about the situation? How do you feel about the situation? (Happy, angry, etc.; all emotions are to be recorded.)

Black Hat: What do we need to look out for?

Yellow Hat: What are the reasons to say yes? What are the benefits and upsides of this situation?

Green Hat: What are other ideas that can be a part of this thinking?

Blue Hat: Make sure all the participants are maintaining the parallel thinking.

These questions should really get the team thinking and spur an active discussion. For fun, if you can access paper (or hats) in the six colors, bring them to the meeting to reinforce the colored thinking. Bandanas would work as well.

If you’ve never tried the Six Thinking Hats method, we are excited for you to do so. As De Bono says, The Six Thinking Hats is “A powerful tool set, which once learned can be applied immediately!” We’d love to hear about your experiences with this method.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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Online Learning Increases Employee Engagement: What is Online Learning?

 

In my last post, I discussed why it’s important to incorporate multiple learning styles in a training program. Technology offers to best opportunities to do that. In this post, let’s look at what online learning actually is.

The U.S. Distance Learning Association (USDLA) seems to concur that there is no official, agreed-upon definition of online learning. There is however one commonality among various camps: the integration of instructional media. The USDLA calls out the use of technology infrastructures to make more “effective learning opportunities more accessible to all learners, whatever their age, location, or reason for learning.”

They go on to say, “It includes e-learning, texting, social networking, virtual worlds, game-based learning, and webinars. It’s the Internet. It’s Google. It’s broadband and satellite and cable and wireless. Corporate universities. Virtual universities. Blended learning, mobile learning. It’s using our phones and computers and whatever technology comes next, in new ways.” In other words, online learning is using technology to help students of all ages learn new concepts. We see it all the time with children’s apps to learn spelling, math, music and more.

We’re starting to see online learning more with adult learning as well through Learning Management Systems (LMS), which are often programs that incorporate videos, podcasts and academic information for adult learners. These can be synchronous (the course participants and lecturer all have to be online at the same time) or asynchronous (the course participants can access the information online, at any time).

Learning is Collaborative

Despite the appeal of customization, learning is collaborative and continues to rely on community. Most people think that collaborative learning means face-to-face training. However, online learning allows students to engage in meaningful ways through video, chat, journals or other multimedia options.

A New York Times piece concluded that the “real promise of online education” is the nature by which it can be tailored to suit individual needs.

It’s not just the addition of multimedia, such as video and chat that engages students better; the way multi-media are used in course design may have a strong impact as well. For example, the study shows that interactive video vs. non-interactive video may impact learning more significantly. Interactive video allows students to control the way they absorb information, such as fast-forwarding through a video or watching it multiple times. Are the students able to watch video in any order they wish, or is course content set to prevent any form of deviation? These types of tweaks make training programs more or less effective.

One big advantage of online learning is increased collaboration, which every organization could use. In traditional college classrooms, most students try to engage with each other and form study communities, to help each other learn the material. Online learning makes collaboration easier. For those who normally would not be able to collaborate in person, technology brings a wealth of knowledge to the student’s fingertips, giving access to the best experts and resources in every medium you can imagine.

Being online is already a part of our everyday life; it makes sense to integrate it into one of the most important pillars of our society: education.

Being online is already a part of our everyday life; it makes sense to integrate it into one of the most important pillars of our society: education.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

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Managing Freelancers: 4 Challenges and How to Face Them

The US freelance workforce is currently 53 million strong, and growing fast. In fact, right now freelancers make up 34% of our national workforce. Sarah Harowitz, executive director of Freelancers Union says, “This is an economic shift on par with the industrial revolution.” Are managers prepared to work with this new type of workforce?

Let’s talk about the four major challenges managers face when working with freelancers, and discuss the most effective ways to handle those challenges.

1. How to Manage Inefficient Communication with Freelance Employees

When it comes to freelancers, you are managing people who could be at their desk, poolside, or writing you from an airplane. Tight communication between the freelancer and manager is needed for this arrangement to work. Let’s take an in-depth look at how inefficient communication can be avoided with freelance employees.

2. How to Create a Positive Collaborative Environment for Freelance and Full-time Employees

Freelancers typically don’t have the opportunity to forge personal relationships with full-time employees, who may have worked together in the same office for years. Learn here how managers can help relieve the anxiety that comes when freelancers and full-time employees try to collaborate.

3. Managing Freelancers? How to Help Freelancers Meet Your Project’s Goals and Make Deadlines

It’s inevitable that you and your freelance employee will be somewhat disconnected. You don’t see them and you don’t know what else they have on their plate. The good news is location doesn’t matter. With the right tools, managers can help their freelance employees meet their goals and hit their deadlines successfully.

4. Four Steps to Maintain Organizational Culture with Freelance Employees

Organizational culture is crucial in creating a workplace where employees can work together as a team and contribute to furthering the company’s values and vision. Maintaining that culture in a shared office space is one thing…but when your freelance staff is scattered all over the country, maybe even the globe, that’s a different story.

Are you a manager who has freelance employees? What have you noticed is most difficult about managing them as opposed to employees you see in the office day-to-day? I’m very interested in your experience.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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Changing Perspectives for Effective Solutions

 

Perception is reality. That is, the way we see things constitutes our beliefs about the world around us.

It is so easy to forget that one of the most incredible choices we have is that of our perspectives, or our way of seeing, feeling about and approaching the multitude of dimensions that make up our lives.

We choose our perspectives every minute of every day… how we see, feel and think about every situation that comes our way.

Our perspectives not only affect the way we feel about our life, but more importantly, they define how we deal with and resolve any given situation, sometimes positively and sometimes not.

One of the biggest traps we fall into is believing that there is only one way of looking at something.

This one way so quickly becomes our reality that we lose the ability to see things differently, creating a “that’s just the way it is” mentality.

Well here’s another reality: It is possible to choose a new perspective for any area of your life, commit to actions that keep you in that perspective and begin to watch your life change as a result.

It is not a difficult process; you just have to follow a PICK plan and roll with it.

Perspective. First think about the situation at hand and define your perspective — how do you see it, what do you think and feel about it, and what are the impacts on you?

Give this perspective a name — the “lazy” perspective, or maybe “victim” or “control-freak.”

Inhabit. Try on other perspectives, live in them, inhabit them. Next, make up and write down some other possible perspectives, like the “empowered” perspective, or the “dedicated,” or “cowboy,” or “joyous” perspectives.

Once you have created some, spend time being in each one. Make notes about what you experience in each.

What does your situation look like from that point of view? If you really saw your situation from that perspective, what would be different?

Move to all the different perspectives you have brainstormed and play with experiencing the thoughts and feelings of each one.

Choice. Choose a new way, get clear on how to get there and create your plan. Of all the perspectives you created and played with above, decide which one gets you closest to what you want your life to look like and claim it as a new way of approaching your situation. Next, make a list of things you would have to do to make the perspective become your reality.

These might be actions you take, new thoughts you adopt or things you stop doing or thinking.

Kick it into action. So you’ve created some lists … great. If they stay just lists, they won’t do you a bit of good. Kicking it into action through commitment is the key. Choose three things from the list to commit to. Write them on a Post-it to remind yourself and stick it on your computer.

Finally, who can you ask to help you stay true to your plan? Call that person — now. Explain what you are doing, ask for support and for the person to check in with you to see how it’s going.

Our perspectives are incredibly powerful — so much so that we often claim they are reality. Remember, it’s your choice, and you can choose a new perspective that will.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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Four Ways to Build Organizational Purpose

 Purpose is often cast aside as a non-essential to an organization’s success. Finances, IT, sales and product are discussed far more often than purpose. Yet purpose is the driver – without an employee feeling a sense of purpose, the salesperson would be listless and the product engineer would lose creativity. In times of crisis, purpose is more important than ever. It inspires employees to move beyond inertia to action. But what is organizational purpose and how can a manager strengthen it?

What is Purpose?

David Packard, Co-Founder, Hewlett-Packard said:

“Purpose; it’s like a guiding star on the horizon —forever pursued but never reached. Yet although purpose itself does not change; it does inspire change. The very fact that purpose can never be fully realized means that an organization can never stop stimulating change and progress.”

So, what does that mean in real life? Well, have you ever had to drag yourself out of bed, to go to a job that you hated? It’s like pushing a heavy rock uphill.

But when purpose is motivating your actions, everything feels very different. You have a kind of lightness, even when things are intense, or tough. And the same thing is true for organizations. You can feel when an organization is animated by purpose. And that’s a feeling that people want to have. It’s also a feeling that drives better performance.

Annie McKee, the founder of Teleos Leadership Institute, studied dozens of big organizations, and interviewed thousands of people who work there. What she learned is that when we feel negatively about work, we don’t process information well. We don’t think creatively or make the best decisions. But when our feelings about work are positive, the opposite is true. McKee also found that the thousands of people she interviewed listed three things that made them feel good about work.

Things that makes people feel good about work:

1.    First is a meaningful vision of the future. People want to contribute to a future that matters to themselves and others.

2.    The second thing that makes people feel good about work is great relationships. Whether people are leaders, managers or employees, “close, trusting, and supportive relationships” are a big part of what motivates them to contribute.

3.    The third thing that made McKee’s subjects feel good about their work was — wait for it! — a sense of purpose. And if their personal purpose is intertwined with their organization’s purpose — whether it’s ending hunger or creating better widgets — that’s even more positive.

What is Organizational Purpose?

So, if purpose is so important, what exactly is it? An organization’s purpose is not the answer to the question “What do you do?” which typically focuses on products, services and customers, but rather the answer to the question “Why is the work important?” It conveys what the organization stands for in historical, ethical, emotional and practical terms. In other words, purpose is central and enduring to an organization’s culture.

Purpose, Mission, Vision and Values

It’s easy to confuse the difference between purpose, mission, vision and values. Here is a simple way to remember:

Purpose	=	Why	:	Why the organization exists
Vision	=	Where	:	Where the organization aspires to go in the future
Mission	=	What	:	What business the organization is in
Values	=	How	:	What the organization values and how those values are manifested in a workday

Here’s an example for a fictional startup called Connecto:

Purpose	:	Create a globally connected community
Vision	:	Connect 23% of the world by 2025
Mission	:	Build an online platform that allows people to post local news
Value	:	Speak Up! (this allows people to speak up and disagree if they see something going astray)

Why is Purpose Important?

Now that we know what purpose is, why is it so important?

Many studies have shown a strong link between purpose and performance. When employees embrace purpose—when the organization lives it, and not just creates colorful posters about it—the performance shoots up. A survey of the leaders, employees and customers of 50 companies in the fields of technology, media and telecommunications; consumer products; and financial services was carried out by the Boston Consulting Group.

The results of this survey were analyzed using measures such as total shareholder return (TSR), revenue, and EBITDA growth. The results showed that when the organizational purpose was truly ingrained, it correlated strongly with ten-year TSR.

Another reason that purpose is important is because employee expectations are changing. Along with it, the demands of always-on transformations have exposed the limitations of using carrots and sticks to influence employees. To counter this, organizations are understanding the need to appeal to head and heart with not only the extrinsic motivators but intrinsic motivators as well. These Intrinsic motivators include employees’ desire for meaning, connection, and joy in the work, as well as the desire to contribute, develop, and achieve. Purpose is one of the most powerful intrinsic motivators because it speaks to both the head and the heart.

Benefits of Purpose

A 2016 poll by the Gallup Organization shows that only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged at work. The reason why most engagement efforts fall short is that they’re designed to cultivate employees’ commitment in generic, general ways and not attach any purpose to them. Employees must internalize the organization’s purpose, so they make decisions that clearly support those priorities. Ultimately, they design and deliver on brand customer experiences that strengthen the brand’s competitive position and build equity in the brand.

Below are four benefits of organizational purpose:

1. Instill Purpose in Employees

Employees may be very good at compliance, but in today’s global competitive marketplace, going through the motions is not good enough. Organizations need employees who are engaged and come to work with a sense of purpose that comes from knowing that what they do matters to others. When employees are engaged in their work, they enjoy what they do and tend to be more productive.

2. Provide Clarity

Fearing ambiguity leads to narrow thinking and reactionary behaviors. Embracing clarity can open the door to allowing employees to see possibilities that they wouldn’t have otherwise seen. Purpose then drives clarity because it “connects the dots” for employees. They know what is expected of them and why.

3. Stimulate Innovation

Knowing what an organization stands for can open the door to purposeful teams. It enables employees to think of new ways of doing things for a reason — that is, to meet the mission of the organization. That depends upon purpose.

4. Groom the Next Generation of Leaders

Organizations that survive more than a generation are typically those that have developed a leadership cadre who inherited the mission and have been shaped by core values. Purpose leads to intentional employee development.

What Does Purpose Look Like?

You may wonder what organizations claim for their purpose statements. Here are some examples:

“The purpose of Disneyland is to create happiness for others. And you see, the beautiful thing about saying, “We’re going to create happiness” was then I could say, “Look, you may park cars, clean up the place, sweep the place, work graveyard and everything else, but whatever you do is contributing to creating happiness for others.”

– Van Arsdale France, Founder, University of Disneyland

Purpose is like the roots of a tree. Strong roots — strong purpose — provide the tree with nourishment, good health and the ability to sustain itself. If the roots go deep, your tree, and its entire corner of the forest, will prosper. But if roots are shallow, and starving — because you never feed them with purpose — eventually, your tree will fall down. And it won’t just fall down by itself. It’ll take other trees down with it.

We would love to hear from you! What’s your organizational purpose? How is purpose driving your motivation levels and enhancing the business performance? Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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