A633.2.3.RB - Butterfly Effect

A633.2.3.RB - Butterfly Effect

Based on this week's reading, reflect on complexity science and theory in organizations and the butterfly effect (p.66). 

Identify 2 examples where “small changes yield large results” in your organization.

What are the implication of complexity theory for you and your organization and how can you use this to drive improvements.

Complexity science consists of four types: Imposed, Inherent, Designed, and Unnecessary complexities. (Obolensky, 2015) Imposed complexity comes from the outside…statutory and regulatory laws put in place that an organization must comply with in order to do business. Inherent complexities and internal to a company and can only be dealt with by changing the scope and structure of a business. Designed complexities has to do with how an organization does business. An example would be a company that, as a rule, does not outsource their manufacturing or only sells their product at a minimum mark-up. It can hinder immediate success but can also garner loyalty in their customers. Unnecessary complexities seem to be what most businesses struggle with. Management is pressured to solve a problem, they see it as a complicated issue and they put more stringent rules in place without even investigating the real issues. It’s the embodiment of cutting your nose off despite your face. (Obolensky, 2015) Organizations are all in a big hurry to beat out their competitor and climb that mountain of money for their investors. They forget that real problem solving takes time, not a lot…but some, and takes listening to people. What seems like a huge deal might actually have a simple solution. For example, mechanics on the floor constantly have jobs behind schedule because they are having trouble with rivets. Since the shop runs on a positional manufacturing model, delays in position one cause delays and parts problems all the way down the line. The mechanics complain that the rivets they get in their kits are the wrong size so they constantly have to reorder new rivets which causes a delay. Management imposes a tighter schedule expectation thinking that if they have to get the job done in less time, they’ll just make the rivets work. This causes even more back-ups because the rivets still don’t work so they still have to be reordered. Now everyone is in a panic and a recovery plan is ordered which now involves other departments…people are working overtime…its chaos. No one has asked why the rivets don’t work. The real problem is that the rivet supplier that was previously used has gone out of business and now the rivets are coming from another vendor who was given outdated specifications. Until this is figured out, people are going to be frustrated and work over time unnecessarily. If the manager had stopped to ask a simple question about the rivets, they would have been able to start on the right path to a simple solution to a complex problem.

Small changes yielding large results seems to come down to culture in my organization. One department has failed their customer so many times in the past that the customer has been diverting their requests to another shift where the supply chain is more reliable for years. No one really pays attention to this until someone new joins the team and goes to order a specific part. The lead comes up and tells him to stop…let the next shift order that part. When it is explained to the new person, they go and talk to the people in the supply chain team. The mechanic asks why there is a problem getting parts and the supply chain team looks at him like he’s the only one wearing a costume at a Halloween party. They explain that there used to be a hiccup in the software but that’s been fixed for a few years, they just never get requests on this shift anymore and haven’t questioned why. This new person requests the parts they need and they are actually delivered earlier than expected. When the new person explains the situation, the people who have been ordering parts from a different shift realize that no one actually asked why before. Being able to have a part requested and delivered on their shift will actually save them (and the company) a lot of time. One question, one small act can save labor hours which saves the organization money, which is always a good thing.

I will say that another small change that can yield large results is in how we treat other people. This isn’t a fancy business solution but in my experience, when you work in an organization, there are going to be times when you need help from someone. I make it my priority to find out who the procurement people are, the maintenance folks, materials management, and even executive assistants. I try to treat everyone with kindness regardless…life is hard enough without people being snarky and rude. But the people in the above mentioned positions are usually treated as if they are invisible until something happens and then people want their help. So, the small change that can yield large results is to reach out to people and be kind…being kind should be your default setting.

References:

Obolensky, N. (2015). Complex Adaptive Leadership. Farnham, Surrey, England: Gower Publishing Limited.

A633.1.2.RB - Leadership Gap

A633.1.2.RB - Leadership Gap

Chapter 1 of the Obolensky text begins with a reflective exercise. Create a reflection blog that responds to the questions asked in this exercise.

Obolensky Reflection Questions:

·         Has your own attitude to leaders changed in your life, and if so how?

o   Yes, my attitude has changed over time…but then again, parts of it hasn’t. I was raised to not question authority, my parents being the first authority figures. We grew up in a loving and warm household that had expectations and repercussions for breaking the rules. When I was in high school, I joined the Air Force Junior ROTC program and really thrived in that environment…maybe it was the familiarity of structure? I was also in band so that demanded discipline as well. As I’ve gotten older and had many, many bosses…I see that managers, of all levels…even CEOs…are just people like me. They have doubts, and questions…they have to answer to someone, and they just want to do a good job. As I was told at my first job…(loosely quoting – it was over 20 years ago) “We do our best every day. If we wait until some general manager or VP shows up to clean or fix things, then we are doing a disservice to our customers. We should be doing the right thing all the time, not just when we might get a corporate visit.”  So to me, I can respect a person’s position and understand the hierarchy of an organization, but I question decisions, the CEO isn't intimidating me because I should be doing my best work regardless. However, I need to know the context, the goal, and the vision. Otherwise, I’m really not motivated to just do work for the sake of doing work.

·         If we take as a starting point the attitude to those in authority/leaders held by your grandparents, and then look at those attitudes held by your parents, and then by you, and then by the younger generation, is there a changing trend? If so, what is it?

o   Changing trend? Absolutely. It is inevitable.

o   A couple classes ago, I wrote about what I saw as the generational differences I noticed in my organization. There is definitely a changing trend and it’s actually not bad. I think that it could go too far to one side or the other (Theory X  Vs. The Buddy System) but if we find the right combination of methodology and collaboration of the generations, I do think something magical can occur. The older generations need to put down their scorn for the youth and the youth need to get over themselves and accept that the older generation has more experience in life which is extremely valuable.

o   But this is a battle of the ages (literally and figuratively) because for all time the old have shaken their heads at the folly of youth (forgetting that they too once were the reckless ones) and the youth have shucked off the warnings of older people. I can remember writing in my journal as a teenager that my Mom just couldn’t understand…she would never understand…! (Ah…teenage angst.) But the reality is that she was once a teenage girl who also thought that her Mother couldn’t possibly understand her feelings. Every generation is the same…once we reach a point where we have things mostly figured out…we are old and can do very little about it. There is no way I would have believed that when I was 15 or 16 though. No way. And so it goes. I think it is just in our DNA.

o   Our grandparents came from a generation who had a more rigid set of socially acceptable behaviors and consequences if those behaviors weren’t adhered to. Our parents rebelled against these social norms and had the “Summer of Love” to prove how different they were from their parents. My generation, Generation X, came up being considered the slackers…the grunge scene being synonymous with our anarchist belief systems and values. Now we have the Millennials – who essentially were raised by us Gen Xers. We taught them that kindness matters, to be curious, to treat everyone with respect…and now that they are adults, or mostly adults, they are trying to live these values of equality and compassion only to be criticized for it by the very people who perpetuated these ideas.

·         Why do you think that this has occurred?

o   Each generation sees authority differently because each generation has been through different experiences. Our grandparents had the Great Depression, both World Wars, which created heroic leadership in our countries…Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy, etc….they were men who saved our country and brought about programs like The New Deal so people could work and feed their families, saw the Berlin Wall go up, brought an end to the Korean War, and helped us enter the space age. They were men to look up to for this generation. Our parent’s generation grew up in the Cold War, bomb drills in school and worried about “The Bomb” annihilating the entire world. Then they saw the first man step foot on the moon and then thousands of their brothers and sisters killed in Vietnam. They lost John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby Kennedy as well as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and then John Lennon – people whose music had changed the world. They saw a President impeached and lost faith in those in charge. These are the people who raised who were to become Generation X…they taught us to challenge those in charge, that war was evil, and that money meant power. My generation, the slackers, were also born in the Cold War but it had mellowed out some…we saw the Berlin Wall destroyed, the first Desert Storm, then we entered what now seems like a naïve season of security (the 1990s) that was then completely obliterated on 9/11/2001. Everything changed. Everything. There are kids learning about 9/11 who were not alive then. To them, it’s just another date to learn…like my generation did with Dec. 7^th. This is getting very long but basically, what I’m saying is that each generation is shaped by the world and what is going on while they are younger…their values and belief systems are challenged during times of struggle and times of peace. Today’s youth are inundated with information ALL THE TIME. They are constantly plugged in and I have no idea what that will do to their views on leadership. What kind of leaders will they be? What kind of leaders will we allow them to be? Only time will tell.

·         Additionally, while we live in a world with more information about leadership and leadership practices why is it that we have an apparent gap in the quality of our leaders and how do you think we can close this gap?

o   We have an apparent gap in the quality of our leaders because we cannot come to a consensus about what we want as a corporate entity. We are constantly changing and adapting…competing to be the best which leaves little time to develop leaders, develop strategies that make sense, or even talk about what leadership means within our individual organizations. We can easily point out the shortcomings but have no time, in our race for fame and glory, to set it right. We are on a speeding train, heading for a mountain side, worried about the cost of fuel and if our competitor is gaining on us in the market.

o   I’m not saying that being competitive is a bad thing but we have to be intelligent about it and as the world is changing, so must corporate strategies. I honestly think that even Henry Ford would freak out if he saw that his production system had barely changed in the last 100 years. He would have expected better.

References:

Obolensky, N. (2015). Complex Adaptive Leadership. Farnham, Surrey, England: Gower Publishing Limited.

A521.9.4.RB - Reflections on Leadership

A521.9.4.RB - Reflections on Leadership

For this Reflection Blog, you will create a reflection blog focusing on Denning's Chapter 12, "A Different Kind of Leader."

In Chapter 12, Denning explicitly describes his dimensions of leadership. Reflect on those dimensions and how you expect they will impact the way you lead in the future. Include specific examples of how at least THREE of Denning's dimensions manifest in your own application of leadership.

I absolutely loved this book. I know this isn't "review the class text" time but I feel like I have to mention that. Stephen Denning has taken the “rules” of being a leader to new heights. His theories are spot on and meaningful without being preachy and unattainable. He understands and embraces people’s weaknesses and shows us how to recognize them and make them part of our leadership story.

“The interactive leader works with the world rather than against it.” (Denning, 2010) This is such a valid dimension of leadership today. I sit in a morning meeting that should absolutely be an e-mail. In this meeting, I listen to defeated managers feeling like they are fighting an uphill battle with every little thing. Parts are missing? They take that as a personal affront to their team’s progress. High labor loss? That has to be because they have lazy workers who hate them and are probably on interviews somewhere else. Behind schedule? That is because leadership thinks that they can do miracles with nothing and are unrealistic. That it’s all because the world is against them. A leader would see that missing parts is an opportunity to work with the suppliers or the kitting areas to see if they are getting everything they need to be successful. This could create a collaboration and even smarter tools for future successes. High labor loss could be a number of things. Did school just start up? Kids usually bring home those germs the first few weeks of school and inevitably the “crud” or whatever wreaks havoc on the kids and in turn the parents. People get sick. What about recent high levels of over time? Are people burnt out? How is morale? As a leader, high labor loss is an opportunity to have a conversation with your team and find out what’s going on, how you can help them, and to problem solve with them. Schedule is king at The Boeing Company. Everyone knows this and it has nothing to do with managers or people. Boeing is a mega-business that provides for somewhere around 79,000 employees. They have to make money and the way they make money is building the best airplanes the fastest, toughest, and in the most cost effective way than their competitors. Is this always fair to the people or even realistic? No. But the idea is that as leaders, we challenge our teams to do their very best…and then a little bit more. Boeing used to make airplanes out of canvas and wood. But in the 1960’s, it helped put man on the moon. We can make awesome jets in record time and it takes effective leaders…not whiney managers to inspire people to get it done. An effective leader believes that anything is possible!

“Interactive leadership builds on personal integrity and authenticity.” (Denning, 2011) Obviously, a leader needs to set the example for their teams. Can that leader also set the example for their peers? Their bosses? Their organization? Absolutely. Every single time a manager says one thing and does exactly the opposite, they chip away at their authenticity and integrity. How can teams be expected to behave one way when their manager behaves another? Being a leader means that you are always holding people to their highest potential and working to develop them into someone who will one day be a great leader too. It should be like gossip…you should be able to say whatever you’re going to say in front of the whole team. Leadership and the authenticity a leader should exude is the same way. If there is a behavior that your team shouldn’t display, then neither should you. “It’s not possible for leaders o exercise manipulative and spinning behavior in one part of their conduct and be accepted as open, truthful, and trustworthy in other domains.” (Denning, 2011)

“Interactive leadership doesn’t depend on the possession of hierarchical authority.” (Denning, 2011) Oh gosh I love this one. This dimension really plays to my inner anarchist – but in a good way. Should the fact that someone is a mechanic mean that interactive leadership doesn’t apply to them? Heck no. Just because someone isn’t a vice-president, or CEO, or even a manager does not mean that they do not have leadership skills or should be kept from using those leadership skills. When I need advice and direction from my team regarding their schedule, I go to the leaders of the team…the people who do the work and have proven integrity and sincerely care about the work. These people are rarely the managers. I have found that people who exhibit leadership (not to mention critical thinking) skills to some managers at Boeing tend to put the managers on the defensive. Leaders would develop those behaviors and advocate for their team. I recently found out that one manager at the last Boeing business unit I worked at in WA actually made it impossible for an up and coming leader to stay with the company. She had relegated him, a college educated degreed industrial engineer, to her personal secretary with no possible way out. Somehow, she had influence over people who could have helped him but didn’t. I’ve had dealings with this person myself so I know it is true and not an exaggeration. This kind of manager is deadly to the future leaders in an organization. Leaders are in all levels of an organization. If you are a manager and this idea scares you…you need to get out of management. “Anyone and everyone who can help clarify the direction or improve the structure, or secure support for it, or offer coaching that improves performance is providing leadership.” (Denning, 2011) I never want to be a manager who makes good people want to leave the organization that I support.

I repeat…I loved this text and it will go on my shelf to refer back to long after this class is over and my degree completed.

Reference:

Denning, S. (2011). The Leader's Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

A521.8.4.RB - Making Contact

A521.8.4.RB - Making Contact

McKay, Davis and Fanning provide some direction for making contact with strangers. How comfortable are you striking up a conversation with someone new?. Are you able to "work a room" with ease?

In your blog, reflect on aspects of your personality and/or upbringing which make you able to relate to strangers easily—o r not so easily. What lessons can you take from Chapter 14 of Messages to improve your ability to connect with others?

I love how McKay introduces this chapter: “The world is full of interesting strangers. Every day potential friends and lovers pass you in the hallway and the parking lot. It’s the art of beginnings.” (McKay, 2009) Absolutely.

Growing up, my family moved around a lot. We weren’t a military family, we just moved around a lot. This was mostly due to my Dad working as an Airframe Mechanic and him having to go wherever the Beechcraft contracts took him. My Mom was an English teacher so she was able to adapt her skillset to a new job when we had to move. Since she was a teacher, we usually moved in the summer and since we moved in the summer, she usually stuck us immediately into Vacation Bible School at the local Lutheran church. I think this served two purposes: for us to meet people, and for us to be out of the way while they unpacked and moved things around.

This constant moving around forced me to make new friends and when we moved, it also taught me the value of keeping in touch and fostering long-distance friendships. As an adult, I married an active duty military soldier and we moved around, when that first marriage broke apart, I had to figure out what I was going to do and moving into a place of my own wasn’t scary (it was sad because getting divorced sucked) because I was used to dealing with new situations. When I remarried, I ended up marrying a retired military soldier! Ha! But now I’m the one who has the job that moves us everywhere. We are both used to it and see moving as an adventure. It can be lonely when we’re just starting out but we both know how to handle these new situations. We both also value the fact that we are each other’s constant and when you grow up moving around all the time, finding that constant is very important.

At work, I’m easy-going and am not afraid to speak up or introduce myself. I respect people who have higher “offices” than me but I’m really not intimidated because I’ve seen so many of these people fall. I know that we’re all just people and that everyone is fighting some battle or another so I rely on humanity and compassion to make an impression on people. I used to volunteer for things as soon as I could but the more technical my work became, the more that tactic actually backfired on me so now I observe and engage with questions until I’m confident to volunteer for projects or special assignments. I understand that whatever my standing was in my last team…whatever seniority I had is now gone and I stand at the bottom of the pile again, at least as far as the team is concerned. I’m respectful of this and don’t make demands or try to show off but I definitely don’t let people take advantage of me or assume I’m easily manipulated. I am cognizant of the first impression I make just as much as I’m aware of the first impressions people make on me. I’m careful with my trust now as a result of learning the hard way and am careful with any trust put in me. I think part of this is experience and part of it is just getting older and having less and less to prove to myself. I know what I’m capable of and I know what risks I can take and when. It’s all a process and one day, maybe, I’ll get to just stay in one place! Ha!

Reference:

McKay, M., Davis, M., Fanning, P. (2009). Messages: The Communication Skills Book. Oakland, CA. New Harbinger Publications, Inc.