A630.4.4.RB - How Companies Can Make Better Decisions

Marcia Blenko argues that decision effectiveness correlates positively with employee engagement and organizational performance. How do you think employee engagement relates to decision effectiveness?  I would agree that companies with higher decision effectiveness have happier employees.  When employees buy in and are on board with the decision being made, they are more committed to making sure those decisions are executed properly.  When employees know they have a part in the decision making process, they become committed, which translates into better productivity and quality.  I think that the four elements of good decisions {quality (Q), speed (S), yield (Y), and effort (E)} are also the qualities you get from employees who are a part of the process.  Using the four elements can enhance in better productivity and efficiently.  Form my perceptive, employees are willing to not only execute decisions but also accept them while at the same time putting forth more effort to help lower costs by working harder to achieve company goals.

 

What are some impediments to good decision making?  Companies have become quite complex over the years.  There are a lot of people involved in the decision making process.  Some companies have a President, CEO, CFO and even a board of directors that make decision; thus sometimes too many cooks in the kitchen.  Some companies operate in a matrix, and it is hard to tell who is making what decisions.  Sometimes, employees at all level are unclear when it come to whom should be involved in the decision making process.  This brings up the next impediment of time.  Organizations of every industry are often forced to make split-second decisions that have significant impacts on their business, but often times it’s hard to make a quality decision in so little time.  Decision making is also impeded when people are trying to make a decision without any type of current information or data. This would be a huge hindrance in my opinion. In some cases, leadership can impede the decision process because the employees do not support the decision that has been made. For example, they must be open to discussion during the decision process. If the company appoints someone to make a decision, they may or may not like the outcome or the costs related to the decision made by the appointed party. Without the support of leadership they entire decision making process could come to a stop. There has to be a pool of talent to carry out the decision making process and the final decision implementation.

Blenko suggest that there are four elements of good decisions: quality, speed, yield, and effort. In your opinion, is there anything missing from this list?  In my opinion, knowledge is missing from this list.  Marcia Blenko stated that decisions are often hindered because people make decisions without any information.  Research or knowledge is always a key in any form of good decision making.  Current market research or data increases the quality, speed, and yield of good decision making with will determine the overall effort needed to achieve the organizational goals. Employee engagement should also get added to the list. This is another key to ensuring that decisions are properly executed and embedded throughout the organization. Employee engagement eases the transition and implementation of company goals based on company decision making. Operational decisions are also very important and directly affect the employees.

What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?  Due to the fact that part of my job is curriculum development and training, I would use the four steps of good decision making to determine what information will be most beneficial to the students to achieve the educational goals of the courses I develop.  This, in turn, benefits the organization as a whole. I also take away from this exercise that some organizations are stronger in one area versus other areas of effective decision making. With this knowledge I can first determine where the strengths of my current organizations lie—and possibly make suggestions as to how this can be improved.

Once you have reflected upon these questions, list any other questions or insights that have come to you as a result of this exercise.  As a result of this exercise, a few questions have come to mind. Marcia Blenko says that they use 1000 companies as these bases of their decision effectiveness scale. Does the list ever change? If so, how often—or do they just keep the same companies on the list? Do they offer easy to improve decision effectiveness for those companies that are strong in some areas and weak in other? I do not think that all companies are created equal, so sometimes in spite of making all these best decisions, and organizations may not reach their goals. I think that sometimes organizations may need to slow down on their decision making—especially if you operate in an industry in which things are ever changing. By the time a company completely implements the change, consumer needs may have changed as well. Earlier, we discussed some impediments to good decision making. I think it is good to discuss these obstacles because they are often overlooked by those not in leadership position. We always look at the cost or bottom line without considering other factors.

A630.3.3.RB - A Day in the Life of the Culture Committee

Is the Cultural Committee at Southwest effective in establishing cultural norms?

From an initial view, the Culture Committee does seem to do a good job of establishing some type of cultural norms which focus on internal organization exemplary service, happiness, and kindness.  However, can a short video paint an adequate of their efforts from other factors of the organization that were not mentioned?   Employee appreciation has been around in many forms prior to the establishment of Southwest Airlines. Many companies give bonuses as a form of employer appreciation. Some companies have company picnics as a form of appreciation and comradery.  It is used as a time to laugh, play and appreciate one another not only as employees bust as human beings as well.  For what the video presents, I think that Southwest is effective because this type of appreciation carried out or established by the cultural committee makes the employees happy and appreciated.  Southwest models are well known throughout the aviation industry; however other carriers that see the results do not always conduct similar programs.  You would think that other aviation companies should be more willing to try to emulate success.  Because I have done studies on this airline, it would be fair to state that the values and traits of this culture committee mirror the attitudes of senior leadership.   

 

From what you can tell, what is the purpose of the Cultural Committee at Southwest?  It is a way of saying thank you; the Cultural Committee at Southwest is designed to show the pilots and flight attendants appreciation for a job well done. It also allows employees to show their team unity with fellow employees.  In addition to what is previously mentioned, a culture and climate for the organization-at-large is established and reinforced. A happy employee is a productive employee, plus this action set the example for how those very same employees should be treating customers.

What would you see as a viable mission for a Cultural Committee in your place of work (or your last place of work if you are not currently working)?  A viable mission for the cultural committee in my place of work would consist of a monthly luncheon or just someone saying thank you for asking how your day is going today. Sometimes, we get so caught up in our own work and daily lives we forget the little things that are so important.

What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career? After completing this exercise, I think that I should just try to show appreciation to ward my co-workers whenever we complete a teamwork task by telling that they did a good job or by brining a snack like donuts to the break room for everyone to share.  After thinking about it, I suppose all of us at any job can do more to try to appreciate one another. However, we must not forget about the one we should appreciate the most: the customer. I would like to think that we should not get so caught up with the internal organization--forgetting about the external factors. As for the video itself, I think it was represented on a very small scale. Even though this was Southwest Airlines, no one can say that everyone at their company is 100% happy. The video only showed how employees utilized the cultural committee to show appreciation for flight attendants and pilots. What about everyone else? Do the flight attendants and pilots show appreciation for customer service representations, ticket handlers, etc?

A630.2.4.RB - 21st Century Enlightenment

After viewing the above video, reflect on the following questions in a well-written post on your Reflection Blog:

Why do you think the talk is titled 21st Century Enlightenment?  Matthew Taylor provides an interesting perspective of how he views the world through his term “21st Century Enlightenment”.  After reviewing this video, my perception of 21st Century Enlightenment is about how we as a people should start to think differently than in the past.  We should have a higher level of empathy that will transfer our current level of thinking beyond what we consider to be the cultural norms.  Taylor suggests that society should rethink how we see certain perspectives of society.  Some of the areas he focuses on are autonomy, universalism, and world progress.  My problem here is that I feel Taylor has taken many liberties with his presentation.  Mr. Taylor’s views bring several questions to mind.  What culture is Taylor speaking for?  Is he speaking for a certain generation of the population?  Is his presentation politically motivated in some way?  Yes Mr. Taylor’s presentation is titled 21st Century Enlightenment; but no matter how interesting and captivating, there need to be an understanding that enlightenment is not a new movement and it affects various cultures in different ways. 

What does Matthew Taylor mean when he says "to live differently, you have to think differently"?  Taylor made a good point in how he pointed out that if individuals have a desire change the way they live, in areas such as different principles, values, morals, standards; individuals must be open to changing the way they think.  Even I must agree that I sometimes get caught up in my life, not thinking that others experience some of the same things that I do.  Normal human behavior will always wish for some type of change; but in reality we do not make a plan to actually achieve such change.  Taylor explains that to live differently, we must respond purposely.  Once we learn to respond with a purpose, individuals will start thinking differently and breaking the learned responses of old. 

At one point in the video (4:10), Taylor argues that we need "to resist our tendencies to make right or true that which is merely familiar and wrong or false that which is only strange". What is he talking about? Can you think of an example within your company or your life that supports this point? After listening to this quote several times, I feel it implies that humans are not comfortable with change; internal or external.  To me, Taylor is expressing that we should not just go along with the crowd, but we should question the status quo.  Truth be told, individuals have diverse values and traditions and we should be careful with defining what is considered normal or right for society.  Society has to break the cycle of accepting certain practiced tendencies and routines because it has always been done that way or even worse become like the lemur in which we do what everyone else is doing just because.  In the organization for which I work, we fail in this area.  Some people at work never have to help with group projects, however, when the completed project is a success everyone receives the same rewards or praise. All of my coworkers that worked on the project new that some people did not participate in the process, but no one ever complains.  We are more reactive than proactive and you may find yourself an outcast or even labeled as a trouble maker if you challenge the status quo. Truth be said, we cannot be afraid of change; we need to strive to understand and accept change.

Taylor argues that our society should eschew (avoid) elements of pop culture that degrade people and that we should spend more time looking into what develops empathetic citizens. Would this be possible?  To me the answer is no, however the real question is what would it take for this process to become reality.  In today’s society, pop culture would seem to be more popular than religion.  When was the last time a list was made of the most influential people in society and someone engrossed in pop culture made the list.  Pop culture is engrossed in social media and technology and is influenced by various groups of people that share similar thoughts.  This movement is influenced by everything from movies and television shows, to actors, singers, toys, games and clothes. With so many technological advancements, we have become sponges to everything that surrounds us and our culture is now part of us; many future generations not only absorb it, they welcome it.   The world has changed and I am not sure if we can be as empathetic as Taylor suggests.  We should not judge each other, but we do. Certain aspect of society still want to determine issues like who marries whom, how everyone should look and dress, or even complain about the color of the skin of the president. Whether or not we develop that empathetic attitude will only be determined by the future generations.  Personally, I feel younger generations; seem to be less judgmental and more accepting than older generations of society.  

At the end of the video, Taylor talks about atomizing people from collaborative environments and the destructive effect on their growth. What is the implication of these comments for organizational change efforts? I think Taylor is stating that people should start looking at themselves when looking for organizational change. Change starts with a few individuals; however these few can get more to follow in their beliefs for change.  Today’s business organizations are rapidly changing, trying to keep up with technology advancements in every way we can dream.  We must understand that if we are to kick start organizational change, we must learn from both positive and negative results of our actions.  Being accountable and living in a responsible manner is not simply a matter of will; bottom line is we must have an in-depth understanding of who we are as individuals and how we fit in our society or organization.

What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career? I sometimes get caught up in the world and how my actions affect the groups and teams I am exposed to.  I need to be aware of how these actions affect the organization and what I must do to ensure my actions have a positive effect.  Even though my role in the organization may be small, the effects may be large in the grand scheme of things.  I am not sure if I need to develop a sense of empathy as it relates to others, but it is something I, at least need, to consider.  I am not sure if this will enhance my career, but if I never try, I will never know.  I do know that we as a society are not without any empathy because we have made progress.  It may not be at the level Mr. Taylor would like, but in order to change had vision and incite beyond the norms of the past. So I will remember Taylor’s rendition "21st Century Enlightenment", hoping to learn from it.

 

Taylor, M. (2010). The 21st Century Enlightenment. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7ANGMy0yo&feature=youtu.be

A630.1.4.RB - Board of Directors

Describe a situation from your organizational life that was similar to the situation from the video. Describe the situation in detail making sure to discuss how the organization was able to work through the difficulties to enable real change to occur.
____________________________________________________________________________

It is amazing how a simple cartoon can deliver such a powerful message.  Even though the You Tube video titled “A Tale of Power and Vision” will make you smile, at the same time, it will make you reflect on the struggles of organizations that are going through a change process.   In my adult career, I have seen this type of struggle in both corporate America and in various federal government agencies. It is amazing how a few individuals with power and authority; that are not open to change can stagnant change within an organization. 

I have witnessed this type of behavior on many occasions during my working adult career.  In my previous organization, I was one of many engineers serving in a supervisory position.  One of the biggest issues for a large manufacturing organization is how to address the union.  The union in the organization I am referring to have a very negative attitude when it related to corporate policy.  Many of the older employees often threaten managers by saying that they were going to file grievance when they did not get what they wanted.  When I arrived, this was well established as a cultural norm of the organization. 

During a staff meeting one of the older employees decided he did not want to work with a certain individual because of his race.  He felt that because he was a Vietnam veteran, he should not have to work with people from that nation.  This was totally against company policy and a situation that needed to be addressed.  The problem was current management was not willing to address this situation due to the union; so they gave him his wishes. This employee believed that the need for diversity and inclusion did not apply to him.  The managers believed they did not have to enforce the diversity policy and it was easier to let employees choose with whom they would work. At the time, these corporate cultures bred negativity when it came to the idea of diversity.

When I and several other supervisors spoke to the operations Vice President, he was very upset when he learned about the situation.  He was new to the organization and had a different mindset than the previous senior leader.  After communicating the company policy to the management team, he was able to get everyone board.  There were a few individuals who demonstrated resistance because they did not want to deal with the union.  However, it was explained to them that this was a corporate policy that would be followed, did not violate any employee labor laws, and was a key part of the supervisor’s responsibility.  In the end, the enforcement of the policy became the new norm; with some of the older supervisors still trying to cling to the old way, saying the news way was too much work.  Discrimination grievance and lawsuits went down and overall productivity of the manufacturing organization increased.  The change implemented was for the betterment of the organization and team, and as far as I know, that process is still in effect today. 

A521.9.4.RB - Reflections on Leadership

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.
 

Denning starts this chapter with the quote “to be understood is to be open to understanding”.  This resonates with me because I live by similar quotes, “to be a great leader, you must also be willing to be a follower or to be a great teacher one must first learn to be a student.”  Today’s leaders take great responsibility in communicating organizational objectives, mission statements and vision statements. Interactive leadership (when a leader takes it upon themselves to include others as much as possible, by delegating tasks and not doing all of the ‘leader’ jobs by themselves) has many advantages for all stakeholders to include leaders, employees and the organization.  For this assignment, I will reflect on three dimensions presented by Denning and how they impact the way I have led in the past and how I will lead in the future. 

Dimension one - The first dimension is “the interactive leader works with the world rather than against it” explain why the previous statement is such a powerful one.  Leaders should not fool themselves by thinking that they alone can change the world.  Leaders need to let subordinates know that they are a vital part of the organization and unit success depends on collaborations of everyone involved.  Interactive leadership uses communication to connect with the employees, while earning employees’ respect. According to Denning (2011), open communication provides an opportunity for the leader to better understand their employees, listen to them more actively, and receive & response to feedback. If interactive leadership uses communication correctly leaders will have the opportunity to learn the current organization culture.  By learning the current organizational culture, leaders can establish an environment in which they work with their employees and not work against them. In the past, I have always felt that I was a good listener; however I now realize that I can do a better job in active listening. 

Dimension two, “interactive leadership benefits from and understanding of the different narrative patterns that can be used to get things done in the world”. According to Denning (2011), the storytelling “begins and ends in listening”, meaning that leaders have to have an open mind when it comes to receiving information. Leaders need to have a sense of how different narrative patterns can be used to generate specific and measurable responses in those who are listening.  By understanding different narrative patterns, leaders can use narratives in support of goals, values, and to build upon employee experiences.  From a personal perspective, I believe one of the primary characteristics of an effective leader is the ability to identify patterns and trends which, can only be mastered through practice. 

Dimension three, “interactive leadership builds on personal integrity and authenticity”. This dimension places leaders under the microscope which their integrity and credibility is constantly evaluated by subordinates.  When used correctly it allows leaders to demonstrate their true character and build trust and loyalty with employees. Subordinates look at interactive leadership as a way to see if a leader places their employee’s interests above their own personal agenda.  Employees want to know if leaders really walk the talk. I don’t think there is an issue with my credibility; however, I must be aware that there is a chance that my audience will change.  

A521.8.4.RB Making Contact

How comfortable are you striking up a conversation with someone new?  Are you able to "work a room" with ease? After, reading the required chapter, I can clearly state that I don’t have any problems striking up a conversation with someone new in most situations.  However, for me to initiate a conversation with a complete stranger there has to be an objective for me to initiate the conversation.  I know this sounds weird and standoffish but, I think I have always been this way since my childhood years in which many people thought I was shy.  This personality style has even been confirmed by numerous personality assessments, especially my Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Assessment results which identified me a ISJT; introversion, sensing, thinking, judgment (http://www.personalitypage.com/ISTJ.html).  In layman’s terms it says that I am an introvert who is often confused as being an extrovert in public situations.  Now if I am approached, I will not be rude and I will have the conversation; I just don’t like to be the initiator without reason.

When I am teaching, conducting meetings, or even attending a conference, I do my best to work the room and mingle with as many people as possible.  Make no mistake about it; I do have an appreciation for the importance of networking in today’s society. Not to sound like a total jerk, I have been known to start talking to someone in line at the grocery store.  However, to me it’s a time filler; very seldom do I remember their name or face.  My wife says whether I admit it or not I enjoy "working a room"; getting to know new people and finding out who is who.   

In the assigned chapters of “Messages”, there are a few useful guidelines (three to be specific) I could use to assist me with improving my contact skills.  Nonetheless, I feel it is hard to teach old dog new tricks, especially since the current process has not failed me yet.  The text states that I need to give what I would like to receive.  However when something bores me or my interest is lost, my body language, particularly my facial expressions and rebuttals to the conversation will tell a different story.  This is when my active listening skills kick in, but in a negative way. Instead of connecting with others, I will often find myself asking people to justify or defend their thoughts to make the conversation more challenging and interesting.  The drawback is many times people feel they are being attacked and some have even been slightly offended.  From my perspective I am looking for someone who can have an in-depth conversation that has meaning.  The last useful guideline that I think I could use to assist me with improving my contact skills is easing up on how intense my eye contact is.  Although McKay, David and Fanning (2009) say that making eye contact is normally consider social interaction, as a way to invite to a conversation; I personally may sometime go overboard.  As I mentioned in the weekly discussion forum, in some situations, it can make people feel uncomfortable, even though it is not meant to.   

The next flaw I am aware of is the fact that I am distrusting of individuals that I do not know.  I feel that trust is something that has to be earned; even in conversations.  Maybe that is why I push so hard when someone says things I think are questionable.  This is compounded by the fact that I am very uncomfortable when people enter my personal space. I know what my flaws are and how they are based when it comes to this subject.  I have a hard time coming out of the teacher mode.  I have to remember that everyone is not a student and it is not my job to get everyone to think about the words that come out to their mouths.  

  

Reference  

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

 

A521.7.4.RB - Knowledge Sharing Story

In my adult life, I have had the pleasure of being both an educator and what seems to be a career student.  Through all of this, I have witnessed the best and the worst of the American education system.  I have been exposed to individuals who have been viewed as underachievers, some as overachievers, the individuals who was totally lost in the education world, the educators who cared, the educators who did not care and even the nasty business side of academia that few witness.  The individuals I have come in contact vary in demographics and range in age from 14 to 65 years old.  I would like to think that my shared personal story, particularly this one, provides knowledge of hope to individuals who desire to be the educators that make a difference in the business based world we live in. 

Early in my military career, I embarked on a special duty as a trainer.  For the first time in my career, I felt that I found a job in which I was truly satisfied with what I did on a daily basis; thus fueling my desire to want to do more in the educational field.  When I had just finished my bachelor’s degree, a close friend advised me to take a job as a substitute teacher.  This way I would be exposed to various levels of the education system; thus assisting me in truly finding my calling; where I wanted to be in the educational arena.  After doing this for over a year, I had completed my first master’s degree; this now allowed me to teach higher education in colleges and universities.  During the time of my self-explorations of becoming an educator, I was also a student; gaining as much education I could to support my experience level and credentials.  I was able to have empathy for both the students and the teacher; which gave me a unique perspective on teaching.  The first knowledge sharing point of this story is; once you find what you love; find way to overcome obstacles to achieve your professional career goals.  However, there is another knowledge sharing point to this story. 

This is where my story takes a turn.  Too often, I hear the horror stories and complaints from students about how teachers only teach one point of view, theirs.  I am lucky because I have the unique experience of being both the student and the teachers at the same time in my life; giving me an understanding of how they feel.  What I have learned is education is about teaching individuals to thinks with purpose.  I often share a story that was given to me from Dr. J. Jeffery Tillman, Director of the Graduate Program, Wayland Baptist University.  “I am not very strict on questions that are opinion based.  You can tell me the sky is red and I will not say you are wrong.  What I do expect is for you to defend your answers with factual evidence from the textbook and history, not just your opinion alone.”  Because of this phrase, I now share these words with every class I come in contact with, “If you leave my class and answer questions that are posed to you with the words, Professor Washington says…, then I have failed you as a teacher.  My job is to teach you to think, not regurgitate information I provided to you word for word.”

Because of these same few words, I am very dedicated to my students, no matter what level they are on.  I am now 46, and have been teaching since 1999; and every year I learn how to become a better educator.  This brings me to the second knowledge sharing point of this story is; remember that teaching is not about memory.  It is about opening a door for someone so they can learn.  It is about imparting knowledge and skills to a learner, which they can use in their life.