A630.9.4.RB - Hiring and Recruiting

Does Schmidt's description of the Google Culture make sense to you?  Mr. Eric Schmidt’s discussion on the culture of Google was very enlightening.  Although, I would agree that Schmidt's description does make sense to me I have a hard time picturing it in full application.  Eric admitted that Google is virtually a self-managed company because of their unique hiring practices.  The Hiring and Recruiting presentation by Eric Schmidt was a model that I think many companies could copy.  I appreciate that Mr. Schmidt and Google seek driven, self-motivated employees, which if correctly empowered, can manage themselves and produce.  From a personal perspective, I wish more companies, including the government, would actively discriminate (not by race, sex, religion, etc…) but by personal values, drive, motivation, competence, by our internal values that would make employees an asset and not a liability and not by whom you know.  I guess Mr. Schmidt is correct in the fact that Google employees are not really managed because they are very self-motivated and invested in their role at Google.

Is this a reasonable way to view the work that most people are doing in your workplace?  No I don’t think so.  This may be what everyone would like to see in the way a company should work, but to be honest it is not reality.  Sure, work gives us money as well as other things as Mr. Eric Schmidt mentioned.  I often hear people say I don’t work for the money; I work because I love my job.  However, ask them to take a pay cut or even work for free for a day and they will not be very happy.  It is unreasonable to compare Google to the federal government; it is like comparing apples to oranges.  There is a similarity between both entities in the fact that both organizations want people who are competent and empowered.  The main degree of separation is that Google practices what they preach while the government’s hiring practices are based on whom you know and whom you are related too.  Google prides itself on hiring talent and letting these people take on their own direction, with management taking the sideline.  The federal government, on the other hand, is very rigid and does not allow the creative freedom that Google does. 

As a leader, does it take courage to have and to implement this point of view?  I do not think that to implement a culture such as Google’s takes courage as a leader.  It’s not about courage, it’s about organizational culture.  Now, the leader may need courage to try to instill such organizational change because there is going to be resistance.  In this course, we have studied numerous cases in which a leader wanted to instill change but ran into numerous obstacles.  I think any business leader knows that it is the people of the organization that make it succeed or fail, not the name on the sign; however, they also know the most unpredictable aspect of any business is the people.  That being said, Eric Schmidt’s business approach on hiring may not fit all companies.  Finding the balance of people skills and personalities is critical to the culture envisioned for the organization, but having the right skill set and attitude may carry more emphasis.

Could this approach backfire?  Nothing is 100% guaranteed in today’s business environment and as I stated earlier the employee is the most unpredictable aspect of any business culture.  We all want to hire the right types of people, but it is not as easy as it seems.  Even Eric Schmidt admitted that sometimes the person may not have the right personality or even be the picture-perfect team player, but they may have an exotic skill set that is needed.  So I would say yes, it is possible for even the best-laid plans to backfire; but Google has been very successful with what they are doing for a long time.  I think one of the keys to the success of Google is their willingness to adapt to an ever changing environment.  Another aspect that may have been downplayed is the importance of middle management’s role in the hiring process.  If the managers involved in the recruitment process are not hiring individuals that match the values of the organization and these same managers are not being held to the Google standard, then failure is a high possibility.

What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career? I cannot really say that I learned any new information from this exercise.  However, Mr. Schmidt did give me a new perspective on how to view some things when it comes to the hiring process.  He reinforced to me that not every organization will hire and retain the same types of employees.  Google has had success with their hiring processes and I as well as other organizations can learn from them when it comes to hiring, leading, and retaining employees. 

Once you have reflected upon these questions, list any other questions or insights that have come to you as a result of this exercise.  After learning about Googles hiring process, I would love to have a case study where they compared Google to other giants in the technology industry such as Yahoo, Amazon and even EBay.  The case study was very good, but it is also creating a rather glamorized picture of the company itself and the information it shares.  Surely, Goggle has had some tough times.  How many top executives have they lost in the last 10 years and what is their history of retention like with the various levels of the organization  No company can get it right every time.  Has Google ever hired someone and later found they could not handle all that creative freedom and lack of structure in the work environment?

 

 

A630.8.4.RB - Build a Tower, Build a Team

Do you agree with Tom Wujec's analysis of why kindergarteners perform better on the Spaghetti Challenge than MBA students?  After reviewing the video of Tom Wujec's analysis, I do agree that the analysis of why kindergarteners perform better than MBA students on the spaghetti challenge is accurate.  As adults, we make things more complicated than they need to be; we ask the question why instead of doing the task and we look to find some self-glorification when the task is done.  All of this takes away from the task objective itself.  All of these principles apply to the average MBA student because we are taught to be competitive, more direct, and more opinionated than an average child.  Even in the MSLD program, the first class and those that follow deal with critical thinking, which is ironic for this assignment because nowhere in critical thing does it say make it as simple as possible. 

Can you think of any other reasons why kids might perform better?  As leaders and managers, we are often told to think outside the box, but rarely do we practice it for various reasons: fear of failure, fear of rocking the boat, or fear of going against the norm.  Without a doubt, there are many more reasons, but these are just a few.  In general, young children do a very good job of thinking outside of the box, along with using their imagination and creativity. Initially, they are not concerned with failing and taking chances (such as the Marshmallow Challenge) or even going against the norm (because to them there is no norm).  As adults we look for options and different ways to do things until we find that one correct way to complete a task; however, kids are not trained to find that single right plan, they love trial and error.   While adults are losing time thinking about theory, kids are busy learning from application.  The last reason I think kids perform better is they have smaller egos.  Yes, they compete but not the point of causing stress upon themselves.  These factors allow kindergarteners to perform better because there are few things that interfere with their collaboration skills.  They love to share ideas and working together as a team while at the same time they are having fun.

In your view, why do CEOs with an executive assistant perform better than a group of CEOs alone?  I don’t find it strange that that CEO’s struggle without an executive assistant. There is a reason why many executive assistants are considered to be the right hand of the CEO.  It is these individuals who are time oriented.  They also have an in-depth understanding of the collaboration process; maintaining schedules, timelines, meeting and various office functions for the organization to function from an upper management perspective.  They are usually the ones that do all of the work.  If you could be a fly on the wall when the CEO’s were presented this challenge, I would think you would see individuals that came up with different plans that worked in theory, but failed in the building and time management phases of the challenge until the assistant was added to the team.  Basically the lower ranking person was the person who filled the role of maintenance functions for the team; ironic isn’t it.

 

If you were asked to facilitate a process intervention workshop, how could you relate the video to process intervention skills?  First and foremost, a person has to understand the role of a facilitator.  A facilitator helps groups to organize and structure their decision-making process, while remaining impartial and neutral in the process.  The facilitator helps ensure that all voices are heard and all ideas are considered, that meetings are productive and constructive, issues are clarified, and provide control of the group process, not the content.  A facilitator would remind the group to look at how the kindergarten children kept this simple and did not over complicate the Marshmallow Challenge.  My advice would be this; start with the goal…look at the tools you have, make sure everyone on the team has a voice, and utilize everyone’s individual level of expertise and strength.  Additionally, I would remind participants how this challenge will help everyone understand how to work together as a team not as a group of individuals.

What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?  These exercises remind me that I must keep myself grounded in simplicity when it comes to certain situations.  Remember KISS, no matter how it is used; "keep it short and simple" and "keep it simple and straightforward" or "keep it simple stupid" as if you were a child.  Processes perform best when they have simple designs rather than complex ones.  Time management is also vital to success; while the adults were looking for that perfect solution, the kids were learning through effort and practice.  The video provided lessons on the importance of trying many different options while maintaining openness to creative solutions.  The next thing is the importance of collaboration.  Too often, we get caught up in trying to prove how smart we are or how to display our leadership skills; often forgetting we are part of a team. 

Once you have reflected upon these questions, list any other questions or insights that have come to you as a result of this exercise.  I don’t think I have any other insight or questions; the answers I provided pretty much addressed all my concerns.  The problem is we live in an adult world where fun is not important only successful task completion.  The business world, as we know, is very competitive and we teach those who follow in our footprints the same principles.  We all wish we could go back to the days when we could work and think like kindergarten kids, but the sad reality is very few organizations operate in this manner. 

A630.7.4.RB - Mastering the Art of Corporate Reinvention

For this study, there are two Chief Executives Officers (CEO), who have to revive their perspective corporations; Michael Bonsignore, CEO of Honeywell and Gordon Bethune CEO of Continental Airlines.  The emphasis of the seminar with these corporate CEOs was to analyze their perspective of how they address things such as keeping the companies employees happy; which leads to better customer satisfaction.  Both CEOs have different personality styles, even though they are both quite successful.  Mr. Bonsignore has a very open philosophy of meeting with and working with employees; being accessible to them.  Even though Mr. Bonsignore tends to be a bit stricter in his methodology of managing employees, he stills sees the value of employee appreciation.  Mr. Bethune has somewhat of a different outlook on customers.

What barriers do you see based on what you observed in the video?  The main barriers I see will be changing the corporate culture because not everyone is open to change.  Considering the age of the video, both CEOs will have to deal with new technology and a new group of younger employees with different perspectives and expectations of the work environment.  From a managerial and leadership perspective, I think there will be challenges for both Bonsignore and Bethune.  What must be kept in perspective is how cultural acceptance changes with environmental changes.  Although Mr. Bethune seems very sincere when address his employees and organization; I got mixed signals from Bonsignore who is a lot stricter in his approaches to organizational change.  The video paints a picture that Bethune has successfully grasped technological strategies in theory and application, whereas Bonsignore does not seem to be concerned with such theories, his focus is on the bottom line.  He places more importance on profits.  The fact is the success of both company CEOs will be based on acceptance from the employees.  The last barrier I see in the future is an identity crisis facing the company now that they have merged.  They now have to devise a system that establishes goals, policies, and values that portray what they are now and not what they were in the past.  At the same time, the organizational change needs to articulate a clear vision/mission statement that everyone can understand, comprehend, and accept as they progress toward future success.

What critical success factors should Honeywell consider as it crafts its organizational strategies around a new culture?  Michael Bonsignore, CEO of Honeywell needs to consider a fully integrated approach to change management.  He must not overlook the fact that behavioral, structural, and technological (change) factors must be considered in relation to the new organization as he leads his team strategies in creating a new culture.  The biggest factors for success will be the human factor.  The communication of the vision is paramount to getting the organization in line as well.  If employees can see the same vision that Michael sees, then it is all the more likely to find success.  He also needs to understand employees will portray a different attitude when he is around compared to when he is not. He must not seem as if he is forcing a new culture upon his organization.  Last but not least, I would inform him to consider the impact of culture shock; trying to implement too much of a culture change at one time.   

What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?  This video showed several key factors to leadership and organizational change.  First and foremost, there is no one perfect style of leadership when it comes to addressing major change in an organization.  Both CEOs; Bethune and Bonsignore, admitted that they have made mistakes and the best thing to do is to own up to it, learn from it, and move forward.  Another lesson from this video is to continue to invest in human capital which is important to anyone in a leadership position. Bethune reemphasizes the importance of this by stating the often repeated statement of what differentiates leadership and management; leaders do the right thing and management do things right. Last but not least, I think the strongest factor to remember is organizational change is not an individual endeavor.  It takes positive leadership that seeks to retain the best elements from the individual companies to succeed.  Motivating employees toward success is an integral part of achieving organizational success now and in the future.  With all that being said, I will try to remember the importance of human capital within in my own organization as my fellow instructors and I implement new training technology and materials.

A630.6.4.RB - 50 Reasons Not to Change/The Tribes We Lead

How do you react when you hear colleagues using some of the excuses listed in the 50 Reasons Not to Change graphic? I myself am a believer that that is necessary for organization to improve and grow.  I have come to accept the fact change is not an easy process and often requires sacrifice by certain individuals.  I find it difficult to deal with individuals who are so stuck on the old ways that they can’t move forward with anything new.   When I hear a co-worker, manager, or team member list a reason or excuse from the “50 reasons not to change” list, I become bewildered and ask why they are fighting certain changes so much.  Change does not just happen for no reason, there normally is a need; ensuring that the organization is staying competitive, efficient, and effective through their processes. 
Do you ever use any of these excuses yourself? As I have matured, I have realized that I have been very guilty in my past of giving some of the same listed excuses in certain situations; when I did not agree with some type of organizational change.  What makes this so bad is I am guilty of the same offense as the individuals I have often criticized for resisting change.  What I have discovered is, more than often, I have often found myself using some of these excuses when the change does not directly benefit me.  As the saying goes I was subconsciously asking myself, “What’s in it for me.”
How can you overcome the thinking that creates those responses to change efforts? What I have learned is to adopt a strategic perspective of looking at the pros and cons of implementing change.  For me it all begins me understanding that changing an organizational culture is not an issue aimed at me personally; I am not going to lose something.  The next thing I need to do is understand that if I cannot change a situation or an outcome, my best option is to learn how to accept it and deal with it.  Last, but not least, I need to focus on what I can do to find positive factors that will come from the imposed changed. 
Do you agree with Seth Godin’s concept that change is driven by tribes? Yes I will say I agree with Godin’s concept about tribes.  Ideas are great but it takes someone who is will to push that idea to get others on board. In every organization there are certain individuals who are passionate about certain issues, alone they do not have that much power but once they get people who have the same passion to speak up, they are heard by the masses.  Now no one said this call to leadership is an easy task.  It takes a special person, or as Godin said someone with charisma to stand up in front of strangers, to propose an idea that, to challenge the sta­tus quo, to be different, and to lead change. As a professional trainer of leadership, I truly believe Godin words and his book is applicable to anyone, from employee to CEO, who wants to instill change. 
What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?   When you understand how change works, it reminds you that anything is possible is someone to just take the first step.  Accepting status quo is easy, but when things change for the better, it’s encouraging to know that society and the business community is still evolving.  
Once you have reflected upon these questions, list any other questions or insights that have come to you as a result of this exercise.  For my career today I need to encourage myself to change and to think outside the box more.  Those that aren’t scare to try new things are often rewarded in their careers. I will be more cognizant of my thoughts and words during my organizational and personal changes; keeping a positive attitude and understanding that change can be good, particularly in the absence of resistance!

 

A630.5.4.RB - NASA Culture Change

Why did NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe address NASA employees to describe the plan to bring about proposed changes to NASA's culture?  After the tragedy with Space Shuttle Columbia, Sean O’Keefe took a true leadership role by addressing the employees of NASA.  After the assessment by BST, it was discovered that the culture in NASA needed a serious change.  Mr. O’Keefe wanted every employee to know that though there were many positive aspects of the NASA culture, he also wanted them to the culture of NASA demanded improvement in many areas. I respect the fact that O’Keefe was very specific about the fact that change had to start with leadership; he knew the employee needed to hear the words directly from him, not from some memo or by rumor.  Another point of him giving the speech first hand and directly addressing questions and concerns was to ensure he was making a point that this change involves everyone and every aspect of the organization; not just a select few. 

Was he believable? Is it important whether he appeared to be believable?  I am not sure if the speech was believable.  The right things may have been said, but the delivery lack passion; as if it was scripted.  Mr. Okeefe was very diplomatic, but at the same time honest in his words; addressing several areas that he thought would stand out.  He continuously reiterated that NASA is a good organization; however, he also mentioned that there was room for improvement based on his perspective and the survey.  One interesting note in the video; if you watch closely during the speech, you will notice one employee member smirking; as if to say here we go again.  Whether the information is factual or not and whether his heart is in the speech, I do believe it is important to appear believable.  If not employees will see the insincerity.

Why did he talk about NASA values?
Organizational culture is the foundation of the identity and understanding of its members and this culture is grounded in the values of that company.  Mr. Okeefe reemphasized that although NASA had many of the values in place that were working already; but there was definitely room for improvement.  The post shuttle crash assessment from BST made it clear that change was needed.  One area he discussed was respect for one another professionally to carry out tasks; all relevant important viewpoints must be considered and completing important task should not be based on just one individual perspective.  The other area he addressed was safety.  Mr. Okeefe stated’ “We don’t act it quite the same way we say it” in regards to safety.  By addressing the values of the organization, he is holding everyone accountable to the meaning is such said values. 

What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?  Effective communication is one of the most important skills a leader must possess.  However, if communication is not supported by action or passion, then the leader is not walking the talk or leading by example.  As I have stated in other discussions, the culture at NASA is by no means bad or lacking, but leaders recognized that they need to improve.  Looking at the situation that NASA had faced, the worst thing leadership could have done is nothing.  For his attempt of instilling changes throughout the organization, I commend Sean O’Keefe. He recognized the need to evolve and change and that NASA should not shy away change, but embrace it as a way to learn and improve our quality of life/work.  As I watch this video, I realize that even at my own job, I am given task or information and a strong level of sincerity is not included.  Whenever I teach or train individuals at work, I will try to be more sincere with my delivery of information. 

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?