We see the commercials where the individuals on screen are reported to be "real people," and surprisingly enough all real people in commercials are very complimentary of the product that they are really learning about and all of their responses are totally real? Take a peek at this commercial from Zebra Corner that is embedded in our article. "What is initial quality? Initially it's ok and then it's a piece of crap? Is that what you're saying here?" The commercial spoof both puts so many common practices on blast - the concept of ambiguous rewards that sound good, the sheep staring at a new gate positive responses to the message and method of revelation in commercials with real people and the lack of reality in the whole presentation. What is a reward for "initial quality"? As questioned by our protagonist, "Did you rent this whole building just to show off all the cars that you didn't sell?" There is so much that is funny about this commercial but much of the humor comes from someone simply asking the questions that we all are or should be asking. If your business is convincing people that you are the best, there may be an issue with your service or product. Billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks and gritty entrepreneur Mark Cuban writes in his e-book How To Win, "Rather than trying to convince people you are the best, let the quality of your work do the talking." Your messages should come from your vision and be an extension of your values, the most effective marketing or branding messages flow from who you are as an organization because they are authentic and will be supported throughout a client's interaction with your business. Too much time is spent on relevance that companies fail to just be relevant (read more about this HERE). Connect. Collaborate. Conquer.
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If your organization is discussing relevance, odds are you aren’t. BUT, if you are willing to admit that you may be closer than you think to the solution. Relevance has long been a waste bucket that get’s all the blame for why organizations are not connecting with the culture or the market. If we can blame relevance for our lack of market engagement than we don’t have to dig any deeper into our vision, mission, systems or delivery. To be relevant means to be, “Closely connected or appropriate to what is being done.” Being relevant means taking notice of what is happening and connecting to those values and actions that keeps the system in motion. If you recognize that you don’t understand, you can begin your journey to engage by observing what is happening, finding those whom you trust that are active in the movement and then figuring out where your core values, knowledge, experience and skills can contribute to that organism. Confront reality so that you can connect with the culture and collaborate to make a difference. An organization, whether for profit or charitable, is by definition irrelevant when they discuss the culture from the sidelines and lament that their product or service is not being well received. If you are saying, “No one is coming. No one is buying. No one likes us.” Or whatever fancy speak you use in the confines of your secret huddle sessions, the nature of your conversation is holding you back because you are asking the wrong questions. Instead of why is no one coming, ask yourselves – what are they doing? For example, if a church is noticing declining membership and blames it on relevance they might remark, “People are not coming because they aren’t going to church.” This isn’t an answer as it is first shortsighted confirmation bias from a very narrow survey group, it is a redundant reflection where your group has merely reframed the observation from question to statement and the conclusion is not based on digging beneath the surface. They aren’t coming is an effect, what is the cause (see more on effect vs. cause HERE) and like a disease, if you do not chase down the cause you will never reach a solution for the effects. Things are getting done and organizations are making positive impacts around the world, relevance is asking the right questions to connect with the work that is underway. As we dig into causes for the effects that we do not find appealing, we notice that we have to get our hands dirty in the soil of the culture in order to extract answers. As an organization you may need a guide, you may need interpreters and you may need new tools. If you recognize that the culture or market is has (or is starting to) pass you by then you need to understand that you are in unchartered territory, everything around you has changed while you were blaming relevance. Again, admitting that will get you closer to the remedy than refusing to recognize this reality. Please remember, the key to relevance is not discovering how you can get people back to your organization but how your organization can recognize, connect and engage with what is already in motion. The market changes but businesses who want to says, “We’ve always done it this way, the market will come back around when they realize the new methods aren’t that cool,” that organization is dying. What is happening and how can we help. If the culture or the market is not engaging you, maybe you need to confront the reality that you aren’t helping. The economy is still in operation and there are businesses that are growing, relevance is finding where you fit in the puzzle to collaborate to make the world a better place. If you think that I am wrong, you are right. Enjoy your power sessions on relevance. If you are earnest about wanting to be relevant, the first thing you need to do is take that term out of your vocabulary. Start with confronting reality and say it out loud, “I am not relevant. We are not relevant.” If you can do that, especially if you can do it as a team, you are finally on the right path to reaching what you say you want. Ask good questions so that you can discover what is in motion around you. Find a way to connect with stakeholders in the movement that you want to engage in and simply ask, “How can we help.” As you change your mindset, evolve your approach and put your hands to work, you will find that you are closer to being relevant than you ever were in your relevance conferences. Connect. Collaborate. Conquer. In business there are rituals that neither management nor employees enjoy and yet they are widely practiced because a) it’s what everyone else is doing, b) we’re required to do it by the unwritten codes of business handed down from our ancestors and/or c) leadership is unwilling to admit that something needs to change. Enjoy our fun video that reviews the tried-and-failing process of annual employee reviews as acted out by children. If you do not recognize a need to evaluate and improve your processes, you are probably right – everything is fine and you are going to be awesome (sarcasm). But, if you recognize that there are always areas that can improve, you may start by relieving the additional strain on managers as well as the deflating of employee morale that is often tied to the annual employee review as currently practiced.
There are plenty of examples of what isn’t working, please tell us what you have been trying and what is working with improving employee engagement. Please help up gather some data on process improvement by taking our brief survey HERE. Keep doing good things. If you have a team, especially a smaller team, there are no secrets – there are only those issues that you take leadership over and discuss with a purpose and those issues that you allow to direct their own lives. In most offices the walls are paper thin (if you still have walls) and the issues are being discussed like ping pong balls bouncing from surface to surface. As a leader you can be observe from your perch and imagine that you are the referee keeping the game within its imaginary bounds or you can grab a paddle and lead the discussion. There is safety on the sidelines, but it is only imagined, as those ping pong balls can cause real damages to teams and culture if they are not addressed. Leaders on the sidelines are not leaders, they are observers. Leaders who engage with their paddles will win some and will lose some, but by being present they can reduce negative impacts and even intercede in additional balls being added to the natural chaos of business life. There is no perfect leadership but there is definitely detrimental action/inaction by leaders. The ping pong balls are flying, its time to paddle up. |
AuthorThoughts on personal and professional development. Jon Isaacson, The Intentional Restorer, is a contractor, author, and host of The DYOJO Podcast. The goal of The DYOJO is to help growth-minded restoration professionals shorten their DANG learning curve for personal and professional development. You can watch The DYOJO Podcast on YouTube on Thursdays or listen on your favorite podcast platform.
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