Complain, Withdraw, or Be in Action and Make a Difference

It is not difficult to look around our organizations, or our communities, or even the larger society and see things that do not work.

Sometimes we opt for complaining and blaming the ubiquitous “they” who should be doing something to correct the situation aren’t. We get to be righteous and the “they” get to be irresponsible and wrong and the butt of our frustration and even anger.

Sometimes, maybe out of our frustration or hopelessness, we give up in resignation and withdraw – best to just shut our eyes and get on with our lives as best we can and just put up with it.

And other times we take the initiative, marshal all our reserves and collaborators and get into action and make things happen.

There is hardly a major city in the world that does not have some version of infrastructure problems, traffic congestion, and road rage as frustrated road users struggle to get to where they are going in intolerably congested conditions.

I discovered during my stay in India that CyberCity, Gurgaon is no exception. But just look at what a few committed individuals are doing to make a difference.

And there is hardly an organization, division, function or team, in the world that does not have some parallel frustrating condition that wastes time, energy and resources and disempowers the people involved – until, that is, someone or some small group of people, like the members of the CyberCity Welfare Society, step up and declare, enough!

What and where is your traffic congestion – your CyberCity?

Then, ask yourself, who do you need to enroll and engage to get your traffic moving, and are you going to opt for complaining and blaming, or action and desired outcomes?

In the process keep in mind Margaret Mead’s much quoted observation – "Never doubt the power of a small group of committed people to change the world, in fact, nothing else ever has".

Go for it!

Are You Nurturing People Who Are Skilled And Compliant But Without The Audacity To Be Great?

David Brooks in his NY Times Opinion Page column on January 17, gave some advice to Amy Chua author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and, in the process, included some very useful insights for those of us responsible for developing managers and leaders. Here's the part of David's advice we all need to be well grounded in:

"Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon have found that groups have a high collective intelligence when members of a group are good at reading each others’ emotions — when they take turns speaking, when the inputs from each member are managed fluidly, when they detect each others’ inclinations and strengths.

Participating in a well-functioning group is really hard. It requires the ability to trust people outside your kinship circle, read intonations and moods, understand how the psychological pieces each person brings to the room can and cannot fit together.

This skill set is not taught formally, but it is imparted through arduous experiences."

Coming to the workforce after performing well at school will get you on the first rung of the promotion ladder. Being effective at completing tasks, will keep you employed. Working well in teams, and learning how to manage and lead them is a wholly different competency.

David's indictment of Chua's wimpy coddling of her daughters belongs equally to many managers and leaders who insulate their people from situations where they might fail, situations where they are "not qualified", instead of creating opportunities for them to make it on their own in the organizational equivalent of the school cafeteria.

Where Do Your Managers Learn How to Manage People?

David Brooks in his NY Times Opinion Page column on January 17, gave some advice to Amy Chua author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and, in the process, included some very useful insights for those of us responsible for developing managers and leaders. Here's the part of David's advice we all need to be well grounded in:

"Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon have found that groups have a high collective intelligence when members of a group are good at reading each others’ emotions — when they take turns speaking, when the inputs from each member are managed fluidly, when they detect each others’ inclinations and strengths.

Participating in a well-functioning group is really hard. It requires the ability to trust people outside your kinship circle, read intonations and moods, understand how the psychological pieces each person brings to the room can and cannot fit together.

This skill set is not taught formally, but it is imparted through arduous experiences."

Coming to the workforce after performing well at school will get you on the first rung of the promotion ladder. Being effective at completing tasks, will keep you employed. Working well in teams, and learning how to manage and lead them is a wholly different competency.

David's indictment of Chua wimpy coddling of her daughters belongs equally to many managers and leaders who insulate their people from situations where they might fail, situations where they are "not qualified", instead of creating opportunities for them to make it on their own in the organizational equivalent of the school cafeteria.