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June/July 2012 Boot Camps and Seminars

 

 


Toronto

June 21st & 22nd

 

"This program goes far beyond a typical presentation-skills workshop; instead, it provides highly practical, relevant tools to support senior leaders who need to communicate across large organizations.  I am responsible for a division of over 1000 employees, and I feel I gained new insights and a better level of understanding about leadership communication as a result of attending." 
 
- Ron Edmonds, Vice President and Controller, Dow Chemical Company 

 

 

 


boot camp 2   
 
 Boston 
July 26th & 27th  
  • 2-day seminar for CEOs, business owners and leaders who want to increase their visibility and build their brands.
  • Register before May 31, 2012 for a $500 discount.
  • Click here for the seminar agenda.   
 

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April 24, 2012  

Why Things Stay Broken 

 

airport 

Perhaps you caught the nightly news story with a photo of a 49-year-old guy standing naked at a Portland Airport security checkpoint. If you saw it, you'll wish you hadn't. Apparently, he told authorities that he "disrobed as a form of protest against TSA agents who were harassing him."

 

Just a day or two earlier, the New York Times Sunday Review ran an article by former TSA chief Kip Hawley:  Why Airport Security is Broken, and How To Fix It.  It was already on my mind to write about why things stay broken in our organizations, so the naked guy was a sign from the universe.

 

First, about the TSA. As Kip Hawley points out, the airport security system we have in the U. S. today is a direct response to fear and uncertainty after the attacks of 9/11. However, it is no longer the case that a few people onboard a jet could hijack it. The cockpit is locked down; marshals, flight attendants and passengers would overwhelm anyone with a knife or box cutter, even a gun.

 

Yet on we march like lemmings through TSA security, taking out and putting away our driver's licenses, removing our shoes, throwing out water bottles, separating our laptops from their cases, putting our belts and jewelry into the bowls, holding up our arms in the screeners like common criminals, then, wrestling our carry-ons off the conveyor.  "It is a national embarrassment that our airport system remains so hopelessly bureaucratic," says Hawley. 

 

From the vantage point of Hawley, who ran TSA and tried to fix it, the problem is our wrongheaded approach to risk. Terrorists are adaptive and naturally seek new ways to get around the system. Meanwhile, the U.S. remains locked in a brittle, inflexible approach to airline safety. The purpose of the screening process has evolved from minimizing the chance of a public catastrophe, to protecting every single person from any harm.

 

I must say that sounds right, but the explanation doesn't go far enough for me. Something else is in play when things remain broken. It's a mental state that I would label "resignation."

 

Once people believe there is nothing they can do to change a stupid process, they reluctantly accept it. They create work-arounds when possible, burying their resentment, eventually, sadly, forgetting why the stupid process was invented. They go on autopilot. New generations are told "This is how you must do it," and when the occasional leader comes along prompting people to "innovate," he or she is met with blank stares. Who can blame them? They no longer see the stupidity.

 

It's like walking past ugly wallpaper every day. Eventually, it disappears.

 

How does this resignation hurt us in business?  I will never forget the story a client told me about a stupid paper form that everyone in his department was filling out when he took over customer service.  It had a name that was a number, something like "the 209-47B". No one could explain what it was for.  Everyone insisted it was absolutely critical; finally he tracked it down and learned no one EVER reviewed it. EVER. The forms were stacked and collected from each desk, every day, and shipped directly to a storage facility. You can't make this stuff up. 

 

By the way, many of the long-time customer service employees were aghast when he announced the 209-47B would no longer be used.

 

A lot of Kip Hawley's recommendations for TSA will leave some aghast, too, including eliminating the list of banned items, allowing liquids, and launching random security checks that keep terrorists guessing. OMG! Changing these procedures would be like hitting your head against a wall and finally stopping.  Could we get comfortable NOT feeling the pain?

 

Where are you hitting your head against the wall? What processes that once had a reason, no longer need to be done at all? How can you confront and confound the mental state of resignation?