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Clear the Deck!
Situational Awareness
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Twitter Highlights
I send 15-20 tweets per week with links to useful links and research. Here are a few of my latest, including links:

Excellent article about the impact of culture on competitiveness and a CEO's role http://tinyurl.com/plj5v56
@strategy-business.com

According to Gallup, 70% of American workers are emotionally disconnected from work http://tinyurl.com/lvfot8x 
@alternet.org

Opposite Proverbs: How Leaders Mislead Themselves | Leadership Coaching Blog | Elements of Leadership Blog
http://tinyurl.com/pjddvet

It's encouraging to hear successful CEOs think in these terms. http://tinyurl.com/noqw58q
@forbes.com

Only mediocrity can be trusted to be always at its best. Genius must always have lapses proportionate to its triumphs. - Max Beerbohm

Humanities and social sciences are central to national goals - http://tinyurl.com/n4kt7sh @chronicle.com

17% of companies strategically positioned for growth + 3 factors that drive growth
@strategy-business.com

What employers want (vs. what educators think they want) -
@chronicle.com

Interesting take on Black Swans Circling P&G, and reminder of the need for all to be wary of them -
http://tinyurl.com/lxddujx

42% of companies, a near record, found to have weak ethical culture, according to National Business Ethics Survey 
http://tinyurl.com/nll7f3m

Assessing personality traits from Twitter feeds - a new sanbox for marketing and industrial psychologists
http://tinyurl.com/pm5s259

"Decline and Fall of the English. Major" - more evidence of overly focusing on the short-term.
http://tinyurl.com/mugka9l

What we can learn from primatologists: Avoid putting two animals with high dominance needs in the same enclosure!" http://tinyurl.com/nwmogz9

Money can buy happiness - if we spend it right. http://tinyurl.com/nwmogz9
@ecoonomist.com

Ask great questions: Leadership Skills of Socrates - Ask "what's the question," not "what's the answer." http://tinyurl.com/k28pypf
@forbes.com

Google SVP People Operations on hiring, data use and the importance of leadership consistency http://tinyurl.com/m6a5qrx
@nytimes.com

"The Plateau Effect" - A good read for leaders and their organizations to avoid stagnation http://tinyurl.com/p8dwcj3 @ft.com

Education s the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world ." (Nelson Mandela)  
pic.twitter.com/ABzizVmehL

"Art s the elimination of the unnecessary." - Pablo Picasso, painter, and sculptor (1881-1973) @wisdomcommons.org

"Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold." (Leo Tolstoy) @wisdomcommons.org

Leadership teams with two pivotal attributes drive 25% higher profits - http://tinyurl.com/o6ntr5u
@kornferry.com

'Good article on what it takes to build and maintain winning cultures. http://tinyurl.com/luebz2x
@smartbrief.com

4 Great Lessons from the Arts - http://tinyurl.com/nnkkfj8
@inc.com

Talent exchanges on the web are transforming the world of work.  http://tinyurl.com/k7h497x
@economist.com

Banca Etica in Italy - where ethical banking is not an oxymoron -  http://tinyurl.com/o2jupby
@econoist.com

From Ceasar to Jimmy Cayne of Bear Stearns, powerful bosses overestimate their support. http://tinyurl.com/ls2trvm
@economist.com

"Too much of a good thing" - what happens when leaders overplay their strengths - http://tinyurl.com/ls2trvm
@economist.com

Excellent WSJ overview of truly incredible developments in manufacturing technology - http://tinyurl.com/q4s27a3
@wsj.com

'Great; now we have artificial emotional intelligence! http://tinyurl.com/ol9htzq
@fastcompany.com

Cargill and Target efforts to navigate foreign labor challenges - http://tinyurl.com/pq5244e
@startribune.com

Integrity n the Boardroom - a board's rule setting the right tone at the top: http://tinyurl.com/pgh6zty
@deloitte.wsj.com

This "Buycott" app empowers consumers by revealing stewardship scores for brands and purchases. http://tinyurl.com/cjqbl6w
@forbes.com

How to balance "tech" and "touch" . . . http://tinyurl.com/levsvq9
@NYTimes.com

True: "If you don't create your company's culture, it will create itself; and it won't be good.  http://tinyurl.com/qcnoxwr
@NYTimes.com
Here is a copy of my last blog: Clear the Deck!. If you missed May's article, Situational Awareness, its introduction follows; you can access the entire article by clicking the link at the end.  Be sure to enter the "Who Said This?" contest at the bottom of this newsletter to win an autographed copy of Navigating Integrity - Transforming Business As Usual Into Business At Its Best.
Clear the Deck!

In older days, "Clear the deck!" was a common command to prepare for doing battle at sea. The command focused attention, cleared visibility to gain a better perspective on the action, eliminated distractions and quickly channeled resources where they were needed most. Literally or figuratively, "clearing the deck" today serves virtually the same purposes.

 

Three developments inspired this article: First, and perhaps most closely linked to "clear the deck's" original meaning, was the decision to sell our sloop on Lake Superior; it was time to make more room for other priorities and new adventures. (LOON now has a proud new owner who will take good care of her and take her on new journeys.) At about the same time a good friend described how being laid up for a period after surgery allowed him to "clear the decks" and think anew about his direction personally and professionally. Most recently, some interior home repairs and painting required moving way too many books, files, boxes, trip mementos, etc; a reminder that it is definitely time to "clear the decks" of clutter in our home and offices. We discovered many things with meaning or usefulness that no longer outweighed their required upkeep.

 

Not clearing the decks soon enough before early-day sea battles carried severe consequences. Maneuvering was awkward, vision and perspective were hampered, and valuable resources - including personnel - were lost.  Actually, the decks usually got cleared eventually, early and intentionally or in defeat. Modern day sailors no longer need to clear decks in preparation for battle, but they do in preparation for storms; "prepare for a storm before the storm" by taking in sails, lashing gear down, "battening the hatches" and tying yourself in for the ride. Failures to clear the decks in those scenarios also extract serious consequences.

 

"Clearing the decks" for leaders and organizations today can take the form of time for reflection and planning, questioning and reordering priorities, discarding what detracts from execution or no longer contributes value, or simply taking time away as a break or to see things differently. As Marcel Proust said, sometimes "A voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but seeing with new eyes." Just as for naval commanders of old and present-day sailors, leaders and organizations that do not "clear the decks" from time to time will also likely be hampered by impaired vision, organizational clutter, restricted maneuverability and lack of focus. They will also likely miss out on innovations that new perspectives can bring and lose valuable talent.

 

So how can leaders and organizations clear the decks today?

  • First, recognize its importance. Kevin Cashman's latest book The Pause Principle makes a strong business case for pausing, a form of clearing the decks. The dividends of "stepping back to lead forward" as Kevin puts it include developing leadership (vs. just management) capacities, more innovation, greater clarity out of complexity, alignment with purpose and increased engagement.
  • Make time for it. At a personal / professional level options include short or longer breaks from routine or challenges. Organizational options include leadership and team retreats, strategic planning, GE-like "workout" processes and other disciplined practices for stepping back to gain perspective. Best practices in surgical settings today include the discipline of pre-surgical team meetings to increase clarity about the procedure, potential complications, processes and roles.
  • Focus on the three Ps: purpose (what will best serve the mission,) priorities (Have they changed? What's most important?) and principles (What is most aligned with our core values?) Those were pretty clear when clearing the decks for sea battles: some variation of carrying the day for God, honor and country. In the course of clearing decks today, leaders and their organizations will benefit from clarity around the purpose to be served, strategic goals and priorities, and core values to reinforce or at least not abandon.
  • Challenge assumptions, decisions and directives. Prior to Microsoft's and Apple's breakout, had IBM challenged its assumption that there would never be a sufficiently large market for personal computers, they would have secured a far stronger market position. Had BP managers not assumed that their Gulf rig blowout preventer was functioning properly and other sufficient safety precautions taken, 11 rig workers wouldn't have lost their lives. The Coast Guard and hospitals have adopted a practice that originated with aviation: the "two challenge rule:" If someone fails to adequately respond to two or more challenges about questionable observations or actions, it should be assumed that situational awareness has been lost and there is a need for remedial action. (See "Situational Awareness." below.)
  • Practice discernment and dialog. Discernment is a more private version of dialog; both are practices for gathering sufficient information and exercising sound judgment to determine right courses of action. In both cases, relaxing assumptions, not hurrying solutions and examining broad possibilities are essential. Discernment and dialog are two of the "3 Ds and 3Cs" covered in more detail in my book  Navigating Integrity - Transforming Business As usual Into Business At Its Best.  
  • Ask powerful questions.  Asking provocative questions that challenge the status quo, and questions with no ready answers are important catalysts for discernment and dialog. Asking good questions is an essential leadership capacity since they open up possibilities and uncharted territories.
  • Be ready to let go. I must admit, this is probably the hardest for me. I hold on to articles, books, files, other materials and ideas or approaches far beyond their usefulness. In most cases I mainly need to focus on my "3 ps" (above,) letting go of whatever else will not serve my future purposes, priorities and principles.

Sometimes, perhaps more in keeping with its original use, "Clear the deck!" is an urgent call to action. In his book A Sense of Urgency, John Kotter makes a strong case for how cultivating a true sense of urgency is foundational for successfully executing change and growth strategies. He distinguishes a true sense of urgency from the complacency or false sense of urgency that usually accompanies unsuccessful change initiatives. Complacent organizations are comfortable with the status quo and blind to impending hazards or opportunities; a false sense of urgency is marked by frenetic and negative energy that is unaligned with clear, coherent strategies or rationales for change. Threats to survival and the urgency for action were all too apparent when the warships of old squared off. Today's leaders need capabilities for "clearing the deck" that make the urgency for action in a perpetually changing, significantly more complex and nuanced environment more palpable.

 

How could you or your organization benefit from "clearing the decks?"

 

What are some actions that you can begin taking now to reap those benefits?

 

 

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.   

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

The most important thing in life is knowing the most important things in life.   

David F. Jakielo

 

 

(Photos courtesy of flickr.com - hockadilly, U.S. Coast Guard and wallace39) 

 

Situational Awareness 

On October 22, 1707, four ships and at least 1,400 seamen of Her Majesty's fleet were lost off the Isles of Scilly near England; the primary cause was miscalculation of longitude. On the night of April 14, 1912, the "unsinkable" luxury liner Titanic sank with a loss of more than 1,500 lives when it struck an iceberg in the north Atlantic ocean. Over the course of Ron Johnson's failed turnaround of JC Penney, over 20,000 jobs and $12 billion in market capitalization were lost. Common to all three disasters was a lack of situational awareness - awareness of surroundings and their potential impact.

 

In my four years as a volunteer with the U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, we received regular briefings on how to maintain situational awareness and on its importance. They were lessons that served me well sailing Lake

Win a Free Book! Navigating Integrity cover
Enter the "WHO SAID THIS?" contest on our blog to win a free  autographed copy of  Navigating Integrity - Transforming Business As Usual Into Business At Its Best

"In this new book, Al Watts does a masterful job articulating how to live with integrity in your organization, on your team and in your life. A highly practical guide for leveraging the power of integrity."
(Kevin Cashman, Senior Partner Korn Ferrry).

Contact inTEgro to explore how we can be of service for strategic planning, senior team and board development or facilitating critical meetings. Click "Services" on our home page to learn more, including inTEgro's array of professional organization, team and leader surveys.

All the best,

Al
Al Watts
inTEgro, Inc.
ph: (612) 827-2363

Al Watts
inTEgro, Inc