Karen Phelan - I'm Sorry I broke Your Company

Make sure your initiative is geared to improving the quality of thinking and not to finding a tool to replace thinking.

3. Create an environment that helps employees enjoy life. This would apply to initiatives like upgrading the office furniture, holding company picnics, and generally creating a fun place to work. I believe that anything a company does to improve the lives of the employees ultimately improves the relationships with the customers, the local community, and the corporate shareholders. As members of the human race, we have an obligation to each other to help make our lives worth living. As civilization has advanced, we've mostly abolished practices like genocide and slavery. There is no reason to tolerate slavery in the workplace just because it has a salary attached. I have seen some dreadful places to work — mostly factories that were loud, dirty, polluted, unheated, and non-air-conditioned. Employees called in sick regularly and found every excuse to take a break. Wouldn't you? I have also seen factories that were clean, climate controlled, and noise controlled. Absenteeism wasn't a problem. Keeping costs low is no justification for treating employees like slaves, especially now in our stressed-out workplaces, where long hours, little vacation, and a working lunch are the norm. It doesn't even make good business sense. People need rest, exercise, and periodic breaks to think properly and be productive. I've been through several costcutting initiatives, and often some of the first things to be eliminated are the employee perks like free coffee, subsidized lunches, and discounted gym memberships. Only afterward do the cost cutters realize that these perks are all productivity enhancers.

More than enough data is available that shows investments in employees produce better company results, like growth in revenues and profits.

4. Strive to make life better for your customers. Although I think the best way to serve your customers well is to treat your employees well, I have heard enough anecdotes about companies that cheat their customers to warrant making this the fourth item on my list. I just don't see how you can create a sustainable business if the only goal is to make money for yourself. Isn't the point to create something valuable that you can charge money for? That's not the same as being in business to make money. We don't love Apple products because they have a high profit margin or buy pharmaceuticals because pharma companies have favorable earnings per share. We believe their products make our lives better, even in a small way. People tend to part with their money more easily if they believe they are making their lives better with their purchase. From my experience, whenever a company changes the conversation from how to deliver better services to how to sell the most profitable engagements or from how to create lifesaving medicines to how to create hugely profitable medicines, It's been a warning sign that the company was embarking on a decline. I think of money as a measure — a measure of success. The money should be a means, not an end. When it becomes the end, a company is in danger of neglecting to add value, and that eventually means no more company.

If an initiative is geared to adding value to the world, then it has a much better chance of adding value to the company.

Thinking exercise 2: Use another context, or please try this at home

A common innovation thinking exercise is to alter the problem you are trying to solve by putting it in a different context. For instance, if you are trying to find ways to bring your products to market faster, you think of another context where you are trying to create something faster, like building a house or sculpting a piece of artwork. My thinking exercise 2 is to think about whether your program or initiative would be effective in a different aspect of life. If what you propose wouldn't work in another type of organization, it likely won't work in a business organization. Below are several (somewhat ridiculous) scenarios that take the subject matter of my chapters and apply it to other life situations.

Strategic plan development Sara is an Ivy League graduate currently working at a prestigious consulting firm. The company is urging her to get her masters in business administration, but she is not sure what she wants to do with her life. The only consulting assignments she really enjoyed were in public policy. She decides to hire a team of life coaches to develop a five-year life plan for her. After interviewing Sara, her family, and her friends, they put together a plan: she should go to New York University law school and study international law. Afterward, she should join a prestigious global law firm, travel all over the world, fall in love with a partner and get married, and continue to work part-time in law while raising a family of one boy and one girl.

What happens if Sara gets offered a once-in-a-lifetime overseas consulting assignment with the World Bank? It will definitely derail her plan. Should she take it?

Process best practice implementation You review your household finances and discover that your family is spending way more than they are taking in. This is a surprise because you earn a good salary and don't have lots of expenses. Clearly, someone is spending too much money! You decide your family needs a budget, so you look on the Internet and find a budgeting template to use. That night after dinner you show your family the template they will be required to use. After a month, you review the finances again and discover the problem is still there. While everyone had used the template, you notice that many expense entries are missing. So you decide to buy Quicken and install it on everyone's computer. Now every transaction will be recorded automatically. After a month, you review the Quicken reports and find you still have negative cash flows. You have tons of transactions to review in Quicken, but many of them seem to be miscategorized. You decide what you really need is a more robust software program and better enforcement of the process!

Target goals Larry is the coach of a kids' soccer team. The team had a dismal record last year, so this year he decides to implement a few new policies to motivate the kids. After tryouts, Larry not only assigns the kids their positions, but also determines individual objectives for them — how many saves, goals scored, and defensive moves — dependent on position. There are per-game objectives and those for the entire season. Those kids that exceed their goals are rewarded with two scoops of ice cream after the game. Those that meet their goals get one scoop, while those that don't meet theirs get the pleasure of watching their teammates eat ice cream. What kind of team would this end up being?

Performance appraisal You know, my kids are not really performing the way I think they should. This year I am going to review their behaviors and accomplishments in December and discuss all the things I think they should be doing better. To help them improve, I will rate them on academics, athletics, social leadership, and business acumen. My expectation is that they need a minimum competence in each of these areas to be successful in life. Their overall ratings will result in an adjustment to their allowance in the New Year. What kind of psychiatry bills are they going to incur later in life?

Performance coaching While I'm trying to improve my kids, I should target my husband as well. He never does the dishes, and it drives me crazy. I took a weeklong class on relationship skills to address this issue, and now I have a feedback model to use on him: ASCA (Ask permission, be Specific, describe Consequences, create Actions). I tried the ASCA model, and he promised he would clean more often, but still nothing changed. After consulting with my feedback tip sheet, I realized that the actions weren't specific enough. Next, I developed an action plan outlining exactly when and how he needed to clean up and gave that to him. He rolled his eyes at me. Clearly he is uncoachable, and I need to file for divorce.