More from "Break all the rules"

It's not hard to guess why the following paragraph resonated with me...

"The manager role is the 'catalyst' role. As with all catalysts, the manager's function is to speed up the reaction between two substances, thus creating the desired end product. Specifically, the manager creates performance in each employee by speeding up the reaction between the employee's talents and the company's goals, and between the employees talents and the customers' needs. When hundreds of managers play this role well, the company becomes strong, one employee at a time." - First, Break All the Rules

Breaking all the rules - 12 questions

From the chapter in First Break All the Rules entitled "The Measuring Stick":

"Measuring the strength of a workplace can be simplified to twelve questions. These twelve questions don't capture everything you may want to know about your workplace, but they do capture the most information and the most important information. They measure the core elements needed to attract, focus, and keep the most talented employees."

Initiated by my director, these twelve questions were asked of all US Campus Ministry operations staff, both full-time and intern, at the end of October this last fall (low=1, high=5). The results are below.

(The 14 Greater Northwest respondents are those on my office operations team as well as operational leaders in the field that report to me.)

A few of my thoughts:
- The lowest numbers, relative to the national average, were the first two. This is troubling, but makes sense; we haven't had operations leadership in our region for the last couple years. Hopefully these numbers will improve this spring when we do the survey again, though I suspect number two relates to funding. This may take longer, and more effort, to turn around.
- The lowest number for both our region and the nation was the "best friend at work" question. Why would that be? Is that unique to operations? To Campus Crusade? To non-profits? Or is that the lowest in other industries, too?
- The highest number was the mission/purpose question. Gladly, people in the GNW (and US) feel their job is important.
- This information will get increasingly helpful as we ask these questions again in the future. Patterns and trends will emerge that will help me/us know what we are doing well and what needs attention.
- For the immediate future: I'd love to get question number one quickly up in to the 4-5 range. I want my people to know what is expected of them, both by me and the organization. Not knowing what is expected at work is a recipe for frustration.

What do you think of this info? Have you ever used these questions in your workplace? Any tips/insights you want to give?

Books for an Ops team (Part II)

Way back in May of 2010, I posted about books I was considering having our Ops team read in the upcoming year. I've since moderately adjusted the list.

The following are currently being read by one person on the team and will be summarized in a 10-20 minute book report to our operations team answering the questions "What did I like? What did I take exception to? How could the concepts/ideas help our Ops team perform better?  Our whole region?":

Radical - Platt
Death by Meeting - Lencioni
Jacob and the Prodigal - Bailey
I once was lost - Everts and Schaupp
Drive - Pink
Seven practices of effective ministry - Stanley
Switch - Heath
Linchpin - Godin

What do you think of the list? You read any of these?

"Never pass the buck"

Over the next couple days I'm going to be communicating out a change related to financial policy with which some of our staff may take issue. This change was initiated by those several levels up from me organizationally, and while I think the change makes sense given the information I have, there is a temptation to distance myself from it in order to engender allegiance from those I lead and work alongside.

The timing then was appropriate, and perhaps providential, for my starting in tonight on the book "First, break all the rules - What the world's greatest managers do differently". In the introduction, an interview with a very successful restaurant manager is recounted in which he shares a few helpful management tips he has picked up during his 15-year career. All of the tips were insightful; one struck a particular chord...

"And especially important: Never pass the buck. Never say, 'I think this is a crazy idea, but corporate insists.' Passing the buck may make your little world easy, but the organism as a whole, sorry, the organization as a whole, will be weakened. So in the long run, you are actually making your life worse."

Covey's "Speed of Trust", the Kindle, Facebook, and the GNW

I bought my first Kindle book today.

During the plane change in Denver today I got a Facebook message inviting me and some of the staff leaders in our region to join a Facebook discussion thread in our Greater Northwest staff Fb group. We would be sharing thoughts and ideas around the idea of building trust with others, with the book "Speed of Trust" by Covey as the framework.

Not having the book and wanting to jump in sooner rather than later, I sprung for the Kindle version (using the iPhone app, not the Kindle hardware). Unfortunately, it didn't download before the friendly Southwest flight attendants asked us to turn off our portable devices. But, it quickly showed up once my phone was on in Orlando. I'm curious to see what the experience is like to read a whole book on my phone. The kindle price of $12.99 is higher than the paperback cost, so there is certainly a premium on convenience.

I'm also curious to see what it is like to have a virtual book discussion with staff from our region. Will people engage? How frequently? Will they have to be prompted to share? Will sharing about building trust...build trust? Is there a better way to do this than via a Facebook discussion thread?

Operations Meditations

Can we still meditate when we are doing busy doing "operations"? I think we must.

Foster's "Celebration of Discipline" is very refreshing. I suspect he is so beloved an author because he does the double duty of being deep and appropriately abstract while also being highly practical and descriptive. A quote from the end of his chapter on "The Discipline of Meditation":

"You must not be discouraged if in the beginning your meditations have little meaning to you. There is some progression in the spiritual life, and it is wise to have some experience with lesser peaks before trying to tackle the Mt. Everest of the soul. So be patient with yourself. Besides, you are learning a discipline for which you have received no training. Nor does our culture encourage you to develop these skills. You will be going against the tide, but take heart; your task is of immense worth."

In the fall, we'll spend a lot of time training our new operations team members how to do their jobs and accomplish the various tasks that will come before them. I'm thinking some training in how to meditate and go deep with the Lord will be training of at least equal value.

Books for an Ops team

As our Operations team begins to form this summer, I've began thinking about ways we can unify our vision and gain momentum before we officially launch in August. Reading the same books related to our job could play a helpful role in this. Here is a reading list that I'm thinking about suggesting to our GNW Ops team to work on this summer:

1. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Lencioni - Great book to help us establish healthy team norms and avoid the 5 dsyfunctions that teams can fall victim to. Was really helpful for our WSU team, and I know other teams in the NW have read it together, too.

2. Next Generation Leader, Stanley - Another book with five main points, this one was referred to me by my friend Matt (see About) as the best of Andy Stanley's books. I was challenged and encouraged when I read it last year and think it's a good fit for our emerging young leaders.

3. Linchpin, Godin - This is the most current of the list. Godin is an innovator and challenger of the status quo. While not writing from a Christian perspective, I think there is much that translates to leading, working, and innovating in ministry. Michael Hyatt, CEO of Christian publisher Thomas Nelson, liked it enough to give copies out to a whole bunch of his employees.

4. StrengthsFinder 2.0, Rath - Combined with the (included) online test to suggest your "top 5" strengths (everything is 5 in publishing, huh?), this book helps people to discover and leverage their strengths. Basic idea: spend more time working out of strength then focusing on weakness. Again, many teams with Campus Crusade, including mine at WSU, went through this together and gained great insight into how to better work as individuals and as a team. 

5. Celebration of Discipline, Foster - The first four deal a lot with productivity, leading, being pro-active, getting things done, etc. Topics like prayer, meditation, simplicity, and worship will be a good counter balance to help us stay centered on Christ and rely on the Spirit more than the flesh.

Have you read some of these books? Did you like them? What other books would you suggest for a new team to read together?

[Update: The book we will all engage with the most, both individually and as a team, is the Bible. All other books we read and engage, of any genre, will be sifted and processed through a Biblical framework.]