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Keeping a positive outlook… Optimism’s value in solving business puzzles
Friday, March 31st, 2006

Some say that optimists have their rose colored glasses on.  Others say that they say the glass as half-full.  A third group says that optimists have their eyes wide-shut. 

Who is right?  Perhaps all of them.  Perhaps none of these three views.  It seems to me that the statements have enough truth that people see them as true, if that is what one wishes to do.  And there is enough evidence that people who wish to do so can see the statements as false as well…

Each of us does our best to live up (or down) to our own expectations. When we see ourselves as accomplished, we become accomplished.  If we see ourselves as creative, we become creative.  If we see ourselves as geniuses, and we become geniuses.  When we see ourselves in other ways we become those as well. 

Optimism is a self-fulfilling prophecy.  What is optimism?  What value does it have for us? 

Self-fulfilling prophecy 

Some will say that this is overly optimistic.  Even if one is
fooling oneself, a positive result is far more likely to be achieved if we have a positive outlook and see the dream as achievable than a negative one and see the mountain as insurmountable.  Barriers and glass ceilings of any
type evaporate, when we allow ourselves to dream, plan for success, and act on the dream.

As small children, we must learn to crawl before we walk and to walk before we run.  When we try to achieve a goal in any area that is new to us, we must return to childhood and learn to crawl all over again.

What is optimism?

Optimism is about our reaction, rather than objective data.  Optimism does not allow us to avoid struggles.  Instead, it carries us through the strugges.

We have choices.  When faced with challenges, we can bury our heads in the sand, or we can step up, stand out, and laugh in the face of our adversities.  That is a choice that each of us has.  It is the choice that optimists make.

What value is optimism?

Optimism allows us to get up and press forward, when so-called common sense suggests that we should give up and walk away.  Few things are accomplished on the first attempt…

When we are optimistic, we can focus on the goals that we are trying to achieve.  Optimism makes it easier for us to break the tasks down into “bite sized” pieces and execute, execute, execute.

In negotiation, optimism helps us be better advocates for our position.  This increases the chances that our position will “win the day,” as they say.

Optimism allows us to keep a positive outlook.  When one is positive, it is easier to explain our position to others.  We are able to justify helping others when our self-interest suggest that doing so  may not be in our best interest. 

When we maintain a positive outlook, others want to help us.  Think about someone who is always down.  While we may feel sorry for the other person or want to help the other person, how do we eventually react?

Posted in Business Tips, Leadership, Networking, Tips for Students | No Comments »



Biscuit Fire: A case study on negotiations, politics, science, and business
Thursday, March 30th, 2006

The Biscuit fire in Southern Oregon and Northern California in 2002 burned much of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, Illinios River Valley, and adjoining areas. 

In all, between 450,000 and 500,000 acres were burned.  Click here for more details about the fire.  

Firestorm about Logging

A study conducted by Oregon State University raised a firestorm of controversy in the Pacific Northwest this winter.  Here is a link to an article about the controversy.

The justification for such logging was a belief that the logging allowed the forest to recover more quickly.   Recently, a study by Oregon State University found that logging after a fire may slow the recovery process.  

Impact

Post-forest fire logging accounts for a high percentage of logging on public lands, perhaps as much as 40% or 50% of the logging on public lands. 

Logging on public land accounts helps fund schools in many of the less populated counties of Oregon.  

Over 90% of the land in some counties in Southern Oregon is publicly owned.   

Political Hot Potato

The study became a political hot potato with Oregon State University professors attempting to get the article pulled from a prestigious magazine.  That in turn resulted in censorship issues.

The Bureau of Land Management cancelled a grant that the University received to conduct the study. 

Oregon’s Congressional Delegation went to the President over the issue.  Eventually, the Bureau of Land Management rescinded the cancellation of the grant.

Posted in Business Trends, Solving Problems | No Comments »



Business Puzzle: referral
Wednesday, March 29th, 2006

The phone rings.  Lisa, the sales representative at one of your suppliers, is calling.  Lisa has just met with Joe Smith at XYZ Company.  Joe is seeking services that you can provide and Lisa has given Joe your name, company name, telephone number, and e-mail address. 

On returning to the office, Lisa looked your agreement.  It  prohibits Lisa from revealing your company’s name or any information about your company.  

Lisa calls you right away to explain the issue.  She explains that it should be fine because it will help you get business. 

Questions

What do you tell Lisa?  Is it acceptable for a supplier to reveal information as Lisa has done since it might result in additional business? 

Posted in Negotiations, Networking | No Comments »



Business Puzzle: knowledge transfer in organizations
Tuesday, March 28th, 2006

After 30 years with your firm, Jana has decided to retire so that she can travel.  You are excited for her.  She will have a wonderful time.  She gave the company her all and now it is time for her to reap the rewards of a job well done.

Then… it hits you.  You think, “What am I going to do?  How can I capture her experiences?  We are going to be lost without her.”

Current State

In many organizations, the only option is to ask employees in Jana’s situation to write down everything they do and to ensure that all their files are updated.  This helps one understand the processes.

The employee may not consciously know why he or she took the action, at least not consciously.

When organizations are extremely lucky, they engages the retiring employee to train his or her replacement for a couple of months. 

In rare instances, organizations may be able to bring the retiring employee back as a consultant when issues arise.

When employees leave an organization, the organization loses the employee’s knowledge.  More than that, the organization loses the employee’s gut instincts. 

Impact

Today, organizations are in a catch 22 situation.  They can’t let their employees be promoted or transfer because they need the employees’ knowledge in place.  Yet, by denying the promotions and transfers, they risk losing the employee entirely. 

Questions

How can organization’s capture this knowledge?  What knowledge should be captured?  When should it be captured? How should it be disseminated?  In short, how do organizations transfer knowledge from one employee to the next?

Application

Have you asked yourself these questions? 

Whether we have one employee, five hundred employees, five thousand employees, or more, these questions are ones that we should answer. 

We need to have a plan for transfering knowledge in our organizations.  We need to be capturing this information as part of our routine business operations. 

Some ask if we can afford to do this.  Can we afford to do anything else? 

Posted in New Ideas, Planning Tips, Solving Problems | No Comments »



Using communication to build relationships
Monday, March 27th, 2006

Kristina Julin-Stringer at The Workshops Company wrote the following testimonial the other day:

It is an honour to know Coleen. She is one of the few persons you could have a middlename “trust”, which is a rare “commodity” in the modern world. It cannot be sold and it cannot be bought. Yet we all need to trust someone. In an artificial world she is a genuine diamond. She does not want to please you but she does not want to insult you either. She gets to the point and tells you what she thinks, not what you would like to hear.

What does Kristina’s testimonial tell us about relationships?  How might we use these tips to build better relationships?

Tip 1.  Trust is important.  Think about a situation where you have trusted someone else.  For most of us, trust comes from knowledge.  Now, in today’s business we have to do business with people that we have never met.  In many cases, we have to do business with people to whom we have never spoken.  How can we build trust?  It seems to me that trust can exist in such situations when we allow time and share enough information that the parties understand each other’s motivation.

Tip 2.  Information must be shared.  Some people have a great deal of difficulty sharing information about their goals, their plans, their hopes, their dreams, or even where they went on their last family vacation.  They realize that the information could be used against them.  And they fear that the information will be used that way.  In truth, there is some basis to support their fears.  That said, people must share enough information that others are interested in forming a relationship.  If we share nothing, with whom would the person have a relationship? 

Tip 3.  Focus for the discussion.  If the people had stuck with the obvious choices, once the comments were made about the weather, the conversation would have died.  A relationship would have been avoided.  To form relationships, it is important to think about what the person is saying.  There are many directions that the conversation can go.  If one’s goals are business, why not ask about the other person’s business?  If the goals are in some other direction, a different topic may be more effective.

Tip 4.  Truthfulness is critical.  When we dislike something or someone, it is easy to make up a lie or avoid the question.  Sure, avoiding the question and making up lies can save the other person from embarrassment.  But, why do we really do so?  Let’s not kid ourselves.  We make up the lies or avoid the questions to spare ourselves.  This isn’t about someone else.  It is about ourselves.  The lie or avoidance of the question spares us from having to face conflict or controversy.  In the process, it also prevents us from forming a relationship.

Tip 5.  Talk straight, follow through.  If we say that we are going to do something, we should do so.  Unless we do so, others lose the ability to trust us. 

Beyond Kristina’s comments, here are a few additional tips for building relationships through communciation:

Tip 6.  Always have more that can be offered.  The approach that has always worked best for me is to work with a small number of people and to help them each a great deal.  Understanding what matters to the other person is critical.  Business is a value for value transaction.  If I am not giving value to the other person, why would the other person give value to me?  This means that a person has to focus on relationships in which a person can add value because time is limited.

Tip 7.  Tell others what is expected.  When we tell others what is expected, they are better positioned to meet our expectations.  If we want feedback, ask for feedback.  If we want action, explain the desired action.  Communicate timelines, where we are seeking responses according to a particular timeline.

Tip 8.  Care about the other person’s success.  If the other person’s success is irrelevant, how can anyone help the other person?  When the other person’s success is irrelevant, a person is unlikely to share their best advice.    

What other tips would you add about using communication to build relationships?

Edited:  April 13, 2007

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Posted in Business Tips, Negotiations, Networking, Solving Problems | No Comments »



Negotiation Scenarios: performance guarantees
Monday, March 27th, 2006

An IT manager, Sally, requests a meeting.  Sally’s team needs training.  During the meeting, Sally asks you to guarantee results. 

You ask questions to understand the issue.  Sally says that she purchased a significant amount of training last year from a large IT supplier and the supplier shipped the wrong books to three classes and double-billed for six classes. 

Sally’s Position

You ask what sort of guarantees, Sally is seeking.  Sally says that she needs the contract to state the following: 

  1. Employees will be able to program correctly on completion of the training.
  2. You will retrain the employees if they are unable to program correctly on completion of the training.
  3. The employees will achieve the learning objectives of the training.
  4. If on retraining the employees are still making mistakes in programming, Sally wants a refund.

Questions

As an initial strategy, think about the issue that Sally says she is trying to address.  Do her requests relate to that issue?  Identify options that would be more closely aligned with the concerns that Sally has raised. 

If it is necessary to discuss the points that Sally has raised, here are a few questions that you may wish to think through before going down that path…

Sally’s points 1 and 2. 

  1. What will employees need to be able to program correctly? 
  2. What constitutes programming correctly? 
  3. How will this be measured? 
  4. Who will measure it? 
  5. When will it be measured? 
  6. What are the consequences if the metric is unsatisfied? 
  7. What happens if an employee programs correctly at the end of class, but fails to program correctly a month or two after the training?
  8. Can employees be required to pass a pretest as a prerequisite for this guarantee coming into play?

Sally’s point 3. 

  1. What are the learning objectives?
  2. How will achievement of the learning objectives be measured?
  3. Is this intended to be a restatement of Sally’s point 1?  If not, what does this add? 
  4. How will Sally deal with employees who are paged out of class?    

Sally’s point 4. 

  1. Did the employees involved pass the pretest?
  2. Were the employees present for all of the training?
  3. Is Sally willing to pay a premium for this guarantee?
  4. How much will the sessions cost? 
  5. What is your historical average as far as employees passing the class? 
  6. Can you afford to make this guarantee? 
  7. Is it a reasonable guarantee for you to make?

How have you handled such situations?  What other questions would you ask yourself?  What other questions might you wish to raise during the discussion with Sally?

Posted in Customers, Negotiations, Solving Problems | No Comments »



Negotiation Scenarios: supplier relies on customer promise
Sunday, March 26th, 2006

You are talking with the Steve, the business development manager at a major hotel chain that also hosts business conferences.  You would like the hotel to host a conference for you in 2007, and need it to make several changes so that your event can be held at the hotel.  

Steve is uncertain about the changes you are seeking.  You tell Steve that, if the hotel makes the upgrades and it does not increase the gross revenue, you will pay Steve for the cost at the end of 2008.

Based on your statements, Steve’s employer makes the improvements.  The hotel’s revenue does not increase. 

When Steve comes to you at the end of 2008 and asks for the money, how do you respond?  Is Steve’s employer entitled to the money?  What questions do you have for Steve and his employer? 

Posted in Negotiations, Sourcing | No Comments »



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