I probably shouldn’t say this, but I am so tired of having managers ask how to get workers to think/do/work “outside-the-box.”

For over a decade they’ve been exploring a plethora of business books, articles, seminars, coaching, consulting, discussions, etc., on the subject—some good, some not so good—and are still searching for how to lead their workers out of that dreaded box.

I hear, “What should be changed [out there]?” “What incentives work best?”

What I don’t hear is “What do I need to change in me [to make it happen]?”

If you want your people to think/do/work outside-the-box then you need to manage outside-the-box and that usually means changing your MAP before you can expect them to change theirs. (Which is rarely what managers want to hear.)

I keep saying it, as do others, but many managers still don’t get it. So, I thought I’d say it in print, loudly and very publicly: You (there are no exceptions, none) manage/lead based on the way you think, what you think, how you think, and what you believe—in other words your MAP. No matter what you read, hear or talk, you will always walk your own MAP.

Which is why RampUp Solutions has two taglines:
To change what they do, change how you think!
Leadership: outside-the-box/inside your head.

Bashing Wal-Mart has been the sport du jour for quite awhile, and, although I can’t stand the company for may reasons and won’t shop there, I haven’t bothered to join the fray, since it was all being said so well by others. However, since I preach and push for really open, honest management communications I just couldn’t let the most recent example of callous-demotivation-given-positive-spin go by without commenting.

First, the demotivation. How would you like to work your tail off for 10, 15 or more years only to find that your next promotion or lateral move would require a cut in pay?

That, in a nutshell, is the effect of Wal-Mart’s loudly proclaimed pay increases with caps. And if you happen to be at the top of your category you won’t have to worry about a raise, there won’t be one—ever again—in that position. But, gee, you might have a shot at a $400 bonus at year-end. (Being the cynic that I am, I wouldn’t hold my breath.)

Bless the Associated Press for obtaining an internal Wal-Mart memo written by then executive VP of benefits Susan Chambers, who now heads personnel (watch out Wal-Mart workers), that said, “Given the impact of tenure on wages and benefits, the cost of an Associate with 7 years of tenure is almost 55 percent more than the cost of an Associate with 1 year of tenure, yet there is no difference in his or her productivity.”

Wow! That is the absolutely first time I have ever heard it claimed that a new hire’s productivity equaled that of someone with years of experience who knows all the ins and outs of the job. Yes, there are ins and outs to every job and I’d like to see a new hire who can handle inventory control as well as someone with experience. But then I’m sure that Susan knows far more than Frederick Reichheld about the true value of workers and loyalty (AKA, retention).

Now for spin. Try and wrap your mind around this: Wal-Mart claims that there is absolutely no link between the memo quoted above and the pay caps. If you can swallow that one, the rest should be easy. Wal-Mart claims that their new policy brings them in with other big retailers. Well, I’m no expert, but I know that Costco and Lowe’s don’t work that way, but, then again, maybe they aren’t considered “big.”

Finally, and this is purely my own thought, you can rest assured that this policy will have no effect on the company’s executives (I’m sure Susan’s pay isn’t capped) and that Wal-Mart will continue getting help from Congress if it needs to upgrade the private road leading to it’s headquarters again.

I have a mole living in my yard. I don’t mind her, because she’s a very polite mole and only makes small hills along the fence line and occasionally in a flowerbed—never where I might trip—doesn’t enlarge them and eventually they settle back and disappear.

If only metaphorical molehills were as easy.

I’m not talking about the kind where an individual makes a big deal of something that isn’t; I’m referring to the little, displaced mound in the workplace that goes either unnoticed or ignored, allowing it to grow, sometimes exponentially, until it becomes a mini-Everest.

To avoid the unnoticed, managers can act preventively by practicing MAP Action 2 (management by walking around), thus improving their annual reviews, income and prospects.

Managers who choose not to act preventively will eventually have notice forced on them, but by that time they’re usually facing at least a small hill. Continuing to ignore the hill will encourage it to grow exponentially giving them a giant headache, as well as less-than-scintillating annual reviews, income and prospects.

As always, it’s your choice.

I’ve been hearing more and more from a variety of people that they can’t believe what’s being worn in the workplace these days, the backlash that’s happening in some places, and what do I think about it.

My response is that while the White Queen could believe 6 impossible things before breakfast I, having worked with legions of companies and people over the last 30 years, can believe an infinite number of impossible things before, during and after breakfast—with clothing being the least of them!

I find only three impossible things even difficult to believe in the workplace/world today, and those are

• the astonishing lack of common sense in both dress and actions;
• an amazing lack of self-respect in both dress and actions; and, last but definitely not least,
• the incredible ease with which the dumbest/worst Gen Y attitudes flow up (against gravity) and are embraced by their seniors (who ought to know better).

Unfortunately, I have no brilliant, intuitive suggestions or savvy wisdom to offer you that will counter them. The best I can offer is what I tell my clients: Use your intelligence to identify what you’re dealing with and counter it by using some form of vested self-interest to ensure the change you want; use rules as a last resort.

I’m playing hooky most of today at the Clark County Fair. This is the first year since I moved to the area in 2003 that the weather has cooperated with temperatures in the low 70s, it’s usually hotter (80 is too hot!). Why go? Well, I may be a city kid, but I get a kick out of baby pigs and goats; there’ll be lots of artists and artisans and junk food galore. But the best part, and my main reason for going, is the demolition derby this evening. What a way to vicariously unload driving stress—whoo-hoo!

Just in case you need a reason to play hooky, here’s the fourth of Miki’s Rules for Living.

You don’t stop playing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing!

Here’s wishing y’all a terrific weekend—and don’t forget to play!

Read a post on VC in NYC saying that culture starts at the inception of a company and that CEOs should think about that since cultures can’t easily be changed.

It’s sounds accurate, but, in my mind, culture stems from the MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) of the top person(s) and that MAP existed long before the company was even thought of. Intel’s Andy Grove saw a paranoid culture as the key to building a successful company because that’s what Andy believed, unlike Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google.

As to changing the culture, change the top person, from whom culture flows, and watch the effect—from ripple to tsunami, for better or for worse, no matter how large the company—think GE and Imelt, IBM and Gerstner, HP and Fiorina, Apple and Jobs (in both directions).

The effects from changing the cultural source in smaller companies and startups is more like a major earthquake—the changes are felt even faster, so the employee exodus is faster—accounting for many of the problems in acquisitions.

If someone asked you to combine an apple, a chair, a slice of bread, a steak, and a sparkplug and make soup you’d probably tell them something I shouldn’t repeat here. But in today’s world, that’s often the situation a manager faces when building a team. Not just disparate people, that’s to be expected in a diverse workforce, but what I call the “me,” “but me” and “I” attitudes so prevalent in our current culture.

• “I” people see no real value in the camaraderie, strokes, mutual help, etc. offered by teams.

• “Me” people believe that they are so important that they, their wishes, etc., take precedence over everything.

• “But me” people believe that laws, rules, etc., apply only to others.

Unfortunately, I’ve known many mangers (and worked for a couple) who grew frustrated trying to build a strong team and never understood why they didn’t succeed. They preached team importance, worked at being team players, had their people participate in team-building exercises, devoured books on building teams. The problem was that their MAP was infused with one or more of the above attitudes and it showed.

It always shows. People are neither stupid nor blind, they notice. “Do as I say, not as I do” has never worked.

So here’s some advice, not new, but constantly right: If you’re not going to walk your talk then you’re probably better off shutting up!

Good MAP is about good listening.

The best verbal skills in the world won’t offset a lack of listening skills.

When I read a post on concerns about the impact of Boomer retirement on legacy code I was reminded of something an Old Crow said nearly 30 years ago about the US C3 (command, control and communications) system. He explained how fragile it was because the original technology had been, and continued to be, overlaid with newer technology. That meant that if something broke in an older layer it was likely that current personnel wouldn’t know how to fix it.

This got me to thinking, what about us humans: Do we have a legacy system in our heads? As we grow and change are we merely overlaying our previous MAP, or (to borrow from techdom) truly reformatting our hard drive for a new installation? Does it matter?

Yes, I think it matters. I also think it depends on the person. I know a few people who really do reformat (my sister is one of them) and completely wipe all residue of that part of their MAP they are changing. They do this so completely that if you remind them of how they used to be their response is that you’re nuts. However, they are the minority; most people overlay the old with the new.

Both approaches can cause problems. With the “clean install” it’s difficult to know what’s coming next, since there is no announcement of the change and the previous version never existed. With an overlay there’s the danger that the legacy MAP will kick in when least expected.

Which are you?

• Clean install people find out externally when a comment is met with a completely blank look from their listeners.
• Overlay people find out internally when they say something and almost immediately think, where did that come from?

Whichever you are you can cope best by increasing your awareness.

On low days (we all have them), as I sit here writing and sending these words into the ether, I wonder if the people who read my blog find it as useful as I mean it to be. I wonder how many people read MAPping Company Success, and, to be honest, I sometimes wonder if anybody would actually care if I stopped writing it.

Then, yesterday, I happened to read Brandstorming and was reminded that, when I get right down to it, I’m writing my own passion and, even without my clients’ comments, I know that it has value and works.

Now all I have to do on those odd blue days is remind myself that passion pays in many ways. (Hey! It rhymes—how ’bout that:)

Have a great weekend and see you next week!