Ducks In A Row: 2 Requirements For An Engaging Culture
by Miki SaxonRemember employee commitment? Buy-in? Ownership?
These days it’s called ‘engagement’ and smart managers are looking for ways to increase it. They want to incorporate practices and attitudes in their group’s MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) that will improve productivity and increase engagement.
Two such items are
- basic business knowledge and
- a large dose of pragmatism.
Business 101
Naiveté regarding business frequently leads to non-reality based ideas and attitudes. If people have a fuzzy or rose-colored view of what has to happen for the company to be successful, there’s no way they can contribute effectively.
Worse, this lack of knowledge can make them resistant to the procedural changes necessary to the company’s successful evolution as it grows, shrinks, or changes.
It’s not necessary, or even possible, to provide the in-depth business knowledge that comes from an MBA or 30 years as a successful CEO, but wise managers can provide basic understanding of the actual forces at work within the company, industry and even the economy in general at times such as this.
You want your people to understand
- the Business Mission Statement;
- customer desire as the driving force behind product development (why build it if they won’t buy it?);
- financial controls, what they are and why you need them;
- why/how to avoid blue sky approaches and impossible wish lists;
- the reasons for requiring excellent documentation;
- the importance of quality and manufacturability; and
- other business-specific subjects.
Teaching these should be active, not passive; merely posting the information on your intranet won’t get it done. Use brown bag lunches or company-wide webinars, followed by local discussions, to create a positive learning process.
Finally, be sure you encourage people to use what they’ve learned.
Pragmatism
Pragmatism should permeate your MAP, the groups and the company culture. It should be like stain as opposed to paint—not just covering the surface, but also sinking in.
By practicing pragmatism as well as preaching it, you encourage a reality-based culture where
- setbacks are easier to deal with because they are recognized and acted on quickly;
- employees speak up because they are assured that the messenger will not be shot;
- rose-colored glasses are obvious;
- growth and change of the culture without corrupting it is encouraged; and
- “not-invented-here” syndrome is veer batten.
Pragmatism works best as a part of a MAP that everybody is encouraged to embrace.
It helps to create a company in which not only can everybody see what the Emperor is wearing, but also have no compunction about discussing it.
Your comments—priceless
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Image credit: ZedBee|Zoë Power on flickr
July 14th, 2009 at 5:36 am
Miki … thanks for reminding us about the benefits of a pragmatic approach to planning. Our nature is optimism, but a dose of pragmatism helps us get things done.
July 14th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Hi Martin, our nature is also to kid ourselves and not listen to stuff that doesn’t fit what we want to hear.
One can be both pragmatic and optimistic—in other words, one may tell the world that the emperor has no clothes, but still hope that he has the sense to get dressed!