Monday I said “Not all challenges can be overcome (more abut that Wednesday); sometimes you can find work-arounds, others you just need to accept.”

Based on the emails I received it’s a good thing I said we’d look at that idea Wednesday.

Before the Boomers people had problems, but after that giant wave entered the adult world “problems” morphed into challenges and challenges were something to be solved and overcome.

But is that always necessary?

Based on my personal experience I don’t think so.

Whether I consider it a problem or a challenge, here is what I do.

1. Take a few steps back to get some perspective. I want to see the whole thing; not just the bit that has blocked me.
2. Consider my approach; I can
   1. ignore it, detour around and continue down my path;
   2. identify exactly what is in my way and address only that part;
   3. develop a solution that eradicates it completely; and
   4. recognize and accept that it is completely out of my hands.

I start with my sixth rule; beyond that determining which of the three is applicable is a very personal decision. Over the years I’ve found the breakdown roughly as follows:

70% of the time I find number one works just fine.

20% fall in the second category.

8% have the capacity to pop up over and over and need to be solved.

2% are unsolvable and just need to be endured.

Flickr image credit: Eli Christman

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

You may run a startup, but that doesn’t negate the value of a new study (includes link to the full study) by Unum and Monster.com that says culture is more important than compensation.

Number one on candidates’ list was a company “that truly cares about the well-being of its employees.”

The next three are

1.  A challenging and fulfilling position, which 84 percent of respondents identified as very important.

For the person attracted to the startup world this is a given, but it requires good interviewing skills to ensure that the attraction is real and not a product of media-driven startup fever.

2.  Job security, rated very important by 82 percent.

Many denizens of the startup world will scoff and stop reading at the words “job security,” but there is such a thing in startups. Startup job security is a function of a clear vision backed by knowledge of the target market; good business planning as opposed to shooting from the hip; strong financial controls from the beginning; good hiring practices, instead of “try it and dump if you don’t like it.”

3.  An attractive benefits package, which 74 percent of those surveyed rated very important.

Benefits are different strokes for different folks; for those in the startup world ‘benefits’ translates most frequently to equity, but that doesn’t eliminate the value and need for health insurance; people engage more fully when they aren’t worried about their families.

And salary seems to still be in fifth place just as it was 30 years ago.

• An attractive benefits package and an ethical, transparent culture were more likely to be viewed as very important in attracting and retaining staff than were a high starting salary and job security.
• Being a company that cares about the well-being of its staff was twice as likely to be viewed as very important in attracting and retaining staff as providing a high base salary.

Like it of not, benefits of any kind are concrete proof of caring and how those benefits are distributed is a reflection of an ethical, transparent culture—or not.

Option Sanity™ is integral to an ethical, transparent culture.

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process.  It’s so easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.
Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.” Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Image credit: Bun in a Can Productions

Last week we talked about the importance of good hiring to insure the success of your organization and I gave you a copy of RampUp’s CheatSheet for InterviewERS.

Tuesday I shared information on how to use your culture to screen candidates.

However, when it comes to the actual interview many managers and candidates view it as an adversarial function, which is, in fact, ridiculous.

Managers and candidates have the same goal—or they should have.

Interviews are occasions to find out if a candidate is right for the hiring manager, the team and the company; just as important is for the candidate to find out if she will be challenged and thrive in that environment.

In other words

• Managers want a person who shares the company’s values, will strengthen the team and can make real contributions to its success.
• Candidates want a place to contribute meaningfully, where the culture is synergistic with their own values and where they will continue to grow.

Same goal, different perspectives.

One part of the problem is that candidates are nervous and today’s economic turmoil increases normal interview jitters.

The other part is that the people doing the interviewing may not be very good at it or, worse, actively dislike doing it.

Here is one thing you do to help your candidates be comfortable enough to openly discuss who they are, what they can do and contribute and why they want to do it in your company.

Share RampUp’s CheatSheet for InterviewEEs before the interview.

Be sure to take the time to explain that you sent it because you want them to have the best interview possible.

You may be surprised at how much your candidates appreciate that attitude.

Plus there’s a hidden bonus, because you’ll know in the interview if they 1) took time to read it or 2) made use of any of the ideas.

Image credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1007380

Ask anyone if it’s easy to accomplish a task through others and be prepared for eye rolls and laughter.

In a post at Managing Salespeople, Dr. Jim Sellner talks about why managing is so difficult.

Management is not something you do once then sit back and enjoy your work. It’s a never-ending, unfolding story with many subplots. It is a mindset, a viewpoint, not only of work, or people, but of one’s worldview. It’s about making unique, often seemingly disconnected associations, connecting the interactions no one else sees. It is ongoing curiosity, questioning, searching for something new, different, better — posing the uncomfortable questions like “What if?” or “Why not?” That is the stuff of managing people.

Sounds a lot like a description of parenting, doesn’t it?

No, your team members aren’t children or crazy hormonal teenagers, although at times they may act that way, but even when they are acting like responsible adults they still need you.

• They need you to share the vision, so they know and understand why they are doing the work they do. They need you to provide all the information to do that work efficiently.

• They need you to challenge them, so they can grow to and beyond what they think is possible.

• They need you to trust them enough to let them make their own mistakes so they can learn from them.

• They need you to believe in them, encourage them and cheer them on.

So the next time one of your team comes to you, whether at work or at home, don’t short-change them with a brush-off response.

Remember that it was your choice; nobody put a gun to your head and forced you—you chose to be a manager, you wanted to have kids.

Now is the time to be the best that you can be—even if your manger/parent isn’t/wasn’t.

Image credit: Svadilfari on flickr

Last week I wrote about early-college high school and KIPP—both programs buck the trend exemplified by the Dallas Independent School District in lowering standards.

Another move towards greater challenge is program that allows kids to graduate high school two years early.

Dozens of public high schools in eight states will introduce a program next year allowing 10th graders who pass a battery of tests to get a diploma two years early… The new system of high school coursework with the accompanying board examinations is modeled largely on systems in high-performing nations including Denmark, England, Finland, France and Singapore. … Students who pass but aspire to attend a selective college may continue with college preparatory courses in their junior and senior years…

The program is organized by the nonprofit National Center on Education and the Economy.

“We’ve looked at schools all over the world, and if you walk into a high school in the countries that use these board exams, you’ll see kids working hard, whether they want to be a carpenter or a brain surgeon.” –Marc S. Tucker, NCEE President

Education reform has often been hung up by teachers unions; that seems to be changing, but the time and cost to fire an incompetent teacher is still disheartening.

Toughening standards, increasing challenge and meaningful rewards work in the adult space, so there is no reason they won’t work in schools.

There seems to be a lot of good stuff going on to provide us with hope for developing thinking, questioning innovative next generation, but, before you get too excited, please join me next Tuesday to see what is happening on the dark side.

Image credit: svilen001on sxc.hu

Image credit: exfordy on flickr

Sometimes when things get tough it helps to have something right in front of you to grab hold of; not so much to keep going, but to help you change course.

Changing course is often the best way to get past a problem; it’s no that you ignore it, rather you approach it from another direction—or find that it’s not necessary and just let it go and move on.

Ten years ago my niece sent me a card that I framed. It’s hung on the wall by my desk at three different locations and it still works.

It’s from a hand made card by Mary Anne Radmacher.

Live Loudly

Peer over the edge of your possibility.

If you’re looking for a very special message, for you or someone else, check out her website or look for them in a good card shop.

Image credit: francescopozzi on flickr

I was looking at some old notes and found something I’d saved from the comments area of a post on changing corporate culture at Dell’s IdeaStorm, “After all, if you don’t challenge yourselves, do you expect to grow? You certainly won’t LEAD.”

I don’t know if it’s original, but it is short, sweet and very true.

If there’s one thing that challenging yourself does it’s to upset the status quo—that’s what forces growth.

That’s true for your company, department, team—and yourself.

Challenges usually involve risk, but risk is healthy.

Risk can be safe if you

• evaluate it;
• perform worst case analysis; and
• go for it.

Risk often, fail fast, learn and move on.

You’ll blow away the competition.

Image credit: flattop341 on flickr