How often do you (or your boss) add “or else” or words to that effect when assigning a project or discussing a deadline?

It happens more than you would think.

The threats are rarely direct—Do it or start looking.

More often, they are subtle, unstated—I expect employees who work here to be team players.

Have no doubt, the threat is there: Do X if you want to keep your job.

Anyone who’s ever been on the receiving end of a threat will tell you that they aren’t exactly motivational.

What they are is atrocious management.

Threats are costly not only to the threatEE, who loses confidence and the threatenER, who loses credibility, but also to the organization itself for allowing it to happen.

Far worse is the ripple effect that the sows seeds of a self-propagating culture of intimidation.

Threats kill creativity, innovation, motivation, caring, ownership, in fact, everything that it takes to compete in today’s economy.

Managers who choose to use ultimatums as a motivational tool should not be surprised when employees respond with their feet.

Flickr image credit: James Cridland

Silos—they are found in almost every company no matter the size.

Silos are the scourge of collaboration

The most commonly noticed are departmental silos, but horizontal silos based on position and education are far more insidious and damaging.

I loathe horizontal silos and consider them second only to politics on the corporate stupidity index.

More times than I can count I’ve seen the ideas of an engineer 1 or 2 discounted or ignored by the 3s and senior engineers—of course, that’s better than stealing them, although that happens, too.

The attitude seems to be one of ‘your brain is incapable of any creative thinking until you are at least at my pay grade’, which is beyond idiotic.

People’s brains work differently; some see what is, others see possible improvements and a few see around corners, but that sight has little to do with position.

Steve Jobs saw around the corner of the personal computer market before there was a personal computer market and certainly before he had any credibility what so ever.

And I can personally attest that training and education don’t necessarily play a role. Decades ago I redesigned two street intersections where I lived in San Francisco, but I didn’t suggest the solutions to the traffic engineers—I knew they wouldn’t listen because I have no training.

Instead, I sneaked both ideas in through someone I know who was ‘accepted’ and both solutions are still in effect today.

Silos are built of egos, which is why, vertical or horizontal, they’re so difficult to break down.

The best solution is for CEOs to build a culture that values everybody’s ideas equally, but there’s no guarantee that they will or even that they agree.

Even when they do there’s you can’t count on every executive and others in management roles will embrace the approach.

Technology offers a leg up for bosses who see silos as blockades.

One approach I helped a client implement created an innovation wiki that completely obscured the name, level, grade and even department of the person posting the suggestion.

Each idea had a different ID and confirmation was automatically sent to the poster so they still had bragging rights if it was used or warranted a bonus.

That anonymity leveled the playing field and assured everyone that each idea was considered strictly on its merits, not on the merits of the person who thought of it.

It also encouraged people to post way-outside-the-box ideas without worrying about appearing silly, pushy or arrogant if the idea happened to be outside of their personal expertise.

Finally, when an idea was used, whether all, in part or as a springboard to something else, there was an announcement, kudos and request that the poster step forward and take a bow.

It’s a very popular program.

Productivity skyrocketed as a river of suggestions flowed that offered solutions to long-time problems, ideas for product enhancements and even next-gen products—often from the most unlikely places.

Flickr image credit:  johnny goldstein

Everything today is about innovation, creativity, productivity and how to increase all of them.

Bosses at every level read books, listen to management gurus and attend seminars looking for methods and approaches that will boost all three.

They look for solutions outside and rarely look in the mirror.

Too many bosses, no matter what happens or what feedback they receive, recognize that it’s their MAP and their actions, not their people’s, at the bottom of their under-performing groups.

After all, if you

• ask for input and ridicule those who offer it, why be surprised when you stop receiving it?
• tell your people you want to solve problems while they’re still molehills and then kill the messengers who bring you molehill news you shouldn’t be surprised to find yourself grappling with mountainous problems requiring substantially more resources;
• tell people their ideas are stupid, whether directly or circumspectly, or, worse, that they are for thinking of them, why should they offer themselves up for another smack with a verbal two-by-four?

I could list many more examples, but you get the idea.

Your team’s results are a direct reflection of you, so before you start ranting or whining about your group’s lack of initiative and innovation, try really listening to yourself, the feedback you receive and give and then look in the mirror—chances are the real culprit will be looking straight back at you.

Flickr image credit: Cea

From two different authors.

“I haven’t worked this hard in years and have never felt so valued” —a former colleague who had changed jobs

“To the brain, receiving a compliment is as much a social reward as being rewarded money.” — Professor Norihiro Sadato, the study lead and professor at the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Japan

Taken together they should drive home the value of telling your people outright how much you value them or how good something they did was,

I’m not talking about compliments for compliments sake—those are hollow and only extend the bad habits learned in school, such as when kids are complimented just for showing up on time.

I’m also not referring to ‘stars’; those almost mythical employees who some managers seem to value more highly than their entire team. (Guess which is more easily replaced the one star or the entire team.)

I do mean the heartfelt appreciation for a task well done or for being a good team member.

So in the stress and pressure of achieving deadlines don’t lose site of the two most successful motivation and retention factors yet found:

• the chance to make a difference; and
• being appreciated.

And just think—they don’t cost a dime.

Flickr image credit: dinny

An article talking about better ways to train employees made me chuckle; not because the ideas were bad, but because it focused on the idea that adults are trainable.

They aren’t.

Decades ago I read an article about training by a respected expert. His (her?) name is long gone from my memory, but not the core thought, which was that training ended with the toilet and from that point on humans learned.

Of course, that meant they had to be taught.

And while you might think it’s the so-called trainee’s responsibility to learn, whether the material is interesting, boring or non-existent, that expectation is likely to cost you raises, bonuses and promotions.

The bottom line is that along with all your other bossly functions you must also be a teacher; not just a teacher but a great teacher, because the kind of teacher you are is an absolute reflection of the kind of boss you are.

• Interesting: presented in a way to stimulate curiosity and create a desire to master it = committed, motivated, builder of teams and grower of people.
• Boring: dull, no-energy presentation that acts more like a soporific or worse an insult to intelligence = uncaring, passive, uninterested.
• Non-existent: the sink or swim approach = lazy and arrogant.

As always, it’s your choice.

Flickr image credit: Dan Ox

Marty Zwilling wrote a great essay detailing exactly what to do to guarantee your team’s DEmotivation.

It’s great because in addition to being oh-so-true it’s tongue-in-cheek sarcastic enough that it might even penetrate the minds of those guilty of what it says.

Zwilling writes for entrepreneurs, but most of the actions he describes apply equally well to any manager at any level, as well as parents and pretty much any human interaction.

Call it universal DEmotivation.

Here are the headings, but you should really read the article to know for sure if you are guilty of some more covert version.

1. Be sure your team doesn’t know what is important to you.
2. Never explain your actions.
3. Hire team members who will follow your instructions.
4. Keep people on their toes with a threat of consequences.
5. Team meetings are for delivering the latest decisions.
6. Agree to milestones and then accelerate them.
7. Thank your employees for the little extras.
8. Be careful not to get too involved in your employees own goals.

In the decades I worked as a recruiter and those since starting RampUp Solutions I’ve heard these or variations of them listed as reasons people left their company.

Because when you get right down to it, people quit managers, not companies, and that is especially true when a manager is also a founder.

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Flickr image credit: Mitchell Laurren-Ring