This is a short post, with a lot of valuable links.

Way back in 2007 Standard prof Bob Sutton wrote the No Asshole Rule and McKinsey did in-depth research on the damage they do.

In 2015 Rich Waidmann created a no jerks culture.

Sutton followed up in 2015 essentially saying it’s all about the people.

Last week a post on LinkedIn talking about women CTOs who won’t hire “brilliant jerks.”

There are hundreds more posts, articles, books, research, comments, etc. that talk about the downside of jerks — brilliant or otherwise. (In case you’re wondering, the brilliance supposedly offsets the jerk part.)

But it’s a fallacy to think that it’s just women who are creating cultures that don’t tolerate brilliant jerks, just as it is to think that all brilliant jerks are male.

As with any other label, brilliant jerks can be found in any imaginable combination of race, creed, color, national origin, gender identification, size, and shape.

None are worth keeping, because, even if it takes some time, they will poison your culture and run off your team.
Image credit: Kurt  Bauschardt

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

As most of you know, I subscribe to CB Insights (you should, too). It’s written by co-founder Anand Sanwal — good info and he has a great sense of humor.

Yesterday, I learned that founders are sometimes described as “blue flame.” I’ve never heard this term since we founded CB Insights so it could be that (1) It’s not really a thing or (2) I’m not blue flame.

Basically, blue flame is defined as below:
It refers to young people, preferably in their 20s, with lots of energy and no kids.

A blue flame is a fire that is burning at its brightest. A blue flame founder is willing to do nothing but work, forgoing all else but the company.

Per Twitter, no VCs seem to have ever heard this phrase (or won’t admit it –Miki).

Hilariously, it also refers to people who are too old to invest in.  I wonder how they know the difference without seeing them.

While a founder may be “willing to do nothing but work, forgoing all else but the company” it is the height of either lunacy or stupidity for founders to expect their people to do the same.

Especially in light of recent comments from the likes of Mark Cuban.

“For employees and investors they are SOL [s— out of luck]. That is, unless these companies wise up and start going public … The VC attitude of not going public is crushing the dreams of tens of thousands of employees with options.”

It was different in the first boom, when it was investors who got the shaft.

“In ’01/’02 most of these companies were public, so it played out in the public market. You had companies that went public and then lost 90% of their value or went bankrupt. But in the interim, the employees got something out in the public markets. … Here, there’s no liquidity.” —Alfred Lin, Sequoia

It’s called liquidity and it’s what unicorns like Uber not only don’t offer, but can’t because the public markets won’t support their valuation — public markets have an old-fashioned focus on sustainable business models and profit. (For a detailed look read this from Mckinsey.)

All this just goes to show that whether you’re a six-figure knowledge worker or minimum wage slave, you are cannon fodder to your bosses and the money men.

Flickr image credit: s_p_a_c_e_m_a_n

The word “leader” is all over the news; media loves talking about individual “leaders.” Executives and people in positions of power have worked hard for decades to perpetuate the myth that leaders are magical and larger-than-life; special, unique, irreplaceable and, above all, can’t be duplicated. But that emperor has no clothes, according to HBS Assistant Professor Gautam Mukunda, who, in his new book, Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter, kicks large holes in the myth that individual leaders really make a difference. (Book excerpt)

The result was his Leader Filtration Theory, or LFT, which states that a leader’s impact can be predicted by his or her career. The more unfiltered the leader, the larger the prospect of big impact. The more a leader has relevant experience, the less chance of high impact.

No where is the talk of “leaders” greater than in the political arena, especially during a Presidential election. An opinion piece focused on whether being gregarious is a requirement of leadership.

Culturally, we tend to associate leadership with extroversion and attach less importance to judgment, vision and mettle. We prize leaders who are eager talkers over those who have something to say.

The commentary reminded me of an excellent article last year by Douglas R. Conant, retired Campbell Soup CEO, on why introverted (as defined by Meyers-Briggs) bosses are just as capable and actually may have an edge.

As an introvert, I enjoy being by myself. I sometimes feel drained if I have to be in front of large groups of people I don’t know. After I’ve been in a social situation — including a long day at work — I need quiet time to be alone with my thoughts and recharge.

One way so-called leaders, (I prefer the more neutral term ‘boss’) can make a difference is found in how they treat people; one trait they all have in common is their approachability and engagement with everybody, not just their senior staff.

68 year-old Mickey Drexler, CEO of J. Crew, is and a well known face in all aspects and locations of the company—with employees and customers.

He visits every office, store and distribution center, and makes an effort to meet every new employee, although he’s always Mickey, not Mr. Drexler. (…) He’s been known to personally respond to a letter from a shopper who has a problem or a suggestion.

That involvement and initiative encouragement isn’t age-related. Thirty-something Ben Lerer, co-founder and C.E.O. of the Thrillist Media Group, encourages the same kind of action from his people through the culture he built.

One thing that we preach at work all day long is “don’t hope.” What that means is don’t wait for somebody to do something for you. Don’t do something 90 percent well and hope that it’ll slide through. Don’t rely on luck. You have to make your own luck. The only thing you can do is try your absolute best to do the right thing.

Finally, for those of you who want more on leadership checkout the information and interviews available at McKinsey’s Leading in the 21st century (free registration required).

In today’s volatile environment, leaders of global organizations must master a slate of challenges unseen in business history. In this feature, McKinsey talks with seven leaders and Wharton professor Michael Useem about the new fundamentals of leading in the 21st century.

Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho

Managing, retaining and hiring employees are three of the most important actions I any company of any size and in any location.

It’s ironically amusing that it amazed some of the biggest names in workforce research to find that minimally improved management yielded enormous payback. Of course, workers have been saying that for decades when they vote with their feet.

What’s worth as much as a 25% increase in your labor force, or a 65% increase in the amount of your invested capital?  A one-point improvement in your company’s management practices! That’s the shocking conclusion of in-depth study conducted by researchers at McKinsey, Stanford, and the London School of Economics that looked at more than 4,000 companies in the US, Asia, and Europe.

Fred Wilson is a top VC who also has a ton of common sense; while his focus is startups his advice is applicable to any company. Here he discusses six requisites to retaining your people.

There isn’t one secret method to retain employees but there are a few things that make a big difference. (…) Communication…, Getting the hiring process right…, Culture and Fit…, Promote from within…, Assess yourself, your team, and your company…, Pay your team well.

Attitude is what makes some people more successful than others and attitude is the result of what you believe. Inc. spotlights nine beliefs that are commonly found in successful people.

The most successful people in business approach their work differently than most. See how they think–and why it works.

Every manager looks for good ways to learn about candidates and every candidate loves insight as to what they might be asked. Inc. suggests managers ask the same questions about previous jobs.

Go through each job and ask the same three questions:

1. How did you find out about the job?
2. What did you like about the job before you started?
3. Why did you leave?

Finally, when job hunting resumes are key, so it’s good to know why, when and how to better your chances. Here are six examples (five were hired) of using creativity to get noticed. After that, you need plenty of substance to back it up.

“One-in-five HR managers reported that they spend less than 30 seconds reviewing applications and around 40 percent spend less than one minute,” Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder said in a study released today.

Be sure to take time to enjoy your weekend!

Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho

There are multiple articles in two of today’s links, so you may want to bookmark them.

The first is from the IBM Institute for Business Value (to which you can subscribe for free) and offers links to several studies on social CRM. You can also participate in a short survey about how social is being used in your company.

I’ve sent you to The Mix in previous posts; they just posted the winners in each category and they are worth checking out.

We launched the inaugural Harvard Business Review/McKinsey M-Prize for Management Innovation nearly a year ago. Today, we are so proud to announce the grand prize winners as well as the “Management Innovator of the Year” Award.

Last week I wrote about how Facebook was turning “Likes” into endorsements for which it’s paid. That’s changing as part of the settlement of a class action lawsuit.

Facebook has agreed to make it clear to users that when they click to like a product on Facebook, their names and photos can be used to plug the product. They will also be given a chance to decline the opportunity to be unpaid endorsers.

Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho

Creativity. Thinking outside the box. Innovation. Whatever you call it, idea generation often starts with a brainstorming session and too often goes no where.

McKinsey alumni Kevin P. Coyne and Shawn T. Coyne offer a seven point guide that will make your efforts much more productive.

1. Know your organization’s decision-making criteria.
2. Ask the right questions
3. Choose the right people
4. Divide and conquer
5. On your mark, get set, go!
6. Wrap it up
7. Follow up quickly

Sounds like common sense, right? But you’ll see from the explanations how habit, misconceptions and politics often undermine these efforts.

And remember, while the first six points assure you of a productive effort this time, ignoring number seven will cripple not only this time, but all your next-times, too.

Flickr image credit: By Bengt Nyman

I owe my Saturday readers an apology. Expand Your Mind was absent last week and I have no excuse; worse, I have to admit I just plain forgot. That is embarrassing. I hope today makes up for it.

A rude awakening for all the companies and managers who believe they can treat their people any way they choose comes from an Aflac survey-based report saying otherwise.

77 percent of adults employed full/part time, and not currently self-employed, stated they would leave their current position to become an independent entrepreneur.

However, PeopleMetric’s 2011 survey on employee engagement says the opposite when compared to 2007.

…more employees intend to stay with their employer, feel motivated to put forth extra effort, recommend their companies as a great place to work, and say they love their current organization.

What’s the difference; why such disparate results?

More research from Harvard shows that what excites and engages people has nothing to do with money and everything to do with managers (you knew that).

According to recent research, the single most important factor is simply a sense of making progress on meaningful work.

Next, two excellent survey-based articles about women and work.
First, research from Harvard Business Review, looks at the factors that impact both women and men when competing.

…how women and men perform at work may be strongly linked to the gender of the person they are competing against.

And from McKinsey comes advice based on feedback that focuses on changing deeply embedded attitudes.

…a survey we conducted earlier this year indicated that although a majority of women who make it to senior roles have a real desire to lead, few think they have meaningful support to do so, and even fewer think they’re in line to move up.

Finally, a word about the poster boy of engagement, Richard Branson.

He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him, he is always doing both.

Not a bad way to live!

Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho

My post today has only three links, but the subject matter requires a good deal of thought and (uncomfortable) self-analysis if you are to take advantage of it, so I didn’t want to add anything else.

McKinsey is well-known for its consulting and studies; its newsletters are an amazing resource. Registration is free; I mention this because you will have to register to access information that will be of use whether you are running a Fortune 50 corporation, dealing with teenagers or anything in-between.

Have you heard of cognitive bias? It refers to the set way our brains work, whether we are aware of it or not—mostly not unless you make an effort. Keep in mind that although McKinsey is talking about corporate situations you can tweak the information for use under any circumstances.

• Behavioral strategy: Yet very few corporate strategists making important decisions consciously take into account the cognitive biases—systematic tendencies to deviate from rational calculations—revealed by behavioral economics. It’s easy to see why: unlike in fields such as finance and marketing, where executives can use psychology to make the most of the biases residing in others, in strategic decision making leaders need to recognize their own biases.

• Countering biases: Addressing cognitive challenges like these is hard because executives can’t change how their brains work. What they can do is put in place processes for challenging entrenched beliefs and approaches.

• Visual wrap: A quick, simple summary of the various types of bias.

I am familiar with many of my own biases and have found ways to either avoid or short-circuit them, so I know it is possible. And I encourage you to identify your own—just don’t waste your time trying to change them, because it’s not going to happen.

Image credit:  MykReeve on flickr

It’s raining where I live. It’s been raining for weeks (months?); not all day but on and off most days. In case your weather is similarly unappealing you can enjoy the day reading some very interesting stuff. And if the sun is shining you can still enjoy this week’s offerings with your morning coffee.

A couple of weeks ago I gave you a link to a story explaining how GE and other corporate titans not only pay little-to-no tax, but actually get money back. But even more fascinating is learning how the wealthy, the ones whose taxes Congress keeps cutting, avoid paying taxes, too.

Ten years, not much in the life of a person, but it’s forever in the online world. 2011 is Wikipedia’s 10^th birthday Business Week offers up a great in depth article on where it’s been, where it’s going and the woman leading it.

Creativity is on every manager’s mind and McKinsey offers up some good ideas on how to ignite it. Being McKinsey they aim the info at executives, but with minor tweaking any manager can use the ideas.

Creativity is not a trait reserved for the lucky few. By immersing your people in unexpected environments, confronting ingrained orthodoxies, using analogies, and challenging your organization to overcome difficult constraints, you can dramatically boost their creative output—and your own.

Speaking of creativity… Have you ever wondered how the dinosaurs had sex? Considering their size it must have taken a lot of ingenuity to go all the way; Slate offers up some answers.

That’s it for this Saturday; rain or shine have a wonderful weekend.

Image credit: MykReeve on flickr

Management M&M is a new weekly feature focusing on various management misses and messes. I hope you’ll send examples from your own experiences for me to use—anonymously, of course.

I found an interesting bit of idiocy in a recent McKinsey survey (free registration required),

Even though overall reliance on financial incentives fell over the past 12 months, a number of companies curtailed their use of nonfinancial ones as well. Thirteen percent of the survey respondents report that managers praise their subordinates less often, 20 percent that opportunities to lead projects or task forces are scarcer, and 26 percent that leadership attention to motivate talent is less forthcoming.

The technical term for this is ‘how stupid can you get’.

At a time when corporations large and small need the highest level of employee engagement just to survive, let alone thrive, they are making every effort to convince their staff that they don’t give a damn about them.

This attitude essentially says ‘you are worth neither money nor time, but I want you to work harder and produce more than ever before’.

The survey also touches on the reason for the idiocy.

…nonfinancial ways to motivate people do, on the whole, require more time and commitment from senior managers. One HR director we interviewed spoke of their tendency to “hide” in their offices—primarily reflecting uncertainty about the current situation and outlook. This lack of interaction between managers and their people creates a highly damaging void that saps employee engagement.

Well, doh.

The higher you move in an organization the more you are required to accomplish your goals through the efforts of others, but the less time you make to do that.

Sure doesn’t sound like a winning strategy to me.

Image credit: Finsec on flickr