Right Conditions

I have been visiting a freshwater lake in a secluded patch of bush north of Perth for 20 years. Back then the trees had lush canopies and no there was no fallen timber on the ground. There’s been some harsh, dry years since.The canopy has thinned out and the ground is littered with fallen branches as the trees self prune for survival. Some ancient trees have died.

The last few winters have been wetter and the lake is starting to transform. New trees are popping up from seed. Old trees are regrowing their lush canopies. Some that looked dead are sprouting. The bush has been lying dormant just waiting for the right conditions to flourish again.

People are like that too. I’ve worked with some teams where people are uninspired and doing the bare minimum. They have retreated into a self protective mode where there is no creativity, minimal commitment and little energy. Sometimes, it’s toxic with people working in the shadows to make life worse for each other, either to deflect unwanted scrutiny, or to eke out more resources for their own survival.

Just like the lake, if the right conditions are built, people begin to flourish again. Sometimes the turnaround can be incredible and rapid. But it takes the right conditions. In those harsh years, there’s no way you could get those trees to grow. If the conditions are not right, telling a team to behave better, produce results, be more creative, or less toxic will not change a thing. It may even make it worse. Trust and Psychological Safety are like the rainfall. Growth will follow.

Bulls and Boardrooms

I stood on the sideline of the auction yards, hoping to buy a bull that (in my opinion) was the finest animal on the lot. It would be a great addition to the farm breeding stock. Two bids later, I stepped back and watched the price climb. Maybe I was right about it being the best bull. It sold for the top price. I eventually secured a lesser bull. I made the decision without supervision and using someone else's money. The farmer I worked for was a master of delegation. He had given me a signed blank cheque and sent me to the annual sale alone. His instructions were simple. “Buy the best bull you can. Don’t spend more than $1500.” When I got back I told him about the best bull, and together we admired the one I had purchased.

I’ve often thought of him when I lead others and work with leaders. One of the most significant roles of a leader, all the way to the boardroom, is delegation. Despite delegating all the time, there’s often unnecessary friction because we don’t always do it well.

What that farmer did very well was define the task or territory - Best bull possible at or below $1500. My task was epic for my age and experience, but the parameters were crystal clear. I knew precisely what was in and out of my authority that day. He also backed the decision I had made.

When we are delegating, we can reduce friction significantly by clearly discussing what is in and out of the territory. Sometimes there will be grey areas, in which case discuss the triggers to refer back for more information or support.

And get really good at accepting the outcomes of delegated territory. Questioning or criticising decisions and actions makes it much less likely that people will want to act for you next time round.

How and where could you improve your capacity for delegation?

Break Back to Back

Guess what! Back to back virtual meetings cause elevated stress levels. Recent research from Microsoft confirms it, but none of us are surprised. Anyone who has leapt from one “Brady Bunch” screen to another has felt it.

Microsoft scanned the brains of 14 people as they went back-to-back, compared to taking a 5 to 10 minute break between meetings. Back to back = elevated and sustained stress levels (Red/Yellow scan). Short breaks = minimal stress (Blue scan).

And while the research focuses on virtual meetings, I reckon it would hold true for face to face ones as well (although at least there is a short decompression as you move from one to the other.)

Elevated stress smashes our ability to think, decide, solve, communicate, and collaborate. Most of those meetings require one or more of these from us. As a survival instructor, creating ‘task saturation’ was a really easy way to create duress for a team on a survival course. Impose a tight deadline, swamp them with information, ask for clear decisions and plans, hit them with distractions and before long the stress levels are through the roof and mistakes are made. That adds even more pressure, as now the team has to solve problems it has created for itself. Now add conflict (or at least friction/tension) as people get shorter and sharper with each other. Does this sound familiar?

We can do better. And we need to. This stuff has a direct impact on bottom line. In Australia there have also been recent changes to Work Health and Safety that put greater responsibility for workplace mental health and wellbeing on employers. This stuff has a pretty clear cause and effect chain. There are known health consequences of sustained levels of unhealthy stress. Back to Back environments may well end up in similar territory of allowing employees to operate in dangerous environments when fatigued. In a tight recruitment market, being a better place to work will also be a competitive edge. Proactively addressing this problem makes sense on many fronts.

Potential system solutions:

• Set calendar systems to make meetings 25 min rather than 30, or 50 min rather than 1hr.

• Set 2 or 3, 15 to 20 minute break blocks per day where none can book anyone for anything.

Potential style solutions:

• Have some meetings standing up/walking, and outside.

• Lead by example. Take mini breaks. Encourage others to do the same.

Potential working solutions:

• Give people greater say in the meetings that they attend, or at least ask ‘why do we need this meeting?’

• Get clear about what the meeting is for. If it’s not clear, can it.

People are generally experiencing higher than normal levels of fatigue, stress and burnout. “Push Through!” is a valid answer in short burn situations. It doesn’t work in longer burn ones.

Let’s create an environment where we all scan ‘Blue’.

HTMPFFIC

I was taught this Pre Take off checklist by an old flying mentor who had been a commercial pilot, flying everything from Tiger Moths to large commercial jets. He used it on the 50+ types of aircraft he had flown in his career. 

H - Hatches and harnesses secure

T - Trim set for take off, Throttle friction set

M - Mixture full rich, Mags on Both

P - Propeller pitch full fine

F - Fuel, sufficient quantity and fuel tap and pump on

F - Flaps set for take off

I - Instruments, reading correctly, temperatures and pressures ‘in the green’

C - Controls, full and free movement and working correctly.

Photo by Neville Murphy

It’s easy to remember and work through. Every one of the items needs to be checked every time. Neglecting a single one could result in a failed takeoff or crash. Trying to remember them without the checklist results in a justified fear that you might have missed something. The checklist dramatically reduces mental workload in the cockpit before take off.

By contrast there’s an engine failure brief pilots give themself just before they start the takeoff. Engine failures are dynamic and require lots of judgement (Check out QF 32 or Miracle on the Hudson if you want insight into this). You can't build a checklist for that. The brief reminds you of the critical decisions needed if the engine stops and speeds your response in the unlikely event it happens.

Checklists create mental Capacity to deal with more dynamic events.

Thank you for sharing 2022 with us.

Thank you for sharing 2022 with us. It’s been another epic year of fast paced change and uncertainty. Many of you have shared appreciation for these messages, and have told us how you are putting them into action. Others have asked questions or challenged some of the assumptions behind my thinking, and I love that too. The combination of appreciation and robust feedback has me always looking for new edges and tools that genuinely help to create capacity when we are under the pump.

Next year, it seems the uncertainty will continue. Geopolitical challenges, shortages of staff, higher interest rates, and high levels of fatigue continue to be themes. Be kind to yourself, the people around you, especially people in service roles. We all need it.

In 2022 we've road tested tools to measure psychological safety and trust in teams. The results have been great, with teams significantly shifting the dial on these measures and developing awareness of specific behaviour that makes it possible to do so. We’d love to get that work out to more organisations in 2023. If it’s of interest to you, or someone you know, click here for a coffee or a call to find out more about it.

Thank you once again. Raising the capacity of leaders like you to handle uncertainty and duress is what lights me up. It’s been a pleasure to share the road with you. As 2022 draws to a close, I wish you and the people close to you a peaceful and joy filled holiday season.

We look forward to sharing 2023 with you.

Cheers

Mike House and Team

To be Avoided

Imagine waking from surgery to find that the wrong leg had been amputated. That would leave you without a leg to stand on. An Austrian surgeon that made the error last May is in a similar position. The surgeon claimed human error which wasn’t well viewed by the court awarding damages.

Medicine, emergency response and aviation, are all fields who have widely adopted checklists as a way of reducing (preferably eliminating) errors like these. 

Checklists make a massive difference where there are one or more of these factors at play:

• High consequences for a mistake, like marking the wrong leg, forgetting the fire hose, or not closing the aircraft door.

• Reliable repeatability, like having everything you need in the operating theatre, on the fire truck, or in the cockpit.

• Mundane tasks, like double checking patient details, fire truck maintenance, and pre take off checks.

• Rapid response required, like a patient going into cardiac arrest, someone trapped in a burning building, or an engine failure over the Hudson River.

• Lengthy time intervals between occurrences, like any of the above professions doing annual compliance checks.

A checklist removes mental load from some activities, increasing the Capacity for responding to others. While the Austrian Surgeon’s claim that the ‘wrong leg’ was human error is probably true, the negligence comes from overlooking one or more critical checklists specifically designed to avoid such mistakes.

Where could you benefit from a good checklist?

Some examples might be:

• Reporting

• Recruitment

• Preparing to present

• Responding to complaints

• Customer service

• Making products

• Frontloading your week

• Holidays

Taking Responsibility

What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever seen at work? What about the biggest version of someone acting against the interests of the business or their team?

I once joined a team replacing someone who had been instantly dismissed. For almost a year, he had used company money and vehicles to run his own business. It was made worse because the company was a not-for-profit, and much of the misappropriated money was government funding and charitable donations.

The place was in disarray. Trust was low in the team and we were rightly subject to rigorous scrutiny from government and charitable trusts. This is an extreme situation, but we face micro versions of it, sometimes daily. Something happens, it’s not your fault, often it’s not fair either. We have two choices in moments like these. We can find fault, or assume responsibility. Finding fault usually ends up in endless finger pointing, and defensive action. It rarely sorts out the problem. Assuming responsibility creates forward momentum and solutions. Even when it’s not your fault, and it’s not your actual responsibility, I reckon it's a high value mindset to hold. We are more likely to find a way to deliver good value to our customers, team and organisation.

It wasn’t my fault that the previous person had acted fraudulently. It wasn’t my fault that we were under scrutiny. It wasn’t fair that I (and others) had to clean up the mess he left. While that was all true, the only way forward is to take responsibility.

In a situation like the one I’ve described, ‘fault’ has to be addressed. I’m not suggesting we cover for poor performance or fraud, just that we get on with high value work, bringing our best contribution even when it’s not fair and it’s not our fault.

Capacity for Empathy

People close to me have gone through some challenging stuff in the last while. Some of it has been personal, some professional. In every case it’s been caused or exacerbated by a lack of empathy.

We have no idea what is happening in the whole of someone’s life. We usually just see the parts we are directly involved in or that they choose to share. Firing harsh shots at people has impacts, often far beyond what you see, and certainly beyond what you intend. Growing our capacity for empathy is part of the success recipe.

Many people at the moment are tired and maxed out in all kinds of ways. If you are also at or past your maximum it can be challenging to find empathy. Here are some mindsets I find helpful:

• Assume people are acting with good intent, and to the best of their ability. What they are doing may not be ideal, but chances are they are doing the best they can with what they have.

• Be Kind. Don’t fire harsh/cruel/provocative shots. There’s a saying that is attributed to many people, who knows where it actually came from - It suggests “Before you speak ask yourself if what you are going to say is true, is kind, is necessary, is helpful.” It’s great advice. Ideally tick all 4, but I reckon at least 3 of 4 is the threshold. Be especially mindful of this if you are feeling hurt or unjustly treated. Start with yourself - sometimes we can be our own harshest critic - My inner voice can say unkind things to me I would never say to someone else.

• Focus on issues, not people. Help the people around you to do the same. A sub standard piece of work needs to be sorted, but don’t use it to attack the individual. Even if there are serious performance issues, deal with issues, don’t attack the person.

• If you do stuff this up (and all of us have moments where we are more reactive than we wanted to be) genuinely apologise and do your best to repair the damage. Extend grace to others when they are trying to fix things with you.

When we are overloaded, tired, sick, hurting, grieving or struggling in other ways, none of this is easy. But it always gets us further and faster than the alternatives.

Slow Death of an Option

Our leader from last week had decided to ‘kill off an option’. It turned out the decision was quickly and easily made when examined in the light of Capacity and her intended direction.

Implementing the decision will take longer. It’s tempting once a decision has been made, to rush toward the end state. Sometimes we can and it’s the best thing to do. Sometimes we have to move slower.

Her decision executed well will require some planning time, pitching her most preferred alternative to her current boss, plus recruitment and training time in a tight market. All up, that may take 8-12 weeks.

She’d love to rush forward, but the higher value comes now from doing it well. That will set her up for longer term success.

Do the options you need to kill need a quick death or a slow one?

Decide - Choosing Leadership Capacity

I was coaching a dynamic younger leader who has some ambitious goals for herself and business. The biggest barrier she faces is Capacity. Her week is filled to bursting point with highly focussed activity. We mapped the week, and there is very little space. She is very efficient as well, so the gains from doing things better are small and far between.

What really stood out was one massive commitment she has. It’s important, but not aligned with where she is heading. I asked what is stopping her from moving on from it. It is a potential opportunity. It’s aligned with her values and she feels she could make a difference by following it. I was reminded of advice from one of my mentors Matt Church. Matt, unpacked the meaning of the word decide for me - it literally means “To kill off options”. For me, that insight was liberating.

Every day as leaders and in life, we are faced with more options than we have capacity to deal with. Many of them are exciting, interesting and valid.

The young leader said, “I’m just spreading myself too thin”.

Can you relate to that? I know I can from time to time, although I’m getting better at it.

“Killing an option” is a useful frame. It doesn’t mean that it’s a bad option, in fact it’s only a challenge if it’s a great option. If it’s not 100% aligned with our primary direction and highest order priorities then kill it off (at least for now). Doing so liberates time, energy and headspace which all = Capacity.

Are there options you need to kill?

Increasing Capacity

I recently did a VO2 Max test. It’s a measure of aerobic fitness - The higher your score the higher your capacity for physical work. It’s a measure of my current ‘set point’ for aerobic Capability. It wasn’t great. Above average, but only just.

Any aspect of our leadership also has a ‘set point’ for capacity. It’s the limit we can currently hold.

There are 2 ways to increase Capacity

1. Make more space by removing other loads. For leaders examples might be outsourcing low value tasks, focussing on highest order priorities, removing distractions (eg turning off message notifications). In my VO2 Max example this would be like accepting my current time to walk 5km, and making the time by prioritising it over, say Netflix. Making space is about priority and choices. Removing or reducing something to make more space for something else.

2. Increase Capability. For leaders examples might be increasing skills in delegation, decision making, critical thinking, direction setting, team leadership or technical abilities related to role. For my VO2 Max, I could build up to running 5km. Now I can cover the same distance in less time. Capability is about learning, stress testing and developing either skill or resilience for a level of work. BTW that usually requires making some space for it, at least in the short term.

What could you let go of to create greater Capacity?

What could you focus on to create greater Capacity?

What areas could you develop greater Capacity in?

Now… I’m off for a run.

That's Encouraging

Encouragement is twice as likely as criticism to create improvement, said Col Fink on Linked In. I asked Col if he had any data to back it up. ‘It feels intuitively right’ said Col. I agree. And there are some numbers too.

Losada and Heaphy did research looking at this in 2004. They don't quantify what "high" vs "medium" performance actually looks like. There has been significant criticism of their methodology since. I reckon as leaders, there are several actionable observations, regardless of validity of the numbers.

1. There is a disproportionate effect of positive reflection vs criticism - this spans territory like saying thanks and well done, gratitude practices, feedback and more.

2. 'Room for improvement' observations have greater traction in an environment biased toward the positive. Maybe that's because it feels like the person making the observations actually cares about us and notices the good stuff too.

3. We are biased to notice problems. I reckon that's the engine room of human success. We notice stuff and forget after improving it. This bias also reduces the likelihood that we'll repeat mistakes. That's the upside. The downside is we feel as if we are not getting anywhere especially in situations when the work is not physically visible or tangible. Positive reflection creates a sense of progress - It's a modern leadership imperative!

4. Whether praising or criticising (self or others) the good stuff happens when we are as clear and specific as possible. "Good Job" is less useful than "The simple layout of that project plan really helped me get my head around it. Thanks for the effort you put into that."

It's counterintuitive to pause and reflect positively on what’s been achieved. You'll be more likely to focus on the intense transactional cadence of getting the next thing done - but it has massive ROI. I reckon Col Fink's intuitive 2:1 is somewhere near the mark and it may even be higher.

How can you encourage someone right now?

Great Questions

I’ve been a fan of great questions my whole life. They have a way, when asked well, of opening and deepening really interesting conversations. Over the years I have kept notebooks filled with great questions I have heard. I was recently interviewed on Sonia Nolan’s “My Warm Table” podcast. Sonia combines questions about food, family and expertise that result in a dramatically different type of conversation. I’ve loved listening to Sonia and some of her other guests, and hope you enjoy the conversation we recently shared.

By the way, I’m keen to keep adding to worthwhile podcasts out there. People like Sonia put a lot of work into great content. If you know anyone looking for guests, let me know.

Delegation for Capacity

Imagine a high performance foiling Yacht sailing the Americas Cup. They have 11 crew, all with highly specific roles on board. When they are working well, the boats are poised on a knife edge of F1 like performance. It’s a great example of effective delegation for capacity.

The skipper may well have the skill to fill all the roles on board, but if they tried to sail the boat single handed it would never reach anywhere near its full potential. To make the most of the boat and the team, the skipper has to delegate.

Workplaces are like that too. Without effective delegation Capacity is severely compromised at every level:

Overall Performance - Capacity is reduced because of do-overs, lack of clarity, inappropriate workloads, ineffective use of the total capability of the team.

Leaders Performance - Capacity is reduced as leaders are likely overloaded with micromanagement, having to solve all the problems/provide all the answers, frustration that the team is not working as it should (BTW this is often a leadership problem, rather than a team member problem)

Team Member Performance - Capacity is reduced due to overlapping roles, lack of clarity, waiting for ‘permission’ and missed opportunities to develop greater capability.

As a leader, one of the highest return on investment skills you can develop is Delegation. How do you shape up?

Capacity Building

Bonita Nuttall makes a really important distinction between Capability and Capacity.

They are clearly related. If we have a higher level of Capability, we are more likely to be efficient and effective, which positively impacts Capacity. But if we are already filled to Capacity, there’s no room to exercise capability.

Finding Unusual Links

What have financial forecasting, survival and leadership capacity got to do with each other? This Friday I’m joining Michael Ford, CEO of Castaway Forecasting on Nick Samios’ Lunch Money podcast.

We’ll be exploring what leaders can do in messy, unpredictable and uncertain times. Among other mindsets, we’ll be talking about the value of forecasting possible outcomes to the situation you are in. This isn’t about predicting the future. It’s about maintaining mental flexibility to deal with a range of possibilities. Let’s take a doomsday prepper and an athlete who is sure they will win. Both are forecasting.

The pessimistic prepper invests time and resources to be ready for a bleak future. If their scenario comes true, it’s the best ‘I told you so’ story in history (assuming there’s anyone left to tell). Any other scenario will likely see them completely unprepared.

The athlete’s envisaged win is way more positive than the prepper, but if reality strays from their perfect outcome, they may be just as stuck.

Leadership includes the capacity to imagine many different outcomes, play them through and anticipate what you might do differently. The key is not to buy into them. Winning forecasts add pressure if you are losing. Doomsday forecasts add pressure if something unanticipated comes along. Consider many possibilities. Hold them lightly and accept whatever reality throws at you.

If you’d like to listen to the Lunch Money podcast episode here’s the link.

Influence

Influence was the only tool I had. To get anywhere, the hearts and minds of the people around me had to be engaged. My last role before I started my business was a stroke of leadership genius. The Executive team recognised my willingness to “play” in spaces of deep change that others found uncomfortable. They created a position unlike any I have seen before or since. My role was to advise/recommend changes and then create the momentum to make it happen. I had no staff. I had no budget.

Nothing in my space got off the ground unless there was broad alignment. People had to be willing to invest time, energy and resources for anything to advance. I was often called on when a change project was not going well, so the starting point was often scepticism about the project.

The Big 5 I focussed on were: 

• Genuine Care – I was deeply interested in what the impacts and benefits of the change were for the individuals and groups involved. 

• Deep Listening - Getting a full understanding of what the change involved for everyone, including the potential risks and downsides for them was a critical ingredient. When I was listening to understand, I didn’t try to influence their position. 

• Benefit - We collaborated on making the greatest benefit for as many people as possible. If there was less in it for some, we focussed on how the change would deliver value at an organisational level.

• Transparency - When there were inevitable compromises to be made, I made sure everyone knew what they were and why. I doubled down on this if the compromise had a disproportionate impact on someone.

• Deliver or Discuss - If I said something was going to happen, I worked hard to deliver. If it wasn’t possible, I always renegotiated expectations before they were due.

Often change processes are framed in adversarial terms. “On the bus or not”. People view expressed fear, additional load, or highlighted problems as resistance. More often than not, this is evidence of people caring about the result. If you can develop a shared picture of the end point, it's much more likely that people will pull together toward it. And it will build strength and connection across the team for the future.

Create Certainty in an Uncertain World

So uncertainty is still a thing. The frequency the phrase “these uncertain times” is used has been on a steep upward trajectory since the mid 60’s. Things keep happening where the final outcomes are unknown. Some have global impact like COVID or Russia invading Ukraine. Others are deeply personal like a loss or dire diagnosis. As leaders, one of our mission critical roles is to create a sense of certainty in an uncertain world. But how the hell do you do that, especially if you are currently facing unknown (and perhaps unknowable) factors and end points?

The key is to focus on what we can control. Build clarity about:

• Overall purpose, mission, or direction. Where are you headed and why?

• How you will act with each other internally, especially in the face of pressure. How will you respond to conflict, constructive suggestions, identified problems or barriers, achievements, setbacks? The more certain you can make how you “Be” together, the more effective what you “Do” about uncertainty becomes.

• Remain open and curious. An explorer's mindset is better than having all the answers.

All this takes time and focus. Sometimes it feels unproductive. When you nail it, you can travel faster because you can boldly rely on each other, regardless of the current circumstances.

It's their job!

RANT ALERT!!!

I can't believe I'm still hearing some leaders say, “They are just doing what’s required of them in their job. Why should I thank them?” Really? How’s that working out for you?

Some leaders seem to believe that employees should be grateful that they have a job, and just get on with it. And while you’ll never hear me say a bad word about gratitude, (It’s a powerful way to shift mindset and even body chemistry for the better) this just doesn’t cut it.

Employees are the absolute engine room for success in business at any scale beyond sole practitioner. When they have clarity about what they are doing and why, and feel it’s genuinely appreciated, it makes a world of difference.

If you even remotely think “Why should I thank them?”, run an experiment. For a month, just try it. Go out of your way to catch people doing good work, showing good intent, contributing ideas, effort or leverage to your enterprise. Notice them doing it and thank them for it. See what a difference it makes. If you can’t find anything, thank them for showing up. See the differences in happiness,

CAUTION: Don’t even bother trying this if your thanks are not genuine. People can spot that BS from over the horizon.

For the rest of you leaders who genuinely get this and already make a habit of it - Thank you! Keep up the great work. How you make your employees feel contributes to my community!

OK. RANT over. Soap box returned to storage.

Clarity

Brené Brown is well known for her assertion that “Clear is Kind”.

In Psychological Safety research people give many reasons for avoiding clarity. The top ones are:

• It will result in some form of retaliation

• It will damage the working relationship

I see myself and others do this all the time. I have something to tell you but I’m not sure hope you’ll react - so I beat around the bush using vague statements, or avoid the topic entirely.

Psychological Safety and clarity are reciprocal. Build one you build the other. Damage one you damage the other. Usually our own intention and meaning is 100% clear (and obvious) to us. For clarity to be shared, we have to get past filters, assumptions and experience.

Make it a personal and team standard to be more clear as a result of any interaction with others. Some places this applies:

• Vision, mission or purpose

• Expectations about behaviour or standards

• What success looks like

• How problems get solved

• Who is responsible for an action, and by when

• Targets and time frames

• Boundaries of delegated authority

• What you are asking for

• Your ‘Yes’ or ‘No’

What is one thing you could do immediately to be more clear? What about this week? Are there any longer term projects that could benefit from greater clarity? How could you contribute to clarity? Is there anyone you need to seek greater clarity from?