Are you too certain to learn?

The ability to rapidly learn and apply new ways of working is the key to business success, especially in our knowledge-based economy.  The dramatic changes in technology are leaving some senior people stranded as they struggle to manage the vast amounts of information required to run a successful business.  But there is also something else that can inhibit your ability to learn.

How to avoid Silly Mistakes

Dealing With Increasing Complexity
In a world of ever-increasing complexity it is becoming very difficult to maintain high standards and control mistakes, especially the silly ones that seem to be repeated, even by competent people.  There is a surprisingly simple answer to this fundamental problem that many businesses suffer from.  But very few people want to implement it because it offends their ego.

Is ‘Captainitis’ getting the better of you?

No one really likes to be challenged but it is sometimes very dangerous to have everyone around you agree with you.  If you don’t encourage your people to challenge you the results can be fatal . . .

Take for example the following exchange taken from the flight recorder of Air Florida flight 90 just before it fell into the icy Potomac River near Washington DC, in 1982.

Are you empowering your people or just exerting your power?

There is a lot of talk these days about empowerment yet very few managers actually do it because they seem to be more concerned with exerting their own power. This is understandable because power can be addictive and it takes courage, faith and belief to let go and truly empower others.  How effectively are you empowering your team?

How proficient are your people?

As a senior manager you probably have very high levels of awareness and technical expertise in your chosen field.  You can effortlessly make decisions that actually require reflecting on your vast experience, and sorting through millions of mental maps with various levels of complexity.  But what about your people?  What level are they at and what are the steps they need to take to get to the next level?  What are the steps you need to take to help them?

Are you getting the tension just right?

You can only control that of which you are aware, that of which you are unaware controls you.  Awareness is very empowering but we often neglect it because we are too busy; addicted to the urgency of crises and fire fighting.  But there is another way . . .

Are you giving negative instructions? (and programming people to deliver what you DON'T want?)

It can be frustrating when people don’t do what they are supposed to do and yet many managers unwittingly make things worse by emphasising what they don’t want rather than what they want.  The science has proven that this only perpetuates the problems because the brain can’t ‘not think about things’.