dispatches from the new world of work

Ambition and Productivity

Last week the Associated Press reported that "Worker productivity, the key factor in rising living standards, slowed sharply in the final three months of the year while wage pressures increased." This drop in productivity coupled with the news that the service sector shrank for the first time in five years has many economists talking about how big the impending recession will be rather than debating whether one will occur.

At tpc we have long advocated enabling IT efforts and structures to increase organizational productivity. Many of you are familiar with Tom's rants on the white collar revolution and the advent of white collar robots. We also believe there is another, powerful mechanism for improving productivity. People will become more productive when they want to become more productive! And they want to when their output is moving the organization closer to a compelling shared purpose, vision, or what we call "Ambition" in our Future Shape of the Winner model.

Many of us have probably known someone in the workforce who was going through the motions, fulfilling their job duties with no particular zeal, and sometimes even beginning their retirement while they were still on the payroll. And yet this same person may be a hardworking volunteer for a charitable organization they believe in. The difference is having a purpose that has real meaning. Being part of something that really matters! And improving the return for investors (although the lifeblood of a successful business) is not compelling enough to pull out that voluntary discretionary effort we all have available. It has to be a statement of the common cause for the common good.

That is why we advise our clients to start with ambition. Who do we intend to be and what part might the individual members play? Why does it matter? When it is important, it becomes a "want to" driver, rather than the "have to" necessities of my job. And the work we perform when we want to is always more productive than the work we do because we have to.

What do you think? Agree or disagree that it's the place to start in your strategic plan? Can that raise productivity? Do you have any ideas for building passion through purpose?

Mike Neiss posted this on 02/18/08.

Comments

Trust-

If the employees haven't passion now, it may be that there's a breach of trust that's squelched the passion they had when they joined.

Is it silly little 'raise your hand to leave the room' rules? Maybe inquiries about expenses or budget items are expressed in terms that assume every employee is a liar and a thief.

Are the employees expected to put the needs of the company, or even just their boss, first no matter what happens in their own lives?

Are bullies fired or promoted?

Has management produced some rah-rah before, without measurable goals, and lost interest before any positive change could trickle down to the shop floor?

If it's a question of abused trust it will be several YEARS before many employees will risk their hearts and souls for a new direction.

Are the leaders willing to live the higher level for the distance, or will they fall back to the old position of managing paper and policy and blame those below them for the failure?

Posted by Lois Gory at February 18, 2008 11:57 AM

This really makes me think of a great quote from Tom Izzo the Head Coach of Michigan State Men's Basketball team. Coach Izzo has a great view of Ambition and keeping people engaged into work.

"If people take ownership in something, you have a better chance to be successful. If players think they are simply doing something for you or the school they will do it, but it is not ownership. I take the same approach with coaches. You cannot ask a guy to work 18 hours a day if it just benefits you. I believe if they trust in themselves and have ownership. They feel better about themselves and they do a better job."

Posted by Chris Woodruff at February 18, 2008 12:48 PM

Chris comments that highlight my Spartans will always get noticed! Now if they can manage to stop losing Big 10 match ups, that would really help. :)

Posted by Mike Neiss at February 18, 2008 2:49 PM

Good comments, Lois

Your comments are grounded in the reality of how employees at the front line often see the mixed messages about trust portrayed by the â€˜systemâ€™ above them.

I often tell the story of the (too often typical) organisation that has a mission statement about how much they value people at the front line. The cleaner starting her shift at 6 am on a freezing cold winterâ€™s morning struggles in the rain and the gale force wind to fight her way walking 400 metres from the car park to the main entrance. As she reaches the main entrance she cannot help but notice the â€˜reserved car parkingâ€™ spaces for the Chief Executive and Directors right outside the main entrance door. Those car parking spaces are of course empty at this time in the morning and will not be occupied until three hours later. Somehow â€“ to her â€“ that mission statement about valuing front line staff doesn't ring true somehow. And then senior management wonders why they donâ€™t get the â€˜loyaltyâ€™ they (wrongly) â€˜expectâ€™ from front liners.

You are so right Lois â€“ itâ€™s all about trust.

As long as we persist with silly rules that send an explicit message of mistrust to employees why in Godâ€™s name should we expect one iota of loyalty back?

I prefer to believe and promote the view that people are loyal to their own personal work ethic and standards. And the best leaders recognise that and work with it.

Loyalty has nothing whatsoever to do with silly rules imposed by â€˜the system.â€™

Iâ€™m afraid to say in my experience (with a few wonderful and magnificent exceptions like Ricardo Semler) many organisations demonstrate an outward culture of mistrust rather than trust. I am willing to discuss whether that is unintentional or by accident but I strongly believe it is the reality.

Posted by Trevor Gay at February 18, 2008 6:44 PM

Hi Mike! I recently met a woman who worked at The Disney Store for about 9 years. She absolutely loved it...said it was her absolute FAVORITe JOB EVER!!! I was quite surprised by her overwhelming spirit. It seemed odd that a grown woman would have so much enthusiasm for a retail job where she dressed up as Cinderella. The reason for her passion, she said, was that she "really believes in what they stand for" and loved being part of it. I think companies need to take their hiring practices a bit more seriously...find people who share your ambition, not just the skill set to do the task.

Posted by Darci at February 18, 2008 7:39 PM

so cool Darci...hope you are doing fabulously well

Posted by mike Neiss at February 18, 2008 9:59 PM

It would have been interesting to ask the person in the Disney Store a question or two. Did she walk in the door DAY ONE with the attitude she had about here job or was this outlook developed over time? Was it based on her satisfaction with her pay, opportunities for advancement, or available benefits? Did she share through "bonus" or some other meaningful form of recognition when her team, department, and company met or exceeded performance expectations? Did she work in an environment that promoted trust, teamwork and continuous improvement? Did she have input into planning and decision making processes? Did she have all the information, training and tools she needed to do her job well and meet performance expectations? Did she receive feedback on her performance regularly? I'm not sure I've ever hired or met anyone who walked in the door with the attitude "you know, it's great to finally work in a place where I can achieve mediocrity and be allowed to remain a non-contributing. no performing capacity with no accountability for my poor performance. If ambition is a job requirement, how do you frame it as performance standard. What tools, training or other resources do you provide a person to meet your "ambition" performance standard? How are you going to assess their "ambition" level of performance? You can find people who will share your vision and values...are you talking about uniting folks behind a common goal and purpose and moving forward to achieve it? Ambition isn't a strategy....leadership is! Who provides all of the above that might be the reason the lady at the Disney Store truly enjoyed her job? Leadership! Who should be held accountable for allowing non-performing folks to remain employed...Leadership! I can share a company's "ambition"....but unless leadership "enables" me to do my job with the tools/resources needed to meet performance expectations, our failutre to perform isn't a result of my lack of ambition....we fail because leadership didn't do their job!

Posted by Dave Wheeler at February 18, 2008 11:33 PM

The single most powerful statement of purpose for me is when Christ, knowing His imminent brutal death on the cross declares, "Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father save Me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come." For what purpose have you come? The orientations of the FSW - ambition and brand - are closely aligned. Both are solidily rooted in purpose, the individual and collective being brand defined by purpose. Being the brand goes beyond living the brand which is based in feelings. Being the brand goes beyond feelings to fulfilling life's purpose (the very reason for being) expressed in work that matter which produces winners ( the beauty of performance and execution.) Let's go from living to being the brand, first individually regarding the purpose of talent and then collectively. This is architecture designed for winners at large (companies) and talent huddles (small groups within companies) to powerfully impact industry and life. For what purpose have you come?

Posted by Judith Ellis at February 19, 2008 8:31 AM

Mike...Izzo is a great guy and coach. The work he does with inner-city youth is most admirable. But I'm a Michigan girl myself, bleeding Maze and Blue. The only time I root for State on the basketball court or football field is when they're playing our great nemisis from that state just south of Michigan....you know the one. But then again, we want those guys clobbered by anyone on the football field primarily or the basketball court.

Posted by Judith Ellis at February 19, 2008 3:04 PM

Your ideas are wise. First of all you need the Ambition. But it might be hard to keep up 100% productivity all the time. You start to forget things or miss important stuff. Therefore, I got some tricks, the main of them is usage of Wrike.com - my project manajement software. It reminds me of tasks, due for today and helps me never miss anything.

Posted by Clint Black at March 17, 2008 9:27 AM