5 Key Words Which Describe Extraordinary Effective Teams

Execute, Perfectly, Flawlessly, With Confidence, Every time

Can you use these words in a sentence authentically reflecting how your team functions?  

The more words you can accurately use to describe your team the more effective you are.

Decision Making

The process organizations go through to initiate, develop, and make decisions are just as important as the final decision. A flawed decision making process will ultimately fail with catastrophic outcomes. After action reports help to determine if you success was based on the correct decision making pathways or did the organization get lucky.

Importance of Succession Management for "The Tribe"

The branch on the already ancient oak tree slowly moved to the side as the moon light shifted on the waxy outer layer of the leaves, creating a clear view of the village for the scout. The caves and makeshift huts were silent and the fires had died down after a long night. The fire and encampment were not longer guarded and a sense of complacency had set in, no one thought it was important anymore. The rock caves walls, that use to provide protection, were about to become the very obstructions that kept the inhabitants from escaping. It was almost time to begin; the scout slowly moved back. In order to reduce any noise as he walked, he rolling his foot from the outside inward, so any leaves on the late fall ground would not crunch under his weight. His eyes had long ago adjusted to the night and he could make out the other members of his war party laying down in a gulley not far away. With a stick the scout drew in the dirt the layout of the village. Now the plan could be finalized and the group would slowly move up into position.

The village, once a beacon of wealth, and basic innovation, had become complacent in its success and now would pay a price. The war party understood that success would help ensure their success in the competitive environment in which they lived. The resources desperately needed where now at hand, and they planned on taking by force what they needed. It was a strategic decision to attack the village where the king made his seat. The tactics were planned and practices, and the time to act was now. They slowly moved up. The group now in place had everything covered. Most of the group would charge forward into the huts and caves. The stone walls would be used to trap their inhabitants as the outer dilapidated defenses would be overwhelmed. Others in the group would be stationed in likely escape routes to prevent anyone from leaving. To ensure their own safety, the group left a few raiders in the rear to guard their own backs, or move up and reinforce areas where the attack may be slowed.

The group moved in at a slow stalking pace through the woods till they hit the broken dirt, symbolizing the boundary of the encampment. Once at the line, they began to run as fast has as they could. The key target was Daniau, the King of the lower valley region, but the others sleeping were in just as much danger. They rushed in with hammers made from bone with either sticks or rocks tide at the top with sinew. In a few minutes it was over. People lay moaning or dead throughout the area, victims of their own complacency. The few villagers who woke up, and tired to escape, were ambushed by the raiders laying in wait at the escape routes.  King Daniau was dead. The lower valley region no longer had a king to keep the other tribes in line and focused. Now, challengers from the other tribes would meet to determine who would succeed to the throne. Chaos and inner warfare would erupt if order was not kept. Inner turmoil would allow outside tribes outside of the valley to invade.

Today, businesses face the same problems when they become complacent and lose their competitive advantage; or suddenly lose their key leaders. How do they replace the dead king? Option one, use existing lines of hereditary succession from within the owners? Option two, use the organizational hierarchy where someone who had been training their entire lives for this position? Option three, look deep inside the organization and pick someone who did not ask for the position, but had the necessary skills to take them into the future? Option four, go outside of the organization and bring in someone else to take over. The answer to the question of leadership succession creates the atmosphere for future failure or success of the entire organization, as it did millennia ago with Chief Ugh and “The Tribe”.   

Leadership and Management all began with "The Tribe"

We think the challenges we face as leaders are new and have never been seen before, forcing us to invent creative techniques to unleash the hidden talents of our people.

The Greek philosopher Epicurus wrote about leadership and the challenges faced by ancient managers as far back as 200 B.C. This ancient written work describes many of the same problems faced today and solutions they created. However, this story starts much further back.

The problems of leadership and managing resources start way back in the days where people lived as tribes and took shelter in caves and fought to stay alive. An error today may cost someone their job or millions of dollars to a company; millennia ago, errors cost you or your tribe its very existence. Let’s start from the beginning and observe the problems and solutions of the people who had to get it right the first time:

Chief Ugh woke up after a late night council of his elder, put on his fur robe and went out of his cave to survey area. He lived in the cave because it provided more protection than the simple huts that surrounded the area. Besides, with position come benefits. Chief Ugh was not born into the position of chief, or aim to assent the thrown; he was chosen by his people to lead them into the future.  He looked around and saw what he had to work with.

Alerot, big and powerful, was the most skilled hunter and already out in the early morning looking to bring food back for his family to eat. An equal amount would be shared with the others. In his youth, he was known to have wrestled animals down with his bare hands. Charibert was following him at a distance trying to watch and learn the skills of an experienced hunter. He was a young member of the group. He had a lot of energy, somewhat clumsy and was willing to help, but was self conscience of his limitations. In his mind he would say, “I day I will be the head hunter, and then I will become chief”.

Noblete had a great amount of potential. He was a big strong man, though not as bulky as Alerot. He possessed great intellect to see things as they were and how they could be. He had the ability to develop great ideas to improve their lot and then implement the solutions. He also possessed the skill to bring the other members together to accomplish the projects that benefited all. One day he would ascend to level of king of the lower valley. Alerot was Noblete’s son and showed equal promise for the future.

Chief Ugh then looked over to the fire and saw several people simply sitting around. Brice a middle age man looked angry. He worked hard when he wanted, on projects that he wanted, and only hunted with average enthusiasm. Today, he was by the fire complaining that his son Felyse had gone into the cave and used flint and bone to carve pictures of animals and other scenes of the last great hunt on the walls. Brice had done poorly on the great hunt and did not like to be reminded of those days’ events. Now Brice’s wife was incensed because the images reminded her of her husband’s short comings, and so she took her anger out on him.

Richart was the person who tried to get along with everyone. He was very entertaining but got his chores done. Sometimes he would take the animal pelts and create scenes depicting how the animal lived and the valiant attempt they made to fight off the hunters. Once he placed an elks head over his and snuck up on Charibert. Unfortunately, he startled Charibert and he struck Richart on the side of the head with a piece of bear bone. Over time, Richart would develop the story’s that were passed down from generation to generation until at last they were written down.

Gillot was a negative person. He was quick to blame and slow to act. He enjoyed creating problems for others and attempted to bask in the glow of his own wretchedness.  Natural selection would eventually remove this problem.

Together, these men and their families would become “The Tribe”. The leadership skills of Chief Ugh, later Noblete, and Alerot would be the basis of leadership training today.  

Perspectives of the Wall Street Protest: Priviledge Daughter versus Average Son

John worked for a company building commercial HVAC units. Over the years he determined there should be a better way to control the system output flow of the units to maximize building efficiency. He went back to school at night and learned the skills necessary to develop and build his idea into a product everyone working in the HVAC industry would want. He succeeded and continued to create innovations in the HVAC world. He continued to develop and design and later expanded into other electronics, eventually becoming a very wealthy individual. He had three kids and provided them with everything they could want. He sent them to the best Ivy league schools. His eldest daughter Pam received her MBA and was given a job leading an electronics division in her fathers' company.

Pam enjoyed being the head of the electronics division at age 29. She was committed to the division and thought about the possibilities for the future. Almost immediately, upon her graduation from business school, and being placed in charge of the division, she began to look over seas for potential locations for outsourcing manufacturing operations. She liked being in charge and enjoyed being able to use the corporate jet to fly to Europe, or other exotic tropical locations, on vacations or week long get away.

Fred, the Representative of the 21^st Congressional District, was a long time friend of the family. John assisted with Fred’s first campaign and has been a reliable donor to his subsequent campaigns over the years. Both Fred and John are extremely loyal to each other and have no problem calling each other when needing help.

Jack was an accountant in a small firm. He has been promoted once, but is happy with  his life. He has two sons who grew up like most normal children playing sports, socializing with friends while attending public school. When Mark graduated from high school he attended an average college. The college had a liberal arts program which allowed him to tailor his degree to his interests. Instead of a business, engineering, architecture or  accounting, Jack received his liberal arts degree with a minor in foreign language. After graduation he found it very difficult to find a job, let alone  secure a job making the money he needed to pay back his student loans. His degree simply did not translate into a professional job. He became very frustrated and angry that after years of study his plan in life appeared to be off track before it started.

In October, 2011, the Occupy Wall Street protests were in full force, with protests sprouting up in every major city. Jack decided one day to attend one of the protest and began to talk to other 20 something’s’ who were in the same predicament as he. Many also had large student loans and now believed they had worthless degrees.  Others had degrees in the science fields and had success only to be laid off when their jobs were outsourced to other countries. As time went on, in the small city Jack lived, the protests began to focus on Pam’s electronic division. It appeared she had been given everything in life she could want and now was planning on outsourcing the city's largest manufacturing operations over seas to save money. Anger began to grow and Pam began to receive threats.

Pam could not understand why she was the target of all the hostility. She had worked hard to get to where she was and had no intention of stopping. She believed the anger was misdirected and that the protesters were to blame for their own misery. Soon, however, things began to get violent, Pam’s car began to get struck by bottles and other objects as she arrived for work. John became very disturbed at this and called Fred, the representative of the 21^st Congressional District and demanded he take action to resolve the issue and protect his daughter. John didn’t care what Fred had to do, bring in the Marshall’s, FBI, whomever it took, but he had given Fred enough donations and now he wanted a return on his investment.

So now we have a daughter who grew up in a life of privilege refusing to give anything back, or lower her expectations in life, standing off with the Occupy-Wall Street protesters and Jack, an average American, who has a ton of debt, no real job prospects, and a degree that did not prepare him for the future. Both inherited their status in life from their fathers, neither really worked hard for what they have. Pam does not believe it is fair to have to share her wealth with the masses because it is hers. Fred, because of the benefits he received from John is forced to take Pam’s side and find a way to put the protests down. Jack points to Pam’s electronic division and blames her for his problems and does not feel it is fair that she is not forced to share her wealth with the masses. This in the conundrum we face today. From all sides, their perspectives is that the system is not fair. 

Secret Leadership and Management Techniques of Santa Revealed

It’s that time of year we all come to look forward to with joy, yes Christmas. But, have you ever thought about Santa and the production miracle he pulls off every year? Unlike the United States Postal Service where a package “that positively must be delivered over night” may actually take four to five days to be delivered; Santa has a drop date that can not be missed. He also has a zero defect tolerance on the toys he delivers.

So, let’s start to look back at the Miracle Leadership of Santa and his well oiled industrial machine. It is little known fact that the elves themselves are not actually from the North Pole. The elves are actually outsourced labor that Santa picked up for a steal while visiting the Philippines one year. Before using Elves, Santa used penguins for all of his operations. Then, all of the sudden, the penguins threatened to unionize over working conditions. See, it seems a beluga whale just happened to stopped by one year and explained the virtues of being members of the “Water Mammal Guild”. It was exclaimed that there would be Tarpon in every pot instead of Cod. At first, Santa gave into the demands of the penguins in order to keep the unions out, but eventually, snow crabs sneaked in under the radar and stirred the penguins up. Santa told the penguins that he would be forced to replace them, as his main labor force, because their demands were costing too much for his “Not for Profit” organization. The penguins continued to demand more changes and one day they found they had been replaced by the new outsourced labor, the Elves. The penguins attempted to get a favorable ruling from the NLRB declaring it an unfair labor practice. At the NLRB meeting, Santa showed all the members a new hand sculpted piece of coal. He explained that due to the increased costs he would incur if they sided with the penguins, this would be the presents their kids, grandkids and great-great grand kids would receive. He would not be able to give them any toys–ever again. Faced with having to purchase toys out of their own money the members of the NLRB stated the North Pole was not in their jurisdiction and they do not cover penguins. The penguins appealed to the UN Courtbut Santa had already shown his artistic coal sculptures to them and the UN refused to take up the issue.  

The elves labor force is broken down into four areas: Factory Elves, Sleigh Elves, Magic Dust Elves, and Administrative Support Elves. The Factory Elves have the hardest working jobs. They have to build all of the toys for all of the boys and girls around the world. Santa enjoys hanging out with the Factory Elves and encourages them to bring their best every day. Over the years, he has mellowed. When the Elves first arrived he did his best impression of the Drill Sergeant in Full Metal Jacket in order to motivate the Elves and set the right tempo. Now, Santa is more relaxed and allows the Elves to have a lot of fun at work. He also found a special additive to go into their daily coffee which really perks them up. Sometimes, Santa will even toss water balloons with the slower Elves. They go outside play water balloon toss, which Santa always wins, and then he comes in to warm up as the elves stay outside exercising to dry out their wet outfits. Remember they are from the lower latitudes. He often looks outside at the Elves exercising and lets out the belly busting Ho Ho Ho. He just loves to keep them in shape through advanced cardio exercises.

Mrs. Clause is in charge of Sleigh 1, the reindeer, and Sleigh Elves. She is very good and take extra special care of the everyone. To most Elves she is Mrs. Clause, Mrs. “C”, but to the Sleigh Elves she is “Missy”. One year she remodeled the Sleigh 1 hanger and had extra heating installed to keep the Elves warm. It was so warm that the Elves had to get new outfits. The new outfits are slimmer, more form fitting with high cut shorts. She is so concerned over the look of the Sleigh 1 that she has the Elves wash and wax Sleigh 1 everyday. She is extremely concerned about every little detail and insures the Elves touch up the smallest nicks on the bottom sleigh rails. They have to bend over a lot; fortunately, Mrs. Clause is always there to rub their backs. To ensure she stays in shape, she even installed a pole in the corner and uses it for exercise. She plays fast paste music and swings around on it, often upside down. She says it keeps her toned and her muscles in shape.  Unfortunately, the toilets are too high for the average Elf to reach, so Mrs. Clause is forced to go in and pick each Elf up and place him on the seat; I know this is wearing her out because she looks worn out at the end of the day.

The reindeer, the engines of Sleigh 1, and things of legend can only fly using “Magic Dust” from the vault. There is a special set of elves that leave each year and go south to get the “Magic Dust”. These Elves are different. They have goatee mustaches, dress in shorts past their knees, wear shirts with different colors and writing on them. They generally keep to themselves and stay up all night, only coming out of their room for a late night snack. Every year, Santa takes them a large envelope and off they go heading south. When they come back they have a tan and enough “Magic Dust” to keep the reindeer going for another year. They are a happy bunch.

Because of the bad economy, Santa was forced to outsource his administrative and support operations to China. The Administrative Elves were then sent to the other areas to fill in needed gaps. They were all happy to join in and help out. I thought the Administrative/Support Elves always thought of themselves as being better than the other elves but I was proven wrong. Santa had a closed door meeting with them and explained the situation. He used power point slides and showed the Administrative/Support Elves several options on how they could help out or what might happen if they decided they could not go to other operations. Amazingly, on that same day, a pod of orcas were seen out at see; they never come this far north. But, all of the Elves decided to happily transfer. Now, this has caused some slowdown in receiving parts from other parts of the world. Even modern automation is not as effective as a motivated Elf.  It seems, the Admin Elves had the supply system down pat and even received special gifts from their regular suppliers, especially from China.

One Elf, we will call “Thomas”, did not like the changes going on. He wanted to buck tradition and get new modern uniforms that he thought better fit the modern Elf. He even designed the outfit himself, it seemed to be tighter in the middle and had ruffles on the edges. I agreed with Santa when he said it looked rather flamboyant and we would stick with tradition. Thomas got angry. He then started spewing crazy talk about forming a union to increase our wages and better conditions. He thought we should embrace a more diverse culture with open minds and attitudes. Yes, we work hard and Santa pays us very well. We take our money and purchase gifts and supplies from the Santa Land Store. The Santa Land Store also has convenient banking hours and finances the loans on our ginger bread houses. One day, Thomas after a two hour speech on the benefits of unionization simply walked off. It was rumored he hot and sweating heavily when he walked off into the snow storm outside. It appears he was so pumped up after his speech that he was able to open the big door, by himself, which usually takes three of four elves to open.  It was one of the worst snow storms on record and no one understands why he would have gone out there. Santa said he looked for Thomas but never found him. It is believed he went back down south.     

Even Mrs. Clause was defiant on letting the sleigh cargo crew unionize until one year when she walked into the rein deer “Magic Dust Vault” and found someone had accidentally left a small bag open and the dust was floating like snowflakes in the air. When she came back out of the room she was by all accounts different. After “Sleigh 1’s” departure she arrived back at the cargo loading area wearing a skin tight fire red outfit with fishnet stocking and had a special gleam in her eyes. The door closed and the next day after the revelation of some pictures rumored to hidden away, Mrs. Clause became pro-cargo handling unionization, much to the chagrin to Santa who had stopped by a local Elf village to bring in some union busting help. From that time on, Mrs. Clause has never been seen near the “Magic Dust Vault” again.

We never hear any complaints from the Sleigh Elves. They seem to go to work early and willingly stay late at night to keep up. The Elf wives are often over heard saying they are happy Mrs. Clause takes care of their husbands, so they don’t have too. But overall, everyone is extremely happy to live and work at the North Pole. Santa is always finding new ways to keep us motivate and engaged. He is always looking to find new ways to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the entire organization. Remember, together, we reach our absolute deadline with zero defects every year. Together We Are One.   

YOU CAN READ CHAPTER TWO: SAM THE SNOWMAN DEFIES HIS MORTALITY.

Of course this is a parody of organizations with good reputations,  but in reality have horrible managment. Santa is great and would make a great Splash on the Matrix

Operational and Team Spheres That Impact Your Teams Success

Sometimes you simply scratch your head and wonder if it is you or your company that seems out of whack. Sometimes it is you, but I bet the majority of the problems are caused by the misalignment of core components in your company.  I will make this easy to understand, using the laws of three; you will see how your team fits in with the “big picture” of your company and how easily a misalignment can occur.

Picture your company operating within three core spheres:  

• Organizational Structure
• Priorities & Philosophy
• Human Capitol

Each has a different core function that must be equally balanced to create a successful company. The more overlap between the three spheres the more aligned your organization will be and this increases your chances of success. Think of a helicopter rotor. There is more strength at the center and the blades move slower that at the edges. The farther apart the spheres are in your company the more energy you have to use to be successful. Too much overlap in one area will cause in imbalance.  Now, let’s take a closer look at the operational spheres.

The Organizational structure is the architecture of your organization outlining who is responsible for each system. It also explains the hierarchy from the boss to the bottom person. In some cases there is redundant overlap in one area and not enough assets in another causing an imbalance.

The Priorities & Philosophy provide reason for the existence of your company. In some cases priorities have changed but the philosophy has not evolved to the changing climate of today’s business environment. This leaves people wondering what the overall mission of the company is supposed to accomplish, besides surviving.

The last sphere is your company’s Human Capitol. Your human capitol, employees, is the greatest asset your company has. In times of crisis, your employees can think on their feet and instantly make changes based on observations that modern machines cannot. As an organization you must answer the question, do you have the right people working for you? Do my employees have the correct skills and knowledge to take you to the next level? Ultimately, do they believe in your company and want to be apart of its success?  

From the Operational Spheres, we go to the Individual Unit Spheres. Your team, and its overall success, is directly linked through the Human Capitol sphere In other words, the Human Capital Sphere provides the employees for your team to operate.  All work teams in your company are comprised also comprised of three spheres. Again, the more overlap the spheres the more successful your team will be. The more successful your team the more likely your company will be successful. Now we look at relationships of a smaller set of spheres in which your team operates. These smaller spheres are described:

• Organizational  expectations of my team
• The leader’s needs
• The teams’ capabilities

The first sphere answers the question, “What are the expectations of my team from the organization?” Within this sphere another question is then asked, “How does the effectiveness of my team impact my company’s success?”  If it has no impact then you should be looking for another job because you will eventually be downsized out of your current one.  Your team should be building a competitive edge for your company. If it is not then turn your team around and create one; success is built on the shoulders of the smallest teams.

The second sphere answers, “What does your leader need to be successful?” Do they have all the personnel and equipment necessary to accomplish their tasks?  What skills and abilities do they need to take you to the next level? This one can be answered at www.integritasleadership.net/matrix.

Lastly, the remaining sphere answers the question, “What are the capabilities of your team?” Does your team have the individual abilities to both accomplish the expectations of your company and fulfill the needs of your leader? Do they need additional training or equipment? If the team is not capable of accomplishing their assigned tasks then the company is crippled at the lowest levels. These three spheres need to be aligned and fully functioning before your team can make a positive impact on your company.

As you have just read, it is easy for a company to become misaligned creating confusion among the teams and employees. The next time you question how effective your team is, think about the different spheres and see if you can create a competitive edge for your self by jumping in and fixing the problems.