Sharing a personal observation, suspecting you might resonate with this…

I’m most likely to be unproductive and waste precious time when I sit down to “work” but don’t have a specific plan for the work I need to do. 

This situation invariably prompts to do things like defragment my hard drive (again), sort through old emails, check the latest on LinkedIn, and rewatch a fun movie clip I’ve seen a dozen times before.

Develop a plan for your working time.  Know what needs to be delivered, done, created, edited, reviewed, and imagined.  Decide what needs to be done next. Don’t miss the opportunity to make progress on the important-not-urgent projects. Assign working times accordingly. 

The key is to make these decisions early, so I have a plan and a schedule.  It’s a mistake to think “I’ll decide at 1:30pm what I work on next” because it’s a low-energy part of my day.

Discipline yourself to do what you planned to do, when you planned to do it.

This is my best antidote to wasting time.

Yes, interruptions happen and priorities can shift.  Adjustments need to be made.  Sometimes I’ll fail to do what I planned to do.  This is life.  But this approach means I am still largely productive and effective over days/weeks/months despite the flux of the real world.

A friend asked for my thoughts on virtual mastermind groups vs. meeting in person.

Key elements to a successful mastermind: 

• Committed participation 
• Clear objectives and focus areas 
• Diversity of experience  
• Ground rules to foster trust and unity 
• Skilled facilitation (educate comes from the Latin educare which means ‘to draw out’) 

We can be grateful for video sharing technology for the connections that it can and does enable.  Video enables geographically separated people to participate.  Virtual experiences can make it easier for some people to participate.   Video can be recorded – but I would discourage recording a virtual mastermind.  People are less likely to be transparent and open.   

A mixed physical + virtual meetings is inherently more difficult to do well than an all-virtual or all-physical meeting. 

Let’s review the limitations of a virtual gathering:  

• It’s difficult to quantify how much communication occurs in ways that you don’t see in a Zoom call.  There are things you can’t see in a typical headshot Zoom session – body posture, finger and foot tapping, are they leaning forward or backward slightly?
   
•  We unconsciously pick up on smells and tastes.  Even the sound of a conversation is different in a 3D environment than on microphone and speakers.  Compare the experience of being at a music concert to watching a video of the same concert.   

• Physical meetings have a different “after the meeting” experience which aren’t replicated virtually.  Think about all the follow-on conversations you’ve had, sometimes trailing out to lobby and parking lot.   

• It’s much more difficult for the facilitator to monitor the sense of a virtual gathering, picking up on cues and subtleties.  A leader or presenter also have a more limited range of feedback to gauge how the information is coming across.  

It’s certainly possible to manage a virtual mastermind, but I think it’s going to miss elements (including “compression”) of a physical gathering.  We can’t fully quantify the biological and spiritual intangibles that come with physical presence with others. It takes skill to facilitate a physical mastermind meeting, too.  It’s a craft (a combination of learned skills and art to create something beautiful and useful).  

There is an 87.3% probability that you are limiting yourself. There is a 59.8% probability that you are letting peer pressure contain you.

Confession: I made up those statistics. But there is a very high likelihood that your performance is well below your full potential.

A man who tried twice to become a Navy SEAL (and quit both times) told me about one of his first days in selection. His cadre leader barked out, “Give me 100”, and he cranked out 100 pushups on the beach. On command, dropped and did it again. Did it 12 more times. No breaks. “Did you know you could do 1400 pushups?”, I asked. “No, but one of the things you learn is that you can do 3 to 10 times what you think you can.”

Exercise physiology researchers put world-class cyclists on stationary bikes, in a room by themselves, and told them to sprint as hard as they could for 10 minutes. Then they put them side by side with a computer racer who raced 1% faster than they had in the first test. In every case, the cyclist kept up with the computer, or beat it.

Roger Bannister broke the 4 min mile “barrier” that all the experts identified…and then others quickly did it, as well. High-school runners run sub-4 minute miles now. How did Bannister do it? He used “rabbit” runners who ran in front of him and set an aggressive pace.

Being capable of more is not just limited to human physical feats. Henry Ford automated car manufacturing and changed the idea of who could afford to own a car. FedEx transformed the conventional limits on package delivery. Amazon demolished the conventional thinking on the size of a bookstore. Alibaba proved that online business did not have to originate in Silicon Valley or only use Western marketing.

The company you keep matters, because they can either shatter or reinforce the limits you put on yourself or your organization. The stories we tell ourselves and others are powerful.

Wrestle with these questions as a leader: Are my ideas limiting what’s possible? Is my self-perception of limits cutting my performance down? What are the mindsets of the people around me? Are they helping me think bigger and think differently, or making me satisfied with the status quo?

Next: act on your answers. Growth begins on the far side of comfortable. Free your mindset, and distance yourself from people who hold you back. This is how you become capable of more. (Note: this was originally published on asmithblog.com)

“Things are going downhill.”

“We need to stop this before it gets worse.”

“Back in my day we never had this mess.”

Embedded in these statements is an implicit “things used to be better.”  Sometimes that is true.  Yet there is there pervasive idea that things are worse now and we need to “return to” something. 

Challenge question: “When were things great for everyone? At what point in history was 99% of the human race experiencing a life free of struggles and corruption and failing?”

When in history were these things — globally, for all peoples — not an issue?

• Lack of accountability
• Partisan news  
• Lying politicians and corrupt rulers
• Ungrateful youth
• Nepotism and favoritism surpassing competence
• Elders resistant to progress
• Racism, sexism, classism
• Elites believing they have the right ideas
• People believing wild rumors and rejecting facts
• Censorship and suppression of information
• Failures of masculinity and femininity
• Unfair employer practices
• Distrust in institutions
• Wealth spent foolishly

We have made enormous progress, and there is still progress needed.   People have experienced “Camelot” moments in time but they didn’t last and certainly didn’t include many people.   Heaven is in the future, not the past.  

Press ahead into your adventure! 

My father used to a tell a story, I’m sure not original to him, about perspectives on wealth.  “A man was sitting with his little boy on the front stoop of their grimy row house.  A rich man drove by in a shiny new car.  ‘See that guy?” the father said. ‘Someday we’re going to get that guy.’  The car drove by another father and son a few doors down.  This father turned to his son and said, ‘See that guy?  Someday we’re going to drive a nice car.’ “

I reflect on this as I hear a growing drumbeat against successful people who have (legally) acquired wealth and income.   “Mr. X paid zero in taxes!”  “We should take more from these millionaires and billionaires and give it to people who deserve it.”  “No one needs that much money when we have poor people around us.”  “They got that money because of their privilege, not because they worked hard!”  “We’ll be better off as a society if people are more equal.”

A few thoughts to consider:

We can leave the judging up to God.   Wealthy individuals will be judged just as you and I will be about how we use our abilities and assets, all of which God enabled us to have.  Let the words of Jesus ring in your heart on this: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:48)

Envy and greed and theft and perverse pride are inconsistent with godly relationships.  

Inequality is baked into the physical universe.  There are remarkably few observable situations where something is perfectly evenly distributed.  Even the water level in a cup only appears to us to be level; from another perspective it’s subtly tilted because of the earth’s spin as it orbits the sun.   Every political effort in the 19th and 20th centuries using government power to create “equal outcomes” was a disaster.   It’s true that 400 million people are no longer in poverty in China — but it was economic liberty and trade that helped them, not Communist party dictums.  

Marxists are fond of citing the parable of the workers in the vineyard who were each paid the same even though they worked different lengths of the day (see Matthew 20:1-13), and how the early disciples in Jerusalem after Pentecost shared what they had with one another (see Acts 2:42-47).  They say things like “See, the Bible recommends this!” I remind them to take these passages in context.  The parable is about the phenomenal generosity of God’s grace to everyone, no matter their ‘works.’   There are abundant passages about caring for the poor and the needy throughout the Bible, and giving generously is always praiseworthy. There is no evidence in the rest of the New Testament that what happened in Acts 2 was the prescribed economic or social model for everyone.  

Marxists do not like the parables Jesus told about distributing talents — giving 10 to one, 5 to another, and 1 to another.  Why didn’t he tell a parable about giving each the same amount?  Unsettling.  Marxists also want to skip over Jesus’ statement that we would always have poor people (see Matthew 26:11).  We should remember that poor is a relative measure.   Before 1700 more than 90% of the population was “poor.”  The lowest income strata in the US today have a standard of living far above 1.5B others in the world, and access to better medical and technology capabilities than any king or emperor before 1950.  “Life today is safer, healthier, happier, richer, taller, fitter, longer-lived, less war-torn, less disease-ravaged, and less hunger-filled than at any time in human history.  And it’s only going to get better.”  (Mark Horstman)

Where does wealth come from?  Economics is fundamentally alchemy — creating value from ‘nothing.’  We use our knowledge, imagination, and inspiration to create something new that others value.  I work in the agriculture industry:  DNA, water, minerals, and sunlight are converted into corn.   We build on the assets and systems God has supplied to create additional value.  

We get more of what we celebrate.  Shouldn’t we recognize the value of business models which provide livelihoods for many thousands of people?  Shouldn’t we celebrate innovators like Elon Musk rather than criticizing his wealth?  I can admire the passion and energy of Bernie Sanders, but 100 Elon Musks will advance us (technically and economically) far more than 100 Bernie Sanders focused on redistributing the assets of others.  We have laws to punish people who illegally acquire wealth.  

Let’s distinguish charity and forced distribution.  In one case I reach into my wallet and give to others.   In the other, a government reaches into my wallet and takes money for others.  I am not opposed to taxes, and grateful to live in a country where I have a say in the politicians representing me in decisions about taxation.  It’s telling that very wealthy people who say “I should be taxed more” still only pay what they are legally obligated to pay, and usually fund private foundations with their billions rather than giving to their national government or the UN.  They know which will have greater leverage.

If inequality is a fact of the real world, what should we do?  Every individual is precious, made in the image of God.  The Declaration of Independence begins with the statement that all men are created equal.  Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in his brilliant book “Democracy in America” (1835) that this idea of equality coupled with individualism — a word he invented — were the two great forces driving American growth.  He pointed out that the idea of equality goes back to St. Paul: “In Christ there is neither male nor female, Jew nor Greek, slave nor free. All are equal.”  You can scour ancient literature and will not find anything remotely like this. 

Burn this into your mind: equality is a spiritual value. 

Every non-spiritual means of addressing inequality will ultimately fail.  No government policy will ever ‘solve’ poverty by overturning 80/20 reality.  And no amount of legislation will ever ‘solve’ the problems of people who are greedy, self-centered, and wicked.  Charity and the desire to do good must come from the heart, not out of fear or compulsion.  Giving is also good for our hearts.  

I’m with Friedrich Hayek: “There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal. While the first is the condition of a free society, the second means as De Tocqueville describes it, a new form of servitude.”

Think of it this way:  Charity and innovation don’t change 80/20 reality, but they push the whole curve upward. 

Another insight from my dad:  “There is always enough to help the bottom 10%.”  During an interval of stress there is enough for the neediest 30%.  There is never enough for the bottom 50%, and not even enough for the bottom third if events stretch out and become chronic.  The math doesn’t work unless there is substantial outside help.

The insidious downside of trying to care for the bottom half is that the truly neediest begin to lose out to those who are simply better positioned or better at playing “the game.”

I encourage you to consider targeting your giving to help the neediest 10%.

Rather than demonizing others, or believing that you’re a victim, use your imagination and effort to build value.  Guard your heart from greed and self-centeredness, in part by giving generously and helping others. 

(I’m indebted to about a dozen mentors and writers who have influenced me on these topics.)

Questions you ask when being interviewed should be focused on what you will contribute to make the role and the team successful.   Even for an internal interview don’t ask about salary, promotion, benefits – save those until you have an offer.  Suggested questions you can ask:

• What is the ultimate success picture for the team? 

• What do you want the department to have achieved in 6 months and how will I have contributed to that?

• Can you give me an example of the high-performing behavior of someone successful in this role?

• What would you expect of me in Project X which is currently underway?

• Who are the stakeholders who need regular communication?

And it’s fair to ask “What’s the next step in this process?”

I’m going to assume you’ll hear about the team members, structure, and projects, so there might be room for asking clarification questions.   Ask questions about how you will best deliver value for the team.

It’s wise to think through questions you are likely to be asked.

You can practice succinct answers to expected questions about

Your interests and technical skills

Your strengths and weaknesses

Your approach for managing projects

Your career ambitions 

The best advice I’ve ever seen on the “Tell me about yourself” question is from Manager Tools (yeah, I’m a fan).  The important point is to weave in specific ways you brought your strengths forward and created value. 

A good interviewer is going to ask behavioral questions.  They’re looking for you to explain how your past experiences (and especially what you may have learned from things which didn’t go smoothly) apply to this new role.  Therefore, think about projects, events, individual people interactions, etc. which showcase your growth and your ability to perform. 

In the past I hired many people during the fast-growth phases of informatics at Pioneer and DuPont Pioneer, so I developed a useful set of questions to ask (and knowing what I wanted to learn by asking them).  I eventually published this list.  You might use them as a means of preparing.

Finally, I would be suspicious about much of the advice on interviewing you find on YouTube and public media.  Some of it is schlock, and much is extrapolating from a couple of anecdotes. Give more credence to what recruiters say– they only make money by doing a good job of finding the right people for a role, and know how to interview well.

An open position in your team is always an opportunity.  Leaders know that the fastest way to transform an organization is to bring in new people, or move people into new roles.  New hires are also inherently risky. Think strategically!

First, never assume the best response is to fill the position just as it was before.  The world changes, your business changes, and your team changes.  What’s the best way to use an open position?  You could find a good hire to replace the existing role.  It’s more likely you can adjust the role responsibilities and scope before filling it.  Perhaps your organization needs a person in a completely different role.  Give serious thought to closing the position and managing the workload other ways.  In large companies open positions are strategic assets in budget and priority conversations.

Then consider the attributes of the person you need in the role.  Do you need a disruptor or change leader who can take the organization through discomfort to a better place?  Or do you really need a maintainer to manage the status quo (e.g., for a process crucial to your business success)?  Is this your opportunity to hire someone who fits in a succession plan?  Perhaps you hire the position at a lower level expecting that top talent will be promotable. 

Next consider the pros and cons of an internal hire vs. an external hire.  I suggest you do this before you create a job description:

Internal candidates are generally known quantities (for better and worse).  If this is a promotion situation, I recommend the 150% guideline – can the candidate do 100% of their current role and 50% of this new role?  If not, it might be too great a stretch.   Internal hires can be better for continuity and team morale, rather than bringing in a relatively unknown person from the ‘outside.’  Counterpoint: it can be difficult for an internal candidate to lead a change effort if they’re already in the group which needs to change the way it works.

External candidates should be considered when you need new skills, new perspectives, and/or a big change.  An external hire doesn’t ‘own’ any of the existing processes and workflows which might need to be changed.  Use your hiring process to carefully vet candidates – check references, ask them to execute a small project for you to demonstrate their ability, and don’t be fooled by people are better at interviewing than delivering results.

It’s problematic to craft a job description around a person.  It’s better to craft the job description and then find the person who best fits that role.  There are many sources for help on creating job descriptions; I recommend the Manager Tools process.

Follow the good advice available about interviewing candidates.  I published my list of interview questions (and crucially, why I ask them). 

Finally, invest in a startup plan for your new hire. Introduce them to key stakeholders.  Make sure they have early small wins.  Provide coaching and advice about how your organizational culture works.  Communicate frequently, and be available to them.  The investment early greatly reduces the risks of a failed employee, and will pay large dividends in the future. 

Resilience has a very specific definition in physics:  The degree to which material returns to its original state after it is deformed.  A rubber ball has high resilience – it bounces!  You’ve probably seen the slow-mo videos of a golf ball coming off the driver.  One side temporarily becomes flat and then returns to its original shape as it flies away.  By contrast, a ball of wax has low resilience.  If you press on a wax ball it stays smooshed and doesn’t return to its original shape.

Resilience is a hot topic in leadership circles these days.  We like the idea of resilient people who can come through stresses and setbacks and remain strong. 

Let’s be clear: people are not rubber balls.  When we experience an impact it changes us.  We don’t go back to what we were before.  It’s the wisdom of Heraclitus: “You can’t step twice into the same river” because both you and the river change.

Resilience is a function of your physical well-being and especially your mental toughness.  You can’t buy resilience or inherit it.  Resilience must be developed at the individual level.  Where organizations exhibit resilience, it is an emergent property of individuals in the organization.

There are two keys to developing your personal resilience:

1. Willingness to get up every time you are knocked down.  Grit, determination, ability to push through resistance, and moving forward towards goals on the far side of discomfort and disappointment.
2. Ability to embrace transformation through experiences and resist the desire to return to what you were before.

You can find plenty of counsel for the first key.  Learn from biographies and people you observe.  Spend time imagining yourself moving forward through difficulties, rather than being stymied.

There is less advice available on the second key, embracing your transformation.  My counsel here:

• Scars from difficult experiences are real but must be put in proper context.  Healing is possible.  Scars do not need to force us into an endless holding pattern.
• It’s a mistake to beat yourself up because you can’t go back to what you were.  Growth means you’re different.  Growth is always uncomfortable, and rarely happens as quickly as we’d prefer.
• You are not a victim. Make decisions which move you in the right direction.  Be willing to pay the price to move forward.
• Expect that others will misunderstand what you’re going through. 

Finally, I encourage you to give thanks that you are not a rubber ball.  Growth potential is your birthright!

What was the motivation for the people to build the Tower of Babel on the plain of Shinar? “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves.”

Making a name for yourself is a big theme in our modern culture.  We say things like “I want to make a dent in the universe” and “I want to make society work as it should” and “I want to do great things and be famous” and “I want to be a star.” We crave the freedom to do what I want, and to get glory. 

Many of us have spent years aching for this.

God has a different approach for us, which allows us to flourish in cooperation with Him.  In His universe (and be clear, it’s His universe), God will not share his glory with others (Isaiah 42:8).  He is the light at best we reflect that light.  It’s His power working through us that both sustains us and can change the world:

He set us free to serve others out of our fellowship with Him. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17)  We experience the deepest joy we long for when we serve out of this freedom.  

Instead of rescuing ourselves we surrender to being rescued. “Apart from me you can do nothing,” Jesus said. (John 15:5)

And what about our name?  Instead of building towers to make a name for ourselves, we take on our adopted name as members of the household of God.  We look forward to our citizenship in the new heavens and new earth: “I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.” (Revelation 3:12)

Stop wearying yourself with creating a name for yourself.