Joe,

As we prepare to head to Austin on Sunday to take part in the big shindig that is TLNT’s Transform Conference on Monday and Tuesday, I’ve been thinking a lot about what kind of transformation is needed in HR.  Because of the circles we run in and the people we tend to bump into, it seems that I hear a lot of talk about how HR needs to change, to evolve, to transform.  But, it’s rare to find a clear, compelling vision of what that looks like to go with the sentiment about the need for change.  It’s as if we know that change is needed, but we aren’t sure where to go next.

I’m not ambitious enough to attempt to put forward that vision in this post.  But I do have some thoughts about the kind of change we need to think about as we collectively work to define the future of HR.   Not too long ago, I prepared a presentation called the “Evolution of Talent Management.”  Part of this presentation was a brief history lesson on the origins of talent management and, really, management practices within our organizations.  As I did my research for the presentation, I was shocked by what I found.  The two sources that were most helpful to me were Peter Cappelli‘s book Talent on Demand and this Gary Hamel Video.  Clearly, I hadn’t been paying attention to the history that had shaped my work because as the story began to unfold in front of me, I couldn’t believe it.

Here’s the cliff note’s version of what I found.  There have been really three major waves of innovation in the field of management since its creation as a profession or discipline in the late 1800′s.   The first wave was in the late 1800′s when things like job descriptions, performance appraisals and the concept of meritocracy (being promoted based on our your performance and abilities) were introduced.

The second wave of management innovation came in the 1920′s as the US was in the midst of industrialization.  Management’s aim in this period and for the next few decades was, as Gary Hamel describes it, to “turn human beings into semi-programmable robots.”  Companies built frameworks (policies, structures, training) that were designed to help a human be less human (consistently do the same task over and over for long periods of time-less thinking, no creativity).  However, it was during this same period that the need to cultivate and develop management benchstrength was realized and a host of new approaches emerged:

• Formal Management Training Programs
• Using job rotations as development, formally
• High Potential Development programs

Hey man.

Good post, good questions.

I do not know if there is any such thing as a freak flag expert, but I will take a crack at it.

I think that authenticity is actually a relational thing. It is not just about being true to who you are, but rather about being true to who you are while supporting the same in others. Focusing just on your own authenticity just drives a bunch of ignorant, arrogant, selfish and egotistical nonsense…all in the name of “keeping it real.”

Authenticity requires a certain amount of personal awareness and self expression, but it also requires some accommodating. Authenticity is about me taking up all of my space, without taking up some of yours…it is about me being true to who I am, without making it difficult for you to be true to who you are.

“I want to be me without making it difficult for you to be you.”

-Howard Thurman

So there is always some accommodating going on and that varies from situation to situation. Dysfunction creeps in when all of the accommodating is being done by one side of the relationship.

I do have visible tattoos on the insides of my forearms, and my preferred work uniform is jeans and a t-shirt. Not only do I actually like my chosen uniform, but it also gives me a prop to play with in some of the work that I do around challenging labels, assumptions and expectations…as professional speakers are supposed to be well groomed and dressed professionally.

I try to avoid playing it safe, I think that authenticity requires taking some risks, but I do try to be respectful of the audience or organization that I am going to see. For starters I try to make sure that they have accurate expectations of me and I also ask questions about their culture, norms, etc.

I think that clarity of expectations makes authenticity much easier for everyone involved. I have a corporate client that brings me in once a year to spend a half day with their senior leadership team. They love me. They also have a very formal culture that they value. Every year when we are planning our time together they send me a detailed copy of their dress code. Expectations clarified.

Now, I could get all offended by this, and in all honesty, the first time it happened I let loose with a bit of profanity, but this is simply one of the agreements of our relationship. I could walk away from it, if I believed that putting some dress pants and a jacket on was too big of a compromise, but in the context of larger relationship it is just one of many small compromises made by both sides. When we are planning this annual session, I do some accommodating and they do some accommodating.

I appreciate this conversation, because when we do talk about authenticity it is often in the direction of personal awareness and self expression. Those are certainly core aspects, but we should be working towards authenticity for all, not just for ourselves.

-joe

Joe,

I had a really interesting conversation this week with a couple of friends about the price of authenticity.  At the root of the discussion was the intersection where full freak-flag-flying authenticity meets the need to conform to the context of doing business.

You and I have had this discussion a number of times over the years.  Let’s say you do the good (and hard) work of getting clear on important questions like:

• Who am I?
• What are my gifts?
• What do I stand for?
• What do I value?

Jason-

I also hear that story quite a bit and have my own experiences with being or at least feeling stuck in a job that was not right for me. I think there is a whole lot of this and there are probably many varied reasons that so much of this exists. I think that the vast majority of it can be broken down by a simple diagram that I have become a big fan of.

For starters, are you willing and able to honestly ask yourself if you are happy. Instead of raising hell about what is wrong with everything around yo…are you happy? If the answer is no, then you are ready to move to even more actionable question…do you want to be happy? If you do actually want to be happy, then change something. Repeat. Forever.

Simple questions, but I think that they are questions commonly overlooked or ignored leading us to lose sight of our personal choices and our personal power. Simple questions do not necessarily lead to easy actions, but they do help us keep our eye on the prize. We love to claim this “give me liberty or give me death” approach to life, but I think we don’t much love liberty or death. I think that what we are naturally pulled toward is the comfort of what we already know. Action brings uncertainty and risk.

-joe

Joe,

This week, I sat with a friend and heard the all too familiar story again, “my job just isnt’ giving me what I’m needing.”  She isn’t challenged, feels stifled, doesn’t see much opportunity for promotion, etc.  She’s comfortable and her current job offers some great perks like flexibility and independence.  But, she’s craving more.  She’s worried that she’ll wake up in 10 years not having grown professionally and still feel the same way she does today about her work.  She’s decided that it’s time to do something about it.

I seem to hear this story a lot.  Not sure if it’s because of the line of work I’ve chosen or maybe it’s just the people in my network, but this story is way too common.  I’ve even personally lived the experience a few times myself.  And, my default response has always been–time to move on.  Greener pastures, bluer oceans–the newness of a different job always makes these feelings disappear, at least for a little while.

Underneath this job angst and longing in most cases is really the desire to be more happy with and in our work.  And, if happiness is the goal, that introduces some considerations that make me take pause.  I’ve heard it said many times, and I wish I could quote the source or sources, that happiness isn’t about getting something you think you want but rather wanting the things you have.  It’s implied that happiness is a state of mind that involves being at peace with who you are, what you have and where you are in your life.  This implies that much of our unhappiness stems from how we compare our current situation to a perceived improved future situation.  And, if we could set aside these comparisons, and instead focus on loving our current opportunities, we’d be happier.

I honestly don’t know how I feel about this.  On the one hand, I see the power in appreciating your current situation.  Seeking out and focusing on the things that make you happy will positively impact your satisfaction with your current job.  And, there’s probably opportuntiy for every person to take action in their current role to do more of the activities that make them happy as well.

But, I am a perpetual malcontent.  And, suffering from this particular dysfunction, I know that I am always looking to make my situation better.  I’m always in pursuit of what’s next.  This has been a driving factor in my career and I think it’s a competitive advantage for me, personally.  I haven’t always been happy in my job.  In fact, I’ve probably spent more time unhappy in work than happy.  But, I also didn’t invest a lot of time in any particular situation focusing on the things in that role that did make me happy.  I focused on what was next–the future.

I’m not sure I’m making a clear point here, so let me try to put a finer point on it.  Could it be that the reason people aren’t happy with their jobs is their own mindset about the job and not the job itself?  Could it be that if people learned how to find more happiness through appreciation of what they have, that they would be more happy in work overall?

Or, is this just a veiled way of getting people to settle for sub par work experiences and opportunities?  And, that they should keep seeking new jobs that better deliver that which drives and fulfills them?

I’m not sure.  I think it’s probably some of both.

Jason

Jason-

Hey dawg. The holidays were nice and we have had a pretty comfortable winter here in Omaha. It has been a nice break, but I am also getting a bit restless. Fortunately, in looking at the calendar, I see that it is just about go time for us.

The book has been quietly released into the wild, we have a new site in the works, we have tuned up our core messages, are about to go to work on our 2012 speaking calendar and I have a new suitcase. All good everything.

I am stoked. All of this brings to mind a couple of thoughts that I think are worth sharing. Simple things, maybe a bit cheesy. But still good.

one) It does not matter how small they are, just keep taking steps forward.

I do not know that we have ever had a grand plan for where we wanted to go with Talent Anarchy. We just keep doing stuff. From the beginning we have continued to get together, we have continued to think and talk about our ideas, and we have continued to find ways to put those ideas out there. With all of my soul I endorse that sappy quote about how a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Totally true. Just keep swimming.

two) Find some people on this planet that understand you.

One of the most important aspects of this partnership is that while we disagree on a number of small things, we agree on a lot of big things. It can be easy to start thinking that you might actually be crazy when surrounded by people that believe you are crazy. But if there is even just one person that gets what you are talking about…it is a lot easier to hold on to those ideas and aspirations. It is important to have people around you that will challenge you, it is equally important to have people in your life that get you and what you are about.

Good things man. One step after another. 2011 was good, 2012 is going to be even bigger.

For those of you reading, thanks and we hope to see you out on the road! Here are some of the places we are going to be in the next few months…

February 14th Human Resource Association of Central Ohio (Columbus, OH)

February 27th, 28th TLNT Transform (Austin, TX)

February 29th Young Professionals Summit (Omaha, NE)

March 1st Management Association of Illinois HR Conference (Chicago, IL)

April 26th, 27th Louisiana SHRM Conference (New Orleans, LA)

June 5-8th PR Summer Camp (Dallas, TX)

June 24-27th SHRM Annual Conference (Atlanta, GA)

Hey man. It is good to be back (although it was really good to be gone) and nice job here on the blog…you have done some serious work with this series, and YES…there is a lot to respond to.

Good stuff.

I do not completely agree.

As you probably expected.

I think that business does need to be saved. You said early in this series that “business finds a way to do business, despite the changing landscape.” Not so much. The lifespan of a business organization is not that long and it is actually getting shorter. I see growing evidence that business is clinging to irrelevance.

I think that business very much needs to be saved…from itself.

I am not trying to make any grand political argument here about capitalism in general. I just see business in general as feeding on the goose that lays the golden eggs. I have no problem with capitalism, but capitalism piloted by individuals, organizations and institutions with an extremely short term focus becomes dangerous and reckless. Over time it actually compromises its own ability to respond to the world around it…it becomes overly reliant on manipulation of perception, markets, politics, etc., rather than new ways of creating value. There is no shortage of examples of this in the form of individual organizations that have gotten very good at doing one thing and focused on exploiting that to maximize short term gains (and share all of their “best practices”)…and then all of a sudden found themselves irrelevant and gone.

I do think business needs to be saved, and I think that one of the defining issues of our time will be whether we have the courage to save it or not.

But this is maybe a minor disagreement.

More important is our disagreement in where our greatest opportunity for progress lies. A couple of statements from your original post:

“Business doesn’t need saving, people need saving.”

“What’s been broken is the employee psyche.”

Not only do I think that business does need to be saved, I think that people do not need to be saved.  People are actually very resilient and I do not think they need to be saved or that it is accurate to say that their psyches have been broken. I think that the real truth is that the employee-employer relationship is what has been broken.

AND…

…employees did not break it, business did. At least partially due to the short term ideology I mentioned above.

I am always okay with looking at what individual employees can do to use their power to influence change, but I am never okay with the idea that it is all on them.

b = f (p / e)

Kurt Lewin said that behavior is a product of both the person and the environment (system). When we just focus on the individual, we discount the environment and we ignore power dynamics. This is the approach that leads people to say the solution to poverty lies in poor people working harder. It leads people to believe that we would not have to worry about diversity in the workplace if women and people of color just worked harder and complained less. It discounts environment and power, both of which are huge variables.

This is the same reason why I get scratchy when I hear talk about “empowering employees” …I personally do not see a lot of employees in need of “being empowered.” I see a lot of employees that would benefit from having a whole heap of bullshit politics, absurd processes and bad management gotten out of their way.

When nobody is talking about power, that is where it unquestionably exists, at once secure and great in its unquestionability.

–Ulrich Beck

I am always a fan of personal growth, accountability and responsibility. I love the six things you have spoken to in your series. I also know that you can have and apply all of those things and still get bounced out on your ass.

Inside of the organization today, the employer has centralized power and the employee has diffused power…employees can (and do) drive change, but the deck is stacked against them. You can look back to our collective work experiences to see some examples of how difficult it is to drive change as an individual.

I think that movements to change systems and movements to change the individuals inside those systems are both flawed, we have to do both. They must be parallel, symbiotic efforts. They have to be, because fundamental to real sustainable change is acknowledging and changing the balance of power. We have to include and involve both parties to do that.

I think that you and I have some obligation to swing with both fists, to support and promote individual growth, commitment and courage and also to challenge the environment and speak about power.

-joe

Joe,

My reign of terror on the blog is over as I wrap up this, my eighth post in a row (good lord I do a lot of work around here).  It’s been a while so I wanted to reset why I headed off on this series.

Work is broken.

That’s the only way to explain why so many surveys of employee opinions reveals that over 50% of us are ready to leave our employer at the first sign of a job that might be better.  We are not satisfied with our work experience.  I believe that we want to give more, to do more.  But we expect so much more from our employers than what we are getting today.  This relationship is really dysfunctional.

The only way this all gets better is if we make a decision as employees that we are going to make it better.  That starts with us.  It starts with developing ourselves to make impact and to be uniquely valuable to the business community that consumes our work.  Then, we will be in a position to change the terms of our relationship.

I’ve give you a lot to react to.  What are your thoughts?

Welcome back.

Jason

Joe,

The final piece of the puzzle to taking back control of our work experience and putting work back on our terms is commitment, specifically commitment to producing results.  This is a really important element in the equation because it can be easy to slide in a self-righteous state of mind as you work to create leverage and make yourself indispensable to your employer or client.  The previous 5 things I’ve written about have all been focused on us as individuals and, specifically, the ways we can increase our ability to create value for our current and future employers.  In order for all of this to pay off, we have to be committed to delivering that value to help our employers succeed.  Without this commitment to delivering for our employers in ways that are important to them, we defeat the purpose of creating leverage.

At the end of the day, if you don’t produce results, nothing else matters.  

This is the underlying truth that exists in every business.  I am a perfect example of someone who’s gotten away with being a pain in the ass as an employee at times over the years because of my ability to deliver results.  If you can produce results and you are committed to delivering results that are superior to those around you, the world of work can be yours for the taking.   There’s nothing a business leader values more in an individual than the proven ability to deliver results.

Joe,

I think one of the biggest crises we have going on in our workplaces today is the loss of individual identity.  This isn’t the result of some insidious plot by corporate America to squeeze the personality out of the workforce, but rather the result of well-intentioned efforts over the years to introduce “process” and “efficiency” into our organizations.  Variations and deviance, even in small degrees, cause systems to operate less efficiently.  So, when companies are intensely focused on efficiency, they tend to drive to consistency and sameness.  The problem is that people are complex animals who each have their own individual weirdness.  And when you try to drive a standard of consistency and sameness on a complex animal, something’s got to give.

The give has been in the employee’s spirit.  Their soul and passion for work.  It is impossible to be fully and passionately engaged in anything that doesn’t invite you to be fully who you are, weirdness and all.

The big problem is that most companies and executives aren’t aware that they are squeezing the indivdualism out of their workforce.   Most executives have long since lost their ability to remember what it feels to be a front line employee, so when they approve broad sweeping policies and process improvement initiatives that mandate a “stepford wives” system in their company, they don’t even notice.

In order to put work back on our own terms, we must break this trend.  Individuals need to realize that giving up their weirdness is a choice and it’s not a required on.  We must get in touch with and embrace our weirdness, weave it together to form our own unique and beautiful freak flag, and then to fly that flag proudly.  Now, I’m not advocating for being different for the sake of being different or for being a rabble-rouser as daily activity.  What I am advocating is being crystal clear on who your are, what’s important to you (your values and beliefs) and then acting accordingly.  This means making conscious choices about when you will “fit in” and when you will “stand out.”  Fitting in is highly over-rated.  Anything that is memorable or exceptional stands out.  Think of your favorite songs or movies or TV shows.  The reason you love them is because they are different from the pack.  What you love about them specifically is the very things that make them different.  The same is true for people.   To gain leverage in the work equation, we must be memorable and exceptional which requires us to play up and play out our differences from the pack.  We must stand out.

Being fiecely authentic in our thoughts, words and actions isn’t a tactic, it’s an imperative.  No more playing small.  No more fitting in.  One reason to fly your freak flag is to know when you are in enemy territory.  If bullets start flying at you too regularly in your work environment for being who you are, it’s probably time to move on.

To take back work, we must fly our freak flags high and march them proudly into within our work and workplaces.

Tomorrow, I will take on the last of my assertions about how to take back work, commitment.

Jason