July 2024 - on the virtue of dumb plans, the leadership blindside, strategy choices, and what your team can and should do
this is issue #66
Welcome to what “crossed my desk” in this month of aphelion during which Canada, the U.S.A., and France had their day. Counting the opening of the Summer Olympic Games, I guess France had another day as well.
A helpful distinction and tool by John Cutler:
Many teams are so focused on what they CAN do, that they forget what they SHOULD do. Sure, at the offsite everyone has amazing ideas (it's almost never a case of not knowing the SHOULD). But then they go back to work on CAN work.
Alex Komoroske with a management metaphor: builder v. gardener
Rocks v. acorns. Organized from outside v. grows from inside. Quick results v. patience. Not surprisingly, “all of us have the potential to be both builder and gardener”.
The leadership shortage: a survey
Nearly 70% of HR professionals aren’t confident that their organization currently has the right people to guide the company into the future. Only 14% of them say they are confident that their organization has identified the right people internally as high-potential talent.
82% said their firms are placing greater emphasis on finding future leaders than they were five years ago. However, 45%, say their organization doesn’t have any program in place.
Two-thirds of respondents said they are not looking deep enough into the organization to identify those with potential. Only 10% say their programs include evaluating entry-level recruits on their potential for future leadership.
Looks more like the leadership blindside.
Society for Human Resource Management survey:
55% of employees said they need more training to do their job better, and
76% said they would be more likely to stay with a company that offered continuous learning.
A discussion of Roger Martin’s strategy choice cascade:
What's your winning aspiration?
Where to play?
How can you win?
What capabilities do you have to have that your competitors don't?
What enabling management systems do you have to put in place?
Martin covers each of these in the interview with examples and cases.
A Gallup survey on how managers think they are currently leading their team versus how employees say they are being managed.
The study used a nationally representative U.S. sample of 2,729 managers and 12,710 individual contributors. Each group assessed how they are managing their team or how they are being managed based on a list of 20 managerial responsibilities. Ratings of each managerial behavior were separated into four categories:
Strengths -- rated highest by both managers and employees.
Known Weaknesses -- rated lowest by both managers and employees.
Blind Spots -- managers rated high, but employees rated low.
Unrecognized Strengths -- employees rated high, but managers rated low.
Companies may unintentionally hurt their sales by including the words “artificial intelligence” when describing their offerings that use the technology, according to this study.
I enjoyed reading this defense of dumb plans. Here’s a sample:
I like plans that don’t require getting lucky. I like doing stuff that customers promise they’ll pay for, or are already paying for – I don’t like re-establishing product-market fit. I like plans that don’t require future technology breakthroughs, because I’ve seen that even geniuses have dry spells. I like plans that don’t require customers, partners, suppliers, regulators, or competitors to do anything dramatically differently – I assume that it is hard to change other people’s minds, because I know it’s hard for them to change mine.
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling gives companies more opportunities to challenge regulations: the implications for business
The 1984 Supreme Court decision in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. established a crucial legal doctrine that required federal courts to defer to administrative agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous federal statutes. The doctrine gave agencies significant power to interpret laws.
In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the long-standing Chevron doctrine, fundamentally altering how businesses interact with federal regulations. The decision will almost certainly make it easier for companies to challenge agency regulations and other agency action interpreting federal statutes (that is, federal laws passed by Congress).
The not-secret purpose of this newsletter is to make you think… or think about other things… or think differently. I hope it does.
I agree with Godin that thinking
shouldn’t be reserved for academics.
What are you working on? When will you change your mind? What can you learn, what can you challenge?
It’s better when we’re on the cusp.
And it’s also better when you have some trusted people that you can talk about your thinking with. That’s what a good part of my coaching is about.1
And now for something different and so important
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experiences mental illness each year. It is one of the most common health conditions and a leading cause of disability, with mental disorders among the most burdensome health concerns worldwide. In the United States alone, mental illness costs over $193 billion in lost earnings each year. Despite its widespread impact, mental illness often goes untreated due to stigma and lack of access to care. Only around 45% of adults with mental illness received treatment in 2023. And the prevalence of these disorders is on the rise: 45% of adults age 35-44 reported suffering from a mental illness last year, compared with 31% just 4 years earlier.
Mental illness affects people of all ages, backgrounds, and walks of life. Our mental health ebbs and flows throughout our lives. We all know what it’s like to feel “down” or to feel anxious. And no family goes untouched by these illnesses.
Please observe, acknowledge, and take good care.
I have to confess that I came this close -THIS close- to making an Aretha Franklin reference.