Posts Tagged ‘Risk-taking’

Go straight to the source

20 May 2009

A colleague  relates a recent story where her agency used someone’s creative work in a video and fully credited the artist.  The video was posted on YouTube and instantly the artist learned of the video and started a campaign to get friends to post comments deriding the agency for using the lyrics without permission.

This could have gotten very ugly, very quickly. You can imagine a viral smear campaign, the good name of non-profit organization maligned, everyone calling in their lawyers, the media reports. All of that could have happened in the course of an afternoon.

My colleague’s solution was not to delete the comments from YouTube or remove the video or call their lawyer. She and her coworkers tracked down the artist and spoke with her directly. And made a deal. Over the phone, in a matter of minutes. The proverbial win-win.

All of this because she decided not to go through channels or take a defensive stance. Her agency acted quickly to open a line of communication, apologized and forthrightly solved the problem.

Something for the influence leader to remember: When there’s a misunderstanding, go to the source, the person who can clear it up. Sincerely apologize if you screwed up, and work together to fix the situation. And, skip the intermediaries, the consiglieri, all the folks that can make the situation more complicated—and possibly worse (even though they intend well).

It’s gutsy to be sure, but it often pays off.

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An obligation to influence

15 May 2009

On 28 January 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded upon take-off because an O-ring seal on the right booster rocket leaked fuel, which was ignited by the rockets. Seven astronauts died and a $1.7 billion orbiter was lost.

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The shuttle was launched in the coldest weather since the program began, and NASA and Morton Thiokol engineers had already noticed that O-rings tended to leak at sub-freezing temperatures. The temperature at launch was forecasted to be between 26-29 degrees Fahrenheit. In the days leading up to the launch, some of the engineers tried to convince NASA management to delay the launch.

2003_space_shuttle_columbia_disaster

On 1 February 2003, the shuttle Columbia burned up on re-entry because the heat shield had been severely damaged when fuel tank insulation foam struck the orbiter during launch. After the launch, several engineers suspected damage but could not bring themselves to request expensive satellite photos of the shuttle to examine the damage and see if emergency repairs were needed. Once again, seven astronauts and an expensive orbiter were lost.

In both cases, engineers inside NASA knew in advance there was a problem. The very peril they imagined came true and people died.

One way to look at these disasters: The engineers were not influential enough.

Many folks think of influence as something they want in their work life, community activities, and personal lives. They have a legitimate, inherent need to help improve the world and to do that through affecting others’ behavior.

That’s all well and good. But what about the times when the stakes are high—lives are on the line? In these situations, you must be effective. You must influence.

You have an obligation to be influential. Influence is no longer a wish or a choice, it is an obligation.

This obligation extends not only to when lives on are on the line, but also when people will be hurt, laws will be broken, massive resources will be lost, or mission or values will be violated.

All the more reason to work on improving your influence skills so that you are able to influence when it really counts — when the stakes are the highest.

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Crime, sports and weather

21 January 2009

A local TV news story of a young girl being kidnapped (and released without being harmed, thankfully) reminds me how single, stand-out events like this change our perceptions of safety.

We hear of a story like this and start keeping a closer eye on our kids, and warn other parents—all because we take this single event and conclude that there is now a greater danger of this happening again. These events occur pretty infrequently, and not very often for a community of millions of people.

When an event stands out like this, we tend to overestimate the likelihood and frequency of it happening again. And, that means that we might overreact and make changes in behavior that might ultimately go against our interests.

What does this mean for the influence leader? We need to guard against overreacting to events around us.

For example, if an executive shoots down someone’s idea in a meeting, we should not conclude that it’s a bad idea to share new ideas with that executive. Worse yet, if we hear stories of people failing in an effort to exercise influence, we shouldn’t assume that it’s not worth trying ourselves. Each of those other situations is unique; the circumstances vary.

You aren’t necessarily going to hear about all the successful influencing going on around you in your company. Those stories are not told again and again like the failures and shootings are.

Don’t talk yourself out of trying to influence by overestimating the possibility of a setback, based on anecdotal information.

One abduction in a community of 2+ million people doesn’t mean you should keep your kid inside all the time.

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Seize the moment

17 December 2008

Remember the TV show Mission Impossible? Every show involved a carefully crafted plan to get a bad guy to do something to hasten his (they were always men) own demise. And, one thing always went wrong (“the tense moment”), requiring the MI team had to improvise on the spot.

As a kid I was always impressed at how the MI team, especially their leader Mr. Phelps, could so reliably predict how the bad guy would react to something. They always knew what to do. Except for “the tense moment,” things always went as planned.

Suppose you’re headed to a meeting to make a big presentation on your initiative. All the right people will be there, including the one person (the top dog) you really hope to influence. You step into the elevator, and suddenly you’re alone with the top dog. What an opportunity! This is your “tense moment.” Are you ready to prime the pump? Can you improvise? Have you got the one or two points ready to make right there, on-the-spot?

Whether it’s at the gym, on the playground with your kids, or in the elevator, you need to be prepared to influence with the opening comes—not when it’s scheduled to come.

Sometimes I wish that I could predict with such finesse just how people would react, what I needed to do, and when I’d need to do it. However, real life isn’t like ‘60s TV. It’s harder, more random and unpredictable.

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Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.

22 July 2008

Have you ever hesitated to try some new approach to a person or problem because of fear of failure? A fear that it wouldn’t work out and might even go poorly. Not to worry. Do it anyway. The chances that it will go perfectly are minute. Might as well get the first attempts out of the way—and learn how to do it better. After all, you can’t learn to skate/bike/ride a horse, etc. without falling down.

The phrase “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly” came from my colleague Wally Wilkins (www.take-risks.com). He uses it to remind people that when you try doing something new it’s not going to go perfectly (or even well) the first time. But, that doesn’t mean you give up. If it’s worth doing, you’ve got to keep after it.

I was working with a client in a difficult situation. She tried some new things, and got a lot of pushback from senior folks. Yet, she is clear that she must try these new tactics because it’s a matter of critical importance for the organization. As we debriefed, she identified several areas where she might refine her approach, but she remained very committed to keep trying.

This was not a situation of someone on a fool’s errand, banging their head against the wall. She’s remaining both focused and flexible. And, the goal is important. (After all, there are many things you can do badly that are NOT worth doing.)

Instead, she is focused on achieving significant results for the organization using a variety of different strategies and tools. She’s adjusting her strategy as she learns more. And, some things have gone badly. She even thinks a few might prove to be “career-limiting.”

And, yet, she is still trying. She has fallen down, got up, dusted herself off and gotten back on the horse. She knows that anything worth doing is worth doing badly.

Next time you are thinking about doing something risky, don’t expect it to go perfectly or even well. Just try to give yourself space to do your best and see what happens—and plan to try again. Things rarely work out magically the first time you try them. If it’s worth doing, keep trying!

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