Extreme User Interviews

"The way to get good ideas, is to get lots of ideas and throw the bad ones away."
- Linus Pauling

Launching A New Idea
Over the course of my career I've come up with plenty of good ideas. At least I thought they were good ideas. A valuable lesson I learned along the way was to utilize a small group of bright people to review my ideas, offer their feedback, and then improve or reject my "good idea."

Experienced Users Know the Hacks
How does that get put into practice? It's not as difficult as you might think, but it does require a healthy dose of trust and humility. Both are challenges for me!

My process was straightforward, and based entirely on my experiences with other leaders in the organization. Those that I knew were engaged, big thinkers, knew our culture, and were well respected were put on a list.

Next step, I reached out to them individually and asked them to serve as my sounding board group. If they were uncomfortable, it was, of course, perfectly fine for them to decline.

None ever did...and I suspect the leaders you ask will also jump at the opportunity to contribute and help you.

And then...the humility piece. Once the group was assembled and I walked them through my idea, it was time for them to offer their gut reactions, their insights, their unique perspectives on what I thought I had completely worked out in advance.

On more than one occasion their feedback was humbling; but was always provided professionally. The best part was, it helped me make much better decisions than if I had relied on myself. 

How About You
Who do you rely on to help you work through new ideas or changes to your organization? Is the pressure to come up with everything on your own locked into you head? Let that go...and reach out to all of those bright minds around you.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.


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Crush the Industry

I'm feeling particularly fired up to start the year. Now before you roll your eyes and write this off as another "New Year, New You" post, hang in there. Since when was it a bad thing to get fired up?

Focus
A state or condition permitting clear perception or understanding

I like that...particularly the "clear" part. What a gift to have a clear understanding of what we're supposed to be doing. How many times have you launched into new projects or assignments with a general sense of what needs to be done, versus a clear one?

Competitive Drive
Trying to be more successful than others

Absolutely. Do I want my organization to thrive? Of course I do...and you want yours to as well. That competitive mindset fuels our commitment to not only improve our company's performance, but our own as well.

Am I thinking about big new things in 2019? Yes!

How About You
What is pushing you this year? How are you going about crushing everything ahead of you? Is it a new job? A new side gig? Taking a risk in your current role that will change things in a big way?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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Artificial Intelligence and Me

"The upheavals [of artificial intelligence] can escalate quickly and become scarier and even cataclysmic. 

Imagine how a medical robot originally programmed to rid cancer, could conclude that the best way to obliterate cancer is to exterminate humans who are genetically prone to the disease."
- Nick Bilton, tech columnist wrote in the New York Times

What Is Going On Out There
Okay...Nick's view on AI may be a bit much, but that doesn't mean that taking the deep dive into the world of artificial intelligence isn't a potentially risky endeavor.

Consider what's at stake in your world:
- your employer brand integrity
- consistent messaging and tone
- avoidance of potential discriminatory issues
- and needless mistakes being made over and over again

As you consider stepping into the world of AI in your HR organization, can you honestly say that you trust the technology solutions you are considering rolling out?

Who tested them?
What is their full / limited functionality?
Are you prepared to trust the results of the AI 'work' done in place of a human?

I'm Fired Up
As for me, I am absolutely fired up about what AI will mean for me in 2019! 

We are rolling out cutting edge tools that we have confidence will deliver for our clients.

In just the last few months major milestones have been achieved with a variety of solutions that move from basic clunky 'tech' to actual operationalized AI.

That is exciting stuff!

How About You
Is your CEO asking you about AI? What is your answer? Are you prepared to deliver in a world that is accelerating faster than ever? 

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.
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Big 3

Today's post is short and to the point.

Transitioning to a new year means we sometimes think about making changes in our personal or professional lives.

Let's cut to the chase...

1. Pick three things to work on this year (not resolutions.)
2. Write them down with deadlines to make progress throughout the year.
3. Start today.

Stop with the self-talk noise.
Stop with the "I'm too busy excuse."

Just freaking go.

Happy New Year...and as always...

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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You Made My Day

I had something pretty cool happen recently. Someone told me that I "just made their day." Here's the coolest part...

...it was a stranger
...it involved public recognition
...and it leveraged his company's rewards program for the public to use

Wow! Right?

Practicing and Preaching
I've spent many years proclaiming the power of recognition. We all know it's an important tool for building relationships, trust, loyalty, and engagement. Sometimes I'm better at practicing it than preaching it, but I never lose sight of how impactful it can be.

The Story
Some of you may know that my professional life involves a heavy amount of travel; and with that, comes a familiarity with the staff of Southwest, the carrier I use. Well, one of the gate agents in Tampa is not only incredibly positive, but he is consistently positive every single day. 

Let's face it....gate agents don't get much glory. They don't sing you the safety instructions or bring you cans of water. They are stuck announcing flight delays or gate changes. 

Absolutely no glory whatsoever.

Well, Southwest has a rewards program whereby they send reward coupons to customers like me (think drink coupons, but targeted at recognizing their team members.) The coupons are personalized to me as a frequent customer, and allows me to recognize their team.

How good is that?

Which leads to his comment as I was walking by him to board the plane.

How About You
Are you doing more preaching than practicing when it comes to recognition in your organization? It's funny how it actually works out. His response made my day too.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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Your Tops for 2018

For those of us who are devoted to Spotify we have just received our Top Songs list for 2018. It's not a big surprise to me that many of the songs near the top of the list are from bands I've seen this year. 

It's been a fantastic music year...as I look back at it all.

Caught Up in the Moment
As I scanned through the long list of music I realized I had 'forgotten' some of the songs and bands. How could that happen so quickly? One day at the top of my playlist, and the next I don't even remember them?

How is that possible?

...and then I thought about all of the work my team has done this year...

One day I'm deep into an issue...and the next I don't even remember?

How is that possible?

Time to Reflect
As we stare down the end of another year, and before the blogosphere gets crowded with resolutions and fresh start messages, I thought my Spotify-moment was worth raising as a pathway to considering all of the work you and your team have accomplished this year.

If you're anything like me, the minute a big initiative is successfully completed I am going full speed into the next one...and now that I'm no longer, shall we say, young-ish, I don't always remember all of those successes.

I think something wonderfu is lost in the hustle to always launch the 'next big thing' as quickly as possible, don't you?

How About You
As you wrap things up for 2018, take some time to reflect with your team on the successes of the past year. Talk about those wins. Re-congratulate each other for quality work that made a difference. Savor those moments...you're part of a special group of people all working toward the same goals. 

That my friends is a blessing we should never take for granted.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

Crash and Burn Leadership

Wait, what?

We're leaders. We don't have time for anything ever, let alone ourselves, right? 

We care for others!
We care for our teams!
We care for our CEOs!
We care for the employees!

We...crash and burn. That's what we do.

We crash. 
and. 
burn.

Give Give Give
What is it about being a dedicated leader that makes us all feel like we're supposed to work ourselves into oblivion? I mean, seriously...sometimes over the years I've pushed myself beyond what would be a reasonable limit.

And for what? How many of us were recognized for arriving at 6:00am everyday? I know the answer.

None of us.

But, wait a minute. Those early hours, late nights, and weekends diving into that task list paid off for us! We were on top of our workload...connected with everybody...and executed on time, every time.

But at what cost?

Self Care is Beast Mode
For those of you that believe self-care is a soft cop out I have news for you.

"There is no glory in pushing yourself so hard 

chasing an imagined super-hero image 

that you have nothing left to give. 

You've simply failed."

The real "A-players" of leadership focus on a lot more than their Inbox and task list. Here are a few things that make it to the top of their priority list:

- spending time listening to the employees

- exercising

- intentionally slowing down

- reading

- eating (reasonably) healthy

- meditating or praying

- networking for the sake of connecting, not for pure professional gain

- reading (a real book or a digital one)

- taking time off

...and you can continue to add to the list...

How About You

Do you matter enough to your organization, your team, your family and to yourself to go all beasty with your own self-care? It's not going soft...it's actually stepping up in a profound and impactful way.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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