Reverse Benchmark?

Photo Credit - Pixabay

In the 80s, 90s and 2000s benchmarking was a big part of organization strategy.  The approach was to copy excellence of the industry leaders and apply them to your own organization. There were mixed results for sure. 

Those who tout the virtues of benchmarking are a kind of copycat.  Most of the time the benchmarking exercise doesn't yield the kind of results that are expected.  That is because of the difference in the key factor - people.  By people I include all levels, particularly the leadership.  While the skills of people from Organization A may be similar to those in organizations that it is trying to benchmark against (even though they are in the same industry), the mindsets will be different, and therefore, the way that variations in methods are applied would be different.   This means that their organizations' cultures would be different. 

This is also the reason why top performers from one organization don't always do as well in another organization they move to, even though the industry and business is the same.

Even if there are positive results, they don't really do much to make the organization stand out i.e. distinguish itself from it's competition.  Customers are not going to be in a hurry to come to you if you are offering services or products that are commoditized.

pexels-maksgelatin-4412924

In the current adoption of AI scenario, we see similar attempts to incorporate AI into the organization without sufficient thought (beyond costs) of the possibilities and probabilities of long-term multiple -layer benefits.  This will eventually lead to the feeling of sameness.  Today, some of us are able to tell when a document (email / report / presentation) has been written by AI.

What might happen if the organization were to reverse benchmark?  Have a look at the short clip  that inspired this short piece.

Definitely food for thought for me- please share yours.

Perhaps this Reverse Benchmarking might help us make better choices when choosing how to apply AI at work or in our lives.

Over half of leaders regret replacing people with AI: Will you be next?

Photo by Vojtech Okenka: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photograph-of-chocolate-cupcake-with-red-strawberry-toppings-1055272/

There's a rush by organizations to incorporate AI in the workplace processes, and also a rush for candidates to gain AI skills through various courses.
However, there are timew when it's felt that they should have taken more time to consider factors, including the future before taking the decision.

For eg., I wonder if those rushing to learn MLL, have considered that one day, they might be made redundant by AI systems that they have created.

Here's a thought-provoking article on why there are regrets for replacing people with #AI.

From the article: "your competitors will buy AI technologies similar to, or better than, those you are using to replace your people. Any first-mover advantage will be quickly lost.".

Read the entire article here

Action from Training for Improving Long Term Performance

Here's the action from a program I did for a group of new employees from sales with varying years of experience (1 yr to 20 years).  The objective was to get them to think on how and why to go about improving performance in the long term.

Some of the topics covered were Personal Brand, Motivation, Resilience, Mindset, and how to develop Power Habits that make one successful.  The time allocated was less than optimum to cover such topics in detail, but I managed to get them thinking with the help of facilitator-led group discussions and processes.

The participants were alert and full of questions and insights that made the workshop fun and interesting and gave positive feedback about me to the organization.

Here's some of the action from the session.

Expectations

Habits that make us unsuccessful

Habits that lead to success

Building Resilience

Learnings of the day

5 Conversations that foster Teamwork in the Workplace

We know that the world moves based on #conversations and #decisions.

Here's a useful article on the kind of conversations that #leaders and #managers could have with their #teams to foster #teamwork at the workplace. You may even want to have some of these conversations as one-to-one sessions for specific effectiveness and outcomes.

From the article - "Consistent communication is essential for #collaboration and performance."

Contact me on ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com or send me a DM here if you want to learn how to make these conversations effective for your teams.

Rethinking the Labor Market in the Wake of AI

Pic credit - pexels-tara-winstead-8849295

An excellent article on what happens to the #workforce when #ai is introduced in organizations.

From the article: "AI requires humans in the loop, so using workers with deep industry experience to a new purpose that complements AI would be the right thing to do, as opposed to getting rid of them and then later figuring out that while the tasks they used to do are obsolete, the #knowledge they have is very valuable and should have been deployed elsewhere."

Read the rest of the article here

On board the HRM Committee of Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry

I am extremely thrilled and honoured to be a member of the HRM Committee hosted by Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

I'm thoroughly excited to work towards contributing innovative, cutting edge HR practices to enable organisations to enhance their success . Lots of learning opportunties on the way. Thanks to #BCCI

5 Things That Separate the Best Workplace Cultures From The Rest

 

Photo Credit : pexels-rdne-8068763

I've heard this line "You have come from a culture? Well, so does bacteria!"

Culture is the make and break of an organization, no matter how brilliant it's people are.  After all culture is defined by the way people work together.  

Let's also not forget that anyone who leads a team at any level of the organization also defines the culture for that team.  This may not often align completely with the culture of the organization. Hence the possibility of conflict and messiness is very real.

Throughout my HR stint, I worked in various organizations in different industries, including a startup.  Each organization had a distinct culture that was driven by those at the top with the most influence on their peers. Some places made it easier for people to work together, others tied up the organization in red tape, and still others had leaders at different levels that made employees ask "who interviewed him / her and what did they see in them that made them select that candidate.

As you can probably tell, leadership and culture has fascinated me for a long time.

Here's a fascinating article that I came across on the things that separate best #workplace #culture from others.

Excerpt - "It's important to note that creating a positive workplace culture is an ongoing process that requires continuous effort and attention. That’s the only thing the best and worst cultures have in common."

Read the rest of the article here.

Photo Credit : pexels-minan1398-1313814

The Recipe for Effective and Long-term Collaboration

Photo Credit: pexels-alexander-grey-1212407

Have you ever watched a movie with friends, and then later realize that each of you liked and disliked different parts of the same movie that you just saw together, at the same time in the same place?  A similar thing happens with real life people. Have you wondered what causes this difference of opinion? I am sure you noticed that this happens in other areas of life too, including the workplace.  Well, you are not alone in this.  Have a look at this snippet from the world of tennis.

From Facebook - "US Open 1981 final...who thought it would be their last match? McEnroe wrote in his book he could not motivate himself for 2 years after Borg quit. He tried to persuade Borg to comback. When Borg was in Chennai in Feb 2023,he was asked about his rivalry with John in a press meet. Borg recalled the interaction he had with McEnroe in 1982 and 1983. This is what Borg said.

"When I stepped away from the game, I was very young. I played an exhibition in Tokyo. John came to me and said, ‘You cannot stop playing tennis.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘No. Because I need you there!’ ‘But I don’t wanna play!"
“But he was always pushing me because I think, as long as I was there, he was pushing (himself). He liked it, he enjoyed it very much and that was very important for him. And he was very sad, disappointed. And he called me year later and said, ‘You sure you not going to come back to tennis again?’ ‘I’m sure. John. Listen, you do your things. I do my things.’

A similar sentiment was expressed by Freddie Mercury in the movie "Bohemian Rhapsody" when he said that while his solo career was successful, he missed the pushback from the Queen band members when they were writing songs. This pushback helped them deliver some of the best music that has stood the test of time.

If you think about it, this is not unusual at all. You would find this kind of team behaviour mentioned in the Storming, Norming and Performing stages of the Tuckman Stages of Group Development model. Every team tends to go through all the stages. Looking at the Storming stage, team members start to display more of their true selves and their differences while working together, which can lead to conflicts.  In the Norming stage, the team members have worked through their differences and establish some consensus (norms) about what and how things will be done.  There may still be disagreements, but are unlikely to derail the work.  In the Performing stage, the team members understand and accept each other better, enabling them to deliver great performance.  These stages aren't linear and team members are likely to revert to the earlier stages in case of new projects, disagreements or changes in leadership. As the leader or team member, the model will help you understand the stage that your team is in, thus enabling you to make relevant adjustments in your behaviour. You can read more details about the model here - https://hr.mit.edu/learning-topics/teams/articles/stages-development

I have seen this kind of scenario in other situations too. I've learnt that it's important because if you don't have someone who is good enough or better than you to work with, then you cannot improve more than what your mind comes up with.  We know that the seven colours of the rainbow combine to give us many more colours. Similarly, the mind gets it's ideas and inspiration from the points of view that are different / unique / contrary more than the homogeneous.

This absolutely drives home the need for interacting and being with people from diverse  ways of thinking.  We have diverse ways looking at the world and making our strengths come to life (i.e. using them) because we come from different homes, cultures, education, experiences and upbringing which have combined to give us a unique worldview.  This is a practice followed by masters through the ages. Most of the time, however, we're not fully aware that we're doing this.

Could this be because we tend to see things as we are, not as they exist in reality?

So, we must first accept that there are things we prefer to do and things we prefer to NOT do - not try to do everything.  NEXT we have to identify them. If we are able to identify and filter out some of the censorship that is invariably there (fear-driven, cautious behaviour from our Imposter Syndrome being a key culprit) that exists in our minds, we give ourselves the opportunity of asking "why not" or "how about" and exploring possibilities while experimenting with different ways of doing things.  You will find your tasks / work sparking into experiences filled with fresh learning and success.

As a strengths strategy coach, I help teams understand each other's strengths and weaknesses and enable them to build the necessary synergy (and engagement) for creating magic at work.  I use PRISM Brainmapping Inventory or the CliftonStrengths assessment as a primary aid for this.

If you want to know how to get your team to collaborate by complementing each other's weaknesses with their strengths, write to me on ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com or call on +91982155778.

 

It's not OK to feel desperate at work

Workdays that are constantly stressful can  be overwhelming.

If your week (or past few weeks) have been more #stressful than usual with a recurring sense of #dejavu, then take a pause and have a look at this article.

In case you want to have a chat, don't hesitate to message me.

#strengthsdecoder #performancecoach #performancecoaching #careercoach #careertransition

Upskilling instead of hiring

Fascinating article that discusses #upskilling of employees based on #potential as well as #performance.

To me, the line "Lead employees to a role they love by helping them identify whether their current role matches their natural interests." talks of building a #strengthsbased #organization. Just substitute the word 'interests' with 'strengths'. Of course, this means you inculcate this in the hiring process first, so that #peopledevelopment becomes more easier.

Read the rest of the article here.

Choosing your Mood - Every Day, Every Time

This post is about choosing our moods on a daily basis.

Some times we do it consciously, but most days we are reacting. 

The above image (image sourced from Pinterest) got me thinking.  Some thoughts about this interesting image (you can substitute the word 'mood' for the word 'chair') :

1) Which of these chairs did you spend the maximum amount of time last week?
2) Which other chairs did you occupy during the week?
3) Which chair would you justify your choice the most, perhaps subconsciously?
4) In this week, which chairs would you intentionally like to spend the most time?
4a) In this week, which chairs would you intentionally like to AVOID spending the most time?
4b) What exactly will you do about these intentions?

Post your responses if you are comfortable, or don't.

Definitely do reflect on them and have a wonderful week.

#coaching #coachingquestions #performancecoach #emotionalintelligence #managingemotions #strengthsdecoder #reflection #introspection #emotionalregulation #emotions #coach

How to Deliver Strategic Change

Many change management initiatives in organizations don't succeed, for a variety of reasons. Here is a super article (and model) on how to deliver #strategic #change.  

From the article: "the need for clarity at the outset of a change initiative—the lack of which is a chief cause of failure."

Read the article here.

How to give Feedback That Lasts.

For a lot of managers and leaders, giving feedback is a challenge because they don't really know how to, haven't been through positive feedback experiences themselves, or just don't like to be the bearer of "bad" news.

Here are #practicaltips on how to deliver #feedback that lasts. FYI - the Sandwich method isn't one of them.

#practicaltips on how to deliver #feedback that lasts. FYI - the Sandwich method isn't one of them.

Read the article here.