Funky Leadership Advice

Stories of leadership are found in all shapes and sizes, both very serious stories and some not so. One excerpt from a new book The Art of Doing:How Superachievers Do What They Do and How They Do It So Well was recently shared on the Fast Company blog titled The Mothership Connection: Funktastic Career Tips From Funk Legend George Clinton.

The basic take-away is that great things can happen when fun, passion, excellence, focus, experimentation, persistence and timing collide. It’s certainly true for music, art and design.

The story offers up nine pieces of advice and lessons learned from George Clinton, a short manifesto for doing cool things well. Check them all out and a few that I’ve highlighted below are great reminders.

1. Someone has to be the ringleader: “Someone’s got to be in control and if you know what you want, it might as well be you.”  I guess I’d substitute responsible for in control.

2. Grab What You Like and Bring Your Own Thing: Was funk a Blue Ocean strategy?

6. Listen to Feedback: “You hear us. We hear you back.”

7. Stick Together:  “… if anybody gets in trouble, we’re all going to stick with that person no matter what.”

9. Keep Chasing the Dream: ” I’m not trying to catch up with being happy–because it’s the pursuit of happiness i’m after. I want to be so close behind it I can almost touch it. That’s what keeps me looking forward and moving ahead.”

As George says if you’ve ever been in the Funk, you’re in it forever.  Oh, we like the funk, we like the funk!

The Science of Persistence - Climate Science Pioneers

Within the past month, two significant global environmental events occurred, the death of Joseph Farman, discoverer of the Ozone Hole, and the first recording of atmospheric CO2 levels above 400 ppm on the Keeling Curve. What connects these events?

Reading Joseph Farman's recent obituary in the New York Times, I was reminded of his Ozone Hole discovery almost thirty years ago, and was drawn into the interesting story of his dedication as a scientist and researcher. With the British Antarctic Survey in 1957, he began collecting the ground level ozone readings which eventually resulted in one of the most important environmental discoveries of the twentieth century. But what emerges beyond the discoveries, the subsequent adoption of the Montreal Protocol to ban CFC's, and Farman's related personal recognition, are the quotes, taken from the Times obituary, regarding his methods and diligence.

"…his commitment to the prosaic first principles of data collection, they said, in the remotest outpost of the scientific world, produced discoveries unimagined by other scientists and overlooked by orbiting satellites."

"But Mr. Farman refused to stop making ground-level readings, despite his superior's questions about their usefulness, and despite his lack of standing in the field of ozone research."

"His dedication, as much to the principle of scientific record keeping as to ozone study, would make him something of a working class hero among scientists."

After twenty five years of recordings he had collected enough evidence to show that ozone levels over the Antarctic had fallen by 40% in just a ten-year period and that the ozone hole was a real and present danger to life on earth. Sharon Roan, author of Ozone Crisis: The 15-Year Evolution of a Sudden Global Emergency, noted his modest willingness to do the research he thought was important to do. "He wasn't looking for anything astonishing -- just doing a little job, and persevering at it. And he came up with the most astonishing discovery."

At the same time that Joseph Farman began his environmental recordings, another climate science pioneer, Charles David Keeling, was initiating his recordings of atmospheric carbon dioxide, two miles high on the rim of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. As a scientist with Scripps Institution of Oceanography, he began making daily recordings with a device he developed at Caltech. These measurements were begun as part of a one-year initiative, the International Geophysical Year. Like Farman, Keeling's persistence and discipline resulted in daily recordings which have been consistently recorded since 1958 and are now referred to as the Keeling Curve. Historical research has shown that, prior to 1750, pre-industrial levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide ranged from 275-285 ppm. When Keeling initiated his measurement the level was about 315 ppm, and his subsequent measurements recorded the growth attributed to human activity and fossil fuel consumption. The terms greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change all have origins resulting from this data and Keeling's subsequent research.

When the May report of atmospheric carbon dioxide recordings showed measurements of more than 400 ppm, it was seen as a possible tipping point. Many believe, like climate scientist James Hansen, that we must reduce levels to 350 ppm to mitigate the range of environmental impacts associated with higher levels of concentration of atmospheric CO2. Framed around the crucial need for reduction to this lower level, Bill McKibben's environmental movement, 350.org, also reacted to the announcement of the 400 ppm recording.

But back to the nexus of the climate science pioneers, Farman and Keeling, and the recent events that remind us of the important lessons of their research. Both scientists began their studies in remote locations and at about the same time in the late 50's, just as Sputnik went into space. Both were personally passionate, believing in themselves and the importance of their work, and persisting over significant time in the measurements which have changed our understanding of the planet. Farman and Keeling left us powerful lessons, yet we still have much to learn.

Blog On

A few weeks ago I came across an interesting research article related to blogging and its impact on chronic illness. It triggered a number of reactions and reflections, so I wrote about it on the Cannon Design blog. Reflecting on the topic was also a reminder that I had been posting frequently on the Cannon blog and tweeting even more often, but my personal blog was dormant. So now I'll take my own advice and blog on. Here's to getting back to keeping my own blog rolling!

Rolling Fat: A Motor Trend

Recently in the gym, I picked up a magazine to read while I warmed up on the bike. In a recent Motor Trend magazine, I happened upon an article,Technologue: Rolling Fat: Is Our Auto-Centric Lifestyle Making Us Obese?

As I’m burning off some calories, I find some recent research by Sheldon Jacobson, a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Illinois, linking automobile use and adult obesity. Their trend analysis of vehicle miles driven divided by the number of licensed drivers from 1985 to 2007 highly correlated (98 %) with annual obesity rate information from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

While there are many candidates for blame in the spiraling epidemic of obesity in the U.S., Jacobson submits that the number one source is our staple of modern life that we can’t seem to live without – the automobile. As he points out in the article, “Obesity is an energy imbalance, and driving is one of the lowest energy expenditure activities we do in any day.” But what can we really do about such a fundamental part of the nation’s daily routine? Is it possible to continue our driving patterns and still eliminate obesity? The research team sees this topic as complex requiring that we, as a society, will have to rethink the way we use our automobiles if we want to address obesity.

The following quote captures some perspective and change actions:

Turning its numbers around, the U of I team asserted that America’s obesity problem would be eliminated if we each replaced 12 miles of daily driving with a more physical means of transportation while continuing to do the same things. Jacobson knows this will never happen and notes “if the changes that lead to obesity are small, the changes that reverse it can be small, too – but they must be persistent. If every licensed driver reduced travel by one mile per day, in six years the adult obesity rate would be 2.16 %lower, leading to $16-18 billion in healthcare savings.

In a related article, Jacobson carries the discussion further to link these complex issues in both public health and environmental perspectives. He states “at the aggregate, if we drive less, not only will our carbon footprint be smaller, we will lose more weight as a nation.”

What Do You Believe?

Last October I wrote about watching Simon Sinek's TEDx Talk, and I've finally gotten around to reading his book, Start With Why. I also just finished reading Clarence Jone's book, Beyond the Dream, which chronicles the events and setting of Martin Luther King Jr's I Have a Dream speech. As I read both books I found a lot of overlap in the themes of the two books, both focused on dreams, beliefs, values and culture for individuals, communities, organizations and countries. We've used these themes to inform discussion in our firm related to living our Vision and realizing the potential of our Ideas-Based practice, but they hold true, and can benefit, any organization.

In Start With Why, Simon Sinek talks a lot about the importance of organizational trust, the perspective of companies as a culture, and the realization that the culture results from a strong sense of shared beliefs and values. While these are not radically new concepts, they are a reassuring reminder to keep these issues at the forefront in organizational actions. Two points stood out for me: the relationship between trust and risk-taking, and the importance of beliefs in growing/adding people to an organization. The following quote from Sinek's book makes the first point clear.

"If there is no trust, then no one would take risks. No risks would mean no exploration, no experimentation and no advancement of society as a whole."

Deep trust is a critical condition for an ideas-based practice and, as Simon goes on to point out, to leaders of organizations. He states that leaders must provide a safety net of trust, both practical and emotional, to enable the desired broad ranging, creative thought and idea generation to occur.

On the second point of organizational growth and recruiting, Simon states that the most important characteristic is finding people who believe in what the firm believes. This assumes that the firm, the whole firm, understands what it believes and the reason why it believes as it does. He notes that the search is for people who are "good fits" with the "right attitude", not just those with the skills that are needed. He underscores this with a quote from Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines, "You don't hire for skills, you hire for attitude. You can always teach skills." While this concept doesn't quite fit architectural and engineering skills, what does carry over, is how attitude and beliefs influence what is done with one's skills. Taking it one step further, Simon says:

"Great companies don't hire skilled people and motivate them, they hire motivated people and inspire them. People are either motivated or they are not."

Leaders must consciously give motivated people something to believe in, something to work toward that is ultimately bigger and of broader importance than their individual job.

Like I did in a previous post, whenever I'm off thinking about these topics I always come back to Bill Caudill and his TIB's or writings called This I Believe. The following TIB, written by Bill Caudill on January 17, 1977, was called Values -- Values and Goals.

Goals could lead us to a very exciting future -- provided, of course, we are motivated and dedicated to carry them out.

GOALS RELATE TO VALUES.

So what are values? Webster lists seven or eight meanings. I like "relative worth", but that's still too vague. Let me try to tie "value" to goals.

IF A GOAL IS TO HAVE VALUE,

1. IT MUST MOTIVATE.
2. IT MUST COST SOMETHING -- MONEY, TIME, EFFORT, RESOURCES.
3. IT MUST SERVE SOMEONE.

CRS has always had certain values. These are spelled out in detail in the document called Ten General Goals passed by the Board in 1974. Values do change throughout the years, but very slowly. Goals are more changeable depending upon current problems within and outside CRS.

You can judge a firm by what it values. Same with a person.

To reiterate the three points made by Bill Caudill, a goal must motivate, must cost something and must serve someone. He links together motivation, inspiration, investment and service or purpose to provide Simon Sinek's 'why'.

For any organization, this is a reminder to think daily about the vision being pursued, to think deeply about why the organization is doing what it's doing, and to reconfirm the beliefs that drive all decisions.

What do you believe?

Associational Thinking

A recent post and article in Forbes, by Clayton Christensen and colleagues, presented results of research on innovative companies. Their focus was development of a method to rank and evaluate publicly traded companies with a measure called The Innovation Premium. But to me, the really important ideas that come from their new book, The Innovator's DNA, and the article, are the five skills of disruptive innovators quoted below.

• Questioning allows innovators to challenge the status quo and consider new possibilities;
• Observing helps innovators detect small details—in the activities of customers, suppliers and other companies—that suggest new ways of doing things
• Networking permits innovators to gain radically different perspectives from individuals with diverse backgrounds;
• Experimenting prompts innovators to relentlessly try out new experiences, take things apart and test new ideas;
• Associational thinking—drawing connections among questions, problems or ideas from unrelated fields—is triggered by questioning, observing, networking and experimenting and is the catalyst for creative ideas.

I guess that professionals in architecture and engineering firms might very well think this article is mainly a consideration for corporate businesses, but because we are trained as creative professionals, we think that innovation is really our normal game. However that may be an arguable point. The five skills of disruptive innovators, along with the "3P's" of people, processes and philosophies, frame their understanding of the DNA of innovative organizations and provide a structure for all to assess their real innovation potential. It is a good message to understand.

Further on in the article, they ask the question "what does the average company need to achieve in these areas to spark an innovation premium?" They then lay out an answer for architectural and engineering firms to consider.

Fundamental change within senior managers (some mastery of the five discovery skills); changes in how their innovation project teams work (processes that support innovation); and changes in philosophies that foster the belief that innovation really is everyone’s job. Rare is the leader who fully grasps how to embed the 3Ps deeply enough into a company’s culture to create a powerful, positive innovation premium.

The takeaway for me in this innovation story is the importance of associational thinking. Let's take this research from the business world and related industries, and transfer it to architectural and engineering practices as the design industry deepens the growth of innovation and new ideas for the built environment.

Blog Post Wordle

I recently created this wordle of a blog I posted Dec. 16, 2010 titled “Research Opportunities are Everywhere.” I thought it was an interesting graphical representation of the theme and tone of the post.