The interplay of Culture, Connections and Performance...

The Interplay of Culture, Connections and Performance

 Every action has consequences

  Connections to our mutual well-being

   When LaserShip’s Katy M. answered her cell phone after leaving work on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 16th, she probably did not think that it was the owners of the company calling her; what went through her mind was most likely just responding to one more after work request from a customer, a question about a particular delivery, or a difficult problem that needed her solution. 

   Katy is familiar with those types of calls—she responds all the time during work and after work to similar requests.  But, this call was to thank Katy for her extraordinary efforts the day before—and reported in LaserDay on that Wednesday—to take charge of the office in the absence of others and stay in charge far into the night when she was called out to make a final pick-up. 

  Katy’s response to the “thank you” call was that she was just doing her job; that taking care of the clients even if it meant going back out in the night to make a pick up, was what was necessary in order to make sure everyone’s livelihood was protected.   

   This mutual connection to our shared future is something that Katy understands very well.  In September 2009 her home was completely underwater from flooding in the Atlanta area.  Not only did her Atlanta team, but also many people throughout the company and in the corporate office responded to help her get back up on her feet. 

  Katy‘s story is illustrative of the interplay between culture and performance.  Our company’s culture plays a special role in driving engagement (connections) and where engagement leads, performance follows. 

  Connecting people to our company, as exampled by Katy, is our goal and in this 25^th year our priority.    We are taking concrete steps to identify the specific values based actions that we can take to make sure that everyone feels the connection to our mutual well being. 

   Our actions, especially those of leaders, must demonstrate accountability for our success and demonstrate a consideration of the whole not the parts. 

  Actions that support our mutual well being include:

v     Accepting and committing to the idea that everything is my job

v     Recognizing that every action or decision—significant or seemingly insignificant—has multiple consequences

v     Considering the impact on the whole from both words and actions

v     Being accountable for everything that occurs; holding others equally accountable

v     Being reachable by anybody: Encouraging my team members, peers and customers to reach out

v     Communicating the significance of our work conduct and product; communicating to individuals and teams how their activities impact customers, colleagues and the entire company

v     Making decisions and performing each job in a manner that will reflect well on our company, will result in growth, opportunities and prosperity for all

No need to go undercover if approachable...

No Need to go Undercover if Approachable

 Better ways to find, learn, grow, advance

 Open to the exchange of ideas, solutions and feedback

   “Undercover Boss,” a CBS reality television program follows the heads of major corporations as they go “undercover” inside their own businesses.  Memorable episodes have included the CEOs of Waste Management, Hooters, United Van Lines and 7-11.

   This show allows the executives to find out what's really going on in their companies; it shows them that what they hear in the board room is not always what the employees think.  It allows them to find what is right, what needs to be fixed, and who the real heroes are of the company.

 Because the employees don’t know the identity of their undercover co-worker they are for forthcoming with their perspectives and opinions.  As a result, the bosses hear things they never would have learned: Ideas for how to do things better, opinions on the effects of policies, 

   The 7-11 CEO, Joe DePinto, for example, working a donut production line, learned the secret’s of how to keep pace with the conveyor belt—ideas he was able to pass on to others.  He discovered that stores could not get their outside lights fixed because of inefficient and unresponsive maintenance procedures.  He also found out why one store sold more cups of coffee than any other:  The manager, Delores, knew and greeted by name every customer who came in the store. 

   Going undercover is one way to hear a different perspective, exchange ideas, or gain feedback.  A better way might be to create and advance a culture that operates on the principle of leader approachability with openness to the exchange of ideas, solutions and feedback.

   LaserShip, in our developmental years operated around these principles; now as we become a very large company it is our responsibility to make sure the guiding principles of our success to not become a casualty of growth.  We want our leadership’s actions to demonstrate approachability, humbleness (“I don’t have all the answers”), willingness to receive and share the advice and experience of others, and the desire to examine their own actions, performance and results in order to improve ourselves and the company.

   We are celebrating in our 25^th year not only our longevity but also the ideas and principles that put us in our industry leading position.  The actions that support openness and approachability are:

v     Asking questions to learn and understand different perspectives before making decisions

v     Asking for feedback on our company, decisions, polices, procedures and results

v     Acknowledging limitations in order to gain from the strength of others

v     Being open and transparent in dealings with people at any level, inside and outside our organization, including colleagues, contractors and customers

v     Being reachable by anybody: I encourage my team members, peers and customers to contact me

v     Being receptive to and actively seek feedback on my decisions and performance from my subordinates

v     Demonstrating respect for the opinions and contributions of others

v     Using performance feedback as an opportunity to teach and motivate

Collaboration Key to Mutual Success...

Collaboration Key to Mutual Success

 Overcoming Hierarchical and Organizational Lines

             Collaboration across Boundaries

   They help each other survive.  A most unusual collaboration exists in the animal world:  Coyotes and badgers help each other find and trap food. As a matter of fact, it is more likely that coyotes hunt for food alongside badgers than with other coyotes! The pairs track down small, burrowing animals and if they’re above ground, the coyote will chase them down and the badger takes over the hunt if they go underground. And not only do they find food together, but coyotes also have more success in this partnership than if they go it alone:  Coyotes with badger cohorts catch an estimated one-third more ground squirrels than solo coyotes.

   This animal kingdom collaboration isn't to imply that the two animals are friends—they're essentially competing for the same meal. Instead, it all boils down to efficiency and practicality: They catch more, faster and survive longer when working together.  Each animal takes advantage of the other's hunting skills and adaptations. Coyotes have keener eyesight for spotting prey than badgers. On the other hand, badgers can sniff out prey underground.

   The lesson for us is that individuals, teams and organizations all have unique skills and adaptations—things they have learned to do because of experience.  When we collaborate with others—both inside and outside the company—we are taking the best from all and combining to achieve more. 

   LaserShip essentially works as a collaborative organization.  Throughout out our 25 year history, individuals and offices have shared customers, coordinated activities, offered experience based advice and knowledge, provided assistance and support:  We have survived and grown because of collaborative behaviors. 

   We believe that our organizational and hierarchical lines do not exist to prevent our reaching out to request or give assistance, to offer or receive advice, or to accept or provide feedback that contributes to our mutual success.

  In our 25^th year we have identified specific behaviors that can be taken to make sure we continue to collaborate across all boundaries, including:

 

v     I actively solicit input from sources regardless of position, title or level

v     I strive to build collaborative relationships within customer organizations; I ask questions of and listen to customers in order to learn how to better serve their needs.

v     I share information; I offer what I have learned to members of my team(s) and with others throughout the company

v     I actively interact with my team(s) and customers to bridge barriers or to breakdown walls, opening up opportunities for me to hear and understand different perspectives and to improve relationships that allow me to better learn, teach, motivate or direct

Most profitable companies have other focuses...

              Most profitable companies have other focuses

         Caring about People, Processes and Outcomes

   British General James Wolfe assaulted the French in Quebec in 1759 by attacking the city from an indirect route, surprising and defeating the French garrison. The U.S. National Park Service uses a counter-intuitive and indirect way of fighting fires; they set smaller fires to burn the underbrush that causes larger fires.  The French scientist Louis Pasteur, whose “germ theory” revolutionized how we think about infection and the transfer of diseases wasn’t trying to discover germs or how to pasteurize milk; those were unexpected results of experiments looking for something else.   All of these examples suggest that we can attain a desired goal only by ­pursuing it indirectly.

   These examples are a lot like happiness—a goal for everybody on the planet, and happiness, too, is not best achieved by pursuing it directly. Happiness is not something we achieve by repeating actions that make us happy—but pursuing other goals whose outcomes make us happy. 

  If personal happiness is achieved obliquely—in a round about way—it may be worth considering that  business success may very well be best achieved in this manner as well—pursuing goals indirectly. The purpose of business is the pursuit of profit.  But there is ample evidence of something called the profit-seeking paradox – that the most profitable companies are not the most profit-oriented.

   A good example is Merck, the pharmaceutical and healthcare company.  The founder, George Merck focused the company on manufacturing ­"medicine for the people . . . not for profits."   During the period he headed the company, Merck was comfortably profitable. Later, with another generation of leadership, the company assumed a more ­direct approach, pledging to be a company totally focused on growth and profits; company profits dropped.  ­Similarly, when Boeing's stated purpose shifted from surmounting "technological challenges" to an explicit ­focus on "shareholder value," its stock price floundered.  Moreover, one of the reasons Jack Welch did so well for General Electric's shareholders is that he worried first about workers and customers.

   By pursuing other purposes—like pleasing customers or providing a motivating work environment to employees—businesses can also achieve other sought-after outcomes such as profitability.  Customers will use services or recommend firms and employees will go the extra mile if they believe that the company and its leaders care about their interests.

  As someone once said, “Culture shortens the extra mile.”

  LaserShip’s goal in our 25^th year is to reconnect with our core—the founding principles of our business; during this year there is a desire to re-energize and re-emphasize those principles that guide our business—guidelines that have contributed to our success; to re-communicate guidelines for conducting our business. 

  From our value statements—focusing on customers and employees—we have identified a key guiding principle: Caring about People, Processes and Outcomes.  Like Merck, like Boeing, like GE, we are putting other possible results first; believing we can attain certain desired goals by ­pursuing them indirectly.  We believe it is important to demonstrate—in our decisions and actions—a balancing of many factors: Always considering the who, the how and the why. 

   Our Organizational Trait of Caring about People, Processes and Outcomes is behaviorally based:  It is best judged by how effective we are in doing not just talking.  Supporting actions include:

v      Making decisions and taking actions that demonstrate sustainable business practices which considers our employees, our customers and our stakeholders

v      Consciously considering who is affected, what is involved and what are all the possible outcomes and consequences when making decisions, determining a course of action, or implementing plans

v      Always “closing the loop” on any decisions and actions: Following up to determine that the needs of people, processes and outcomes have been met

v      Being personally invested in any decisions: Meaning we do what we say we will; purring our names on decisions and outcomes; sacrificing resources and short term rewards to achieve desirable goals.

                                                           

v      Simultaneously developing people, improving processes and producing profits

Building a business to be proud of...

Building a business to be proud of

           Finding Joy in Relationships and Outcomes

    

   We are doing more than building a profit producing machine.  If that were all, we would be lost—and we would have failed long before our 25^th anniversary.  Throughout our company’s history we have built the business on relationships: Getting to know people, providing people with opportunities to grow—the chance to do more, contribute more, achieve more and earn more—sharing the challenges of taking on seemingly impossible tasks and succeeding together, enjoying the marvel of what we have mutually created. 

   We see the years 1986 - 2011 on our current 25^th anniversary logos…but focusing on those two listed years misses the major point.  What is important is what is represented by “the dash” that lies between those numbers—that little dash represents all the 25 years and all that we have accomplished in those years. 

   What matters most is not the 1986 when we started or the 2011 that we have reached, but all those years in between—the dash years.  That little dash represents all the time we have had together—even if it has just been for a part of those 25 years.   When we have all reached our retirement age we will look back and not remember the amount of packages or profits, but we will remember the years together in which we built, shared, learned, laughed and cared.  It will be how we have lived those years represented by the dash—in other words how we have spent our dash. 

   It is fitting then, in our 25^th year, that we are making an attempt to state just exactly how we want to operate and grow this business: What values we share, what traits sustain us and what actions support are words. 

   Emanating from our Values of focusing on people and quality, we have identified an organizational trait—a shared characteristic—of finding Joy in Relationships and Outcomes.  This means that we find strength in people, satisfaction in associations and collaboration and we celebrate our achievements

   We know that the observable behaviors that support, sustain and strengthen this 25 year old organizational characteristic—extending it into the future in order to keep our company vital—are actions such as: 

v     Actively getting to know team members in a personal level, understanding their skills, needs, motivations and contributions

v     Actively identifying people for job and career growth;

v     Actively committing  resources to developing career and vocational growth

v     Actively setting up opportunities for achievement and creating rewards

v     Actively giving credit to others;

v     Actively celebrating the achievements of others;

v     Actively finding opportunities to acknowledge achievement

v     Actively and regularly using company programs to recognize individual and team achievement

v     Actively bringing passion, enthusiasm and fun to the workplace

                                                     

v     Actively demonstrating a caring attitude about work relationships by being open, honest and direct in a way that strengthens both relationships and outcomes