I had barely begun my journey up the corporate ladder when Work in America was first published, but the authors have gone back to their original methodology and created The New American Workplace to document how worklife has changed over the past 30 years.
In brief, Job Satisfaction is up, Self-Employment is more common and dynamic, and opportunities for women are far greater and more equitable (though there probably still room for improvement). Their predictions that American's would defer retirement (or re-define it) was correct, although not necessarily for all the right reasons: (all quotes from article at Fast Company)
On Retirement: "The thrust toward 'early' retirement calls into doubt the very meaning of 'retirement.'… [R]ecent analysis of census data indicates that older men increasingly do not and will not want to retire at age 65." [1973]
Wow, did we get that right! Americans' deferral of retirement is good news for corporations as we head toward a labor crunch with the aging of the boomer generation. Alas, the willingness of Americans to soldier on is not simply a voluntary response among work-loving men and women who are living longer, healthier lives and want to feel productive. Many workers want to retire, but they are not able to do so "in comfort": Boomers are discovering that the once-prevalent company pension plans that funded their parents' retirements will not be able to pay for theirs. [2006]
And finally, in their current review they admit that they "failed to recognize that the greatest obstacles to high-involvement workplaces are the attitudes and assumptions of top executives. Many are still threatened by the prospect of worker participation. And too many leaders of American corporations still believe they have "no choice" but to match the working conditions and employment practices of their lowest-wage competitors at home and, increasingly, abroad."
Optimistically, "All the evidence shows that workers who participate in decision making, training, profit sharing, and stock ownership are so much more productive than workers who don't enjoy these working conditions that they pay for their own higher salaries and benefits. They also work to keep jobs in America."
Another wake up call for senior management across all industries -- Southwest, Costco, Harley-Davison, UPS, and many others have done it and you can too.
Tags: work life, workplace, retirement, management, pmba
from management-issues: Leaders don't listen, don't manage and don't have a clear vision. And that article has links to the following:
- Poor communications tops list of management challenges
- Communication breakdown
- Senior Execs lack communications skills
I hate to come back on such a negative note, but at least I held off on reviewing the book I'm reading: Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction, and Economics. Now that's a fun read.
Seth Godin has posted about his friend Doug. Doug has done very well for himself, he has held about seven different jobs in 14 years with his company, and is highly respected in his organization.
Seth told him he needs to quit.
Doug needs to leave for a very simple reason. He's been branded. Everyone at the company has an expectation of who Doug is and what he can do. Working your way up from the mailroom sounds sexy, but in fact, it's entirely unlikely. Doug has hit a plateau. He's not going to be challenged, pushed or promoted to president. Doug, regardless of what he could actually accomplish, has stopped evolving -- at least in the eyes of the people who matter.
If he leaves and joins another company, he gets to reinvent himself. No one in the new company will remember young Doug from 10 years ago. No, they'll treat Doug as the new Doug, the Doug with endless upside and little past.
I'm on the fence with regards to Doug. I think it's true that in a new position, a Doug with endless upside potential could be exciting. But the truth is, it takes a lot of effort to re-launch a brand, and it sounds like he's worked hard enough to justify reaping the rewards.
If this is such a great idea for Doug, why wouldn't Seth take his own advice and walk away from his marketing-guru/author/lecturer brand? Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't walk away from it either -- there is still plenty of life left it.
Maybe that's what it comes down to -- evaluate your personal brand against the old BCG matrix. I think Seth's point is that you want to be sure your brand and your career isn't a Dog, and I completely agree. It sounds like Doug has been a Star and is a now a Cash Cow. Using his brand capital to invest in new projects can bring him back up to a Star periodically or temporarily, but he probably can't pull that trick out of his hat too many more times (Seth's main point, I think). But he probably has time to milk the Cash Cow position before sliding into the Dog pound.
I guess in this analysis, Seth's brand is in the Cash Cow quadrant as well. Purple Cash Cow, of course. I get the feeling that would drive him nuts. I don't want to see Seth quit, not by a long shot, but I wonder how he would react if someone told him he needed to re-brand.
Tags: seth godin, Brand You, career branding, cash cow, rising star, pmba
Finding purpose: don't let it get you down
you know, the thing I take comfort in is this: I don't think anybody over the age of 60 will tell you that they figured out their life's purpose when they were in their early 20's. OK, maybe a small percentage, but I'm guessing the majority did not figure out their life's purpose until they were married (if they chose to marry), had kids (again, if that was their choice), and been stuck in a few dead-end jobs. Ghandi didn't really get things going in India until he was 47 (ok ok, he had started with the civil rights movement in South Africa in his 20's, but come on... that was Ghandi!)
for those of you seeking your life's purpose, here are a few tips from management-issues:
- don't let it get you down
- find it in the quiet spaces
- find it outside of your own needs
- find it in what gives you joy
- find it in the small things
more here. and Patricia Soldati ends off with this:
A light, curious heart will attract your purpose to you. Didn't find it today? No problem…perhaps tomorrow. One thing's for sure, it will come. Each of you has a reason for being on this earth. No exceptions.
management-issues discusses the need to have a Prevailing Management Philosophy:
Whether people watch you fall or rise is down to your Prevailing Management Philosophy.
So, what is the PMP's purpose? What does it look like? How do you get one?
The PMP is needed to help you make quick and useful decisions based on your chosen management style and to act as a rudder towards fulfilling your ambitions. It will ensure that you are always in control when the unexpected happens.
Your PMP is the third thing, after a short-term and long-term plan, that you can turn to when things happen that are not accounted for in the short-term and long-term plan...
Think of your PMP like a management religion. It is an arc that covers all possibilities, with a specific start and end point not written in specifics but in philosophy. You can't anticipate a divorce, but you can have a rationale that deals with what is more important, work or family. [...]
Think of your PMP like your 10 Commandments. Something that aids decision making in a few short easily remembered phrases. However, this religion is just about what you want, your strengths and your ambitions - your personal management morality handbook. Its purpose is to serve you in times of doubt to act decisively and confidently.
OK, OK, I'm thinking about my PMP already... now to codify it.
Tags: management philosophy, planning, pmba
I was reading Presentation Zen today, I saw several "methods" among the list of his most popular posts:
- The "Lessig Method"
- The "Godin Method"
- The "Kawasaki Method"
- The "Takahashi Method"
- The "Monta Method"
- The "Microsoft Method" Not recommended -- a good study of what not to do
- Tom Peters on Presentations Not acknowledged as a method per se, I think the writer dislikes the style but appreciates the substance of Tom's "Presentation Excellence"
I'm not sure what method the following slide would belong to, but it was on his main page and I liked it -- Inspiration is more important than adhering to a certain style.
Tags: pmba, presentations, powerpoint, zen, howto
We have had a lot of discussions about Enron in several of my MBA classes, from Accounting and Finance to Ethics. What surprised me this weekend was the claim by our ethics professor, who has toured the federal prisons that hold the worst white-collar criminals and assured us that they are not at all the summer-camp/ClubFed atmosphere that many people think. He said that Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling will almost certainly be killed in prison.
"Really?"
"Oh yes," he replied gravely. I wasn't at all comfortable with that, and was searching for something else to say when a classmate said, "good, they deserve it."
Dumbfounded, I was silent. But I wholly disagree. Skilling and Lay are very flawed, and they have committed some very serious crimes for which they should pay with significant jail time. But I don't believe they should pay with their lives.
Any thoughts?
Tags: enron, lay, skilling, justice, ethics, capital punishment, death penalty
