Change is (probably) good

Back to blogging after a very long break. There is so much to think and talk about, so much going on and so many sources of information. I have decided to expand my blogging beyond my professional interests of collaboration and project management and focus on sorting out whatever captures my interest. Of course whatever I find interesting is probably related to how people and organizations - and governments - can play and work well together, and how to create order out of chaos.

I have always loved baseball. Favorite childhood memories include listening to the Minnesota Twins on my first transistor radio after I was supposed to be asleep. I carry two loves imbued by my dear father: baseball and scotch. He loved all sports, especially football, but the only one I ever cared about was baseball. I like the pace, the subtleties of the game, the strategy and knowledge needed of all teammates and opponents strengths and weakness. I especially appreciate the the way one person can make a difference and while needing to work well with others on the field, still gets the spotlight when all attention is focused on the batter.

As in life, the little things matter in baseball - the clean mechanics of a pitcher, the routine plays on the field, the stance of a batter. I am continually fascinated by the way coaches, managers and the GMs have to both do their own jobs well but have to understand and communicate with each other, as well as with the players. Maybe baseball was the beginning of my interest in collaboration.

Growing up with the Twins was a roller coaster experience and prepared me well for these years with the Nats. What I really miss in baseball is the stability of teams. I grew up idolizing Harmon Killebrew, Earl Battey, Bob Allison, Tony Oliva, who each played all or nearly all of his entire career with the Twins and in some cases, their predecessor Washington Senators. Stability engendered community and the players made the team. I still value that, in baseball and in life. It has been disappointing to see baseball become big business and the teams changing players like uniforms. However, it reflects the larger world where people frequently change jobs and careers and organizations see employee loyalty as less important and unnecessary for brand loyalty.

I have adjusted, if not grudgingly. However, the sting of the Matt Capps trade was only softened by his move to the Twins. Cristian Guzman, who has split his ten year career evenly between the Twins and Nats, is on his way to the bankrupt Rangers. Now my stomach is in a bit of a knot wondering if Adam Dunn will still be a Nat come 4 p.m. Saturday. In the hope Dunn would not be traded by the deadline I took a chance and got tickets for the July 31 game, even though I can't stand the noisy obnoxious Phillies fans.

Having lived and breathed in the American League, I could have never been a true Orioles fan, so I was very glad when baseball came to DC shortly before our move here. We immediately started going to games at RFK and have since been regulars to Nats Town. I typically watch or listen to every game, and when I have something more pressing to do I follow the plays on my phone as often as possible.

It has been a difficult ride in part because of ongoing struggles with the basics of the game, but more because the roster has continually changed, and as soon as I become attached to someone they are gone. However the innate decency and work ethic of this team is impressive and does not change much as the players rotate in and out. How can I not like a team that personifies Minnesota Nice? This is not a team of tempers or egos or bad boys. This is a team of which I can be proud, even when they don't play so well.

And so I wait to see who survives until August, knowing there is a good chance I will like and respect almost whoever wears a Nats uniform. I keep telling myself, I know change is good. Hopefully eventually we will win more than we lose as a result, if not in spite of the ever-changing dugout.

A consultant in search of a consultant

The shoe is on the other foot I need a consultant - badly. I need to be effective in a field about which I know nothing in next to no time. Actually I have done this many times before, since I am a process rather than content expert. In the past have learned a great deal about the children's mental health system, quality systems for manufacturing, broadband distribution, welfare reform, early care and education, etc. However I either went to trainings or was immersed in the subject alongside clients with deep knowledge, so I didn't have to know more than I could quickly pick up.

This time I feel an obligation to teach myself. Fortunately times have changed and there is a great deal of information available on the Internet. I have read everything I can easily find in the time available, but I end up with more questions than answers, especially about implementation. I find it is easier to read blogs than books, and since the people I am reading write both, I don't think I am getting any less expertise. I like the conversational tone of blogs, as well as the length. I also like that the topics are clearly labeled and unlike books, you can jump in anyplace, as blogs tend to be freestanding and not often serial. I also feel like I know the writer better, and can hazard a guess whether or not I would like working with them. I also like webinars, especially when they are free! What I don't like are posted Power Point presentations where the person does the PPT the way they are supposed to be done, assuming the people are there to hear and see it. Very inconsiderate for us freebie lurkers!

However, the Internet does provide rich resources to the person who is adept at weeding - out with the unhelpful, favorites for the good stuff, with no cost involved for either. I think I have found someone who can help me out - indeed I feel like I know him already. It is odd to be a consultant in need of a consultant, but it does give me a sense of the process clients go through, and that is helpful. It is good to put yourself in the shoes of your customer, and probably like them I am inordinately focused on match, cost, value and timeliness. It is a good and humbling reminder to be on the other side of the customer-consultant fence.

Leadership as Collaboration

Today’s Washington Post contained an piece by David Rothkopf bemoaning the need for real leadership to get us out of the current economic near-collapse of world markets. My attention was caught by the end of the article when he said that leadership required collaboration.

His point was that leaders do not operate in a vacuum. The very nature of leadership is to lead others. The many definitions and types of leadership require followers. Leadership is by nature a collaborative venture.

To lead requires a deep understanding of the situation in which the potential followers find themselves. Leaders are not born of isolation. Leaders cannot live in a bubble, which President Obama is so clearly trying to escape. Ideas for moving forward must be based on an understanding of where we are now, more importantly, how people experience where we are now.

The conditions that got us in this economic mess existed over a period of time, the warning signs were there. While he did not prevent the current problems, former Fed chair Alan Greenspan sounded a warning when he pointed out our “irrational exuberance.”

There may have been those who could have been leaders, who were aware of and prepared to lead us away from the problems that have since occurred. However, because the problems had not manifested themselves they were not part of our common experience. It was not until the economic world came tumbling down that our collective story became one of recession, with fears of worse. It was only then that leaders could connect our story to their solutions. President Obama won the election because he connected with people and inspired hope. His background allowed him to understand people’s deepest fears and uncertainties, and to harness the spark of hope that exists within our collective conscience.

Once a potential leader deeply understands the situation as experienced by the people, the next step in leadership is the framing of the problem. Wise people may have seen the situation the way the people experience it but, if they define the problem in terms that the people cannot relate, the connection between leader and people is broken.

It is probably at this point that leadership is born, of commonly understood experience and an agreed upon identification of the problem. That is where leadership can first live, but can eventually die. Like a rosebud that never opens, those who are mired in the problem do not become leaders. True leaders have to take their followers beyond the problem into solutions. The solutions must be tailored to the authentic experience of the followers and take them in places they are willing to go. Part of leadership is opening the eyes, hearts, and spirits of followers to be willing to go to new places of possibility, upon roads not yet imagined, or feared.

So Rothkopf is correct, leadership is truly collaboration, a serious, deep sharing of experience, problem definition, solution and fortitude. It is up to us to connect with our leaders, help them understand the world we see, help them refine the definition of the problem, and then help them get the solutions right. At that point, collaboration does not end, but continues to through the arduous work of implementation of the solutions. A true leader will sustain followers through implementation, helping them see the wisdom of their common choices and encouraging cooperation and mutual support. Leaders and followers shape each other each step of the way, which is perhaps yet another definition of collaboration.

It is easy to see how situations go from bad to worse when people wear blinders and cannot see the problems to come, when potential leaders cannot agree with or share the collective story.

Leadership is clearly not limited to the political or economic systems. Leaders in all fields must connect with their audience’s story, frame mutually understood problem statements, create a shared vision for a proposed solution, help followers feel that together they can implement the solution, withstand the turbulence and arrive together with the problem resolved or at least adequately addressed.

The role of the people, whether an electorate, shareholders, employees or any other kind of stakeholder is to engage with potential leaders at every step of the way. For without us there cannot be leaders.

Flood fighting efforts

I received this in this morning's email, from a dear friend still working at Concordia College, my alma mater, and where I was a dean for 13 years. She lives in Moorhead, MN, just two blocks north of the college, and about seven blocks from the Red River, across the road from Fargo, ND.

My friend Peggy lost her house to the flood today. I'm sitting here listening to the news. It's not good. I'm not even sure what to say, except I'm scared and I'm feeling compelled to write our family and friends. Somehow, it makes me feel better to connect with you all. We've had rain, ice snow. Today it snowed 7 inches and it's still snowing.

Today, they evacuated people from Oxbow (just south of Fargo. Airboats are the only way in and out now since the ice, snow and and water are everywhere. Tomorrow, they are evacuating Eventide Nursing Home and it's assisted living facilities (just 7 blocks from us). The town of Georgetown(just north of Moorhead) is being evacuated since they are building a circle dike around the town. They haven't issued an evacuation notice to us yet but Chip is emptying the basement as I write this.

We are grateful for all the help that is coming to town and all the positive thoughts that you have shared. The energy that people are bringing to the effort helps us feel hopeful that we're going to beat this. The mayor says he is "skeptically optimistic". Not sure what that means. The volunteer effort does inspire hope in humanity. Watch the news and keep us in your thoughts. I'm not sure if I'll get to update you all again. I just felt the need to take a moment out to write but now it's back to the shuttle vans and sandbags. Thanks.

My friend directs the leadership and service program at this small liberal arts college. One of the hallmarks of this college has been the strong sense of community and an ethic of service. I trust that the college will not mind me reprinting the information from Concordia's website:

Concordia students were the first to join the volunteer effort, while NDSU and MSUM were on spring break. Our students stepped in Friday, March 20 as preparations began. Volunteers started coming in waves that weekend and have continued daily.

Hundreds of Cobbers reported to Nemzek Monday and Tuesday, contributing to the more than 4,000 volunteers dispatched by FirstLink each day. They were at the ready Wednesday when the call went out again. The college canceled classes all week, urging students, faculty and staff to help with the flood preparation. Dining Services prepared more than 600 sandwiches Tuesday and about 950 sandwiches Wednesday for volunteers. One thousand bottles of water, chips and cookies were also supplied. Many of our athletic teams were quick to participate. The football team built dikes for one house after another on River Drive in South Moorhead and both soccer teams helped protect an entire neighborhood against a flooding coulee.

Alumni from hundreds of miles away returned to their Cobber home to help community members save their properties. Students hauled furniture from several home basements to help homeowners. Concordia will be housing AmeriCorp volunteers on campus for four to six weeks. The college is running a dozen shuttles more than 12 hours a day, transporting Concordia volunteers as well as partnering with the city to drive other community members. More than 45 faculty, staff and students are volunteering to drive the shuttles. Several faculty have served as site supervisors, coordinating sandbaggers.

In reading these postings I am reminded where I learned the values basic to collaboration; the sense of responsibility and service to community; the importance of doing whatever one can in concert with the efforts of others to meet common goals; perseverance beyond self, beyond ability, beyond capacity - a willingness to do whatever the situation takes. I value what I learned at Concordia every single day, but today, from a half a continent away, the most I can do is pray and ask for thoughts and prayers for Fargo-Moorhead and the many other communities in the region that are fighting the floodwaters determinedly united.

Aging in America

My second project with the National Council on Aging (NCOA) means a second opportunity to be a part of the Aging in America Conference. Last year it was in DC, two Metro stops from my home, but this year it is in Las Vegas. Not surprisingly, elements of the preparation are easier when the venue is two miles from the office than when it is three quarters of a continent away. However, in both cases it is impressive to see the degree of collaboration and spirit of cooperation needed to plan and implement a conference with 3500 attendees from every corner of the vast aging services network.

The conference is a joint effort of NCOA and the American Society on Aging. For the past nine years these two distinct organizations have aligned their identities, interests, financial resources, members and staff to co-sponsor this annual conference. There may be as many reasons not to work together on this as there are to continue, but the partnership adapts and coalesces each year to put on what is truly a first-rate conference.

It takes an equally incredible commitment to collaboration within NCOA (and surely ASA) to carry out its responsibilities. As the conference draws nearer boundaries fall and people do whatever it takes to get done, pitching in to meet deadlines and working together to ensure the quality of the conference experience. Rather than sliding toward irritability, as time grows short and demands heighten, NCOA staff becomes more helpful, more collegial. In some organizations, it would require coaching and reminders, but at NCOA, the cooperation seems organic and natural and is seemingly consistently good-natured.

In addition to NCOA and ASA and their respective staffs needing to work together so positively and productively, many other organizations are involved and invested in the success of the conference. Many aging interest groups and organizations come together at the conference and negotiate time and space for their own meetings and programs. It cannot be easy but it all seems to work.

One of the reasons it works is the tremendous shared commitment people and organizations have for improving the lives of older adults. Whether the goal is to better understand issues and needs, improve advocacy or programs, or rally and inspire support, this is the place to be this week if you care about aging in America and beyond our shores.

Given that we are all aging and all have older adults in our lives, it is inspiring to see this degree of collective commitment and collaboration. Hopefully all this collaborative effort will result in improved outcomes for older adults in general as well as those we care about individually.

The view from 35,000 feet

Flying is a good way to appreciate the community of effort needed for success. I am not a nervous flyer, but I do appreciate the act of faith expressed in boarding an airplane for a cross country flight.

Today I am on my first Southwest Airlines flight. I have long heard the buzz about Southwest, its customer-friendly policies, smart business model, happy crew, and, less positively, its boarding procedures. However, since National is so convenient and easy to navigate it has my loyalty and I always look for flights leaving DCA. It took a free ticket to get me to be willing to go out of Dulles – it would take more to get me to consider BWI.

From the beginning (the donated ticket), Southwest was easy to work with. By the time I arrived at Dulles I had changed my return three times just based on emerging opportunities, something I would never have considered on another airline. You can’t change a free flight on line but each time I called I was talking to an agent after less than a minute on hold, greeted warmly, helped efficiently, and reassured that changing my flight was no problem – and would have incurred no additional cost had I been paying.

The Dulles based crew was no exception, Everyone was great, from the guys at the ticket counter who kidded around with me, to the gate agent with the up-beat attitude who complimented me for arriving so early and told me all I needed to know about the flight, to the two sets of flight attendants who were wisecracking, polite and acted as if by flying Southwest I had done them a personal favor. Collectively they had me hooked.

Another perk was the complete lack of what have become all-too-typical service fees, even for two checked bags. I was also surprised to see a full array of free snacks offered in three courses. Even the Spirit Magazine was a fun read.

Since I was able to check in online 24 hours before my flight the infamous cattle call boarding process was actually painless, eliminating the normal jockeying for position to board. On a 737 there were more than enough good seats to be had so I got my normal isle seat in a row over the wing. Of course I didn’t know that would happen, so I was slightly anxious.

The only downside that I have seen so far is that the easygoing, friendly staff seem to be part of a culture that attracts easy going friendly fliers. It may be a stretch to call that a downside, but I like peace and quiet and definitely don’t like to be assaulted by others conversation in flight (or anywhere else). I have never been on one flight, let alone two, where people talked so freely and loudly – really loudly. Having only had five hours of sleep last night, I was really hoping for a good nap, but that was not possible with the noise level. Maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with the Southwest culture. Perhaps the low fares and the Las Vegas destination attracted a distinct clientele. This is certainly true of most any flight on any airline to Orlando from November through April – or later. I am not sure if I prefer an airplane full of overly excited children and checked-out parents, or one full of people taking advantage of a cheap vacation to a city of fantasies.

Aside from the loud conversations, my first Southwest experience has been a good one. Of course I haven’t landed yet, but if this gets posted, it is safe to assume I landed safely. I don’t even know who all contributed to the positive experience, but I know that it was truly a group effort. Even if it means flying out of Dulles, I am sure I will fly Southwest again soon. Mostly it will be because of the airline’s many attributes, but I am also interested to see if passengers talk loudly en route to destinations other than Las Vegas. Just in case, next time I will be sure to pack my noise cancelling headphones.

The power of story

Today in church I was reminded of the power of story and the need for people to know they are in the story. Dr. Cain Hope Felder, professor of New Testament Language and Literature at the Howard University School of Divinity, talked about how people who have traditionally been at the margins can be brought into the community by discovering themselves in the story and by the opportunity to tell their own story. As I listened, I realized how true I have found this to be in my work with collaboratives.

I have learned that one of the important tasks of collaborative enterprises is to harness the power of the story. In sharing and hearing each other’s stories partners can come to understand what is important to each other and why.

All too often collaborative ventures are trying to hard to be efficient partners barely take the time to begin to get to know each other even superficially. Taking time to share stories is too often seen a luxury. However, taking that time near the beginning can save a great deal of time later. Time spent on hearing each other’s stories can move the collaborative process forward based on understanding rather than assumptions. Through listening to stories partners can learn to understand each other's motives and values, which can help minimize faulty judgments and misdirection of effort.

Telling one’s story has benefits the tellers as well as the listeners. The process of telling one’s story helps clarify what is really important and can help prioritize what is needed from the partnership. It helps differentiate between personal from organizational stories. The process of listening is as important as the telling. The opportunity to tell your story is of limited value if you do not feel you are being heard.

Telling stories takes time, space and focus. It also takes preparation. Without preparing groups to share and listen to each other’s stories people the time taken can be wasted. Groups need coaching and structure to ensure that the time spent has positive outcomes. The environment has to be safe and people need to tell their stories within time guidelines and without interruption.

The results of all this effort will be partners that are clear about what their organizations need from the partnership and partners that know and trust each other more than they would without the stories. Time will ultimately be saved - the time that is otherwise spent taking three steps forward and one – or two – back.

If the work of the partnership is worth doing, if the goals are worth pursuing, let along achieving, it is well worth investing the time in storytelling and story listening.

Finding a middle ground

After taking yet another a hiatus from this blog, which is not my only one, I was prompted to return by a revelation about a near daily irritation. Earlier this winter the jovial and kindly man who had long distributed the Washington Post Express newspaper at our Metro station suddenly disappeared. I quickly realized how much I had counted on exchanging greetings with him as I started off my morning commute, even though I never took a paper.

A short time later his replacement arrived and I was taken aback by the difference in his approach. Rather than standing at the edge of the traffic patterns at the spot of most availability, the new person stands very near the top of the escalator, with his hand thrust out holding a paper, thus taking up the maximum amount of space in a crowded area. People have to move around him to get to the escalator, and cannot have a free hand available or he will put a paper in it. Where his predecessor created goodwill and offered a warm welcome to the work day, this man creates discord as people scurry around him and try to avoid bumping into others and sending them falling down the escalator.

The first several weeks I was truly irritated at each encounter, in part because I do not believe in the waste created by the Post Express, nor the business model. I love the tactile experience of reading newspapers and will probably be the last subscriber of print media, but I do not believe in giving it away for people to read for a few stops and then throw away or leave to make the train messy. If I want to read the paper I take mine with me, and would feel terribly guilty about wasting more paper when I have one at home.

That being said, I never had a problem with the former distributor. I don't like to start my work day in anything less than a positive mood, so I found myself consciously re-setting my mood after each encounter with the new guy.

Then one recent day I had an epiphany. I realized that this is how some people have experienced me! In my role of coordinating and facilitating collaborative ventures, I have sometimes been experienced as that man at the top of the escalator. Despite my best efforts, sometimes people involved in collaborative efforts feel put upon when they can't do business as usual. Collaboration often involves taking a longer way, rather than a direct route to address a problem. Even if it was a person's own choice to be involved in collaboration, it is easy to feel put upon; like something is being thrust at them and they aren't really sure they want it. They may well like what they have better and consider what is being thrust upon them as less desirable, and waste of time and effort.

By nature and values, I am probably more like the Post Express distributor I so miss. I would rather stand back and greet people and make it easy for them to get what they want, and not interfere if they want to proceed unbothered, not valuing what I have to offer. However, believing so strongly in collaboration, I want people to have a positive experience working in collaboration rather than avoiding it.

My goal is to find a middle ground between standing on the sidelines, cheering people on and hoping they will come over and try some collaboration, and being so intrusive that people get aggravated and don’t want anything to do with collaboration.

Inauguration Day 2009

Today was not only an amazing celebration of the United States at its best, but it provides the world with a fresh start. I was proud to be among the throng on the mall, basking in the goodwill of the million plus people joined together to witness the making of history. However, not all history is positive. It was more than a sense of history drawing the massive crowd together. There was also a palpable feeling of hopefulness and newness, a sense that all things are possible. Given the over-capacity crowd and the sharp disappointment felt by those who could not get into areas for which they had tickets, the day went incredibly well.

However, the day ended without serious incident, and for that we can all be thankful. That everything went so well was definitely a result of a high degree of collaboration, between branches of government, among both Federal and DC departments, between DC and everyone concerned, and among a broad range of the military and civilian law enforcement officers. I am sure things could have gone more smoothly, and communication could have been better, but what went right was a direct result not only of planning and resources, but of people and organizations focused on working together effectively for a single outcome. I imagine time after time everyone involved had to put aside self-interest and stretch beyond their comfort levels. (Including the out of town police officer that told me he had been outdoors, on his feet since 2 a.m.)

This is what President Obama is asking of us all: to set aside childish things and all that divides us, and focus on what connects us, to work together to achieve more than any of us can imagine, but what we need so desperately. The miracle of today is not just that we have our first African American but that we have a president that believes in working with other countries and believes that by working together we can solve the many problems that lie before us. It is only through ingenuity, sacrifice, service, and, yes, collaboration, that we can achieve President Obama’s vision and find our way out of our many problems. The stakes are high and the challenges many, but the way is clear.

No excuses!

How time flies when one is both working and playing hard - or at least traveling a great deal. My resolution for 2009 is to get back to blogging regularly, no excuses allowed.

I have been thinking a great deal about excuses lately. I have long noticed to what great lengths people and organizations go in order to avoid collaborating. Even projects which appear on the surface to require a great degree of collaboration are parceled out in ways that resemble the worst gerrymandering efforts, all to ensure that organizations can work unencumbered by the need to collaborate.

Frequently the excuse is time. It is true collaboration requires time to learn about each of the partners' needs, values and goals, as well as consultation, co-creation of new systems, and on-going negotiation. In some cases the project has such urgency and such a short timeframe that the benefits of collaboration are not deemed worth the time required. I understand this thinking because I am currently working on a project with nearly impossibly short and immovable deadlines (hence my recent lack of blogging).

This attitude of non-collaboration is understandable if projects are understaffed or staffed largely by people focused solely on their part of getting the job done. When people are hired from outside the organization to get a project completed they learn their client organization well enough to do the job do not necessarily have the time or knowledge base required for organizational collaboration. If people are pulled from within the organization to work on yet another project they are often overwhelmed and have little time or interest to add complexity to the work.

Unless funders are intentionally building organizational capacity for collaboration they are unlikely to provide enough funding to support the time and staff needed for collaboration. It is unlikely collaboration will take place when the appropriate people in the partner organizations do not have time, funded or otherwise, to participate in the collaborative process.

It is easy to undervalue the need for collaboration if the partners do not expect to work together on future endeavors or if they do not believe collaboration is necessary for the success of current or future projects.

All these are common excuses for not collaborating. While each is understandable, each remains but an excuse. Any excuse will do if one does not believe that collaboration adds value, not just to the individual project, but potentially more importantly, to the capacity of the partnership for future projects.

It is understandably difficult for people to value what they have not experienced, or what they have had difficulty achieving in the past. Sometimes collaboration is undervalued due to negative experience with the process. Many people lack the patience, if not the time, for collaboration. Others prefer to work solo and not open themselves and their work to the review and reworking required by the process of co-creation.

However, in the end each is an excuse for not participating in the collaborative process. In the coming year this blog will focus on the benefits of collaboration, based on my experience, as explored in research, and as reported in a variety of settings. In addition, I will continue to explore other issues related to working together to achieve common goals. No excuses allowed!