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“If you think you smell something at work, there's
probably good reason--Bull has become the official language
of business. Every day, we get bombarded by an endless
stream of filtered, antiseptic, jargon-filled corporate
speak, all of which makes it harder to get heard, harder
to be authentic, and definitely harder to have fun.
But it doesn't have to be that way.”
This is the team that developed the Clio Award-winning
Bullfighter software. For those who aren’t familiar
with Bullfighter, it works with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint
to help you find and eliminate jargon in your documents.
Bullfighter includes a jargon database and a Bull Composite
Index Calculator that allows you to see just how good
or bad a document is.
This freeware, originally produced by Deloitte Consulting,
is now available as a standalone product. You can download
the software at www.fightthebull.com/bullfighter.asp.
Next time you’re writing a press
release, or any other document, check the bullfighter.
You might be surprised at how easily the bull creeps
into your work.
As always, if you have comments, just
send me an email.
Mike McLaughlin
Publisher
“If we want things to stay as they
are, things will have to change.” - Giuseppe
di Lampedusa
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Meet the MasterMinds: Charles
Decker on Lessons from the Hive
 Charles
Decker is the author of Beans: Four Principles
for Running a Business in Good Times or Bad
and Lessons
from the Hive: The Buzz on Surviving and Thriving in
an Ever-Changing Workplace. He is
a Vice President at Acumentum, Inc., an electronic publishing
company, and a contributing writer for Fast
Company magazine. He was formerly a senior
executive at Amazon.com.
Lessons from the Hive is
a business fable based on the true story of a small
company in the aftermath of a takeover by a conglomerate.
MCNews talked to Decker about how change impacts an
organization's people, processes, and politics, and
what executives must do to keep change programs moving
in a positive and productive direction.
MCNews: Why did you write about change as a
business fable?
Decker: I think managing change is
the biggest challenge in the workplace today, and I
felt this was a gentle way to make people realize that
with change comes opportunity, so, hopefully, they won’t
fear it as much.
The story is a universal one. And I hope the format
will generate honest, non-threatening discussion about
organizational change.
The characters are people everyone knows. They have
to balance work and family under a lot of pressure.
At the beginning of the story, the main character, Dana,
is a total train wreck. But in a period of just a week,
she is able to adapt and change. I think that inspires
other people to think it can be done.
In the book, I talk about a self-help book but don’t
reveal its title. I get at least one email every day
asking what the book is. Obviously there's a need out
there for people to figure out how they can help themselves.
MCNews: Can you reveal the book’s title
to MCNews readers?
Decker: Yes. The book is Feeling
Good by Dr. David Burns. It's about cognitive
therapy: change your thinking, change your life. The
way that people process their thoughts dictates whether
they have a good outcome or a bad outcome. I tried to
show that approach in action in Lessons
from the Hive.
MCNews: The story isn’t just about personal
transformation. Isn’t it also about deception
in the workplace?
Decker: There was definitely backstabbing
going on. The company needed to grow and change but
it was all being done behind the scenes, and Dana had
every right to feel deceived. The point is that change
is most successful when an organization communicates
honestly about change in a way that generates support
from the people in the organization, rather than resistance.
MCNews: How should someone like Dana, whose
company is going through significant upheaval, handle
corporate politics, underhanded behavior, and deception?
Decker: Well, we always have to be
aware that not everybody is playing the same game on
the same playing field. The CEO character in the book
does a good job of communicating about the change that
is needed, and that’s crucial.
Managers should be honest with employees. That sounds
simple, but it never is. The tendency is to plan and
implement change in secret because you think employees
will bail out or won’t cooperate. In fact, they
appreciate being told the truth, and often come up with
helpful ideas. Not only can people handle the truth,
but you can’t have trust without it.
MCNews: What role do new employees play during
times of change?
Decker: New employees are often completely
excluded from the process, which is unfortunate. That’s
why I wanted to celebrate the Nikki character in the
book. She was a brand new employee, but she was a catalyst
for transformation.
New blood can make a big difference in how a company
reinvents itself. But new people don’t get invited
to the table. That’s too bad—they offer
a perspective that more jaded employees just don’t
have. The “we've tried that, it didn't work”
attitude of old timers is a serious obstacle to change.
MCNews: Are there common behaviors you see
when people are not working effectively in the midst
of change?
Decker: The biggest problem is that
people will attempt to sabotage change initiatives.
And lots of people stonewall. Both have an enormously
negative effect on morale. Much of that could be avoided
with effective communication about what's going on.
MCNews: Let's say you're a consultant working
on a change initiative and the client has a good communication
plan. What comes next to effectively implement change?
Decker: Involve employees at every
single level. We often think of senior managers as the
ones that implement change. But I think the more senior
people are often the most fearful. Go from a bottom-up
approach rather than a top-down one.
MCNews: Why is it that change in the corporate
or work environment is so difficult?
Decker: That's the $64,000 question.
I think it's because so many workers have been lied
to over the years that their own history informs them
that whatever happens, it's going to be bad.
It does come down to the way people process thoughts.
Can change be a good thing? Absolutely it can be. But
people are fearful. They think they're going to lose
their jobs, their livelihoods; they're going to have
to sell their homes; they're going to have to move;
or maybe they fear failing in whatever new environment
is coming.
Leaders should help people focus on what they’ll
gain, not on what they might lose.
The other problem is that a diversified team is almost
never formed to help management with a change initiative.
Senior management—often the CEO working in collusion
with HR—takes it on. And, of course, HR departments
in most companies in this country are not trusted.
MCNews: What can HR departments do to regain
credibility?
Decker: The HR industry as a whole
needs to look at itself closely and ask, “What
role are we playing? What value do we add? Sadly, they're
looked upon as a tool of management. Most employees
don't trust them, and they don't go to them for career
advice. And the problems employees do take to HR are
seldom solved.
People do need help managing their careers. But the
attitude seems to be, “this is your job, do it
and when you're sick of it, find something else to do.”
That's not good enough.
HR departments are largely transaction based—they
do payroll and benefits. Anything that involves helping
people is an adjunct or a small part of what they do.
MCNews: Could HR become a more strategic player
in the workplace?
Decker: I think it really could. HR
departments that manage companies' emails and Intranets,
for example, have a great opportunity to take a more
active role. Intranets can play an important part in
making opportunities happen for employees. But instead,
you just go there for help running your computer or
to get a form.
There's so much more they could do. Too many companies
treat HR as just overhead and it becomes kind of a backwater.
That's a tragic waste of resources.
MCNews: Did you intend the story to be prescriptive?
Decker: It’s not. I think trying
to create something that's going to work for all doesn't
work for anybody. There is no set prescription—do
this, follow this plan, and you will have this outcome.
Every company has its own history and its own issues.
Take the story for what it's worth and create your own
outcome.
Recognize that everyone in an organization is coming
from a different place. They're going to accept or reject
change based on their history. There isn’t just
one way to manage through change.
Diversity of style at work is something people don't
talk about very much. I think that deserves more attention.
Everybody has a unique way of working, and we have to
adapt change initiatives to those styles.
I don't think it’s asking too much for change
to be customized. People would like it to be neat and
tidy so they can put it all in one e-mail that goes
to the entire company. That's just being lazy.
MCNews: Thanks for your time.
You can email Charles Decker at cdecker@acumentum.info.
Send me an email
with your thoughts on this interview.
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of page ^
10
Really Good Reasons to Quit Your Job and Start Your
Own Business, by Michael J. Katz
It’s been five years since I made the decision
to leave my corporate job and start my own company.
No question about it, leaving nice co-workers, a stable
paycheck, and 12 years of tenure with one company was
the scariest thing I’d ever done.
And yet looking back, it was the defining moment not
only of my career, but of my personal development as
well. The fact is, I am now so enamored of blazing my
own trail that I could never go back—I am hopelessly,
incurably, unemployable.
Read
10 Really Good Reasons to Quit Your Job and Start Your
Own Business
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Insurance
Tips and Traps for Consultants, by Scott Simmonds, CPCU
Ever wonder if you’ve got the right
insurance coverage for your practice? Simmonds’
article helps consultants identify the insurance issues
they have to deal with in running their practices.
Read
Insurance Tips and Traps for Consultants
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Tom Peters’ 100
Ways to Succeed/Make Money
These tips are compiled from Tom Peters’ blog.
The first installment includes Tips 1-25. This is Tom
Peters at his ranting best. Read
Tom Peters' tips for success (PDF).
Blog link: www.tompeters.com
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Jeff
Thull’s Prime Solution
Jeff Thull, bestselling author and marketing
strategist, has just published The
Prime Solution. Thull says that sellers
are often unable to clarify the value they offer, they
struggle to deliver that value, and fail to realize
their projected ROI. And, buyers are frustrated because
they frequently don't achieve the value they expect.
The result is what Thull calls the value gap—the
difference between value promised and value achieved.
Based on years of research, Thull lays out his solution
to this problem. You won’t find a value gap in
this book, especially if you’re in the business
of selling “solutions.”
We featured Thull in a past issue of MCNews. Read
the interview with Jeff Thull.
You can find out more about Jeff Thull, his books,
and services at www.primeresource.com.
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The Future of the Internet
The Pew Internet & American Life Project
produces reports that explore the impact of the Internet
on families, communities, work and home, daily life,
education, health care, and civic and political life.
In a recent study, entitled “The Future of the
Internet,” researchers asked technology experts
and scholars to evaluate where the network is headed
in the next ten years
This wide-ranging survey of technology leaders, scholars,
industry officials, and analysts finds that most Internet
experts expect attacks on the network infrastructure
in the coming decade as the Internet becomes more embedded
in everyday and commercial life.
They also believe the dawning of the blog era will
bring radical change to the news and publishing industry,
and they think the Internet will have the least impact
on religious institutions.
Read
the report, The Future of the Internet
(PDF).
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Mark Your
Calendar
Here are six upcoming events that you
or your colleagues may benefit from. If you know of
other events of interest to MCNews readers, let
us know.
Project
Management Institute: Global Congress 2005
Asia/Pacific will be February 21-23, 2005, in Singapore.
The
Association of Internal Management Consultants National
Conference: Building the Foundations of
Effective Internal Consulting will be April 10-14, 2005,
on Marco Island, Florida.
International
Association for Human Resource Information Management
(IHRIM) 2005 Conference and Exposition:Strategies
2005 is slated for May 1-4, 2005, in Reno, Nevada.
Kennedy
Information: Recruiting Conference & Expo 2005
is scheduled for May 9-10, 2005, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Institute
of Management Consultants (IMC USA) 2005 Conference:
Excellence in Management Consulting: Outfitting
Your Practice for the Journey will be May 22-24, 2005,
in Kansas City, Missouri.
National Speakers Association: 2005 Convention is
set for July 9-12, 2005 in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Coming
Attractions
Next month our guest will be Jerry Wind, author of
The
Power of Impossible Thinking. Wind
is Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School and
a world-renowned marketing expert. He has written 20
books, including Convergence Marketing
and Driving Change.
We’ll talk to Wind about the role of our mental
models in achieving personal and workplace success.
The next issue of MCNews will be published on March
1, 2005.
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of page ^
The
End Page
"Now this is not the end. It is not even the
beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of
the beginning." - Winston
Churchill
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Management Consulting News is located at 410 Pine Street, Mill Valley, Ca. 94941
Michael McLaughlin
Publisher
Management Consulting News ISSN 1539-2481, Washington, DC, USA
Copyright © 2005 Management Consulting News All rights reserved
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