Elevating the Status of Emotions and Communication
In addition to a clear strategy, good measures, and streamlined processes, reinventing enterprises requires a focus on personal relationships and human potential. As a result, it depends upon emotional connection and excellent communication to function well. The objective business world has often struggled with the subjects of emotions and communication. If they are considered at all, they are spoken of-in businesses and business schools-in somewhat demeaning terms such as “soft” skills.
Something that I learned as a consultant that I didn’t understand very well as an executive was that the notion of command and control with knowledge workers is largely a delusion. When I worked in a large company, people who reported to me would often nod their head “yes” when I asked them to do something. With regularity I would later discover that they really didn’t know what I was asking for, and many times I really didn’t either.
In large Enterprises these types of command and control misconceptions have the effect of making executives think that things are changing faster than they really are. After I began consulting, it became clear that co-creating solutions and building broad relationships was really the only way to achieve sustainable and productive change. It’s hard, but it is required. There is probably no business management area where I have changed my view more than on this one. The truth is that with knowledge work, the command and control mindset needs to be demoted, and communications and emotions need to increase in importance.
If knowledge work isn’t co-created, chances are it’s not going to get implemented productively. Co-creation is different from consensus, however, because co-creation also requires a decision maker. Even though co-creating work produces slower starts, it will lead to faster and more sustainable results. Investing a little extra time now will save a lot of time later. If you want something done productively and sustainably, you’ll probably need to put more of your own skin in the game-in conjunction with those who are actually doing the work.
The objective nature of Scientific Management effectively bred subjectivity out of businesses during the 20th century. Nonetheless, it is very important to articulate how you’re feeling so that you can better connect with how others are feeling. Emotions are important to productive knowledge work and Enterprise reinvention. They increase energy, clarity, and the productivity power of relationships. In this context, key motivators include the desire to win, achievement of something worthwhile, a sense of personal power, approval and acceptance, and recognition of efforts.
In the Operate work-behavior area of the an enterprise reinvention system, feelings influence actions which produces results. As part of this, it’s important to remember that people ultimately love others because of how they make them feel. We too often forget how important the need is to be appreciated, that neglect can often be more damaging than abuse, and that if you really want to honor someone, you should ask for their help. Leaders need to lead with their heads and their hearts, and in difficult times, emotional resistance can only be overcome by a stronger emotion. It’s important to turn negative emotions into positive ones, with special emphasis on the positive emotions of optimism, hope, faith, courage, ambition, determination, self-confidence, and self-worth.
In addition to elevating the status of emotions in Enterprises, communication also needs much more emphasis for companies to be more productive. This requires integrating the four steps of Enterprise Reinvention: Envision-Design-Build-Operate. Where a Design-oriented person might be overly blunt, an Operate-oriented person can instinctively be overly nice. Combining the blunt facts of Design with the emotional sensitivity of is the most productive answer. In practice it is called tact. It is the equivalent in the medical world, of the nurse who has the ability to give his or her patient a shot without having it hurt too much.
Productive communications are socially negotiated. This is harder than being blunt or telling someone what they want to hear. In the communication process, it’s important to connect the dots between where you’ve been, where you are, and where you need to go, because if something doesn’t fit with the past, it will very often be discarded or misread by people. This logical and emotional transition from the past to the future is necessary for sustainability.
Effective communication requires leaders to ask great questions and stick to a few key points. Asking questions instead of giving orders empowers people. Statements limit creativity. When you communicate, it is important to articulate what needs to stay the same, what needs to change, the steps required, and the progress being made. Consistent with this, it is important to have a clear and formal communication strategy to control the dialogue and to channel formal and informal organizational energy toward achieving the vision of the Enterprise.
Focus is as important to communications as it is to each step of the knowledge work productivity system. Short-term memory is limited to about five items. Three is better. If you have more than five points, people won’t remember any of them. To communicate productively, it’s important to be consistent, give people something that they can’t get anywhere else, and make them genuinely feel wanted and loved.
Productive relationships are essential ingredients in effective and efficient Enterprises. To activate them, the Operate step needs to help individuals achieve something as part of the company that they can’t achieve on their own.
Enterprises need leaders who set the tone, connect with people’s personal lives, support employees when they struggle, provide levity in difficult times, and motivate people to achieve the firm’s vision. Motivation requires the combination of emotions and communications. As humans we all need to be treated fairly, trusted, have a chance to grow, and have a vision that is larger than ourselves.
The Enterprise Reinvention system is an important mechanism to activate the human spirit on a sustainable basis. It requires Envision-Design-Build-Operate as a total system. All are needed to help Enterprises, functions, and individuals productively self-organize-using a unified framework and the cybernetic process.
To set the system in motion, it’s necessary to energize human relationships and activate human potential through the Operate work-behavior area. This requires that companies co-create the future with their customers, recognize and capitalize upon informal as well as formal organizations, coach people effectively, and communicate with a combination of objectivity and emotion.
Jack Bergstrand is an expert in enterprise reinvention and knowledge work productivity management. He founded Brand Velocity, Inc., the first company ever prototyped using knowledge work productivity principles, and created the Strategic Profiling (R) instrument, a tool to help firms accelerate and improve important enterprise projects. To learn more about his book, “Reinvent Your Enterprise,” visit: http://www.ReinventYourEnterprise.com/.