The Ultimate Corporate Entrepreneur

Responsible Risktaking as Moral Compass

A cafe conversation with former Fortune 100 employees turned to the recent publicized investigations of a number of Silicon Valley companies.

From the questionable recruiting practices of Yahoo, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Apple, and Genentech to corporate bribes by Sun Microsystems and Intel's EU anti-trust charges, a number of the valley's top companies appear to have lost their way.

Our discussion turned to whether the global recession had shifted the moral compass needle with fearful employees more willing to cross the lines in order to keep their jobs.

I argued that these behaviors were likely entrenched long before the economy took a dive, but that the tanking global economy might have exacerbated an already bleak situation.

I was out voted and accused of naivete. Personal responsibility was not even on the table for discussion!

Granted these are ex-employees whose loyalty to their former employers went out the door when they were shown the door, but I was still taken aback by their perspective.

Now, I’m all for breaking the rules when it makes sense to do so—in fact I built an entire business around risktaking and innovation.

Realizing that companies don’t lose their way without employees losing theirs, I created a business model of Responsible Risktaking™ that takes into account the upstream and downstream risks and opportunities associated with decision points made by individuals.

It’s been over a decade since I worked for Intel as a Supply Chain Strategic Ops manager. As part of my role I accepted responsibility for not putting the company at risk and clearly understood the boundaries and consequences for not doing my job.

This included staying within the limits of the company’s $25 gift limit policy.

I was frequently invited by suppliers to golfing weekends in Palm Springs, offered boxed seats to sports events, tickets to conferences, etc. Turning them down even became a joke when one of our suppliers gave me as a Christmas gift a mug with individually stamped colored pencils totaling $24.95 (I accepted it with great humor).

Knowing that I was clearly in alignment with my chain of command and purchasing rep made it easier to be personally responsible. But even if they hadn’t been, I could still choose how I would behave.

There are deeper organizational shifts when leaders lose their way and compromise their company’s cultural values, something that an uptick in the economy won’t solve.

This is why Intel’s woes are on a more personal level for me. I saw the early unraveling of the company’s strong moral compass over a decade ago, when certain groups and their leaders felt entitled to break the ethics and policy rules without consequences.

It obviously sent a clear message that it was okay to muddy the waters. 

UnManagement: Why Its Time Is Now

This past Sunday I was thrilled to have as my guest on the Coach for Innovation show, Dr. Charles Ehin, recognized management and innovation dynamics authority, and author of the just released book The Organizational Sweet Spot: Engaging the Innovative Dynamics of Your Social Networks (Springer, 2009).

Given the great questions coming in via BlogTalkRadio's chat room, an hour wasn't nearly long enough to cover the questions I wanted to ask him, so Charlie was gracious enough to respond to my questions in a follow-up Q&A.

You can listen to our archived show here (60 min).

Can you recap for us what the “sweet spot” is for organizations?

The sweet spot is basically the place where the highest level of innovation and productivity takes place in any organization. It’s the place where formal business arrangements and informal relationships intersect. 

It’s where the controlled access domain (the place that is controlled by management) meets or overlaps with the shared access domain (the place where people naturally interact with each other to make sense of their work and interpret it in a way that makes sense to them).

All organizations have a sweet spot—but in most organizations, it tends to be a relatively small space, when I hold that it should be larger. The larger the sweet spot, the greater the productivity.

The idea behind the sweet spot is that research shows that human nature cannot be managed. Regardless of the type of company or organization people work in, they naturally develop their own networks and social connections to get their work done. We all do this naturally.

The parameters of social relationships can be adjusted, but actual behavioral outcomes of people can’t be managed. But at the same time, every organization needs formal structures for how the work needs to get done.
So it’s my contention that where the formal and informal elements of a company overlap, this is where the best work gets done.

Informal networks always form in every organization, and if they’re suppressed they will go underground. But the more employees are given a voice and implicit control over what they are doing by management, the more they will respond positively to formal organizational goals and initiatives. Informal networks that are allowed to emerge begin to make appropriate connections with other emergent groups, including management. This overlap is a very desirable state where the formal system and informal networks both agree with the overall goals and processes of the company. The agreement doesn’t come from formal negotiations but out of self-organization and day to day interactions.

So it’s important to remember that the two systems, the formal (management processes) and informal social relationships don’t merge and become one in the sweet space, although members of both camps can participate. Instead, they tend to coordinate based on self-organization. 

Re-engaging the Workforce: Social Networks and the Organizational Sweet Spot

Recent research tells us that worker disengagement is at an all-time high; a huge problem for organizational leaders looking to reinvent their businesses via worker creativity and entrepreneurship when apathy, absenteeism and low productivity plagues the workplace.

Attempting to jump start workplace innovation with sluggish, overworked workers who are distracted and uninterested is like hooking jumper cables to a battery-drained car and hoping your own car will run. 

According to a Gallup Poll 2008 National Q12 Employee Engagement Survey workers are feeling alienation and distrust more than ever before, with massive layoffs, stagnating wages and constantly changing conditions.

• 24.7 million workers, roughly one fifth or 19% of the U.S. workforce, are almost completely disconnected from their jobs. They don’t like or care about their jobs and probably under-produce on the job.
• The estimated cost of this disengagement to the U.S. economy is approximately $292- $355 billion annually (or $2,730 per worker per year).
• The majority of workers are only partially engaged, which further adds to the cost to the U.S. economy
• Only 12 per cent of American workers are feeling “fully engaged” with their jobs.

Germany doesn’t fare any better with surveys showing that 79 to 90 per cent of employees feel disengaged.

What this global recession is teaching us (or should be!) is that doing things the same way will not get us different results.

On Sunday, May 24, my Coach for Innovation guest on BlogTalkRadio is recognized management and innovation dynamics authority, Dr. Charles Ehin, who will discuss his latest book, “The Organizational Sweet Spot: Engaging the Innovative Dynamics of Your Social Networks,” Dr. Ehin recommends that by enlarging the “organizational sweet spot” or the place where informal and formal interactions dissect, organizations can re-engage disaffected workers and boost their resolve to advance novel ideas and improve productivity.

"If we can improve the nature of relationships at work, most people will be more inclined to want to voluntarily improve their organization’s productivity and competitive advantage."

Join us Sunday, May 24 at 6:00pm (PT) as Dr. Ehin and I discuss:

• Risks to organizations that don't act boldly on pursuing the Organizational Sweet Spot.
• How innovation catalysts can approach an unhealthy, informal power base that thwarts change and innovation.
• How technology and social networking organically changes the “sweet spot” for organizations.

And so much more!

Listen to Dee McCrorey Coach for Innovation on Blog Talk Radio

7 Career Reinvention Actions You Must Take Now

This entrenched economic malaise is forcing everyone to change. If you’re like most busy professionals, you prioritize what needs tackling based on the amount of pain you’ll experience if something doesn’t get done.

Whether you’re one of the multitudes who’ve lost your job during this downward spiral of companies embracing the color pink or still pulling in a regular paycheck, you must take steps now to reinvent yourself if you want to do so on your terms. 

[Participants attending the May 12 panel Innovation and Career Tech Reinvention that I’m moderating for the Women Who Tech TeleSummit are in for a real treat. My panelists Sheryl Chamberlain of EMC, Nance Wheeler of Intel Corporation, Christine Adzich of Big Picture Productions, and Megan Fitzgerald of Career By Choice will share their practical tips and career strategies gleaned from decades of experience.]

Reinventing isn’t about tossing everything out. It’s a methodology that provides you with stepping stones for differentiating yourself in the marketplace and work arena. Innovation always begins with you.

Begin the process by reframing your professional reinvention as a way to have some fun instead of working on your career strategy, which sounds too much like work. Here are 7 actions to get you started on your next reinvention.

Action #1

Be honest with yourself.

Where are you at the moment? Are you employed, but hating your job and looking for a new challenge? Maybe you're positioning yourself for a new job or promotion within the company. You may be one of the thousands of “forced entrepreneurs” looking to start your own business.

It’s important that you honestly assess your situation not from a defensive position but an offensive one.

A frequent blind spot that I see with my clients is the maturing of their emotions. How well do you really manage your emotions in different situations? (This is an area that I continue to evolve for myself as well!)

Ask others you trust to give you an honest assessment of your EQ. You might consider taking one of the online EQ or EI assessments to establish a baseline for yourself. Remember, that EQ is something that you can learn, develop, and evolve.

Evolving the Enterprise: 7 Characteristics of a Healthy Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

When James F. Moore originated the strategic planning concept of the business ecosystem based on his book The Death of Competition: Leadership and Strategy in the Age of Business Ecosystems (HarperBusiness, 1996), he described the business ecosystem as “an economic community supported by a foundation of interacting organizations and individuals—the  organisms of the business world…”

It’s the health of the organism that is crucial to the survival of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Workplace innovation requires that organizations create equilibrium between the financial health of the business and the emotional well-being of its workforce. It’s not one at the expense of the other. 

Listen to my recent Coach for Innovation radio show when guest Rev. Dr. Lorraine Cohen, CEO and founder of Powerfull Living, and I discuss the healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem.  

There are seven areas that I look for when assessing the entrepreneurial health of an organization. It’s important for companies to reassess their value proposition for attracting and retaining workers.

1. Business Basics
2. A Level Playing Field
3. One Size Doesn't Fit All
4. Risktaking is Responsible not Reckless
5. Trust has Backbone
6. Status Quo Isn't Sacred
7. Endings Mean New Beginnings
   

Just as the enterprise evolves so does the workforce; increasingly professionals are looking to align themselves with companies that match their career goals and personal values. Quite often it’s the company you keep that determines your ability to innovate while managing your career success.

Disruptive Innovation - Opportunities in the Eye of the Storm

"It's not the strongest of the species that survive; it's the ones most adaptable to change."  Charles Darwin

A few weeks back I attended the ASTD TechKnowledge 2009 with other learning and development professionals without having to pack a bag and travel to Vegas.

The first in what I hope is a regular offering by ASTD, this virtual conference hosted this year by Anthony Allen, Director, Digital Media for ASTD provided a great start to managing the logistics of this type of large-scale virtual event.

Given that change is everywhere these days; it came as no surprise that the theme of this 3-day conference on eLearning and social media was to provide Learning & Development and performance professionals with practical tips, tools, and techniques for managing the massive business shifts swirling around us in the workplace.  

Getting a seat at the table often means grabbing the goblet without someone inviting you to drink from it. Without a direct path to influencing key decision-makers and translating innovation into actionable solutions, your ideas never get heard, let alone acted on.

L&D pros have some low hanging fruit opportunities to reshape the business landscape and influence the transformation of tomorrow’s workforce.

On the Line: What Will You Risk in 2009?

I have a real love for theater and musicals. So, with a bit of down time during the holidays I was able to catch up on my reading and picked up On the Line: The Creation of a Chorus Line about one of my favorite musicals.

I caught the original Broadway cast of A Chorus Line with my theater buff brother in San Francisco over thirty years ago, which makes the book more memorable since it's based primarily on interviews with the original 19 dancers whose stories provided the plot of A Chorus Line.

One of Broadway's longest running shows, it's about dance pros looking for work--a universal theme as best quoted by Trish Garland who created the role of Judy Turner for the musical.

"Chorus Line allowed you to feel human lives, all different lives, in a situation where they all had the same need. Everybody can put themselves on the line. Everybody in life has to audition, no matter what it's for."

Enjoying Life's Auditions

I was reminded of how we all have to audition in life--experienced pros as well as novices--when a professional in her late forties and a former senior manager at a prestigious high-tech company found herself out of a job like so many others in 2008.

The Human Risks of Live Talk Radio

I have a Plan B for my live BlogTalkRadio shows in the event of technical glitches (innovation can get messy, at times). 

But when the human element kicks in--in this case laryngitis that only got worse as the day progressed, I got to wondering whether a Plan B needs to be in place for the human glitches as well. Maybe a co-host? Or maybe a backup host in the event of emergencies?

I've spent the greater part of the afternoon "unpromoting" tonight's Coach for Innovation show on BlogTalkRadio with my guest Wendy Beecham, CEO of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs & Executives.

To make matters worse, BTR was good enough to feature tonight's show on its home page--fortunately one of their technical gurus, John Sweet, was able to slot another show into our spot.

Wendy and I will try to reschedule our show Bridging Innovation in the Age of Connectedness some time this week if our schedules permit.

The Evolving Enterprise series on BlogTalkRadio continues to focus on the vital areas changing the innovation landscape and the new rules required of leaders and professionals in the enterprise arena. 

Stay tune for updated info on our show!

Innovation and the Age of Connectedness

I just finished reading The New Age of Innovation by C.K. Prahalad and M.S. Krishnan who lay out their blueprint for linking strategy and execution--critical capabilities if companies are to achieve and sustain continuous change and innovation. A must read for those in need of practical tools for innovation (and who isn't?).

The premise of the book focuses on two principles N = 1 and R = G, where N = 1 represents the individual and the heart of experience, where customers will increasingly demand more active roles in co-creating value. The second principle R = G represents the trend toward access to resources from multiple sources (local or global) and not just from the firm or its subsidiaries.

Connections vs. Connectedness

Innovation and the age of connectedness is more than the number of connections you have, but the breadth and depth of your alliances and how you leverage them. Case in point. A few months back I met Wendy Beecham, CEO of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs & Executives, when we participated on a "View from the Top" panel hosted by Women-Unlimited, a nationally recognized resource for cultivating leadership excellence for high potential women.

Celebrating her first year as CEO at FWE&E, Wendy knows firsthand about transforming an organization--in this case, an existing Silicon Valley community of powerhouse leaders. Both the breadth and depth of her previous experience and existing alliances laid the foundation for Wendy's success.

We had a chance to catch up this week at Wendy's Palo Alto, CA office and brainstorm innovative approaches to alliance building, as well as chat about our upcoming show on BlogTalkRadio as part of my 7-part series on The Evolving Enterprise where we'll discuss innovation and connectedness with listeners on December 14 at 6pm (PT).  

(We'll take your calls and I'll have the chat room going, so don't miss an opportunity to reach out and build or strengthen a connection!)

 

Become a Harbinger of Innovation

Fear blocks creativity, prevents you from seizing opportunities (even those handed to you on a platter), and prevents you from approaching innovation from any angle.

Your Credibility Capital: It Matters in a Down Economy

When was the last time you assessed your credibility with your manager, team mates, colleagues, partners and customers?  

Assumptions that your credibility hasn't changed in your current environment can put you at risk for economic surprises that don't come wrapped in satin red bows.

Personal credibility begins with the building blocks of rapport, moving along the values spectrum of trust, influence, and persuasion.

Awareness of the process for moving yourself along this spectrum whether with an individual, a team, or an organization can increase your chances that the right doors will open for you, remain open during a down economy, and won't slam shut without some type of warning.

Trust and Credibility

Trust is frequently confused with credibility. You could trust someone to perform their job capably, but not trust that they'd have your back if the going got tough. This falls within the area of trust and verify. 

When I say that I completely trust someone, it's a euphemism for credibility. These individuals are capable of influencing my ideas and opinions and persuading me to take their recommended actions.