I was saddened to hear of the passing of Lou Gerstner who was CEO of IBM beginning in 1993. He was a powerful force and the first IBM CEO recruited from “outside.” Arguably he saved the company.
For those who didn’t live through it, it’s hard to convey just how close IBM came to disaster in those days – before Lou arrived. I was there. We knew we had a problem. The question was whether we were willing to face it.
I remember a meeting of Canadian sales managers – Toronto, circa 1990 – where a senior executive opened the event by reading a sombre ‘press release…’ IBM was being purchased by a Japanese company. Job loss was inevitable.
You could hear a pin drop.
After a few heavy minutes, the charade was exposed – it wasn’t real. “This could happen, and it will if we don’t change” we were told. It was a powerful lesson in creating a true burning platform.
I joined IBM Canada as a Sales Representative and Sales Manager in 1981, before Lou took the helm. A decade later I later became National Manager of Market Driven Quality. I was on the turnaround team. I remember organizing customer focus groups across Canada. Many were brutal. Customers were angry. We had stopped listening – and it showed.
The crisis wasn’t only cultural. We also failed to fully understand the rise of the PC and the importance of selling services. Big Blue sold big iron. But the market had already shifted. Lou Gerstner understood these forces. He knew that transformation requires a sense of crisis. He forced IBM to confront reality – and change.
IBM was my first real job, and an incredible one for which I am truly grateful. Great customers. Exceptional colleagues. Superior products. And a front-row seat to a remarkable turnaround.
Rest in peace, Lou.
Image Source: Globe and Mail and Kathy Willens/ Associated Press
There’s a grand geo-political redesign in the works or so it seems. The world has lots of moving parts and they’re moving faster and faster these days. Will the wheels fall off? Maybe. I’d like to think not. I’m open to any possibility. Are you?
I read with great interest Andrew Coyne’s opinion piece “The point is not to be different from the States. It’s to be better than them.” I respect the award winning journalist and I appreciate my subscription to his work, but today I struggle with what seems to be his fundamental assertion. Coyne’s piece insightfully analyzes the Canadian identity (crisis). He offers context about Alberta and Quebec (my home province) and their separatist tendencies. He describes Canadian culture and highlites some of the many features of our country including Medicare. Its a great article which I encourage every Canadian to read.
Its Coyne’s assertion that one country needs to be better than the other that I fundamentally question. Many people today are observing challenges to the status quo and digging in their heels to defend their current reality. They seem to be taking hard positions that bold new ideas are just plain wrong. Coyne does a great job of describing a range of possibilities for Canada’s future but seems closed to the idea that a new thing might be better.
There might be a new deal between Canada and the United States that, in the long run, could make the world, and my grandson’s life, better. I want to be open to that. We don’t need to be better than them. And they don’t need to be better than us. We just need to be better (off). All of us.
I’m tired of choking on my breakfast as I read newspapers and yelling at late night TV seeing politicians (and the journalists who help to keep them accountable) dig in their heels. I have a degree of hope that there is a better tomorrow out there and that it could be different from what we know today. We need to be open to that, and we need to listen to the possibilities without dismissing the people who offer them. I have reservations about Donald Trump as do most Canadians that I know. I also have reservations about our current and candidate Canadian political leaders. I’m trying to give them all the benefit of the doubt. And its not easy. I’m hoping that they can lead us all to a better tomorrow, including maybe one that is very different from today.
Most are familiar with the expression ~ what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. Many will look back on 2023 with strong memories of painful things. Thinking about those things can hurt like a bad new year’s hangover. It was a tough year from many perspectives. Maybe a cure for that hangover is gratitude.
Lately, gratitude is talked about a lot and is a theme of many social posts. People have tuned into the power of gratitude. Its a popular topic. So is resilience. You don’t have to look far to find suffering these days. There are plenty of circumstances from which people need to ‘bounce back’ at individual, international, and intercultural levels. There seem to be countless things to be overcome lately – for everyone everywhere. The world needs more resilience.
Appreciating what’s good helps to manage through the not so good – the things we need to overcome. Expressing gratitude helps, but more than just feeling grateful – being grateful is the ticket. That’s my experience and what I have observed in many others. Acts of gratitude trump darkness every time. Ongoing authentic expressions of gratitude build resilience. They help you to get past challenges. Gratitude is fuel for your resilience muscle.
So here’s a little new years work out. Be grateful. Express your gratitude. Find some good from all the darkness. Consider what didn’t kill you in 2023, but maybe felt like it might. Be grateful for what didn’t kill you – it gave you insight. You learned something about you and the world by your suffering. Be bright with what you learned from your experiences. Find a way to share what you learned maybe framed as gratitude. Depending on your experience that could be asking a lot. It doesn’t take much to start. The smallest, quietest acts of kindness, born of gratitude, can build the biggest resilience muscle.
I experienced the euphoria of convocation again this season and I’m a better person because of it. I witnessed and shared in the feeling of pride among the graduates and the community. Its a beautiful thing – finishing. Accomplishments need to be celebrated together, as a community, especially after too many years apart. It was wonderful. And it seemed different this time compared to a few years ago, pre-covid and pre-ChatGpt. The human side of the experience was noticeably more powerful.
There’s a lot being said about artificial intelligence these days especially in education. There was nothing ‘bot ish’ about this convocation. Where ChatGPT seeks to predict, the behaviour I observed at convocation was quite unpredictable – at least less predictable than pre-covid, and pre-ChatGpt. I’ve seen it in business meetings too lately. People didn’t hold back at convocation and they don’t seme to be holding back in general. Fear and futility are the two most common reasons for people not speaking out in organizations. Could it be that people want to speak their mind and they are less afraid of the consequences? Could it be that they are bustin’ out? I think so, and its likely that they expect their feedback will be heard and acted upon.
Lets assume there is a shift underway towards people wanting to speak up and speak out more. What would organizations and leaders need to do differently to succeed in that new world? Well, they would probably need to get better at listening. And they seem to be trying. I have repeatedly observed increased effort among leaders to actively listen in large face-to-face settings. They are listening for what the future holds and how to get there first. They are listening with innovative tools like Design Thinking. They are listening for for what customers say, think, feel, and do. They are listening to find solutions. That’s what (good) leaders do.
The tools we may need now more than ever (i.e. more than ChatGPT) relate to human communication and relationships. Increasingly I apply the Haven Communications Model but alas I am a novice. Purposeful human centered interaction is as important as it is unpredictable now. Design Thinkingincluding applying related tools made available from IBM are very appropriate now as powerful listening frameworks. These real intelligence tools all require work. Artificial intelligence could not predict what I felt at convocation nor what I chose to share in large group problem solving meetings. AI can’t make judgements and have a sense of timing, or nuance, or fun. That’s where we humans come in. Hi, its me, I’m the problem its me. As machines get better with the easy stuff we humans need to get better at the tough stuff, the human stuff, the full catastrophe.
In a few years I’m confident that society (and my students) will have figured out how to get the most out of emerging AI tools like ChatGPT. I’m also confident that in a few short years the currently evident abundance of leadership listening will wind down. By then followers will expect that their leaders to take action – to change and improve. Better an OK strategy well executed than a perfect one not done. “We value your input and intend to take action based on your feedback.” These are important but dangerous words for leaders post-covid and post-ChaptGPT. They may be met with a follower’s response, “Thanks for asking, and for listening, now where’s the action and the payback?” If followers see no action or results after speaking up they will inevitably reach one of two conclusions. “I won’t waste my voice anymore,” or “I’m gone.” That’s not the kind of graduation leaders are typically looking for these days.
There’s a lot of labour unrest brewing in the western world these days and lots of general world unrest to go round. Wages and working conditions seem to be popular negotiating items in the free world. The post-covid employee love affair with remote work and the associated freedoms it brings remains strong. Many organizations are leaning in to the new reality with flexible policies and retention strategies to beat the band. Many people are negotiating their way through the changing world and coping, while many are struggling.
Differences are growing and in some ways gaps are widening on many measures where they are intended to narrow. Gaps in affordable housing, gaps in availability of healthcare, wage gaps, debt-to-income ratio gaps, social safety net gaps. Recent estimates of household income distribution reveal that wealth decreased for a broad range of households, but especially for the most vulnerable, including the least wealthy and households younger than 45 years (StatsCan, 2022). Since 1995 the global share of billionaire wealth tripled – the largest increase ever (UNESCO, 2022). Arguably there are gaps in the gaps.
I’ve been increasingly inspired by the great drummer and music legend Neil Pert lately and the iconic Canadian band Rush. Their song The Oaks and the Maples is amazing. While its generally reported that Pert did not write the song as a social statement, it does have a certain appropriateness for our present time and the unrest attributable to many social gaps. Even if Pert didn’t intend the double entendre its worth noting the song’s finale highlited below. Differences and gaps are often resolved with blunt tools. Mind the gap! I remember the days of wage and price controls.
There is unrest in the Forest There is trouble with the trees For the Maples want more sunlight And the Oaks ignore their pleas.
The trouble with the Maples (And they’re quite convinced they’re right) They say the Oaks are just too lofty And they grab up all the light But the Oaks can’t help their feelings If they like the way they’re made And they wonder why the Maples Can’t be happy in their shade?
There is trouble in the Forest And the creatures all have fled As the Maples scream ‘Oppression!’ And the Oaks, just shake their heads
So the Maples formed a Union And demanded equal rights ‘The Oaks are just too greedy We will make them give us light’ Now there’s no more Oak oppression For they passed a noble law And the trees are all kept equal By hatchet, Axe, And saw…
A student once asked me if they ‘really’ needed to buy our course textbook, hoping to buy a pair of children’s birthday shoes instead. I loaned the text. About that time I met David Porter, Ed.D. and learned about Open Education Resources (OER’s i.e. good quality and freely accessible textbooks). Since then I have been an advocate for OER’s and the idea of students curating them.
We have made lots of OER progress in Nova Scotia including at Nova Scotia Community College – NSCC, of which I am very proud. Today, in the middle of Open Education Week, my appreciation goes to British Columbia and open.bccampus.ca. Thank you for leading the way!
Check out the BC story about their 10 year journey with OER’s and then check back here for NS news in a couple of years. Quality, free, and coast to coast!
I was pretty excited last week with the news of Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard essentially giving away the company to a tightly managed trust committed to his dream of saving the planet. While I haven’t researched the news other than casually it seems super impressive that he took such a bold step now.
Chouinard is not the first business leader to take such a non-monetary long-term unorthodox view. Apparently ‘giving away the farm’ to save the planet is all the rage in Europe and the Nordic countries. My students quickly pointed out the tax savings it would bring to Chouinard and his family. But overall they paused to think how they could one day offer a similar gift.
If you’re like me you might marvel at how someone can be so focused. Chouinard has been saving the planet his entire life. Wow. One single focus. That’s impressive. Its inspiring to have leaders like him to study and hopefully to model. What the world needs now is more than just people marveling at the bold moves of others. We need to make some bold moves our selves.
Lots of things are different now. If you wanted to participate wardrobe is as good a place to start as any. After all you are what you <insert wear>. Your wardrobe might become smaller as you give it away to those more needy. More of your wardrobe in future might be like Patagonia’s – more function than fashion. But wardrobe is not the point! One could change life style – being more outdoors and grounded. A big change for some could be much more biking and a lot less motoring. Ultimately Chouinard has challenged us all to think about this rock and how we either save it or kill it. I chose to save it – or at least try. I’m going to figure out how I can best do that now. Thanks for the push Yvon!
When presented with new challenges or opportunities people often say something like, “I’ll get to that when things settle down.” No, they won’t. That response generally means they’re more focused on the now and not embracing the future. They’re like still water. Successful organizations, teams, and individuals are in a constant state of change. They’re like rippling water.
There are lots of good reasons why organizations, teams, and individuals don’t change. Fear of the unknown is a common reason cited. People are often in a comfort zone where their desire to change is outweighed be whatever is holding them back. They’re stuck. They need a rippler.
Say, for example, there’s a new system being implemented at a workplace. The old system has been in place for many years, and a common lament from team members is, “it works just fine.” For them to leave their comfort zone and embrace the new unknown system something special needs to happen. Most importantly they need to see movement towards the new system by their leaders and their teammates. They need to see the ripples of change. That’s not an easy thing to create but it can be done. Its called change management.
There are many change management theories and methodologies. They are generally grounded in social science and are often both academically pure and commercially successful. Many PhD’s have been earned answering questions about change management and many consulting fees have been paid for helping to manage the people side of change. One common theme seems to be that someone needs to start the change wave which is sometimes referred to as change sponsorship. The higher up the organizational hierarchy, the better the impact of change sponsorship, but it needs to start somewhere. Someone needs to drop a pebble in the still water and make the water move for others to notice. That’s when their desire to participate in the change increases, and generally that’s when they begin to “get it and get with it.” There needs to be a rippler.
So, ask yourself, when it comes to change are you a rippler? If you think you might be, then consider learning more about change and change management. There are many great resources available to help you become a change manager. Dr. John Kotter developed a highly regarded change process as did Jeffrey Hiatt and Tim Creasy who founded a research and training organization dedicated to change management. Check out their stuff. Maybe you’ll become a (better) rippler!
It isn’t a dirty little secret anymore. Most people realize that there is a gender wage gap. Women earn less than men for doing the same work. Yet another report, based out of the University of Ottawa this week, shed light on this reality. For college graduates, at time of entering the workforce, the gap is 25%. Like climate change many organizations don’t seem to pay much attention to the nagging problem. If they did, it wouldn’t still be a problem.
Apart from being illegal, immoral, and irresponsible, ignoring the wage gap problem is just plain stupid. But then again so are a lot of things we do subconsciously or without thinking about the consequences. Consider this. You’re an executive in a mid-size organization and things are chugging along nicely. Sales are at their highest levels, you have a good pipeline, costs seem reasonably in line, profits are strong again, and you’re drawing a healthy bonus. Tickity boo. Then – boom – 30% of your workforce begins to unravel. They’re pissed! They begin to realize that you’ve been paying Harry a lot more than Sally. Then they realize that you’ve been paying most of the Harry’s a lot more than most of the Sallys. Their data about your payroll is anecdotal, just water cooler chatter, but to them its very real. Their ‘give a s**t factor’ declines rapidly, they slow down their work efforts, they leave for greener pastures, and you’re left with a big mess. Your mess.
Wake up Scrooge! If the data from the University of Ottawa based study and the hundreds of other studies showing that we pay women less than men for the same work is real for social scientists, then surely its real for at least some of you. At least some executives are guilty of something here. Yes, you too probably don’t even realize that you have a problem. Here’s an idea. Do the math, look under the numbers, resist rationalizing the individual cases. Stop coming to the conclusion that, “we’re OK but thanks for the data.” It may not bee too late to avoid one of the hashtags potentially coming your way. Moreover, it may not be too late to just do the right thing, and the smart thing. According to good research, women (in our example here 30% of your workforce) are the ones making things tickity boo for your business today. Don’t take your success, or their contribution for granted. Don’t be on the wrong side of history. Act now, time may be up sooner than you think.
Sometimes its tough to see the big picture, especially when its really ugly. Our world and everyone in it are facing some ugly problems right now. They are problems that are wickedly unstructured, open ended, multi dimensional, systemic and for which there are often no solutions. Our wicked problems require a new way of thinking and a new leadership paradigm. This week the global climate strikes offered evidence of a wicked problem. Where do you begin? There are so many unique yet interconnected elements each of which seems radically unpredictable. Without directly referencing the science, suffice it to say that the debate, let alone the hope of a solution, seems beyond our control. Don’t despair. Fortunately, this week also offered some hope for our future and not just in the form of #teamgreta and the many brave climate change activists.
systemsinnovation.io
This week three global industry leaders shone a light on a new way of thinking which is credited as the kind of new management approach which our world needs now. Deloitte, IBM, and RBC joined forces to offer Nova Scotia post secondary students a taste of design thinking. The investment which these companies made in developing and delivering the two-day learning event was impressive. The scale of the event was significant, involving about 200 students from five schools all hosted at Saint Mary’s University. Yes the three corporate amigos got to see potential recruits in action and endeared themselves to a cohort of future leaders – the event helped their recruiting efforts for sure but I think the investment goes far beyond that.
Opening up the internal capabilities of these firms for others to learn and apply took a leap of faith for these three industry giants. They offered their know-how and their people in an effort to build community capacity so that we can begin to solve a growing world of wicked problems. The open source nature of the design thinking movement is evidence of healthy corporate values which help to address community and social issues – not just profit. In a world of wicked problems its nice to see some creative solutions emerge. Bravo IBM, Deloitte, RBC and all the student participants who made an investment which will make a difference and some day may get us to the other side of complexity. Post-complexity simplicity here we come!
Jules Fauteux 