Before You Are Thirsty

 There is an old expression that you need to dig the well before you are thirsty. This isn't talking about water, but I'm sure you already know that. This old adage is all about building relationships. It informs or reminds us that we need to build relationships before we need relationships.

It is getting easier and easier to be a distrustful person these days. With the unrestricted ability for nearly anyone to publish information for the entire world to consume, editorial standards are a phenomenon from a bygone era. Yes, there are still some organizations that follow the long accepted standards for disseminating information but in this day and age, you don't have to. 

Within the profession of journalism, there was always a desire to be first. Reporters wanted to get a scoop. They wanted to be the first to report something. Within that community it carries a certain cache be the first. However, for the mass public consuming your product I'm not sure it was as important. Now, fast forward to current day and you don't have to follow any standards to have your information published, so you can always be first, if you don't care about the truth.

But what does this have to do about building relationships?

We are hurtling towards a world of complete distrust. There will be a day that comes sooner than later where if you don't know someone, there is no way you will be able to get them to do anything for you. So, to overcome that, you need to get to know people before you need something from them. We can't operate in isolation. Humans have built great systems, but systems bring about the rise of specialists. As such, you can't do it all yourself and at some point you will need help.

Since we are not very good at predicting the future and most people can't accurately predict where they will be in even three years, you don't know who is going to be around you or in a position to help you. So, at worst you need to not be burning bridges and at best you need to be cultivating relationships with people who you need nothing from. Some day someone from your past will be holding the keys to what you need. You don't want tot fail before you start because they don't know you or, even worse, don't like you. 

So start digging. Spend time with people and get to know them. Have a beer with them. Laugh at their jokes. Move into their trusted circle. When they ask for help, do more than you have to and as much as you can. You don't know when you may have to ask for some help. 

Everyone has competing priorities, so be the person others like to help so yours moves up the list.

Bad Structure

A few weeks back the Chief Clerk of the Privy Council stated one of her priorities is to make the Canadian Public Service a healthier place to work.

If you are unaware, the Chief Clerk is the top public servant in Canada, all this will make more sense with this crucial bit of info.

Canada has a well compensated Public Service. However, a lot of people end up on stress leave, a much higher ratio than in most private companies. The Chief Clerk wants to fix this. Unfortunately, I have not heard anyone address the real problem.

I have made some basic assumptions in this argument. First, when people start a position, they want to do a good job. Second, people want to contribute to the organization's success.  I think most people approach their work life from this position and the Public Service is full of people like this. These may be the people that end up stressed out and on leave.

The problem isn't the people, it's the structure. The people doing the work and the people approving the work are not properly lined up. Because of scandal, mismanagement, bad press, and an inability to lead properly, in many offices the person doing the work is several levels lower in the organization than the person approving the work. National Defence Headquarters has this problem as well.

In the normal course of a well functioning organization, your boss approves your work, full stop. In very exceptional circumstances, your bosses boss approves the work. It should never go higher than that, ever.

The big bureaucratic machine that provides services to Canadian does not operate like this.

It is not unusual for work to go up three or four levels for approval. This is wrong.

When a task is needed, the person who will be approving the task should look around at the direct reports and assign the work. If they do not have the time, they should look at what they are doing. If they are too busy vetting the work of the people below them, there is the problem. They shouldn't be vetting work, they should be approving work.

Think about it, if a task comes down through four levels, the original intent will probably be distorted. As the draft work goes up, it will get vetted and tweaked. After all, if you don't add anything to it, why are you looking at it. Then it will get to the top and finally approved. However, the person who completed the bulk of the work will not see their work be successful and will not receive good feedback on how it could be better next time. With all this, frustration ensues.

Now, if you are pretty good at your job and you get promoted, you more to a position where you don't create and you don't approve. You are really just a cog on a wheel. That will cause you to feel ineffective.

The Public Service suffers from the same problem that every other organization tends to suffer from. The people at the top got there through the existing system and they rose through it so, why can't everyone else be successful in this system.

The stats show people can't. 

The Public Service needs a major overhaul. Responsibility needs to be moved down the organization chart or work assignments need to move up. If a public servant is doing the work, his boss must be the final approving authority of the work.

All this will make public servants feel like they contribute to the organization. They will get effective feedback and grow in their positions. The organization will become streamlined as tasks can be assigned and completed very quickly. Who knows, they may be able to get more done with less people.

If you want to make an employee happy, give them the authority and freedom to make decisions and get their job done, with the support for unusual situations. Yes there will be mistakes, but that's ok. As long as they are not always the same mistakes, we can live with that as it may well be cheaper than paying people to vet other people's work and not approve anything.

I Like Where This is Going

My foray into the world of car sales lasted fifteen weeks. it was not a long time and I quickly realized that although I can do the job I don't like the environment I was in. Since moving on I have been twelve weeks in the new job with Valspar. I love the environment. As long as the culture remains the same, i can see myself at Valspar for the rest of my career.

I have been quite busy in my job. The weeks are absolutely flying by. In my ninth week with the company I went for new hire training in Moorseville North Carolina. This gave me a chance to see deeper into the company and be around other members of Valspar every day. I came to realize that what I was seeing leading up to this trip was not a facade. The corporate culture is genuine and what I want to be around.

People that work for Valspar work hard but are honest about where they fit in the world. We sell paint. If you are late, nobody is going to die and the nation is not going to be invaded. When you are driving around in your company car you are expected to be driving. You are not expected to be doing other work or eating at the same time. Valspar takes safety very seriously. The will fire people who violate safety regulations. I like this. I don't have to worry that a co-worker is going to put my well-being in jeopardy.

Valspar provides the tools and support to be successful. I have a car, a couple of credit cards, a computer, an iPhone, a boss who gets it, and support from every direction. I also represent the best paint in the store. All this makes it easier to do a good job. 

The company is happy with me and they express it on a regular basis. I can see it myself. I was looking at some numbers and business is better in my territory since I started serving the stores. Eastern Ontario has not received the attention is should for nearly a year. I'm getting things back to where they should be. Once that's achieved, I will push to advance the yardsticks.

When you find your self working for the right organization, you will work harder, be more productive, and like it more. That's the spot I'm in these days and I could not be happier.

Polarizing

I don't think there is a subject that polarizes people more than Apple Inc. I thought maybe evolution vs creationism but lets be honest, it isn't. Then I thought maybe Nickleback was more polarizing but lets be honest it isn't.

The release of the iPhone 5 last Friday renewed the fever on both sides of the debate. Now in the spirit of full disclosure, I now have an iPhone 5 and I got it on the day it went on sale. However, I reserved it with my wireless carrier and went after work to pick it up. It was about an hour from when I arrived at the store until I was leaving with my shiny new iPhone. This is not a review of the new iPhone 5. You can read that on any tech blog and mainstream news site. I will say I like it and it is very fast however, that's not why Apple is so successful.

It's well known that Steve Jobs wanted to make a computer that didn't just work well, it also looked good. He put a lot of emphasis on style. It helps but that's not necessarily why they have gone from a few weeks from bankruptcy to the most valuable company in the world.

A lot of people seem to say its because the devices and computers just work. That's a part of it. Microsoft put out a lot of substandard versions of their operating system. They put out versions that they admit should have never been released. You can strip it down and only use parts of Windows. If you don't want to use it you can turn it off for some or all on your network. However, having various manufacturers make the hardware, there has to be a level of flexibility that may reduce a level of effectiveness. Because Apple makes both the hardware and the software, they can drill down to the 1s and 0s and make it work.

One of the better arguments I have recently read is Apple sells you the ecosystem. They control the hardware and the software and the content. Then they make it work together seamlessly. That has to be part of it. I use my devices and computer to do things. I don't sit and try to get them to work together, I sit and use them to do things. This helps sell products but it isn't the whole thing.

All of the above are parts of why Apple is so successful but there is something else. It feels right when you touch there devices. It sounds a bit weird but its true and Apple knows it. The iPhone and iPod feels right in your hand. Maybe even more important is the MacBook Pro, is ergonomically friendly in 2 key ways. First, and probably foremost is the keyboard. I have typed on a lot of different laptops over the years. Most of the keyboards are terrible. you can't feel where your fingers are on the keys or on the keyboard making touch typing nearly impossible. However, at least for me, typing on a macBook Pro keyboard is just as easy as a keyboard for a desktop. Secondly, Apple has made the touchpad useful and effective. A lot of people hate using touch pads. I am one of them except for the touchpad on my MacBook Pro. Because you can use multiple fingers to do different things and you can set it to have to click it like a mouse button, it is useful and not annoying. If your hands accidentally brush the touchpad while typing it won't make the cursor jump to a new spot and mess up your document.

Now I said Apple knows that touching their products helps sell them. It's obvious when you think about how the Apple Store is set up. When you are there you can touch and use any product. They are connected to the internet and fully functional. You can use it and see how you interact with the product. It's not like there is one or two of each product to try, there are counters and tables full of devices and you are welcome to pick up, touch, hold and play with as much as you want. There isn't a Samsung Store in every city and the Sony Store is not nearly as interactive. Apple knows how to make you discover their products.

Some people don't like Apple products. They feel they are overpriced or the consumers are simply following the crowd. There may be some of that but I like how they work and I find them easy to use and get the job done. Let's be honest, it never hurts to look good either.

Results

Life tends to be results based. There is no denying this, nor should there be. If you don't have results then there is no basis for reward. I've believed this for a long time. I also believe that since we are results based how you get the results is less important. Of course, there are moral and legal guidelines you must follow but beyond that, it's open season.


Recently I have forgotten this. I have been trying to do things other people's way. I need to get back to my way.


A lot of people who know me tend to say I'm quite optimistic. I hope this this true. I also like to help people. So to get the required result I find that if I take a positive and helpful approach I get what is wanted.


It's important for people to use the approach they want. No approach is perfect and all will garner results. The quality and quantity of the results will vary.


I try to maintain my belief that most people are inherently good. I like to believe that they want to do a good job and most people who do not do a good job do so because they don't understand what is expected or they don't know how to deliver the expected result. If you work with the person who is experiencing difficulty and find out where they are falling down, from there you can figure out how to get them on track.


For me to make things better I need to do a lot of listening. I need to hear what people believe to be the difficulties. I may ask some questions to further understand the situation or the person's perception of the situation. I try to make it look like the person fixes the problem themselves. Many will know that I helped them but some will not. It doesn't matter because I have got the results I am responsible for.


I'm not perfect. I don't always follow my own advice but when I do I seem to be really effective and I truly believe that nothing is beyond my abilities. When I'm in that zone, my world is a better place.