Category Archives: change management

change management, community associations, condo associations, Cooperatives, Culture, HOAs, leadership

Just Don’t

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Silly Human Tricks

We work/live/hang around with certain people for a while. We have experiences with them. We get to know them. We disagree on a few things. We begin to get annoyed with them. We draw conclusions about their motives. We remember the disagreements.

Here’s where it gets weird.

We strategize to get the results we want, with assumptions about evil intent and ugly history close in our mind and heart. We overstate. We accuse. We blame. They are doing the same thing with us. The disagreements deepen. On the surface, conflicts appear to be about the matter at hand. But just under the water line, the real conflict lurks. We are simultaneously talking about the issues of the day and the distrust of the past. These bi-level communications can last forever. Things bog down. Nothing gets done. History repeats again and again in the vortex of a vicious failure cycle. Dysfunction reigns supreme.

Sound familiar? Congress, anyone?

The pattern can set in with any organization where we silly humans are involved. The more emotionally or physically close the people and the longer the relationship, the more entrenched the pattern. I’ve seen it happen in social circles, in businesses, in families, and yes… in community associations.

Learning How to Break the Cycle

Breaking the failure cycle is not easy, but it’s achievable in most circumstances. It took me a while to appreciate the uniqueness of my career in the community associations field. Since my first on-site management contract, my main, though unstated, role had been to fix broken things and build trust. In the ensuing years, I was thrust into similarly challenging situations. I’m not complaining. The experience turned out to be the best education I could have gotten. It led to me doing most of the consulting for a management company and the formation of Association Bridge.

Here’s what I learned…

Don’t Let the 5 Percenters Rule the Roost

One of our silly human tricks is to focus on the negative. 95% of things might be working well, but we only focus on the 5% of that which makes us unhappy or divides us. Community association leaders and managers will always spend a significant amount of time fixing problems. It’s a big part of their jobs. But that can create a challenge. A constant focus on the 5% makes it hard to see the other 95.

I learned a secret. There is a reason people decide to move into a particular community. There are shared goals, values, and aspirations there. I’ve never worked with a community where its members didn’t have more in common than that which divided them. They just couldn’t see it at first. They were so into the weeds that they could not see the forest. The weeds are where the 5 percenters live and flourish. And yes, that includes those with wildly diverse demographics.

The problems are real. Different opinions are real. But the bigger picture is just as real. Getting out of the weeds of distrust and dysfunction requires elevation.

Get to Higher Ground

There are a few strategies that can help to elevate the discourse and begin to turn failure cycles into success cycles. Here are three of my favorites:

  • Use Affirmative Inquiry:  Identify that which members have in common. Establish shared values and goals. Then apply those to the 5 Percenters. Seeing the bigger picture helps to set a context and changes the game.  
  • Let Data Drive the Discussion: Much conflict comes from what I call “Theoryworld.” Absent reliable data, people will always rely on what they know – their opinions. Do the homework, communicate the data vigorously, and let that drive the discussion.   
  • Fresh Blood: Sometimes new leaders with a fresh perspective can help groups come together. In other cases, a “disinterested third party,” a facilitator with no dog in the fight, can help bridge the gaps.

Trust is almost always the key. Stephen M.R. Covey made an astute observation in his excellent book The Speed of Trust. When trust is present, things happen quickly and cost-effectively. When trust is absent, things take longer and cost more. Who doesn’t want cheap and easy? Getting to higher ground begins the process of melting distrust and creating a culture of trust.

Yeah, Sounds Great, But….

Does this stuff actually work? Here are some real-life examples of “Breaking the Cycle”:

Case Study #1

One association had an incendiary newsletter that torched the board over every decision. They undermined confidence and deepened divisions in the community. After about a month, I realized that its editor was a board member’s wife.

I expanded my “Board Orientation/Tune Up” program into a two-part community leadership program. The community had several committees, including the newsletter committee, which were contributing to the dysfunction to one degree or another. The first session was for all committee members and board members. This was followed a week later by a board-only session. There was a clear communication of both the letter and spirit of the law and governing documents. Both sessions included a section about best practices in leadership. We applied universally accepted principles to the community association paradigm. This created a space where the group could follow up with a productive planning session. They were able to agree on goals for the year and a program to reach them. Two years of progress ensued.

Case Study #2

Another condominium we took over had severely underfunded reserves and an unrealistic budget. They had also been the victim of theft from their prior attorney, who had pocketed the fees provided by members in collections. The stories were heartbreaking. Community members were equally upset about the condition of the property and the prospect of higher condominium fees. I facilitated a town hall meeting to share the difficult news. The Board, worried about a violent reaction, made sure to hire an off-duty police officer to keep me and them from being attacked.

By the end of the presentation with the data clearly shared, we had unit owners offering to organize to perform some repairs and property clean-up as volunteers. Once members saw clearly the reality of their situation, working together to find solutions became the obvious alternative to blame and complaint. Despite the increase in fees and many challenges, there was a palpable improvement in community spirit at the next annual meeting.

Case Study #3

At an annual meeting 16 days into a new management contract, I had a unit owner point her finger at me and tell me she was going to hold me accountable for everything the board did. In the ensuing months, she took full advantage of owner comment periods at board meetings to remind everyone of every bad decision that had been made over the last 30 years and to call into question board members’ intelligence. I got to know her and at one point suggested she consider running for the board to be a part of the solution. She declined. I still remember the look on her face when I told her that at some point the community would need to learn how to agree to disagree in an agreeable fashion. You would have thought I had two heads. After a pregnant pause, she whirled away and exclaimed disgustedly, “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!”

After a full analysis of the operation and a particularly vigorous and expanded budget process, the community understood the needs of the building and where their money was going. At the next annual meeting, my finger-pointing friend rose to deliver her usual diatribe, only to be encouraged to cease and desist by her fellow unit owners. Deferred maintenance projects were eventually initiated. The turnaround put this previously notorious community in a position to win a Community Association of the Year award.

The Bottom Line

We spend too much time and energy allowing our opinions get in the way of getting things done. We are missing opportunities that are right in front of us. Imputing the motives of others has no value. Even if you are right, it doesn’t help.

Stop. Just don’t. Find facts and stick with them. Get to higher ground. Focus on strengths. Find the shared values, goals and aspirations. Let that create context and culture. Put people in a position to be their best. And then…watch success happen.

The iconic Sgt. Joe Friday had the right idea…

change management, community associations, condo associations, Cooperatives, Emotional Intelligence, HOAs, leadership, Management

Let the Data Drive the Discussion

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Change is hard.  New is hard.  Fear makes bad news hard to take.  Is it any wonder that from time to time community association managers, advisors and volunteer leaders find themselves at odds with community members or each other?  Sooner or later, they all will find themselves duty bound to share a message someone won’t want to hear.

Money Hurts

This happens a lot when money is involved.  People hate to spend money especially when they cannot see the value of the expense.  Here’s where community associations remind members of the government, either consciously or subconsciously.  I recall hearing a quote from the Wall Street Journal along the lines of, “People have the same warm emotional connection to their homeowners association as they do the Internal Revenue Service.”  Ouch!

Drill down a little and it makes sense.  Citizens expect infrastructure and services, but they may chafe at paying the taxes that make them possible.  Why?  In a word, trust.  Governments, with their inevitable bureaucracies, have complicated, enormous budgets that the average citizen cannot comprehend.  This makes it difficult, if not impossible, to tell how well utilized those taxes are.  The end result?  Distrust and an assumption of waste…or worse.  Association Fees are a community association’s tax.  If members are not clear that their money is being spent wisely, it’s tough to take.  Members may well default to their assumptions of waste…or worse.

See The Enemy

If you are going to ask for higher fees, spend a wad of cash, or change anything people are familiar with, you need to be ready to explain why.  You may need to combat distrust.  Fortunately, this is much easier to accomplish on the micro level of a community association than is it for the Federal Government!  The information might be somewhat complicated, but it can be available and explainable.

If the direction is sound, it’s based on sound data.  But members may not be aware of the data they need to trust the messenger.  And until the messenger is trusted, the message is lost.

There are two insidious enemies that can erode the trust of your members:

  1. The Law of Omitted Data: The concept is that if a person has some knowledge about a subject but does not have all the facts, it is likely that person’s degree of misunderstanding will grow exponentially over time.  The impact of the law can be devastating in the group dynamic, especially when the Telephone Game factor gets added to the mix.  I’ve seen this blow communities apart.
  1. Theoryworld: The absence of experience or real life information doesn’t stop people from trying to be experts. We imagine scenarios and responses and all kinds of possible permutations and combinations of things that might happen.  Discussion and arguments in Theoryworld last for-EV-er!  They have an annoying tendency to bear little resemblance to reality and waste valuable time and energy.  Theoryworld is exhausting and leads to regrettable decisions.

When data is bad or missing, misinformed opinions and fear can set in and emotions can run high.  It gets personal.  People mistakenly see each other as the enemy.  The real enemies, the Law of Omitted Data and Theoryworld, are hiding just under the surface.

How can you vanquish these enemies?  How can you fill in the blanks and bridge the gap between theory and reality?  How can your group make good decisions and actually get things done?

Fight the Real Enemies

Your first reaction to manifestations of the Law of Omitted Data or Theoryworld may be to correct or defend.  Don’t.  That adds fuel to the ego-driven fire, even if you are 100% right.  Rather than counteracting bad data, seek to fill in the gaps of understanding with good data.  Your goal isn’t to win an argument.  Ego is a major part of the problem.  Elevate the dialogue from ego-based to principle-based– from emotional opinion-based to fact-based.  In so doing, you create a space in which the data can drive the discussion.

The presentation of the data requires more than logic.  It means acknowledging ego and emotion, both yours and others’.  This is another real life scenario where gobs of emotional intelligence will make a massive difference.   Here are a few strategies to get there:

  • Find trustable outside experts. A message from a disinterested third-party can have an impact.  Share their information or let them do the talking.
  • Show and tell. A picture really does paint a thousand words.  And seeing it up close and personal makes things real.  Cruddy pipes, scary boiler rooms, a mudslide behind the pool.  You don’t have to sell it.  Just allow people to see reality.
  • Show your work like doing arithmetic in the third grade. Even if the level of detail seems excessive, the fact that the research was done and you are willing to show your process can build bridges and confidence.
  • Conversely, make it clear the presentation of detailed data isn’t a snow job. Bullet point summaries, charts and graphs– anything that aids visualization is good.  The supporting materials can be in the back.
  • Accept all options and ideas at first, even if every bone in your body tells you they never work. Instead of saying “no” up front, let the group decision making process say “no.”
  • Try to use more questions than declarative statements

Hail Victory!

Don’t worry about making a case.  Create a space where the case makes itself.  Trust the process.  Be patient – time will tell the truth.  Let the data drive the discussion.

What strategies have you used to defeat the Law of Omitted Data and Theoryworld?

change management, Communications, condo associations, Cooperatives, HOAs, leadership, Management

We Are All Geniuses…or Insane. Your Call!

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I’ve heard this quote, widely attributed to Albert Einstein, for a long time. As it turns out, he may or may not have ever said it. Thing is, it resonates so well that it’s easy to attach genius to the observation. So why not Einstein?

We silly humans tend to choose familiarity over change, even if it makes us miserable. I’ve noticed it in my world of community association boards and managers. Instead of taking an honest look at our results and trying to figure out how we got there, we’ll practice what Canadian brand transformation specialist Alan Quarry calls “glue diligence.” We do it because we’ve always done it that way, and dang it, we’ll never change!

…And then we blame everybody and everything else for our frustrations and failures…

One of the most important changes we can make is to see ourselves differently. For the longest time, the thought of being a salesperson made me cringe, just a little bit. But a few years ago, I realized sales and marketing were weak areas in my business skillset. It was time to hit the books. Funny thing is, a few of the writers I learned from in my study of leadership through the years started off as sales guys.

THE ART OF LEADERSHIP AND SALES

I didn’t fully connect the dots until I read Daniel Pink’s brilliant book To Sell is Human. It finally hit me. I gave myself permission to see myself and my role a little differently. The art of leadership is the process of helping people move from one place to another. Outstanding leaders share a vision so compellingly, people buy in because they see the benefit. Yes…BUY IN. Therefore, leaders sell and it’s a good thing.

Sales done right has never been ugly. Great salespeople believe they have something of value to sell, provide service and value first, and create a space where people can see themselves taking advantage of the value proposition. They are not selfishly manipulative. They are connecting dots. In essence, they don’t sell anything but an idea, creating a space for others to buy. They understand the wisdom of Jeffery Gitomer’s words, “Nobody likes to be sold, but everybody likes to buy.”

THE SUPERPOWER

The process of sales is the process of leadership. If we are to lead, we must sell. And to be truly effective, we need the superpower all great leaders and salespeople have – the ability to be an agent of change. This is leadership at its highest level – the ability to lead change, sensing when and how to initiate, support or facilitate it so that the stakeholders in an organization make it their own.

And yet, how many board members and community managers see themselves as leaders, salespeople and change agents?

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS….A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE

So many times it comes down to communications skills. We all have a tendency to communicate from our standpoint. Managers are trained to be technically proficient. Board members may be trained in governance. Unfortunately, as a result both are frequently ineffective. They are “doing their jobs” while missing the point. It has led to community association members disconnecting from their communities. Quoting from memory a comment from the Wall Street Journal, “People tend to have the same emotional connection to their HOAs as they do the Internal Revenue Service.” Ouch. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Think about how the message is received and you might realize you are coming off like Moses descending the mountain with stone tablets from God. Our message may be important, but it’s not THAT important. Worse, we may be accidently sending the message that people exist for the governing documents, when the truth is that those documents exist for the people. Or you may be coming off like a mean nun with a ruler, ready to whack all those disobedient children.

It doesn’t matter what you say. It only matters what is heard. And while you can never control what’s heard, you really need to think about the message and work your brains out to communicate from the receiver’s perspective, not your own. That’s what great leaders, salespeople, and change agents do. Make it real. Show the value. Explain the Why. And be patient. Because until you do these things, you’re just part of the increasing noise in your members’ lives.

INSANITY OR GENIUS?

If you are not connecting with your community or your client, if you are frustrated, it may be time to stop the insanity. Make a change. Start with how you see your role. Be leaders. Be sales people. Be change agents. Communicate like the best leaders and salespeople with the change agent superpowers.

Change the message and the delivery so it actually reaches your audience. It’s about them, not you. Make it real. Show value. Be a genius!

Thanks to Ed Loonam, PCAM, of Property Management Associates in Virginia Beach, Virginia, who gave me the inspiration to turn my SEVA-CAI CA Day sparks talk into a blog post!

Best Practices, change management, community associations, condo associations, Governance, HOAs, leadership, Uncategorized

Dear Boards: Suck It Up and Be Transparent

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James Dyson developed over 5,000 prototype designs for his revolutionary vacuum cleaner between 1979 and 1984. Nobody cared until 1983. An Italian appliance maker agreed to sell them by mail order. It was not exactly a success; only about 500 units were sold that year.

But Dyson was undeterred. He never forgot his unhappy experience with a typical vacuum in 1974, when he noticed it seemed to lose suction easily and required a lot of maintenance to maintain optimal performance. He knew there had to be a better way. He was sure his “cyclonic separation” technology was the answer.

Who Wants to See Dirt?

One of the key features of the vacuum was its clear plastic dirt collector. Market research at the time said people would hate it. But Dyson sensed that people would want to see the results of the vacuum’s performance, no matter how ugly it might be. So in 1991 he launched Dyson Appliances Unlimited. Was he right? Today Dyson is a multi-billion pound (British) company employing over 8,500 people. But you don’t need to know statistics to see his impact. Take a look at the appliance shelf at your local department store or Amazon page. How many competitors copied him?

Historically, vacuum cleaners trapped dirt in a hidden bag that was removed and thrown away. The clear dirt collector went against the grain of conventional wisdom at the time. In his ebook Who Do You Want Your Customers to Become?, Michael Schrage quoted Dyson: “The interesting thing is that when I did this, all of our competitors just fell about the floor laughing; they were actually delighted that I’d been so stupid. And the retailers wouldn’t have it . . . We went into the stores, and our vacuum has all this (expletive deleted) in it. The retailers are absolutely hostile. They say, ‘No, no, no, it’s a complete mistake—make it smoked or tinted or something.’ But I persisted, because I found it really fascinating that you could see exactly what was happening; you could actually see the nature and texture and type of dirt you’ve picked up.”

Schrage concluded, “While Dyson’s transparency defied the industry’s conventional wisdom, customers knew they could see with their own eyes how well their innovative technology worked. Dyson offered a simple, easy, and inexpensive user experience that invited customer confidence….Transparency creates trust. Dyson’s contrarian innovation was an investment in trust. Dyson empowered his customers to come to their own real-time conclusions about his product’s performance. “

What’s This Got to Do with Community Association Governance?

Too many boards of directors of community association are nervous. Nervous about contention. Nervous about bad PR. Nervous about looking unprepared. Nervous about being wrong. Reflexively, they retreat into secrecy, even when state or local statutes require open meetings.

I get it. People can be tough. Most communities have hard cases living in them. I remember Elvira, a unit owner in a particularly contentious condominium I once managed. She was the Board’s harshest critic, never missing an opportunity to call out any and every imperfection. When I asked her why she didn’t step up and serve on the Board, it became clear she didn’t want to be accountable. She just enjoyed holding others accountable.

I also remember my first condo management job. I was a contracted, interim building manager for a small and elite condominium in Washington DC. I went to work every day with a knot in my stomach, certain I would blow the building up. At the end of my tenure, the whole community threw me a going away party. It was amazing. I cornered one of the board members and said, “I don’t understand. This was my first management job. I made plenty of mistakes. Why were you so happy with me?” I’ll never forget the answer.

“Tom, you told us about every little thing that went wrong. We knew if anything really bad happened you would be honest about it. You have no idea how valuable that was to us to have a manager we could trust.”

“Transparency creates trust”
– Michael Schrage

Humility and openness are invaluable. They set a tone and can change the game. My mentor Arthur Dubin, President of Zalco Realty, and I still recall a president of a condominium we helped turn around back in the day. The condominium had been the victim of paralysis by analysis. This was due in no small part to egos that got in the way of seeing reality and being responsible for decisions that might not work. A brilliant oncologist, this president was always willing to admit when he didn’t understand something. He asked the questions others were afraid to. His standard line was, “talk to me like I’m 5 years old.” The board became more comfortable discussing matters openly and sharing information on topics in progress with owners. All their dirt was in the open. Nobody got sued, the community came together, and stuff got done. More than 20 years later, Arthur and I still reminisce about “Dr. Bob” moments every so often.

Consumers pay good money for a vacuum and want to see the results. They trust their money was well spent, even if what they see might be a bit distasteful. They know the technology works. Seeing the results allows them to draw their own conclusions. Community members pay their fees. They want to have confidence that the organization they are funding is working well. They want to have confidence in the process, even when the news is a less than pleasant. Seeing the process unfold allows members to buy in for themselves.

So your gut reaction may be to stay “safe” in the shadows. This is a fear-based decision. You already know those don’t work out too well (FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real). You may make assumptions about how members will react to seeing the dirt. And it’s true that in our litigious society there are reasons to be discrete. But knowledge gaps will be filled by the rumor mill. The Law of Omitted Data (i.e. if a percentage of information is omitted or missing, bad data will spread at an exponential rate over time) runs amok. This creates a vicious cycle of distrust, secrecy and dysfunction.

So yes, it can be tough ESPECIALLY in challenging times and with bad news. Take a deep breath and be as open as circumstances permit. Change the game and begin to turn vicious cycles into success cycles. This is not theory. It works. Give it a shot – suck it up and be transparent. When the results start to flow you’ll be glad you did.

change management, community associations, condo associations, Cooperatives, Emotional Intelligence, HOAs, leadership, Management

CONTEXT!

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I’ve noticed the word keeps popping into my head more and more. Frequently, my job is to fix stuff. I walk into a lot of situations where people aren’t on the same page or worse. I try to dissect all the factors, and it seems more often than not, lack of context is at the root of the problem in one way or another. As soon as I have all the pieces and can see how they fit together, the rest is easy. Context issues can rear their ugly heads in all kinds of scenarios.

GROUP DYNAMICS

Ever been in Board meetings where certain agenda items go on forever? I remember one client who debated the merits of adding a walkway to a portion of their community for months. It wasn’t budgeted, but it could have improved safety. It could have benefitted many residents, but in theory it might have created a nuisance for those who lived close to the proposed walkway. Discussion and debate started in the weeds and got deeper as time went on. Emotions ran high. In the end, the idea was squashed and the process left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. The Board is hoping nobody brings it up again. Lack of context ran amok.

If your group is considering a new idea, or a recurring one that never seems to get settled, listen very closely. You may well find that there is a bi-level dialogue going on. The overt conversation is on the merits of the idea in play. But sometimes the reason the subject takes forever to flesh out is because people are struggling to figure out if the thing is really important, timely, or how it fits in to a bigger picture. That subtext can be a sign the group lacks clarity on shared values and vision. If that’s the case, context can be gained by taking the time to achieve consensus on those deeper points. (No, not at a Board meeting – it’s a separate exercise .) With the underpinnings of values and vision in place, things go a lot smoother and quicker.

CHANGING THE MESSAGE

Context also comes up in day to day conflicts. Association members may chafe in matters of covenants enforcement. It’s understandable. After all, who likes to be told they are in the wrong, or feel controlled? All too often, when the nastygram from Big Brother arrives in the mailbox, the missing link is context. Unless the reason for a community standard is understood, that standard, whether enumerated in CC&Rs, rules, policies or procedures, feels irrelevant and maybe even arbitrary. Context can sometimes be achieved by taking the time to explain the reason for the standard, and why those standards benefit everyone in the long run, ESPECIALLY the individual. I’ll never forget my boss telling me that an owner from a former client had called him to complain about a manager who had followed me at my last on-site management job. When he mentioned her name, I had an immediate emotional and physical reaction – I thought she hated my guts. But her comment provided a golden lesson: “I didn’t always agree with Tom, but he always told us what he was going to do in advance, and we always knew why he was doing what he was doing.” Changing the message can help to establish the context.

ASSUME NOTHING

Sometimes confusion and conflict are the result of missing data. It’s really easy to jump to conclusions and muck up the works. I get reminded of that when I get a call or text from one of my favorite managers, who reaches out for assistance on thorny issues from time to time. I listen to a scenario, offer some potential solutions only to hear ,“I don’t think that will work, because (followed by a new factor not previously revealed).” Note to self…slow down, gather all facts, get full context. I think part of the challenge may be that we are encouraged to think quickly and get to the bottom line as fast as possible. But we aren’t necessarily thinking deeply. In the end, conflicts and confusion can get worse, not better, and we accidentally (and ironically) take more time to resolve matters by tying to save time by being fast. One strategy to get full context is to assume nothing and keep asking questions until the root of a matter is clear. Once the context is understood, then move toward potential solutions.

So, the next time you find yourself feeling conflicted and confused, make sure you see the full context of whatever you are dealing with. In the end, it will save you and the people around you time and heartburn. And you might just get something done!

business life, change management, leadership, Management

I Don’t Know (Period?)

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Passive aggression gets a lot of play when we talk about human behavior these days. It’s unhealthy. It’s all too common. That behavior in a business setting is certainly harmful, but not as pervasive as something far more insidious….passive dependency.

Uh oh

Here’s a test – how many times do you hear the words “I don’t know” in your organization? This phase is perfectly OK if its followed by a comma and a plan of action. But when it’s the whole sentence followed by a period, you have a problem.

How about “Well, I was waiting for…” If people are always waiting for someone else to tell them what to do, you have a problem. If everything flows up the organizational chart, action is delayed, decisions get bottlenecked, and customers are poorly served. Nobody learns anything, you have an organization of drones and robots. The vicious cycle of suckitude repeats over and over until the organization dies a slow death. As Bill the Cat would have said, “Ack!!”

Kill the cancer

Passive dependency demotivates people and eats away at the insides of organizations. Treat it aggressively like the cancer that it is.

It’s not you, it’s me. No really, it might be me

Organizations rife with passive dependency have Papa or Momma Bears at the top. Be careful that’s not you. It’s easy to fall into. Are you being responsible, or have you become despotic (benevolent or not)? Are you a nut about quality control or are you actually a control freak? Are you the answer man, brilliantly handling all queries from your people, blowing them away with your knowledge and wisdom? Is that really efficient in the long run? Worse yet – are you taking a certain joy in being the sees-all, knows-all oracle for all things important? You are the problem and your leadership sucks. Sorry to sound so negative, but you needed to know.

Make it right

There is hope….Try answering questions with “What do YOU think?” and keep asking questions until the answer comes out of someone else’s mouth. Help people to think about the why as often as possible. Never allow “I don’t know” to end with a period. Hock out the hairball of passive dependency. Quickly. Definitively. Now. Really.

Go ahead, invest in your people. Put others in a position to learn, to think, to use their best judgment, to act, to be responsible. Then trust, even when you know stuff will go wrong from time to time. Let them goof it up from occasionally and talk about lessons learned along the way. I know, you don’t think you have time. Do it anyway. You’ll save a ton of time in the long run. It’s an investment you’ll be glad you made.

business life, change management

A Dad’s Advice For Successfully Navigating Challenging Organizational Dynamics

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Some years ago, my daughter decided to follow my footsteps and enter the community association management business. Of course, I was tickled to death, but I was a little nervous. I have the utmost confidence in Meagan, but the position she accepted was a tough introduction into the industry. It didn’t help that she was stuck with my last name – there would be those who would credit any success she achieved to nepotism. Sure enough, she accepted the challenge and every other challenge that has confronted her since, leaving me very proud…and also grateful she’s got a lot of her mother in her.

So I figured it was time for a note from Dad. I was hoping she could avoid the mistakes I made along the way if I shared what I’d learned. My subtitle was “20 things learned over 28 years in business.” Meagan really enjoyed it. I stumbled upon it a while ago and chatted with her about it. Being the generous soul she is, she is allowing me to share the 20 thoughts with you. I hope you find some value here.

1.  The correct hierarchy for problem solving is (l)Why (2)What (3)How (4)Who. When someone skips right to #4, one person wins for a minute and everybody loses in the long run.

2.  Figure out if you are seeing a system problem, a performance problem, or a combination of both. Otherwise you are answering the wrong question.

3.  You are either part of solutions or part of problems – always seek to be the latter. There is no sitting on the fence. The fence is usually part of the problem.

4.  Focus on the solution, not the problem, every time.

5.  If it appears someone is looking wrong or stupid, try to find a way to give them a graceful exit. They will appreciate it even if they don’t say so.

6.  Let other people make decisions and take positions because they have decided everyone either wears a black hat or a white hat. For your part, remember that most are some shade of gray & that it’s generally irrelevant anyway. The idea is more valuable to the organization than the person that expresses it. Persons are valuable to the organization for the ideas and integrity they lend to the organization.

7.  Never forget humility is a strength, not a weakness.

8.  You are not perfect. That’s OK. Striving to be perfect in flawless service to the client is the key, not being perfect. You can always do the former. You can never do the latter. This frees you up from feeling like you have to defend your imperfection.

9.  Doing your best is good enough, so long as you embrace both sides of the paradox of human imperfection. It is unreasonable to expect better than someone’s best at a given point in time – but since we are imperfect our best can almost always get a little better.

10.  “Never let negative people rent space in your mind.” – Mike Gilmore

11.  Always communicate on a basis of principle. Most people, especially in dysfunctional situations, operate on a ego basis. By sticking to principle, you put others in a position to elevate from ego to principle. If they fail to elevate this time, maybe next time.

12.  Sucking up is NOT customer service. Politics is NOT customer service. Fluffing and telling someone what you think they want to hear (even if not fully correct) is different from tact and is NOT customer service. Sucking up, politics, and fluffing are the enemies of excellent customer service. Honesty, integrity, and genuine caring are excellent customer service’s best friends.

13.  Always take the long view and beware expediency. It will only bite you in the butt in the long run. You just don’t know how, when or where.

14.  “Never wrestle with pigs- you get dirty and they enjoy it.” – Will Rogers

15.  The best managers are warriors at heart. Warriors know what the goal is, why the goal is important, and what their role is in reaching the goal. A warrior cannot be afraid to die, acting with discipline but boldly, and that is how they survive battles, conquer obstacles, and win wars.

16.  Apply Jim Fannin’s “90-Second Rule” whenever necessary proactively by design, and reactively when needed.

17.  “An answer, when mild, turns away rage.” -Proverbs 15:1

18.  Mentally separate the negative/ineffective person from their value system as expressed through their actions, and their performance from their value as a human being. That way you can respect them as human beings without compromising standards, and love them even if you hate what they do.

19.  Turning around a difficult, ingrained situation takes time. You have to be patient. It’s like building up a wall that’s fallen down over time. All you can do is build it back up one brick at a time. Given enough time and skill, you can help build a strong structure. Set each brick properly – strong and straight.

20.  When you choose to adopt the mindset to do all the stuff above, be ready for others to say you are being self-serving or self-righteous. You will be OK as long as you stay humble, and remember it’s about principle and not you. Fishermen know they don’t have to put a lid on the crab basket because the crabs will continually pull each other down as soon as one tries to climb up. Don’t get pulled down. Transcend with graciousness. Put other people in a position to do the right thing, and leave it alone. They have to choose and make it their own. Manage yourself, lead others, even if it’s only by example.