Good People Find a Way...

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

During one of my professional "iterations" there was a complete executive retooling within the organization and with it came a number of very capable business people... you know, the people that have Harvard, Wharton or General Electric somewhere on their resume; the type of people where in a meeting it can sometimes be analogous to "watching a tiger play with a puppy" (as an aside, I love using pithy sayings like this). This was a particularly fulfilling time for me at a professional level - I learned so much.

An adage that started to get bantered about at the time, which to this day echoes mixed emotions  for me, was "Good People Find a Way". But why, I've asked myself? It obviously is a truism... isn't it? Someone who is able to get it done, make it happen or create something never seen before is by definition good - This of course is true. But if they are unable to find a way, are they then bad?  Lets talk it out and let me start here...

Good People Find a Way

I knew a VP of Sales and Marketing named Roger Cooper (may he rest in peace), who once said this about selling, "Intellectually you know you can't win every sale, but emotionally and in your heart you know you will win them all". This has resonated with me for years as his point was you need to believe that you will win it all and align your thinking and activity to that - There was no plan B* for him. This has to be at the core of "Good People" when defining them and ultimately making "Finding a Way" possible. This is how you move into a place where you can think "outside of the box", tear down barriers and accomplish what people said can't be done. Obviously you have to have the ability to "find a way"... be it knowledge, skills, endurance or that nebulous special quality. I should point out that depending on the situation, "finding the way" may include an iterative failing and learning process, environmental situations that need to be managed through with resources that need to be secured - All of which you may be in the midst of being worked though when someone decides to measure you with this adage. The rub for me begins to take shape.  

So lets say "Good People Find a Way" is a valid truism and yes you are good when you solve for the situation...very objective. I will also suggest that being "good" is also applicable when you are emotionally engaged, skilled and working through the situation - Doing the right things... maybe a little subjective but "you know it when you see it"**. Where I struggle, is with the context and leadership of when and how the term "Good People Find a Way" is used, not what adage itself represents.

I want to back up here for a minute to clarify the context of when the adage "Good People Find a Way" is applicable. We are talking about addressing complex situations, unknowns or "unexpected surprises" and solving for them. We are not talking about administrating an established process or practice that should be considered table stakes -  If a person can't find a way to manage this out you have a training issue or a miscast. The adage is out of place here.

So what do I mean when I say I struggle with the context and leadership regarding "Good People Find a Way"? Contextually there are two ways that this adage can be used - To re-enforce the "truism" or as a motivator... and it's as a motivator where I struggle.

Let me get the easy one out of the way - If a leader is using the adage as a truism to set the bar and develop expectations, it is a "good ol' rally cry" to anchor people...it then can be workable. It allows for the articulation of "Good People", the qualities (both hard and soft) and what it takes. This is a very valid way to set the bar for expectations, values and culture but it still needs to be clearly articulated.

I will concede that in theory, as a motivator, "Good People Find a Way" could be used to re-enforce that a person is good, has what it takes, and sets the stage for discussions involving what is needed to work through challenges and "find the way". My experience though, more often than not, is the adage gets introduced when the results are not as expected and it becomes a challenge for the person (or team) to pull up their proverbial socks.

I have seen it disastrously used when a leader uses the adage because he really does not want to accept the situation and that their initial expectations may be flawed; putting blinders on with regards to a bigger, possibly more difficult situation than initially thought. Worse still, uses the adage as a method of blame and deflecting ownership and responsibility. Not only does the leader miss the real situation but demoralizes the people who can solve for it.

"Good People Find a Way" is a truism and should be treated as such; it is how the impossible is made possible - If you want it to happen, get the right people and foster the right environment. As a leadership and motivational tool, as well as a performance indicator, it needs to be considered with great caution...more often than not, when used, it reflects poor leadership, deflection and blinders.

I write some of this with fond memories of an old colleague of mine, who unlike me with my mixed emotions, simply hated the adage. 

gpe

* I will never say you shouldn't have a back up plan but I will also say that if you are not careful your Plan B will become your Plan A. (a future blog topic in the making)

** If it's good enough to be used by the U.S. Supreme Court it's good enough for me. (Obscenity in Jacobellis vs Ohio)

Every man has a story... even the Bumble Bee*

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

I was in the book store wandering around, basking in the feeling of being over stimulated with the vast amount of, you know.... books. I buy on-line and down load to my Kindle but given the choice I would rather meander the aisles for hours just looking, touching, picking up and putting down - it's spiritual. As I am wandering euphorically I come to a wall of books simply entitled "Every man has a story" - All nicely subcategorized for my perusing pleasure.

It struck me that it is true, we all have a story... for most of us, still figuratively being written and edited. It was here that I also realized I am fascinated with those people who defy the "odds"... you know, those people who, if you saw them on paper you would simply shake your head and say "I don't see it", yet somehow, they literally go on to change our world. 

Like all of us, we compare, contrast and look for that common denominator in those we admire so we ourselves can understand, intellectualize, reproduce and emulate these qualities.  So with that said, please play along with me as we look at Abraham Lincoln, Andy Warhol, Billie Beane and the Bumble Bee with regards to defying the odds per se. (An eclectic group right?)

It took me a while to finish the book "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which chronicles the political genius of Abraham Lincoln - well worth the read. Let me quickly summarize: A rather tall, self-taught lawyer from the back woods of Illinois defies all the odds of the day to become the 16th President of the United States. Knowing the country is a "house divided" over the issue of slavery, which would most likely catapult the country into a war between brothers, he proceeds to assemble his cabinet with his political rivals navigating through 5 years of civil war; bringing the 13th Amendment into existence abolishing slavery and ultimately ending arguably one of the bloodiest wars in human history. 

In the mid 1950's, there was an avant garde movement establishing itself that ultimately would give birth to what we now know as Pop Art; redefining that art can be defined as anything and not just what the so called "establishment" defines as art. In the late 50's a young, awkward, gay, introverted, commercial artist living in New York joined this movement - Not only did he help redefine what was considered art, he actually created a new form of art that had previously never been seen. Everyone recognizes and defines those multi-image silk screens of celebrities as a "Warhol"... right away... there is no other. Andy Warhol created and defined an art form.

Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics was able to consistently field a winning baseball team with a budget substantially less than his competitors. His story is one of how, in a practical sense, he changed the way baseball needed to be managed. Outlined in the book Moneyball and popularized by the movie of the same name, Billie Beane and his team developed a radically different method for getting the most value for the players that play the game.

And now we humbly get to the bumble bee, you know, the short, stubby, small winged bee that moves around your garden industriously looking for nectar and pollonating each flower it hovers to - Did you know in the 1930's the French entomologist August Magnan noted that the insect's flight is actually impossible? Bumble Bee ignorance verses Human arrogance. 

Academics, writers, pundits and entomologists have produced countless books, white papers, blogs, videos, movies, exhibits (and the like) exploring who these four are, their achievements and the impact they have had. So let's simply say there is nothing I will say that will have any radical impact on the current cornerstones of thought; it wasn't really my intention anyway, so I have not lost sleep or weight due to worry. I was curious though to see if there was any commonality among the four, which may define those factors that defy those odds I refer to.

What struck me as I looked at this was not when I looked at our four characters individually but as an aggregate - some characteristics simply leapt out at me: Leadership with Lincoln, a visionary in Warhol, the ability to lead change by being different with Beane. There you go; Leadership, Vision and the ability to drive Change -  I like it!

So about now you are asking, "what about the Bee?" My entomology is rusty, but I would be the first to say that there are few Bumble Bees leading visionary change regarding how pollen should be collected two meadows over; with that said though, the Bumble Bee is very industrious. Leadership, vision and change will never happen without a lot of this. I like it even better!

Oh yes, we eventually did figure out how the Bumble Bee was able to fly, which I am certain this validation is reassuring for the species... but the real point is the Bumble Bee simply "does what it does ", independently of what people have said it should be able to do - it simply does what comes naturally and what it believes in**. I think it is with this that the Bumble Bee has earned the right to be used in the same sentence with Abraham Lincoln.

So now I really like it!

 Leadership, vision, an agent of change, hard work and a simple belief in your self. This is something to emulate for sure when defying the odds.

gpe

* For the biologists in the crowd it is not lost on me that those Bumble Bees flying around the garden are female.

** I have taken a little artistic licence here with regards to the Bumble Bee having the neurological capacity to "believe". I hope you get my point though and don't hold it against me.

One of the coolest things I have ever seen...

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

Reflecting on our careers and the hundreds to thousands of situations we have found ourselves involved with, there are always one or two that stand out. Why they stand out will be as unique as our individuality  - This is one of mine. As you can appreciate I will change all the names and be a little vague with the business situation but for the event itself, I will try to help you see what I saw as it really one of the coolest things ever. So sit back, grab a glass of wine and enjoy the "spinning" of my tale.

The company I worked for had a very strong and historical relationship with a business partner who distributed their product through us...for very complicated reasons we were asked to take on a sub-distributor as part of their distribution supply chain. Let's just say it was one big hot mess from our perspective and a road trip was needed to discuss the situation, and if we got our way, have this god awful situation dissolved. We were to meet with Malcolm the President and Susan his VP of Sales and Marketing. On our side it was the GM, the sales leader and myself representing marketing; we all knew why we were there as they had heard our "shit show" story before.

You know when you are on your game - When everything moves the way you want it to, you are two answers ahead of the discussion and it unfolds as if you had written it yourself?  This was one of those moments. Discussion point after discussion point Malcolm was engaging and leaning more and more to dissolving this sub-distributor contract - You could literally feel it, it was on the tip of his tongue, he was about to say those magic words, "we have to dissolve this arrangement as it's bad for our business" (or some words to that effect). A glorious day!

Then it happened.

 Susan who had been sitting next to Malcolm all this time, saying very little actually, put a single finger on his forearm and said, "Malcolm, we should talk about this before you make a final decision". There was a short cryptic conversation between them regarding broader business ramifications and those magic words never came. The meeting was over. Our good old college try was appreciated but ultimately we walked away with umbrellas open back into the storm. It happened so quickly.

So why do I still look back on this business moment with a certain fascination?

The momentum change for one thing, it was like a pin touching a bubble but it was in Susan's simple act to be sure, the way she symbolically pushed the button with her finger and tossed the wrench in. I had worked with Susan a number of times, respected her skills as well as her leadership and would have worked for her in a second... there was no doubt she was a trusted business confidant and important part of Malcolm's leadership team. And maybe that is truly why to this day I remember it all so clearly; it was the team Malcolm had... what I saw was a glimpse into his team, how they operated and his leadership - the people who surrounded him

Tim Ferris is quoted in saying, “But you are the average of the five people you associate with most, so do not underestimate the effects of your pessimistic, unambitious, or disorganized friends. If someone isn't making you stronger, they're making you weaker.” I wonder if he has met Malcolm as he did a really good job with who surrounded him.

The symbolism of that simple touch on the forearm will forever resonate with me as it really was my first peak into something I know now as a simple truism... good people are everything.

So there you have it.

gpe