Intellectually this makes sense, but on a practical basis, how do you change behavior?  After all, leaders spend a lot of time managing the situations resulting from behaviors so let’s get practical about this topic. This simple Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence (ABC) tool is a quick way to analyze behaviors.
Behavior:                  Employee is continually tardy

Consequence:          You speak with them about their tardiness (negative consequence in your mind)

Antecedent:              Employee craves the attention they are getting so they see this as positive reinforcement and continue to be tardy

Here is another example:

Behavior:                  Your star employee leads a difficult project really well

Consequence:          They receive your praise and a spot bonus

Antecedent:              If (and this is a big If) the employee feels positively reinforced by your praise, they look forward to another project. However, if they are the person you always turn to because they

always deliver results, this praise may be received negatively as they realize it simply means more work for them in the future.

It is critical that the consequence be a positive reinforcement from the recipient’s point of view.   While it sounds trivial and simple, it isn’t.  We all do what we do because of what happens to us when we do it.  And since we cause change by managing behaviors, this simple A-B-C analysis tool can be very handy for determining ‘why does someone do what they do’.

In healthy organizations, negative behaviors are eliminated by managing the consequences and positive behaviors are accelerated by providing significantly more positive reinforcement to employees than there are negative reinforcements (at least a 4:1 ratio and hopefully much higher).

I often encounter adults in positions of leadership and supervision who don’t want to try this. They think it is great for their kids, but not for their employees.  They are right – it is great for their kids. We manage our children’s behaviors using this A-B-C approach almost subconsciously.  And when we provide a lot more positive than negative reinforcement, our kids respond in marvelous ways.  So I ask you, if it is good for your family and your children, and it works, why wouldn’t you want to use it at work?

While this sounds almost too elementary, managing behaviors through consequences is the root of all behavior modification.  As was stated above, culture is the collective set of beliefs and behaviors of our employees so it behooves us as leaders to understand and manage behavior effectively.

* * * * *

We learn from and remember what we do when we are having fun – Call me about these fun-filled learning programs: Birdies, Bogeys and Business: Success On and Off the Course, Mental Mulligan’s, and the Two Day Golf School.  All are ways to build your team, increase your skills and add new tools to your bag.   

Here is another perspective that I find relieves some of the tension and often produces better results. What more could an entrepreneurial society like ours want than less tension and better results?   I recently had the great fortune to meet and speak with Lisa Norden, World Champion Sprint Distance triathlete in 2010 and her coach Darren Smith.  Lisa is from Sweden and Darren is from Australia and they were in Davos, Switzerland for a race season training camp.  The world of elite, professional triathlon is extremely competitive and grueling. Lisa was asked the question, “How do you manage to stay focused and not get discouraged by the pain, grueling distances and overwhelming pressure”. She replied that she raced by checking the boxes and the results took care of themselves. 

I have always been a believer that focusing on the process is the key to getting improved results so I was all ears about her concept of “checking the boxes”.  Lisa doesn’t focus on the goal of a winning time, she focuses on the goal of getting each of the individual actions executed with precision and excellence.  She mentally checks each box and the World Championship results take care of themselves. 
Did I do everything in my preparation stage?    √
When I set up my transition, was everything in its proper place and order? √   When I entered the water, did I get the surge I needed in that first 200 meters?  √
Was I in the right position at the first buoy in the water?  √
When I exited the swim to my bike, was I focused and racing my own pace regardless of what other competitors were doing? √
Did I stay within my power zones without getting distracted by others?  √
If there were uncontrollable obstacles like head winds, rain or rough roads, did I turn these into positive challenges rather than cursing my bad luck?  √

You get the picture. Lisa knows the podium finish on the top step will be assured if she manages each step along the way with excellence.  Stress is relieved by focusing on small steps rather than the overall  daunting task, energy and excitement are built as you experience how well you are successfully managing the parts of the whole, and confidence builds as you celebrate completion along the way. 

Lisa’s technique serves as a good example for all of us in business also.  Rather than focusing on the year end goals, the competitive pressures, and the external demands which often seem overwhelming, if we choose to focus on all the controllable aspects throughout the process we will be assured the desired results will occur. 
No one sells a bottom line, no one manufactures a net profit, no one produces an exponential improvement as a product per se.  What we all do regardless of our business or service is manage the myriad of process steps along the way to produce, service, or sell our produce or service.  Just like Lisa, we can produce hugely improved results with less stress and tension if we focus on checking the boxes along the way rather than the daunting overall goal. 
So what is your goal?  What is required to produce the results you need to achieve?  What are the sequential steps necessary?  Have you done your preparation and training to build your capability?  If not, this is step number one.  Can you put a √ there?  If you are prepared, then check the boxes as you produce, service or manufacture.  Integrity (you can’t check the box if you didn’t perform the task with accuracy and excellence), tenacity (did you work until you got each step complete and correct), and quality (does your work product represent your brand, will your customers be delighted with it) are a few of the values upon which your checklist must be built.  Build in the right values, diligently use the checklist and your overwhelming goals will be met and frequently exceeded. 

Just imagine the power that comes from getting your whole organization checking the boxes and focused on doing their best one step at a time.  Just like Lisa, you’ll be World Champions, achieve your goals, and have less stress along the way. 

Deb Waitkus and I are co-facilitating corporate-learning workshops used to anchor concepts - Birdies, Bogeys and Business: Success On and Off the Course, Mental Mulligan’s, and the Two-Day Golf School.  All are ways to build your team, increase your skills and add new tools to your bag.   Call me at 480-236-4266 or email me for information. 

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

Culture is similar to personality in that it is largely a subconscious collection of attitudes, beliefs and actions which influence individual behaviors and, therefore, results. So the culture of an organization becomes the collective beliefs, attitudes and actions of the employees.  Organizational performance, therefore, is a direct result of the culture within an organization.  Seems to me like creating a robust, healthy, empowering culture where employees feel valued and appreciated for their contribution is a pretty powerful leadership imperative.  Unfortunately, many people in leadership positions (I’m tempted to say most!) spend very little time thinking about or intentionally focusing on creating a culture that supports their intended goals.  

There are many, many reasons for this, but I suspect one of the key reasons for not doing so is the fact that most companies don’t tangibly measure and reward the ‘softer’ side of their business.  They are looking for a quick fix.  But just like the stock market, investments in people and organizational capability are long-term propositions yielding benefits over time, not over night.  The fact is most managers get rewarded for meeting financial goals not for building an organization capable of reaching financial goals.  But how are the employees supposed to be able to meet the financial goals if there is little overt attention paid to positively creating and supporting their skill and the overall organizational capability? 

Very frequently my clients can tell me what they wish for, what they think is wrong, what they are experiencing as undesirable results, but few take the time to determine the root cause. Here are a few examples of root causes which adversely impact both human and financial performance.

• High turnover costs are often rooted in poorly defined job expectations and weak hiring processes.
•  Employees feeling they aren’t listened to stems from weak management skills and few, if any, intentionally designed communication processes.
• Work force members not knowing where the company is going is due to leadership not specifically defining and sharing company goals and failing to highlight the key role employees play in making these goals a reality.
• Favoritism emerges in the absence of objective standards of performance as a basis for performance evaluations. 
• Questionable behaviors and ethical issues arise when companies don’t have well-articulated values or when the values they have are platitudes rather than benchmarks for how the company is run.
• Top performers become concerned when they can’t see a career path and little attention is paid to succession planning.

While these are just a few of the more common examples, you get the idea.  Almost any leadership issue that comes up is grounded in organizational culture.  It all comes down to the 5 P’s – People, Processes, Policies, Practice, and Procedures.  Examine these and you’ll find the root cause of performance issues.  

* * * * *

Deb Waitkus and I are co-facilitating three corporate-learning workshops used to anchor concepts – Birdies, Bogeys and Business: Success On and Off the Course, Mental Mulligan’s, and the Two-Day Golf School.  All are ways to build your team, increase your skills and add new tools to your bag.

Mental movies are those positive memories I’ve stored of other times I’ve done something equally challenging.  I relive the smell of the meadow flowers, hearing the cow bells in the distance, seeing the mountain goats by the side of the road in the fog, feeling the sun on my back as the bees buzz around the flowers and before you know it, you have more miles behind you. The time and the miles go by much more easily and more quickly when I’m watching a movie.  This is partly because I am suddenly some place else. I think it is also because I get a boost of energy, my muscles get a bit of virtual relief, pedaling becomes more even and stronger as I refocus, and my mind is more confident because I know I’ve ‘been there, done that before’ successfully.   When I act ‘as if’ I am confident, full of energy, believe I can conquer the mountain, I can. When I believe I am not able to, I’m not.  The mind and the body are one – one leads the other and in this case the body responds to the mental movies which are telling me I can do it…I can do it…I can do it and sure enough, I do!  

The key to being able to draw on your bank account of mental movies is to store only the best.  There is great value in storing memories of those times when you were successfully able to do something. While we learn from our mistakes, we learn more from our positive accomplishments.   

I’m reminded of two quotes that underscore achieving tough goals.   One is by Lance Armstrong who said something like…’motivation can’t get you there if you don’t have the legs, but if you have the legs and lack motivation, you’re not going to get there’. And the other is by a colleague, friend and very strong cyclist, Christina Maddox, who said something like…’you have to have commitment before you have passion. Passion follows commitment.  The first step is to commit and then you have to have a great plan’.  I’d add to these ideas one ingredient that can help your motivation and, as a result, increase your commitment is banking the best of your mental movies and draw on them when you face tough challenges.  It doesn’t make any difference what the situation happens to be. This technique helps whether you are climbing a physical mountain on your bicycle, climbing an emotional mountain in your life, and conquering a business challenge that seems insurmountable.

I’m watching this happen right now with my 8-year old granddaughter.  She is learning to read more advanced books at the same time she is conquering more advanced gymnastics.  As her confidence in the gym grows her ability to master more advanced reading is accelerating also.  The mind and the body are one. One confidence breeds another and along the way she is filling her bank account with the best of her mental movies. 

* * * * * *

Learn, grow and have lots of fun doing it – join Deb Waitkus and myself in one of these programs:

    * Mental Mulligans     * Birdies, Bogeys and Business: Success On and Off the Course

Get more details at:  www.peakperformancecorp.com and www.golfforcause.com

Joyce Friel

Peak Performance Consulting, LLC 

11353 E. Raintree Drive

Scottsdale, AZ  85255

480 236 4266

www.peakperformancecorp.com

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The same holds true for many of the good management practices we know we should practice, but often don’t.  Preparing and conducting meetings, writing policies and procedures, following checklists, dedicating time to proper hiring and training, establishing and following communications methods to keep staff well informed, and on and on and on.

Here is a valuable, thought-provoking way to look at preparing for and conducting meetings that is unique, but has some solid wisdom behind it. I credit Seth Godin, best-selling author of more than 12 books, for the essence of these ideas.  He offers tips on how to ensure meetings are short, focused and productive which I have slightly added to.  You can find Seth’s complete text on his blog at http://sethgodin.typepad.com.

* Plan ahead by ensuring you get the right people and only the right people in the room.  The right people are primarily those that need to be there because they 1) have a vested interest in the topic/decisions being made 2) have information necessary to the decision.  Don’t waste the time and talent of others by unnecessarily inviting others to the meeting.  If you or the attendees can’t state why they are being included, they likely don’t need to be there.   

* Ensure meetings start on time and end when the end needs to occur not when the calendar or conference room schedule says they should be ending. Give everyone the gift of time by ending early or give the organization the gift of a good discussion and decision if the meeting needs to go a bit longer. Timeliness honors and respects those who arrive on time.  Become known as a person who starts on time and can be relied upon to manage a meeting efficiently and produces results.

* Make sure you publish the purpose, desired outcomes and expectations before the meeting and you conduct the meeting toward these purposes.  

* Set the stage as necessary – make introductions, make the environment welcoming and appropriate, state the intended outcomes as you start the meeting.  

* If equipment is needed, set everything up and ensure it is fully functioning before everyone arrives.  This is not only efficient it is a clear sign of respect for the time of others.   

* Keep an action log.  This is a simple document that records any action item that was assigned during the meeting.   Send the Action Log to all attendees via an email following the meeting so everyone knows the outcomes, expectations and timelines for the next steps.  This simple step exponentially increases the probability that action items will get done. And after all isn’t taking action against a need of the organization why you called the meeting in the first place?

Often times the best way to change an organization that may have fallen into sloppy habits is to simply start doing things differently. It isn’t necessary to state that you’re going to ‘run meetings differently around here’.  Just start running meetings differently.  Pretty soon you’ll have people noticing and appreciating the difference.  This is one New Year’s Resolution you can do that costs you only a bit of preparation time and gains you significant rewards in productivity, effectiveness, respect and in the long run saves money.  Start today by spending to save! 

Joyce Friel

Peak Performance Consulting, LLC 

11353 E. Raintree Drive

Scottsdale, AZ  85255

480 236 4266

www.peakperformancecorp.com

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Decision Making can be divided into Decision Management and Decision Control.  Decision Management is the process of initiating and implementing decisions.  Decision Control is the ratification and monitoring of decisions.  Different types of information are key to each of these, and in order to make effective decisions in organizations, proper assignment of both Decision Rights (the right or power to either manage or control a decision) and Decision Information (the pertinent  extrinsic and intrinsic data required to make a decision) are required. 

Decision Management requires information on the problem definition, and the potential solutions.  In our example, Health Tech’s leadership team required information on the capabilities of the current software, capabilities of the available software in the market, and the shortcomings of both with respect to the desired requirements.  Also, the Decision Makers would need to know the costs and implementation steps before presenting this information to the Decision Controllers for ratification. 

Decision Control requires information on the decision itself, such as the implementation steps, and how it will affect the company.  The effects include, the costs of the implementation, the potential failures, the various areas of the company that rely on the decision, and the intended results of each decision.  Those who are responsible for Decision Control must be able to judge each decision based on its application to the strategic business plan or “big picture”, considering both the company and the marketplace.  Additionally, the Decision Controllers must have sufficient information to monitor each decision’s performance in terms of cost and results.  For example, the Decision Controllers at Health Tech would need information on the estimated cost and time required to design and implement a custom software package before ratifying any decisions and the estimated cost and time required to modify an off the shelf solution.  Also, they would need metrics to continually monitor whether or not the new system, whether purchased or home grown, was effective after it was implemented.

Initially the symptoms pointed to a the software as the reason for the financial distress in the company, however, Health Tech’s financial problems were actually due to the poor assignment of Decision Rights within the organization.  More specifically, the problems were caused by the over assignment of Decision Rights and lack of control on Decision Making caused by Health Tech’s culture of entrepreneurship and rebellious empowerment.  Health Tech employees disliked the rigidity of health care regulatory agencies and they were empowered with both Decision Management and Decision Control. 

The assignment of Decision Rights at Health Tech was flawed.  First, the Decision Makers were not owners, and therefore could not be expected to make decisions that were in the best interest of the organization even if they had all the appropriate information.  Secondly, since the Decision Makers were not owners, they should have been assigned either Decision Management or Decision Control, not both.  Furthermore, the Decision Makers at Health Tech did not have the appropriate information needed to make the good decisions, partly because of the flawed computer system, which gave everyone misinformation and therefore blamed for the problems, and partly due to lack of communication throughout the organization.  Even the CEO did not have specific information about the severity of the problems because of the lack of communication

By separating Decision Making and Decision Control and correctly assigning Decision Rights throughout the organization, Health Tech would have had better information on the state of the company despite the errors in their software.  For example, they would have known that the computer system was giving the accounts payable department frequent problems.  Because with proper controls, billing and payables performance would have been one key metric in monitoring the effectiveness of the software application.  The Decision Controllers (presumably senior leadership) would be made aware of these flaws and could direct corrective action. 

However, Health Tech collectively did not know what problems existed or what to do about them because of a poor understanding of and lack of assignment of Decision Rights in the organization.   I would be remiss without noting that in addition to understand the basic components of Decision Making, communication horizontally across an organization (breaking down silos) is critical.  A properly designed organizational architecture is necessary to support the sharing of different pieces of information needed by Decision Management and Decision Control entities.  If this does not already exist, it will need to be created and then supported through a redesign of the organization.

Just think of all the times you’ve heard inspiring stories of older people going back to school completing college degrees with kids younger than their grandchildren.  Recognizing that we can become something different, transform our businesses, or morph into something closer to our dreams is a particularly appropriate in these times of economic challenge.

I’m reminded of Betty White, the energetic much-older actress who continually gets new roles because she lives by this belief.  When asked, “When are you going to retire?”  Her response was, “When I’m no longer asked for.”  As long as we’re being asked for, we still have a passion for using our talents and striving to move forward…it’s never too late.

I want to thank my friend, Susan Brooks (http://www.servesyouright.net) for prompting this reminder.  I just finished reading her wonderfully positive book entitled, Serves You Right!, which is packed full of stories about how faux pas turned into successes, bloopers became bonuses and blushes of embarrassment were overcome by smiles.  While her messages focus primarily on customer service, I believe the same mantra is true of life in general.  What better time to echo this reminder than when so many feel so down and out.

I currently have clients who…

• Have lost their businesses and are retooling themselves into new entrepreneurs
• Have such slim margins they worry every day they might lose their business
• Are in financial difficulty because of promises others made, but didn’t keep, legal concerns, or other misfortunes
• Can’t get business financing because of the constraints of banks…and on and on and on.

By the same token, I have clients who are thriving in a wide variety of enterprises despite the economy.  What is inspiring about those that are the most stressed and worried is that they believe they aren’t too old, too tired, too stressed, too discouraged to reinvent themselves and survive and even thrive.  They are…

• Reinvigorating their passion and breathing new life into their business
• Taking an honest appraisal of their options and finding new creative sources of revenue
• Finding non-traditional sources of funding and being more conservative in their growth strategy
• Creating an entirely new line of products which service a different market…and on and on and on.

In all cases they are being rigorous in their discipline to create and use faithfully their strategy plans to guide and grow their businesses. 

Personally, I am seeing signs of growth and engagement of consulting services at a rate I haven’t seen for about 18 months.  As always, if we look for gloom and doom the skies will turn gray, and if we look for positive signs and possibilities we will find the sunshine. 

So what are you wishing you had done? What are you thinking you are too old to do?   What are you enduring in your business or your life in general that could be different, more positive, a fulfillment of your dreams?  Well, what do you choose to do about it?  Because, as the title says, you are never too old to become what you coulda, woulda, shoulda have been.  Assess.  Plan.  Go for it! 

Joyce Friel

Peak Performance Consulting, LLC 

11353 E. Raintree Drive

Scottsdale, AZ  85255

480 236 4266

www.peakperformancecorp.com

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Retail Intelligence is comprised of four integrated solution groups:

• Customer intelligence helps retailers identify, acquire, activate, serve and retain the most profitable customers.
• Merchandise intelligence helps retailers drive revenue, protect margins and earn customer loyalty with optimized merchandise plans, assortments, pricing, promotions, space plans and allocations – all driven by unparalleled demand forecasting and predictive analytics.  
• Operations intelligence lets retailers leverage organizational assets to trade with vendors and serve customers more efficiently and profitably.  
• Performance management solutions provide the ability to analyze, forecast and maximize profits across the entire retail enterprise by monitoring cost and performance, helping retailers drive disparate functional units toward common goals.

The addition of the Ergenomics Power Index and other analytical services can then provide an additional layer of accuracy to this base. Advanced business intelligence can only be garnered by dedicating to a rigorous, enterprise-level approach to customer insight. Ergonomics’ Blueprint of Enterprise Analytics is a solution to help achieve and solve all that is solvable within an organizational paradigm.

info@ergenomics.com

http://www.ergenomics.com

About Ergenomics

Several things differentiate Ergenomics. Our commitment to an enterprise (not business or product-line) perspective is paramount in truly gaining intelligence that drives the entire company forwards—not just a certain product. Given this, our recommendations and results will provide a true and absolute baseline for executive leadership to compare numbers across the entire company (apples-to-apples, if you will).

Our staff may be one of the most experienced you will see—PhD economists and C-level business executives with top-rate support personnel to tailor a specific solution based on years of industry experience. And finally, we produce deliverables that will stand the test of time relative to their existence; not something that will be outdated after the initial run or implementation. Ergenomics will provide the client with true go-forward business intelligence.

Predictive analytics focused initiatives face a few obstacles. Many companies do not have a lot of experience in handling analytics projects which presents some unique opportunities for all involved (management, business line, vendors, etc). Often a key learning is to understand that analytics projects have a strong research and development component to them. Most organizations have a lot of experience and are comfortable with “execution” initiatives but may not be comfortable with “test and learn” process.

Also, selection of the right resources and partners can be a daunting task. Deploying enterprise level analytics that span business, statistics, and common sense can, at times, be a very foreign concept to an organization. First and foremost, the selected partners need to fit into the culture of the organization. They need to quickly come to understand the business problems and incorporate them into the statistical tools to solve the problem. In addition, the ability to clearly and effectively communicate recommendations is imperative. The Ergenomics approach for developing an enterprise-level analytical strategy for retail clients is rooted in the “decision tools” fundamentals of: Business Process, Data, and Analytics. A thorough understanding of these foundational organizational elements is critical to ensure an optimal business intelligence solution. Failure within—or lack of attention to—any of these interrelated components will result in an inefficient and underperforming result.

We define Business Process to incorporate such key items as a company’s overall business model, culture, competitive environment, leadership, business partners and resources, and realistic state of readiness. Similarly, within the Data perspective, we immerse ourselves in our client’s data elements, warehouse capabilities, legacy systems, ERP, and external or appended sources. Likewise, within Analytics, our team of professionals leverages years of academic and industry experience around target value, dependency, correlations, interactions, predictive impact, and significance. Implementation of standard industry leading analytical tools (SAS) can have a tremendous impact on business decision making. In addition, these tools can be modified to further enhance their effectiveness in understanding and analyzing an organization’s operational, customer, and financial situation.

info@ergenomics.com

http://www.ergenomics.com

About Ergenomics

Ergenomics vision and approach is to be innovative in the field of analytics. It is a holistic, enterprise wide philosophy that helps to keep us ahead of the competition. We also marry the power of seasoned retail executives with our PhD analysts to define and understand the problems and come up with solutions that work.

Our solutions are not simply theoretical; they are executable to help drive your business results. We are confident that we can help you leverage the power of analytics to improve your retail performance. Our fees are reasonable and built on the idea that we are only successful when you are.

Acquiring new customers is expensive for any retail business. Most of us are familiar with the Bain study that says it is five to seven times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to sell more to an existing customer. So if you are spending $1M on a mass promotion to generate $15M in sales, by focusing instead on selective customers built on our Ergenomics Power Index, you may be able to cut your ad spend in half and achieve the same sales results. This frees up more money for you to spend on other promotions, or simply drop to the bottom line.

The old Pareto rule is proven out time after time in retail. For most retailers, they will obtain approximately 70% of their sales from just 30% of their customers. Yet, most retailers spend their advertising equally against every customer. For most retailers, this means that they are likely spending more in advertising to these customers than they get back in sales.

At Ergenomics, we help you to segment your customers and model them so that we can create incremental sales dollars for you. We look at their shopping frequency, spending, and basket items to help you decide how and where to best spend promotional dollars most effectively.

Ergenomics has developed a Power Index that allows clients to understand how certain SKU’s, business lines, and customer segments truly impact profitability. That is, our approach and solution can drive business intelligence to a level that is simply not attainable otherwise. Our Power Index is a robust tool that helps you get all of the information you need quickly and efficiently. The foundation for developing this solution is in the calculation and application of the Power Index. This index has its roots in Game Theory and uses some of the algorithms inherent to this science. Recognizing that each retail customer is a player in their unique game enables the Principles of Game Theory. Game Theory states that if there is a game, there are rules, players, and groups. If a player wants to join the group, that player wants to gain positively from this alliance. For the group to let this player in, they need to benefit from the addition. Constantly changing rules are applied in a timely manner to the right game (retail customer needs), the right player (retail customer), and the right group (product offerings). A retail customer will not buy a product if the need is not recognized. A company will not sell unprofitable products to generate long-term losses.

info@ergenomics.com

http://www.ergenomics.com

About Ergenomics

Ergenomics is the first to apply the principals of Game Theory specifically to the activity of crossselling.

Affiliated partnership agreements with SAS, SAP, Teradata, and Accenture, among others, ensure world-class solution delivery for our clients. Our services include readiness assessments, business analysis, marketing optimization, data management, CRM analytics, customer insight, and risk management. Our ultimate goal is to enable organizations to implement advanced business intelligence and insights.