Developing Action Plan skill

 Developing Action Plan skill 

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

On the topic of structured problem solving for chronic issues in the organization, we have discussed the importance of data, data analysis, getting into causes, and selling the ideas to others. In selling ideas to others, each manager must learn one critical skill: "making an action plan."

Action plan :

• An action plan is planning the action in terms of what, who, when, and sometimes explaining by how.
• The action plan is about articulating what needs to be done to solve the problem, who is supposed to be accountable for the action and when the action is to be completed.
• It is all about setting the direction for others to solve the problem

Making an action plan is nothing but the manager's conviction on the solution part.

 
One typical pattern i observe in many young managers is that they are good at data collection, analyzing the data, and identifying the causes, but stuck at converging on the solution part with conviction.
 
Why are we stuck in making the action plan stage? 
 
The simple reason is uncertainty about the future outcome, fear about the consequence of failure, and worry too much about others on rejection. That is natural for anyone, but one who overcomes it emerges as a  better manager/leader in their profession.
 
There are many techniques/formats available like 5W1H / 3W1H, which can be learned as knowhow.

However, the lack of courage is pulling us into making the consolidated action plan skill, which we can develop with awareness and by practice whenever the opportunity comes.
 
Benefits of developing the skill  :
 
When we improve the craft of making an action plan,

• our communication or articulation ability is increasing even in day-to-day conversations
• enhances our comprehensive skill  in any complex situation  
• Team perceive us as a leader as they need someone to guide them on things to be done

 
Hence, developing the skill of making an action plan is an art that can be developed by learning the techniques and practicing.
 

Have a great week ahead.

Overcoming fear of failure with REASONING

 

                                                       
 

On the subject of fear of failure in selling our ideas or solutions to others in a professional setup, we discussed the reason for fear and its impact. We listed the following approach to overcome the fear.

1. Redefine the failure
2. Imposing Logical / reasoning over emotions
3. Learning attitude
 
As we have discussed "Redefining the failure" last week, let us discuss the "Imposing Logical / reasoning over emotions" now.
 
As we are aware that fear is just a feeling or emotion and it does not have any logic or meaning in it, however, it has the power to control our actions.

One of the approaches experts suggests countering the feeling with reasoning. 

What is meant by reasoning?

It is the action of thinking about something logically, sensible way. The reasoning has more facts and logic.

For example, when you take some initiative in the organization, you may worry about the consequence of failure as it may affect you in terms of creditability, or you may lose time or money. During those moments, when you counter the feeling with logical thinking or questions, that is called reasoning.
 
The following logical thinking or questions will help to manage the emotions of fear.
 
How many times in the past have we failed in our new initiatives?
Even if it failed, what were the changes in the assumptions and in the environment made to fail?
What would worst happen if we fail again?
What are the options available to correct even if we fail?
What benefit would happen if we move ahead and succeed in the initiative?

So, countering emotions with logical thinking will help to overcome the fear to some extent...

The other approach is getting into action, fail and perceive the failure as a learning experience.

The point is that as professionals, we may encounter many situations to deal with emotion, and how we manage and move ahead differentiates us from others.

Have a great week ahead.

Silence-Book Review

 Silence-Book Review

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

Recently one of my friends gifted me the book " Silence- The Power of Quiet in a world full of Noise" and read it.

The author is a Buddhist monk and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Thich Nhat Hanh explains how mindfulness is the practice that stops the noise inside and allows be happy irrespective of the external environment with simple language and easy-to-read flow.

In today's world of much distraction outside, we miss living in the moment, and this book shows simple practices to follow mindfulness even when you are eating, in traffic, or at any event.

This book is not one time read a book and move on, but to practice in the day-to-day event, which i think is required for every one of us to feel completeness inside.

Recommend this book if you are interested in exploring and practicing mindfulness.
 
Have a great week ahead.

Redefining failure to overcome the fear of failure

 

 

On the subject of "fear of failure in selling our ideas or solutions to others" in a professional setup, last week, we discussed the reason for fear and its impact. We listed the following approach to overcome it.

1. Redefine the failure
2. Imposing Logical / reasoning over emotions
3. Learning attitude

 Let us further understand each approach
 
Redefine the failure:
 
Smart people are using this approach to redefine their success or failure in any event when they have a fear of failure and progressing further.
 
For example,

let us consider the following situation.
 
Your organization has shortlisted you and other colleagues to elevate to the higher roles and assigned a challenging task that you have not done so far. To get finalized, you need to go through the assessment and interview. You have fear inside whether you will succeed in the new role. You have a dilemma to go for an interview or not.
 
In this situation, how you define your success or failure will help you to overcome the fear and progress to the next step.
 
Completing the new assignment will be a function of many factors like team dynamics and changes in external and internal business environments. Those factors may not be in your control. At this moment, you have control only over how you do in the assessment and interview process.

In this kind of situation, smart people redefine their success in such a way that "doing well in the interview is success" at the moment. Again in the next step, they redefine their success or failure in new assignments as how they perform well using the experience and giving their best. That mindset and focus on their performance will help them navigate the interview process well and to the next step.
 
This way of redefining will help to manage the fear factors.
  
You can relate this approach to M.S Dhoni's style of leadership. When captaincy came to him to lead the Indian cricket team, someone asked him whether he feared failure in the new role. He responded that "success or failure in a cricket match depends on how other players do their job; let me focus on what i can do best during the game." 
 
We do instill that mindset of defining success or failure in any event.
 
To sum up,
 

• Effective people break up the event in multiple steps.
• They focus on their performance/influence in each step and ignore the external force. 
• That mindset of redefining the success or failure helps them manage the fear of failure.

 
Let us discuss other approaches next week.
 
Have a great week ahead.
 
 

Managing "Fear of Failure" in selling ideas

 Managing "Fear of Failure" in selling ideas 

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)
 

 

As we discussed the emotional aspects preventing us from selling our idea or solutions to others, we have discussed the fear of rejection last few weeks. The next fear most of us go through is fear of failure. Let us understand the insights on fear of failure and the approach to managing the fear of failure.

Whenever we have some idea or suggestion to offer, internally, we fear failure. We worry about the negative outcome and the consequence of failure. That is fear of failure.

Why this fear of failure comes to our mind?

1) The experts say the origin of fear may be our experience or our environment. We might have experienced some failure or bitter experience in the past in similar circumstances.

For example, in one of my client organizations, the management is reluctant toward low-cost automation. When we go deeper into the reason for that behavior, we realize that they had invested money in many automation projects in the past and have not succeeded as expected. That bad experience prevents them from thinking about any future investments in automation.
 
2) Also, when something goes wrong, most of us associate the experience with a personal failure and blame ourselves. The more we have past bad experiences and blame ourselves, the more we get the feeling of fear of failure.
 
We might have observed that the younger generations take more risks in any adventure in business or career since they do not have any past references. In contrast, the experienced people would think twice in any venture as they might have experienced both positive and bad outcomes in the past.

Hence, the reasons for fear of failure are our past bitter experiences and the tendency to personally associate ourselves with the outcome.

Impact of fear of failure?

Since the future is unknown, fear of failure is common and natural. When we realize the fear and take action, there is an equal probability of winning and failure in any event. If we do not overcome, we end up with the status quo, and progress will be muted.

How do you overcome the fear of failure in selling the ideas to others?

Fear is just emotion, and this can be managed with the following approach

1. Redefining the failure
2. Imposing Logical / reasoning over emotions
3. Learning attitude

Let us discuss the approach and insights next week!
 
Have a great week ahead.

How to sell ideas with EXECUTION clarity?

 

We have been discussing the emotional aspects that prevent us from selling our idea or solutions to others. Last week, we discussed one approach to overcome the fear of rejection by bringing the business sense to any solutions. The next approach to overcome the rejection possibility is to provide clarity on the execution.
 
When will other people say "NO" to your idea or solutions despite realizing the business value? Only when they are uncertain about the execution because it is natural for every human being to avoid complexity or risk aversion.

If the solutions seem to be complex, anyone tries to delay the decision-making process by citing many practical reasons.
 
For example, if someone offers you advice to improve your skillset to enhance your professional growth. What would be your reaction? Even though you are aware of the importance of skill development, if you are not sure about the area in which you need to improve your skillsets, the method of developing a skillset, and affordability, you will not take the advice seriously. The reason is the lack of clarity on the execution. That is normal human behavior.

Likewise, in professional dealing, others will accept your solutions or idea only when they are sure about the execution plan in simple terms.
 
For example,

i witnessed in one of the organizations that the business head wanted the team to improve the product rejections by 50 % in a year. Everyone understood the importance of the initiative; however, the business head was not comfortable spending money due to a lack of clarity on the execution by his second-level reportees.

With many iterations, one of the senior managers presented the different approaches or paths the team was going to adopt to improve the quality with a timeline for each approach, say through supply chain improvements, awareness creation to the team, inhouse process improvements, design improvements, educating the customers on handling the product and so on. In each approach, he presented with clear timeline and challenges in each step and mitigation plan. By sensing the clarity of the execution plan, the business head approved the solution and funded it for implementation. The organization achieved what it had planned in less than a year.

The key to getting the acceptance of your proposal is giving clarity to anyone on how we are going to execute it. The clarity could be on the approach you adopt or the phasing/timeline plan and the risk mitigation plan during execution.

The more you provide clarity on the path, the more likely, you will get the success in selling your approach to anyone.

Breaking the complexity into simple, multiple steps and sequencing is the key to bringing clarity. The art of bringing clarity can be learned with practice.

Have a great week ahead.

Selling solutions with a business sense.

 

 

As we discussed the emotional aspects that prevent us from selling our idea or solutions to others last week, let us discuss the practical approach to overcome the emotional derailers when selling the solutions to others.
 
Generally, two fears pull us down to sell our solutions to others with conviction.

1. Fear of rejection 
2. Fear of failure

Let us first discuss managing the fear of rejection, i.e., the fear in our minds about whether others will accept our solutions or not.
 
How do we overcome the fear of rejection? 

To answer this question, we need to understand the decision-making process of others to say YES or NO to our idea or solution.

Anyone will accept the solution only when they see benefits, either removing their pain or enhancing their pleasure. Generally, we always look for “what is in it for me? in every situation as human beings.

For example,

someone is offering a free webinar session on health and inviting you to attend. When will you accept to attend the session even though there is no commitment on money? When you see some benefits and a real need to learn something related to health, you agree to spare your time. That is nature in every decision-making.
 
If you understand this nature of emotions and decision-making, when you suggest an idea or solution in the professional environment, bring the  "business sense" to it.
 
Business sense means the solution should contain some VALUE for anyone to accept without much second thought.
 
At an individual level, the value could be eliminating or reducing the pain or increasing the pleasure, or revenue maximization or loss prevention from a business perspective.

i learned this insight from one of my managers some years back. We used to pack the materials in gunny bags, and a new trend was then catching up on using plastic containers. The same idea was discussed many times before, and considering the initial cost and risk of failure in a new idea, the proposal was rejected. During one of the management reviews, my manager presented to CEO  in a simple line stating what would be the overall cost of implementation, the overall cost-benefit, and the payback period. The way he projected the solution with cost vs. benefit, the management accepted the solution immediately.

For me, the key learning was that we need to sell our ideas with business sense either to any individual or any business professional.

In the absence of business sense, any idea or solution would be perceived with confusion and skepticism. There is a chance of rejection.

You may relate with your experience in selling ideas to others, and you may test it with a business sense approach next time.

Next week, let us discuss another approach to managing the fear of rejection by bringing clarity to the execution.
 
Have a great week ahead.

Selling your ideas or solutions to others.

 

As we have been discussing the structured approach for solving any chronic problems in the organizations, last week, we discussed the holistic vs. countermeasure solutions. The next important step is selling the solutions approach to others.
 

Whether we find a holistic or incremental solution, the solution will get value only when it is accepted and implemented by others.

As i observed with many managers/leaders, they find it challenging to sell their ideas or solutions to others and convince them. The others could be junior colleagues, peers, bosses, or even customers.

Why do we have the challenge of selling the idea to others?
 
Based on the data and analysis, we might have arrived at some solutions to any problem. However, we may not be sure whether the solutions will work or deliver results. There is always self-doubt within us.

Also, assumptions will vary over time in a complex environment and uncertain future. That leads to an internal dilemma and thinking about what would happen if our solution fails..? Fear of failure!

Also, we have apprehension about whether others will accept our solutions or not. As human beings, we tend to mix the acceptance of self with acceptance of solutions by others. Fear of rejection! 
 
The above reasons lead to personal / team challenges to sell the idea to others with conviction. The emotional aspect of fear of failure and rejection is quite normal, and everyone needs to go through it in our lives whenever we propose or suggest an idea or solution. That is a natural process.

We need to develop the skill of selling the solutions when we grow as managers and leaders.

Why do we need to develop the skill of selling ideas?

As managers or leaders, we are measured by delivering the result only, not on the data collection, analysis, and root cause finding capability. If we do not convince others of our solution approach and move towards implementation, we are halfway through problem-solving, which is almost equal to not solving the problem.

When we develop the skill of managing emotions through a logical approach, we evolve as successful problem solvers. Since every one of us will go through emotional aspects, the one who overcomes it will be perceived as the winner.
 
Next week, let us discuss the practical approach to overcome the emotional aspects of selling the solutions!
 
Have a great week ahead.

Countermeasure Vs. Holistic Solution

 

As we have discussed the importance of data, finding a pattern, and converging to the root cause for solving chronic problems, the next step is proposing solutions.

In my observation, most managers are stuck in this step as proposing solutions calls for conviction on the outcome. Let us discuss the softer aspects of developing the conviction later.

The quality of solving the problem depends on the approach we take.

Generally, there are two approaches to proposing solutions.
 
1. Countermeasure approach
2. Holistic solution approach

Countermeasure approach :
 
When a problem arises, to counter the negative impact, we take some action that may be temporary or eliminate the problem.

For example, when we receive a customer complaint, we either do rework or segregation or replace defectives immediately to avoid further damage. That is a countermeasure that may solve the problem at that moment.

This approach calls for a quickly reacting mindset and belief in incremental or continuous improvement.
 
Holistic solution approach:
 
In the same customer complaint problem, we intend to solve the problem by looking at all the factors and trying to fix the problem from recurrence. The solutions could be from different perspectives and time-consuming. 
 
Both approaches have their pro and cons and which one we use most of the time determines the quality of problem-solving and our time management.
 
In the countermeasure approach, the intention is to avoid further damage, urge to react fast, and mostly the solutions come from authority..some time this works. In this method, there is a belief that when we do more countermeasures or improve incrementally, we may avoid the problem from recurrence.
 
Whereas the holistic solution approach calls for detailing the causes, going in-depth into all the factors causing the problem, and is time-consuming. The approach calls for a participative process from all the stakeholders, and likely the engagement will improve in the organization.

There is a different school of thought on quality management and lean management perspective . It suggests encouraging more incremental, countermeasure improvements as there is always scope for change in the ultimate solutions.
 
Most chronic problems, when we approach through a holistic solution approach, bring tremendous results and engagement among the team, as i witnessed in most of my client operations.
 
From an individual perspective, as a manager/leader, we need to do introspect where we spend time, whether on incremental, countermeasure, or holistic solutions approach, that will answer the quality of self and team management in the organization!
 
Let us discuss some insights on the holistic solutions approach next week.
 
Have a great week ahead!
 

A quick way to find the root cause

 

 

Having discussed the importance of data collection and finding a pattern for solving chronic problems in a professional environment, the next step is to fix the root cause by removing all the noises.
 
What is meant by root cause?

Among many causes that we assume contribute to the problem, only a few causes contribute to the problem significantly. That causes are called the root causes.
 
In quality management, we have been taught different tools and techniques to arrive at the root cause of the problem, like a tree diagram, why-why analysis, and cause-effect analysis. Those techniques, when we apply, eventually get into the likely root causes of the problem. However, it is a time-consuming process.

One thing i learned by working with many organizations on solving business or people-related problems is that ultimately we end up with either PEOPLE or PROCESS as the root cause for any problems.
 
Either people are unaware of the approach or do not adhere to the rules, or we have not yet defined the process. There is no other root cause than people or process,

We may argue that money, materials, and equipment may be contributing to the root cause. When we go deep beyond those causes, we only end up with either people or processes.

That is what i realized in many organizational problems.
 
For example, for the poor business results, the business head and their team used to point out lack of equipment capacity, lack of conducive business environment, lack of funds, etc., as the root causes of the problem.

When we work with them to improve the business performance, eventually, we all come to the realization that either we do not have business processes for solving capacity issues, handling the external environment and fund flow, or the people are not engaged or not aware of the business processes. That is the root cause, and when we fix it, we see a business improvement.
 
My personal experience and firm belief is that in all the technical or managerial or business problems, the root cause lies in either process or in people.
 
How this insight will help you for solving the problem?
 
As a manager or leader, you need not reinvent too much on finding the root cause for any chronic problem, just use the filter of people and process. You can quickly get into the root cause of the problem. This will save your time and effort.
 
Always look at the problem by fixing either the process or people, by that way, you are very close to the solution to the problem.
 

Have a great week ahead.