Continuous Improvement has been the center-piece for much of my Inspiring Innovations advisory work over the last few months.  It is always interesting to discuss data, performance, customer service, and communication…but I often get a blank look when I ask: “Do you have regular conversations about QUALITY?”  Or more specifically how do you/we go about really measuring the QUALITY of someone’s efforts and what do you use as your measuring stick(s)?

Well as you can see QUALITY is a unique performance piece to measure in many work-based situations.  And I am sure there are volumes of research information that you could consult and possibly find helpful guidance on this topic.  But today how about if we keep this TRIPLE III TIME message simple and focus on the importance of just having A Conversation About QUALITY and maybe to help get thoughts started…consider these TOP 10 ideas as conversation drivers!

1. Recognize that QUALITY calculations are mainly offered from a personal perspective.
2. Recognize that QUALITY allows for a wide variety of input considerations. (i.e. timing, money, personnel, etc.)
3. Recognize that YOUR QUALITY priority will be different than your co-worker.
4. Recognize that age affects one’s vision of QUALITY factors.
5. Recognize that trust is an impactor of QUALITY discussions.
6. Recognize the “outside influences” that regularly shape your QUALITY views (i.e. newspapers, historians, high-level officials, social media, etc.)
7. Recognize that people use professional “hiding-places” to escape strong QUALITY conversations.
8. Recognize and encourage the understanding that QUALITY has diversity in meaning and measurements.
9. Recognize that change is a required standard in QUALITY applications.
10. Finally, recognize that A Conversation About QUALITY is continuous improvement at its finest!

Please never shy-away from A Conversation About QUALITY. QUALITY defines who you are as a professional.

OK I will admit it…sometimes I fall into a professional “rut”.  What do I mean by a professional rut?  Well it is those times where fresh, cool ideas just don’t seem to come out easily and your mind surprisingly seems to be an empty cavern of blah!  And to make matters worse, it also seems like the harder you try to come up with “next-step” positives and possibilities…the louder the echo is in the space between your ears.

Well in an effort to help in “Combating RUT-BLOCKAGE!”  as you strive to be GREAT personally and professionally, here is a TOP 10 list of helpful thoughts.

Let me know which one(s) work the best!

Did you ever have a difficult time asking someone’s permission to list them as a reference on an official document and/or to write a great letter of recommendation about you? At those moments did you ever think about “changing chairs” with them and honestly considering what would you say or write about yourself?  What would be the professional traits, qualities, experiences and achievements that YOU could express that would put YOU in a SPECIAL category?

For this week’s TRIPLE III TIME message, I think it would be an excellent professional development exercise to: (1) make a high-quality list of reference points about YOU…that someone would share if asked, and (2) draft a letter of recommendation about YOU that would identify your personal and professional strengths (i.e. show that you are SPECIAL!)

Think about it! And don’t underestimate or ignore the responsibility pressure you may be placing on a colleague…that YOU now are feeling as the Recommendations & References official!

Well as you seriously take on this unique professional development exercise here are a few suggestions:

• Be honest and don’t exaggerate
• Draw from your life and work experiences to talk about:
  • Leadership, communication, trust and teamwork
  • Remember innovation actions and calculated risk taking
  • Use examples of continuous improvement, life-long learning and mentoring
  • Consider compromise and consensus building opportunities

BOTTOMLINE: Sometimes Professional Development and Professional Discomfort may have common goals…because it is tough to decide WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ABOUT YOU!

This week I began teaching my latest class in American Government & Politics.  And although the first session is mostly focused on sharing information about who we are as professionals, students and what specifically we hope to gain from this course…there is also an “establishing of ground rules component.”  By ground rules I mean that:

• There will be NO HIDING places from questions/answers/discussions
• Everyone’s OPINION does matter
• We can CHANGE course topic discussion anytime
• DISAGREEMENT is an expected standard
• Quality LISTENING will be measured
• Everyone must TAKE A POSITION on something…and defend it
• Learning PRIORITIES will be set for every class
• Students must explain why they INVESTED in this course…and specifically what they hope to LEARN

The goal of the ground rules is to foster Creative Participation. The opportunity to exchange viewpoints, address a non-traditional topic, argue professionally and truly realize and understand that new ideas/innovations come from these forms of discussion.

Are you challenged via a Creative Participation opportunity?

One of the greatest challenges we all face on a personal and professional level is calculating how to most appropriately Apply Patience to an issue/situation.

What do I mean?

I have always operated on a “full-steam” approach in life and in the world of work.  As a result, it has been difficult to Apply Patience and enable family members and co-workers to catch up to where I thought I was.  The lesson learned has always been that you can be a problem by being too far ahead as much as being too far behind!

So how about if we use this week’s TRIPLE III TIME message to offer a TOP 10 list of considerations on how to best Apply Patience.

1. Don’t ever think/believe everyone operates at the same pace you do.
2. Applying a little extra patience may help in avoiding a mistake…that you didn’t see coming.
3. Applying patience by trading places with those you are working with will help to get a better TOTAL picture of the issue.
4. Continually re-reminding yourself (with a little extra patience) of the goal/action you are seeking is vital!
5. However, don’t let the availability of applying quality patience result in priority distractions.
6. Apply patience but also retain firm attention to responsible timeframes.
7. Refer back to when a leader you respect/admire applied patience to a situation and achieved good results.
8. Use additional patience to solicit additional input from those personally or professionally impacted.
9. Remember that you/your group sets the “Finish Line” for your efforts…so fast or slow…it is in your hands.
10. Finally, don’t stare at the clock or calendar when applying patience…you will be defeating its professional development purpose!

Quality patience is a solid leadership trait.  Hopefully this TOP 10 helps build your skills.

Sometimes in an effort to convince people to come out of their “innovation-shell”, I find myself acting in the form of a “coach” and trying to motivate-to-the-max.  Well I can not report that I am always successful…so when I came across this article by Janet Sernack entitled: “How Can We Prepare People For A Future We Cannot Predict?” …and it had a special section on coaching innovation, I just had to share it.

Coaching innovation leaders & teams

It is more important than ever, to teach people to unlearn, through structured coaching processes, their habitual ways of being, thinking & doing. To create the safe space for people to learn how to embrace creative & collaborative ways of enhancing their bravery, boldness, determination & courage in uncertain times by;

• Imagining new possibilities boldly and optimistically, whilst simultaneously understanding they are quite likely to emerge sooner than expected.

• Pursuing amusement & wonder, whilst simultaneously trusting that smart risk taking allows people to learn fast from mistakes & failure.

• Unlearning knowing and doing what they have always done, whilst simultaneously adopting a beginner’s mind to allow new learnings to occur.

• Being curious about the future & blend new ways of planning, including strategic foresight, scenario planning into conventional business planning.

Remember rushing innovation action can result in a disaster.  So be sure to take quality time and professionally absorb each of Janet’s points.  They are all HIGH VALUE.

No matter who you are and what you do…there always seems to be a form of “Mystique” that surrounds the best way to provide recognition for a job well done.  You know what I mean.  Whether it is a parent praising their son or daughter for good grades on a report card…or telling a co-worker they really helped complete a tough project…offering quality recognition sometimes is elusive.

Personally, I was not the greatest at delivering positive, timely recognition.  At home and at work my style seemed to be that I just thought my professional/personal conduct would appropriately say: “Hey, way to go!” Or maybe I somehow assumed (which meant they could read my mind) that I appreciated the job well done.  In retrospect…I know I left many people wondering.

I believe it is human development critical to dispel The Mystique of Recognition.  So lets start first by trying to be stronger and clearer in our words delivering recognition.  Because remember recognition can be used not only to praise…but also to encourage.  Therefore, recognition could be positive for both a job well done…based on a good beginning…but also needs more intense action for a great completion.

It is also important to not use the same or similar words when offering recognition.  Recognition means special…SPECIAL ATTENTION…so choose your “way-to-go” words with this in mind.  And finally try to differentiate between what is standardly expected…and what is truly special or recognition deserving! Because if everything gets high recognition…it all becomes just the same.

PS… Just writing this has helped me better understand The Mystique of Recognition! How about you?

We have all heard and talked about the importance of Life-Long Learning.  Whether the discussion occurs in a school setting or on-the-job, there is no question that taking action to expand your knowledge, awareness of events, understanding of actions and/or just maintaining a competence of where the future may be heading, is personally and professionally critical in our fast-changing world.

But have we ever really considered our Life-Long Learning Options?

Well I believe we often overlook and maybe underestimate the variety of Life-Long Learning Options that we may experience everyday…EVERYDAY!  Here is a TOP 10 list to consider:

1. Take a class…college, exercise, cooking… “Life” and “Learning” are key words in this message.
2. Read a book…the topic is up to you…but topics that make you a better person should be the priority.
3. Volunteer to help…so you meet new people and can build on a worthy cause.
4. Subscribe to a magazine and commit to completely reading quality informative articles.
5. Keep a personal journal…because learning is also recording and “telling your story.”
6. Experiment with new-age forms of learning (ebooks, blogs, google maps, etc.)…it’s a whole new experience.
7. Mentor someone who may be confused, struggling or personally/professionally stuck…and could benefit from your life-long learning strategy.
8. Job-shadow someone who works in a position that you would like to know more about.
9. Visit different towns, libraries, college-campuses, historic buildings, businesses, elementary schools, assisted living homes…and see what you don’t regularly see.
10. ..hold REAL Life-Long Learning conversations with friends, co-workers, family and colleagues…you know what I mean.

I am sure there are more Life-Long Learning Options that you could add to this list.  However this TRIPLE III TIME message is intended to at least get you started!

Lately I have been on the road a lot and fortunately have had the opportunity to work with a wide variety of professionals from various fields.  The topics of organizational development and continuous improvement discussions ranged from customer service to personal growth to innovation in the workplace.  No two conversations are ever the same…and no pieces of creative, innovation advice I offer are duplicates.

Interestingly one of my sons recently asked: “What do you tell people when they ask you specifically to describe yourself as a professional?”  Well as you might guess I was NOT prepared for this type of question.  Deer hunting, fixing the lawn mower or playing music might be on my “expected questions” list…but not one on professional status.

Well I told him that I let people know I am a STRATEGIC DREAMER.  And before he asked just what the ____ is that?” …I went on to explain that a STRATEGIC DREAMER is someone who offers ideas, thoughts, projects, advice and/or recommendations that always keep people looking to the future.  Too often workplaces spend critical planning time discussing, debating and arguing about what happened in the past…and not near enough about the future!  I also stressed that A STRATEGIC DREAMER professionally encourages individual workers and entire organizations to direct more focus on something you can change…THE FUTURE…instead of trying to change the past.

As you can guess I’m not sure he thought his Dad was that deep a thinker.  But today for the sake of solid professional development, think about adopting a STRATEGIC DREAMER philosophy! Think about taking calculated risks, using technology to better help you, modifying cool customer service approaches, and thereby creating your own new future.

It just might put FUN back into your day job!