And the answer is... No

Looks like I'm still not much of a writer.

However, I have started to work back at Kaiser in a completely new and different area. I am now working in the national product solutions area as a business consultant. I'm working on a great team and with great people to ensure that our members are provided with experiences/encounters that work in a way that they expect.

This is based on my initial observations after four weeks on the job.

More on this later...

Wow... time really does fly

I had really not thought about my blog in years. No, really years...
My last post was early in 2012 when I had just started at Blue Shield. Then things got busy and my time for blogging evaporated.
And now I'm getting ready to start a new job at an old organization and here is my blog again. Let's see if I can remember how to write again.

Started full-time at Blue Shield of California

Started at Blue Shield of California at the end of February as a senior project manager. 

After 3 weeks, all is good. 

Though, I'm still figuring out what is expected of me.  Right now it looks like a very big box that had many dark corners.  Emerging are some familiar meetings.  Still hidden are the extent of the areas of responsibility. 

The people are very helpful and this looks like a team that knows what it is doing; that will really help me get up to speed. 

I'll be adding more as I swim a bit further down stream.

LEAN Thinking – FRAMING, It's all About Framing

I like words. My belief is that words I use say a lot about me, in addition to what I am meaning to say.

One word I have been paying attention to for some time is “framing.” I first became aware of framing in the early 1990s while studying psychology; and then it was “reframing” that caught my attention. I was at a training and talking with other participants, one of whom was offering what I heard as a negative critique of the earlier talk. I had appreciated the talk and made a comment that took the idea being expressed and transformed it into one I felt was more positive. One of the others listening complimented me on a “good reframing” of the other person's point. I had not thought that was what I was doing and filed away what I took as a compliment to think about later. ¹

As my studies progressed in psychology, I learned more about reframing and used it in a more conscious manner. I learned that it is a very powerful method of working with and influencing others. A seemingly simple shift in the context of the item or issue being discussed can change the way it is being perceived. In the field of psychology I've used reframing to clarify the possible intent of a comment heard or action experienced by a client. In business I've used reframing to change or broaden the context of what is being discussed. An example of this would be to take an aspect of business performance that may look like a positive attribute in terms of how it helps a business unit perform within a service line, but when looked at in terms of the customer's needs, may turn into a negative that does not benefit the customer. Here the initial context may be “How does this make my job easier?” and the new context is “How does this benefit the customer?”

The “frame” that most of us utilize in our working lives is “What will do the best job in this case?” And that frame has benefited us. We do want to do the best job and asking that question, in the frame of “my job” and “this case” puts into focus the way we usually think. Lean thinking asks that we look at a new way of “framing” our questions. We put down a personal, team, or company frame and adopt a client frame. The new questions are “Will the client pay for this? Does this add value for the customer?”

And this means that a new frame needs to be used from top to bottom of our organization. To become more effective at what we do, we all need to reframe our conversation, or questions. We will still ask about the top and bottom line, and all the other questions. However, our first questions will be with the customer, about the customer, and from the customer's perspective. 

1From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: The term reframing designates a communication technique which has origins in family systems therapy. ... Another meaning or another sense is assigned by reframing a situation or context, thus sees a situation in another frame. A frame can refer to a belief, what limits our view of the world. ... Psychotherapists trained in the reframing by communication attempt to let scenes appear in another point of view (frame) so that someone feels relieved or is able to deal with the situation better.

A LEAN Approach in Healthcare – Lean Patient Centered

An Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Innovation Series white paper (2005), Going Lean in Healthcare, spells out how the principles of Lean management or Thinking can and do apply to healthcare. (http://www.ihi.org/knowledge/Pages/IHIWhitePapers/GoingLeaninHealthCare.aspx) The paper includes examples from Seattle’s Virginia Mason Medical Center and northeast Wisconsin's ThedaCare, Inc.

The paper provides a brief summary of what Lean thinking or management is and where it came from. It looks at the value stream mapping approach and emphasizes how important it is to maintain our focus on the patient – the patient who defines value in our system.

Given that this paper was released in 2005, why has healthcare not embraced Lean thinking more extensively?

The paper addresses one major impediment – skepticism in the form of “we are not making automobiles, this is healthcare.” While I also believe this is an important point, I see more to our reluctance than skepticism. I believe that it is also a complex combination of “lacks” - lack of consistent leadership, lack of time, lack of money, and lack of a compelling reason to change. As long as we think we are doing an adequate job of providing service as measured by our peers, we have little motivation to make a change. And change is hard.

Yet, if we will take a look at the potential benefits of Lean thinking – improved flow, reduced costs, decreased adverse event rates, improved patient satisfaction, etc. – it makes a move to Lean practices one of the most critical steps any healthcare organization can take.

One additional reason for not jumping into Lean may be the name; Lean. While we may want to be lean ourselves, for the organization we work in we seem to prefer Fat; fat in all ways, so we think we are safer or protected in some way. We want fat or extra supplies, and the same with people ready when we need them. All of this leads to excess in our systems and processes that do not add value, value in the only terms that matter, those of the patient. Lean thinking turns this around by looking at our systems or processes with the patient answering the question: Does this add value? So while the system and processes become leaner, it is not just to satisfy a financial goal; it is to satisfy a patient goal. It is very Patient Centered – a goal we can all support by whatever we call it. Lean Thinking, Lean Management, or Lean Patient Centered. 

Let me know if you want to learn more about how to get a certificate in Lean Thinking.  I can offer training in conjunction with an excellent trainer.  (Send me an email: dr.fritzmb@gmail.com) 

Copiers: 100,000 – Innovators: 1

In a transcript of a talk by Mark Pagel at Edge (http://edge.org/conversation/infinite-stupidity-edge-conversation-with-mark-pagel), Pagel discuses his views of evolutionary biology as it pertains to creativity. His thesis, as I understand it, is that throughout our history we have only required a few creative people to move us forward. What he sees as more important to our development has been the efforts based on social learning of the copiers or followers; those who recognize the innovations and move them on into society. He goes further and states that even the efforts of those we have identified as innovative “just got lucky.” (Pagel states: “... the generative mechanisms we have for coming up with new ideas are no better than random.”) He is very aware that his ideas are not likely to be well received.

But they got me thinking, and I believe Mark Pagel is right on target. He is saying that social learning, copying the very good spear of my neighbor rather than trying to invent my own spear, has had a more profound influence on moving us forward than that of the original innovator. This has meant that natural selection for good copying by a large number of us wins over a large number being good at innovation. Pagel sums this up as “... we may have had strong selection in our past to be followers, to be copiers, rather than innovators.”

He goes on to imply that as we have grown in numbers and in the size of our groupings, from bands of 25, tribes of 150, and on up to nation-states, we have needed proportionately fewer innovators. Innovation goes farther and faster with better copiers and followers.

Pagel then goes in to his ideas about how we innovate, or generate ideas. His conclusion is, “And I want to go further, and suggest that our mechanism for generating ideas maybe couldn't even be much better than random itself.” (I don't want to dwell on this aspect of his thesis; I will let you go to the link and read this for your self.)

So, what does this mean for me and you?

For my part, I'm feeling better about not having been nominated for a Nobel award. My goal has always been to see how ideas fit together; starting with an idea that I usually find is not entirely original, as I read more in a wider range of areas that add to my idea – comparing it to those of others, and so on and so on. These notions of Pagel make this effort more worthwhile that I had thought. In fact, it means my efforts are integral to our evolution. (If I eventually find a way to share them and move them out into the world; like in a Blog.)

Those of us looking around for the next Big Thing and trying to see how it fits into our life or business are doing the real heavy lifting for our society. Sure we need some people engaged in basic research, but if these ideas are not put into use or circulation by the rest of us, they never become innovations that make any difference.

So, when you spot someone trying really hard to come up with the next Big Thing, thank them for their small part in the larger scheme of things and tell them you will take it from there.

Four steps to Making a Change - Any Change

Four Steps to Making a Change

I know I want to change… Yet, every time I set a goal and decide to
change, I seem to get sidetracked or lose sight of the end point. 
It neverseems to work out as I planned.

How can you effectively make a change? You know how to set goals. You even have a
framework for this: SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Tangible. So you
set up your goals using this framework. You get specific and say that you want more self
confidence when meting someone new. You set up a measurable outcome by saying that you will
talk with the next person that catches your eye. You see this as attainable; you at least see new
and interesting people all the time. It is a realistic goal and there will be tangible benefits for you
when it happens.

So where is the problem? Why is this the third time you have set this goal? It could be that you
have no plan for accomplishing this change. No idea how to become more effective at meeting
new people. No idea how to become self confident in a different settings. And no ways to
determine if you are even doing the things you are trying to do effectively. So how can you
expect to accomplish this without a new approach? You can’t.

You can’t that is without a plan. Just like you need a plan or framework to be able to set goals,
you need a framework for accomplishing those goals. Just setting a goal never accomplishes
anything. You have to take action. Yet that action needs a direction and its own plan to become
reality.

Making Change Happen: A Plan for Change
The steps are easy.

First you need to discover what you need to know. Do you need a book or a course? Do you need
a life coach? Do you need to talk with friends? Are there tools available that would help? What
ever is needed must be identified and found. In the case above you might need a life coach to
help identify effective ways to interact in new situations and it may be helpful to read about
communication skills. (There may be other things needed depending upon the particular
circumstances, these are offered only as an illustration.)

The second step is to put the information, tools or learning into action. You need to test the new
ideas. This step is all about practice. It is now time to take your new game on the road. In this
case you might practice in a familiar setting with a friend.

The third step is all about feedback. Without feedback you will not know how your performance
went. Feedback is your measurement of results. Part of the feedback will be a self assessment of
the results. You will review the actual result of the practice – the action taken. In this case you
will assess your results in terms how confident you felt, what was comfortable and where did
you have problems. Another part of the feedback can include a discussion with your life coach
that reviews the actions taken and the results obtained.

The fourth step is to use the feedback information to determine if you need to go back to steps
one or two or if the desired results have been obtained and you can check the completed box next
to this goal. If you need more practice, go back to step two and practice until you get the desired
result. If more information or tools are needed, go back to step one and start there again.

The Steps
1) Get the needed information or tools.
2) Put this in to action – Practice the new techniques.
3) Get feedback about results.
4) Make corrections, get new information, practice more, or obtain the desired results and
call the goal complete!

Use these steps for any kind of change. The key to this is to pay attention to what
you are doing and what is happening in the interactions.

So pick a goal and getting going. One, Two, Three, Four – Finished!

© Fritz M. Brunner, Ph.D. 2006, 2011

Reflections on Steve Jobs and Sadness

Sadness...

The sadness I feel since hearing yesterday about the passing of Steve Jobs is a surprise to me.   I have no relationship with him, other than admiration of his accomplishments. I own and have owned many Apple creations going back to my original Mac; however this is a tenuous connection with him and more a relationship with the company than the man.

I had followed his career, at least at a distance and usually when it was rising.  As I have followed those of other people I admire.

So why the sadness? 

My late wife, Margaret, passed away almost ten years ago; it will be ten years next month. She was 54, very close go Jobs' age. Her death was even more sudden than his. I knew Jobs had cancer, but did not know she had any serious illness. Yet, she died less than two weeks after entering an ICU.

Reflecting on this more, the sadness I feel seems connected with knowing that another is suddenly and forever gone. Passed onto or into some realm or no-realm that I have no access to. No apps for this. I'm not trying to make light of this with a reference to apps here, only making a point that solace does not come from an external source. It comes, if at all, from within. 

And solace if it comes, also goes. This is shown to me by my current sadness.

Reflecting further, it seems my sadness is also linked to (hidden) knowledge of my own limits; my own mortality.

Thoughts of this intruded while on a walk this afternoon to get a latte.  My thinking brought up questions: What of my future obituary and who would mourn?  These thoughts lead me to memories of those who missed and most likely still miss Margaret. This lead me to a deeper understanding of my sadness.

It seems not sadness for a specific person, Steve Jobs or Margaret Brunner. My sadness feels deeper, more basic. It arises from a sense of my future ultimate loss; my connection with my life. 

...

And,so what? They died; I will die also.  What am I to do?  Sit and wait to die?  Hardly.

I believe that we create or find our own purpose. To eventually die is not a purpose. Purpose involves "doing." 

So a more important or pressing question for myself is what will be my next step, my next creation, my next conversation.  What will I be engaged with next? 

This is alive with possibility and a more positive alternative to sitting and waiting for an ending.

It also is an antidote for sadness.

A favorite article of mine...

Effective Business Ideas

Be Interactive, not Reactive or Proactive

Run, run, run. React to this, react to that. How can you be effective when you are continuously being pulled into situations? You want a way out and you think the solution is to become proactive. But how? And what does this mean? Are you now simply pushing the same people and situations that used to be pulling you? And how can you know if you are headed in the right direction?

Being reactive implies your action begins after the fact; acting in response to a stimulus or situation, as if simply poised waiting for something to happen. I don’t think this is ever the case. I usually feel reactive when I am hit with something I did not anticipate.

The other tactic is to be proactive, which implies that your response is preceding the action. Creating a solution before being requested to have one. Anticipating what is needed and having it ready. This seems like a great position to be in; however you need to know what to be ready for. You cannot anticipate everything. The important question is how to be selective?

What does it mean to be Reactive or Proactive?

A little analysis will show something about these two tactics or styles of business effort.

Benefits: When you are reactive you know there is a situation requiring action. Unfortunately the correct action is usually needed prior to you hearing about it, so you now take corrective action – clean up the mess or stop the leaks.  A proactive tactic may head off trouble or anticipate a request. Or, you may be off the mark. You may be doing something unwanted. You will only find this out after you are done – the hero if you focused on the correct situation, reacting yet again if you did not.

Learning: Not much is learned in either case. A reactive style doesn't pay much attention to expanding knowledge, new skills or finding a better way. There is not much time to learn when you get one situation handled and another pops up. The proactive style is always looking forward; it rarely reflects or evaluates results.

Costs: A lot of effort goes into both tactics. They each take enormous amounts of energy to keep going. Neither is mindful of resources. The reactive style throws everything available at the situation and the proactive style often uses resources to plan ahead in areas that are not needed or important.

Characterizations: A Reactive style is coiled, anticipating, and defensive. The Proactive style is pushing out, busy, and alert. Both are vigilant stances.

Be Effective, be Interactive

What would be an alternative to these two styles? Being Interactive. This means you get involved and stay involved with people without there being a problem or situation. You know what is happening around you. What are your bosses’ goals? What concerns do your peers and customers have? If you have people reporting to you, what are they thinking about? And don’t be shy about your own goals and needs. Make sure other people know what you are thinking and planning. The more you know about your organization and the more people know about your goals, the more successful the organization and you will be.

An analysis of interactive tactics shows a different picture.

Benefits: You are very involved with your environment.

Learning: High levels of insight and knowledge building.

Costs: Maximization of resources; not waiting, not over planning or jumping the gun.

Characterization: Involved, asking questions, doing research, finding out how things work, what is needed, what isn’t.

Will being interactive mean that you will never be blindsided and start to feel reactive? No. However, when the unexpected happens you will have a better sense of how urgent the matter is because you will know the priorities of your business. You will know who to work with so it can be resolved with a minimum of fuss and effort.  Does it also mean you never have to be proactive? Of course not, in fact a proactive style will be a natural outcome of being interactive.  You will know what is needed and not have to second guess those around you – you will know that you are headed in the right direction and have support and understanding from colleagues and clients.

Will everyone respond positively to this change? No. However most will respond well as they see you are interested in them and their concerns and goals. And others will come around as you practice and model this new tactic and they begin to see the benefits.

How to change tactics

How do you make this shift? Try these suggestions and then share them with everyone.

1)    Take time to debrief with all involved; especially from reactive situations. Work with these questions: What could have been done differently? Do we need a contingency plan in place for this (process, strategy, etc.)?

2)    Create learning situations with clients and colleagues. Teach what you do and know. Learn what others do and what they need. Update this learning often.

3)    Be creative - use the learning to the benefit of all parties. Share ideas, link ideas. Look for best practices, benchmarking, clear roles and responsibilities.

4)    Look for barriers to understanding and cooperation. Then work with others to eliminate these as they arise.

5)    When going into a new situation, ask of everyone: What do you want to happen? How will we measure our success? Look for understanding, past successful actions – start out right.

6)    When completing a task, ask everyone: How could this be better?

Use these suggestions to reduce frustration and anxiety and introduce stability and creativity.

They say it is lonely at the top; this is nothing compared to being stuck in a reactive or clueless proactive position – not being effective when you want to do well. Being interactive gives you a tactic to work well with people. And it might be the tactic that gets you to the top, so you can find out if it is really all that lonely.

© Fritz M. Brunner, Ph.D. 2005

New article

Here is another article that I wanted to share. 

Effective Business Ideas

Two Approaches: Tactical and Strategic

When should you be tactical? When strategic? The usual answer is to be tactical when looking at an issue that needs to be taken care of now and be strategic when looking at the future.

Most corporate contributors are tactical all the time. It’s what they are asked to do. It’s what they get rewarded for. It’s what they need to be to stay “on the ball.” Managers are usually contributors promoted, and hopefully promoted again, because they excel at the tactical. Guess what? They continue to be tactical. And they continue to get rewarded for “taking care of business.” However, they are also asked to be more strategic. So what do they do? They try to be strategic; they use SWOT to determine strengths, opportunities and threats (they often overlook weaknesses), and then they go back to the familiar. Tactical.

How to be Strategic

First lesson – Strategic isn’t a thing you do some of the time. It’s a way of thinking that is done all the time. Yes, even when you are being tactical. Let me illustrate this point. Imagine you are sitting at your desk right now. (You are? Good.) On your desk pad is a yellow Post-It that represents the issue you have been asked to “take care of.” Stretch out your left hand and put a finger on the issue. Look at this issue and now think about how you will solve it. Use your usual tools; teams, task forces, consultants, etc. and get it done and get your pat on the back.

Works well and feels good also. Now your manager asks if you considered how this solution fits with the units’ overall strategic plans. What do you do now? Do you know the strategic plans? Did you consider the plans? Most likely, but you probably did so as an after thought. How could we improve this picture? Remember your other hand?

Sit back at your desk and keep the left hand pointed at the yellow Post-It. Now use your right hand to bring in other ideas. Still work with your tactical tools, teams and all. But bring in some new tools. Your right hand can be pulling out your strategic plan. It can also dial the phone to talk with some new people or do new research. You want to already be doing this research so you are aware of new developments, new processes and procedures, and what the competition is up to. Let this strategic right hand work with your tactical left hand so you bring the best to the solution.

Is this Strategic Planning?

No, it is strategic thinking. Strategic planning is the periodic effort that all organizations engage in to set the direction for the next period. It is the effort that informs your operational plans. Strategic thinking is what you do all the time. It is thinking that keeps you on track. It helps you know that you have your organization structured to support the plans, and that the plans will continue to drive business – up, not down.

Elements of Strategic Thinking

Second lesson – Strategic thinking is not a fixed or predictable thing with a uniform set of tools. It doesn’t have steps or milestones. If you are lucky, you have a mentor that does this well and you can learn for her or him. One problem we all have is that there are few who are proficient at strategic thinking and therefore not many who can mentor and teach.

At its’ heart, strategic thinking is looking at all the elements that go into strategic planning when it is not planning time. The elements you want to look at depend on your business circumstances. It may center on customer concerns, competition, research and development, financials, or all of the above and some I didn’t list. This doesn’t mean you become an expert in all these areas. It does mean that you keep track of them or know who does and talk with them. You stay interactive with others; all the others, not just the usual others. It also helps to look at situations in different ways with different questions – new questions.

New Questions

New questions and new perspectives help you look at issues or situations in ways that lead to strategic and tactical success. Let’s look at some questions. (You may be using these already, if so great. However, do you remember to use them in all situations?)

What is the positive aspect of this issue? What are the negative aspects? What is interesting about this situation? What makes this idea unique or valuable? In what ways can we build on this idea’s advantage? What are the factors for success in this situation? What is the history of this problem? (More on questions can be found in a book by Dorothy Leeds, Smart Questions: The Essential Strategy for Successful Managers.)

Lets try a simple example. You are responsible for the consolidation of two offices. Looking at the positive and negative aspects is a relatively common set of questions to use. You would be looking at costs to move and risks of moving, among a host of other concerns. You would be weighing these positives and negatives to arrive at your decision. Now let us add-in some other questions. What is the history? Have we moved in the past and if so with what results. Where are our customers and would this move impact them? What are our factors for success in this move? And so on.

Let any question be the start for other questions. Look for ways to bring in outside issues or concerns. Let these concerns include areas that might usually be looked at as not relevant. Do this to enlarge and enhance conversation and inquiry. However, do not let it pull you away from making a decision; timely decisions trump endless questions.

Please realize that this type of thinking takes practice. Give yourself time to become proficient in strategic thinking. And don’t give up being tactical – you need both skills.

© Fritz M. Brunner, Ph.D. 2008, Version 1.1

 

A new direction...

I've decided to close my web-site in favor of using my Blog in a more frequent manner. 
So here goes...

For my first "new Blog" I'd like to reprint an article I wrote for business clients that talks about influence.

Effective Business Ideas

Manage Perceptions or they will manage you!

They don’t understand! True and most likely they don’t care either. The question, your question, is how to get their attention so they understand and care.

You sit here in the middle of your life, your career, and your reality. People with whom you need to interact surround you. Some are clients, others may be people reporting to you, others you report to, and increasingly these days there are a lot of people that have a matrix relationship with you – all those other dotted line connections. They all have their own perception of what you do and how well you do it. So how can you help this large group of people understand and care about what you do, or more to the point – How will you be able to work most effectively with them? Answer: By managing their perceptions, their reality.

Is it Real or only your Perception?

Reality is very personal. So much so that my reality is most likely different from your reality in more than just a few ways.  For example, I see myself as a very effective business consultant and coach. JR, a client, saw me as a great coach, especially for someone starting out in the entrepreneurial world. (I had not coached someone as young or in this area before.) CK saw me as a nice person, but a total waste of time. (I am nice.) I could go on, however I believe you get my point – I have my idea of who I am and what I do and this is often at odds with how others perceive me and my effectiveness.

The people you interact with all have their own “real” beliefs about you - their perceptions. The difficulty is their perceptions are usually talking to them louder than your words. So how do you get your point across? How do you inform them about your reality?

Know Thyself

First be clear about what you are doing and why. Be articulate about your goals and which needs (tactics and strategies) are going to help you achieve these goals. State your priorities. And you should know that this all changes as time moves onward – Nothing is permanent and flexibility is a requirement. You must come from a solid and known position to influence others and change their perception.

In your working environment, this means you know how what you do fits into the larger picture or scheme of things. You find this out by talking with other people. Also, you have to know the relative priorities of all aspects of your work. This means not only knowing what to do first, but also what to drop down the list when someone you report to says “do this now.” (And you have to let them know some other item just dropped down the priority list.) This is especially important when you receive a request from one the “matrix” people; not people you report directly to, but very important dotted line people nonetheless. You need to know where their request fits on your list. And you have to determine this so you can tell them how you will be able to help them and when.

Remember that priorities are not fixed; they are positions that can be negotiated. For instance, if Matrix person A already has an item on your to do list, offer to move that item down the list to take on the new request. Be creative with this approach.

Know the Other Folks

Be Interactive. This means you get involved and stay involved with people without the need for a problem to prompt you. You need to learn what is happening around you. For instance, do you know your bosses’ goals? What concerns do your peers and customers have? What do the people in your matrix want? If you have people reporting to you, what are their concerns or thoughts? And don’t be reticent about your own goals and needs. Make sure other people know what you are thinking and planning. The more you know about your organization and the more other people know about your goals, the more successful the organization and you will be.

Will being interactive or staying on top of the situation automatically create positive perceptions? No. You still have to work at creating them. However these efforts will enable you to know more about the goals and needs of others. Conversation and actions change perceptions. Both have to occur continuously.

Some tips on how to Change Perceptions

How do you make this shift? Try these suggestions, practice them and share them with others.

1)    Be clear - What are you doing and why? What is important – what are your priorities?

2)    Be flexible - Keep reassessing your goals, needs, and priorities.

3)    Always question - What does this request mean to the person asking? How does it fit into your priorities? Let them know this.

4)    Know the people you interact with. Do you have direct reports? Who are the other members on your teams or task forces? What does your matrix look like? Who is really at the end of that dotted line and what do they do?

5)    Know the goals and needs of all the people you interact with. A tall order? Yes, and it’s very important for you to be successful at managing their perceptions. If you don’t show you care about their goals, you can never change the perception they have about you.

6)    Recognize the points of intersection between the needs of others and your needs. These are the points of possible synergy. Be on the lookout for these and use them for mutual advantage. Where you have synergy, you usually have an ally. And an ally helps you manage perceptions.

You can use these suggestions to help you manage the perceptions of others.

The most important additional point I need to make is this: Get feedback on everything from everyone. Find out what the perceptions are about you now and keep checking to see how they change. A 360 degree, or multi-rater survey is useful for this task, however they do not take the place of talking with people. Ask direct questions of others and be sure to let them know why you are asking.

© Fritz M. Brunner, Ph.D. 2007

Be careful what you ask for

As I continue to work at Kaiser, I find that indeed they did hire me to make use of my skills. A lot of use.

This has provided me with an opportunity to practice what I have been telling others to do for years. Most of these things are proving to work well for me. Some ideas are proving to be more successful than others and not all work as well with all people; I knew this before - didn't I?

What this has done, is to give me a chance to field test my ideas. It has also prompted me to look at other ideas and ways to engage myself and my clients. This past year has been a great time of growth.

I've dived deeper into performance improvement, using Kaiserized tools. And I have just been introduced to Rypple - an on-line feedback tool. (I'll have more about this as I learn it's potential.)

New Opportunities Realized

I've been working at Kaiser for a bit over four months now. I am very happy consulting in-house as opposed to outside. I am even more delighted to be doing this full-time; and not having to buy my health coverage from Kaiser myself.

They seem to have brought me into the organization for what I see as the "right" reasons. By this I mean they are utilizing my skills and strengths in ways that help both them and me.

I will now also be able to take time to develop ideas over time and see more directly how my ideas are taking root in areas where I am working.

Stay tuned for more...

Time - Long Time - Slow Time

Time is relative. At times a distant relative that doesn't write or call.

I've had one of my older insights brought back into focus lately and this concerns how long it takes to get things done. My former rule of thumb was to take an estimate from someone else and multiply times three to give myself a more accurate estimate of when to expect the final result. My more recent experience with several projects and proposals has only confirmed this "times three" notion.

My former analysis of this was that people didn't consider all the factors they needed to before they made their estimates. They were either unaware of what was needed to be considered or they underestimated the level of effort required to get a step accomplished.

My current thinking is a little different. While some of what I thought is mostly still valid, I also understand that there are other factors that also need to be considered, and this relates back to my previous blog about matixed difficulties.

What seems to be a primary problem in completing tasks within stated time lines, are the conflicting demands upon the time and priorities of the person tasked to do the work.

My new focus is to ask how I can help others work through the conflicting priorities they face. In simple words - How can I move my request up the list of priorities they are managing? And if I can't help here, I need to ask myself - What do I need to do to manage the risk of my request running late?

New Year, New Record

Hello,

This year I waited until August for my first post. Beating last year's July first post; which was by coincidence also my last post of the year.

I make no promises for this year.

I have been working with many great people this year from various firms. There continue to be similarities among the firms. Chief of these is the difficulties inherent in working within a highly matrixed organization - which seems to be the norm and not the exception. I have written a paper that addresses the need to influence those around you and will make this available if you like. I have also been focusing much of my coaching around this topic.

The next most popular theme pertains to feedback. How and when to give it and why. Again, I have a paper that has gotten good feedback from those who have read and tried the tips offered. Let me know if you wish a copy.

New year - Seven months late

I guess I'm not cut out to be a champion blogger. My last post was in November. Here it is July!

Happy New Year. And all the other holidays in between. Hope you enjoyed them.

I have been doing other writing. I just completed an article about being strategic and tactical at the same time. It is about strategic thinking and how that is different from strategic planning. My next article will be about perceptions and how to manage them. I have found that people experiencing difficulties in time management, priority setting, or staying in the loop are often having problems with how they are perceived by others. Perception management is therefore something that is beneficial in many situations.

I'll let you all know when I get this completed.

Wow, It's November

Time really flies when you are busy. And some times it flies when you are just sitting around, waiting for this and that to happen. Like it did for me.

I had some of the busy and some of the sitting. I like the busy better. It pays better. Just sitting doesn't tend to pay well. At least not the sitting I was doing. The waiting kind of sitting as opposed to the working kind of sitting. That kind pays well. I did some of that. Sitting on airplanes, in airports and taxis. Hotels and offices. Talking with people. Making assessments. Writing reports and delivering results. Good work. Happy making work; for me and the people I work with - a win-win.

As I read this back to myself, I am struck by the triteness of what I am saying. And yet, it also captures my movement in these past months. I have been consumed with sitting. I gained five pounds in the process. I am now back in the gym to remedy this situation and to get ready for skiing. Life can be trite. It is full of little bits and pieces that come together to make up hours, days, weeks, and months. And sometimes I get an opportunity to work with wonderful people and sometimes I am just sitting by myself. And that is also fine - sort of fine - not really.

I almost missed posting in March

Here it is the last day of the month and I'm just getting this post in under the wire.

But I have been busy.

This month has been a good one for coaching. And I got to work with Charles O'Reilly and Mike Tushman who wrote Winning through Innovation. Their ideas, based on twenty plus years of research, about putting strategic thinking into practice are great. I was able to add to my thoughts on the subject. It was very helpful to me. Watching their presentation style was also a plus. It is fun to watch people who are good at what they do, do what they are good at.

I'm always learning.

I got to travel some this month. I was in Colorado Springs and added a day to my work week to go skiing at Copper Mountain. My first time skiing in Colorado. Big hills with long trails. Very nice. Took a lesson from Tiger. His real name, maybe. Great lesson with great people. This was the easiest way to learn about the trails and to get into the lift lines without a wait.

And more skiing back in Tahoe afterward. This area has gotten 22 feet of new snow. In March alone!!!!

I'm looking forward to more work next month.

I've written a new article for ezinearticles.com. Check it out. It is on the four easy steps to take to get a new something done. It's all about change and growth. This article is focused on business, however it is a very transferable set of steps.

Where did January go?

January seemed to slip by this year. One moment it was there, the next it was February. Sometimes time flies even if you aren't having a good time.

Don't get the wrong idea, January was OK. Not real good, but at least OK. ... Well, to be honest, I'm glad it is over. There, that is out of the way.

Let us move on into February with a clear mind. Clear, except for my headcold.

The weather has been good.
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I'm out of ideas for now.
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I'll be writing more soon. I'm taking a new look at my goals and making plans to move forward with my coaching and consulting. i have two proposals out for consideration and expect to have some new ventures to announce soon.

It's a new year and time for new things

I have been looking over my calendar for the coming year and it is not as full as I would like. In fact, it is very empty. Not a good thing for a consultant and coach.

So I have been thinking; something I probably do too much. And I have been planning; ditto last point. None of this has helped to fill my calendar. And this is not a surprise.

I have also been looking around for full time employment. Which I miss at times. There is a camaraderie that is missing when I work from my home office.

So, if anyone reading this has a new idea; bring it on (as some say).

I would also appreciate feedback from anyone who bumps into this blog. So far it seems I am writing for my own benefit. Which is not a problem, only an observation.