{"id":2328,"date":"2011-05-20T00:20:18","date_gmt":"2011-05-20T04:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/?p=2328"},"modified":"2011-05-20T00:20:18","modified_gmt":"2011-05-20T04:20:18","slug":"thursday-night-love-my-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/2011\/05\/20\/thursday-night-love-my-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Thursday night – love my job ?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The other week I got an email from a friend in my company’s communications groups A women she knew runs a blog called ‘Lead Change Group. The blogs author, Leigh, focuses the blog on topics relating to workplace leadership (I think). For this installment she\u00a0 was looking for a “wildly happy idea person working inside a large organization”.. somehow that request came to me.. The blog interview was in writing .. and I’d had a tough day at work.. but I dutifully filled in the questions.. I took a second pass in the morning to make sure it was constructive.. and this <\/a>is how it came out<\/p>\n

Am I ‘wildly happy’ at work ? I sure wouldn’t say so.. in fact I think I love only about 60 percent of my work.. but.. a funny thing has been happening over the pat two months.. people keep telling<\/em> me that I love my work.. or at least that I act like I do.. It happened twice today.. once the day before.. It seems nearly every day now someone makes a comment like ‘you seem to love your job’.. or ‘I wish I had your job’..\u00a0\u00a0 but it sure doesn’t always feel like I do..why the disconnect ? am I sending our false signals ? Am I a good liar ?<\/p>\n

Tonight I had a funny revelation.. maybe I do love my job.. or at least enough of my job that I should be happy. Maybe the universe is telling me to lighten up and enjoy what I do as much as I seem to enjoy it …<\/p>\n

Does that make sense ?<\/p>\n

nite all, nite sam<\/p>\n

-me<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ps. Here’s the text from that blog.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\u2190 The 5 Be\u2019s of Motivation<\/a><\/div>\n
It Takes Courage And Character To Unify People \u2192<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Cultivating Idea Leadership\u2014Views From an IBM Fellow<\/h1>\n
By\u00a0Leigh Steere<\/a> in May 12th 2011\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01 Comment\u00a0\u00bb<\/a>
\nFiled Under Leadership Development<\/a> Tags: Change Management<\/a>, coach<\/a>, creativity<\/a>, idea<\/a>, Innovation<\/a>, Leadership<\/a>, leadership coaching<\/a>, manage people<\/a>, management<\/a>, people management<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div>\n

Literally hundreds of \u201cidea people\u201d are wilting in Corporate America today. Many feel they are talking to a brick wall when they propose process improvements or new product concepts to their employers (see case study<\/a> in prior post). They voice frustration with \u201cwe\u2019ve-always-done-it-this-way\u201d thinking and silo mentality.<\/p>\n

In exploring this topic, I did find one wildly happy idea person working inside a large organization and interviewed him for this post. Meet IBM Fellow John Cohn, Ph.D., an idea powerhouse who has been at IBM for 29 years. He offers six pieces of wisdom for employers who want to keep their creative talent engaged and on board. Enjoy.<\/p>\n

Employer takeaway #1: <\/strong>Recognize your organization\u2019s need for \u201cwild ducks.\u201d Show them a career path and help them channel their enthusiasm toward your greatest business needs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Cohn: \u201cIBM is a funny place. It has a reputation for being buttoned down, yet it still has a strong underground culture of \u2018wild ducks,\u2019 as our second chairman T.J. Watson, Jr., called them. I think large, structured organizations like ours actually recognize the need for\u00a0a few creative loose cannons to keep things fresh. In fact, when I think of my most senior technical colleagues, the IBM Fellows, they\u2019re nearly all<\/em> a little offbeat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Employer takeaway #2: Equip idea people to work across silos and give them permission to do so. \u201cHands off, not your department\u201d is a quick way to lose an idea person\u2019s motivation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Cohn: \u201cThe most important thing for a company of our size is to make it easy for folks to network and connect with employees in very different disciplines from their own. IBM has a variety of programs to bring folks together around ideas. We use a mix of face-to-face and virtual collaborations. In my experience, having at least some in-person interaction dramatically improves the speed and quality of cross-organizational collaboration. Great thinking can happen\u00a0over a beer or coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Empl<\/strong>oyer takeaway #3: Invite employees to challenge obstacles respectfully. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Cohn: \u201cHere\u2019s what I tell the people I mentor. \u2018When you allow external constraints to shape your life or your work, you are letting others define you. You need to use your passion for your ideas to stand up to the many constraints you may encounter in a large organization.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people at IBM have the power to do what they know to be right, although many folks lack the confidence to push through obstacles. You have to know when to listen to constraints given to you by your management\u2026and when to move beyond or around them. You need to do this respectfully\u2026but you need to do it. Clearly, the more senior you are, the easier it is to push big ideas. But you are never too junior here to start pushing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Employer takeaway #4: Coach your boundary-pushers instead of slapping their wrists. They may need <\/strong>gentle guidance on how to assess feasibility, how and when to present new ideas, etc. (My next post will look at this in more detail.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Cohn: \u201cYou may have to start small and push the envelope just enough to accomplish your goals. When the organization sees you\u2019ve been successful, you will find you have a little more leeway the next time you need to stretch the bounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying it\u2019s OK to push the bounds just for the sake of doing so. Ultimately, it all comes down to results. You\u2019ll only be able to exercise your full Jedi powers if you\u2019re seen to be accomplishing things for the organization. In my experience, this works best when you\u2019re motivated by doing the right thing for the organization<\/em>, as opposed to just focusing on what\u2019s best for your personal career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Employer takeaway #5: Provide time and space to learn, think and formulate. Chronic deadlines, overtime and excessive focus on costs will kill your organization\u2019s creativity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Cohn: \u201cOne trend I see in the tech industry is the amount of work expected from each employee is increasing. Any organization that wants to regain its innovative spirit needs to find ways to give employees back the gift of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the interest of efficiency, many organizations unwittingly remove the \u2018space\u2019 necessary for their employees to innovate. A culture that only focuses on the \u2018cost\u2019 of things\u2014like face-to-face travel, exploratory projects\u00a0and even mistakes\u2014fails to see the value of these activities. Spontaneous innovation is the life blood of a technology firm. A company that fails to invest in allowing its employees time to meet, think, explore and take risks\u00a0will lose its creative energy and its creative people.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, I see the responsibility here comes back to the individual. Whatever the demands on your time, you need to \u2018make\u2019 time to do the things that allow your creative juices to flow. Maybe it\u2019s taking a class. Maybe it\u2019s reading papers, writing patents, doing a \u2018skunk works\u2019 project\u2026or even just thinking. This may sound a little subversive, but sometimes you need to push back on the system and take that time back for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Employer takeaway #6: Help employees identify and nurture their passions. Passion leads to high performance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Cohn: \u201cThe most important advice I give to folks I mentor is to stay passionate about your work. It\u2019s not always easy to do that, but nothing fuels innovation like passion. Nothing kills innovation, loyalty and performance faster than lack of passion. The key to remaining \u2018in love\u2019 with your work\u2014or at least part of it\u2014is to think hard about what you enjoy doing and work relentlessly to keep that element in your job. A company that recognizes employees need to find and nurture their passions is going to be much more innovative than a company focused purely on day-to-day metrics like cost and quotas.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

*********************************************<\/p>\n

CEOs: Do you agree with the six takeaways? What other points do you glean from John Cohn\u2019s remarks?<\/p>\n

Managers: Are you thinking, \u201cThis sounds great, but IBM is a technology company and we\u2019re not?\u201d What prevents you from acting on the six takeaways?<\/p>\n

Idea people: John Cohn advocates taking personal responsibility for idea leadership. Do you feel this is possible in your workplace? If not, what holds you back?<\/p>\n

Photos of John Cohn, Ph.D., courtesy of IBM<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n

About Leigh Steere<\/h2>\n

Co-founder, Managing People Better, LLC\u2014a management research firm\/think tank. Professional kettle-stirrer. Writer. Curriculum developer. Connect with Leigh on her LeadChange profile<\/a>, website<\/a>, or Twitter<\/a> and check out the Managing People Better assessment <\/a>where you can get some feedback on your management style and help with a research project.<\/p>\n

View all posts by Leigh Steere \u2192<\/a> <\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other week I got an email from a friend in my company’s communications groups A women she knew runs a blog called ‘Lead Change Group. The blogs author, Leigh, focuses the blog on topics relating to workplace leadership (I think). For this installment she\u00a0 was looking for a “wildly happy idea person working inside … Continue reading Thursday night – love my job ?<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[161],"class_list":["post-2328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-love-my-job"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2328"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2330,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2328\/revisions\/2330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}