Reflections | Guy Harris: The Recovering Engineer

Archive for Reflections

May
6

Change Management Lessons: Surprise Breeds Inaction

by Guy Harris

Life lessons sometimes hit me in a delayed fashion. Reflecting on two experiences in my life – separated by about two years – reminded me of a valuable lesson for leaders of organizations facing change.

Situation Number One:

About two years ago, I was walking through a convention center with my friend, colleague, and co-author, Kevin Eikenberry, and we came upon two people standing at the top of an unmoving escalator. As we approached, we expected them to start walking down it. They didn’t. They just stood there and stared at the unmoving steps.

They didn’t move, and we couldn’t pass them.

As I stood behind them, I grew frustrated with their inaction.

After 10 or 15 seconds that felt like 10 or 15 minutes to me, they looked at each other, shrugged, and began to walk down the “stairs.”

Situation Number Two:

Driving my car into the neighborhood where Kevin lives, I came upon road construction vehicles that slowed me down and partially blocked my view of the frontage property. Pulling to the left side of the road and slowly passing the paving equipment parked on the right, I had a fleeting thought that I had entered the wrong neighborhood. Despite having entered this neighborhood many times over the last few years, it suddenly looked wrong, and I briefly questioned whether I was in the right place or not. In that moment, I quickly considered turning around at the first opportunity.

Both situations reveal a common problem leaders face in times of change. When confronted with uncertainty or unfamiliarity – when a situation or surrounding looks different from what they expect to see – people freeze. They lock-up, stop moving, and impede progress.

Many leaders see this initial response, and grow frustrated with their team like I grew frustrated by the initially unmoving people at the top of the escalator.

The key point, though, is that the people in the escalator example eventually moved without prodding or prompting from me. Once they evaluated and understood the situation, they moved.

Wise leaders recognize, understand, and anticipate this response. Rather than push changes quickly and get angry with people, they make allowances for this normal human reaction. They do everything in their power to reduce uncertainty by communicating more often, more thoroughly, and more personally. They also give people as much time as possible to understand the change before resorting to “do it or else” strategies.

0 Categories : Decision Making, Leadership Skills, Personal Change, Reflections

Apr
1

The ABC’s of Life: Dream

by Guy Harris

As I continue this post series inspired by a plaque I purchased while visiting the Biltmore House this past Christmas, I keep getting challenged by both the plaque and the process of writing about each word in succession.

Today, I’m tackling a topic that does not come naturally to me. Actually, dreaming seems a bit flaky from my perspective. (Remember, I call myself The Recovering Engineer).

For me, dreaming triggers thoughts of unrealistic expectations, false hopes, and illogical pursuits. These are the first thoughts that come to mind based on my naturally analytical, logical, fact-based view of the world.

My second thought is that this view is a bit sad.

It’s sad because it limits possibility. It’s sad because it extinguishes hope. It’s sad because it’s so logical.

I am not suggesting that we give up logical, rational assessment. That would violate my natural view of the world.

I am suggesting that we give logical, rational assessment a holiday on occasion so that we can see possibilities.

When we fail to see possibilities, we are stuck only what we currently have. Without a dream, nothing ever changes for the better.

Without someone having a dream, we would not have

Air travel
Automobiles
Personal computers
Smart phones
Music
Buildings
Indoor plumbing
Sporting events
Concerts
Museums
And the list goes on.

Do I believe that dreaming alone will make good things happen? No. I do believe that good things will not happen without a dream to get the ball rolling.

Do I believe that a dream will get you through every obstacle you face? Nope. I don’t believe that either. I do believe that the dream gives you the energy it takes to do the work to anticipate and overcome the obstacles you will inevitably face in pursuit of the dream.

Yesterday, I listened to an audio program by Dan Kennedy. Some people love him. Some people hate him. Anyone who studies his business track record will agree that he has been very successful.

In that program, he said that he was optimistic about the big picture and pessimistic about the details. In other words, he operates with the hope and expectation of accomplishing big things even though he realizes that he might experience set-backs and challenges in the pursuit. To deal with the set-backs and challenges, he anticipates and plans for anything he can envision going wrong. Then, when he encounters a problem, he has a plan for dealing with it rather than being defeated by it.

In short — dream big and plan for problems.

I think his approach is a great idea.

Today, despite my natural tendencies, I encourage you to dream.

This article is from the ABC's of Life series. Use the links below to read more from this series.

0 Categories : ABC's of Life, Reflections

Dec
14

How Much Margin Do You Have?

by Guy Harris

A few days ago, I posted about the tragic death of a young lady who was part of my life when I was in college and she was a toddler. You can read that post here.

Sadly, I was unable to attend her funeral. I learned of the accident that took her life late on Thursday night and the funeral was on Saturday. I live in Indiana, and her funeral was in North Carolina.

My inability to get to North Carolina to lend my support to people who were a big part of my early adulthood saddened me equally as much as hearing of Krystal’s death.

In reflecting on the events of the last few days, I see that the problem is one of margin.

To explain what I mean, I’ll lean on my background as an engineer.

In my engineering design classes, I learned about the concept of design or safety margin — a factor built into design calculations to allow for minor errors, miscalculations, under estimations, and other variables that are difficult to accurately determine.

While I was in the Navy and learning to become an Engineering Officer, I learned about the specific margins that were built into both the submarine and the engineering plant to ensure safe operation.

Later, when I was working as a research engineer in the chemical industry, I used the concept of design margin as I developed new products and worked with customers to get our products qualified for their applications.

Safe engineering design always considers, allows for, and builds in some margin for safety.

This weekend, I became eminently aware of the lack of margin in my life. I didn’t have enough time margin to safely make the 12-hour one-way drive in the time I had between learning of Krystal’s death and her funeral. I didn’t have enough financial margin to jump on a plane and go.

Do I have enough time to live up to my immediate commitments? Yes. Do I have enough financial margin to meet my financial obligations? Yes.

And having enough to meet the minimum requirements does not create margin.

Just as the concept of margin applies to our schedule and our budgets, it also applies to our personal and professional relationships. For example, do you have enough margin in your relationships to…

Withstand a communication error?
Make it through a misunderstanding of intention?
Survive a missed appointment?
Last beyond a forgotten task?
Etc.

I don’t propose that I have a “silver bullet” answer for creating more margin. I do find myself thinking about it a lot the last few days.

I suppose that each person has to find his own way to create margin in his life. So, as we prepare to end 2010 and begin 2011, I’ll share the question with you that I’ve been asking myself:

What will you do, starting now, to create more time, financial, and relationship margin in your life?

This is a big question to consider, and it relates directly to how you set your goals for next year.

If you have suggestions for me or others reading this post that might help in this process, please leave a comment below.

If you have specific questions about setting better goals, my friend and colleague, Kevin Eikenberry, is leading a free teleseminar on December 21 to address goal setting issues. You can leave your question for him and register here.

Photo by Vincent van der Pas.

8 Categories : Reflections

Dec
12

In Honor of Krystal

by Guy Harris

On Thursday December 9, a dear friend of mine lost her niece, Krystal, in a traffic accident.

I won’t go into the details of our thirty year friendship other than to say that my friend’s niece was important to me. So, I was, and am, sad.

This post is, in one way, a tribute to a young life that ended too soon at 28 years old. And, in another way, it’s a reminder to treasure and protect your relationships.

I knew Krystal well while I was in college at N.C. State. I met her when she was an infant, and I had several opportunities to take care of and play with her as she became a toddler.

It was around this week about 27 years ago that I watched her while my friend and her sister went Christmas shopping. I remember that Krystal was teething, we ran out of Anbesol, and I didn’t have a car seat with me so that I could take her with me to go get more. I sat in a chair and held her for the better part of 3 or 4 hours even though I had homework to do. It was a terrible night that I remember fondly.

When she was about 2 or 3, I built Krystal a toy box with her name on the front in hand-cut wood letters. When I spoke with my friend on Thursday, I learned that Krystal still had that toy box in her home. That, too, was a happy memory.

Shortly after building the toy box, I entered the Navy and my life went away from North Carolina.

I’m sure that I saw her again when I visited my parents on trips home while I was stationed in Charleston, South Carolina, but no particularly notable event happened that I recall right now.

Over the the next 15 or 16 years I got married, and I had my own kids. I still thought of Krystal often, I just didn’t get back to Raleigh to reconnect with my college and high school friends and their families after my parents moved from there.

The last time I saw Krystal, she was around 20 or 21 years old. I was in Raleigh to do a workshop. I was only in town for one night, and she made a point of coming to see me for a brief visit. It wasn’t a big thing except that she made the effort, and it meant a lot to me.

I’ll likely be in Raleigh next summer to do another workshop. Looking ahead at my 2011 calendar, I have been hoping to plan an extra day or two while I’m in town to do some reconnecting. Krystal was high on my short list of people I would love to see. Now, I won’t get that chance.

Over the last few days, I keep remembering the words of the song Blink by the group Revive. And that’s the life lesson that goes with this post. Rather than tell you the words, I thought I would ask that you take the 4 minutes it takes to watch the video.

It’s powerful, and it sums up much of what I’m feeling and thinking as I remember Krystal.

Blink by Revive

1 Categories : Reflections

Jul
16

Some Recommended Reading

by Guy Harris

What’s Not Happening Today

In the last two weeks, I have written so much that I don’t really have the energy, clarity of thought, or focus to come up with something that seems to me like writing about. So, I thought that rather than share my somewhat clouded thoughts, I would pass along some of what I found today as I looked through my RSS feeds.

Here are some posts worth reading: