Joe's Jottings
Jottings Number 62, Reply A, by Judy Lewis, Pam Leitterman, and Deb ?
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 96 17:14:06 -0700
Hi Joe- I too am very concerned about the lack of urgency I sense in my own team, larger organization and the partners and customers I work with. I also don't buy the creation of 'burning platforms' to force change. I have a sense that HP's complacency can be directly connected to the long-term effect of continuous small implicit messages. It's a theme running through Kotter's article. Some context: Compared with many HP'ers, I still am relatively new to the HP family (7ish years) and can still vividly remember the very different, continuous sense of urgency and to a great degree fear of the competition, that existed within the other computer related firms I had previously worked for. I have never consistently sensed those same competitive tensions here, not even in in these 'bad times'. Let me give you some examples. In 'good' financial times we can rationalize sending more than one person to a customer site or conference or whatever knowing full-well that one would be fine. And our organizations feel OK about behaving that way. I know that since joining HP I have personally fallen in that trap often. Yet, along come 'bad times' and we cut the 'fat'. When asked to take this type of short-term action, I am faced with a natural question " Why do we even have fat to cut in the first place? ". So here we are in these tough times. I know of HP teams that in the last 2 quarters, upgraded everyone in their org to pentium machines. Everyone. They didn't cancel orders or cut back the roll-out. Well why not? They had cut back on their travel, so they had done their bit. Whatever the rationalized reason for doing this, it doesn't seem to send the correct message. In good or bad times, the puchase of equipment for entire departments in one fell swoop, the consistent sending of multiple persons to customer sites etc. are 'messages' that excess and extravagance ON SMALL SCALES is OK. Complacency. The problem is that all those small scales build to long-term company impact. As I reflect on your complacency article, I feel that one of the most powerful things we can do are the daily behaviours, signals, messages we send, most importantly in attention to the little things. Not the big steps we take once we discover rocky roads ahead. Now, Joe, I'm not advocating that every action or business choice has to have a bottom line positive impact, what I am proposing is that we need a constant vigilance and attitude of hunkering down always. What do you think - Judy Lewis PGIS
Probably 7-8 years ago I had the privilege of hearing a gentleman named Ron Bassett speak on the subject of change to a crowd in the Oak Room in Cupertino. He was a masterful speaker, and very fun to listen too as well. After all these years, I still remember his 3 main points. He called them his beliefs about change. 1. I am powerless over other people. (Not without influence -- but one cannot force other people to change.) 2. People are not resistant to change, but to being changed. 3. The greatest resistance to change comes from within myself. Cheers, Pam Leitterman PSO Global Marcom
Joe, it was a treat to receive the "notes" on complacency. I have
worked with over a hundred large and medium companies during my career
and have observed this behavior elsewhere...with ultimately rather
radical and severe organizational changes...when they have survived. I
guess the most extreme example I was involved with was a Texas bank.
Ok, you can quit laughing...but seriously, they were advised
repeatedly that their portfolio was at risk. To solve the problem
they simply fired the messengers...and you know the rest!
As you know I'm a new "recruit" to HP, and I must admit that sometimes
I am made to feel as if I'm on another planet when I operate with some
urgency and customer focus. In fact sometimes it feels like I have
"gone through the looking glass". When I see some of the behaviors we
inflict upon our customers in WCSO and when I heard the TMO nightmare
I must confess the "Old IBM" came to mind, as a pattern. We all know
the analogy, internally focused and non-responsive. I know "Rome
isn't burning" as yet, but I'm a bit worried about the future. I
should caveat my observations with my limited exposure!
My confusion is amplified by the lack of direct communication. I
sincerely subscribe to the notion that each and every individual is
entitled to respect but I frankly don't see the correlation with those
principles and lack of business focus. It seems unclear to me why
business problems can't be identified and discussed...contrasted with
each individual needing to self discover? I guess I'm used to working
with more directive organizations, AT&T, Freedie Mac, Mobil Oil,
Deloitte Haskins & Sells, etc. and am missing the point. If business
"news" is communicated directly but in a respectful manner doesn't that
support the individuals while enhancing business climates?
I guess after seven months I just haven't "figured it out" as yet and
therefore struggle...any advise is most welcome.
Thanks for letting me share my observations and please feel free to
"put me back in the box!"
Cheers,
Deb
P.S. I wonder if ranking is killing true teamwork? Just a thought...
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