StrategyDriven Editorial Perspective – Unnecessary Uncertainty
Washington dithering, favoritism, and power grabs are crushing the American marketplace. The question is: Can it survive?
All markets possess a natural amount of uncertainty. And it is from uncertainty that great business opportunities are born. Some uncertainty, however, is unnecessary; creating risk without proportionate reward. Fully avoidable, unnecessary uncertainty arises from the efforts of those who would seek to manipulate and/or control the marketplace to advantage some and punish others. It is not an attempt to bring fairness to the market through regulation, as in the case of monopolies, but rather to garner personal power by changing the rules of an equitable game after it has already started.
“By pursuing his own interest (the individual) frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good.”
Adam Smith (1723 – 1790)
author of The Wealth of Nations
and the father of modern economics
Who creates unnecessary uncertainty? Sometimes it results from the market turmoil created by the manipulations of a few such as the grab for wealth by former Enron CEO Ken Lay. At other times, it is born of the power grabs and indecision of politicians – Federal, State, and local from both parties.
Today’s marketplace is stifled under the tremendous weight of unnecessary uncertainty created by the lawmakers in Washington D.C. as they vie for power behind closed doors and procrastinate in decision-making. Marketplace uncertainties resulting from the continuous and unscrupulous redirections, inaccurate information, and dithering of politicians include:
- Capital Availability Uncertainty
- Investment/Expansion Cost Uncertainty
- Resource Availability Uncertainty
- Consumer Buying Power Uncertainty
- Produce/Service Demand Uncertainty
Going forward, we’ll examine the areas of unnecessary uncertainty; calling out the policies, practices, and perpetrators driving these conditions and their impact on the marketplace. But unlike other commentators who decry the unfairness of these events or focus on what should be done in Washington or what the masses should do to shape what is done in Washington, we’ll share with you our thoughts on how the StrategyDriven organization itself deals with these conditions in a way that positions it for long-term success. And we won’t be suggesting the next best stock pick.
We’ll keep the discussion fact-based, balanced, and business focused. As we share our thoughts with you, we hope you’ll share your thoughts with us – and challenge our thinking and perspective.
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Lessons From Scrabble: Learning How to Win the Strategic Game
This past Thanksgiving, my eight year-old-son convinced me to play Scrabble. Some members of my family love board games, but me… not so much. I usually just watch. However, with the spirit of the holiday swirling and the smell of pumpkin pie in the kitchen, a game of scrabble at the kitchen table oozed with twinges of Norman Rockwellness and seemed all too appropriate.
[wcm_restrict]I love learning from activities that are not designed as learning events. The parallels that you can draw between a game like scrabble and the game of life are important and timelessly relevant. For instance, I got to go first because I drew the letter with the highest value, G worth 3 points. By going first, and seeking a five-letter word, I’d also receive double the word score. The word I made from the random selection of letters I chose was exquisite: geode. I nearly gave myself a standing ovation for that little creation, which was result of luck, position and a little bit of geology that I learned as a science major at the University of Kentucky 20 years ago.
As the game progressed, I noticed my frustration of planning my next move, only to have a competitor use the position (letter) I chose on the board for their benefit. The roar of the crowd from my inaugural word play didn’t even matter now. Each turn was a new game. I learned quickly that I had to be ready to change my plan. I needed to look for a new word, and scout out a strategic location for the word each time it was my turn. Ultimately, I won the game!
Strategy- the business buzz word of the 21st century. Truly it is not a new concept but one that has gained a lot of press in business literature and education. The development of strategy is crucial to the success of business. However, without consistent surveillance of the environment you’re playing in, even the best strategic plans have little value. In strategic plans, course correction should be anticipated, if not expected and a process of correction can be a part of the plan. Who will make the final decision about change in strategy? Who will communicate the change to the organization? How will the change impact the expected outcome? These are the types of questions that should be considered before filing away the strategic plan and hitting the go button.
My scrabble-loving son taught me another lesson through his approach to the game. He very rarely started planning his next move until it was his turn. Of course this resulted in slow game play, which was frustrating to someone like me who is always thinking 12 steps ahead. However, his thinking was so calculated that his moves were almost always brilliant. And this one stands out: He scans the board for a place to play. After an agonizing full 2 minutes or more, he laid down two U’s and a T, and created the word FUTURE from the other letters that were already on the board. All of the adults sat stunned for several minutes. “How did you see that?” We asked him, incredulously. He responded, “Well, I had these two U’s, and I thought, what can I do with these things, and then I saw (the) future.”
Another lesson from scrabble… If you are willing to take your time, use your resources (even the U’s that seem to have little purpose) and see your world in a different way, you will create a brilliant future! Not a bad days learning from a well-worn game of Scrabble and an 8-year-old aficionado. Maybe I should get in the game more often. It’s definitely the only way to win… and learn.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]
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About the Author
Shelli Stinson is the VP of Business Development at WealthBridge Connect. She brings experience from education, sales and marketing as well as project management. Most recently, Shelli was the employee wellness manager at Northern Kentucky University. In this position, she learned how much influence that leadership has on the physical, emotional and mental wellness of employees in the workplace. After graduating from NKU with a Masters degree in Executive Leadership and Organizational Change, she joined WealthBridge Connect. In this new role, she hopes to influence businesses to invest in their employees through comprehensive leadership development initiatives, promoting healthier and more productive workplaces- from the top down and the inside out.
Project Management Warning Flag 2 – Breaking-up a Project to Avoid Approval Thresholds
Most organizations increase expenditure authority with each successively higher organizational level. Such budgetary constraints necessitate higher levels of approval for increasingly resource intensive projects; adding to the work required of lower level managers who need to ‘sell’ senior executives on their larger initiatives. Subsequently, circumvention of these often difficult to get authorizations may be sought.[wcm_restrict plans=”41140, 25542, 25653″]
One such circumvention method is to break-up a large project into several smaller, less resource-intensive initiatives. These less expensive projects can then be authorized by lower level managers, thus avoiding the time consuming ‘sales pitch’ needed for larger projects.
While adhering to the letter of company policy, this practice most certainly violates its spirit. While not all inclusive, the four lists below, Process-Based Warning Flags, Process Execution Warning Flags – Behaviors, Potential, Observable Results, and Potential Causes, are designed to help leaders to recognize whether this usurping of authority is going on within their organization. Only after a problem is recognized and its causes identified can the needed action be taken to move the organization toward improved performance.
Process-Based Warning Flags
- Lack of a centralized Project Management Office (PMO) or mechanism to assess all projects in aggregate
- Lack of granularity in the monitoring of the total budget spend by managers
- Lack or inadequacy of change governance policies
Process Execution Warning Flags – Behaviors
- Laissez-faire oversight by senior managers
- Lack of organizational challenge by peers who are likely involved in the aggregated project
- Demand for results by senior managers combined with constant action approval indecision
- Lack of change governance reinforcement
Potential, Observable Results
- Strategic organizational goals not achieved
- Large numbers of small projects done that are led by one department/work group
- Excessive number of staff dedicated to project management, coordination, communication, and reporting overhead
- Projects are completed and their outcomes are rejected by senior managers who were not involved in their approval or scope/outcome definition
- Project outcomes conflict with those of properly approved projects
Potential Causes
- Perception that senior management approval is an obstacle to getting things done
- Belief by lower level managers that they know what is best for the organization often because they have firsthand knowledge and experience from the ‘front lines’
- Pressure from executives and senior managers to get things done without a commensurate amount of support, often the result of a lack or an attempt to avoid accountability by these individuals
Final Thought…
Circumventing expenditure authorization limits can have dramaticly adverse impacts on the organization. This practice takes a degree of visibility and control of the organization’s direction away from senior leaders. Because the collection of small projects has a high aggregate cost, funding can be diverted from strategic initiatives; placing organizational goals achievement at risk. This is not to imply that senior managers should micro-manage every budget dollar but to simply assert that lower level managers must act ethically and in good faith within their given authority and not usurp that of senior leaders.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”41140, 25542, 25653″]
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Leadership Inspirations – Don’t Just Sit There
“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
Will Rogers (1879 – 1935)
Oklahoma’s Favorite Son, Cherokee cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer and actor
Five Easy Principles?
It’s not enough to know what to do. Understanding why is important, too, so the Ethics Guy explores the deceptively simple guidelines that govern behavior
Over the past four weeks, this column has looked at some ethical questions that arise in professional and personal life, such as the ethics of New Year’s resolutions, whether it’s O.K. to lie to help the company, and collecting for kids at the office. By now, you might be wondering, “On what are you basing your analyses, Ethics Guy?” After all, it would be easy for anyone to shoot from the hip and say what he or she feels is the right thing to do when presented with an ethical dilemma.
As a professional ethicist, however, my responsibility is not merely to explain what we ought to do, but, perhaps more importantly, to say why we ought to do it. My ethical obligation to you is to provide good reasons for how we ought and ought not to act.
For the next several columns, I will present an account of the five fundamental ethical principles that are the foundation of right conduct in any arena of your life. They are:[wcm_restrict]
- Do no harm
- Make things better
- Respect others
- Be fair
- Be compassionate
These principles reveal the secret to living a rich, satisfying, and happy life, and we have known about them for more than 5,000 years. Every religious tradition in the world teaches them, as do parents in every country. Without them civilization would be impossible because there would be nothing but chaos everywhere. These principles have a transforming effect on who we are and where we go in life, and for that reason, we can rightly refer to them as “life principles.”
Values We’re Tempted to Ignore
You might wonder, “If these principles are so commonplace, why should I waste my time reading a column about them?” It’s true that they’re commonplace, but it’s also true that in our hectic, overcommitted lives, we get so caught up in the details of getting through the day that it’s easy to forget how important these principles are in everything we do. We’re also tempted every day to ignore them and to place value on things that ultimately aren’t that important. So taking a few steps back to consider these principles is a helpful thing to do.
Yes, they are simple, but too often we let fear, anger, or other negative emotions get us off track from following these principles, and it’s sometimes difficult to get back to where we want to be. For example, how often do we really keep “Do no harm” in mind during our daily interactions with people? If a co-worker is nasty to us, aren’t we tempted to return the nastiness and tell ourselves, “Serves them right?”
Do we always keep the principle of fairness front and center in our thinking? If so, how do we explain our choice at work to surf the Internet, make personal phone calls, and take a sick day when we’re feeling fine?
On the face of it, the principles are about making a difference in the lives of other people. To this extent, taking them seriously seems like something we have to do, something we ought to do, something that, quite frankly, we’d rather not do.
Central to Happiness
What we’ll discover, however, is that making ethics our central concern is actually the best way to lead a richer, more fulfilled life. A life that helps us get the things we want: a job we love, the right partner, and a comfortable place to live. By taking ethics seriously, we serve as role models to our children and increase the chances that they will go into the world and make us proud.
Recent scandals in the news show the risks we take when we neglect these principles: public humiliation, shame, and in some cases a lengthy visit to prison. But the main reason for taking ethics seriously is not the dangers of failing to do so, but rather because it’s the right thing to do.
The path to a happier, more fulfilled life lies in becoming reacquainted with the principles of ethics, which tell us how we should treat one another. When we act with integrity, we feel better about ourselves, and we then create the conditions for making many wonderful choices in our own lives.
Just as a house needs a strong foundation so that it can do what it was meant to do, society needs a strong moral foundation to function effectively. The most fundamental building block of any society is Principle No. 1: Do no harm. This is both the most important of the five ethical or “life” principles and the easiest to put into action. It is the most important, because we would live in constant fear if we could not trust others to take the principle seriously. It is the easiest of the five principles to apply to our lives because in most cases, all we have to do is…nothing.
The Ethics of Getting Involved
requires that we take action so that harm will not occur to someone else, and thus a corollary of “Do no harm” is “Prevent harm.” When we’re at a cocktail party and we see an obviously inebriated person about to leave and drive away, the right thing to do is to prevent a foreseeable accident, which can mean taking the person’s keys away or arranging for someone to take him or her home.
Edmund Burke once said, “All that is necessary for evil to flourish is for good [people] to do nothing.” When we witness someone else doing something they shouldn’t be doing, it may be easier to do nothing, but the easiest thing to do isn’t always the right thing to do.
When we take the high road, we give a gift to others – and ourselves. It’s the greatest gift of all. Next week, we’ll consider whether simply avoiding harming other people is sufficient for living an ethical life.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]
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About the Author
Dr. Bruce Weinstein is the public speaker and corporate consultant known as The Ethics Guy. His new book, Is It Still Cheating If I Don’t Get Caught?